The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

The Voice
11 – Stop Staring at Me!

Link felt her presence long before Mipha's voice echoed through his head. He'd barely touched the slate to the pedestal on the platform (at Sheik's insistence) when he felt her. It was a strange sensation, like a second layer of air folding itself around him, warming and comforting...and so very her.

You're here.

Her voice...melodious and gentle, barely above a whisper, reverberating within his mind, the words projected rather than spoken.

I must say...that I am so happy to finally see that this day has arrived. Now Ruta can be freed of Ganon's control.

"M-Mipha," Link breathed. "It's y-you..."

You will need a map to prevent you from getting lost.

It appeared she couldn't hear him. Or perhaps she was ignoring him in favour of getting the work done first...or for a different reason entirely. Had they parted on such bitter terms? Well...rejected marriage proposal, and all...

The Guidance stone in the entrance chamber contains all the information you will need.

Then her presence was gone, leaving Link shivering slightly in his cold, sodden clothes and armour. Faintly, the sounds of the world slowly came back (had everything really gone silent?), allowing him to hear the beautiful calling of a worried Sheik.

"...you hear me?! Hey, shortarse, I'm talking to you!"

Link blinked, shaking his head and looking down at the slate. "Sh-Shortarse?" he asked.

"Oh, good, you're back," Sheik said. "You went all distant suddenly, and stared into the air, muttering Mipha's name. What happened? And yes, shortarse. You're not very tall, Link."

"U-Unnecessary," Link said, tapping the slate in an admonishing way. "A-And I h-heard h-her," he continued. "M-Mipha. H-Her spirit's s-still h-here. Sh-She s-spoke t-to me."

"Ah...well, pity she didn't see fit to include me in the conversation," Sheik said, sniffing. "What did she say?"

"W-We need a m-map of Ruta," Link said, taking a moment to compose himself and began to ascend the incline just beyond the entrance. "I-It's in h-here."

"All right! Lead the way, shorty."

"S-Stop it!"

"That...sure is a thing," Sheik said, disgust prevalent in his voice. Link felt an equal or greater amount of revulsion for the slimy, disgusting thing in front of him, oozing like an infected wound.

"It's g-got an e-eye!" Link replied, glaring back at the large, yellow eye that was staring directly at him with malicious energy pouring off it. Swaying slightly on its stalk, it watched Link's every movement. "Wh-What is it?!"

"At a guess? A manifestation of Ganon's malice. Possibly some sort of security system," Sheik said. "I don't know about you, but my sensors are picking up all kinds of anomalies in this place. The air itself reads...wrong."

Link definitely agreed with him on that. Never mind the dark particles that seemed to float lazily through the air inside Ruta, but just breathing in here made him feel unwell. The air itself felt greasy, like it left a residue on his skin and everything else it touched.

"Nothing dangerous, from what I can tell, but definitely not something you'll want to spend a lot of time in," Sheik continued. "...Link," he said after pausing. "Can you please shoot it in its stupid eye? I feel like it's staring at me now!"

The manifestation was staring at Sheik now, its yellow, slit eye firmly fixed on the slate. Its attention had shifted the moment Sheik had started speaking. Link didn't like that. Grunting, he drew his bow and quickly loosed an arrow at the thing. It struck home, and the reaction was immediate. The bubbling, oozing mass of malice roared as its eye shrivelled up...quickly followed by the rest of it, disappearing into thin air and leaving more black particles floating in the air.

"Thank you," Sheik said. "That felt...awful. Don't breathe that stuff in, by the way. We have no idea what it'll do to you."

"D-Duly n-noted," Link said, pulling his mask up to cover his nose and mouth. "Oh, b-bugger!" he exclaimed when the mass cleared up enough to reveal the rest of the room behind it...and the small Guardian patrolling the interior.

"Hm, I didn't think of that," Sheik said as the pillar of ice rose from the water, lifting the heavy metal gate that separated them from the small room with the Guidance stone, granting them access. "Nice one."

"Th-Thanks," Link said. Funny, how a single compliment from Sheik could make him feel so...good? Accomplished? Maybe because it was such a departure from Sheik's usual deluge of vitriol (luckily very rarely aimed at Link) that it seemed...reserved just for him?

Sidon got a similar treatment (in-between a million shark-related jokes), but that made sense given Sheik's obvious infatuation with the Zora prince. Link was a little ashamed for not having realised it earlier, but in his defence, what were the chances?

"Right, Guidance stone," Sheik said, sounding anything but impressed with the Sheikah stone's title. "Let's see what secrets it hides. Put me in, would you kindly?"

Link did so, snapping the slate into the receptacle and watching it spin around so the screen was facing up. It wasn't very different how the towers worked—the strange, glowing runes ran down the black surface of the stone, collecting in a large drop of glowing liquid that landed on the slate's surface. How Sheik managed to absorb any information through this process, he had no idea.

"Oh...oh yes," Sheik said, his voice turning almost...euphoric? Link blushed a little...and then a lot as Sheik excited utterances turned into a long, drawn-out moan even louder than the one he'd done at the Hateno lab.

Symin was right, Link thought. It does sound like Sheik just had an org—

"Link!" Sheik exclaimed. "I can control it! I can bloody control it!"

The Hylian cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a little hotter. "C-Control what?" he asked.

"The Beast, Link," Sheik said. "I can control Vah Ruta! Granted, only the trunk for now, but I can see plenty of other protocols that are currently locked to me by...oh...no wonder. Link, the malice is inside the system! I can feel it in here, all slimy and squirming...like maggots in a carcass. Mipha never stood a chance of regaining control here, even if she survived the attack."

He fell silent for a bit, the slate lighting up like fireworks, blinking and strobing.

"Hm...There are several consoles throughout the Beast, all blocked by the malice—if we can unlock these, I should be able to retake control gradually, and eventually purge Ganon from the system entirely."

Link listened, nodding at the appropriate points. He hoped Sheik was right. It'd be a pretty short quest if they were unable to free Vah Ruta from Ganon's control, weakening it sufficiently for Link to take it on...but that was a matter for later. He couldn't start panicking about this now.

"All right, I've got the map, and I've enabled the remote controls," Sheik said. "I don't need to be plugged in to manipulate Ruta now."

Link smiled and retrieved the slate from the pedestal. "Th-That's helpful," he said. "Wh-Where to n-next?" No sooner had he placed the slate back on his belt did the comforting presence of Mipha return, her voice encouraging, almost cheerful.

Good! You've obtained the map of the Divine Beast. You will see several glowing points on the map which represent the terminals that control Ruta. Take Ruta back by activating all the terminals. Be careful!

"...Link? Oh, for...did the lady-shark get into your head again?"

"M-Mipha did, y-yes," Link said. "Sh-She explained th-the m-map."

"Right, so I don't need to tell you what the glowing bits are?"

"No, you d-don't."

"Good—though I'm sure you'd be able to figure that out yourself. Now come on, we've got no time to lose!"

Link followed the map to the next terminal, trying not to think too closely about how Mipha's voice had sounded more distant and strained than before. Was it taxing for her, to communicate with him like this? Was she being restrained somehow by the malice? All the more reason to hurry, if so.

"Link? Link!"

He stopped in his tracks. "What?" he asked, annoyed.

"You're going the wrong way."

"Oh."

The malice was everywhere, infesting Vah Ruta like some sort of virulent disease, clinging to its walls and ceilings, squeezing into every nook and cranny, always watching Link as he went about purging the Beast of the infection, bit by bit. He hated those eyes. He wasn't sure if it was Ganon itself staring through them, but he took extra pleasure in planting arrows in them anyway.

It felt like a good, no-nonsense way of declaring that he was back, and this time he would kick its miserable arse back into its prison for good.

The bursts of confidence didn't last long, but Link was determined to keep hold of them once they struck. He needed it—needed to stay strong. Like Sidon had said. Like Sheik tried to whip him into being (with mixed results). Because Mipha was waiting for him to set things right. Because Sidon was waiting for him to save his people.

"I reckon that's about fifty percent of the infection cleared out, now," Sheik said after Link finished off the malice hiding on the massive waterwheel in Ruta's main chamber. "Once we unlock the rest of the consoles and plug me into the command centre, I can purge the rest."

Sheik was enjoying his limited control of Ruta far too much. It was almost as if he got drunk with power, moving the Beast's trunk back and forth for no discernible effect (other than making Link soaking wet when he stepped under the hole in the roof at the wrong time).

Or maybe it was the right time, given the mad cackle emanating from the slate after Link recovered from the sudden onslaught of water from above.

"Ahaha, got you!"

Yup, it was definitely a matter of the right time, for which Link punished Sheik by flicking the wonderful little switch he had discovered just an hour or so earlier on the side of the slate which, miraculously enough, seemed to have a muting effect on the Sheikah. It certainly cut off Sheik's laughter, and Link spent the next five minutes simply enjoying the silence it brought.

"Why, oh why did you have to discover that switch?" Sheik lamented once Link decided the time out was over, flicking the sound back on. "I'm sorry, all right? I couldn't help it!"

Link shook his head, deciding to keep Sheik on hot coals for a little longer by refusing to answer. Inwardly, he thanked Hylia for his curiosity, which had been piqued by the tiny, practically unnoticeable nub on the side of the slate, and Sheik's sudden interest in discussing fashion.

For such a loudmouth who claimed to be able to talk his way out of any situation (which, Link knew, was just patently untrue), he was the worst liar Link had met.

"Link, please talk to me again," Sheik pleaded after a half hour spent venturing through the insides of Ruta in complete silence. "I can't stand this!"

"W-Will you b-behave?" Link asked seriously, picking up the slate and staring at the screen with narrowed eyes. "N-No more p-pranks with R-Ruta?"

"I promise," Sheik said.

"A-And no m-more t-teasing Sidon."

"What?! That wasn't part of the deal!" Sheik shouted. "Sharky's not even here!"

Yup. Link could spot denial from a mile away, and Sheik was deep in it. Link should know, he was the denial master.

"It is n-now," he said. Sidon didn't deserve the mocking, even if Sheik meant it in an affectionate way (or so Link assumed; he still hadn't quite figured his companion's tones out yet. He certainly hoped it was affectionate). "D-Deal?"

Sheik's sigh was long and drawn-out, much like that of a child who'd just been scolded. "Fiiiiiiine," he said. "But I reserve the right to call him out for being ridiculous."

Link could do little but nod. He personally liked Sidon's occasional (habitual) ridiculousness. He just wanted to be able to be in the same room as them at the same time without things devolving into arguments. Not that Sidon argued—he simply took it all in with the demeanour of an excited puppy, eager to please and...and...

"Link, temperature spike," Sheik drawled, his tone smug. "Something I should know?"

"N-No!"

"I hate Guardians!" Link shouted as he vaulted across the railing and let himself fall sword tip-first onto the Guardian skittering about below. It looked up just in time for the sword to pierce its eye, cutting through its carapace and shredding the delicate components within.

The creepy thing gave off a few plaintive noises before it stopped moving, and the shell suddenly grew hot beneath him. Link wrenched the sword out and dived away just in time as it exploded in a ball of blue flame and a rain of metal shrapnel and screws. Link smiled grimly. Maybe he was finally getting the hang of this after all.

"Good one," Sheik said, sounding impressed for once. "Your trousers are on fire, by the way"

One quick dive into the nearest pool of water later, and Link was scowling down at the slate. "H-How l-long w-were you planning on l-letting me b-burn?" he demanded.

"Hey, I was too busy analysing the situation and wondering what the hell you were up to, riding the waterwheel like that while the Guardian was shooting at you. Besides, how could you not notice that you were on fire? Like, didn't you feel it?"

Link had indeed not felt the flames licking at his trousers. He blamed it on adrenaline.

"But hey, congratulations! You didn't stutter when you threw yourself at the Guardian! Small victories, right?"

"The eye," Sheik said in a disbelieving tone, "is shooting skulls."

"Mhm," Link grunted, dodging out the way just as a screaming moblin skull, glowing with the purple essence of the malice careened past, smashing into the wall behind him. Fragments of bone and (he shuddered) teeth rained down on him a moment later. "It is!"

"Skulls," Sheik said. "It's shooting them. The eye!"

Link made a note to thank Sheik for his valuable insights and battle tactics later as he dodged beneath a grinning bokoblin skull, giving it an extra kick when it passed, just to be sure it didn't come back. He drew his bow and loosed an arrow, but it sailed past the malice's eye and smacked harmlessly off the stone-like metal Ruta was made of.

"Why is it shooting skulls, Link?" Sheik asked.

Why are you obsessed with it shooting skulls, Link wanted to ask, but he was far too busy trying to kill the damn thing to waste the precious oxygen.

"Fucking magic!" Sheik shouted.

Link found the mechanics of Vah Ruta fascinating. The way all the parts interlocked and worked together to make something so immensely gigantic move, giving it life where there shouldn't be any. Especially elegant, he thought, was the way the trunk could be manipulated to create small waterfalls inside the Beast itself, giving him access to otherwise unreachable areas thanks to his Zora armour.

He hoped Sheik would retain the map of Vah Ruta after they were finished here, so he could study it closer at a later time.

At the moment, however, he found himself wishing that the Beast had never been built to begin with. Or that he had never woken up in the Shrine. Either or was fine with him, in his current predicament. He gasped when his foot caught on the tooth of the massive cog, nearly getting him fed into the opposite, equally massive cog behind him. All he could do was run, really.

He had to, or the cogs would grind him into paste before he found a way to get off this diabolical thing.

"How did this even happen?!" Sheik wanted to know. "I take my eyes off you for one minute to adjust the controls, and you decide to play hamster?"

"Wh-What's a h-hamster?!"

"Nice view, huh?" Sheik asked.

Link nodded in silent agreement. Standing at the top of Ruta's trunk, which was extended to its full height, gave them an incredible view of the basin, and the Domain below.

"Is that Sharky?" Sheik asked. "There, on the docks."

A small, red shape was rapidly moving back and forth on the pier they had launched their attack from. It looked worried. Link was willing to bet it was the prince.

"I th-think so," he said.

"Hmph," Sheik snorted. "Big lug's probably fretting. We should get back to it—don't want to keep him waiting."

On that, Link could agree. He didn't mention Sheik's use of the phrase big lug, which had sounded as unnatural as it surely must have felt to say it. Perhaps Sheik was simply one of those people who had to be abrasive, since anything else just sounded wrong coming out of their mouths?

A question for the ages.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" Sheik asked as the trunk moved back to a lower position. "I can hear the smirk in your head!"

"N-Not at all," Link said innocently.

He was, though.

"That's it," Sheik said as Link stepped into the ankle-deep water in the room inside Vah Ruta's head. A raised platform at the end housed what appeared to be another console, but this one was much bigger than the others and, for some reason, bore a strange resemblance to gourds, all bulgy and organic-looking. "The command console."

Link walked towards the console, his eyes flicking from side to side, trying to spy any threats inside the room. None could be seen—not even a stray piece of malice was hiding in here. Utterly empty, save for them. Link didn't trust this at all.

"T-Too easy," he said, keeping a hand on the handle of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment.

"I agree," Sheik said. "Something's scrambling my sensors in here—might be the magnetic field from the console, but you'd best be ready for anything."

The Hero stepped onto the platform, where a panel with an indentation for the slate awaited. It looked benign—the lights dark and not a single sign of activity to be seen. Just like the ones in the towers and shrines.

Link surveyed the room once more. He found it odd how featureless it was, since this was apparently the very heart of the Beast. The console looked impressive enough, but he'd expected something more. The silence bothered him too. In the other parts of the Beast, the ever-present hum of power and clicking gears had provided a background noise he could, more or less, anchor himself to. In here, there was no sound whatsoever save for the sloshing of water against the walls.

"This doesn't make any sense," Sheik said. "If Ganon wants the Beast under its control so badly, why isn't the nerve centre more closely guarded? He didn't just leave it to his malice to keep it protected from intruders? If so, I don't think this will be nearly as difficult as you imagine it to be."

"L-Let's not c-celebrate t-too soon," Link said, unclipping the slate from his belt and holding it up. "Are y-you ready?" he asked.

"Let's do it," Sheik said firmly. "As soon as I'm plugged in, I'll purge the malice from the system. That'll give me complete control of the Beast—in theory. Using that, I'll shut down whatever process is generating all the water. That ought to put an end to the threat it poses to the Domain and the rest of Hyrule."

"How f-fast c-can you d-do it?" Link said, eyeing the command console dubiously. He had severe doubts about this (though that was nothing new). What if the malice was stronger than Sheik?

"I won't know until I'm in," Sheik said. "Based on the severity of infection in the other consoles, though, I imagine it won't take me more than a couple of minutes. Fifteen at most." He paused, screen dimming. "Hey, it'll be fine, all right?" he said in a gentler tone. "We're a team—whatever I can't handle, you will, and vice-versa, right?"

"R-Right," Link said, frowning. "J-Just be c-careful, yeah?"

"Aren't I always?"

"N-No."

"...that was a rhetorical question, and you know it," Sheik said, sighing. "All right, we've wasted enough time stalling. Plug me in, and let's get started."

Link nodded and inserted the slate into the receptacle. There was the usual mechanical click, the slate spinning, and finally slotting perfectly into the indentation. But where he expected the machinery to light up blue—it lit up dark purple.

"Sh-Sheik?" he asked.

"Hang on," Sheik said. "I'm trying to log in...it won't let me...what the hell?" The entire room was bathed in purple light now, the sound of the machinery powering up quickly growing louder and louder. "Come on, you stupid...let me in!"

"Sheik!" Link shouted.

"Link, something is preventing me from gaining access! It's locked me out!"

"C-Can you b-bypass i-it?!"

"No, but maybe I can...look, can you get me to one of the other consoles? Maybe I'll have better luck there!"

"A-All right," Link said, reaching out his hand. "P-Pop out a-and w-we'll g-go."

"Disconnecting..." he made a frustrated noise. "Disconnecting! Come on, you stupid piece of junk, let me out!"

A wind had started to blow inside the room, the origin of which Link couldn't spot. It felt just as greasy as the rest of the air inside Vah Ruta, and an unpleasant scent was in it—like rotting flesh.

"Link, I can't do anything!" Sheik said, his voice high-pitched and shaking. He was afraid. "It's locked me out completely! I can't even get the console to release the slate!"

"H-hang on!" Link said, reaching out to grab the slate and, if necessary, tear it out.

"No, wait, Link, don't touch—"

The world was suddenly spinning around, and Link felt himself tumble into the water below the platform. Gasping for breath, he sat up, looking up at the console, where dark purple smoke was swirling around the slate. He couldn't hear Sheik's voice. His left hand was tingling, like he'd just been given an electric shock, and he had to clench it open and shut a few times before it would respond correctly. He stood up, intending to try grabbing the slate once more, but at the other end of the room, blue energy was gathering in a spiral, slowly growing bigger and brighter.

Something was coming into being, something with long arms...a torso...a head with horns...

A spear extended from the end of one of its arms—made of pure energy, like the weapons the smaller Guardians wielded. The creature's body seemed to be composed of the same oozing material the malice was made of, but held in place with the Sheikah technology. The head didn't have horns, but a helmet with protrusions that made them look like horns. At the back of its head, a mane of wild, untamed dark crimson hair hung down to its lower back...and in the middle of its face, a single eye. A Guardian eye, full of swirling madness that alighted upon Link's form.

It let off an ear-piercing shriek, waving its spear around and pointing it directly at him. A challenge. A warning. A threat.

He felt Mipha's warmth around him once more, her voice in his head, almost dispelling the utter fear he felt at the sight of the creature.

Please take care, she said. That...thing is one of Ganon's creations. I put up as much of a fight as I could, but it proved to be my demise one hundred years ago.

Link clenched his jaw, drawing his sword and shield. This monster had killed Mipha. Murdered her. Trapped her spirit in this damn machine for a century. He was going to kill it!

Regardless, the princess continued, I believe that you are well prepared for this moment. I have faith in you!

The statement, so much like those of her brother, filled his chest with something he could only describe as determination. He would avenge her! He would free Sheik! He would save the Zora!

The monster's spear retracted, and it threw itself forward, aiming to run Link through. Bellowing with righteous fury, Link ran forward to meet it.

Link screamed as the spear ran his shoulder through entirely, his whole left arm going icy cold and numb, his fingers slackening and losing their grip on his shield, which went tumbling below the surface of the water. Barely even coherent, he swung his sword, at the monster's arm. The blade, sharpened through mysterious Sheikah means, cut through metal and oozing flesh-like material, severing the thing's weapon from its body. It shrieked, and Link gasped in relief when the spear sputtered out of existence, its power source cut off.

Shocked by its injury, the monster forgot to keep itself floating in the air, crashing bonelessly down on the platform, wheezing. Link was on it within seconds, fuelled purely by adrenaline as he hacked and slashed and stabbed at the creature, shouting meaningless curses and words, blood from a multitude of small cuts running into his eyes and blinding him.

"Die!" he screamed as he pulled back, angled his sword tip-first and stabbed it directly into the creature's eye. The blade sank into it with a sickening, wet sound, and its shrieks increased in pitch and desperation. The intact arm flew up and batted Link away, making him crash into the opposite wall, where he sank to his knees, too exhausted to get back up.

But it had been enough. The monster continued to writhe on the floor, grasping at its ruined face and eye desperately as its body slowly lost its solidity, turning into the same purple smoke that encased Hyrule Castle...and had swirled around the command console. The pieces of metallic armour fell from its body, instantly rusting over and turning into dust.

It gave one final, defiant scream, and burst into particles that seemed to burn up in the air, the wind seizing immediately.

And then it was gone. The creature that had killed Mipha was dead, banished back to nothingness.

Panting, Link held his bleeding shoulder, staring at the spot for a good minute, almost expecting it to come back. But it didn't. It was truly gone.

"Link..."

He stood up on shaky feet and hurried over to the command console, where the slate had apparently been unlocked. It stood in its upright position, ready to be retrieved. The console itself glowed blue, like it was supposed to. Had it, too, been freed, then?

"Sh-Sheik," he said, still out-of-breath. "A-Are you o-okay?"

"Yeah," Sheik said after a long pause. "I'm fine. The system...it's been purged. Killing that creature...it cleaned the malice out completely."

"Th-That's g-good," Link said, smiling (though it was probably more of a grimace, the wound in his shoulder slowly growing more and more painful for every second that passed.

"You're hurt," Sheik said, his tone strange and muted. "I'm sorry..."

"N-Not y-your fault," Link assured him, plucking the slate out of its receptacle, holding the screen up to his face, trying to see if something was wrong with it. Sheik sounded so...odd.

"It was a trap," Sheik said. "It was waiting for us. Waiting for you to plug me in...I couldn't do anything...I was useless..."

"H-Hey," Link said, sinking to his knees and leaning against the console, "W-We're a t-team, right? Th-This was s-something y-you couldn't h-handle, so I d-did. It w-went p-pretty w-well, all th-things c-considered."

"Your shoulder..."

"It'll h-heal," Link said. At least, he hoped it would. He was more worried about not being able to feel the rest of his arm, or move his fingers.

"Link, don't lie to me."

"I'm n-not," he said stubbornly, rising to his feet again. He couldn't stay still for long, or he'd never get back up. "C-Come on..." He put the slate on his belt and fetched his sword, sheathing it on his back. His shield was somewhere below the surface, and he didn't much like the idea of searching for it while he was still bleeding. He'd find it later. All he wanted right now was to leave.

"Hello, Link."

Mipha's voice sounded...different. Like it wasn't coming from inside his head, but from within the room itself. From over...there...

The sight of her made his chest swell. She looked exactly the same as she had in his memories. Red and white colours, big, beautiful golden eyes, a smile so gentle it'd reduce anyone to tears just looking at it. She was standing by the wall, watching him carefully.

"Because of your courage, my spirit is now free," she said. "And Ruta, as well."

Green-blue flames danced around her, giving her an ethereal look. A spirit, then. Link tried not to feel disappointed. He had prepared himself for this, but he couldn't help but maintain just a tiny hope that she was still alive...but this...

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head a little. "For I am now allowed by this freedom...to be with you once again."

"M-Mipha," he said, trying to step closer, but his legs gave out. He was losing blood fast. "I'm s-sorry...I f-forgot...!"

"Shh, Link," Mipha said, walking forward, closing the distance between them. "I know what happened, back then. We were caught off-guard—none of us saw it coming. I am just relieved you survived." She kneeled by him, reaching out. Her hand traced his face—he felt her heat, but there was no touch. She truly was a spirit. She frowned, also upset at being unable to touch him. "I am so happy to see you again," she said.

He couldn't help the tears that began to fall from his eyes. Everything was just so...unfair. She didn't deserve to die, didn't deserve to be trapped in here for so long...and now he couldn't even explain himself properly.

"My dearest Link," she said, "please, do not cry. We may not have succeeded a hundred years ago, but this is the first step to our second attempt. We will undo the Calamity...but we will need your strength." She pulled back a little, looking at her hands. "As I am now a spirit, my healing power would be wasted on me. I have no need of it." She took a deep breath. "So therefore...I would like you to have it. Please...accept it."

She put her hands together and closed her eyes. A ball of pure light floated in front of her...and shot directly into Link's chest. It felt like he'd been kicked, all the air knocked out of his lungs. He tried to breathe in, and was immediately filled with a nearly unbearable heat...and he felt his body rise. The heat spread to his limbs, focusing around the injuries he'd sustained during the fight. He could feel the flesh and muscle mending, knitting itself together. He could feel his left arm again, the fingers responding to his movements. The hole in his shoulder disappeared, leaving but a small gap in the Zora armour.

Then he fell, and landed on his feet, feeling better than he had before entering the Beast, every cut and bruise healed, his energy restored.

"Yesterday," Mipha said, "I was awash in a pool of tears. I had nearly given up hope and resigned myself to being trapped here, as a spirit, for the rest of eternity."

Her words were sad, but Link heard nothing but joy in her voice. Her smile made him smile in return, despite the tears that just would not stop falling.

"But now you're here," she continued. "All this time, my hope was to see you once more. Promise me that you will not hesitate to call upon my power if you ever find yourself in need."

"I p-promise," Link said.

She smiled, nodding. "Knowing that will let my spirit rest in peace."

The flames grew larger, and Link could feel his body begin to tingle, little golden spheres of light beginning to twirl around him.

"I must go," she said sadly. "Ruta and I have our roles to fulfil. We are both honoured to be able to play the role of support."

"Y-You are m-more th-than th-that!" Link protested.

She smiled widely at that. "We will annihilate Ganon together, Link." Her gaze fell a little lower, to the slate. "Sheik, please continue to assist Link as you have so far—knowing you're there will ease my worries."

"I...I will, princess," Sheik said, clearly surprised to be addressed at all.

"And both of you," she said with some finality, "please take care of my little brother."

"W-We w-will."

"Yeah, Sharky's safe with us."

Mipha closed her eyes, still smiling. Link felt himself being lifted in the air, the tingling growing stronger.

"Thank you," she said. "Farewell. Save her. Save Princess Zelda."

The room brightened to an unbearable degree, blinding him. Link felt Mipha's warmth once more...before it all went white—and then he was gone.

I realise I am skipping over a great deal of the dungeon in this chapter, but honestly, I am not trying to do a novelisation here, just the "important" bits. And besides, there are limits to how entertaining I can make those stupid waterwheel things.