So I'm not gonna win Camp NaNoWriMo... far from it... but I did write 47k words in March. So do I get a pass anyway?

The Magic Awakens

Chapter 30

The Disappearing Lake

Impa's heartbeat was steady on the monitor. But slow. If it were any slower, the last thread of life would slip away. And she'd fall into the abyss, never to be seen again.

Dr Mipha Dorephan confirmed as much. "I'm afraid there's no telling when, or if, she'll wake up." How medical staff stayed calm in the face of tragedy was beyond the Harkinian twins.

Zelda nodded solemnly. "Thank-you for doing your best."

A chair scraped against the floor. Link was on his feet, and he was devoid of Zelda's grace. "There has to be something we can do," he demanded. "We'll find a healing fairy, or use magic, or-"

"I'm afraid that magical remedies are prohibited," Mipha said.

"That's not fair! People are-"

"Link!" Zelda hissed.

Mipha blinked away the welling tears. She bowed her head and sniffed the tiniest bit. "I have to go." She spun on her heel and paced out of the ward.

Link sank back into his seat and buried his hands in his hair. "I'm an idiot."

Zelda sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're grieving."

But he was an idiot. He had wasted nine years resenting Impa for taking him away from Ordon, for not filling the void his parents left behind, and for trying to protect him from the dangers he chased. Until danger had closed in on her.

Link was grateful to have Zelda around, but she bore the same grief, and he wanted to seek comfort from someone who could afford to shoulder his emotions. Like his parents, who were dead. Or Midna, who was trapped at her house. Or Ganondorf, who was somehow responsible for this whole mess.

"Are you sure there was no malice?" Link asked for the fourth time.

"I'm positive." Zelda was a little resentful that it took this for Link to open up about what he witnessed in the Shadow Temple, but she pushed it aside. "There's no way someone could've injected him."

"Then why?" Link's whisper was so fragile. He strained to keep his emotions quashed, like Impa always did, like the dozens of heroes who put Hyrule first, but the plea from his heart to fall apart was growing more desperate.

He envied Zelda's tears; they always fell so freely. "I don't know for sure," she said, "but I keep thinking back to what Ghirahim said the night we pulled the sword."

No. Link refused to accept it. The Demon King wasn't a human. He was a nameless, boar-like beast. That was the only form he took. That was the only form history remembered.

The Gerudo warlord from the Shadow Temple loomed in Link's mind. His height, figure, and hair all resembled Ganondorf. Link had refused to turn around because he knew deep down that his best friend would have stared back.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Ganon was part of the Triforce Trio. He was supposed to help them vanquish evil. Not become it. How could Link ever complete his quest without his best friend? How could he be a chosen hero if it meant plunging his blade into Ganondorf's heart?

"I don't think he was in control," Zelda assured Link. "Before he… changed, he tried to warn me."

"So he knew that bastard was inside him and didn't tell us."

"Would you?"

"Yeah."

Zelda hung her head. "I don't think I could."

Okay, maybe Link wouldn't either. He was just looking for someone he could blame. Someone in reach, unlike the demonic being who lived inside Ganondorf's head. Where it was untouchable. Where it was unaccountable. Where it wore the flesh of Link's loved one like a fortress.

"What did you tell the police?" he asked. When they showed up to take their testimonies, Link breezed through his and slipped away. Pipit and Captain Ozul weren't among them, which was a relief, but Link was ashamed to admit that just being around cops made him nervous.

"The truth," she confessed. "I vouched for Ganon the whole time, but I was forced to admit that yes, he is dangerous and at large." A sob escaped her, then another, and another. Link draped an arm over her shoulder. "People are going to die, now," she cried. "Police. Civilians. Ganon. Maybe us. I don't know."

"We could still get him back," Link assured, just as much for himself as her. "The sword saved Midna. Maybe it could save him, too."

"Name one moment in history where the curse was separated from its incarnation," Zelda demanded. "Do it. I dare you." Link did not have an answer. His silence summoned more crashing waves of anxiety upon Zelda, until he led her through the third breathing exercise for that day. He had no idea how he managed to keep her grounded when he was on the verge of a breakdown himself.

"Taken your meds, yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No water."

He jumped at the opportunity to do something useful, but when he left the ward, two problems jabbed his gut. First, he did not have a water bottle to fill at one of the bubblers. Second, Zelda had vowed to never drink from a disposable bottle ever again, so the vending machines weren't an option either. He could try asking a nurse, but with all the emotional turmoil he was feeling, talking to strangers was more daunting than a dragon. If he could just find a café with a tray of glasses.

There wasn't such a café on the first floor, or the second, or the third. On the forth, he didn't feel in control of his own feet anymore. They were the tour guide and he was the unwilling tourist.

Here, there were no wards. Rather offices, storage rooms, break areas, and more. Wait. Had he wandered onto the staff level? Link turned around to leave, but as he passed a closed door with a shutter over the window, a frantic voice stilled him.

"I took an oath to preserve life!" Mipha cried.

"We have rules for a reason. If you use your magic now, it will be an act of malpractice," a deep voice said.

"But Father-"

"I know it's hard, watching people die when you have the power to stop it, but it won't be for much longer. Dr Mizumi says the tests are almost complete."

"They've been almost complete for the past month! These delays are unacceptable. We have to do something about it."

"Well, how would you go about retrieving a lost lake?" her father snapped.

On impulse, Link stumbled through the door. Mipha and Hospital Director Dorephan gaped at his entrance. Link swallowed down his nerves before he spoke. "What's this about a lost lake?"

At twilight, the train rattled past a basin surrounded by cliffs, and only a fraction carried water. Black water. The last remnant of Lake Hylia, which had disappeared from Hyrule's list of natural wonders almost two decades ago.

With a screech and a hiss, the train ground to a halt. The twins disembarked onto the platform where a tall, red Zora was waiting for them. He held a sign that read Link and Zelda Harkinian in perfect cursive. They knew Mipha's brother was going to pick them up, but they were completely unprepared for how dashing his pearly white, sharp-toothed smile was. Or the fact that he was dressed like a princely chic runway model. People like him were the reason why Link stayed curious.

They waved and he bounded up to them, a silver scale bouncing against his collar. "Fantastic to meet you!" he said, never breaking his grin. "Sidon Dorephan. Welcome to our humble abode."

"Thank-you, Mr Dorephan." Zelda extended a hand.

Sidon shook it with a firmness that deepened her blush. "Please, there is no need for that. Call me Sidon."

"Okay, Sidon," Zelda mumbled, trying dreadfully hard to maintain a professional headspace.

The far-too-handsome-for-comfort Zora led them through a ghost town of houses on stilts above the bone-dry lakebed. It was a carcass of rotten wood, broken windows, and chipped pillars of luminous stone that had lost its lustre. "Are you aware of the tragedy that befell our lake?" Sidon asked. Zelda nodded while Link shook his head. "Would you like me to show you?" They nodded.

Sidon led them down the incline towards the little water that remained. The stench of musky chemicals and rotten fish swelled in their nostrils. Zelda summoned her mask and slipped it on, while Link pinched his nose and held back a gag.

Blue and red dyes melded into a dark, almost black, purple. A few dead fish floated on the surface, while others twitched every so often. The water was made more viscous by tiny black spots. Microplastics, coated in filth. It was as if an entire lake's worth of pollution had been concentrated into this one area.

"I still remember how those waters looked when I was a boy," Sidon said wistfully. "Crystal clear, they were. You could see the deepest lakebeds from the surface. We adored these waters. My friends and I were determined to know every fish and stone.

"When I was eight, our parents became terribly worried. They told us we couldn't swim in the lake anymore, and they wouldn't tell us why. After our parents put us to bed, they held a meeting in the square every second night. My friends and I snuck out to swim and play as we always did.

"Then the waters became murkier; it caught our gills and poisoned our flesh. We didn't know why, but we couldn't ask our parents without confessing to what we did. We thought it would go away soon enough, until Ralis…" Sidon caressed the scale hanging from his neck. "How improper of me, pouring my heart out to a couple of strangers."

"No, it's fine," Zelda said. "I heard what happened to the lake a few years ago, and it broke my heart." It was the story that inspired her to start CHERI and boycott the ones responsible. "Even hearing from a Zora who witnessed it, I can only imagine the pain."

"Thank-you," Sidon said. "Our parents finally told us the truth. A new textile factory upstream was dumping their toxic waste into the water. The adults were appealing to the government to enforce restrictions, but the brands kept silencing us."

"Which brands?" Link asked.

"The factories are owned by Vaati Incorporated, I believe. It's the parent company of many brands that produce there."

Sidon led the twins towards a small stream running into the lake. It flowed from a serpent's maw carved into the cliff. No, it wasn't flowing down the incline. It was flowing up. "A few months ago, the lake started draining into that tunnel," he began. "It was an enormous cistern built during the Era of Magic. We believe it was how our ancestors purified drinking water."

Link almost started up the slope to investigate when Sidon spoke again. "I should introduce you to your hosts. They'll help you get settled in."

They followed him up the lakebed towards the only building which still had lights on. It had blue tiles, solar panels, and quite the number of turrets and add-ons, like a pair of old jeans patched with scraps.

When Sidon knocked on the door, a withered voice bellowed. "Hold on! Just wrapping up the experiment." There was an electric buzz and someone yelped. "Mikau, I told you not to touch that!"

"Oh no, I just happen to be an injured Zora. Looks like my darling wife will have to heal me all over again while you take lots of notes." The elderly man and a young woman sighed in unison.

"You're going to get me in trouble with the ethics committee if you keep this up," the old man said.

The twins glanced at Sidon for clarity. Even his awkward smiles were dashing. "You'll find out soon enough," he whispered.

The scribbles of a pen and one doting lecture from Mikau's wife later, someone shuffled towards the door. It had five assorted locks on it, though three of them were broken. The working ones twitched and clicked as the person on the other side fiddled with them, until they pulled the door back.

He was a short, Hylian man with a blue cap and wispy white hair, as if he had been shocked as well. He wore a rather stained doctor's coat over a dark blue tunic that fell over his feet. Skin clung to every curve of bone, and as he smiled, his teeth stuck out in every direction. "Ah, you must be the chosen hero and the spirit maiden. Come in, come in. We have much to discuss."

At the opposite end of the hall were two pools divided by glass. One was murky and dark, while the other was pristine and clear. Stacks upon stacks of fish tanks lined the walls. Some were sickly while others zipped around in perfect health. By a desk scattered with hand-scrawled notes, a pale blue Zora flexed his tattooed arm. "Great job, hun. Those spasms are a bad dream now." The female Zora shook her head with a fond smile. She was sitting in an office chair and wore a royal purple dress over her swollen belly.

"Glad to see that you've met my assistant," the elder said, nodding at Sidon. "My name is Dr Mizumi. I'm one of Director Dorephan's longest friends." Mizumi gestured at the couple. Mikau spun his wife in the office chair as she squealed in delight. "The obnoxious newly-weds are Lulu and Mikau."

Mikau attempted to rest his elbow on the top of the chair, but the momentum pulled him along. He fell into Lulu's lap as she gasped. Mikau sprung up and leaned against the stilled chair as if nothing ever happened. "Sup?" Their names were familiar to Link, but he couldn't figure out how.

"Lulu has the same healing ability as Mipha," Mizumi continued, "and she has graciously allowed me to study it. Her husband is here for moral support."

"Nah, I'm the lab rat," Mikau declared. Mizumi sighed.

With the help of her husband, Lulu pushed off the chair and waddled to the twins. "We already know who you are." She opened her arms. Zelda took the invitation to hug, but Link shoved his hands in his pockets. He wasn't as comfortable with touching strangers aside from handshaking, which Mikau offered. There was something so recognisable about his tattoo sleeve, but Link still couldn't place it.

"We're so glad you're here to restore our lake," Lulu said.

"Indeed." Mizumi gestured at the room around them. "Welcome to the Lakeside Laboratory. Would you care for a brief tour before we get you settled in with your hosts?" The twins nodded but Zelda was twice as eager. The doctor waved them along. They passed several benches and shelves stacked with preserved plants, pickled wildlife, Petri dishes, and water samples of various clarity, until they stopped before the pools of water.

"In addition to researching the medicinal applications of healing magic, we have been studying the effects it has on the environment." Mizumi gestured at the dirty water. "As you can tell, this sample was collected straight from the lake." He pointed to the clear water. "This is the water purified by Lulu. So far, tests have revealed that it closely matches the samples I had collected prior to the factory upstream."

"That's amazing," Zelda chimed. "How long would it take to clean the entire lake this way?"

Mizumi sighed. "Even with the help of every healing Zora we can find, it would take decades, and that's if the pollution isn't ongoing."

Zelda's shoulders sank. What could she say to that? Well, changing the subject was effective, if a little cowardly. "Could you tell us more about the medical applications? I hear the tests are almost complete."

Mizumi grinned. "The tests have already been completed at another lab. Our job is to replicate them. Due to the lake's disappearance, however, we have been unable to release our real patients," he gestured at the fish tanks, "to observe how their healed wounds behave under the stress of their daily lives. Once we have monitored them for 24 hours, we can determine if the data has been successfully replicated, and healing magic will be deployed by medical staff effective immediately."

There was something awfully fishy about the guitar hanging on the white oak wall, aside from the fact that it was made from fish bone. Where in Hyrule had Link seen it before?

"How long are you going to wait for it to spring to life?" asked Zelda. "We're just down the hall."

Link followed her to a room that smelled of fresh paint. Swirling waves of baby blue embellished the walls of the soon-to-be nursery. The only furniture was two "fish tank" cribs and a queen-sized blow-up mattress with two pillows and blankets. Zelda kneeled and summoned her travel bag, but each time she rummaged for an essential item, her eyes wandered back to the waves. "What's on your mind?" Link asked

"It's quite sad, isn't it? Lulu's children won't get to grow up with a clear lake."

"You never know," Link said. "Their parents are working very hard to give them a clean home someday." Zelda sighed as she gathered her toiletries and sought out the bathroom.

Link's slate chimed with Midna's ringtone. He eased back on the mattress and answered. "Hey, Firework. What's up."

"Not doing great," Midna said. "The DJ cancelled on us out of nowhere and I can't find someone in our budget on short notice."

Link groaned. "That was a really awkward call, and it was all for nothing."

"Sucks, but enough of that. I wanna check in. Did you get to Lake Hylia okay?"

"Yeah. A Zora couple is hosting us. Lulu and Mikau."

On the other end of the line, Midna's stylus clattered onto her desk. The silence was so piercing that Link worried the Yiga had shot her with a sedative. "Link…" she began. "Are you or are you not staying with the lead singer and guitarist of the Indigo-Gos?"

Link furrowed his brow, and a second later, it shot up. "That's where they're from?"

"Oh. My. Gods. You couldn't even recognise my favourite band. How dare you!" Her wide grin coloured her tone.

He laughed. "They're pretty easy going. Want me to put you on video call?"

Midna sputtered incoherently. "Do I?! Shit. I need to find my brush. And I'm literally wearing their band tee right now. Should I change?" Through the speaker, draws were opened, rummaged through, and slammed. On the third one, a dish smashed, followed by horse coughing. On Link's end. "What's going on?"

"Dunno. We'll try again later."

"I'm holding you to that. See you."

Link leapt from the mattress and shoved the slate in his pocket. He ran past a wall of polaroids from gigs, tours, and a wedding. Link was a little lost, but Lulu's worried voice carried down the hall. "Darling, please stand. I can't help anymore."

He skid into the kitchen where Mikau was on all fours, snagged by a coughing fit. Shards of ceramic dug into his palms as he struggled to keep himself from collapsing. Link knelt by his side. "Oh, thank goodness," Lulu breathed. "Can you get him to the couch? I'll grab the inhaler."

Link wrapped Mikau's arm around his shoulder and hauled them both upright. Since the Zora was taller and giving almost his full weight, Link swayed as he hauled him into the living room and lay him on a wicker couch lined with sea foam cushions. Lulu set a stool beside her husband and sank onto it. She pushed the inhaler in his mouth. The rise and fall of Mikau's chest evened and slowed.

Zelda flew into the room, adjusting the dress she had thrown over her damp form. "What happened?"

"Asthma," Lulu said, "from the lake."

"My own fault," Mikau rasped as he offered his bloody palms to his wife. "I was itching for a swim. Figured toxic water wouldn't be that bad." A dry laugh. "Don't do it, kids."

Lulu plucked shards of ceramic with a pair of tweezers. "It's how I discovered my healing powers." Mikau yelped as she dug around a particularly stubborn piece. "I didn't understand how it worked, so I couldn't fully heal him before the damage became permanent. Would've helped if someone wasn't so reckless in the first place." Zelda went to clean up the shards in the kitchen. Mikau reminded her of someone she knew.

Once all the bits had been removed from Mikau, Lulu took his first palm into her own. Her other hand hovered over, and it glowed with a pulsing blue light. Blood travelled back into punctures as they sealed themselves. After a mere minute, all that remained was a smattering of scars.

Zelda wandered back to the living room just as Lulu was healing Mikau's second hand. It was truly remarkable. How tragic it would be for such a gift to disappear once the magic was sealed away.

The Zora couple was chronically tired after mishap, so the twins offered to serve up the glazed fish Mikau had made. It was an awkward task, as they did not know their way around the kitchen and couldn't find the plates. They resorted to bowls, but their hosts didn't mind. "Thanks a bunch," Lulu said as she received her meal. "We're sorry you had to trouble yourselves."

"It's the least we could do for your hospitality," Zelda said.

Once their bellies were full, Mikau and Lulu fought over who should clear away the dishes. "No, hun," Mikau insisted. "Don't put stress on the babies."

"The babies can take it better than your lungs, sweetheart." She snatched up the first bowl. Mikau, a sore loser, scooped up the rest and dashed towards the kitchen. Where he tripped, along with the hearts of everyone present. He threw out a leg just in time and no more ceramics were tragically lost. Lulu raced to fill the sink while Mikau lunged for the tea towels.

The twins headed for the bathroom to brush their teeth, but once Link had rinsed out his mouth, he found himself unwilling to leave yet. He sat on the edge of a rather deep and wide bathtub as Zelda reached for step one of her beauty routine: face scrub. She didn't question him, for she too felt his loneliness. As delightful as their hosts were, they could not distract from the fading life of their guardian.

Zelda washed the scrub off her face and turned off the tap. "How do you think Impa's doing now?" Link shrugged and hugged his knee tighter. Her hands twitched as she moisturised her face with coconut oil. "She'll hold on for us, right?"

He didn't answer. He was trying to brace himself for the worst, so he wouldn't lose himself to despair if it came. What use would a broken hero be for Hyrule?

Zelda skipped step five of her routine because it would be far too awkward to wander about a stranger's house with a facemask. As they departed for the living room, Link slowed down, stalled by the guitar on the wall.

"Do you play?" Mikau hovered behind him.

Link shrugged. "Some basic chords." Rusl had taught him what he knew and Link had serenaded Ilia a few times in Ordon. He hadn't picked up a guitar since their breakup.

Mikau removed it from the wall. "How about I give you a few lessons?"

Something about the offer felt taboo to Link. Guitars were a symbol of his past romantic affections for Ilia, but when he thought about how delighted Midna would be to know that he was taught by The Mikau on his Iconic Fishbone Guitar, he nodded.

They sat on the couch across from Zelda and Lulu, who were discussing her pregnancy over a cup of tea. "And we're naming all four of them after our old band mates and manager, who will be their godfathers, of course," Lulu chirped.

"What a lovely gesture," said Zelda. "Do you miss them?"

"Everyday." The solemn air was decorated by the strum of strings. "We stay in touch, but Mikau and I quit a year ago when we realised my powers could save Lake Hylia. We played together at the wedding, but never since." Lulu sighed. "We dream about reuniting all the time, but going on tour won't heal our home." Zelda's chest tightened. Another magic user who could put duty before her selfish desires. If Zelda had accepted her fate as a vessel, she could've stopped the Demon King. She could've saved Impa before she was harmed. "But perhaps a little music can heal you," Lulu said.

"How?" Zelda asked.

"I sense a great sadness in you both. Sometimes a good song helps."

Mikau strummed absentmindedly. "Couldn't agree more." He passed the guitar to Link, who held it the way he had been taught, and he waited for further instruction. "Go on. Play the song in your hearts."

Zelda flushed. "Y-you see, I'm not as good as you."

Lulu's earrings jingled as she shook her head. "Don't worry about that. One of the greatest myths about art is that it belongs to the talented. Really, it's a natural behaviour we all have."

For Zelda's sake, Link strummed the first chord. It was up to Zelda to fill in the tune, so she looked into her heart, and found a little song that she hadn't noticed before. Taking its hand, she guided it upwards, until it tottered on the tip of her tongue, and then she let it flutter into the open.

Dry your eyes

Tears mark the wise

When you fall, you crawl, and you stride once again

Impa had worked so hard to master her mother's lullaby, and Zelda was terrified to become the only person who knew how to sing it just right.

Learn from fear

And leave your drear

Let the new you bloom

The song flowed like a crystal-clear brook. Every crack of her voice became the splosh of a pebble or the flick of a fish's tail. Link's strums were the rhythmic patter of rain, enhancing the current that carried them through the memories of their beloved guardian.

Impa sang to sooth the twins as she cleaned Link's scraped knee. The shame he felt over failing to defend his sister lessened and Zelda's grief over the chunk of hair snipped from her long locks gave way to intrigue. Would she look pretty with a bob? Link and Impa thought so, so why not give it a try?

Link no longer felt pained and Zelda no longer felt hideous. The features they gained had become a part of them. A temporary part, but something worth embracing none-the-less. His scrapes were a symbol of his protective nature, and her haircut came to represent her resilience and adaptability.

Though scars had faded and hair had grown out, those traits stayed with them. Tomorrow, they would save the one who had drawn them out all those years ago.

Anyone who knows me in real life or on Instagram would know that including a fast fashion PSA in a fanfiction is the most in-character thing I could ever do. Uhh... Watch 'The True Cost' and research sustainable fashion if you want the shit that happened to Lake Hylia to stop in the real world?

Also I initially wrote that the Indigo-Gos broke up two years ago, but then I changed it to one just this week. Doesn't seem like a big deal, does it? Well, I thought it should match when Midna discovered her magic. Remember that exam she got an A- on that her mum was super pissed about? Yeah, that underperformance may have been a symptom of Midna's shattered fangirl heart. Therefore, Lulu and Mikau are indirectly responsible for Midna discovering that "Holy shit I can hide in shadows!"