(I play a game every Sunday and write what happens inaccurately. Currently I'm playing through Majora's Mask. See previous parts here.)
Last time, we were introduced to Nutty Link, on a quest to return to his former self, by stealing a mask from a child and helping a bad salesman. Now, we need to find a piece of a fairy in order to talk to the Great Fairy.
The piece is somewhere in town. So time to hit the streets!
Ok, let's get a lay of the land: The town seems to have four parts. The south, where I came in, a north, where I am now, a west and another west. What, I didn't name them.
Let's check out the west first: There's some shops.
- A curiosity shop, that's closed,
- a trading post with a person who REALLY likes scratching his own back (uh, literally, as in, physically scratching it)
- a bomb shop (with a Goro who's selling a HUGE bomb on the side, but he admits I won't be able to carry it, so the sell didn't really work),
- a swordmans school
- a postman's office with-- WAIT WHO'S THAT, IS THAT
IT IS OH MY GOD I FOUND HIM. The one and only! The Legend! Endurance Incarnate! My old friend, the Wandering Running Man! Let's Dance!
...But instead of the reunion I was expecting he was just complaining I interrupted his training. He's, apparently trying to hold his breath for exactly 10 seconds. And explains this is hard by letting me try (the reason it's hard is he's not allowed to know when 10 seconds has passed, so it's just a counting game). And he let's you try! I didn't succeed (I got 9:11, 10:54, and 10:69). So I gave up.
The reason he doesn't know me is obvious, though: I'm Nutty Link right now and not the kid he knows and loves. You'll see, when I'm back to my old self, we'll be right back in the old patterns. There'll be milk and cookies. And Blackjack.
There was also a
- lottery shop. But it was closed, too, when I was there.
Other than the shops, there was a kid who told me about an old astronomer outside town they knew a secret passage to, and the guards who, clearly a still a threat.
They're even doing the goddamn Mido Shuffle on all the doorways to make sure I don't leave town.
Oh, and who's this?
Is that? Owl Friend? (No, it's a statue of owl friend, don't be silly.)
I run around a bit more and find a back-area with a musician who used to be in a mill and a shady business guy who runs away when I get close, but then
Boof. Right. We on a timer, friends. In case you forgot. This goes by quickly, doesn't it?
Better continue.
Time for the other west! Also known as East!
Before I got to the shops, I noticed the wandering running man running around in post-man-gear, to the different mailboxes and doing his job. Neat!
- a games shop, with uhm... these two
who seem like they should
Yeah, uh, I'm gonna leave them alone.
- A shooting gallery, for which I need a bow. Which, hah, like they'd give ME a bow.
- A Member's only Milk Bar. Which is Good. I'm hanging out in there. For sure.
- An Inn, which is closed when I get there because it's morning. (I later noticed the staff shifting because it turned to night, seeing the person literally walking to the inn and getting behind the counter at night time. This is some Shenmue Shit and I love it.)
- This:
It's actually a treasure shop thingy, where you can pay 10 rupees to run through a maze to get a treasure. I did it on my first try, it was some nuts. Nuts.
- And the mayor's house. In which, there was a meeting taking place, which didn't seem like the type of thing I could just barge into but
There I was. Turns out, there was guards on one side, arguing for the evacuation of town, but the builders on the other side?
Moon? Fall? Uh. nooooo.
But the guards were all pretty sure they should evacuate the town, and the builders were all it's hodge-podge and bullshit and nothing will happen and we need business to go on and it all felt a little too real right now so I bailed.
Then I went outside and looked up.
Oh.
Fuck.
I see. The moon is... right there. Indeed. Maybe... I should evacuate.
OH WAIT, the guards won't let me leave town!!
What the hell, guards.
Anyways, what's that?
(the astute among you might notice it says its the first day again down there. I accidentally closed the game and had to start from right after I'd been to the fairy fountain.)
A jump up on a flower, and I got the fairy, and scoop, we're back in business:
Great Fairies haven't changed, I see. Great. Time for questions. So, great fairies are assembled of little fairies? But different little fairies than the ones who follow me around?
You grew careless? Ok. I have great faith in you already.
So now you'll just give me magic power. Ok. Nothing ironic about that.
wait, what.
Bubbles?
Last time, I got the ability to fucking whirl FIRE around me. And now you're giving me BUBBLES!?
The recession even hits fairies, I see.
Then she tells me to go find the man who lives in the observatory, because he might know where Skull Kid is. Whatever, lady, I'm done with you fairies and your magic.
Time to go ask some kids about a secret passage.
Right. Spill it, gangster.
Oh for the love of--------
Right. Video games. Goddammit.
The problem is that he gave me that quest in the middle of the night. Which, leaves me with about 6 hours to find them? And six hours, if you haven't realized, passes FAST.
So time to boogie!
I'm gonna save you most of the kid finding squabbles expect to show you just how much the guards hate me:
Now, kid, that's just straight up cheating. (Yeah, I literally, physically, cannot go there. I had to walk away and wait for the kid to come back out.)
Some kids later and I got them all rounded up for a good talking to.
To reward me, their leader (Jim, a strong, leader-y name) considered letting me in their club (The Bombers) but all the others were immediately like
ouch. Jeez. I'm just... trying to get by, guys. No reason to be all shitty about it.
Anyways, then they gave me the code and I was right off, down the secret passage.
Cool! Thanks for telling me! I'm very excited now!
I go through the secret passage, and then we have one last reunion with our favourite spider:
Yeah, Tatl, it is kinda weird that Link doesn't know what a Skulltula is. True.
And then we're at the astronomer's place! We'll find out what he says, in the next episode.
Cliffhanger! What will the astronomer say? Will he be looking at the stars? Or the big rock in the sky? Or the economy? Or the carnival, which is apparently still happening while the moon is thundering down towards us? Or the party that's soon happening with me and Wandering Running Man? Will HE get an invite?!
Find out next time, in Part 3!