-Somewhere in Qin-

A peculiar man of extravagant tastes and with a discerning eye entered the city. The guards at the gate gave him barely a glance as he entered. He had with him a horse and a wagon carrying what remained of his belongings. It was faint pickings of what he once knew, but it was better than what he had of late. He was in tough times and came here seeking opportunity and good fortune. Having been in many cities, and well traveled, he looked on the city and saw it was different. Most cities of such size had an energy about it. If the city was towards the border, then the energy was thick with a need for security, wariness of invaders, and a high guard. If the city was towards the core west of Qin, then it had an energy of bustling commerce, a thriving slave trade, a small guard detachment to police, and the word 'profit' on everyone's lips. Here, he found, there was no energy of such. The blacksmiths did not seem overworked, the market was not overflowing to the neck in competition, there were no wary eyes peering out at him from the shadows as the underground families are bound to do. It was friendly. The people smiled at him and gave him polite niceties. It was relaxed. It was as if there wasn't a care in the world.

It spooked him.

He told himself it was just their way. Perhaps they were odd. Perhaps the legends were true and what he saw about him was a sign of it. Or perhaps he had met with a terrible fate...

The man found an inn where he could lodge his horse, and a place to keep his belongings. He locked the door tightly and planned his thoughts out. Under the eyes of the strangers from the window, he found himself pushing the heaviest of his belongings directly up against the door until it would no longer budge. The gap was so small now, so thin, that even a boy would not be able to push through. Thankfully he was a very thin man and could work his way through the gap before shutting the door and pulling stringed mechanisms from under the gap so as to lock it from the outside.

The man entered the lobby and entreated for the innkeeper.

"Hello, my good man," Our man said, smiling widely.

"Hello to you, I trust you found your room comfortable?"

"Yes, very much so. My compliment to you and your family. The inn is warm, cozy, and if the scent from your kitchen is telling, I think I might gorge myself later!" Our man laughed nervously. The innkeeper smiled in appreciation. Our man said, "Now, I am here for a purpose, and I hope you might be able to point me out to my purpose further."

"Certainly. I saw you owned some, and if you don't mind me prying, it seemed as if you wish to open up a shop. I think it is good. Here people here are happy and welcoming to new business."

"If things go well, then I may open up a nice little happy shop, but that is not my purpose here. No, I could go to any city to do it, but I have a... specific purpose here. Legends have reached my ear, legends I hope are true." Our man rubbed his hands together nervously, hoping he wasn't coming across as mad, yet also fearing the man might know his mind so much as to be too discerning for merely strangers.

The innkeeper looked at him in slight confusion. Our man licked his lips and thought he should be more specific. "I heard there is a man here who is in the business of helping others, with a guiding hand that has never failed, and has been at the call of the lowly as much as the kingly."

"What kind of help?" The man asked.

"That is my business, you see. Help that only he can assist in, I fear. I have traveled long and far, and despite my best efforts, I feel myself at the end of my abilities, and soon I must either take what I have and make do with it, or find help only one such as he can grant. My allies are... unfortunately slim, you see. My friends have abandoned me and my enemies surround me."

The innkeeper nodded. He looked at our man plainly and seriously, as if understanding the gravity of our man's statements far more than he should for men who had only just met. Then the innkeeper smiled in mirth and said, "I know of the one you mean. You want your wish granted."

Our man juggled the sentence between his hands and commented, "In a word, yes."

The innkeeper stepped out and motioned for him to follow. They stood in the street and he pointed towards the mansion towards the center of the city. "There, you will find him. If you wish to make deals and engage in business, then our Lord is the one you should bring it to. Lay your problems at his feet and he will help you in ways you never knew possible."

The innkeeper patted him on the shoulder before returning into his abode, and leaving our man with a sense of chill. The way he had phrased it did not sit well with our man, but his mind was set. He squared his jaw, planted his foot before the other, and marched towards the mansion. He expected there to be security as he approached, yet also he found himself equally unsurprised. The eery city was only made more uncomfortable by how easily he approached the front doors. The guards and servants milling about gave him minimal notice until then.

A servant approached, asking as to what our man would want there. Our man said, "I have come to entreat the Lord of this city..." He thought himself mad having to ask it, but he asked more directly, "and to s-seek my fortune with one they call the wish maker?"

The servant smiled in the same way as the innkeeper, in a manner far too knowing for our man's taste. Thankfully the servant said nothing, but merely bowed and entered the manor. It was a few minutes but before long the servant motioned our man in and said their master was ready to receive him.

Our man entered the manor and followed the servant. Our man gaped at what he saw about him. The manor was furnished with delicacy, taste, and wealth. The floor was softwood with rugs leading from wall to wall. The walls had trophies of animal heads, furnishings of light decorative rugs, weapons meant for appearance than practicality, paintings, and torches resting in spiraling hooks. Every corner had statues of powerful men and beautiful women or a beautiful bush in a soil pot or a pedestal on which rested a prize, of which appeared many different cultures and origins until our man had no idea what purpose the objects held. As they walked through the halls, our man looked out glass windows to see walls of flowers lining a garden.

The servant opened a door to the dining hall, motioned our man in, and closed the door behind him.

The man to whom our man saw took his breath away and set his knees knocking together.

The man sitting him wore white clothes under a white robe tied with a white sash. His sandals were of white wood with white straps around his feet and white socks. He wore a necklace of strings of white pearl with a white gemstone under it. His skin was the palest shade of white he had ever laid eyes on, his nails were white without any pink hue, his hair was white and straight and covered half of his face on the right side, his lips were white like paint. Yet of all of this, the most striking thing as his eyes. Our man had seen the whiteness of a blind man's eyes, yet this was not so. The lord of the manor had the whitest eyes he had ever seen, punctuated by a small black dot in its center through which he might see and not be blind.

Our man stood before the Lord of the city mesmerized and afraid. The man was white in every way until it was blinding like the sun, yet all of it only drew his attention to the small black beads in the center of the man's eyes that looked back at him. The eyes were alien to him and terrifying.

"Welcome," The extremely white man said.

"H-hello." Our man replied, remembering himself. He bowed quickly at the hip.

"I am told you wished to meet me."

"Yes, my lord. If you are the one I have heard of."

"Then that very well depends on what have you heard." He smiled. His teeth were as pearly white as his skin. "Naturally, not all of what one hears is true, while some of what we may think is base rumor is found to be more true than the fiction. Tell me, what is it you have heard?"

"What I have heard, and what has drawn my feet to your table, is that there is a legend of one who grants wishes."

At this, the man nodded. "Then you have come to the right man. I know of this legend, but what I offer is not quite as the legend would have you believe." Seeing our man's crest fell at these words, the albino continued, "Now, no need to fret. There is both truth and falsehood to it. I do not grant wishes, no. Wishes I find are so very... singular. I grant something... deeper: Desires. Things we yearn for, things we need to satisfy ourselves, not merely the scraps of daily thoughts and wants. For now, though, you look hungry, please sit! Enjoy yourself!"

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At his words, a servant put a hand on our man's shoulder and helped him into a seat at the other end of the table. At first our man did not desire to sit, but the servant's hand was firm and the master's voice allowed no argument. Before long some vegetable, meat, bread, and water was provided.

"Are you a man whose taste is toward bread or rice?" The master of the house asked. "I can barely keep track between my guests."

"I can make do with either." Our man replied politely. He looked down at the food and found himself salivating. "It is true, I am hungry. I have traveled vast distances to meet you."

"How far? If you do not mind my curiosity."

"I have traveled the lengths of Qin several times over, and entered Gerudo at one point, upon nothing more than the rumor of your existance." Our man explained as he ate. To his surprise, the food was good and his hunger replied in turn in full need to be satisfied. The bread was warm and fluffy, the vegetables were crisp, the meat was juicy and tender. The water was chilled and clear and had a soft taste that reminded our man of gentle rivers. As he talked, his hands constantly moved between what was before him. "While many have heard of you, few take the legend seriously, and fewer still would ever think to guess of where you are."

The lord nodded. He did not react to the explanation in any way to convey if this was as he wished it to be, or if it even mattered to him. He did not deny the difficulty our man had in finding him, nor held sympathy.

"You have traveled far, then." The lord simply observed. "Makes me wonder what you need that would bring you here."

"I am sorry, I am being rude." Our man suddenly realized. He bowed down apologetically. "I have been most rude! I did not think to introduce myself nor inquire as to your name. It has been a long time since I have gone by any name, and the names I have provided have all been true, but have differed on the occassion. You may know me simple as a mask salesman."

The lord of the manor nodded. After a short time in which our man slowed in his eating, and was seemingly satisfied, the lord of the manor asked, "So, my simple mask salesman, what is it you desire?"

"Are you asking me directly what my wish is, then?"

"Yes."

"And I have your full confidence in this matter? What I ask for will not be shared outside these walls?"

"It will not be. I swear on my life."

Our man reflected back to the last several years. As his mind roved over the times, his jaw clenched, his eyes burned furiously, and his fists tightened themselves. "I want you to kill princess Zelda."

Whether these words surprised the lord or not, he showed nothing. If anything, he sighed. The lord rubbed his head sleepily, stood, and walked around the table.

"As I have said, I do not grant wishes. No, I grant something deeper."

"It is what I want!"

"I did not say it isn't, but it isn't what will satisfy you."

"You cannot claim to know what does or doesn't satisfy me!" Our man barked, angered at being told he didn't know himself.

"I don't claim to know what does or doesn't satisfy you either. That is something only you can answer, but with how tense you are, I doubt that merely killing the princess of Qin is the answer."

The lord of the house approached him and sat next to him, not in a seat, but on the table so that he was looking down at him. To our man's surprise, and momentary horror, the lord's eyes turned black. The black dots in the center of his eyes expanded to cover the entirity of his eyeball, and they locked gazes. Our man stared into the dark wells, the pool of blackness that seemed infinitely deep. They drew in his attention, they drew in his breath, and deep in his soul he felt his deep emotions rise, emotions he had settled with and quelled long ago. Yet these emotions, these thoughts, these needs, were never quelled, they were merely sleeping.

"What is it you desire?" The albino asked. A knowing smile lifted from the man's lips.

Mezmerized, our man tried to put what he felt into words. "I... I want..."

"Yes?"

"I want justice."

The albino blinked briefly, the black wells disappeared into white again, and he continued to smile. "Oh? Is that what you want? Justice? Justice implies you feel you have been wronged. The anger follows, as anger is the natural result of self-perceived villainy, and you showed great anger in thinking back on it, so it fits."

Our man gasped, blinked heavily, and wondered if he had fallen into a daydream. "I-Yes! Villainy! I was a good governor. I brought great abundance to my house and holdings in the name of Qin, and only because of who my employer is, I was given over to outsiders and mountain men! They sought to blame me for the ways of men while yet my rivals surrounded me to take my life, and I fled with only my life to my name. Since then I have only breathed to give to the Ice Witch the same fate she has given me!"

The albino looked at him heavily, and wondered, "Who are you?"

"I have gone by several names," Our man explained. "All true for the occassion. I do not know which to say honestly at this moment. I am now but a simple mask salesman."

"Well, my simple mask salesman," the man smiled. He grabbed one of the goblets, a knife, and cut his hand lightly. A few drops of blood fell into the water. "Drink, and the deal will be sealed. I will give you justice against your enemies."

"And what would you ask of me in return?" The mask salesman asked skeptically. "You have yet to ask for payment or reward."

"You will find, my dear mask salesman, that I ask for nothing, yet always get what I want." The albino said skeptically. "Think nothing of payment nor reward. I do not ask for it."

"Well then, let us seal it!" The mask salesman decided. He took the drink and sipped it.

"On this occassion, if your name is as fluid as the times you find yourself, I name you Satakarta," The albino said. "In another land it means one who seeks justice. Let us make some arrangements. Come."

The albino punctuated his words by standing and departing. The mask salesman followed, and the two entered the gardens. In the center of the gardens was a deep pool of water from which pond life grew and some fish fed. At first the mask salesman wondered if they were there to fish, but the albino leaped into the water, leaving the salesman alone without further instructions.

The salesman did not have to think long, as hands suddenly took hold of him from behind, and shoved him into the water. The salesman fought against his attackers, but their hold was firm. He felt himself being plunged deeper and deeper into the pond, until he came to wonder just how deeper it, and how far he would go before they drowned him. His answer came as they reached the bottom of the pond, and with a firm hold on him, swam into a cavernous opening in the side. Immediately he was dragged into air, and he gasped. He fought against his aggressors once more, and froze.

Monsters looked down at him. Their eyes and mouths glowed blue, as well as pockets of flesh like eyes hanging off their skin. Their skin was an ugly assortment of fur, scales, spikes, and open flesh. Their rib cage extended from their body and some of their organs were revealed openly, being contained in a transparent film of skin.

The mask salesman reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a mask, and held it up in his hands. From the mask came a great wolf between him and his attackers. The wolf bared its fangs, and the monsters stepped back. The wolf remembered these monsters, as did the salesman. More monsters appeared from the shadows. He held the mask up, controlling the wolf, and kept them at bay.

"Interesting use of the Majora's magics." A voice said from the darkness. "You are clearly more than just a mask salesman."

Satakarta looked to find the Albino was standing amidst the pack of beasts. The beasts parted as the albino stepped forward.

"You are clearly more than just a mere mask salesman." The albino observed. The white man's eyes studied the wolf closely.

"What is this?!" The mask salesman demanded.

"I apologize for the confusion but you can hardly be expected to come here on your own. 'Jump into the pond, swim to the bottom, and enter the alcove' is seemingly too many instructions for your species."

The albino stepped closer until he was in arm's reach of the wolf. The mask salesman yelled, "Get back! I didn't ask for this!"

"You are the one to came to me." The albino replied. "You have come for a bargain. Do not think to pull out so soon after you have come so far."

The wolf growled at the albino. The size of the great wolf was such that even the tall albino had to look up at it. The albino opened a hand, revealing a spike extending from his wrist. He slapped the wolf in the side, and the wolf recoiled before angrily bit down on him, swallowing his head and tearing him in half from the waist up.

Or, at least, the wolf should have. The wolf whimpered for a moment in pain, shook, and exploded. The mask salesman covered his head as blood and guts and flesh and fur flew over him. After the moment calmed, he opened his eyes, and gasped.

Before him was a giant skeleton of the wolf, but yet it was not a skeleton. Skeletons are of white bone and marrow. What he saw before him was alien to him, yet resembled a bone structure. It had marrow, but no bone. It was red and hardened, and after a moment his eyes widened. Blood! The blood of the wolf had hardened and expanded violently, ripping the flesh from itself.

Satakarta, the mask salesman, fell back and hit the wall. Something on the wall shook and fell off of its stand into his lap. He looked down at what fell and saw a bottle of bluish fluid, in which swam about a small glowing man. His eyes flew up and he gasped again. All around the room were filled vials, lamps, bottles, and other glass containers with Fae in them. So many it boggled the mind. This was how the room so far down could glow with light!

The albino stepped forward again, and Satakarta threw the bottle at him. The albino swatted at it. The thorn in his wrist cut the bottle as a sword, and its contents fell. The Fae inside flew to flee, but the monsters around leaped on it and tore the small creature to pieces.

The thorn grew out of the albino's body, and in the illumination of the Fae's glow, had the same color as the remains of the wolf, and of the blood he had poured into the goblet. Blood dripped down the albino's hand, and the mask salesman remembered the taste of blood in his mouth. He paled.

"You have poisoned me!" Satakarta whispered.

"No, I have made a bargain." The albino answered. "You desire justice. So together, you and I will get you justice to satisfy. We will do it my way, so that both of our desires may be realized."

"How am I to know I am not just a fool in a trap?! How am I to know I am not merely surrounded by demons and men who prey on the weak!?"

The albino sighed, "The legend is of one who grants wishes, and it is true. I have granted wishes and desires for many years. If there is anything you may trust, trust in my reputation, trust in the legend. Like you, I have gone by many names as the times dictate it. Once I was named Fortuna. Once I was named Jinn. Once I was named Demon. Once I was named Cintamani, or Syamanta. I have worked my services at the behest of many, including a few you may know. To the king of Qin I granted knowledge of bloodlines. To the chief of a clan I granted power. I have granted wishes for others, but they have failed me, and I have gained nothing from it. That is the gamble I make, but now to you, I will grant you justice. In this age, you may call me Ghirahim."