Thanks to Mipha's warning, it wasn't a total surprise to them when a swirl of black and purple escaped from the main control unit. It encircled the ancient structure, reminding Link of the foggy black demon Beast that swirled around Hyrule Castle when he first emerged from the depths of the Shrine of Resurrection.
Mipha's urgent voice spoke again as the black cloud circled like a slithering snake around it.
"Please take care. That—thing—is one of Ganon's creations, born out of his deep hatred and obsession with regenerating himself. Its name is Waterblight Ganon. One hundred years ago I put up as much of a fight as I could, but it proved to be my demise. Regardless, I believe you are well-prepared for this. I have faith in you!"
A cyclone of bright blue light abruptly formed out of the wisps of black and purple fog and appeared right in front of them. Puffs of purple and black smoke swirled around the fast-rotating sphere that was forming. The blue light slowly grew and transformed into the outline of a great robot-like beast with a long horizontal head and body, similar to the shape of a hammerhead shark. It had a single blue spinning eye like a Guardian in the middle, and a tuft of messy red hair sat on its head. Two long, thin black arms and hands with spindly fingers made out of Malice extended outward. One of them held a massively long bright blue spear that materialized slowly out from its extended, wicked looking Malice hand.
Mipha's voice rang out again. "Careful! That spear has a long reach!"
"Run Ari! Now!" Link shouted. She obeyed and ran behind the main control unit as the Waterblight lifted its arm to swing its spear at Link. Zelda screamed as it swung, thinking Link was a dead man, but Link was quicker than the monster. He performed a perfectly-timed backflip, initiating a Flurry Rush like the one Link told her about when he fought the Lynel. She was in shock. Hearing about it was one thing; seeing it for the first time in over a century was another.
From his perspective, time slowed around him, but from her perspective he moved at lightning speed. He pounded the great evil menace repeatedly. Link was nothing but a blur to her as the beast roared with each rapid strike of his Lynel Sword.
While Link was doing this she quickly grabbed her bow and Ice arrows and aimed at it and struck it from a distance, and to her disappointment the ice arrows didn't freeze it but still dealt some damage. She wanted to get rid of this thing as fast as possible.
Suddenly the Waterblight transformed into the same large bright blue spinning orb that it came out of at first, and it teleported to another area of the room.
"Keep running, Ari, I don't want you near its weapon. I've got this! Keep using your arrows!"
Zelda ran, and to her horror the giant orb stopped, and the Waterblight instantly appeared directly in front of Link. The weapon it was holding was massive compared to him, and fear struck her heart. The menace thrust its weapon forward straight at him, but he jumped over it just in time, triggering another Flurry Rush. She gasped in amazement as Link pounded the great enemy relentlessly, and she readied more arrows, this time Bomb arrows. Besides her precious Ancient arrows she wanted to save for Guardians, Bomb arrows did the most damage. They needed this monster gone, and fast.
After a barrage of Zelda's arrows and a blur of strikes from Link, Waterblight Ganon lifted itself up above them and teleported in orb form across the room. After appearing again it spread its black Malice arms wide, holding its own blue sphere in one hand, lifting the orb as it raised the water level in the room.
"Ari, stand over here with me on the platform! Quick!" She rushed over beside him before the water was raised completely, leaving only four relatively small square platforms to stand on in the entire room, with water separating them. Zelda ran behind Link on one of the platforms, and Ganon's twisted creation formed a row of ice blocks.
"Look Ari, it's your specialty!" One by one Waterblight Ganon sent the blocks hurling toward them both. For the first time around she used Bomb arrows to destroy the blocks in midair; she hadn't been ready with Cryonis to break them fast enough. She grabbed the slate and readied the Cryonis rune as Link made a perfectly targeted shot of a shock arrow to its eye, and it fell quickly to the ground.
"Ari, make a path of Cryonis blocks in the water for me!" She did so and Link easily scaled them and pounded the monster on the far platform several times. His voice was desperate. "I think it's going to teleport again. You need to be ready to get to a platform far away from it as soon as you can!"
She watched as the monster transformed into the floating blue orb again and tried to calculate where it would appear. As soon as the orb seemed to choose where to stop she swam quickly and lifted herself onto the platform farthest from it. Link met her there just as the Waterblight reappeared.
Once again it materialized a row of even more ice blocks above them.
"This guy is way too predictable!" Zelda said to Link, and he laughed.
She was ready this time and destroyed the entire long row of ice with Cryonis right next to the corrupt creature, hitting it with one of the now-shattered blocks. Link pounded it with a fast barrage of shock arrows, dealing massive damage between the two of them.
Suddenly the great Waterblight aimed a Guardian type laser right at Zelda on the platform. Link panicked. No! Not at her!
Without question, he stepped in front of her with his shield raised. Link was preparing to parry the laser in the hopes it would hit his shield and bounce back at Waterblight Ganon, hitting it. He had attempted to parry Guardian Scout lasers in shrines before, but he wasn't consistently good at it yet. He had no choice but to try.
Seemingly reading his mind, Zelda shouted from behind him. "Link! Listen for the chirp just before the blast and then swing!" She was desperate. A second later the chirp that signaled the coming laser blast sounded, and Link performed a perfect parry straight back at the Waterblight, hitting it hard and casting it to the ground. She materialized more Cryonis blocks so he could cross the water toward the nearly-defeated menace that was struggling to get up. Link bounded across the ice and finished the great beast off with a few more hard strikes of his Lynel Sword. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the battle was finished. With a high pitched shriek that echoed within the Divine Beast, Waterblight Ganon lifted itself in midair and broke apart in front of them. Clouds of black and glowing purple rivers of Malice seemed to pour out of it like rivers of blood while rays of bright pinkish-red light cascaded through its body. In a blinding flash of hot bright white light, the giant water monster vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
Link and Zelda stared at each other in silence for a moment, then shrieked as they jumped up and down, hugging each other. They had defeated Waterblight Ganon!
A large heart adorned with curly gold embellishments on the outside suddenly floated toward Link, like it did when he chose one at the Goddess statues. The Heart Container disappeared into Link's chest, and he felt his strength and energy return, with an extra boost of vitality.
The main control unit was flashing and sending a low, slow beeping sound into the room that echoed off the walls inside the silent Divine Beast. Link held his slate up to the main control unit again, and the familiar chirp of activated pedestals sounded. The main control unit lit up as bright blue as the glow of a completed shrine.
Suddenly, from behind them, a tender, quiet voice caught their attention. It was Mipha, or rather her spirit, surrounded by small teal-green orbs and teal flames at her feet, with a soft white light glowing from around her form. Zelda was instantly in tears seeing her old friend again.
She addressed Link first.
"Hello, Link. Yesterday I found myself in a sea of tears and had nearly given up hope on your return. I had resigned myself to being trapped in here as a spirit for eternity—but now you're here. All this time my hope was to see your face once more. Because of your courage, my spirit is now free, and Ruta as well. Thank you, both of you, for releasing me." She gazed at them both lovingly.
"Since I am now a spirit, my healing power would be wasted on me. I have no need of it, so therefore, Link, I would like you to have it. Please accept 'Mipha's Grace.'"
She gazed downward and folded her hands, and a large blue-green orb appeared from the middle of her palms. She sent it gently floating toward Link, and it disappeared into his chest like the Heart Container had done. Zelda watched in wonder as Link lifted slightly off the ground with a blue-green glow around him.
"Promise me, Link, that you will not hesitate to call upon my power if you are ever in need. Knowing that will allow my spirit to rest in peace."
Link nodded toward her. He didn't know what to say and bowed his head as he teared up.
Mipha turned to Zelda. "Thank you for protecting him, and thank you for loving him. You are now doing what I could not do, and a longtime wish of mine has been fulfilled. Thank you, Ari, for everything."
Mipha gave Zelda a small smile of understanding. Tears kept rolling down Zelda's face as Mipha spoke. She knows who I am. Zelda desperately wanted to tell Mipha how sorry she was for what happened to her and how much she loved her, but she couldn't say that in front of Link. Mipha knew her thoughts and placed a hand on her shoulder, gazing into her eyes with a soft smile.
Mipha continued, addressing both of them again. "I have a small request. Please tell my father I'm sorry. I tried to keep my promise to him, but it wasn't meant to be. No one is to blame but fate. I never meant to make him worry for me. I love him dearly, and I will always be watching over him and Zora's Domain. And please tell my dear brother Sidon that we'll meet again, and I'm so proud of the Zora he has become." Zelda tried to hide her tears from Link, but he noticed and squeezed her hand.
Mipha lifted her head and placed a fin on each of their shoulders. "I must go, as much as I wish I could spend more time with you both. Ruta and I now have our roles to fulfill. We are both honored to support you and annihilate Ganon together. We will all see one another again someday in the Spirit Realm. Farewell, my dear friends."
In a flash of brilliant golden light, Link and Zelda suddenly found themselves in the town square below Mipha's statue in Zora's Domain. They looked up at her statue and then each other, embracing each other as they allowed their tears to flow.
Several minutes later Link pulled out his Sheikah slate, reading the description aloud of Mipha's Grace in the Key Items section.
"Mipha's Grace: A restorative power born from the spirit of the Champion Mipha. When your life force runs out, you'll automatically be resurrected to full health plus temporary bonus life force."
Zelda could hardly contain her joy, knowing Mipha was still loving him and healing him not only in life a hundred years ago, but even now, long after her death.
..
..
Vah Ruta submerges deep into East Reservoir Lake and swims in the lake below the cliffs. She abruptly springs forth up and out of the water with a wild splash and thundering trumpet blast. The ancient machine lifts itself high above Zora's Domain and lands on top of a nearby high cliff. The impact shakes the region with a great earthquake, and Vah Ruta's great trumpet sounds again.
Mipha's gentle voice is jubilant. "Ruta, we've found a way to be useful to Link and the other Champions! Our job will be to help Link as he fights Calamity Ganon inside the castle."
The mighty Divine Beast takes aim toward Hyrule Castle with a powerful, potent red laser beam extending from it, setting its sights onto the unaware wriggling cocooned abomination in the Inner Sanctum. Ruta is ready to strike at her Champion pilot's signal.
Mipha speaks again. "Using your ability to drain Ganon of his power is key to our success. This is it. This will be our last chance, and everyone's last hope. If we seal him away, then we can restore peace to Hyrule, and both your duty and mine will be fulfilled." She pauses, communicating silently with her Divine Beast.
"Have patience, Ruta. The time shall soon arrive when Link will face Calamity Ganon, and we will unleash our support."
Mipha turns and gazes toward Zora's Domain with sadness and remembrance in her eyes. She quietly whispers. "Father, I pray you are well. I want you to know I have always followed my heart, and I'm sorry I made you worry. Sidon, my brother, I love you. I am proud of how you have honored your promise you made to me to protect Zora's Domain. I know I will see you both again, my dear ones."