Clockwork Island
Link enjoyed another relaxing night in the Stock Pot Inn. As he welcomed his eyes to the view of darkness, a vision of the brown-haired boy appeared. "That was another awesome job, Link!"
"Yeah, but I wish you wouldn't add your influence to my mind."
"You turned Ko'an into a mask so he could influence you, but you don't want me to?"
"That's completely different!" Link flushed. "It's…sigh, I don't even know what it is. I mean… did I really just trap a dying person's soul inside a mask? Is that even right?"
"From my understanding, the Song of Healing only does that if there's no hope for that person's survival. That lightning strike damaged him too much for even a potion or fairy to help him. However, the song can also save people who've been cursed by a mask, without really trapping their own souls."
"Does that mean there's no way to truly save him or Vito?"
"I don't know. The first time I went through this, it felt really bizarre. There were so many weird things happening that I could hardly question them."
"And what about that Mask Man? Do you know him?"
"Yes, but as for what he is, that would take a while to explain. I don't really think it's important for you, but if you meet him, maybe he would tell you. …Or maybe not. To put it simply, he's a weirdo."
"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, I'm going to bed now. Got a lot of work to do tomorrow."
"I'll bet. See you in the morning, Link."
"Sigh…" After the vision disappeared, Link slept. After traveling through snow and storms, the comfort of a nice, warm blanket truly eased his soul.
…
"WAKE UP, LINK!"
A black shoe STOMPED Link in the stomach, the boy hacking awake. "GAH, Tetra!"
"Who's Tetra?" Sipha asked.
"Geh…oh, Evan. It's you." Link acknowledged the Bomber Pirates gathered around his bed.
"Getting back to town and not telling us, I'm ashamed of you, Link! Good thing Meen is here to keep an eye on you. Now, give us a status report!"
Link accompanied the crew to Kokiel's Cooking Corner, where Koko brought them their meals. Link also handed her a few ingredients he collected from the highlands. "So, you can transform into a Rito now?" Gork asked.
"Bingo." Link put on the Rito Mask in demonstration.
"Yawn, that's pretty cool…" Nighlo yawned. "Nice to know that the Murdo were chased out."
"Hey, I gotta ask something!" Sipha spoke up. "If you wear the Minish Cap and Rito Mask at the same time, do you become a hybrid of the two?"
"Hey, I never thought about that! Let's try!" Link put the Minish Cap on. He shrank to Minish size, but the Rito Mask came off. He put the mask back on, then grew to Rito form as the cap fell off. "It looks like I can only wear one mask at a time."
"Aww, that would've been cool, though."
"Yes it would," Dr. Purah said, "but more importantly, show that Sheikah Slate."
"Yah!" Link yelped, having just noticed the child doctor thoroughly studying him with a magnifying glass. "Sheesh, quit looking at me like some mutant!"
"You're a shape-shifting human, of course you're a mutant."
"Anyway, my Sheikah Slate gained the power of Fire Arrows from the Summer Maiden." Link explained as he drew an arrow, which was set aflame.
"Oooo… so warm…" Sipha said as she held her hands by the arrow, as did the others.
"This is making me miss the hot spring." Gork replied.
"So, do you guys know anything about the Twilight Isles?"
"The Twilight Isles, eh?" Purah asked. "Yes, the Fall Maiden lives there, so it makes sense you'd wanna go there. The real problem is how to get there."
"The Maiden told me that I had to swim under the sea to reach the isles. She said the Fire Arrow could keep me warm under the frozen waters."
"She isn't wrong. The sea surrounding the isles are completely enclosed in a ring of tall peaks. Boats can't get in, but explorers have discovered a tunnel system underneath the sea that leads onto the islands. Rito have tried to fly over, but they always get attacked by giant serpents that patrol the sea. However, that isn't the only problem. You see, those aren't actually the Twilight Isles themselves."
"What, is this a riddle?"
"The Twilight Isles actually exist in the Twilight Realm, and it's also where the Fall Maiden lives. Those islands in our world actually serve as a gateway to that world. Unfortunately, the only way to actually open the gate is to ask the help of the shadows."
"The help of the shadows?"
"To put it simply, only the Twili can open the gate; the denizens of the Twilight Realm themselves."
"Okay, are there any Twili that live in town?"
"Don't be ridiculous, ya dummy! The Twili can only thrive in their own realm. The reason is because that realm exists in eternal sunset; they don't like it too bright, nor do they like it too dark. In this world, twilight only lasts a very short time, so there's little they could do before succumbing to weakness. With that in mind, none of them would have any reason to move here."
"Hold that thought, Granny." Evan said with a smirk. "All this talk about twilight actually reminds me of somethin'."
"Hopefully, it's not a book of the same name." Link commented.
"Listen, a little after the sea was frozen, people have been getting robbed every day during the twilight hours. No one has any idea what's happening. Some have been calling it the work of an evil spirit. Some are calling it the Curse of Twilight."
"Oh yeah, that's been in our Bombers' Notebook for a while." Gork remembered. "We tried scouting around town during twilight, but we never catch sight of any spirit, or anyone."
"How very interesting." Purah stroked her chin. "You see, Twili are able to merge into the shadows and hide. If they wanted to, they could swipe items and be gone before anyone notices. But it's still weird that they would even be in this town at all."
"They can hide in the shadows?" Link asked. "Hmmm…I wonder if my Lens of Truth would be able to spot them?" He held up the lens in question.
"Is that really the Lens of Truth?!" Purah exclaimed, taking and peering her eye through it. "The ancient Sheikah crafted this as a way to view the spirits! With this, I may finally be able to delve into the paranormal."
"Not until my journey is finished!" Link stated, taking it back. "So, I'm assuming this 'evil spirit' can only be found at night, but do we have any idea where to look?"
"One thing we noticed," Sipha began, "is that the people who get robbed are usually in groups of other people, although they usually aren't traveling together. Basically, a person gets robbed, and they blame the nearby passerby, but they come to an understanding after the other person proves they don't have their stuff. So, we should keep an eye on crowded areas."
"Good idea. 'Course, now we have to wait until sunset." Which I could easily play the Sun's Song, but, "the only other thing I'm worried about is having to swim. I'm not that good of a swimmer, especially underwater."
"You can just change into a Minish and I'll carry you in a bottle!" Sipha offered.
"But I wouldn't be able to help you if you encounter any monsters."
"Hey, I can fight just fine on my own. Especially underwater."
"There is an error in your logic." Ayri jumped out. "Master Link requires the Fire Arrow to survive the freezing depths, but such an item will be useless in a miniscule form. Also take note that you cannot use the Sheikah Slate."
"Oh…I guess so." Sipha frowned in disappointment. "I can't actually swim deeper than the Fishing Corner because of how cold it is."
"Yawn, maybe the Great Salvinski Bros. could help…" Nighlo yawned.
"The who?" Link asked.
"The Salvinski Bros. are a team of salvagers who sail the seas in search of treasure." Gork explained. "They would actually have some quality diving gear to help you survive underwater. But I doubt they're enjoying this cold weather either. Last I heard, they went off to sea, but they probably got stranded somewhere when everything froze over."
"So, I just have to aimlessly explore until I find them?"
"I know!" Meen squeaked. "As a Minish, you can talk to the seagulls at the harbor. The seagulls are always picking up intel out at sea."
"Okay, I'll try to do that. And I'll make it back here by sunset so we can look for this Twilight Thief."
With that, Link headed for the harbor and changed into a Minish. There was a seagull standing near the edge, and Link could use his new Fire Arrows to melt the snow in his way. He braced himself in case the seagull would try to eat him. "Hey! Excuse me! Mr. Seagull?"
"Scraw?" The bird looked down, cocking its head sideways. "Hello, Minish. Need a ride?"
"No, I wanna ask something. Do you know the Great Salvinski Bros.?"
"Scraw… you must mean those half-naked humans that sail on a crane boat. Last I saw, they were stuck on a really tall iceberg that formed when the sea froze. They were in the northeast, close to Balloon Island."
"Cool, I'll go check it out!" Link grew back to normal, scaring the seagull away. He boarded the Ancient Lion and sailed toward the northeast. He was ambushed by Frost Octoroks that blasted bombs to form icebergs, but Link could melt them with Fire Arrows. He was nearing an island that appeared to have balloons growing from the surface and floating to the sky. While he was naturally curious about this phenomena, he first searched the surrounding waters and noticed a diagonal boat suspended above an iceberg. Link shot the berg with Fire Arrows and melted it as the boat was lowered to the sea.
"Brrr-r-r-r… th-the ice finally melted! Bros, I think the cold front has finally gone away!"
"Th-Then why is it still cold, bro?"
"Hey, are you guys okay?" Link called, sailing beside the metal boat with a crane. There were four shivering, shirtless men on the boat. They spoke with Italian accents.
"Ho HO! Finally, another sailor brave enough to venture out onto these treacherous waters! Have you come to join the brave Salvinski Bros.?!"
"No, I'm actually out here to rescue you. I heard you were stranded, so I…"
"STRANDED?! HOOOOHH! The Great Salvinskis were not in need of rescuing! Mounting icebergs is our specialty!"
"Bro, I thought our specialty was salvaging?"
"There is plenty to salvage on top of icebergs, bro!"
"Okay, whatever." Link said. "Listen, I need a way to help me swim and survive underwater. Do you guys have any gear that I could borrow?"
"Get your own, bro! There is only four sets of equipment, just as there is only four of us. If we just let you have one, the Great Salvinskis will be one short!"
"Bro, maybe he can have the mask we bought last month."
"No way, bro! That mask is an antique, the Mask Man said so!"
"Bro, we couldn't even use it in this cold weather, we're better off with our gear!"
"Hang on, what's all this about a mask?" Link asked.
"Hoooohh…" The lead brother pulled out a mask resembling a swordfish, with a blue top and green bottom. "This is the Mask Enguarde. When we wear it, our swimming abilities increase terrifically! It is much easier to battle the baddies of the deep. But it does not keep our heads from freezing in this cold weather."
"Can I have it then?"
"Not so fast! If you want the Salvinski Bros. to serve you, then you must serve us!"
"I just saved your boat!"
"Without our consent! The Salvinski Bros. are hungry after a long month of leisure on our iceberg. We will not be satisfied without some fresh Fry Fish! Bring us four Fry Fish and we will trade you the Mask Enguarde. You can fish for them near the waters of Lava Cake Isle, south of the Avian Highlands."
"Sigh…well, it was about time I start exploring this ocean. But first, I need a fishing rod."
Link returned to Clockwork Island and visited the building near the Fishing Corner. The building had many fishing rods, lures, and even displayed the best fish caught by fishermen. "Excuse me." He spoke to the brown-haired Hylian at the counter. "I'd like to buy a fishing rod."
"Are you renting one for the corner or are you keeping it?"
"I'm keeping it to go fish out at sea."
"Out at sea? That's an awfully bold thing to say in this kinda weather, but I won't turn down some business. It's 100 Rupees for a fishing rod to keep."
"It's a deal." Link paid right away.
You got the Fishing Rod! With this, you can catch fish out on the Terminan Sea! Make sure to equip it with a good lure; the type of fish you can catch depend on the lure.
"Do you have any good lures for catching Fry Fish?"
"Fry Fish love the taste of tomato. I'll give ya a Tomato Lure for 20 Rupees."
"Not bad!"
With the rod and lure equipped, Link sailed south of the Highlands. He saw a glowing, orange island in the distance. Drawing closer, he learned it was shaped like a three-layered cake, oozing with lava. It looked like another cool island to explore, but he focused on the current mission first. The sea was already melted around the island, so Link cast his lure into the warm ocean. He felt a bite and tugged on the rod, reeling it in until a large, golden-brown fish came out. "Master, this appears to be a Fry Fish. They enjoy the steaming waters around Lava Cake Island and do not require further cooking to be eaten."
"Might keep some for myself. And for Koko." With that, Link fished until he captured eight Fry Fish. He kept four in storage, then sailed back to Balloon Island where he met the Salvinski Bros. again.
The Salvinskis happily savored the rich taste of the fried fish. "Oh ho! Blessed be this delicacy! You do not love the sweet taste of a Fry Fish until it is robbed from you! You have done the Salvinskis a great service, sailor. We will allow you to borrow our antique mask. But if it is scratched or lost, you will be charged 500 Rupees!"
"Heh, it's a promise." Link replied with a shrug.
You got the Mask Enguarde! This mask gives you the feeling of being a swordfish! You can swim freely under the sea and attack them with the mask's sword! However, it can't give you oxygen, so make sure to catch the air bubbles in the depths.
Link decided to sail around the sea in search of more fish, so he went to purchase more lures at the shop. Near Picori Island, he was able to catch some Accordion Eels, resembling the colorful Wigglers on the island; some Berry Gills, fish that were small and shaped like berries; and some Moth Murrels, one-eyed fish whose skin resembled the design on the wings of a Mothula.
Near the Avian Highlands, Link caught some Sunny Anglers, anglerfish with sun-shaped antennae; and some Tweeter Fish, fish with beaks resembling Rito children and who flapped their fins like wings. There were also Owl Fish down there, but they would only wake up at night, so Link couldn't catch them.
When twilight was nearing, Link returned to Clockwork Island. The Bomber Pirates had already gone to separate parts of the island, with Gork casually rolling around town. When the Goron saw Link returned, he came to him and reported, "There's a lot of people leaving the art gallery right now. Let's check around there-goro."
"Okay." Link followed him and kept the Lens of Truth ready. There was a group of teenage Hylians and a Zora outside the gallery. Link wondered if they were high school students doing a report. "Huh?" Link glanced at the ground, and he noticed a strange creature, slithering along the ground like a fish. It had a white face, glowing eyes, and orange hair. When Link moved the Lens away, the creature was gone, invisible within the shadowed ground. "That must be it!"
Link saw the shadow slither up to a Hylian boy, reaching its slithery arm up his leg to go in his pocket. However, the shadow saw Link approaching, and judging by that magnifying glass, it grew suspicious and worried. The shadow abandoned its mission and slithered away. "Hey—what the-?!" the Hylian yelled when Link bumped him and ran by. The shadow quickly swam through town, trying to go around other people in attempt to lose the pursuer. However, Link was able to chase it to an open area, so before it could hide behind more townspeople, Link drew his bow and shot a Fire Arrow.
"!!!" The arrow nearly struck and burned the shadow, and it reactively jumped out of the ground. The nearby citizens whipped in Link's direction, gasping at the sudden burst of fire.
"Hoo! Guys, some creature just came out of the ground!" Nighlo yelled; he had been surveying the situation from the air and quickly flew to his other teammates to inform them. (Since it was twilight, he was more awake and active.)
The fire from the arrow quickly disappeared, but eyes were still on Link and the "creature" that just came out. It appeared to be a humanoid with black and white skin; the black parts covered her chest area and extended down to her bare feet, while the arms and head were white. She had long orange hair and front bangs half-covering her glowing orange eyes. There were cyan lines forming complex shapes around her front and back.
"What is that thing?" a woman asked.
"It looks like a kid." a Goron replied. "But what is it?"
"I swear I saw it come out of the ground. It could be a monster!" a Zora man yelled.
"Does that child have some kind of disease? Is that why her skin looks like that?" the previous woman asked.
"Ew, she's naked!" a boy yelled. "Mommy, she's naked! Ahahahahaha!"
The strange girl bit her lip, anxious from the sudden attention. She was about to sink back into the shadows and try to run—"AAAH!" she screamed when Gork rolled by and grabbed her, curling up as he rolled away. Link chased after the Goron, while the townspeople remained stunned by the sudden event.
The other Bomber Pirates followed Gork to an alley, where Gork uncurled, firmly holding the girl by the arms as she tried to squirm. "STAY OINT BALM! Hey hey sicky boy! I'm boycott! MOI BREEEAAAD!"
A shadow tried to punch Gork's head and choke him, but his rock skin made this task difficult. "She's not making any sense!" Sipha yelled.
"That's because she's not speaking Terminan. She's speaking Twili." Purah confirmed. "This girl is a Twili, there's no doubt."
"Master Link, this Sheikah Slate is equipped to translate any known language. Allow me to repeat what she said: 'Let me go! Don't hurt me! Someone help! Heeeeeelp!'"
"How do you say 'Calm down!' in Twili?!" Gork asked as the girl pressed her feet to his belly, trying to break away.
"Hey, it's okay!" Link yelled. "We're not trying to hurt you, just calm down!"
"Hey gizzy, don't break booger bean, get da pow!" Ayri translated.
"Geez, her language sounds weirder than Granny's hipster talk." Evan remarked.
"You have no respect for culture, boy."
"Geh…geh…" The Twili seemed to soften her resolve, and after she felt calm, Gork let go of her arms. "Ah…ah…achoo!"
"She said, 'Achoo'!"
"I think a sneeze is universal in all languages." Link figured.
"So, are you the one who's been robbing people during twilight?" Evan asked.
"Y…Yes. It was me." she admitted. Her voice had sort of an echo to it. "Are you going to turn me in?"
"No, but we'd like to ask you some questions." Link replied. "Like… what's your name and where are you from?"
"My name is Madim. I'm from the Twilight Isles…achoo."
"As I suspected." Purah nodded. "But how did you get all the way here from there?"
"My father and I fled here a month ago after our home fell under a terrible curse. Every day once a day, a cloud of darkness would fall over the world, and a bunch of us transformed into monsters. We cut down one of our Dusk Trees and made it into a shabby boat, which we used to sail the sea in the Light World. But we were ambushed by a Big Octo; it swallowed us whole and then blasted us away like a cannon. We landed on the frozen part of the ocean; the good thing was we were able to walk, but it was so cold on our feet and we were quickly becoming sick…achoo!"
The kids shared a glance, knowing how that part ended. "Not only was the weather terrible… but we only had strength during the evening hours. At day, we were sick, and at night, we were sleepy…achoo. After days of walking, we finally made it to this town… but we were ambushed by a masked girl."
Link cast a glare.
"She blew a freezing wind over us, and forced a strange mask over my father. Then, he transformed into one of the same monsters from my homeland. He attacked some of the people in town, but when a woman spilled a bunch of jewelry from her purse, he snatched it up and started eating it—achoo. I stole some of the jewelry and got my father to chase me. I was able to find a good hiding place in a sewer where I let him eat it. And every evening since then, I've been stealing peoples' money and treasure to bring it to him, otherwise, I'm afraid he'll want to break out and hurt more people."
"And you were sick all this time? Man… I don't even know what to say."
"Why didn't you try to steal some clothes to keep you warm?" Sipha asked.
"Not as easy to swim in shadows with clothes. Just look at you. You're naked, too."
Sipha exploded with a blush. "Well, I… fish can be naked, right??"
"Nighlo, wrap your wings over her." Evan ordered. "Keep her warm while we go to the Stock Pot Inn. From there, she can just hide in a shadow or something to sneak past the desk lady. We'll get her a warm bed and order some soup."
"N-No! I have to bring some treasure to my father."
"I can change your father back to normal." Link affirmed. "You said he's in the sewer, right? Where, exactly?"
"There's a passage that's heavily cluttered with frozen spider-webs. My father was strong enough to break through them when I was a little late for bringing treasure, but otherwise, I use my Veil to go through it."
"I'll just use my Fire Arrow. Guys, get her to the inn. I'll bring her father back in a bit."
Nighlo gently hugged Madim in his wings. "Right this way, Madim~"
The shivering Twili pressed herself to the feathery Rito, finding his warmth refreshing. "Ha ha…good one…achoo."
Link found a sewer lid and became a Minish to drop in, changing back afterward. He used the Fire Arrow to unfreeze the water, creating a proper flow. He traveled upriver and encountered some Skulltula, having to flip the spiders over in order to stab their bellies. He discovered a tunnel with ice formations that looked like webs. He destroyed them with Fire Arrows and traveled to a small room with pieces of broken treasure and a black creature.
The creature wore a black mask that completely blocked its face, tendrils sticking above and below it, and had red lines over its skin, similar to Madim's cyan lines. The creature bellowed a venomous sound at Link: it lunged to attack him, but he bonked it back with his shield, then tossed his boomerang at him. When it was dizzy enough, Link quickly conducted the Song of Healing.
"GROOOOWWWWwwwwwlllll…" The song caused it to screech with agonizing pain. There was a bright flash, and when Link could see again, the mask had fallen off, and the creature gained white parts on its body as it fell on its front. To Link's surprise, the mask came to life, walking on its tendrils as it lunged to attack Link, but he quickly swat it away with his sword and stabbed the mask. It disappeared in a splattering fashion.
"Ooo…ooooooohhh…" groaned the Twili man in an eerie echo. Link approached him as the man lifted his head, showing Link a ghoulish white face with red eyes. "Ohhhhh…a young man… where…where am I…"
Link explained the curse he had just undergone and what his daughter had been doing for his sake, with Ayri translating both people. "Madim…Madim has been suffering so much… for me? Oh, what a terrible father I am… What a terrible thing I've put her through…"
"Everything's going to be okay. She's getting warm at the inn right now, so I'll take you to join her. She'll be really happy to see you back to normal. …But it'll probably be faster if you put this on." He held up the Minish Cap. "Trust me."
A few minutes later, Link returned to the Stock Pot and found the Bombers around a bed in the bunk room, where Madim was curled up as tightly as a caterpillar in a cocoon. The group looked over in surprise when Link walked in with a scary-looking man, but soon realized it was another Twili. They moved aside to allow the man to see his daughter. "Ma…Madim?"
The girl rolled over with a gasp. "D…Daddy!" She threw off her covers and stood to grab him in a hug.
"Madim… I was having the strangest nightmare… where I was surrounded by the monsters from home… and I have the worst stomachache… Was I really eating nothing but treasure all this time?"
"I'm sorry, Dad… it was…it was the only way to keep you under control… If you hurt any of the townspeople, they would've killed you… I was afraid to ask anyone for help because… I thought the Light World was afraid of us."
"Yes… that was always my greatest concern with coming here… but these children don't seem afraid of us… They seem quite friendly…"
"Nah, just a little weirded out." Meen commented. Evan put his hand over her.
"Heheh…" Link sported a chuckle. …Although he was happy with their reunion, he feared having to cut it short. "Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need a favor…"
"Oh, yes, boy. After what you did for us, you deserve anything…" The father moaned.
"I need to go to the Twilight Isles. I want to save the rest of the Twili, too, but I heard I needed a Twili's help to open it. Still, considering everything you've been through, you probably want to rest."
"Hmmmm…boy… didn't you say you played a mystical song to heal my curse?"
"Yeah, with my Wind Waker." Link held the baton up. "It can do a lot of things when I play songs." Come to think of it, he didn't transform… just like that boy said, it can heal people who've been cursed by the masks.
"So, that wand can use special powers through song… In our world, there is a song that we play to honor the shadows. I wonder if you played it, the shadows would open the Twilight Mirrors for you. Oh, how did it go again?"
"It went like this." Madim stood on the bed and cleared her throat. "Cough. La, la, laaaa. La, la, laaaa. La la la la, laaaaaaaa…"
Link directed the baton left, right, left… left, right, left. Doo, doo, doooo. Doo, doo, doooo. Do do do do, doooo, do-do-doooo, doooooo…
You learned the Ode to Twilight! This is part of the anthem that the Twili sing to the shadows! By performing this before a Twilight Mirror, they will allow you into their world!
"All right! I think I have everything I need now!" Link beamed. "I'm heading for the Twilight Isles now. You two just rest and eat up until you feel better."
"We won't be able to keep them in the inn for long before other residents come." Purah said. "We should probably sneak you over to my lab in a little bit. And I'm not just saying that so I can research your DNA."
"I never thought Light Worlders would be so nice to us…" Madim said.
"That's just what the Bomber Pirates do, Madame!" Evan proclaimed proudly. "Matter of fact, you would be a heck of an edition to our crew."
"'Guess that makes me her senior." Link joked. "Anyhow, I'd better get going. Stay safe, you guys!" He eagerly raced out of the inn.
"Save the Twili ASAP, Link!" Evan ordered. "We might wanna visit their island ourselves!"
In another world
Cheren took off the hat to give his hair some breath. "So, the Twili don't tolerate the Light World very well?" Hat Kid asked.
"Apparently not. I know that the Twili in our world are only native to Twilight Town, but whenever they leave, they don't have problems with day or night. Just look at Dillon's family. I know they're only part-Twili, but still…"
"I guess these Twili just haven't adapted to the outside world, yet."
"I guess not. But I'd like to be around when that starts to change."