The next day

With the Sheikah Slate's teleportation ability still offline, Link had to travel to Death Mountain along with Zelda. Thankfully, Robbie and Jerrin spent all night completing the blueprints of the core and Cherry produced the first one in a matter of an hour, so at first light, Link and Zelda used her Sheikah-taught ability to teleport to the Southern Goron Mines.

"So everyone but I can do this?" Link says as he dusts off his Hylian Trousers. Zelda chuckles lightly at Link as she turns away to look at the path Link must travel. From here, he's still has a long walk ahead of him.

"You sure you don't want me to stay with you. You know I have experience with helping the Champions?"

Link sighs. "I do want you to stay because I have no clue as to what I'm doing. But you need to be there with Robbie and Jerrin. If I have any questions, I'll call for you. This can't be that hard, right?"

Zelda playfully taps her chin. "Well…"

"Don't say that." Link takes the huge sphere under his arm and places it in his pouch. "Don't worry, I can do this. I saved the world from Ganon-"

"We did."

"I did my part to save the world from Ganon, I can reactivate a Divine Beast. Just how do we get it out of the damn lava is the question. Magnesis will not work, unfortunately."

"Did you not survive with it being within the volcano before?"

"Yeah, but I don't even know the orientation of Rudania. If its upright, fine, I'll just hop down there and slide the core in. If not… Oh, in the meantime, you should look at Medoh and Ruta. We should know the state of Rito Village too."

"Alright. Link, be careful." Link nods and kisses Zelda on the forehead before turning around and heads up the mountain. He turns back a few steps away to wave goodbye, then watches as Zelda vanishes for parts unknown. Sighing, Link advances up Death Mountain, an arduous task set before him. Restarting a Divine Beast, hoping it doesn't attack him, then convincing Yunobo to succeed his grandfather…

The Hero of the Wild had more impossible tasks, right?

Ganondorf, Spectacle Rock

Ganondorf is impressed Vah Naboris remains in place despite the destruction he unintentionally caused it. It was a theory at the time, but with the difference between Ruta, Naboris, and Rudania's conditions proves that magic and only magic can harm the Divine Beasts. If magic is their bane, then magic is also their boon.

"You did quite a number on it," Riju says with impression. "Seems your bloodline's power hasn't diminished one bit."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Very so. Your family, to this day, is still the strongest. I can see why...the goddess favors your lineage with the kings." Riju takes a step ahead, Ganondorf looks down to the slightly shorter woman. She holds the hilt of her Scimitar of the Seven, a treasure of her grandaunt, and stares up to the Divine Beast. "How do you like your new weapon? I trust it feels right, given it is a treasure of your family as this scimitar is of mine."

Ganondorf looks to the trident strapped to his back. Riju gave it to him this morning before the two of them began their expedition to Vah Naboris. With the lack of monsters in Calamity Ganon's absence, he had few opportunities to get handy with it, but the black weapon feels made for him. If Link's Master Sword was constructed for him, Ganondorf's brand new Trident of Kings is fit for him, a king. "It is fine. Will take some time getting used to, haven't wielded a spear in a long time. But… I do not deserve this."

"I know. You aren't the only one who has something she doesn't deserve." He hears Riju's scoff as she releases her sword, crossing her arms as she turns to Ganondorf. "First not knowing how to deal with Vah Naboris when it woke up after a hundred-year silence, then losing the Thunder Helm, then trusting a Hylian to our problem? I have nothing against Link, but… I should have handled it. At least he left me the sword."

"You tried gifting him Urbosa's sword?" Ganondorf walks up to her, unable to hold in a chuckle. "Yes, you would have lost the pride of being the Chieftain of Thieves. And I agree, letting a Hylian handle a Gerudo problem is pathetic. But… It's not like we were good at handling Ganon in the first place."

"How does it feel to be named after him?"

"A blessing and a curse. But I have no clue why she chose this name for me, knowing what it means to our people. I slightly understand your family...slightly." Riju smiles as she bows her head, dropping her arms.

"So, what caused all this… What is it, exactly, from your perspective?"

"I don't know. Until a few weeks ago, I don't recall this happening. Then again, I've never been that angry in my life, not since I was a kid. For most of my life, until this moment, I thought it was just the subconscious and the eye glow. What the hell it is, it responds to things I should be hateful of. But since I did this, it's been quiet."

"So you have temporary control of your curse? That's...excellent."

"Yeah." Excellent is an overstatement, but Riju doesn't need to know that, does she? He looks to the rising sun, halfway between the horizon and the peak. Link should be on Death Mountain by now if the Princess is as prompt as he believes her to be. Paya rode out for the border of the Eldin/Akkala regions earlier, hoping to meet Zelda should Link be successful.

Riju turns around to face him, the sun radiating around the back of her head like she's a goddess. "So Veran, these Horsemen...are they the only threats we must face? I see, but...from what you told me, she was as happy to see you as you were to see her. She must have a reason to want you dead."

"I am partially responsible for Link killing her father, am I not? But there is someone else...and I pray he's not alive."

Link, Death Mountain Peak

Rudania is thankfully lying on its belly, somehow. It fell backward, the reason Link was skeptical he'll be able to reach it in the first place, but since he never saw the Divine Beast make contact with the lava within the mouth of the volcano, he guesses the Beast made an adjustment or two before dropping in.

Sighing, he turns to the Goron behind him. Yunobo looks down the mouth of the peak with some butterflies in his stomach, but then again, who wouldn't? Link is the suicidal maniac, leaping down there months ago with no hesitation. Courage, he called it. Foolishness, Zelda corrected him. "Hey, Yunobo, you don't have to jump down there. I think it is better only I go down there, just in case something happens. I doubt it will."

"You sure, because you said Zelda said that it was not pretty when they activated the Divine Beasts a century ago."

Link scratches his head. "Yeah, well, the worst thing that could happen is that Rudania goes back to its berserk state, but we beat that once. We got guys on the cannons down there this time. So really, the worst that could happen is if this core doesn't work."

Yunobo sighs. "I guess. Well, it is noon. We should get started."

"Yeah." Link takes out a heat elixir, downing it in one gulp. Despite having his Fire Tunic on, he wants to be more than sure he'll be safe. "Alright. Well… Let's go over this again." Link points to the bow and arrow strapped to his back and waist. "Fire Arrow means we're in trouble. Either I can't get the core to work or Rudania is acting up. Shock Arrow indicates the core is inside, no issues, I am coming to you. Bomb Arrow is a successful mission. Got it?"

Yunobo swings his fist. "Got it-Wait, woah, Link!" Accidently swinging his fist a little too close to Link, the Hero reflexively jumped back, only for him to leap unknowingly into the belly of Death Mountain again.

Holy Farore, why do I do this to myself! Link calms down, twisting his body so he faces the bottom of the mountain's opening. Reaching into his pouch, he takes out his very trusty glider, holding it up as he passes halfway between the peak and the bottom. It jumps up a bit as it catches air, but now Link can safely descend to Vah Rudania's back.

Once he lands, he takes out his bow and a Shock Arrow, firing it up to let Yunobo that he's okay. With that out the way, Link wipes his brow. "I got to stop jumping down from high places." He looks to the center of Rudania's back, the main unit still wide open. Walking over, he takes the new core out of his pouch, examining it as he holds it. It looks like the same size as the old core, but the other was red in color. This one is just an enlarged Guardian Stalker core.

"Hope you work. They spent all night on you, so you should. Zelda is putting a lot of faith in me in completing this job alone. So...here we go." Link places the core in the slot in the unit's middle, then manually closes it up. With that done, Link takes hold of the Sheikah Slate and taps it on the control unit's terminal. The Sheikah symbol lights up blue, then a few mechanical sounds fire up as the light shines from the control unit. With the control unit flashing orange, that means the new core is indeed working. "Yes!"

Link reaches for his bow, in preparation to fire a Shock Arrow as Vah Rudania unleashes a seismic-inducing roar What stops him is the shouts from above from Yunobo. While the message is broken, thankfully Link can barely hear thanks to the mighty lungs of the Goron and the Hylian's gifted ears. "Link…..Rudania…..red lights!"

"Red lights? Oh no." Link's fears become reality. Rudania is back to its berserk state as it was when Link first encountered it. Unlike the rest of the Guardian forces, which Calamity Ganon managed to control fully, the Divine Beasts were instead taken from the control of their Champions. Why Ganon couldn't control the Beasts is a mystery, but it is better they control themselves than it did. But now...what will Rudania do?

For one, it hasn't moved, but clearly, it is operational. Maybe it isn't hostile but cannot move without direction, such as from a Champion. Yeah, that must be it. Cautious still, Link walks back to the control unit, tapping the Sheikah symbol again. Still no response, just the low mechanical growling of Rudania. "Umm...Rudania? Could you...move on up?" No response except for the growls. Sighing, Link turns to the last option. "Zelda, can you hear me?"

"...Link? Is everything okay? Was that Rudania we heard?"

"Yeah, the cores work."

"Yes! Okay, so is Yunobo the Champion?"

"No. About that, Vah Rudania is not moving at all. I keep trying to make it do so, but there's no response. Yunobo is still at the peak, and I cannot get to him. All this thing does is growl!"

"Link, remember I told you that the Divine Beasts, back then, had an issue when we rebooted them? That they might have fought back?"

"Yes, but...Rudania hasn't even moved. It's not attacking as it did a few months ago. So what's the-" Link stands still as he looks up towards the arch above Rudania's back. Sighing, he reaches for the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield. "Zelda, when we're done with this, you and I are going to Lurelin Village for a nice vacation. No heroics. No princessing. Just Link and Zelda, one week. Maybe two. Hell, as long as you like. How does that sound?"

"...You found it, huh?"

Link nods as Vah Rudania's answer to him leap down to his level, growling menacingly. "Yeah. Take a Lizalfos, give it a Guardian Sword and Shield, make it mechanical, maybe twice its size, give or take. The laser comes from the mouth too."

"Ooh, a Guardian Lizalfos! A… Guardfos! Take a picture when you can! And good luck, my hero! I'll get the other cores to Paya and Ganondorf!"

"Yeah. Be careful Zelda." Link cuts the connection between them and walks up to the mechanical Lizalfos. "Look here, Lizalfos-breath! I've beaten many things that have looked like you. Actual Lizalfos, for one. Guardians as well." Threatened by Link's approach, the Lizalfos opens its mouth and fires a strong laser immediately at Link. Expecting the shot, Link parries it to the side to Death Mountain, reveling in the explosion of the deflected shot. Smirking, Link decides to halt his advance. "Okay, that was a little surprising. Alright, Guardfos, you got one on-OOF!" Hitting his back on the control unit, Link gasps as he falls to the floor. That speed...he didn't even see or hit him.

Great. Had to get cocky. Standing back up, despite his body telling him no, Link takes the fight more serious. Holding up the Sheikah Slate, he quickly snaps a picture of the Guardfos and picks up his sword. "Now you're fighting the Hero of Hyrule. Prepare yourself."