CHAPTER 19

Zora's Domain lay waiting for them as they exited the tunnel, and a dread began to creep through Aria's veins. Long-gone was the sense of wonder at seeing a new, unfamiliar place and in its place was knowledge that a grim and somber time was fast-approaching. As they reached the dock, Thya was waiting and gave them a hand out of the unsteady boat.

"We're to meet with father to make our plans." she said to them, "For both Rifsha's funeral and what we will do from there. Follow me."

As they followed the Zora princess through the domain, Aria definitely felt a heavy air permeate from her surroundings. More zoras were out and about than usual, yet never in high spirits. She did her best to ignore them, but gossip reached her ears that she could not ignore.

"It's not true. Tell me it's not true."

"Our crown prince? Dead?"

"Who-or what-would do such a thing?"

"How's the king handling all this?"

The palm of a hand rested itself on her back. She knew it was her father, nonverbally urging her to not stray from their path or divert her attention.

Thya brought Aria and Link to what could only have been the royal chamber. Everyone was there-Marlo, Grupa, Koifa, Beytho, and a massive zora that Aria assumed was the king after staring in utter shock at his size and bulk.

The king spotted them arriving, then beckoned them closer, which they did. Link did so without hesitation while Aria approached with a slight hesitance in her step, one she hoped the king did not notice. He appeared not to as he took a seat, now able to look down upon his family and friends with ease.

"It pleases me beyond measure to see all of you again." the massive Zora told them, "Bless the goddesses you all returned safely." Link nodded his thanks with Aria mimicking him quickly, but she rose quick and noticed his swaying gaze-one that betrayed his lingering sorrow.

"It was thanks to him that we found it," Aria said gently as she approached the king, whose eyes fell upon her curiously, "the 'Sacred Cenote' they called it? He gave us a way to find it."

"So Beytho has told me, young one," Ceto said with a slow nod, "And your return has given me a taste of hope that I have not experienced for so many years." A heavy sigh escaped on his breath. "We have much to discuss and to prepare for in the coming hours. Right now, though, it's probably best for you and your father to rest up in the healing pools again.
"Thya," he called, looking over his shoulder, "Tend to what lingering wounds and aches they have, then escort them to the guest-rooms for the night."

"Yes, father." she said with a polite bow.

"We will have a sendoff ceremony for Rifsha at first dawn, and then we can begin our plans." Ceto said with an air of clarity.

"I'll do my best to honor that request." Link said with a nod, "But Aria and I cannot stay for long. We'll attend the service and I'll discuss what I can with you, but time is short and we will have to leave soon after."

"Given all you have discovered, I do not blame you." the massive Zora said with a nod, "Now, go. I shall see you in the morning."

Ceto turned to lumber away, trident still in hand, but Link and Aria had only gone a few paces towards the exit route with Thya when a voice interrupted them.

"Link!"

Both Link and Aria turned. Grupa had stepped forward. A tense moment passed before he sucked in a breath and said, with a smile, "Thank you. We all appreciate what you've done."

Aria returned the Zora prince's smile and looked at her father. But rather than see him do the same, she noticed it came slower and subtler, to the point that Aria almost did not notice it. He lightly inclined his head, then gently took Aria by the shoulder as he turned to follow Thya. Hastily, Aria offered them a wave good-bye, then followed.

Minutes later and Aria found herself back at the healing pools, still alive with young Zoras swimming about and waving their hellos as they passed. Aria smiled back at them, causing a few to shyly dive back under the water.

When they arrived at an empty pool, Thya lightly tapped her fingertip to its surface, turning it from deep and murky to a bright aquamarine, just as Aria had experienced before. Thya then proceeded to gently take Link by the arm and coax him away, gesturing to another empty pool on the opposite end of the premises.

"You will go to one of those pools," she politely informed him, "to give your daughter privacy." She then looked to Aria and said, "Make yourself comfortable, Aria. I'll tend to whatever wounds your father may have attained, then come back for you."

"Thank you." Aria replied, then nodded to her father who silently returned it to her.

"This won't take too long." Link told her, "I'm rattled, but not badly-hurt." His assurances made, he turned to join Thya, heading off to another pool.

When they had gone a fair distance and Aria was certain she was out of their line of sight, she disrobed, set her clothes off to the side, and sank into the pool's depths once again. A sigh of relief escaped her lungs as she felt the pool's effects flow through her, easing the aches and wears from her body to the point that she stopped feeling them. After all the chaos that went down in the Sacred Cenote, she felt she could relax safely and comfortably.

The thought did occur to her that this was the first of at least six trials, if Nayraju was to be believed. Five other statues likely faced similar corruption, if not worse, and what used to be a benevolent structure was distorted into something that monstrous…

It all felt overwhelming to think about. What monsters awaited them in the other shrines? What dangers awaited them just outside the gates of Zora's Domain?

Aria shook the thoughts from her head and, intent on taking her mind off the subject, let her eyes drift to the water. She remembered what Thya had done to heal her arm before they departed for the seaside. Absent-mindedly, she cupped a hand, dipped it below the turquoise surface, then scooped out a small handful…

Link could feel the Zora princess's eyes on his back, hear the faint-yet-horrified gasp that she failed to hold back and tried to stifle. He knew what Thya saw.

Scars.

A myriad of them.

Many were old wounds, from brush-ins with the wilderness-sharp rocks, stray branches, or the tooth and claw of a bear. Four adjacent gashes in particular ran down a stretch of his back. Others were older still, including a long, straight mark that ran from his shoulder blade down past his ribs. Faded as it was, it was still distinctly-visible.

He felt a patch of cold press to his back and he could actually feel the pain of what abrasions he had received slowly ebb away. Even after feeling her heal his fingers in the Water Shrine, the effects of Zora magic never ceased to amaze him.

"The injuries you got in the Shrine are easy enough to heal-little more than a few scrapes. But these…" Thya told him, tracing her free finger down the length of one, "These wounds are too old. Fade as the scars might, they will never fully heal."

"I know that all too well." Link replied.

"Yet they will stand as a testament to your perseverance." Thya said, hoping this would lighten his spirit.

"Or all that I've lost."

The words escaped his lips before he could catch himself. He felt Thya's hand stop in its tracing and heard the faintest breath escape her. Whether or not it was a dismissive huff or her stifling a gasp, he did not know. Either way, she removed her hand and the cool sensation faded from his back.

"I've done what I can for what injuries I can find." Thya said, her voice notably less soft and flat with duty, "You're free to stay in the pool until your weariness has faded. I'm going to check up on your daughter."

From behind him, he could hear her footsteps fade away and as he listened, he took a deep, steadying breath, his face nestling into his forearms. He had not meant for such words to come out so harsh or despondent. It had happened entirely on a reflex, and she was on her way, either believing she had done something wrong or he was lost in his own pain.

Again…

Aria sat wide-eyed in shock at what she was seeing. The water she had cupped in her hand wouldn't fall from her palm, even when she had turned it upside-down. She moved her hand side-to-side, and while the water swayed and jiggled, it did not fall back into the pool.

"Aria?"

When Aria took a sharp-but-subtle intake of breath, the water finally fell from her hand, hitting the surface with a splash. Her head snapped to the side as Thya came into vision.

"Thya! You startled me!" Aria said, her racing heart only just starting to slow.

"Sorry." the Zora healer said, "I just wanted to tell you that I've tended your father's few injuries. Nothing life-threatening, but he should be more comfortable now."

"That's good to hear." Aria said with a smile, her pulse finally slowing to a normal pace again.

"Any pain, dear Aria?"

"No. No, I don't think so." She did not lie. Whatever injury she suffered in the Sacred Cenote had either been tended to already or was so superficial that its pain had long since faded.

"Are you all right?" Thya inquired with a light tilt of her head, "You seem a little…on-edge."

Aria had just thought of a little fib when something brushed her leg. With a yelp in surprise, Aria scrambled to another side of the pool, miraculously protecting her modesty as she tried to get a look at what touched her.

Thya, on the other hand, stifled a laugh. As Aria wondered what could draw her to that reaction, she got her answer as something small peeked out at her from below the surface, looking up at her with big eyes. Even before it raised the rest of its head out of the water, Aria could see and sense a bashfulness in the way it looked.

It was a Zora, but a very young one if its cherubic features were any indication. "Sorry." it said in a high voice, "I didn't meanta scare you."

From the sound of its voice, Aria could tell it was a boy-a young one, not much older than six. That was, if Zoras aged like Hylians did.

"How long have you been in this pool?" Thya said, with a mock-scold.

The Zora looked away meekly, then peeked back towards them and admitted, "I dunno. I sneaked in here, then she got in the pool and didn't see me. Then the water glowed and she didn't leave, then I saw she had her land-legs and wanted to see and feel and-"

"All right, all right." Thya said with a slight laugh as she kneeled at the pool's edge, "It's back to the nursery pool with you." On seeing the youngster shy away slightly, she chuckled again. "You're not in any trouble, don't worry."

The Zora child looked to Aria with eyes that she could not bring herself to hate him over. She reached out and rested a hand on top of the little child's head, scrubbing it gently. The child closed his eyes contentedly, its mouth curved in a smile. Having nonverbally told him that there were no hard feelings between them, Aria removed her hand from his head as Thya took the child by the underarms and lifted him out of the water.

Sure enough, the child had no legs. A torso and arms with hands, but no signs of legs just yet. Perhaps he had hopped out of the nursery pool and dragged himself the rest of the way there?

He waved goodbye to her and called, "Bye! Next time ya see me, I'll have my land-legs and'll walk, too!" Aria waved back before Thya turned to take him to a nearby pool. The other young Zoras greeted him with "There you are!", "You know we're not allowed to do that!", "What's it like outside the water?!" among other things.

Aria could only smile as she watched them. It reminded her too much of when she was a small child, playing with what village children she could find. Fun as it was, they were limited, monitored closely by her father, and short-lived. Sometimes her father would take her home prematurely, sometimes the children would leave with their parents, and other times their parents took issue with Link watching her and shepherded them away without an exchange.

"You know," Thya's voice said, the princess watching them from the edge of Aria's pool, "I was not much older than these children when I first met your father." A nostalgic smile etched her face, "It was not long after my legs grew in. He was one of the reasons I took my first steps."

"What was he to you?" Aria asked, "It was all before my time, so I'm…curious."

"Understandable." Thya assured her, then answered her. "He was…a hero. To me, my brothers and sisters, and my people as a whole. Like I said earlier, it was he who came to request assistance from the Zoras to aid Hyrule in the adwhvent of war. But he did not come just to speak with war counselors and our army." That nostalgic look in her eyes appeared again, thinking back to better days. "He preferred to be with the children. Every time he came to our domain, he would make time to play with me and my brothers and sisters either in our nursery pools or down by the seaside.
"My fondest memory of him was sometime after a great war." This got Aria's attention, "It was probably not long after he had you, now that I think about it. He'd come to other lands to ensure people were recovering from the war. I had just grown my legs and was learning how to walk."

The Zora healer did not show it, but Aria had to guess that, were she human, Thya would be blushing. "I was…among the last of my siblings to find my land legs. But while most children laughed whenever I fell, your father helped me get back up, and did until I could walk on my own two feet."

Thya's little story was enough to lighten Aria's heart. In her imaginings of what Thya and her siblings were like, as well as what Link looked like in the past, it brought her back to younger days of her own.

She had been six when she climbed too high up a tree and her father had to struggle up its trunk to retrieve her as she wailed in fear.
She had been eight, hiding in the bushes and trying not to laugh from the anticipation. A second later, he had sprung on her, plucking her from the undergrowth, digging his fingers into her ribs and eliciting bouts of laughter from her.
She had been ten, her face tight with concentration as she pulled the taut string of her first bow back as far as her little arms could manage. When she let go, she cheered as she saw it hit the tree she was aiming for, albeit just barely. It was enough to get a clap on the shoulder and a cheered congratulation from her father.
She had been twelve, seated on her bed as her father dabbed at a gash under her eye with a damp cloth. Tears flowed down her cheeks, partly from the sting of her injury and also from the shame she felt of not seeing that tree branch in her path. Thankfully, her father looked at her not with scorn, pity, or judgment, but with softness.

Aria subconsciously traced her fingers across the length of pale, raised skin beneath her eye. Had it been then when he started to change? Had it been earlier?

Could she have been…?

Aria shook the thought from her head, opting to change the subject. "Did you ever meet my mother?"

The question must have come out quicker and more eagerly than Aria had intended, for Thya looked slightly surprised. The Zora princess blinked a few times, then sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid not, young Aria." she said, willing her regrets to show on her face, "I was too young to leave the domain when the attack on Hyrule happened. Link mentioned his wife in passing more than once, but…I never knew her. I'm sorry."

Aria let out a disheartened sigh. "Don't be too sorry. I just thought I'd ask. He's told me so little…"

A webbed hand rested itself on her shoulder, causing her to turn and meet Thya's emerald eyes. "While we must learn there is a time and place for it, there is no harm in the simple act of curiosity. Speak to your father if you want answers. He cannot deny you the truth for long."