Still Guarding the Temple...

      “Well, right now, I’m heading off to Stone Tower. There’s a monster inside the temple that I have to kill.” There was far more to it than that, but he’d explain that when the time came. At least, if she’d not gotten bored and wandered off before then. He wasn’t sure which he would prefer as of yet.

“Oooh, I’m so scared of the undead,” she said, mock-cowering. 

She stood up straight again and hovered with her hands behind her back. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Killing things is part of what I do on a regular basis. Mostly the Deku Babas in my courtyards, since they are my nemesis, but I sometimes kill humans, too. Poe hunters, usually. They are also my nemesis.”

The other humans she killed were humans that made her too angry. Hopefully Link wouldn’t be one of them.

      Why was she following him? Hadn’t he made it clear that this conversation was over? Apparently not. He had a good idea as to why she wouldn’t go away though.

      “If the Majora you met isn’t a mask, I guess we’re talking about different Majoras.” Maybe this would deter her. “The one I’m trying to stop is a mask.”

      Regardless of what he said, Joelle still intended to come along from what it appeared. Great. He just hoped she wouldn't get in the way, since he wasn’t up to the task of killing her just to get her to stop following him.

“Even if it doesn’t turn out to be him, I’m curious now.” Maybe she’d take the mask and hang it up in the Forest Temple. She’d decide when she got there.

Joelle stretched her arms. “I’m pretty good at things that aren’t easy. Plus my form gives me far fewer limitations than you corporeal beings. I think my abilities will assist you greatly.”

She’d never been on a real adventure before, not like this. Sure, she’d ventured out of the Forest Temple from time to time and wandered aimlessly for a few hours, but she’d never had a goal. 

      “WHAT?”

      That was something he had never expected to hear of Majora, and quite frankly, he wished he hadn’t heard it. She had to be lying, just trying to get under his skin. Majora was evil, not… that.

“He’s not a mask,” Joelle said, following Link. “He’s a tall, handsome demon. Sure, he’s kind of evil, but that’s not really a turn-off for me.”

      He couldn’t, however, ignore the slightly uneasy feeling growing inside him. Why did the mention of Majora cause such a change in her demeanor?

“What about him, indeed.” Joelle put a hand on her cheek and sighed. 

“He’s slippery and troublesome,” she said, though not in an angry manner. If she had a mouth to smirk with, she would have. “And he’s a pretty good kisser.”

      If he tried, he could kind of see what she was getting at, but it still sounded silly to him. When you’ve watched it destroy everything a handful of times, it makes it difficult to even try and make light of the situation like that.

Joelle tilted her head to the side. She thought she heard a familiar name. It couldn’t be, could it? 

      “Why… Why Jerry?”

      He shook his head, frowning stormily. There was nothing about the moon to like, not with the threat that it posed to everyone.

“Why not Jerry?”

Joelle liked Jerry even more with the tiny Link’s description.

      He opened his mouth to shoot a biting remark in retaliation for her own, but after a moment he closed it again. This wasn’t a battle he needed to fight.

      However, her comment did tell him which of the Joelle’s she was; she was from Hyrule. Her Termina counterpart had only ever seen him as a child. That would also explain how she was still alive, now that he thought about it.

“Magic,” she said, wiggling her fingers. In other words, she had no idea how she got there.

Really, she didn’t much care how she got here. It was an interesting place, so that’s all that mattered. There was one thing in particular she really liked about this place, however.

- — {☾}

      Link was extremely certain that he’d killed her, both in Hyrule and here in Termina. Had… Had she somehow come back to haunt him? With all the strange thing’s he’d experienced, he wouldn’t be all that surprised.

“You’re a lot smaller than I remember.” Joelle hovered closer. The threat of arrows didn’t seem to sink in, probably because he was a child and she didn’t take him seriously.

     “That’s rather rude language from a lady.” What was it with women hating him? He could never seem to catch a break, even from dead ones. He raised his hands in front of himself, attempting to appear harmless. The more agitated she was, the harder this would be for the both of them.

“Oh, cute, you think I’m a lady.” Joelle jabbed her tendrils at him, aiming for vital spots.

{☀} —

“Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing about you.” He was just another Poe hunter. She could pick them out of any crowd. This one, however, had the audacity to speak to her.

      He could feel her anger seep into the air from her smaller form. Although her claws would bring significant pain to any mortal, it only felt like vague tingling to Majora, only increasing what amusement he’d felt before.

      “Hey now, I might be a cruel god, but I couldn’t do that to you. Well,” he tilted his head back a little, “not again. I’d at least give a little warning.”

      The deity’s tone then softened the slightest bit, losing it’s playful edge and gaining a more caring hint to it. He wrapped one arm around her, slightly nudging her arm so she’d loosen her grip.

      “I really am sorry. But hey, since I’m back now, I can make it up to you somehow, yeh?”

He would find a way to appease her wrath somehow, even if he would only anger her again later. But right now, he’d play nicely, for her.

“I don’t know if the moon would fit in the Forest Temple.” It would be nice, but not if it destroyed her home in the process. She would keep admiring the moon from afar.

Then she remembered something. She had been on a quest to acquire them for quite some time, but with no success. She started wiggling around like an excited puppy.

      Her reaction had been expected, and to a lesser degree, the kiss as well. He was rather surprised that she hadn’t outright attacked him, however, given the fact he hadn’t even sad goodbye. Better not to get his hopes up though, in case she simply was deciding to wait for that.

      “Oh? Is that so,” he replied in amusement, pulling away and taking a few steps back, noting the tears in her eyes with a brief flicker of pain in his own. Regardless, his smile grew wider as it took a much more mischievous air. “I suppose I could always leave again if you so wish?”

      In an instant, he disappeared, as though going through with his statement, but moments later appeared again behind her.

      “Although, I suppose it’d be rather rude to do that when I just barely came back, kehehehe.”

She shrieked again when he reappeared behind her, whirling around and regaining a grip on his collar.

“Yeah it’d be rude!” She yelled. “More than rude! Cruel! Just stay here!”

@pineappleheadpoe

{ ☾}—

      It hadn’t felt like but a few days since he’d left, but upon returning, it appeared more time had passed in the mortal realm than he’d originally assumed. Everything had a slightly different air about it, but he didn’t mind all that much. No… out of everything inside his chaotic mind, he decided to focus on one subject in particular.

      Making his way to the familiar inside of Hyrule’s eerie Forest Temple, Majora silently made his way through the many rooms and corridors, until finally, he found the spirit he’d been searching for.

      “Hello my darling,” the deity purred from behind the poe, Joelle, a hint of a genuine smile gracing his otherwise cold features. He stood close, but refrained from making physical contact for now; it was unwise to do so, he felt.

But when a face was attached to that voice, her eyes widened. She froze in place momentarily, staring at him.

At his question, her eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched up as if he had just asked the most stupid question in the world. Which it was.

“Did I miss you?” she said incredulously. “Did I miss you?!”

At first it may have seemed like she was very unhappy with his sudden reappearance. She was. He didn’t even send her a post card! How rude! 

She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him roughly into a kiss.