In a materializing aura of brilliant blue light, the physical form of Link and all his belongings appeared on the circular, glowing pedestal at the foot of the Saas Ko'sah Shrine. Link never understood how the ancient sheikah could have such crazy names. There had been some shrines around Hyrule he visited that had brought him close to smiling a few times, which tended to make him feel sort of childish.
The air around him was much cooler and thicker than that of Zora's Domain, as the shrine of Saas Ko'sah was located just inside the mouth of a cave leading to the many tunnels connecting the castle's underground corridors. Link noticed that, as usual, the map on the slate had transformed into a detailed 3-D rundown of the castle, with chambers, hallways, and otherwise hidden passageways highlighted. This also meant that, if he wanted to return to Zora's Domain, he would first have to leave the area and then teleport.
Link took a deep breath of the heavy air and began his search, turning inwards toward the castle's catacombs. It was surely a massive relief to not have any pesky moblins or lizalfos giving him trouble as they had been not long before. Regardless, just as a precaution, he still kept his trusty sword and shield secured within arms' reach on his back.
Zelda had mentioned something the night before about some large storage units under the castle containing the parts, supposedly near the lockup. Unfortunately for him, that was not a lot of information. It certainly narrowed the possibilities, but not enough to spare him the tedium of searching up and down long patches of hallway. It was still possible that he could be down there for a couple hours. It didn't help that he had been down these corridors before, even managing to find the Hylian shield that still resided on his back, but he hadn't found anything resembling a storage wing. He figured the magnesis rune on the sheikah slate would be a big help here.
Being thorough even upon initially entering the corridors, Link quickly found the post-apocalyptic remains of the castle to be…kind of boring compared to previous weeks. With no monsters, bats, Malice, or even undiscovered chests to be found, the hallways before him just sat dark and barren. There weren't even any rats or bugs to contribute any sound to the environment, and as a result, Link's footsteps on the hard, stone floor sent chills down his spine. He admitted to seeming almost psychotic for thinking so, but he sort of missed being in danger. It gave his mind something to focus on besides thoughts of Mipha and the deafening sound of his own feet.
Despite these feelings, however, the lockup did always seem like a dangerous place. All the dim, futile sources of light that used to illuminate the hallways down there had gone out many years before Link's reawakening in the Shrine of Resurrection. Presently, as Link tiredly walked along the crumbling floor of the corridor, the only light that was visible in the lockup were the tiny bits of sunlight peering in through cracks in the upper corners of the wall and the radiant, holy glow of the Master Sword on his back. Link activated the rune on the slate and began scanning the room, hoping to be able to discern any movable metal objects among the darkness.
Unfortunately, it seemed to him like the only presence of metal in the corridor was in the decaying bars that made up the old holding cells, along with some metal crates that sat in the corners of said cells. There didn't appear to be any important wall piece made of metal that he'd be able to throw aside. He let out a huff before returning the slate to his hip. It felt pointless even being down in the lockup, since he knew he had been there a few times before and had cleaned it thoroughly of all valuables. He knew he hadn't seen any kind of alleged "storage wing" on his trips through the castle.
Among his doubtful thoughts was the idea that the storage wing could've been cleared out somehow in the last 100 years, and that he had walked right through it several times without even noticing. If that were the case, he would probably just have to go scrap a few more guardians before returning to the Domain and not tell Zelda about it. At least that would get her the parts she needed. After all, he thought, what was the point in preserving the guardians if Calamity Ganon was probably just going to possess them all again anyway in the next 10,000 years? Perhaps he'd be doing Hyrule an early favor.
Just moments before Link was planning to turn around and give up on Hyrule castle, admittedly due to his impatience after recently finishing a huge quest, a wall at the end of the corridor caught his eye. He approached it slowly, gazing at it intently in an attempt to distinguish its features in the limited lighting conditions. At a glance, nothing seemed strange about it except for a slightly rougher appearance. He reached out and caressed it with his hand, feeling the cold, damp, moldy rock rub against his palm. It was at this point Link made his conclusion…the wall was cracked in this spot.
Link's response was almost instinctual, as if identifying cracked walls caused him to react this way involuntarily. He once again removed the sheikah slate from his hip, set the rune to a square bomb, and triggered the ominous, glowing object to materialize in his outstretched hand. He then tossed it on the ground in front him like a piece of trash and stepped back several paces, grinning slightly like a maniac. The bomb runes were his favorites.
He tapped the screen on the slate with his thumb, and at that instant, the bomb detonated, filling the corridor with a brief flash of blinding blue light. Link didn't even bother to shield his eyes. The sound, however, was absolutely suffocating, given how quiet the hallway had been just moments before. He shook his head to try and rid the tinnitus from his ears before approaching the now-nonexistent wall.
Obviously, the storage wing must've been behind this wall. After all, Zelda said it was near the lockup, and it was officially the only remaining part of the castle the hero had not yet explored. What intrigued him was the fact that the area behind the wall was not shown at all on the sheikah slate's 3-D map. Perhaps that was intended as a defensive measure to protect whatever was inside, and that's why the royal family used it as a storage wing.
Upon stepping through the settling dust cloud after the blast, however, Link was shocked and dismayed to find that there was nothing behind the wall besides a tiny square chamber about ten feet across with a royal broadsword jammed in a slit in the floor at the center. An old, ragged banner with the Hylian crest on it hung from the back wall of the tiny chamber, which was about the only feature of interest to the frustrated hero.
Link trudged up to the royal broadsword and yanked it out of the ground like King Arthur pulling the Excalibur. The damage it was capable of was pitiful at best, especially considering the arsenal of more-powerful weapons he had collected and discarded on his journey. He chucked it back on the ground as a way of expressing his lack of interest.
Suddenly, without any sort of warning like a tremor or a crack, the stone floor beneath Link completely gave way, likely spurred by the pulling of the sword keeping it held together. Link let out a startled cry as he was jarred from his balance and sent toppling backwards into the sprawling pit that had opened beneath him. Jagged rocks and pieces of the former floor fell all around him, some impacting him on his way down. The sound of rushing air against his ears was drowned out by his yelling, as he had still yet to regain his orientation after being caught by surprise. This fall seemed frighteningly long for being entirely underground.
Right then, Link remembered his paraglider. Thankfully, he had not decided to leave it back at the Domain, or else his fate would not have been very pleasant. He quickly reached behind his sword and shield and whipped out the glider in a sweeping motion, ensuring he minimalized the deployment time lest the ground be closer to him than he thought. In an instant, his violent drop was slowed to a gentle descent, and everything returned to being calm. Link let out a relieved sigh.
Within a few short moments, his feet made light contact with the ground at the bottom of the vertical drop. Link returned the glider to its storage position on his back and looked directly up at what he had just been falling through. To his shock and amazement, he could not see the top of the fall where he had just been standing before his unexpected meeting with gravity. The distance was simply too great, and the haze was too thick. There's no way he'd be exiting this pit without using the sheikah slate's teleporting ability.
Dusting himself off, the hero turned toward the passageway ahead. At this point, he was a hundred percent certain that this was not the storage wing Zelda was talking about. He estimated this pit to be at least several times deeper underground than even the ancient guardian pillars were, as well as the pit beneath the sanctum in which he had fought Ganon. However, it appeared that the walls and ceiling of this pit were decorated similarly to those other two examples. Like everything else designed by the ancient sheikah, the patterns now glowed a deep, captivating shade of blue as opposed to the signature pink of Calamity Ganon. This pit was constructed intentionally, it would seem, in case the deeper-than-average vertical drop hadn't already made that obvious to him.
His interest at its absolute peak, Link continued walking down the narrow corridor to whatever mysteries lay ahead. He wasn't sure if even the royal family had been aware of this pit before the Calamity 100 years ago, or even any living creatures for that matter. Despite the corridor having supposedly been constructed over 10,000 years ago, no bats, rodents, nor even cobwebs could be found anywhere. The air, nonetheless, smelled stale and musty.
Before long, Link spotted an end to the tunnel where the walls seemed to open up into a room. He was already starting to see the similarities between this place and the Shrine of Resurrection. It was obvious that the function this place served was not the same as that of the sheikah monuments he had visited before. This place seemed exclusive.
He stepped curiously past the opening and peered around at the room he now stood in. After a couple of seconds, the room rumbled lightly as a hidden sliding door closed behind him, sealing him within the confines of the mysterious chamber. He knew his sheikah slate would be able to safely whisk him away to the surface anytime he wanted, so he was not worried about this. A strange raised pedestal with an analog clock pattern engraved around its circumference sat in the center of the room. For a chamber that was obviously of sheikah design, judging by the interior constellation patterns and the guidance stone situated to his right, Link was surprised to find that the room did not contain a travel gate. If he couldn't find a way to reopen that sliding door, he would have no way of returning to this place upon leaving with the sheikah slate.
Before he could think about doing anything else, a ghostly voice came to him in the same way it had in all the other normal shrines. The voice was undoubtedly that of another long-deceased sheikah monk. As usual, the voice spoke with long pauses between sentences.
"Chosen hero…"
"…The place you now stand is known as the Shrine of Recollection…"
"…This place was designed to stand as a last resort against Ganon, should all else fail…"
Link put a hand on his hip. Shrine of Recollection? The ancient sheikah tribe seemed to be quite original at naming each other, but not so much at naming their shrines. He shook his head as he was addressed a second time by the voice.
"Chosen hero…"
"…Touch the sheikah slate to the pedestal, and stand upon the Slab of Recall…"
Link assumed the voice was referring to the raised platform. The clock numbers etched around the circumference, written in the ancient sheikah language, began to glow a fiery orange, similar to the color of undiscovered shrines on the surface. Overcome by the fierce force of curiosity, Link removed the sheikah slate from his hip, turned it upside down, and touched it to the guidance stone. Immediately, both the stone and the slate flashed blue.
"Sheikah Slate Authentication Complete."
Shortly after receiving the usual message from the guidance stone, the clock numbers on the platform immediately faded to blue. In addition, the center of it began to glow. At this point, Link's curiosity was insatiable. However, he somehow couldn't shake the feeling that this would only end up being another weird trial to occupy his time. After all, the voice had said that this chamber, supposedly dubbed the "Shrine of Recollection," was a last resort against Ganon, "should all else fail." Well, Link thought skeptically, Ganon was already defeated, so what purpose could this place still have?
At this point, Link's only two options were to either step on the "Slab of Recall," or hightail it out of there using the sheikah slate. He bit his bottom lip. He had already made it this far, and if he didn't go and step on that platform, the curiosity would probably cause his hair to start falling out. Therefore, he slowly approached the glowing blue platform, and stepped up into its hypnotizing halo. Sensing his presence, both the platform and the halo grew brighter.
The voice returned to Link, addressing him a third time.
"Chosen hero…"
"…In a few moments, you will be transported back in time to a period before Calamity Ganon's return to warn the citizens of Hyrule of his impending arrival…" Link's eyes widened upon hearing this statement.
"…You will have one hour to accomplish this task before the sheikah slate returns you to your current time period…"
"…Upon your return, you will be sent back to the surface, and the door to the Shrine of Recollection will remain closed…"
There was a pause after this statement that lasted longer than usual, forcing Link to hold his breath in anticipation.
"…You will not be able to return to this Shrine…"
Link released his breath in a long wave, letting his arms fall to his sides. He had a feeling that would be the case. It seemed, then, like he was going to have the opportunity to warn the king and the citizens of Calamity Ganon before the beast could have the chance to wipe everybody out. That seemed like a pretty solid plan. Upon returning to his own time, then, he figured, Hyrule would supposedly be a much more vibrant and lively place than it was now. That was assuming he would be successful in this task. In fact, if he could find them in time…he could even warn the Champions of the Divine Beasts' possession.
Link's eyes lit up at this realization. He would be able to save Mipha.