Blissful slumber was disrupted by a sharp kick to his side. Link was roughly jolted awake in the small room he had been given to rest in. The bare room only had enough space for a bed which was all Link wanted at the time. It was enough to place his few belongings and strip down to just a tunic and trousers to rest. After his encounter with Veran, he was spending the rest of the night attempting to forget what she had told him. His head felt muddled and his vision went from blurry to clear when he found Nabooru standing over him. She was in her plate armour and ready to go with her scimitars on her back. She smirked at him "You are one heavy sleeper," She gestured to the doorway "Anyway, we got orders from Ganondorf to head to Zora's domain."
"From Ganondorf?" Link felt those words were foul in his mouth. It felt so wrong to be cooperating with him.
Nabooru stated as a very matter of fact "Yeah, he reckoned you, me, Ruto and Sable can handle the Sage of Water while he, Onox and Iris get started on breaking a path through the remains of Kakariko village."
Sleep still hindered the functioning of his brain, Link reached behind him to grab his hat that hung on the bedhead "Breaking a path?"
"Yeah, those rumours about the Shiekah having a labyrinth of shadowy madness beneath that village… completely true." Nabooru casually shrugged "Bellum unearthed parts of it making the way down to the Sage of Shadow… difficult." She then wrapped up a parchment she was carrying and swatted Link's head "Now up and at 'em, we got a long road ahead of us. The clear sky makes flying not an option anymore. Too easy to target us."
"How will we get there?" Link woozily swang his legs around the side of the bed.
"With horses, well, we'll be using horses, I don't know what Sable has. With her being a shape shifted and all who knows what she'll turn in to? We'll be meeting at the main gate in half an hour." Nabooru left him to get ready for the journey ahead.
As Link collected his few belongings he could've sworn he heard Ruto cursing under her breath from outside. Something about Ganondorf finding out about some ancient, secret Zora ritual. He gave it no more thought as he headed out of the room to ready himself for the journey ahead. He was glad to put space between him and Veran.
The main gate rattled with the barren winds from the desert, the tunnel itself was one of the coolest places in the Arbiter's Grounds. Ruto stood, enjoying the wind on her face, feeling her fins weightlessly ride the breeze. Four Gorons were on sentry duty near the gate and keeping a vigilant eye on the ruin littered horizon. She heard the crunch of sand and pebbles, heralding Sable's approach. The jester nodded to her, although the cauterised burns on her arm drew Ruto's concerns "Are you sure you should be travelling like that?"
Sable lifted her arm, getting a closer look at the burnt skin "Yeah, Iris sealed it up for me. It'll be fine." She then rolled her eyes "Come on, I'm the only other person in this group that can breathe underwater."
Ruto scoffed "Not really."
"But I can turn into something that can, if you somehow purify the waters and have to go for a swim, you need someone to watch your back. There's no telling what Bellum hid down there."
"I see your point, very well made," Ruto leered "Bodyguard, and by the way, I will purify the waters." She relished the growl Sable emitted and her pout. She then proceeded to cover herself in a series of damp robes and cloaks to protect her from the desert climate.
"Come on you two, we need to get moving." Nabooru remarked as she passed them to enter the ruined courtyards.
As Link passed them, Sable noticed something peculiar about him. His demeanour looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. His appearance had changed slightly as well, his eye was a little paler, his blonde hair had a silver sheen and along with his new cuirass, his tunic was starting to become contaminated by a light blue tinge. She also noticed how he had abandoned his shield, only carrying the sheathed Helix Blade on his back.
While the others mounted their horses, Sable decided to keep her observations to herself for now. Her body engulfed in shadows again as she transformed into the flame wreathed, bipedal dodongo native to Termina, the Fire Salamander. She could easily skitter across the sands in this form, clearing the way of any dangers that may hinder their journey. In her monstrous reptilian form she nodded to Nabooru who gestured the direction they were travelling in. In that instant, Sable was running, curling up into a ball in the process to roll along the dunes like a Goron. Nabooru then commanded Ruto and Link to follow her into the unknown.
Zora's Domain was no longer the cool, tranquil waterfall grotto of Link's memories. Over the past few days, he calmly followed after his three companions to make it to the shattered remains of the rivers. The jagged earth spiked up like the maws of a beast, the little water left exuded from the cracks as viscous ooze of violet and green. Leaving the horses in a dent in the cliffs, they proceeded on foot to the dried up waterfall leading to the inner grotto that the Zoras called home. Ruto felt woozy, swaying a little as the stench of rotting fish overwhelmed her. Link caught her before she lost balance, giving her a reassuring look as he helped her follow after Nabooru and Sable.
The ceiling was dripping with egg filled slime. It oozed over down the walls at a snail's pace while the eggs writhed overhead. The water had stopped flowing allowing it to stagnate into the festering midden of decaying bodies. A quick glimpse gave Link shivers at the sight of Zora remains decomposing in the sludge. He nervously asked Ruto "How many have died in your kingdom?"
She whimpered a little "Too many… the only remaining Zoras are the ones who made it to the Arbiter's Grounds."
"How did this happen?" Link felt the magnitude of the situation, while the Kokiri were mostly saved and protected by Skull Kid. The Gorons and Zoras had lost their kingdoms to Bellum.
They rounded the stone pathways upwards to the former throne room. Ruto recounted for him "Lord Jabu Jabu fell ill, no matter what we tried, he never got better. He only rotted away into nothing. The water that flowed from the fountain became contaminated and as his condition worsened, the entirety of Hyrule's waters from the fountain was poisoned."
As they made their way to the throne room Link noticed the wooden walkways built over the toxic waters to allow passage to the inner sanctum. Ruto continued, walking the wooden paths with precise and practiced steps "I was sent by my father to locate clean water while he tried to solve the riddle of the poison. That's what brought me to the desert, there was still a lot of ground water that hadn't been tapped into or compromised… that's when we encountered Ganondorf and agreed to cooperate with him. By the time we built the irrigation systems, we received word from the last survivors that managed to escape the domain. A second monster had emerged from the Water Temple and took control of Lake Hylia and Zora's Domain."
"I'm sorry." Link was at a loss of what else he could say to her.
They finally arrived at the remains of Zora's Fountain. The ancient altar was before the deepest pool in all of Hyrule. A circle of mountains sheltered it from the rest of the world. The stench was worst here, the waters themselves were so murky that Link couldn't see anything through them. Only the opaque wisps of green and violent engulfed his sight. Nabooru and Sable were already at the stairs of the altar. The large platform had a dent to allow the ancient megalodon, revered as their deity Lord Jabu Jabu, to get closer to its worshippers and hear their pleas.
"The monster in question is the corrupt Water Sage. It has formed a hive mind with Lord Jabu Jabu and uses the domain to lay its eggs so it can feed. They never seem to hatch so I don't think those eggs were meant to sustain life… I don't have… I don't know if I can fight it…" Ruto confessed before finally breaking into silent tears. She fell silent, pulling her hood over her face to mop up the tears.
Link gazed over to Nabooru for answers as Sable had wandered up the stairs to get a better look at the area. Nabooru sighed to herself, wondering why Link was probing such painful memories for the Zora princess, she explained as best she could "This sage came from the temple that housed an ancient parasite… now the sage and the parasite have become one. It's a giant amoeba that builds a body from whatever it finds in the water."
"Meaning it's built from the bodies of the Zoras?"
Nabooru solemnly nodded in return, she went to Ruto's side and gently asked "Are you ready to put Lord Jabu Jabu to rest?"
Ruto nodded back "He has suffered for too long, I must give him peace for the sake of my people."
"You and Link can handle the ceremony," Sable informed upon her return to them "It appears as though the Sage is not here yet. Now's your chance."
"If the Sage does appear, we'll hold it back until you two are completed with the ritual." Nabooru gestured to the altar "If it is too dangerous, we retreat, we'll fight the Sage another day. We don't need any unnecessary casualties. Understood?" She heard the trio respond affirmatively "Then let's get to work."
Soon enough Nabooru and Sable walked to the back of the altar and waited on the walkways. If the Sage were to emerge they would break through the grotto in the domain. Link and Ruto approached the edge of the altar. He hesitated as Ruto casually shucked the robes she had donned to protect her scales. She looked back to him, her usual regal elegance had returned after purging herself of tears.
"Sable mentioned that your blade could radiate light so please direct that power towards me as I call upon Lanayru." Ruto gestured to him "That's all I need you to do, I can handle the rest." She procured a golden scale from one of the fins on her arms "Only those of the royal blood can produce a scale like this. It is a key component of this ritual. No matter what happens, do not attack Lord Jabu Jabu and let me finish what I've started."
Link understood her commands, he stepped back to give her space for the ritual to proceed. As instructed, he unsheathed the Helix Blade, he remained stalwart as he held it with the blade's tip touching the ground. He felt that primal soul within the metal, calling to him like a sentient being. Little by little, light began to seep from the blade like the flow of water, cascading through the patterns of cobbles upon the altar that herded it towards Ruto.
The Zora princess called upon the spirits of her ancestors as she chanted in a long, forgotten language. She began to levitate, stars of blue circled her like rain droplets as she moved her arms in elaborate gestures. The light flowing from the Helix Blade followed her command, crawling upon the altar to form an elaborate arcane rune circle that grew and emanated to engulf the platform. The light vanished into the murky waters. Although Link was amazed to see it seeping upwards from beneath the waterline in the distance to creep up the mountains. He heard an inhuman screech from deep within the grottos which drew Sable and Nabooru down the walkways and into Zora's Domain.
The intrusion was not lost on Lord Jabu Jabu, the decrepit corpse of the deity wildly flailed in the deeper parts of the fountain. Sensing the source of the intrusion emanated form the altar, he thrashed across the waters towards Ruto. Link paused, he was order not to stop the ritual, Ruto was too involved with creating an orb of golden light in her hands where her scale was at its centre. He thought they were going to vanish into the gaping maw of Lord Jabu Jabu. However, the orb in Ruto's hands was actually an egg that cracked its shell at the last moment to release the spirit she was conjuring. A mighty sea snake wreathed in shimmering light wrestled the undead Lord Jabu Jabu into the water. With the ritual complete, Ruto leapt back and felt Link catch her. They both watched the ancient titans struggle in the fountain that now pulsed with primordial magic.
The waters then glowed with flashes of turquoise, azure and cerulean light lined with silvers and gold. The cloudy poisons were being leeched out and washed away as the clear waters overpowered them. Lord Jabu Jabu never returned to the surface. Instead the mighty serpent of light emerged with a shining orb in its mouth. Its body coiled and spiralled throughout the waters of the fountain. It looked to Ruto who stepped away from Link and bowed. Noticing he was not following her lead, she hit him upside the head and ordered "Bow you idiot! That's Lanayru! The Spirit of Light for the Zora race."
He followed her lead and bowed before the deity. The serpent then faded into a trail of sparkling light that glistened on the water's surface. Before they could revel in the beauty of the clean waters, the howls and crashes echoing from the tunnel that led to the grotto disturbed them. Link immediately charged ahead, leaving Ruto behind at the fountain.
The sight of the corrupt Water Sage was enough to make anyone nauseous. It was a festering blob of ooze that clumsily wriggled and stretched into awkward shapes. Among its sludgy body were bones, skin, debris and anything else it touched contorted into vague limbs that twitched and flailed like marionettes on strings. It had no true shape as it fumbled and tried to remember what it was truly meant to be. Yet it couldn't, there were too many voices absorbed into it to make sense of the maddening chaos that skittered into your ears like a thousand beetles. Nevertheless, it was dangerous as anger was its only reaction. The giant glob of ooze engulfed most of the grotto. Nabooru darted along the various stone pathways, hacking and slashing her way through the various extremities of the beast. Although it was for naught as every piece she hacked off, merely tumbled down the amoeba's side to reconnect with the viscous gel of its body. Sable was faring in a similar manner, her Fused Shadow gauntlets and boots protected her extremities so she could punch and kick her way across the surface of the Sage. She acted as the main diversion so Nabooru could continue hindering its movements as the Sage was tricked into oozing further out of the water. They noticed the water purify, Ruto and Link had succeeded.
In that instant the Sage's body let out another cry that could only be described as something with no mouth screaming. Its diseased body turned translucent as the poisons were purified from it. Only then did Bellum's influence become unveiled. A small mass, a tumour of darkness and golden eyes was embedded in its centre. It was in too deep for any hookshot chain to reach. Nabooru and Sable exchanged looks from across the grotto. They also noticed Link finally entering the fray as he emerged from an upper chamber.
Nabooru's instructions were simple as she yelled to him "We'll get it out! You kill it!"
She lunged forward carving away the remaining limbs and chunks of actual solids that may bar Sable's entry. Sable then followed through, diving forward and shifting into the body of an Ocean Tiger. The feline fish creature tore into the Sage's body, Sable was mindful to hold her breath the whole time, she swam in close flipping over to bat the tumour out of the amoeba and towards Link with all the might she could muster into her tail. Link was ready as the tumour shot towards him, completely helpless now it was relinquished of an aqueous body, and sliced it horizontally into pieces. It fell to the ground as meaty chunks and evaporated into ashes that began to swirl around Link.
The amoeba then collapsed from within, melting back into harmless water, albeit now it was littered with bones and corpses. Sable quickly emerged from the water, returning to her Terminan body and collapsing on the cavern floor panting. Nabooru approached and checked on her only to have Sable wave her away, only commenting "That was disgusting. When I get the feeling back into my legs, I am going to puke behind that rock over there."
"Mission accomplished, we did good." Nabooru then looked up to see Link approach.
Having absorbed another piece of a deity's power, Link had acquired gauntlets and pauldrons in a similar style to the cuirass which was now more detailed and fitted to him than before. His clothes were slowly turning from green to a pale turquoise. More shockingly his hair now had streaks of white in it and the blue in his eye was waning.
Concerned for her comrades, Nabooru suggested "You know, let's camp here tonight. We all need a rest before we head to Kakariko."
There were no objections to this decision.
