The multiple beams of light from the Sheikah Slate formed at last on the teleportation pad on the floor of the beast to create two Hylians standing close to one another. Zelda's eyes gleamed the moment she laid eyes on the interior of the Beast.

"Oh Link! I haven't been here in so long!" She called, letting go of his arm and jogging ahead.

"Careful Zelda!" Link called out. Zelda turned with a frown.

"What is it? I've done this before, don't pretend like I'm new to this..."

"Zelda, even with my fractured memories I specifically remember you having at least two guards with you at all times. There was no way you could have fallen at a 'Royal Walking' pace," Link said, walking towards her. "Trust me, falling off this thing isn't fun, and now you're free to run around as you please so be careful..."

Zelda seemed to only catch one key piece of information from Link's explanation. She grinned as she gripped the straps of her back pack hugging her shoulders.

"Tell me Link... How many times did you fall?" She asked cheekily. Link blinked a few times before squinting.

"Why do you wanna know...?" Link asked. Zelda smiled.

"Just curious," She said as she turned to traverse the Beast. Link swore the more he got to know the true unbound Princess, the more that Royal accent of hers didn't seem to fit...

"It was only twice..." Link grumbled as he followed behind Zelda as she made her way through the entrance of the beast into the interior.

Zelda's eyes practically glew with excitement as she looked around the Vah Ruta. The water wheel in the center, the walls leading to the furnaces, the sound of water crashing into its own pool of water. The sight hadn't changed since Link had traversed the Beast months prior.

"Look at it, Link! Isn't it marvelous!" Zelda said as she looked around in awe. "This sight never gets old. To think, Sheikah from thousands of years ago were able to build this so well, so intricately and properly that it was still functional even after being buried for as long as it was!"

"Can we actually talk about that?" Link said as he made his way to stand next to Zelda. Zelda gave him a look of curiosity.

"Talk about what?"

"How the Hylians and other races buried these things..." Link said. "Like, really think about it, these things are massive! Did Hylians have some sort of technology of their own? Or did they use Sheikah tech to get rid of Sheikah tech?"

Zelda stared at Link for a few moments, only the sound of crashing water in the near distance to the side of them before turning and walking away towards the Main Control Unit.

"Where are you going? That was a serious questions," Link called out, chasing after her.

"Link, you have a gigantic Beast, a legend of technological advancement in front of you, and you are more worried about how they dug a big hole for it?" Zelda asked, a look of disappointment in the Knight on her face. Link shrugged.

"Honestly it's more why they dug the hole than the hole itself the more I think about it..." Link said as they walked down the ramp like slope towards the Terminal. Zelda's face fell a bit at the sound of that.

"It wasn't fair to them..." Zelda said sadly. "The Yiga Clan... As much wrong doing as they have caused, their origin is not to be forgotten. The Hylians of the past created the Yiga out of misplaced fear of the Sheikahs advancements. It wasn't right. Maybe we could do something about it..."

Link grunted in response, slightly looking away. He knew eventually this conversation would come up, and he really didn't want to have it now. Zelda's heart was pure and innocent, however to Link, the Yiga were too far gone. Whether the Clans original reasoning was justified or not, they've evolved from bitterness into madness. And if anyone knew that, it was Link. Master Kohga was a pure example of that...

"Link... I won't bring it up now. I know what that grunt means..." Zelda said. "But I remember that day... and I know you do too. You could have killed those Yiga that attacked me in the desert, but you didn't. You let them go, and I can tell you haven't killed any even after you awoke. I know you don't want to hurt them..."

Link's eyebrow twitched. Zelda sighed as they both stopped in front of the Main Terminal.

"Well... That went a bit off track from our original conversation," Zelda said, trying to perk back up. "Link, let us begin our investigation shall we?"

Link stayed expressionless for a moment before smiling. Zelda returned the smile with one of her own, turning and setting her backpack down against the terminal.

"Well, a good place to start is you cleansing the Beast from Ganon's Malice and control." Zelda said, crouching down and reaching into her backpack. She pulled out a feather pen and notebook, choosing to fiddle with the pen as she looked around the Main Terminal.

"This is where the source of the Malice resided, yes?" Zelda asked, questioning Link.

"Waterblight Ganon," Link said. "He took refuge inside the Terminal. Probably happened a hundred years ago when you originally locked Ganon in the tower."

"And when did the Zora say Vah Ruta had started originally acting up?" Zelda asked, now lightly rubbing her hand along the patterns of the Terminal.

"Couldn't have been more than a few months. All the Beast seemed to have been recent occurences. There's no way they could have survived the Beast acting up like that for a hundred years. Plus everyone was in surprise. It was new to them. If I had to take a guess, it most likely occurred when I woke up. A reaction to my awakening?"

"No... When you awoke, you were considerably normal." Zelda said. "What makes you special is the ability to wield the Master Sword. If you had the Master Sword with you, that would have been one thing, but you awaking shouldn't have triggered anything... Not to say you aren't special!"

Zelda said that last part louder than anticipated, turning her head to stare at the Knight. She didn't mean to make it sound like that! It sounded as if the only thing special about Link was that he had the Master Sword. Link however shrugged.

"I mean, you're not wrong. It was just a guess based off of coincidence. If I had the Master Sword it would have made more sense," Link said, understanding Zelda was in research mode. However, Link had noticed that Zelda was staring at him for an uncomfortable amount of time now.

"Z-Zelda?" Link asked. Zelda, seemingly snapping out of thought, blinked a few times.

"S-Sorry Link... I was just thinking about something. A future theory I want to research, you could say..." She said, turning back towards the Terminal. Link shrugged, brushing off Zelda's awkwardness.

"One research project at a time Princess," Link said, pacing around the now empty room a bit bored. "You'll run yourself ragged if you try and complete too much."

"Do you have experience with that too?" Zelda asked, inspecting the Terminal still.

"Trust me, you do not want to look at the notes in my Sheikah Slate. I have a lot of request from people..." Link said, nervously pulling out the Sheikah Slate to look through his quest log. Zelda shook her head slightly as she inspected.

"You never were one to say no to people in need..." She muttered, though she was only half listening to Link.

She did in fact have another research theory she wanted to test later on. Why could Link use the Master Sword? Was it purely because of his pure heart? Did the Sword just simply choose him? Or was there a bit more too it? She herself could use the Sealing Powers because she had the blood of the Goddess... So did Link have something similar?

Even if Link did, which she would delve into later, would being awake without the Master Sword be enough to cause the Calamity and the Blights to reawaken? What else happened? What else took place back when Link woke up? Something that would trigger it... all... Oh.

"It was me..." Zelda muttered. Link stopped his pacing, turning towards Zelda. "When I contacted you after your awakening, that took a little bit of focus away from holding Ganon. That must've released the Blights, causing the Divine Beast to go rampaging again..."

"Zelda, it's in the past now. It's over. Stay focused," Link said, trying to steer her away from her self guilt. Zelda stayed silent for a second before nodding.

"Well... Now we know when it started acting up. You beat Waterblight Ganon first correct?"

Link nodded. "Vah Ruta has been free the longest out of any of them."

Zelda grunted, taking down notes. They should check the most recent Beast Link had freed later on for any lingering effects they could notate.

"Did any of the Blights have a pattern? Something similar they all did?" Zelda asked, taking down more notes, a timeline of sorts, in her notebook. Link thought for a second.

"They all came out of the Main Terminal. That seemed to be each ones source of corruption." Link said walking towards the Terminal. "It's also where each of the Spirits of the Champions were held captive..."

Zelda's eyes bolted from her notebook to the Terminal above them. Mipha was there for hundreds of years... Was she still in there? Link looked down at Zelda, noticing her glance towards the Terminal.

"Zelda-"

"Link. It's okay. We already know Mipha's feelings... I won't fall into guilt again. I promise." Zelda said, getting properly on her knees and clasping her hands together.

"Please... Rest well Lady Mipha..." Zelda said quietly. She stayed still a moment before standing.

"Link... Can you take the Master Sword out please?" Zelda asked, returning to her research state. Link nodded, an eyebrow raised, as he pulled the blade free from his back.

"Anything strange about it?" Zelda asked, ready to take notes. Link shrugged.

"Normal as ever. If there were any Malice it would be glowing... Responding." He said. Link walked closer and held the sword over the Terminal. No response.

"Alright then... It's not Malice, at least from what we can tell as of now... Surprisingly..." Zelda muttered as she scribbled away. "Okay. Link, can I borrow the Sheikah Slate for a second?"

Link nodded yet again as he took the Slate from his belt, handing it over to the Researcher. Zelda tapped the screen a few times, looking through the Beast schematics.

"Well the controls are still there... But nothings responding...?" Zelda muttered as she tried moving the trunk. Nothing she hit seemed to work.

"Should we check the furnace? See if the blue flames are active?" Link asked. Zelda nodded, choosing to leave her backpack at the Terminal, however she did make sure to grab her Spiked Lizalfos Shield, placing it comfortably on her back.

The two traversed the Beast, inspecting the waterwheel, checking the furnaces, determining if power was coursing through the machine. Everything seemed normal. In the end, Link and Zelda sat on the edge of one of Vah Ruta's outside pathways, looking over Hyrules landscape. Zelda sighed, turning to look through all the notes she had gathered from the beast.

"The flames are strong. The water wheel is moving determining the Beast has power. There isn't any Malice in the Main Terminal or anywhere in fact... I don't understand, why won't the beast respond..."

"Do you think its because it's Champion has passed on?" Link suggested, going into the Sheikah Slate and pulling two Seared Prime Steak out for the two to eat. Zelda shook her head.

"If that were the case, the Beast would have gone into Default. If a Champion had passed, and no new one could be assigned, then that would make the Beast pointless after one Champion. And our Champions weren't the first champions to ever Pilot these..." Zelda said, taking the steak with one hand as her notebook lay open in her other hand as she continued to study.

"I don't understand..." Zelda said to herself.

If the Beast didn't have any errors or issues? Then why wasn't it responding?

"You really should eat Zelda... It'll get cold." Link said after wiping his mouth, having had scarfed his food down. Zelda gave him a look.

"No, maybe you should actually enjoy the food. Why must you scarf it down so fast?" She asked, turning back to her notebook. Link shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess it's more satisfying that way." Link said, pulling out his bow. Zelda turned back to him, eying the bow.

"Why?" Zelda asked simply. Link notched an arrow.

"Lizalfos a distance away. Ima hit them. Don't forget, I'm an amazing shot too you know." Link said, pulling his bow back, while still sitting next to Zelda. Zelda watched as Link released, the arrow flying a mighty distance away before striking a Lizalfos in the head, instant killing it.

"That was an amazing shot Link! I'm actually impressed." Zelda said, before taking a bite of her steak. Link smiled, before the smile vanished. Zelda gave him a look.

"What is it Link?" She asked, taking another bite. Link took a moment to respond.

"The monsters that were in Vah Ruta... They didn't return like the rest in Hyrule did. Don't you find that strange?"

Zelda stopped chewing, instantly setting her food down to scribble in her notepad.

"Tha's some ting to wite don!" Zelda said through her food. Link snorted, a slight smile appearing on his face. It's amazing how fast she could forget her Royal manners when her research took priority.

"Zelda... Impa said that the Ancient Sheikah sent us a clue on the next part of our destinies. Impa said that all they told her were the Divine Beast were part of it. What if... What if the Ancient Sheikah are protecting Vah Ruta... and are in control of the Beast now that the Champions are gone?"

Zelda pondered that for a moment.

"Link, that would make a lot of sense. The Ancient Sheikah could be overriding our Slate... I've never seen that happen during our testing but... We only ever had one Sheikah Slate, and maybe the Beast respond differently to Sheikah the built them?"

"Then maybe this is a test... or a clue?" Link suggested. Zelda looked out towards the land, the wind blowing lightly past them as they continued to sit on the edge of Vah Rutas exteriors pathway.

"Yes... It's the only explanation. But a clue to what?" Zelda mumbled, continuing to eat her food.

"We'll stay here in the Domain awhile to study Vah Ruta... and eventually... We'll make our way to the rest of the Divine Beast."

Link smiled, laying down on the pathway floor, putting his hands behind his head prepping for a nap as Zelda continued to eat and go through her notes.

"Sounds like a plan."

...

-ooooo do I hear a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter?