CHAPTER 4: The Mystery of the Blood Moons

Link

"On behalf of the entire Kingdom of Hyrule, I wish to apologize to you, King Dorephan, Prince Sidon, and to all of your subjects," Zelda said with a respectful bow of her head.

I kneeled beside her in solitude to the King as the Zora warriors surrounding the perimeter of the Zora throne room regarded us with solemn frowns. The rush of the waterfalls echoed in the chamber as the morning light sent arched reflections dancing on the luminous stone ceiling above us. The fluttering light made me sleepier. I'd had another nightmare about a guardian attacking me last night and spent most of the early morning hours awake on my couch, calming down.

The King closed his eyes as he accepted Zelda's apology. The young warriors remained silent as some of the elders in the room continued to frown. "Calamity Ganon has been defeated, you say?" King Dorephan said in his low, slow voice, breaking the silence. His small eyes darted to me. "Then the mission was successful, and Mipha's efforts were not in vain."

I nodded. Mipha, and all the other champions, had assisted me before their spirits finally rested. "Her grace will never be forgotten," I said.

The King nodded his bulbous head. "I'm glad you came to provide us with these words, Princess of Hyrule."

"If I may," Prince Sidon asked as he stepped forward to address us. "I just want to add that it has been so difficult to accept her passing over the years, with many of us pointing accusing fins at the castle before Link came to us. But I personally hold onto the hope we can make full amends. You have my full support, as Prince of the Zora."

Zelda folded her hands and looked down at her boots. "Thank you, Prince Sidon. Once the Kingdom of Hyrule has been re-established, I would like to work with you and King Dorephan, to build something to memorialize the loss of your beloved Mipha. She will never be forgotten in history to my people."

This offer seemed to further please the King. Prince Sidon continued. "I will do what I can to assist you, Princess Zelda. We must be unified in our determination to prevent any disaster like this from occurring again. The beast that Mipha fought inside the Divine Beast was a manifestation of terrible hatred that used our own water supply to destroy. We are incredibly grateful that Link was able to defeat it using the Sheikah technology runes."

My eye's met Sidon's when he spoke of my battle. He had not entered Vah Ruta with me—how did he know about Waterblight Ganon and the Sheikah runes?

"Link, I am grateful for the friendship you shared with Mipha. She was always excited when you came to visit my domain. I hope you cherish the handmade gift of armor she left for you—it was meant as an engagement gift, after all, but sadly she never had the chance to offer it," said Dorephan.

My shoulders tightened in embarrassment at the mention of the armor. Zelda flinched in surprise out of the corner of my eye. "Y-yes, King Dorephan, I will," I managed to say.

"She will be at peace to see you happy and free of your burdens now," said the King. Then he looked to the guards. "Our guests from the castle are to be always welcome here. Please ensure they have a comfortable stay at the inn tonight after attending to Vah Ruta."

"You didn't tell me you were engaged to Mipha," Zelda whispered to me as we followed Sidon to Vah Ruta's perch on top of the summit at the Zodobon Highlands. Though she whispered, the surprise on her face was evident.

"I didn't remember." It was the truth—of all the memories of Mipha I now held, I could not remember anything… romantic... ever happening.

"It was never official," commented Sidon from ahead. Though he could have easily swam up the waterfalls faster than us, he had opted to hike along with us. He'd overheard our whispering. I supposed sharks had good ears. "In fact, you may have never known of her plan to propose. Mipha told me she was going to give the armor to you the next time you came with Zelda to inspect Vah Ruta… but that never occurred before the calamity."

I looked down at my boots as we trudged up the slope. I could still see the painful image of Mipha's ghostly face in my head as she offered me her graceful healing power and pleaded for me to go to rescue Zelda. I furrowed my brow as I recalled a few fuzzy memories of my visits to the domain as a child.

Grumble.

My ears twitched and I stopped in place. I scanned the trees on the cliff side above for the source of the noise.A breeze sent my hair flowing past my eyes as I looked back down the path we had just traveled.

"Something the matter?" Sidon called when he noticed I had stopped. "We're almost there. You can take a rest in Vah Ruta."

I shook my head when nothing caught my eye. "It's fine. I thought I heard something."

We reached the summit a few minutes later, and the wind sent chills through my core as it raced across the highlands. Zelda pulled her hood around her as she gazed up at Vah Ruta. A smile of entrancement graced her lips as she looked up in awe at the technological wonder. Seeing her smile at the technology calmed my nerves immediately.

Sidon assisted us in entering the Divine Beast. It appeared fully functional in my eyes when we stepped past the blue glow of its outer lights but the Sheikah Slate had indicated an error of some kind. A chill ran through me as I recalled my last visit inside the beast. Though it was much more pleasant now that the malice had cleared away.

Zelda made her way to the main control panel with Sidon to begin decoding the issue. I sat down near the entrance and gazed out over the land. I was grateful for the warmth of the late afternoon sun on my cheeks as I leaned against the metal wall of Vah Ruta. The days were getting shorter, and the coldest months of the year would soon begin. I glanced down at the blue glow of Zora's Domain and my mind drifted once again to Mipha.

She had been in love with me, and it bothered me that I could not remember much interaction with her. I remembered a time when she healed my arm after I cut myself climbing around Vah Ruta during one of Zelda's surveys. I remembered the way her eyes would observe the room with quiet intelligence as we held meetings with the other champions. But did she ever confess feelings to me? I had no memory of such an occurrence.

"Everything alright, Link?" I heard Sidon's optimistic voice from behind me.

I didn't turn my head. "Yes. Did you find the problem?"

"One of the pumps is malfunctioning but Princess Zelda is already working on it with those magnesis runes in the slate. It'll be good as new in no time!"

I nodded in response.

"You don't remember my sister very well, do you, Link?"

I tightened my lips. "I remember some things. My memory isn't completely restricted yet... There are gaps."

"Perhaps with more time to rest your body and mind, you will remember her more." Sidon sat down beside me. A small bird fluttered past us. "She really loved you, you know."

"Apparently enough to want to propose. And I cannot remember if I even loved her back, let alone enough to accept. Isn't that awful?"

Sidon chuckled. "Do not worry, Link. My father apparently had no idea she had such a crush on you until he found her making that armor one night. Perhaps you didn't even know, if you get what I mean."

"Maybe…" I muttered.

"Please don't dwell on her feelings. She would want you to follow your heart now, Link. That's what would make her happiest. I know that for a fact," said Sidon. "You still have a chance for love in this era. Don't let it pass by you."

I nodded and stared down at my hands. After everything that happened, I wondered if I would ever be able to settle down one day. When Zelda brought the idea up to me at Hateno Village, I'd laughed at the possibility of leaving her to stay in a slow-moving place like Hateno forever. But was it the thought of settling down that I'd outright refused, or leaving my best friend to do so?

A metallic grind of something mechanical turning on rumbled behind us. Sidon turned. "Ah, looks like Princess Zelda has finished already."

Zelda emerged from the dark of Vah Ruta. Her knees were dusty and her sleeves covered in oil stains, yet she trotted up to us with a skip in her step and a big smile. "I could tinker around in here all day," she said with a hum.

In fact, we ended up staying in Vah Ruta for a few more hours so Zelda could teach Sidon more about Vah Ruta's inner workings. I didn't mind, and took the opportunity to nap while they walked the area inside. My mind drifted to a hazy memory, a new dream, as I fell unconscious…

A young girl with a song on her tongue, pranced ahead of me through the streets of Castle Town. Was it Zelda? No, it couldn't be: her hair fell in a honey blonde wave behind her as she stopped in a patch of sun in the alleyway and twirled around as birds flitted past her. I caught up with her as she reached the end of her tune, and she turned to me with a cheeky grin. "I bet you're excited to see the Princess all dressed up at the royal ball, Link! You've only been talking nonstop about her since your promotion to her unit of the Royal Guard."

I heard myself laugh. "The Princess isn't very fond of me. She'd never dance with me."

The girl rolled her eyes as she spun around. "Nonsense, who wouldn't dance with the knight who was chosen to seal away the darkness?"

"The Princess, apparently. She is always so cold towards me."

"Well, you'll both have to find something in common in order to work together well." She shook her head, and the ray of sunlight disappeared, blocked by a cloud above. Her bright blue eyes mirrored my own as she flicked her attention to me. "Promise me you won't be too reckless, when the time comes... I want to be able to hug my big brother again after you beat the big bad guy." she said in a softer voice.

I nodded. "Of course, Taryll..."

The snap of a twig behind me drew my attention. I whirled around. My sister gasped. "Bokoblins!" She yelled, hiding behind me as a group of the red monsters ran at us with clubs drawn. I charged at them, as I was the only force who could protect my sister from danger.

I flinched awake, my heart pounding as I instinctively reached over my shoulder for the sword hilt. Instead, I found air, as the Master Sword sheath laid across my lap. I exhaled, resigning to the fact it had just been another nightmare. Luckily, Sidon and Zelda were still somewhere in Vah Ruta and didn't notice my rough awakening.

The girl in my dream had seemed like a real person. My… sister? I furrowed my brow as I looked down at Zora's Domain. I could almost see the statue of Mipha from my vantage point. Could this girl have survived the calamity? Even if she had, she probably was dead already. Did she have descendants? I would never know, as I had no idea who to ask.

I decided to do some training. Zelda and Sidon eventually emerged from Vah Ruta. They had finished just as the sunset lit up the sky in hues of gold. We began our hike back towards Zora's Domain, and darkness fell on us, our path lit exclusively by the blue glow of the Zora luminous trail markers.

We descended Ruto Mountain. At one point during the descent, Zelda drew closer and grabbed my arm when we heard a small animal scurry in a pine grove on the mountainside behind us. I decided to tease her. "Are you scared of the dark, Princess?"

Surprisingly, she clicked her tongue in a rare show of sass. "I seal the dark, Link."

Sidon chuckled ahead of us. That was when I heard the thud of hooves coming from our left. When I saw the flash of metal and a white mane of fur, I grabbed Zelda by the arm and yanked her forward.

The lynel's axe swing barely missed our heads as I pushed us out of the path of its wild charge.

I ripped the Master Sword from its sheath and leapt at the monster. It reared onto its hind legs to charge at us once again but Sidon jumped onto its back first and speared its neck with his tridents. I sent a horizontal slice into its legs before it bucked him off. With a shriek, it raked its claws at me. I used my sword to parry, but a wave of pain in my arm caused me to falter. I hissed when one of the claws sliced into my cheek. A small flash of light momentarily blinded all of us, including the lynel, and I used it as an opportunity to stab the lynel straight on. Its heavy body fell hard against a boulder on the side of the path with a thud.

"Are you okay, Zelda?" I breathed, turning to her after Sidon confirmed the monster was dead.

The Princess nodded, though I could see her shaking. "I'm sorry, I tried to use my power to help… but it has greatly depleted..."

"No worries, Princess Zelda, you did great just giving us a moment of advantage," said Sidon, flashing his signature smile at us.

"Strange place for a lynel to be roaming," I muttered as I eyed the beast. I wiped the blood from my cheek with the back of my hand.

"Let's keep moving," said Sidon with a nod of agreement. "We need to patch you up."

We reached the Great Zora Bridge several minutes later. Zelda, still shaken a little by the attack, stopped to take a few photos of the bridge and domain illuminated in blue in the darkness of night. I leaned against one of the illuminated path markers as I watched her snap pictures. Zora's Domain was truly one of the most magical places in all of Hyrule at night. If my cheek hadn't been such a mess, I may have volunteered to take a photo with her in front of it.

"What is….that?" Zelda whispered. I followed her gaze towards the mountain behind us that we had just descended. A strange glow emitted from its peak.

"Is there a fire?" Sidon asked.

I squinted. It didn't seem to flicker quite like a fire. It was a pure red light. Then I realized its source, as it was something I'd seen often on my travels. "It's a blood moon," I said quietly. "Rising from behind the peak."

The sky began to glow with an ominous red. Sidon grunted. "We'd better get inside our walls."

Zelda crossed her arms. "But the calamity has been defeated. There shouldn't be any monsters reviving under blood moons anymore… right?"

As if on command, several skeletal monsters rose from the ground on the far side of the bridge where we had come from. Embers of malicious energy began to rise from the earth. Zelda gasped and covered her mouth in horror as her hypothesis was disproved.

Grumble.

The sound again. It was the distant roar of the lynel. It had awoken again.

I set my jaw and reached for Zelda's hand. "We're not dealing with this tonight," I said as I pulled her across the bridge. Sidon paced behind us and shooed away the small skeletal monsters that drew up from the earth. Octoroks in the water fired projectiles over our heads as we sprinted but we managed to make it inside the protected perimeter of Zora's Domain without further interruption.

The zoras reserved the entire inn for us—possibly because of Zelda's royalty status, or we were just the only guests that night anyways. Sidon stood in the entry door, folding his arms with a puzzled look on his fishy face. The sky returned to normal a few minutes after we arrived, though there were now revived monsters roaming around in the wilderness around the domain.

"What should we do? What does this mean?" Zelda mumbled. She rocked as she sat on the edge of her bed in the inn. The monster revivals had sent her into yet another panic attack.

"We've always had blood moons," I said.

"No, they were an omen to Ganon's return. They should be gone now, unless he is coming back again soon," Zelda said, clasping her hands on her opposing arms.

I finished rubbing ointment to my cheek before I applied the ice pack the innkeeper had given me. I sat down on the edge of my bed, across the room from Zelda. "I didn't know the moon was connected to the calamity," I said.

"The Zora believe the red moon is not harmful itself," said Sidon. "It is natural. We have tales of its origin but it is thought that it has a strange magnification power. The calamity somehow used this power to spread malice upon the midnight hour and revive monsters."

Zelda held her face in her hands. "And their revival means I… I failed again," she sniffed. Her face reddened as her internal anxiety rose. "The calamity still lives, and will return once more…"

"Zelda…" I stood and walked across the room.

"Maybe my power wasn't fully unlocked… but now I've depleted its strength, so we cannot seal it again if he is coming back," she said, her fingers squeezing her upper arms. Panic grew in her eyes and she was shaking again. "It was all for nothing."

"I saw you seal it away. You did everything right," I reassured her as I stood in front of her. She pursed her lips as she glanced up at me.

"If I may suggest, maybe there is just some leftover evil energy, and the monsters will stop reviving soon. We've seen less of them since the Vah Ruta's laser struck the castle," offered Sidon.

Zelda shook her head. "There must be something I did wrong."

"Zelda," I said with a sigh. She didn't acknowledge me, so I sat down on the bed beside her and placed my hand on her cheek. "Zelda. Look at me," I said more firmly, turning her head towards me with my palm.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and I once again wondered if I had crossed a line of professionalism. Technically, she'd released me as her knight, and I was allowed to call her by her first name, so maybe there was no formal line between us anymore anyways. Her eyes stared into mine, and I let myself get lost in them for only a second before I spoke without thinking. "You were perfect."

She stopped sniffing and wiped her eyes. "W-what?"

"You have the blood of a Goddess" I affirmed. I felt my cheeks warming but I couldn't stop now. "I saw you seal away Ganon with the Goddess's power, and you did nothing wrong. You did everything perfectly."

Zelda looked down at her hands. "But there has to be a logical reason why the monster revivals haven't stopped yet…"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe we were wrong about it being an omen of the calamity. We know the calamity will not be returning any time soon because the seal will hold for a very long time, as it always has in the past."

Zelda stared for a minute at the ground but then held her head in her hands again. "I just need… to do more research before we continue on around Hyrule. I wish to return to Purah's lab in Hateno," she mumbled before settling into a fit of sniffles.

"If it will ease your worries," I said. She nodded but continued sniffing. I frowned, realizing she was probably crying out her tiredness now, and held my hands out to her. She leaned into my shoulder and settled into an exhausted sob and allowed me to hold her. Sidon only watched for a moment before he excused himself for the night and slipped out of the room.

The touch barrier, that maybe only I thought was there, had definitely broken down between us.

After Zelda calmed down, I slipped away to the cooking pot outside to make something, as we hadn't eaten since our lunch on the way to Vah Ruta. It was almost midnight so all of the zora were asleep in their communal pool. I pondered Zelda's concerns as I cut up fruit I'd packed and dropped them on the simmering cauldron.

She did have a point. If the calamity's malice was gone, the blood moon's ability to revive monsters should have disappeared with it. Yet, the monsters drew evil power from somewhere to revive. Could Zelda find that information in research somewhere? Probably not, or else someone would have stopped them already. But I knew she would give it her best effort.

I turned a piece of hydromelon over and watched the sugars fizz over the heat. Cooking always relaxed me. A few minutes later, I gathered the fruits into a bowl and dusted a tiny bit of sugar on them. I heard the door of the inn open, and Zelda stepped out. Her head flicked around until she spotted me, and I waved her over. "Just in time," I said, handing her the bowl. "I thought something sweet for us would be nice for a late night dinner."

She nodded, and we moved to lean against the railing that overlooked the cascading waters and lake below. This cooking area was a private corner of the domain just for guests of the inn. The glow of the luminous stones in the structure provided us with a candle-like, blue ambience under the stars. We gazed up at them together.

"I'm sorry," said Zelda after she took a few pieces of fruit into her palm. "I shouldn't have broken down like that in front of Prince Sidon. It was not something the leader of Hyrule should do. I will have to apologize to him tomorrow morning."

"Nonsense, do you think the King never cried?" I asked. Zelda paused her chewing and I quickly changed the subject as I realized it was a sore subject. "Do you know how many times I cried during my journey? I know you must have seen when you watched over me."

Zelda pouted her lower lip and grabbed a wildberry. "A lot of that was from injuries. Speaking of… how is your cheek?"

"It stings but will be healed up by morning."

"And your shoulder?"

I frowned. "I think I tore the wound open again with the lynel."

Zelda sighed. "It's tough to keep up with all your injuries, you know."

I laughed, and picked up the baked apple in the bowl. Unfortunately, it hadn't had enough time to cool yet when I bit into it. The hot, gooey inside seared the interior of my mouth. I choked, spitting the apple over the balcony's edge and fluttered my hand to cool down my tongue. Zelda giggled softly, but her laugh intensified when I looked around and realized I'd neglected to bring any water to the cooking area. She handed me her own cup that she'd had the foresight to grab from the inn.

I sipped it gratefully. "Thank you," I gasped, once the cold water soothed my burn.

Zelda shook her head in amusement. "No, I owe it to you. You saved me once again," she said.

"That's my job," I said with a grin.

She giggled. "It was your job. I set you free, remember?"

I tilted my head. "Eh, a job title means nothing to me."

She took a step closer to me and placed the bowl on the post nearby. "I am the Princess of Hyrule, let me remind you. My words are practically law."

"Oh really?" I said, a smile tugging my lips as I welcomed her teasing as I knew she was definitely joking with me. "What kind of laws are you writing these days?"

She pouted at me, and reached up to inspect my injured cheek. I flinched at her soft touch, and my heart pounded a little harder in my chest. She was standing so close to me, I could detect the smell of the flowery soap she'd bought from the shop in Hateno. Unfortunately, she still had some Divine Beast oil on her clothes that mixed in with her alluring scent.

"For one, I declare that you need to stop getting hurt while you're saving me," she said. "Luckily this cut isn't so bad."

I chuckled. "I'm not sure if that's possible for me, at this point."

She pouted in response. The cute way her cheeks puffed amused me, and my hand suddenly acted on its own. My fingers trailed through a lock of her hair that fell past her cheek. She inhaled a sharp breath as my fingers lingered at the soft corner of her jaw. I wished I had the courage to kiss her.

I suddenly snapped to my senses, and lowered my arm. What was I doing?

"We should get to sleep soon if we want to return to Purah's Lab early tomorrow," I said in a low voice. She nodded in agreement and retrieved the bowl from the post before we headed back inside.

I wasn't sure what had possessed me to touch her face, but I knew I didn't want to make her uncomfortable with me.

After wishing her good-night, I settled into my bed and pulled the silky sheets around me. That night, I dreamt of a distant memory: a pleasant one, for once, that I hadn't yet recalled...

I was at the castle, accompanying a group of guard members and soldiers during a council with the King. However, the soldiers were so much bigger than me, and all I wanted to do was run around the Great Hall and climb around. After a lighthearted scolding from one of the knights regarding my attempt to climb up a column, I was returned to the royal guard member I'd traveled with: my father. His bright blue eyes regarded me sternly and I felt myself shrink under his strong gaze. However, by his smirk, I now understood he was amused by my antics.

He led me by the hand into the dining hall where the King had prepared a reception for the unit. A small girl with golden hair and bright green eyes who seemed near my age approached me. A small egg-shaped creature-a miniature guardian of some kind-followed her and beeped in greeting at me. The girl handed me an apple she retrieved from the table. I smiled at her before I began chomping down on the fruit to eat it as quickly as possible. Her eyes widened as she watched my determined eating frenzy. I looked up at my father who placed his hands on his hips and knelt down to be at my eye level. A few of his guardmates chuckled as they watched us.

"Is that any way to eat in front of the lovely Princess Zelda? If you want to be a knight one day, you must learn to use your manners, Link," he said.

The Princess giggled, and I felt my face flush in embarrassment. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I didn't want her to find me strange...