"Link? What did you see?" Sidon asked, which brought Link out of his musings and back to here and now.
'Lost Woods. A cave appeared', he summarized.
Sidon looked expectant for a moment longer, but then realized nothing more was coming. "That's it? That's… a little underwhelming. Oh, maybe there's something amazing in the cave that we need to go and see for ourselves? I can see how spoiling a surprise would be worse than not seeing more."
Link smiled, opting to not share his earlier epiphany at the moment. Sidon may yet figure it out for himself, or they could talk about it later.
"I have some answers for you, although on a different subject", Mageri said, getting everyone's attention. "I mentioned earlier that you're either born with the ability to see the kinstone's glow, or you may gain it. I'm reasonably sure it's the latter in your case. Tell me, are you able to see the Koroks? The forest spirits, that is."
Link nodded. Sidon looked at him in surprise; clearly he knew something about the topic, but had been unaware of Link's ability. Well, Link had learned to not advertise it, since people at large thought him crazy for seeing things.
"That's the proof, then", Mageri said with a sagely nod. "My vision showed me the Deku Tree when I specifically asked about this. He's connected to the Koroks, so it was a very clear answer. Regardless, the ability to see Koroks – and other spirits, as well as some magic for that matter – indicates that you came very close to death, and upon survival received this special gift. It's not too rare with old people, since they're pretty likely to have heart failures and are occasionally successfully revived, but it's rare with younglings like you."
...That was disturbing, but also explained so many things, such as why King Rhoam had stuck around after his death despite not being bound by any Divine Beasts; chances were he knew of this phenomenon and trusted that Link would be able to see him and receive his help when he woke. Link had also been almost certain he hadn't been able to see the Koroks a hundred years ago, and this proved his hunch about it right.
"How come I'm unable to see any of that?" Sidon asked, looking unreasonably bummed out by not having almost died. "I brushed death once; I was swallowed whole by a giant Octorok."
Oh, right. That had happened.
"Did you believe you were dying?" Mageri asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sidon gave him a puzzled look, and then the implication visibly dawned on him. "Ah, I see. No, I didn't even consider death at the time."
"There you have it, then", Mageri answered, and turned their attention back to Link. "I would very much like to hear the details of your case, but I understand it's likely a touchy subject. So, let's discuss your reason for seeking audience with me instead."
Link pointed at Sidon. He didn't see any reason Mageri should be looking at him for this discussion, as it was mostly Sidon's business here. That, and he definitely didn't want to tell Mageri "the details of his case". Half because he didn't like talking about it, and half because he didn't want to advertise his heroism now that he was almost certain the Minish didn't know who he was.
Sidon smiled widely. "We wanted to learn more about the Minish magic! I suppose we'd be interested in seeing more performed, but on the theoretical side we'd love to hear more about the aptitudes. Hiveri from another village told me the basics, but he didn't know if, theoretically, we big people would be able to learn magic as well. I had a sister who could magically heal, so I'm curious if I'd be able to do the same with proper training."
Mageri nodded, looking at Sidon appraisingly. "I could show you some of my Academy and we can find the answer to your question along the way."
Link and Sidon both perked up. Now this was more like it!
"Yes, please!"
To the side, possibly tired of being ignored, Histori coughed deliberately, bringing everyone's attention to her.
Mageri's expression turned sour instantly, and they looked at the historian with a massive frown. "You're not invited. You're too distracting and you know it."
Ouch. That was rude, and that's something coming from Link, who was known far and wide for his lack of manners.
Histori smirked, and leaned her hip against the table in obvious challenge. "You're such a sour and no-fun guy, Mageri. Besides, I'm the good kind of distracting and you know it."
Link's eyebrows rose; this was an entirely new side to Histori, and it looked promising. Link dug a piece of honey candy from his pocket and munched on it, eyes glued at his new entertainment.
"No, I don't know it. There's only one kind of distracting, and that's bad. Any distraction is bad when you need to focus. I'm perfectly aware I'm no fun, and I won't argue about my sourness with you. Stay here or leave."
Sidon gave Link a disapproving look at his behavior, but happily accepted a candy when Link offered him one.
"Oh, I'll stay. I know you're all too happy to watch me leave, but I like to think you're also sad to see me go", Histori said with a wink, and Mageri actually blushed a little and looked away.
Oh, that was a good one. Histori looked to be fighting an uphill battle, based on Mageri's attitude, but that little victory brought Link firmly into her corner. He silently wished her good luck in her endeavor; she would need it.
"Think what you want as long as you do as asked", Mageri said, sounding a little awkward, but obviously trying his best to filter it out of his body language. He sharply turned away from Histori and walked over to the door with blue swirl patterns, and then turned around to wave impatiently at Link and Sidon. "Are you coming or not?"
They hurried to comply. Link heard a little snicker from Histori, and smirked in return.
When the door was opened a bunch of blue smoke billowed into the room. Link supposed the different coloured smoke swirls he had noted earlier had similarly come from the other rooms when people moved around. It was pretty cool, actually.
What was in the room was even cooler.
There were Minish dressed similarly to Mageri buzzing around or busily sitting at their work desks. Most were radiating blue light from their hands – and emitting a light steam of that blue smoke on the side – and applying it to something: one Minish was making water swirl rapidly in a bowl, another was holding their hands against a spear in deep concentration, one seemed to be making a potted flower sway, one was doing something with a pony-sized ladybug, one seemed to be making mist, and so on.
"Here some of my students are working on water-based magic", Mageri explained succinctly, and walked right over to the student with the ladybug without missing a beat. "Shoveli. How is the healing going? Any progress?"
Mageri certainly didn't waste any time getting to the point.
Link and Sidon looked at each other, and Link noticed Sidon was almost vibrating from sheer excitement. He gave his boyfriend an encouraging grin.
"I got the leg to stop the bleeding, but I still can't close the wound itself", Shoveli said, biting into their lip in frustration. "I don't understand; I did just fine with the worm."
Mageri shook his head in obvious disappointment. "I would normally let you figure it out on your own, but I have a demonstration in mind here. Your problem is that you're not taking into account the fact that the ladybug's leg isn't fleshy like a worm, and needs a different approach."
Shoveli's expression brightened instantly, but then became surprised when they finally noticed Link and Sidon. Mageri ignored it and simply motioned for Sidon to step closer.
"Shoveli, try again. Sidon, hold your hand over Shoveli's and feel the magic; see if it feels like your sister's. If it does, concentrate on the feeling and imagine yourself adding into it. Don't expect anything spectacular, just concentrate on achieving anything at all."
Shoveli and Sidon looked at each other with confusion and hesitation, and then Sidon smiled brightly and extended his hand.
"I'm Sidon. I'm honoured to have you as my guide. Let's work together and heal this ladybug!"
Shoveli blushed bright red and hurried to shake Sidon's much larger hand. "I- I- The honour is all mine! Gosh, I haven't been anyone's guide before. I'll do my best!"
Sidon's grin widened, and Shoveli gave a hesitant smile back. To their credit, they only glanced at Sidon's pointy teeth once.
The two of them laid their hands over the ladybug's injured leg, and closed their eyes. Both took deep, calming breaths, and then Shoveli's hand started glowing blue and lightly smoking. Sidon's eyes opened wide for a moment, before he hurriedly closed them again. A deep crease of concentration appeared on his crest, and his fingers curled slightly over Shoveli's small hand.
And then Link saw it.
It was very faint, and only on the tips of Sidon's fingers, but it was there: a white-blue glow. The exact same shade as Mipha's had been in Link's memories.
Sidon had Mipha's Grace. Or at least the potential for it.
Link smiled widely at Mageri, who glanced in his direction with a satisfied look and gave a nod.
They watched as the gash in the ladybug's leg closed over little by little until finally there was no sight of a wound ever having been there.
Sidon retracted his hand and looked at it in wonder and shock. Shoveli inspected the ladybug and then turned to grin at Sidon.
"We did it! Thank you! I think your contribution was very helpful; the whole process felt much more natural, somehow. Is healing your aptitude?"
Sidon looked at Shoveli, then at Link, and then at Mageri, clearly looking for the answer he didn't have. Mageri nodded solemnly.
"It seems like it. You haven't had one lesson in magic and you were still able to do it. That's a clear sign."
Sidon smiled widely, but then the smile slowly diminished as he turned thoughtful. He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.
"Not that I'm not happy to hear that, but I'm afraid that's not necessarily true", he said with a sheepish smile that turned sad way too quickly for Link's liking. "I have tried to teach myself on a few occasions over the years. I tried healing injured fish or other animals whenever I encountered one, and there were never any results. In the beginning, I actually had Muzu – he's a teacher of mine – try to guide me with the knowledge he had garnered from my sister when she still lived. My inability to do anything made him give up on it after a few sessions. What I'm trying to say is that I've actually had lessons before, and clearly healing can't be my aptitude since I never achieved anything before now. I'm glad to be capable of it and would love to learn more one day, but that's likely the extent of it."
Link fought against the urge to hug Sidon and tell him at was alright and he was perfect and Muzu was stupid for giving up on him too soon. But he realized that was largely beside the point here, so he held still.
Mageri, however, looked thoroughly unconvinced. "Really? From the sound of it, this Muzu is not a healer or a mage himself, so his teaching doesn't really count for much. Tell me about your sister instead. When and how did her powers manifest, and when did she learn to harness them?"
Sidon blinked rapidly, looking like he couldn't decide if he should take offense over the instant dismissal of his words. Or possibly on Muzu's behalf. In the end, his princely manners won and he put on a neutral face.
"Mipha learned about her healing powers when she was fifty, which is still a child in our race's aging rate. I'm told our mother got a minor injury and Mipha healed it because she felt sad about it and didn't want her hurt. She couldn't repeat the feat on purpose afterwards, but she occasionally did more accidental magic until she eventually learned to control her powers. She mastered them with the help of our maternal grandfather, whose own grandmother had been a healer as well. He wasn't one himself, but he could guide Mipha to some extent anyway because his own grandmother had tried teaching him way back when. I tried to learn the skill on my own when I was the same age, but never managed anything and eventually gave up. Until we came here, I had accepted that it had just been Mipha's skill and I couldn't learn it."
Link hadn't realized it before – largely because Sidon hadn't talked about this before – but Sidon had actually been in the same position as Zelda had been a hundred years ago: possessing a dormant skill but all the potential teachers had been dead. Mipha would have been the obvious choice, but she died when Sidon had apparently been too young to learn. Their grandfather had been another option since he had been able to train Mipha, but Sidon had once told Link about a tragic family trip to the sea that had taken both Sidon's mother and grandfather, so even if the Zora lifespan might have allowed it, fate hadn't. Kudos to Muzu for trying to step in, but unfortunately it hadn't been enough. It was tragic, really.
Mageri looked oddly triumphant. "Your speech did absolutely nothing to prove me wrong. It's very simple, actually – Mipha was a genius and you're not. I'll take you as my apprentice and prove your claim wrong."
...Wait, what?