I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT.

TMA's draft is done. Done! We officially have 19 chapters and an epilogue in the backlog. I'm still editing as we post but holy typos, Batman, there's no more story left to tell!

The Magic Awakens

Chapter 32

From Ripples to Waves

Zelda was spat from a tunnel into the rays of twilight. She tumbled across the lakebed, coughing and kicking up dust. She clawed to a halt and hacked the last of the water from her system. The droplets receded with the rest into the serpentine tunnel before the jaws clamped shut.

This wasn't the entrance she had come from. She was on the other side of the lake! Alone, no less. Where was Link? Was he still trapped in there? Was he going ballistic now that they were separated, and riling up a testy spirit?

Zelda should've retreated the moment she guessed who was behind the missing lake. No slicing pipes. No digging holes. No creeping about like the uninvited guests they were. She was going back into the cistern, and this time she was going to do it the way she should've done all along.

Flippers pounded through the bed with an awkward gait. She needed to find Lulu, Mikau, Sidon, anyone!

Zelda pounded on the door to the laboratory. "Hold on!" Mizumi called. "Experiment in progress."

"It's urgent!" she exclaimed.

Someone shuffled to the door, fiddled with the locks, and threw it open. "My dear, what's wrong?" asked Mizumi.

"Good. You're all here." She swept past Mizumi to the three perplexed Zoras. Lulu's glowing palms hovered over a basin of murky water. Mikau was perched on a stool beside her. Sidon stood with a pen and clipboard loose in his grip. "I need some kind of spiritual token for your guardian deity."

"Deity?" questioned Lulu. "We haven't had one of those since-"

"Don't question it!"

Sidon furrowed his brow. "I'm afraid we don't have any spiritual relics around."

"Then something with meaning," Zelda insisted. "Something that will persuade them to give back the lake."

He caressed the silver scale around his neck as he bit his lip. When pulled it off, it was as if he tore part of himself with it. "Will this do?"

How tragic to receive such a precious relic. "I believe so." Zelda's fingers curled around it. "Sorry to take it from you."

Sidon waved it off, his dashing smile hiding whatever sadness he felt. "Please, do not despair. I only wish to help."

"Yeah!" Mikau cheered. "Go get our lake."

With a smile and a nod, Zelda sprinted out the door. If only she had the time to say thank-you.

Zelda knelt before the closed jaws, clutching Ralis's scale to her chest. Would such an agonised spirit be willing to listen to her? Goddesses, she hoped she wouldn't have to fight them alone. For once, it would be nice to get a medallion without facing down some giant foe!

No, this spirit was not her foe.

She bowed with her palms cradling the pendant. Surely the entity would empathise with a young Zora poisoned by the lake. It was a tragedy they shared, after all.

Stone joints ground together as the serpent's mouth grew wide. Water slithered out to claim the token and pool around Zelda. Her invitation.

She followed the current through the darkness, again observing the intricate carvings of deities long passed and one that still lived.

Beams of twilight filtered through the frosted skylight onto a glossy, expansive surface of crystal-clear water. Pillars supported a ceiling half the area of Lake Hylia, and they reached down twice as deep. Even as the water that led Zelda to this place trickled back into its home, it did not disturb the stillness.

The sudden dryness of Zelda's form prickled her: a reminder that she did not belong. If she did anything to disturb the water, it would not treat her kindly.

"My name is Zelda Harkinian," she trembled. "Chosen hero of the-"

"I know who you are." The water rippled the rhythm of their words.

She bowed her head. Of course they knew. Knees met dry stone as she sank into a bow. "Forgive me, Lanayru."

A drop echoed around the chamber: a sign of intrigue. "So, you know who I am."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"And I suppose you've come to do what all humans do. Beg for my blessings as you poison my waters."

The accusation pricked like a pin. Zelda's could prattle on about her eco-activism, and she was sorely tempted. She boycotted clothing manufactured upstream whenever she could. She avoided artificial fibres. She hand-washed almost all her clothes, signed petitions, and founded the Central High Eco Rights Initiative. However, she was not exempt from this. Her school's gym uniforms were made upstream. Many of her garments still shed microfibres and bled toxic dyes. And then there was how ignorant she was before she knew the fate of Lake Hylia.

"Yes, I suppose so."

Another drop. "You admit it?"

"I do, and I apologise for my complacency. I also apologise for the manner in which my brother and I entered your domain. We should have appealed to you directly, but instead we ignored your generous warnings and vandalised our way through. For that, I am deeply sorry."

"And what would you have done, had I not answered your appeal?" Zelda had no answer for that. None she was willing to admit, at least. "I am aware of your quest and your final goal. Ordinarily, I would assist you and your brother, just as I did in the Era of Twilight. However, your final goal contradicts my duty as the guardian of this lake."

"Forgive my perspective, but surely withholding the lake is causing harm as well?" Zelda prayed she wouldn't be dragged underwater for that. "The fish and plants are all gone, and the Zoras are forced to abandon their homeland."

"You think I am to blame for their destruction?" Small waves splashed shy of Zelda's ledge. She shrank away with a squeak. "How bold of you to claim."

"I apologise. I'm afraid I lack understanding here."

"Then drink from my waters, and you will understand everything."

Zelda slipped her hands under the cool, glassy surface. It was the pinnacle of clean and refreshing, but there was a heaviness as she drew it to her lips.

A scorching pain seeped into every pore, every vessel, and every cell. With every inhale, more poison flowed in, and plastics wedged themselves in her flesh. She was drawing breath, and yet she was suffocating, caught in the storm of this blinding pain. The waterfall of toxins continued to beat her down as she screamed and thrashed.

The stench of rotting fish, dead and alive, filled her nostrils, and at the bottom of the lake, dozens of Zora corpses lay, having never been retrieved for their sacred burials. The villages, both by the lake and upstream, were abandoned. She had been abandoned, and without a fighting chance, life was abandoning her still.

Zelda awoke with a gasp. The water her lips had barely touched splattered against the stone. She was trembling. It was such excruciating pain that the human mind was not even capable of conceiving it.

"That is what I awoke to," Lanayru said. "I was too weak to take my physical form, and I was too weak to save any lifeforms from the poison your people poured into my waters. I was forced to claw my way through this cistern, drop-by-drop, and rest here until the day my waters would be safe from such careless destruction."

What should Zelda say to that? What could she say to that? In the lake basin, Lanayru wasn't safe. Even if they used their powers to destroy the factory upstream, what was to stop Vaati Incorporated or some other vile company from trying again once the magic was sealed away?

That was one of the biggest lessons about pollution that Zelda struggled to accept. In places like Castle City, where the trees were green and the water clean and the skies blue, it was easy to believe that there was time to prevent disaster, but for people like the Zoras, for entities like Lanayru, the dystopia was already here.

Magic had always been nature's defence mechanism. Magic put a cap on humanity's greed. Magic demanded respect for the land. Without magic, nature would be doomed. But with magic, everyone would be doomed! The earth would crack open, and monsters would spread fire and death and destruction in the name of… of… whoever had usurped Ganon's body.

Impa was gone. Link was gone. Zelda would have to battle her beloved alone, and soon everything would become her dystopia as well.

The tears were falling. How pathetic she was, crying and snivelling before a deity who knew pain far beyond her. What reason would they have to care for her despair?

Beyond her blurry vision, something remarkable happened. Enough to quell her cries and clear her sights. The tears that had splashed against the stone were snaking together into one rolling drop. When it hit the water, a ripple spread wide, and it grew tall with a curling fringe of foam until it crashed against the walls, grazing the ceiling.

She had insulted Lanayru. Witnessed the first sign of their terrifying wrath. She scrambled to her feet, ready to turn her back and run if she had to, despite knowing all too well that she'd be met by immovable stone. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "Please, keep the medallion. Keep the lake. Just return my brother and we'll leave."

"Stay," the voice echoed with a newfound gentleness. "I have tasted your tears, as you have mine. Perhaps we can come to an agreement of sorts."

Oh. Wow. Crying actually achieved something. Still, she dried her eyes and perked up as if she hadn't had an anxiety attack just then. "Yes, that sounds lovely."

The water wasn't glassy anymore. It moved like the surface of a lake on a tranquil day. "First, I will return your brother to you." A dark silhouette emerged from the depths, drifting towards the surface. Limp. Unmoving. Was he drowned? Had Lanayru drowned him? Did Lanayru see it fit to start a negotiation by offering up her brother's corpse and expect her to see it as an act of goodwill? Or was it an ugly warning as to what would befall her if she became too impassioned?

Though once he broke the surface and Zelda hauled him onto stone, it was apparent that he was not a corpse. Merely corpse-like. The rise and fall of his chest was uneven and shallow, as if the intake of air was more laborious than before. His lips were a black tinge surrounded by pale skin beneath teh grime, and fibres were far up his nails. Sweet Nayru, what had he gotten into?

"Your Grace," the spirit said. Oh, how she detested that title, almost as much as she detested the one who said it. "I owe you an apology. His words got the better of me, and I lashed out, only realising the error of my ways once he had lost consciousness. I did my best to revive him."

Zelda pursed her lips as she checked Link's feeble pulse. What was to stop her words from getting the better of Lanayru?

"I sense your anger. If you wish to leave now, then you may."

"Will you allow me back in?"

A pause. "I cannot."

"Why?"

"Simply put, we do not trust each other."

Zelda gritted her teeth. She needed to save Link. She had to, but they needed the Water Medallion and they needed the lake. He would have to cling to life on his own for a bit. How cruel of her to ask that of him. "For the Water Medallion and the return of Lake Hylia," it was a battle to keep her tone civil, "what do you wish for?"

She had a strong inkling of Lanayru's request, and yet she clung to the naïve hope that they would ask for less.

"Do not seal away the magic."

No, it wasn't a naïve hope. It was preposterous to think that an ancient spirit would be that dense. "If that is what you want, why give me the medallion at all?"

"For the sake of contingency," Lanayru said. "You will not seal away the magic, unless there is no other choice."

As in there was another choice? A second-coming of the magical age that did not end in a demonic dystopia? If such a future were possible, the advantages would be numerous. Thousands of patients like Impa would receive a second chance at life. Midna wouldn't have to race against their quest to escape her abusive household. Several cultures would rediscover their roots and history. Magic would drive countless innovations. Most importantly, nature would be able to resist corporate greed, and a healthy future would be assured.

But the shock to the status quo could be devastating. Would those with magic oppress those without? Would the Yiga Clan grow into a greater menace? Would more monsters terrorise civilians?

Would Impa's vision of the Demon King's armies spilling from the earth come true?

Both options had their drawbacks, so it all came down to what Zelda wanted most: her brother and her guardian, healed and whole again. "I accept." The answer rang out with more confidence than she felt. "In exchange for the lake and the medallion, I will do whatever I can to ensure the magic stays."

Waves of gratitude lapped at her feet. "Thank-you." Much of the heaviness had been lifted from their tone. Something glinted in the twilight as it floated towards the surface. A tongue of water rose towards Zelda's open palm, where it gifted the Water Medallion. It was sapphire blue with drops forming a six-petal flower. Soothing waves lapped her fingertips.

"If I sense the magic slipping away, I will reclaim the lake without hesitation," the voice said. "Time grows short for the hero." Once again Zelda bit back vinegar. "Allow me to carry you and your brother to shore."

She still did not fancy being at the mercy of sentient water, but she would chance any risk for Link.

Soothing waves pulsed through Link, drawing him back to awareness. The haze of his memories cleared. He had drowned in poison and plastic because of his stupid mouth. At least the afterlife was pleasant.

Actually, it wasn't quite pleasant enough to qualify as any sort of afterlife, because as his mind faded in, so too did mortal conditions such as his aching muscles, tingling skin, and the annoying tickle in his ragged lungs and throat.

As he stirred, someone squeezed his hand. His attempt to squeeze back was feeble, but it was enough to elicit a familiar gasp. "Link?"

"Zel?" he mumbled. Two faces swam into view, contrasted against the bright lab lights. One was his sister, grinning with hair that had been styled by a tsunami. The other was Lulu, deep in concentration as she hovered her hands up and down his chest and throat. Mizumi sat in an office chair a little further away, scribbling down notes. "What happened?" Link croaked.

"A water spirit felt bad about almost drowning you," Zelda explained.

"Almost? They were pretty set on it."

"Then why are you here?"

The tickle in his throat was rising. "Fuck, I dunno. I was too busy choking on-" Sputters and coughing overtook him, as if there was something in his lungs that he couldn't get out because the air couldn't come in.

"Just as we suspected," crooned Mizumi. "Zelda, be a dear and grab the inhaler."

She jumped up, snatched something off a nearby bench, and the next thing Link knew, he was breathing through a clear plastic spacer as Zelda pressed down on the inhaler. His lungs settled and the coughing subsided, but that nag in his throat was still there.

"How are you feeling?" asked Mizumi.

Thanks to Lulu's healing, his aches and pains had almost dulled. "Like there's something stuck in my lungs."

Mizumi sighed. "Seems you have met a similar fate to Mikau. The toxic materials you inhaled have caused some permanent damage." Asthma? Of all the permanent ailments he could've gotten on this quest, it was asthma? "I'm afraid you'll have to be more careful when it comes to physical activity," Mizumi continued, "and you'll have to be mindful of smog, temperature change, dust, rain…"

As the doctor droned on, Link silently wallowed. Wow, it was as if saving Hyrule wasn't physically demanding enough. Perhaps he'd have to fight the next monster through a coughing fit. And if it didn't get him killed and he somehow completed this quest, farewell to his active, adventurous lifestyle!

"…of course, you're very lucky," Mizumi continued. "You're fitter than most with a strong respiratory system, and it's a good thing Lulu healed you as soon as she did. After a good few days of rest, your body will settle down a bit, and it will become nothing more than an acute case." That hardly lightened Link's bitterness, but unlike most people who suffered from asthma, he kinda had himself to blame.

Lulu withdrew her palms and cracked her wrists. "Whew. That took a lot out of me. Feeling better?"

At least she did her best. "Yeah. Thanks."

"It's the least I could do after what you two did." Did? But the lake was still missing. Lulu's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, I suppose you don't know yet." She reached out to Zelda who helped her from her stool. "I'm gonna enjoy the outdoors for a bit. Doc, you should come too."

"Will do." Mizumi shuffled after Lulu's waddle.

Once the door had closed, Link sank back into his pillow with a groan. "We failed."

"On the contrary," Zelda chirped. The Water Medallion materialised in her hands.

Link's jaw fell open. There were no signs of battle on her figure. "You fought that monster on your own?"

"There was no monster, and there was no fighting." The medallion vanished. "Merely a guardian deity. We bonded over some shared trauma."

"You talked them into giving it over?"

She hesitated for a moment. Was it the time to mention her promise? "More or less."

"Gods, I know you're persuasive but… wow." Link meant for unabashed admiration, but jealousy twang his tone. Yet another failure someone else had to bail him out of, and of all the people to hold that burden, it was Zelda.

She sensed it, of course. "Why did you nearly drown?"

Link side-eyed her. "You already know. It's gonna take a while for our little talk to sink in. I'm not used to you being so… capable at this."

"You're capable too," she assured him. "When you have your head on straight. Even though we were wrong to explore the cistern how we did, it was the only way I knew evil wasn't at play."

Link nodded. "By the way, did you find the lake?"

The widest grin spread across her face. "Why don't you see for yourself?"

It was a spark in Link's adventurous heart. In a single motion, he swung himself off the bed and threaded his arms through the sleeves of his wetsuit. As he zipped up, he spied a newspaper on one of the benches. It had a frontpage pictograph of a glowing serpent looming over a factory.

ANCIENT LIGHT SPIRIT FLOODS SWEATSHOP

"The river flowed backwards!"

Beyond the door, the moon sparkled against crystal waters, where two Zoras raced each other in circles. Mikau leapt from the water with a laugh, executing a double flip, and his wife clapped with delight. "I've still got it!" he yelled.

Then Sidon leapt and completed a triple flip, droplets sparkling against his toned body. "Ha ha. I am unstoppable in the water!"

"Hey, hey, no need to show me up like that." Mikau dove and broke the surface, rotating two and a half times, only to land in a painful belly flop. Mizumi, who lounged fully clothed on a deckchair with tanning mirrors, sighed.

Once Link overcame his awe, he whipped towards Zelda. "Does this mean…?"

She nodded. "The fish have been released into the lake. Tomorrow, the experiment will be complete, and Dr Dorephan can heal Impa."

He no longer cared about toxic waters, angry spirits, asthma, or even the jealousy that still lingered for Zelda. She was safe, they had the Water Medallion, and Impa was going to live.

And he was alive, standing before a beautiful lake he thought he'd never get to see with his own eyes. "Race you to the water," he said.

"Link, remember to be-" He had already broken into a run. Zelda huffed and chased after him, through greener grasses and softer sands and clearer waters. Knee deep in the lake, Link spun around to gloat, only to get tackled by Zelda. He bobbed above the surface, shook his sopping locks from his eyes, and countered with a splash. She threw her hands over her face with a squeal.

Their tussle summoned the Zoras, and then Link and Mikau were caught in an all-out splash war against Zelda and Sidon. Lulu provided witty commentary from the sidelines.

They continued to enjoy the splendours of the lake until the dawn of a new day.

Hey, kids! Hope you enjoyed the beach episode :D

Writing Advice Blogs: "Your protagonist must always face consequences for their actions."

Me: "Great!" *gives Link asthma*

I don't have much personal experience with this condition, so I'm doing my best to research. It's definitely a challenge trying to realistically incorporate it without disrupting the plot too much (especially since this wasn't even considered until Chapter 30's draft), so if you have asthma, you're welcome to offer feedback on this chapter and the coming ones as well.