The Legend of Terra Chapter 15

The Legend of Terra

Chapter 15: Dreams

This was a dream…But it was different now…

Terra could see nothing but blackness, a dark void of nothingness. Not a single ray of light could be seen, just the endless black expanse of Terra's dreamscape. She could feel herself moving freely around, slowly walking forward on the nonexistent floor beneath her. Her hands reach out in front of her, as if trying to grab ahold of something that wasn't there. As her dream continued all she could do was walk forward, walk blindly into the nothingness around her…But…In the far distance of the dream void…A small, very faint red light flickered in the dark expanse…

Thump…

Thump…Thump…

Starting to race Terra could hear her own heartbeat echo inside her head, each thud only growing louder she drew closer to the now growing flickering red light. She felt her legs impacting nothing as she began to run across the dark expanse to the light, it was like she was running on an imaginary surface that wasn't there…But soon…As she drew closer…A new sound could be heard…

Tribal drums…Growing louder as she drew closer and closer to the only thing that populated the strange dream…

A door…Red light filtered through the rectangle cracks on the edge of a dark door…Terra came to a halt in front of the ghastly shape. Reaching forward with an outstretched had she pressed her palm up against its surface, pushing it ever so softly. Almost immediately she pulled her hand away in pain, it was scalding; the invisible surface of the door was as hot as a raging inferno. She screamed, her voice echoing across the vast empty landscape. But when she touched it the door it opened, letting in even more red light. And even after she had pulled her hand away the door continued to open…revealing a hellish landscape…

Stepping out into a burnt field Terra looked around, everything was a blur much like the dreams of this sort before. She stood in the small field directly in front of what seemed to be her home, Hyrule Castle. But what she saw of her home terrified her. Engulfed in flames the castle stood, anything flammable being burnt to ash, leaving behind the stone husk which was in ruins. The door to the castle had been flung open, blown off its hinges by some force.

The tribal drums began to grow louder…

Behind her she could hear screams of horror and pain, seemingly coming from Hyrule town. But the blur of the dream made it impossible to tell…

Growing even louder the tribal drums caught her attention once again; they seemed to be coming from the entrance to the castle…

Terra couldn't move. She looked down, her body wasn't there, she could no longer feel her arms or legs…Something was wrong…

Pulled by some unknown force her gaze became locked onto the destroyed entrance of her home. Her body seemed almost yanked forward, stilling looking toward the main door into the castle…The tribal drums still grew louder and louder…

A bright blinding flash of white light came from the castle interior, the flash continuing until it reached Terra sending her sight back into blackness…

Gasping for air Terra awoke from her bed, bolting into an upright position. She breathed heavily, recovering from the shock of her recent nightmare, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to slow her heart. The Hylian princess could feel the drops of sweat trickling down her forehead, almost as if the fires in her dream were real…Slowly, the princess caught her breath…The dream seemed almost too real…

Looking down at herself she noticed that she was still in her usual white and purple dress. The covers of her bed were still mostly in place from when she made it during the morning, only a few wrinkles from where her slender body laid had disturbed the smooth surface of the purple sheets. Her blonde hair had fallen out of place; the small gold headband she wore must've been moved during her sleep.

Attempting to move she felt a soft weight at the bottom of her dress. Gazing downward she saw what the weight was, a small orange kitten curled up into a tight ball, sleeping soundly. The tiny animal was a rescue from Lon Lon Ranch, the only thing to survive the raging inferno which had claimed all of the livestock, and any other animal that was unable to escape. Terra had scooped up the crying motherless animal just before they were pulled away from the inferno by Link and Ordon.

The orange kitten reminded her of Alec in a way. His attitude was timid yet friendly, and he would follow you anywhere if you asked him, or carried him…But of course, there was a sadder side to the kitten's story, it had lost its mother much as Alec had…Alec had given the kitten to Terra to keep just before he left with the other knights…

Scooping the small ball of fur up gently, Terra laid it against her soft pillow, moving it off of her dress and allowing her to move off of her bed. That small animal was one of the only things that made Terra smile over the past few weeks…

A cold and humid breeze flowed over Terra's exposed arms. Looking toward her balcony she noticed that the wooden doors were opened. Gazing outside she could see the dark shade of night over Hyrule. Dark grey clouds had also settled over the sky as a soft drizzle poured down from the heavens. Hyrule even looked dismal, sad even, and although the storm wasn't fierce it brought a strange feeling of sadness to her heart.

Moving forward to close the wooden doors Terra began to regain her character once again. It'd had been over two months since Alec had left with Captain Ordon. Fall was now upon Hyrule, the days and nights growing colder. She couldn't help but feel empty inside, any joy she once had in doing her usual activities seemed to disappear along with her knight, but a few remained, the cat, singing, and of course her memories of Alec. Each time she wanted to smile, even if just for a moment, she would remember the times she had with Alec, the carnival, a nice dinner on Alec's birthday, a first kiss…

"I thought I closed you…" Terra sighed as she pushed the two doors shut, stopping the damp cold air form entering her room. The door's closed with a click as the latch locked in place.

In the back of her mind Terra could hear the faint sound of tribal drums…

Turning around slowly and shaking her head Terra tried to bush it off. Walking over to her dresser she pulled off the golden headband and tossed it with laziness onto the wooden surface. She looking into the mirror and saw her reflection…Hanging about her head, her blonde hair was still slightly in place and to her surprise she actually for once didn't look like royalty…Many people still said that Terra was beautiful, although often they would do it behind her back when she wasn't paying attention, almost as if gawking at some sort of circus freak…She missed Alec being upfront about it, it made her feel less like some sort of beautiful freak and more like a beautiful person…

The soft and deep steady beat of the tribal drums echoed softly in the mind once again…

Shaking her head again she turned toward the door. Terra watched it as it slowly creaked open. Raising an eyebrow in confusion she stepped over to the entrance of her room. Pulling the door open a little further, Terra poked her head out, looking both ways down the long stone corridor. Nothing, there was nothing, not even a breeze that could've opened the door.

Stepping out into the hall Terra glanced around. It was awkwardly silent, not even a guard in sight on a nightly patrol. Confused Terra glanced back and forth, wondering what had opened her closed bedroom door.

Tribal drums…Once again…but growing louder…

The drums inside her mind drew her in the direction of her parent's room. Taking one step at a time she started down the hallway, quickly coming to the half opened entrance of parent's room. Oddly enough, Link and Zelda, her parents, were gone. They must of gone off somewhere for the night.

"What the…" Terra mumbled, pushing the door to her parent's room open slowly, making it as quiet as possible just in case her parents were somewhere inside. "…It's late…Why is the door open?"

The drums grew louder…

Stepping into the large room the Hylian Princess looked around. Nothing was out of place, but the fact that the door seemed to open on its own was still evident in her mind. Still glancing around Terra attempted to find out if some breeze had pushed open the door, but no windows were open, nor was the balcony door. Her parent's room was strangely quiet, the only noise came from the soft cool breeze which buffeted the window…Then something began to draw her attention toward her parent's closet…

Tribal drums…

The sound in her head seemed to be growing louder and louder the closer Terra got to Link's closet. Something other than curiosity pulled Terra toward the closed doors, which she thought held only little more than her father's usual green garments. Putting one foot in front of the other the princess drew nearer and nearer to the source of whatever was causing the sounds in her mind…

She could hear the tempo of the drums increase as she drew closer, a soft choir of voices babbling a strange tongue began to accompany the drum beats. It soon grew loud enough to blot out any thought in Terra's mind…

Terra reached for the handles on the closet door, the voices and music in her mind becoming unbearable. Gripping her slender hands onto the handles, Terra yanked open the door. As soon as the door was even the slightest bit open the sounds in Terra's head stopped dead. Looking around furiously for the cause of her mental trouble the princess began scanning the closet. Following her senses she began to sift through her dads clothing along with other items that her father kept locked away…A small metal chest nestled in the back bottom corner of the dresser caught her eye…Something about it was off, even just looking at it made her feel uncomfortable.

Dropping to her knees, Terra reached for the tiny metal chest through her father's clothing. Getting a hold of one of the handles with her fingers she slowly pulled it toward her. The touch of the chest was strange; it was mysteriously warm. Leaning back from the dresser the Hylian princess pulled the container out and laid it on her lap.

"By the goddesses…This thing is heavy…" Terra whispered, feeling the heavy weight from the metal chest on her thighs.

Looking at the rather plain design of the chest Terra wondered why her father kept such a thing hidden away in his dresser. Shifting it around a bit in her hands Terra could feel the presence of a single item, wrapped in a cloth, the item softly impacting the interior walls of the container. Running her fingers along the edges she noticed the chest didn't have a lock, the place where it would've been located seemingly melted away long ago, and the chest could now be opened freely.

Using her thumbs Terra gently pushed up on the cover of the chest. The rusted metal hinges cracked and then came loose, small bits of dust and corroded metal falling from lid of the container. As the lid lifted off the chest, the contents sealed within became exposed to fresh air, the dusty smell filtering up to Terra's nostrils. Lifting the top off a little farther Terra listened to the brief choir of disembodied voices she had before, although they quickly vanished as soon as they came. Letting the hinges take hold of the lid, Terra let the top of the chest fall to the back, finally revealing to her the contents of whatever was once hidden away.

Raising an eyebrow Terra looked down at the contents. "What is this…?" She murmured in surprise, as if she was expecting more.

Terra reached into the chest with her hands, and pulled out a single item wrapped in old brown cloth. Whatever was concealed behind the wrapping made the Hylian girl's heart race. A strange sense of darkness slowly flooded over Terra, the feeling flowing from the item, into her hands, then into the rest of her body. Her breathing became shallower and she felt weary, like someone was sucking the life right out of her body. Whatever the item was it was warm to the touch, the obvious cause of the heat from within the chest.

The item was wrapped in an old brown piece of cloth, seemingly aged from years of sitting unused inside that chest. The edged were tattered but still enough to cover whatever it needed to hide. It smelled of dust, little specks slowly radiated from the wrapped item. Just looking at the concealed item made Terra feel uneasy, the strange almost face like shape of the thing sent shivers down the girl's spine.

Holding it with one hand Terra used the other to slowly pull away a piece of the brown cloth. The disembodied voices once again began clamoring in her head. A pupil-less white eye emerged from behind the wrappings, stopping Terra cold. The single white eye that peaked out from behind the wrapping terrified the girl, but only fueled her curiosity. Terra began tearing away the brown cloth, fueled by some inner desire telling her to do so. Little bits of the old wrapping feel against the floor, until finally…the item was revealed…

Entranced by what she now held Terra was frozen. She now looked at a strange mask, seemingly radiating darkness like she had never felt before. Two great pure white eyes seemed to look back at her. Strange red and blue tattoos were scrawled across the cheeks and forehead, tribal in nature. Silver white hair adorned the top of the mask; the feel of it on the tips of Terra's fingers was almost as if it were real. Terra looked harder at the mask, the face looked Hylian in nature, with the pointed ears and the general shape, but the strange tribal tattoos suggested otherwise. The tattoos suggested that something else, or someone else, crafted this mask.

Looking about the room frantically Terra checked one last time for any signs of her mother or father, who surely wouldn't approve of her taking the mask. She needed to know more about it; something about the mask seemed to eat at her mind, like an itch that just couldn't be scratched. Closing the chest and shoving it back into the back of Link's closet, the Hylian princess completed her business in her father's room. Grabbing her mother's deep purple cloak off the wall, Terra concealed the mask next to her body. And with quick yet quiet footsteps she ran out of the room, with plans of going into the market…

%

A heavy mist had settled over the market square as Terra entered from the direction of the castle. Thick clouds had blotted out the night sky; no stars were shining on this night. Terra could feel the soft patter of a light rain on the hood of the cloak she had stolen from her mother's room. There was a brisk cool air about Castle Town; the fall season had surely begun.

Upon entering the market square Terra took a direct left, rounding the corner and stopping to take a look around. There was nobody, no single person populated the market square this night, the emptiness was strange, usually Terra had seen the square bustling with activity, much like on the day of the carnival, but tonight there was no one. She could still see the lights coming from within multiple houses.

Taking a few more steps forward Terra now stood in front of the Happy Mask Shop. Turning her body she peered inside, looking for any sign of the owner. Even thought it was late Terra still had hopes of maybe getting some information about the strange mask she found, the princess figured that he would be the best place to go…Movement…There was someone inside…Using the chance she had Terra quickly knocked on the door, hoping the man would answer.

"U-Uhm…Hello? Who is it?" The owner stuttered from inside, surprised that anyone would come to his shop so late at night.

"I-I need your help." Terra replied, trying to get to the point as quickly as possible.

"What do you need help with; I'm afraid the shop is closed for the night!"

Terra interrupted the man. "I need to know about a mask I found!"

There was a small pause before the man spoke again. "Hold on…I'm going to open the door…"  Opening the door the old mask shop owner peered toward Terra, staying inside to avoid the rain. "…What can I help you with again?"

"I…I need to know about a mask I found…I'm pretty sure you're the one that can help me."

Opening up the door a bit more let a little bit more light shine on Terra the mask shop owner, raised an eyebrow at the princess. "You found a mask?"

"Uhm…Yes…"

"Where did you find it?"

"My…My dad had it…Please, I just need to know what you think."

Backing away from the entrance to the shop the owner motioned for Terra to pass by. "Oh…Well…Ok, please come right in. I'd rather not have someone catch a cold in this weather."

Entering the colorful store, Terra pulled the hood a little farther over her head, hoping that she wouldn't have to deal the owner knowing that she was the princess. She stood silently, still holding the mask concealed in the cloak, waiting for the shop owner's next response.

Closing the door behind him the old man walked over to the shop counter, pulling up a seat for Terra before taking his own behind the counter. Dawning his usual smile her motioned for Terra to take a seat. "Please…Take a seat…Princess…"

"H-H-How did you know?" Terra gasped, looking around frantically in panic.

With a strange giggle the shop owner responded. "I have my ways…I also know that cloak from your mother, and well…You're not exactly her height…Lucky guess perhaps? Forgive me if I've over stepped my bounds your highness."

Yanking the hood of the cloak off her head with her free hand Terra sighed. "It's fine…Please…Don't tell my parents."

"Oh don't worry princess…I will say nothing of the sort to your mother and father, I know how you young kids are these days."

Giving a nod of thanks Terra sat down on the seat that was pulled up for her. "Thanks…"

"Now…About this mask my dear…" The mask salesmen's tone changed to something a bit darker. "…You said your dad had it…How did you come about it exactly."

Cringing, not wanting to open her mouth about it, Terra spoke. "I found it…In my father's things…"

The usual happy expression of the man changed into a look questioning. "Ahh…Well…Please…Show me…"

A feeling of regret came of Terra, something about the man's expression made he feel uneasy about showing the man the mask. It was almost if the shop owner knew something she didn't. But taking in a breath of courage she pulled the strange mask out from her cloak and placed it on the table. The instant that mask came into contact with the light of the shop Terra could feel the atmosphere change; the warmth seemed to be sucked out of the room.

Wide eye in astonishment the mask salesmen stared into the white eyes of the mask, entranced much like terra had been when she found it. Without breaking contact with the mask's gaze the owner spoke. "W-W-Where exactly did you find this…?"

"I-It was in my father's things…Tucked away in a chest."  Terra cringed a bit more.

Breaking eye contact with the mask the salesmen looked back to Princess Terra. "I should tell your father about this."

"W-Why?"

"Do you know what this is your highness?"

"No…No I don't….My father doesn't exactly tell me much about things like this." Terra said, shaking her head.

His look softening, the mask owner sighed. "It figures…Your father doesn't talk much about his time in Termina does he?"

"Termina?" Terra said, raising an eyebrow. Never before had she heard of sure a place.

With a sigh the shop owner continued. "…But this mask…Your father didn't tell me he kept it…"

"Slow down, slow down…Tell me about Termina, please."

Grinning, the man slowly slid the mask across the table to Terra, motioning for her to pick it back up. "I-I'm not at liberty to discuss Termina right now…But I need to tell you about that mask…"

"Wait…Why aren't you?"

"I believe that your father should tell you about that…Strange…land. I'm sure if you ask him he will tell you…"

Grunting with frustration Terra let the shop owner continue.

"…That mask…Its name is…The Fierce Deity's Mask…"

"Fierce Deity's Mask?" Terra said, repeating the words as if she was an echo.

"Yes…It belonged to your father long ago, during his time in Termina…It was given to him by…Something…"

Terra leaned a little bit over the table, the story catching her attention. "Yes…Go on…"

"…It's a demonic thing Princess Terra…Never put it on…The dark power that is within that mask you hold is…unbelievable." The Mask Shop owner began walking toward the door, his tired body showing signs of old age.

"Please…Tell me more…"

Using his hand, the man turned the knob on the door, motioning to Terra that is was time for her to leave. "No…I won't say anything more…The less you know about that…Thing….the better…Now, I suggest you put it back where you found it before your father find out that you've taken it."

"But…"

"It's time for you to go home Terra…Maybe we can discuss this matter again, when your father is present."

Sighing, knowing that she had only gotten a name for the mask, Terra picked herself up off the chair and headed toward the door. Holding her head low she turned to look at the Mask Shop owner once, taking in his expression fully, an expression of deep thought and horror. She could even see him struggling to breath.

"Thank you sir…" She murmured in disappointment, before she vanished into the mist of the Market square.

%

Terra was back in her parent's room, staring back into the chest that she had taken the mask from earlier that night. Grasping the mask tightly in her slender hands she remembered the words that the mask salesmen had said to her, about the mask being a thing of darkness. Each word from their conversation, however brief, seemed to be burned into her mind. Something about the mask she held in her hand made her feel sick, like something inside the inanimate object was reaching into her body and playing with her mind.

Setting the mask back into the chest she grabbed the metal top and closed it quickly, not wanting to look at the relic any longer. When she closed the lid to the chest it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders, the strange feelings vanishing….But her blood turned to ice when she heard a familiar voice from behind her…

"Terra…What are you doing…?"

%

Across the desert, inside the Desert Colossus, in the chamber of the three rings stood the shadow beast Gomess. He floated above the center pedestal, his scythe gripped tightly in his ghostly hands, his strange bat like minions fluttered around his body like flies to a rotting hunk of flesh. In his mind he thought out his plan.

With the Phantom off giving the Knights of Hyrule a chase, he too was going to start his own plot in preparation for next year. He knew that the Hylian Princess Terra still was a threat to his master's plan, along with the rest of the Royal family and the sages…But slowly…And surely…He drew his plans out for their destruction…

Cracking a demonic grin Gomess spoke two words that echoed about the chamber. "My Turn…"