Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Next will be Chapter 17: Asunder.


"Right, so… Where's Link?" asked Gaddison.

It was just after seven o'clock in the morning, and the Bazz Brigade - plus Sidon and Seggin - had just arrived at a resting area next to the eastern reservoir. Vah Ruta loomed menacingly in the distance, threatening the assault team with a loud clanging of ancient gears and the roar of rushing water.

"I'm not sure what's keeping him..." said Sidon. "When I came to retrieve him from the inn this morning he was already gone. He wasn't anywhere near the domain either, so I assumed he'd simply come here early… but..."

"He'll be here." Said Seggin. "If there is one thing I know with certainty about Master Link, it's that he is a Hylian of his word. We shall wait patiently for him-"

"YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGH!"

A war cry echoed deeply across the eastern reservoir.

Startled, the five Zora glanced left and right for the source, before finally looking up at the peak of Ploymus Mountain; Shatterback Point.

A small, narrow figure suddenly leaped from the top. As the figure drew closer, a grin of recognition spread across the faces of the young Zora.

Link's diving pose was absolutely flawless as he fell through the air from the top of the infamous point. He hit the water with scarcely a splash, and the Bazz Brigade let out cheers of joy and pride. Even Seggin himself smirked a bit at the young Hylian's daring.

With the help of the Zora armor, Link cut through the water towards the waiting Zora, shooting straight out and landing effortlessly next to Prince Sidon. Pumped with adrenaline, he marched over to Seggin and forcefully shook his hand.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, grinning. "I had a Lynel problem to take care of." He pointed to a weapon on his back, strapped alongside the ceremonial trident:

A Savage Lynel Spear.

Sidon laughed at this, shook his head in disbelief. "Well then. Welcome to manhood, my dear friend!" He turned his attention to Divine Beast Vah Ruta, which itself appeared to be slowly rotating to face the impending strike team. "It seems everything is in order." He said. "Shock arrows ready?"

Link nodded, handing eight of his shock arrows to Seggin. The demon sergeant flinched slightly as he grabbed the cluster, but his high tolerance for electricity allowed him to holster them without issue. The whole team then dove into the water - sans Link, who jumped on Sidon's back instead. Lined up and ready for battle, the team floated there in silence for a brief moment, waiting for their cue.

For once, Sidon found himself at a loss for words. So Link spoke.

"For Lady Mipha," he said.

"FOR LADY MIPHA!"

Vah Ruta answered with a massive roar of its own.

And the battle was on.


A swarm of ghastly, flying skulls suddenly erupted from the interior of Vah Ruta as the team approached through the water at high speed. The group split up, encircling the Divine Beast on either side. Link began to snipe these bizarre monsters with arrows from the back of Sidon. The other Zora, wielding Silverscale Spears, took turns launching out of the water and stabbing the creatures in midair. After destroying this initial wave, they regrouped on the other side of Vah Ruta, their initial pass complete.

"That wasn't so bad…" said Rivan.
"Do not let your guards down!" Shouted Seggin. "That was a new attack I hadn't seen before. It seems the beast has learned some new tricks…"

"Again!" shouted Link. Let's aim for an opening." They began to swim towards Vah Ruta once more.

"Gaddison and I will take the lead as planned!" shouted Bazz. "We'll clear a path to the first orb!" Another wave of enemies emerged from out of the beast and attempted to block the way to the waterfalls leading to Ruta's shoulder orbs. Gaddison and Bazz destroyed these new clusters of monsters in front of them, while Link continued sniping them down with arrows. Rivan and Seggin mopped up stragglers that chased them in the back. And in no time, they arrived right alongside the Divine Beast...

"Precision is the key, young master." Yelled Seggin. "Shock arrows ready!"

"AYE!" Said Link. The rest of the Zora peeled off from the formation as Sidon leapt from the water, launching Link up the waterfall. He began to swim up, Seggin alongside him.

At the top, the pair launched out of the water, drew back on their bows, and fired their shock arrows at the first glowing red orb. An explosion of yellow light. An incredible roar from the Divine Beast. And the first orb began to glow a vibrant green.

Link punched the air in triumph as he and Seggin dove straight back into the waters below. Sidon picked up Link and the group of Zora re-took their formation to encircle the Divine Beast again.

"That's one down." Said Seggin. He seemed a bit shaken from his prolonged contact with the shock arrow, but he was otherwise okay. "Be prepared now," he continued, "I believe we may have angered the-"

SHING!

"What are those things ?! " cried Rivan.

Countless glowing blue cubes suddenly appeared around Vah Ruta, spiraling around the beast.

Seggin remained calm. "Those are the ice blocks I told you about…" he replied. "But they are a bit larger than I remember. Phase two. Let us begin."

Sidon continued to swim at the surface in a perimeter around Vah Ruta. Meanwhile, the other Zora dove underwater, swimming a few feet below Link and Sidon. The ice blocks began focusing on the pair, shooting straight at them one after another. Link shot down each block as they flew towards them. He was taking them down with relative ease from his stable position on the back of Sidon...

...But unfortunately, he was starting to run low on arrows.

After destroying the last one, Link heard Sidon shout out from under him. "This is our opportunity! Are you ready to transfer?"

"Yes!"

"Let's go!"

Sidon shot out of the lake, launching Link off his back again in the direction of Vah Ruta. Link dove straight underwater, cutting just beneath the surface like a torpedo.

As he did so, a new cluster of ice blocks materialized around the Divine Beast. These attacks continued to focus on Sidon, who now swam the opposite way. They shot after him, one after another, but there was no way they could catch the best swimmer in all of Zora's Domain - especially without a passenger on his back.

The Zora Prince allowed himself a short glance at the second waterfall as he swam away, with twenty massive ice blocks still giving him chase…

Did Link make it? Come on… come on… Yes!

Link and Seggin both breached the surface at rapid speed. Link rode atop the elderly Zora's back as they made their way straight to the waterfall. They separated at the base, swam up, fired off their arrows once again.

Two down, two to go…

At this time, the entire group pulled back and swam out of range of Vah Ruta. The beast let out another angry, trumpeting roar. The flying ice blocks returned back to it, offering the assault team a brief chance to regroup once again.

Seggin coughed a bit. "Excellent work, all of you. Although I do not believe these old bones can handle another maneuver like that. You are heavier than I imagined, Master Link…"

Link shrugged. "I don't think a solitary distraction like that is going to work again anyway. We'll have to divide its attention between all of us now."

Seggin scowled. "Loathe as I am to put the others at risk... I agree." He coughed again. "No more redundancy. You and I shall strike the final two orbs separately." He turned to the other Zora. " All of you must serve as our diversion now." They nodded at Seggin, and yet again swam towards Vah Ruta to begin their final assault…

Unfortunately, Vah Ruta was adapting. It seemed to pull out all the stops now, somehow knowing that that the attacking group was readying to finish the job. Not only did the mechanical beast send out new clusters of flying skull creatures and ice blocks… But it was now sending out spiked ice mines as well, which gave chase along the surface and underwater. These too were unfamiliar to Seggin, and they were utterly relentless in their pursuit.

Link and the Zora were running out of openings.

Gaddison, Rivan, and Bazz continued to pick off the strange skull beasts, dodging an occasional ice block here and there. Meanwhile, these new spiked balls chased after Sidon, Link, and Seggin. Link managed to briefly deflect a couple with his bow... but unfortunately, he was completely out of regular arrows now.

Sidon and Seggin picked up speed, but to no avail. They dove underwater to avoid the floating blocks of ice in front of them, but they simply could not outswim these pursuing mines…

In a mild panic, Link whipped out his Sheikah Slate.

He knew the Cryonis rune had the ability to create, and to destroy ice, and he was certain it would do the trick here.

He just needed to get the damned slate unlocked...

Seggin peeled off from their formation, hoping to draw the mines towards him - but only three of the projectiles followed. A single remaining mine continued to draw closer and closer to Link and Sidon.

Link wracked his brain, adrenaline pumping, mind racing in a frenzy. He poured over his memories. There had to be something there he was missing… something he'd forgotten...

"Link! What are you doing?!" cried Sidon. The mine trailed them by only about ten feet now.

But Link ignored him. He was on the verge of a breakthrough. He thought back to Hateno Village, to the tech lab, to Purah - the last person to mess with his Sheikah Slate in any way…

What had she been so disappointed about again? There was something she kept trying to get him to do, something silly and-

It suddenly hit him.

He typed frantically on the Slate's screen...

S-N-A-P-P-I-T-Y-S-N-A-P

'DING.'

'User Authenticated.'

YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.

He tapped around in the Sheikah Slate…

Runes…. Cryonis… THERE!

He spun around quickly, aimed the slate-

-and the chasing ice ball EXPLODED into a thousand pieces.

Sidon let out a cry of triumph. "Yes! Astounding! What in Hylia's name did you-"

"No time!" Link interrupted. "Go after Seggin!"

Sidon banked left, and began to chase after the Demon Sergeant. Using Cryonis, Link destroyed the remaining ice mines that pursued him. He and Sidon drew alongside Seggin.

"I don't know what you did there, but great work!" Seggin shouted. "This is our chance. We strike at the same time... Go!"

They split up once more, their path to the remaining orbs now perfectly clear. They ascended each waterfall simultaneously and Link yet again launched into the air and shot a shock arrow at the third orb. Except this time, he whipped out his paraglider afterwards to admire their handywork. Vah Ruta seemed to roar in defeat...

The job was finished!

Link glanced over to the fourth orb - Seggin's orb - and his heart sank.

It was still glowing bright red.

No...!

What happened?! Where's Seggin?

A shout from below him.

Gaddison.

"Link! Seggin's been hit!"

Link gritted his teeth in anger, his soldier's instinct kicking in. He began to glide in the direction of the final orb. Focus. Finish the job. Just need to get a little bit closer-

FWWWWOOOOOOOM!

A shockwave suddenly exploded out from the Divine Beast, instantly launching Link dozens of yards away. Vah Ruta's incredible roar shook the mountains around them. Link skipped across the surface of the eastern reservoir like a small skipping stone, finally coming to a stop near the shoreline.

Somehow, he remained conscious. And through immense pain, he began to swim as fast as he could right back towards Vah Ruta...

"Link's down as well!" cried Rivan. He and Gaddison towed the injured Seggin away from the Divine Beast as quickly as possible. The Sergeant had been struck by an ice block, which materialized within the water stream itself as he swam up. His right arm and leg were broken. He was bleeding profusely from the side of his head. His bow and arrows were scattered at the foot of the Divine Beast...

"We need to fall back!" Sidon cried. "I'll go get Link, and we can-"

He froze. A war cry echoed across the eastern reservoir once again.

-Only this time, it was from Bazz.

He'd retrieved Seggin's bow, along with a single shock arrow. A dozen ice blocks chased him on the way as he swam up the waterfall, drawing the bow and launching himself out and over the final orb of the Divine Beast.

He drew back on the bow and let the arrow fly, just as a single block sharply collided with him in midair, knocking him aside...

But his aim was true.

A flash of yellow light engulfed both Bazz and the final power orb, a pained roar emanated from the Divine Beast, and all of its ice blocks disappeared in an instant. Vah Ruta was incapacitated, the endless rain ceased. All four orbs were active.

They'd won.


Bazz plummeted all the way down to the waters below. His body shook and convulsed painfully at first, the electricity from the shock arrow's explosion practically frying his nervous system.

And then he was still.

"BAZZ!" Sidon swam at lightning speed to his friend's body. It floated there, lifelessly.

No. Please no. He thought. Oh, Bazz…

He made it there first, with Gaddison and Rivan towing the injured Seggin in the direction of Vah Ruta from the rear.

Meanwhile, Link had never swam so fast in his entire life. He arrived at the scene a minute later, fearing the worst.

The corrupted Divine Beast had collapsed into the water next to them in defeat. All of the Zora gathered around Bazz on top of the now-lowered platform leading to the entrance to Vah Ruta. Sidon was desperately pumping Bazz's chest with both hands, hoping to jumpstart his friend's heart.

"Back off!" cried Link, as he climbed out of the water. He sprinted across the platform, sliding on his knees to the lifeless body of his dear friend. A memory snapped its way back into Link's brain in that instant. He'd experienced a similar scene back in his days of Imperial Guard training. A fellow soldier, struck by a shock arrow... He knew what to do.

Link examined Bazz, put his ear to his chest. The electrical currents in the shock arrow had apparently been enough to cause ventricular fibrillation in Bazz's heart. His breathing was labored, his heartbeats were irregular, fluttering. If Link didn't act fast… Bazz would die.

Calmly, he pulled his quiver around him, producing a shock arrow. He knew that he needed to deliver a counter-shock to depolarize the heart muscles and treat the dysrhythmia. He snapped the shock arrow in half and leaned over Bazz's body...

"Step back everyone."

Link took a deep breath, then gently pressed each half of the shock arrow on opposite ends of Bazz's chest. ZZRT!

A small flash. He pulled away. Nothing…

He pressed the pieces down again. ZZRT!

GASP!

Finally, Bazz snapped awake, shaking his head. His heartbeat was normal again, his breathing was steady, stable.

"What's going on?!" He shouted. "We… we won, right?"

Link shook his head and immediately hugged his friend. "Yes, we won. Thanks to your incredible stupidity." The rest of the Bazz Brigade cheered for their revived comrade, moving in to join in the embrace.

Bazz smiled up at Link, coughing as he spoke.

"Well, Link... your recklessness… always was contagious after all-"

"You idiot!" snapped Seggin. "You brave, silly idiot!" The old Sergeant hobbled over on one leg to examine his son. The group made way for the old Zora, who plopped on the ground next to Bazz.

Bazz rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry father… er, Sergeant. But we were out of options, and I-"

Seggin pulled his son into a warm embrace.

"I'm proud of you, soldier. You did well." He turned and stared at Link. "And I must thank you, for saving my boy, Master Link. How are you faring, yourself?"

Link shrugged. "A bit bruised, but never better. You'd all better head back… we're in uncharted waters now."

"Indeed!" said Sidon. "We must retreat and deal with these injuries. Excellent work, everyone!"

But the uninjured Zora guards did not want to comply.

"I'm not leaving!" said Gaddison.

"Nor am I!" Rivan chimed in. "We've made it this far. We have to help him!"

Seggin shook his head. "I'm sorry, but Master Link is the only one who has intimate knowledge of Vah Ruta's interior. We would simply get in his way - especially in our current state." He hopped over and into the water, staying afloat despite his own considerable injuries. "We depart immediately. That is an order."

"...Yes sir..."

As the group of Zora began to swim away - Seggin and Bazz in-tow - they all spun around one last time. The platform lifted up and out of the water as Link stared down after his friends. They began pounding their chests and saluting in respect.

"Show the enemy no fear," said Sidon. "We'll see you back at Zora's domain."

Link returned their salute.

"I'll finish the job. See you soon."

He spun on his heels, and slowly made his way towards the entrance of Vah Ruta.


Link paused and stared at the pedestal in front of the entrance. The same spot where he and Mipha had shared their precious moment all those years ago. He shook his head.

How in the world... did it all come to this?

After a few moments, he sighed, and pressed his Sheikah Slate against the surface of the pedestal. It glowed blue, activating the circle behind him. He began to walk into the front doorway leading into Vah Ruta…

A ghostly voice - familiar, but haunting - suddenly called from the Divine Beast's interior.

"You're here."

Link froze at the sound of it.

Mipha.

His heart nearly stopped. His blood ran cold through his veins...

"I must say... that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now Ruta can be free of Ganon's control..."

Her voice echoed softly through the interior of Vah Ruta - echoed through Link's mind. Mipha's tone was tired, weary, longing…

But just as lovely as he remembered it.

"Mipha…?" He began. But she did not respond. He ran into the Divine Beast, searching for the source of her voice. "Mipha!"

An ominous presence seemed to fill the very air inside the beast. Particles of red and purple floated around the interior. The ever-present malice threatened to choke him with its very presence.

Filled with determination, with anger, Link clenched his fists and shouted, his voice echoing through Vah Ruta's chambers as Mipha's did moments before.

"If you can hear me, Mipha, I'm coming for you! Please hold on just a bit longer..."

No answer.


Link was making excellent progress. After scanning his slate and obtaining the map of the Divine Beast, he saw that the five terminals that Zelda had activated many years ago were no longer functioning. He'd realized that he'd have to restore power to these with his slate first, before finally taking ownership of the main control unit again. At this point, he'd already activated three of the five terminals, encountering very little resistance along the way.

A strange mass of purple and black goo permeated various spots on the inside of Vah Ruta. This corruption appeared to be from Calamity Ganon himself, and was apparently the source of the strange skull monsters that had assaulted the team during their battle earlier. Removing these huge masses required destroying enormous eyeballs that protruded from them. Disgusting.

Link had made quick work of these entities each time he'd come upon them, and now found himself standing at a doorway to the front of Vah Ruta. Its massive trunk rose high above him there, spraying a continuous stream of water on the main waterwheel at the center of its body. As a machine designed to produce an endless supply of water, many of Ruta's mechanisms were powered hydroelectrically using the force of this water shooting from its trunk. Link was able to use his Sheikah slate to move the trunk up and down and manipulate the machinery inside the divine beast to access its power terminals.

In this case, the fourth terminal was located underneath the long trunk itself. So Link used his slate to adjust the trunk all the way down so he could glide to the tip. He used his glider to fly there, and paused for a brief moment.

His heart skipped a beat in remembrance. This was the very site of one particularly intimate healing session a hundred years ago…

He shook it off. Need to focus, concentrate, he thought, as he used his slate to access the terminal underneath. He scanned his slate on the surface of the pedestal, and shut his eyes...

"Just one terminal remaining!" said Mipha's disembodied voice. "I have faith in you!" With each successful activation, the calm voice of the Zora Champion had continued to address him, offering kind words of encouragement. Link felt a cruel twist of guilt and comfort each time she spoke, and his resolve to finish the mission only increased with each and every word...

His heart warmed anew at the sound of her voice, Link moved to activate the last terminal. Accessing this one required extinguishing jets of flame around it, which acted as a security feature for would-be hijackers. Link remembered nearly getting burnt to death when he first approached this terminal all those many years before. Zelda and Purah had laughed at him at the time, although neither he nor Mipha had found it particularly funny themselves.

"You activated all the terminals!" said Mipha. Link realized he'd been holding his breath in anticipation when she addressed him once again. He exhaled loudly.

Mipha continued. "Now you can start the main control unit. Be careful not to let your guard down…"

Her words carried an ominous tone. Link felt a strange atmospheric change settling into the interior of Vah Ruta. A feeling of absolute malice, of grim foreboding…

He began to walk towards the main control room. He examined his weapons and gear on the way.

This was too easy… he thought to himself. Surely there's more in store than this…

As he reached the main control room - an enormous chamber towards the back of Divine Beast Vah Ruta - he reached over with his slate, placed it against the pedestal's surface-

FOOM!

...There it is.

Vah Ruta began to rumble and shake around him. A plume of ghastly malice shot out of the pedestal and swirled around the entire control unit. Blue streams of light began to rush out of the malice and into the air behind him, collecting into a great ball of energy that blinded his eyes. The beams of light condensed - and from the center of the light, emerged a hideous creature far more disturbing than anything Link had ever seen in his entire life.

Its body and skin had the same glowing, putrid texture of the black and red masses contained throughout Vah Ruta. Its appearance was like rotting, purpled flesh. Ancient machinery protruded from its center like an exposed skeleton. In its left hand it wielded a glowing blue spear of immense size.

Link's face curled into a grimace, then relaxed. His instincts kicked in as he took his usual battle pose. He drew his Savage Lynel Spear from his back and pointed it at this disgusting creature.

The large monster let out an ear-piercing shriek, but Link didn't flinch. He glared calmly at the creature's face. Its single blue eye glared right back. It was then that Link noticed the enormous mane of red hair growing from the back of its head... Its color and style was reminiscent of the hair on Ganon's head, according to his vision back at the plateau.

An incarnation of the Demon King?

No matter. He'd slay this blight just the same-

"Please take care…" Mipha's voice suddenly pleaded. Her words shook Link more than this strange monster had…

"That… thing is one of Ganon's creations," she continued. "I put up as much of a fight as I could…"

"...But it proved to be my demise one-hundred years ago…"

Link's mind snapped.

His soul shattered.

His heart was torn asunder.

In a flash he was on the creature, savagely ramming his spear over and over into its face, unleashing a hundred years of pure sorrow and anguish onto this utterly despised entity.

The blight let out a screech of pain, while Link let loose a cry of pure desolation so tremendously excruciating that he himself cringed at the sound of it.

Gathering itself again, the blight lifted its spear high overhead and stabbed it downward to counter. Link backflipped out of its shockwave, then backpedaled as the monster de-materialized in a flash of blue light, before reappearing across the room.

Link looked down, still furious, and noticed he'd already cracked his Lynel spear in several places. He chucked it across the room, nailing the blight dead-center of its eye. Its face grossly impaled, it shrieked in pain yet again.

"Amazing, Link!" cried Mipha. "Good job!"

But he didn't hear her. His senses were dulled. His primal rage was fully in control now.

Ganon's blight de-materialized once more, this time into a small blue ball of energy. Its hand glowed bright white as it reappeared in the center of the room. Still in control of the Divine Beast, it manipulated Vah Ruta to flood the main chamber full of water.

Link swam over to one of the floating platforms that rose up with the water, drawing his bow as he did. He fired a shock arrow right at the beast, but it disappeared just before the arrow collided. It moved across the room and high above, hanging down to face him. Its hand glowed white once more, and a large ice block formed in front of it. Link whipped out his Sheikah Slate and destroyed the block with ease. He drew his bow and struck the blight right in the face with three shock arrows simultaneously.

Electricity danced and zapped across its body as it plummeted into the waters below. Link dove in and swam across to the platform near the creature, and began to stab the thing repeatedly with the Ceremonial Trident. He was unconcerned with his sloppy form, with his awful posture, with his terrible, primal stance.

His only concern was obliterating this hateful blight. Absolutely annihilating this thing that had stolen the one person that had mattered the most to him in this entire world…

The blight regained consciousness and teleported across the room. This time, it materialized half a dozen ice blocks, sending them right towards Link again.

But Link didn't care.

Using Cryonis, he created a path of ice pillars across the water, dodging and darting around the enormous projectiles that threatened to collide with him. He landed on the last pillar, elevating it abruptly using his slate. The rising pillar propelled him straight into the air and towards the blight, which desperately sent one last-gasp ice block to stop this rampaging Hylian.

But it was no use.

Link flipped gracefully over the final ice block, shouted out in primal rage-

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

-And embedded the Ceremonial Trident deep into the head of the blight. The force of the strike shattered the trident - and the creature's face - into a hundred pieces.

The blight floated through the air, writhing and contorting in agony as a blood-like substance oozed and sprayed out of its every orifice and wound. It shrieked angrily at Link one last time, before EXPLODING in a brilliant flash of purple light.

The water in the chamber drained around him. The air turned clear as the malice dissipated.

The battle was over. Link had won.

Yet at the same time… he'd utterly lost.

Panting, Link collapsed on the wet ground. His mind began to clear again. His eyes were wide-open, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white…

A mere pyrrhic victory. He thought. What's there to celebrate?

Achingly, he pulled himself together and gathered up the remaining pieces of the Ceremonial Trident. Then he slowly walked towards the main control unit...

He scanned his slate on the pedestal to finally activate the Divine Beast for good. He paid very little attention to it. As usual, the pedestal glowed blue with power. A small rumble from Vah Ruta, and that was that.

Link began to slowly backpedal away from the control unit. He sighed painfully. Now what...?

"Hello Link."

His heart stopped. He glanced around. Mipha's voice was no longer ethereal, omnipresent.

It was in this very room.

"Because of your courage, my spirit is now free. And Ruta, as well."

The gentle sound of water drops echoed through the chamber. Link turned to his right as a warm blue glow caught the corner of his sight.

And he saw her.

A century of sorrow returned to him in an instant. A hundred years of pain, of longing.

Her graceful steps sent ripples across the shallow water of the control room as she slowly approached him. A spiral of blue flame surrounded her, magnifying the eery beauty of her spiritual visage.

"Thank you." She began. "For I am now allowed by this freedom… to be with you once again."

But he couldn't speak. His words choked him, strangled him from the inside.

How can I tell you…

Her face was radiant, even in this form. Her familiar, serene expression only magnified his sense of longing for her. A moment of silence settled between them. Link started towards her, but his feet were frozen to the ground...

She continued to speak, her gentle footsteps continuing in his direction. "Since I am now a spirit, my healing power would be wasted on me. I have no need of it. So therefore… I would like you to have it."

Link wanted nothing more to run out towards her, to embrace her, to hold her once again.

But he knew that he couldn't.

How can I tell you…

She stared at Link, holding her hands up in his direction as they glowed a familiar, vibrant blue light. This ball of spiritual energy suddenly went into him, flooding his very being with Mipha's love and grace. He could feel her warmth, her spiritual vigor swirling through his body. Comforting his tortured soul. He stared down at his hands, unsure of what to do... what to say...

How can I tell you?

"Yesterday, I was awash in a pool of tears." Mipha said. She was still making her way towards him, only a few feet away now. "I had nearly given up hope and resigned myself to being trapped here, as a spirit, for the rest of eternity. But now you're here. All this time, my hope… was to see you once more..." She smiled lovingly at Link. "Promise me that you will not hesitate to call upon my power if you ever find yourself in need..."

How… how… can I tell you?

She stopped just in front of Link, examining his armor. She seemed to become slightly flustered in spite of herself.

"...Knowing that… will let my spirit rest in peace."

Link's body began to glow with yellow light as Mipha prepared to transport him out of Vah Ruta, back towards the domain.

"I must go…" she said. "Ruta and I have our roles to fulfill. We are both honored to play the role of support. " She held her hands to her chest and serenely smiled. "We'll annihilate Ganon together."

Link's heart broke again… and yet he was grinning at her words.

Anything to make me laugh…

Finally, Link blurted out the words that had lingered on the tip of his tongue for what seemed like an eternity...

"How can I tell you... just how much I love you?"

Mipha's eyes narrowed gently, a look of pure serenity appeared on her face.

"Oh Link… you must not worry about that." Her ghostly hand traced one of the silver pauldrons of the Zora armor. She smiled after Link as he suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.

"...You already have..."