Pinnacle Rock was actually a maw of six tooth-like rocks in a ring, and the Zoras all believed that in order to reach it you had to take a specific route from a pair of rocky pillars just out from the coastline a ways. There were a few Zoras here already, each searching for a rare golden-coloured Seahorse that would guide them. Many of them warned me about the dangers of swimming into the murky waters, and Mikau himself knew that if he had gone into them he'd only have gotten turned around. Not even a Zora has so good a sense of direction to stay straight without any reference points.
I paused on the rocky ground between the two pillars, sinking down to the bottom while I firmly fixed in my mind the natural magnetic compass of Termina itself. It would be my one and only guide. If I strayed off course, I'd notice the difference and be able to correct it. Once I was certain I was looking the right way I rose up a ways then swam for it.
Almost immediately the water clouded a dirty muddy-brown that obscured almost everything. I could barely see my own arms before me – little wonder then that no one had any idea which way to go. The Zoras were likely searching for that golden Seahorse because such a fish would surely glow, illuminating the way. Mikau's memories idly provided an interesting nugget that he'd once seen such a fish, and it had inspired the band to write a song about it. Zora songs have a tendency to revolve around the more aquatic things they come into contact with.
The waters cleared around Pinnacle Rock itself, allowing me to see that it was not simply a ring of rocks but a kind of marker within which the sea floor dropped down dramatically. Several cavernous openings were dotted around the walls further down.
As I swam further and further down into the depths I saw each of them had the vast head of some monster, some of which darted out to try to snap at me, revealing a snake-like body that lacked the tough looking scales of the head.
Naturally, it missed me. It writhed for a time as if trying to reach just a bit further to get me, then retreated back into the cave it had come from – revealing in the process one of the missing Zora eggs! Yet if I got close, that sea snake would attack.
I swam close enough to lure it back out, then turned sharply to avoid the head and swam for it's unprotected body, projecting the electric field around me to attack it. There was a water-muffled groan, then it snapped back into the cave. A repeat performance defeated it, allowing me to swim in and collect the egg.
There were several more caverns, and a brief survey told me they were all the same. It was hard to see at a glance which ones had the eggs in because less light filtered down here and also because it was starting to get late, so I was obliged to repeat my attacks on each of the snakes until I had two more eggs, and as I finished off the last one, an unexpected surprise – a Golden Seahorse.
"Did you come here by way of my husband?" it asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid not – I found my own way," I replied, fully capable of speech underwater. Zoras are good like that. "Is there something wrong?"
"He went to shore to help the Zoras, but hasn't come back yet. I'm afraid a fisherman might have caught him instead of your people. Can you go look? Please find him!"
"I'll see what I can do for you," I promised. "Should I bring him all the way back here, or just to the edge of Pinnacle Rock?"
"Either works, friend Zora. He'll be safer once there."
I wanted to get the Zora eggs back to safety, since this water wasn't exactly good for them, but this was kinda important too. On my way out I sent my mind back to check the mind of the Seahorse, then as I swam back toward the coastline I started searching ahead – and just as the Seahorse had feared, I found it on shore, right beside a distinctly human mind.
By this time night had fallen, which made things easier. When I got up onto the beach I ensured I was dry this time, went Hylian for the soft boots that made less sound on harder surfaces, then cautiously sneaked up on the fisherman's hut. I'm sure Manic would have had plenty to say about my style, but I'm not completely inept.
Fortunately the night meant the fisherman was dozing, and since he didn't seem to have invented those odd things called 'front doors' I was able to sneak in on near-silent feet. The golden glow of the Seahorse in a small tank provided ample illumination.
I gestured for it to remain quiet, not that I really needed to I suppose, then using my mind to supplement my temporarily boyish human body, picked up the tank and carefully made my way back out. I didn't want even a slight splash of water to alert the fisherman to his prize being stolen.
Once outside I cheated and flew instead, much to the astonishment of the Seahorse. Rather than chance the Leevers on the beach I took us out to the laboratory, where I cautioned it not to be any more surprised, returned to my Zora form and slipped the tank Seahorse and all into the water.
I was going to dive in after it to let it know, but aside from looking gratefully at me for a moment it swam off almost immediately to be reunited. I did keep an eye on him until I was certain he was safe before I went inside to get the last eggs to safety.
"Hurry up, you have to get them all together now so they can hatch!" the scientist told me almost breathlessly.
"I know, I know," I grumbled, climbing up and dropping the last of them into the aquarium.
"Quickly, it'll begin any moment now, to the front of the aquarium," he said, already watching the eggs closely.
They twitched for a time, then in perfect unison the surfaces all broke, revealing the Zora tadpoles within. They held their tails behind them in such a way that they looked almost like notes on a musical score – oddly accurate, given what happened next.
They swam up from the bottom of the aquarium and aligned themselves against a series of bars running across the back of the tanks.
"Are you seeing this Mikau?" the scientist exclaimed. "Just look – what does this mean, what can it mean... no, but they've only just been born, they couldn't have – yes! Mikau, do you understand? You must understand, the way these children have lined up..." he trailed off, running for a notebook.
I'd already made the connection myself. Zora children, as Mikau's memories once again told me, were born with some innate knowledge, and apparently also some musical inclination. They'd arranged themselves in the notes of a song, and any good musician knows what to do then.
The tadpoles bobbed in the water as I played the song, and more interestingly I somehow just... knew the additional following notes that continued it. I don't know whether it was Mikau, the Ocarina in the form of his guitar or just that I'm a Hero, but I knew those notes, causing the children to bob about excitedly afterwards. I also knew somehow that this was the song known as the New Wave Bossa Nova, or maybe I just came up with the name on the spot. Guitarists do that, you know.
Finally, I also knew that I had to take this song, go to Lulu and play it for her. These Zora children had come into the world through her – wait, did that mean I was technically a father, and not just her boyfriend? I wasn't entirely sure I liked the prospect. I had to talk to Lulu and make sure she understood, I decided.
This was all I could do here, and since the scientist was engrossed in his notes I doubt he even noticed my leaving. I left the Zora children with him because they needed the clean water in the aquarium, so outside I dived back into the water and headed north toward Zora Hall – accessible only from underwater, or by one of the very infrequent boat trips to the one single ledge that was outside and above water.
"Do we get to hear the song?" Manic asked. "Only from what I gather, you haven't been sharing them with us."
"He's got a point," Tails said. "You haven't played any of them, even the ones from Hyrule."
"What, you're ganging up on me to give you a private concert?" Silver teased. "I'll have to change form again though. Not that I don't like being a Goron, but the drums don't do most of the songs proper justice."
"Mikau again then?" Sonic suggested. "You said yourself you liked that one, and he is the only one of your forms who's a natural musician."
Silver sighed. "I thought I'd managed to get away from all the fanboys when I left Termina. Alright, but I'm not going to make a habit of this. If you'll wait until I get one of the next songs, I'll give you a much better performance."
Zora Hall is naturally mostly underwater. It does, however, keep to certain concepts that seem more at home on the surface. The top of it has at some point in the past been carved into a fish-tail, and the various underwater entrances in all four cardinal directions similarly shaped to look like a giant fish's mouth.
Surrounding the entire thing, even these mouths, is a kind of mound of mossy rock that serves as a set of walls. Zoras habitually leap out of the water while swimming to soar over them and into the water on the other side, though there are four guarded gates for those who don't want to do that. The area inside these walls is completely safe, and as I passed through I spotted Zora children, older than the tadpoles I'd just seen, playing for all the world like any other children anywhere. Adults kept a watchful eye on them of course, but this was a kind of sanctuary for them.
I was and still am forever thankful of the fact that despite my appearance as Mikau, most Zoras are sensible and have no reason to mimic Tael's fanboy attitude. They got to see Mikau almost all the time when he wasn't playing at this or that venue for the other creatures of Termina, so the novelty of seeing him had sort of worn off a bit.
This is not to say I didn't get a few reactions – I had to pause several times to talk with those who heartily welcomed me back home and inquired about the world outside, how I was doing and such. There was a sense of great relief when I told them Lulu's Zora eggs were safe and had hatched, and a few even passed word ahead to see to it that several Zoras took up the task of guarding the laboratory to ensure the Gerudo Pirates didn't try to steal them again.
I eventually did make my way into Zora Hall itself, which like the Deku Palace concealed an entire underwater town, bustling with activity. There was again the local branches of the Post Office and Bank of Termina, though the former puzzled me. Paper would just go soggy underwater, so how did they work?
The houses of the Zora people appeared to have been carved out of the rock, rough holes smoothed over and filled in with panes of glass to serve as windows, or treated wood serving as doors. It seemed strange that they'd want such things underwater, but this was my first time seeing it all first hand. Old stuff to Mikau, but there's a considerable difference between knowing and seeing.
A part of Zora Hall was above water though, which was the place where the band regularly played for their people. There was just no way their music could be played underwater. A series of truly immense seashells formed the stage, with many others scattered around to serve as seating for those who weren't content to swim – or perhaps they were for when there was no more space in the water.
Just behind the seashell stage of course were the band's rooms. Evan, the songwriter, pianist and the nominal leader of the band, Lulu as the lead singer, Mikau the guitarist, Japas on the bass and Tijo the drums.
I knew them all of course, in my situation I could hardly not have. I still had the outsiders view of the band, but I also had the insider view at the same time. It was like the Zora town, familiar to me while at the same time being completely new. It was the first time I'd ever been in a band before, and in an odd way, the first time I'd felt I actually truly belonged here – even if it was thought someone else's life.