Befalling a Terrible Fate

Life, Failure / Mishap

Link, the Hero of Time, leaving the land of Hyrule on a "personal quest," searching for his fairy friend, Navi, taking place a few months after he was returned to his original time by Zelda. His trip is interrupted by the Skull Kid, an imp possessed by a great evil contained in the magical Majora's Mask, which he wears after having stolen it from another traveler with the help of two Fairies: Tatl and Tael. They knock Link off his Horse, Epona, rendering him unconscious. The Skull Kid searches him for any goods and finds the Ocarina of Time. When Link awakens, the Skull Kid takes off on Epona with the Ocarina and leads Link on a chase. <br><br> When Link catches up with the Skull Kid, he tells Link that he "got rid" of Epona, and uses the dark magic of Majora's Mask to transform Link into a Deku Scrub. He then leaves Link with Tael, while Tatl continues to bully Link; however, Tatl's delay causes her to be separated from her brother and the Skull Kid. She then insists that Link take her with him, so that they can work together to find the Skull Kid and Tael. With limited Deku abilities, Link follows the Skull Kid's path and finds himself inside the Clock Tower of Clock Town, where he meets the Happy Mask Salesman. The Happy Mask Salesman reveals that the Skull Kid stole the Majora's Mask from him and that he can return Link to normal if he finds the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. He also warns Link that he must leave in 72 hours (three days) so Link must retrieve the items by then. Link then departs in his Deku form finding himself in the parallel world of Hyrule called Termina.
  Link is not able to do very much around Clock Town, but with the help of the Great Fairy and Professor Shikashi, he manages to find the Skull Kid hanging around the top of the Clock Tower. Link also hears rumors of the Moon, which has a grimacing and ominous face, steadily coming closer to the Town as Skull Kid pulls it downwards. By midnight on the Final Day before the Mask Salesman's departure, Link manages to reach the top of the Clock Tower for a face-off with the Skull Kid. Upon arriving, Tatl reunites with Tael and asks Skull Kid to return the Majora's Mask. The Skull Kid ignores Tatl, but Tael delivers an enigmatic warning to find four beings from the swamp, mountain, ocean, and canyon. <br><br> The Skull Kid, in response to Tael's outburst, hits the Fairy aside. He then laughs about how even if "they" were to come, they would not be able to stop him. He then points Link and Tatl's attention toward the Moon and challenges them to stop it from falling. With an unearthly shriek, he begins to bring the Moon down to Termina faster. Link fires a magic Bubble Blast, a skill learned from the Great Fairy, at the Skull Kid, causing him to drop the Ocarina of Time. Upon picking it up, memories of Link's departure from Hyrule flood back to him. He remembers Princess Zelda, days after the ending of Ocarina of Time, bidding him farewell and telling him that the Goddess of Time is watching over him. After Tatl snaps him out of his trance, Link plays the "Song of Time" and is immediately thrown back in time to the morning he first entered Clock Town, 72 hours prior. <br><br> Link heads back to the Happy Mask Salesman, who teaches him the "Song of Healing". Playing this song with the Ocarina of Time returns Link to normal, with the only remnants of his time as a Deku being a Mask, which he can wear to become Deku Link once again at will. After aiding Link, the Mask Salesman asks that Link uphold his part of the bargain and return the Mask that the Skull Kid stole. Upon learning that Link could not recover the Mask, the Salesman grows furious, berating Link and wildly informing him that the Mask, known as Majora's Mask, is an ancient artifact that possesses an apocalyptic power. He once again requests that Link must recover the Mask, stating that he believes that Link can do it.