Nearly the entire domain had gathered in the throne room of King Dorephan, eager to congratulate the Hylian Champion and his friends for a job well-done.

Link, Bazz, Gaddison, and Rivan were assembled in a row in front of the king. Sidon stood off to the side, while the Demon Sergeant Seggin stood next to him with a pair of crutches, his arm and leg wrapped tightly in casts...

"I wish to formally commend you all for your efforts in appeasing Vah Ruta," began King Dorephan. "Putting your lives at risk as you did takes incredible bravery and selflessness - and in Sergeant Seggin's case, the naive resolve that comes with a mid-life crisis!"

This drew many laughs from the crowd of Zora, but the king held his hand up to shush them.

"As for you, Link..." said King Dorephan, "You did well to survive your trial inside of Vah Ruta! We've all awaited your return with bated breath. The violent downpour has disappeared, as has the threat to Zora's Domain! It is all little more than a bad dream now."

Link turned his face away, briefly. He was never one for the center of the spotlight. And given the sharp tangles of despair and grief that his heart contended with, he was shirking away from it all the more.

Dorephan didn't seem to notice. "Thanks to your efforts, there is no longer any danger of a great flood laying waste to Hyrule! You appeased the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, and thusly saved Zora's Domain!" The king closed his eyes, smiling in thankfulness. "We are truly grateful! What you all accomplished for us is more than we could have ever expected. Especially you Link! Such bravery you've shown, in slaying that vile creature within Ruta..."

A huge cheer erupted from the spectating Zora, with a few shouts of Link's name interspersed among them. Link didn't hear any of it, deafened in his mind by the whirlwind of despair.

As the cheering quieted down, Muzu spoke up from next to Dorephan. "Link, I must sincerely apologize for my harsh treatment of you. I know that the entire time you were thinking of Hyrule's and Lady Mipha's well-being, just as the rest of us were. In my ignorance and prejudice, I failed to accept this. My sincere hope… is that someday, you will find it inside of your heart to forgive me…"

Link nodded his head somberly in response to the old Zora. He'd already long forgiven Muzu, of course. And he wasn't one to resent anybody for very long anyway.

Muzu continued. "All of the members of our council humbly fold our fins back in gratitude, along with the rest of our people. Perhaps the older generation of Zora, myself included, misunderstood Hylians after all. It would seem so." He lowered his own head in respect, as Dorephan continued to address them.

"Link! I must reward your efforts!" He gestured towards Trello, who emerged from the crowd. In his hands, a weapon that Link was all-too familiar with:

Mipha's Lightscale Trident.

No…

"Young master!" Trello called out as he approached, "I want to personally thank you for the truly selfless work you've done for us. This weapon was cherished by Mipha. We wish for you to have it as a token of our friendship…" He placed the weapon in Link's hands. "Please take good care of it!"

Link stood there, blankly, before his mind returned to him. He reached into his rucksack, producing a bag containing the shattered pieces of the Ceremonial Trident.

So much for bringing it back in one piece...

"Councilman Trello… I apologize. This is all that's left of the Ceremonial-"

Trello interrupted him. "No need to apologize Link. It can be fixed. Do not worry…" he took the pieces from Link and returned to his place with the other elders, smiling widely in gratitude.

Link turned to face Dorephan again, staring down at the Lightscale Trident in his hands. He sighed to himself, hesitantly placing the trident on his back.

I don't deserve this. Not at all...

"We thank you all from the depths of our hearts for your heroic and selfless work!" Said Dorephan. He turned to his left, where Prince Sidon stood idly by.

"...And you too, my son."

Until now, Sidon had remained silent, standing out of the way so that all of his friends would receive the glory instead. He turned to face the king.

"As your father," Dorephan said, "I am proud of you for fighting the Divine Beast alongside Link. We are all so incredibly proud of you. I know you will be a worthy heir to the throne when your time comes."

Sidon bowed his head humbly. "Father… I… Thank you!"

Another eruption of cheers from the crowd, though this time it was mostly from the female Zora in Sidon's fanclub.

Dorephan smiled. "The heavy rains have stopped, and the Divine Beast is our ally once again! How glorious! Truly splendid! Wah ha ha ha! This calls for a wild celebration, in honor of our heroes!"

Link cringed internally at this. He hardly felt like celebrating. Rather, he felt more like disappearing completely, to be fully alone with his bitter sorrows...

Sidon began to approach Link, grabbing his hand with both of his. "Link! Thank you so much!" He shook Link's hand vigorously. "Truly, I could never thank you enough! This calls for a top-tier expression of gratitude!" He stood straight up and began to shout.

"ZO! ZO! RA RA RA! With all my heart, thank you!" He bowed his head and placed his hand across his heart, a gesture of respect for Link.

The crowd joined in on Sidon's chant. Link's friends gathered around him and patted their hands on his shoulders in support.

Link wanted to curl into a ball and vanish.

As the loud cheers and cries echoed across the cavernous valley of Zora's Domain, the mood became boisterous, festive - and the entire Domain looked forward to finally holding a rousing party for the first time in many, many years-

FWOOOOOOSSSSH!

The sound of rushing water roared in the distance, a mighty trumpeting call was heard. The ground rumbled and shook around the Domain. Everyone in the throne room spun around, peering at a mountaintop far in the distance.

It was Divine Beast Vah Ruta.

Having just swum down into the eastern reservoir and through the cavernous depths under the Rutala River, the enormous machine erupted out of a mountain lake just southwest of Luto's crossing. The beast reared back on its hind legs, then stomped on the ground with another earthshaking rumble. Most of the Zora rushed out of the throne room to get a better look at this commotion, while Link and the Bazz Brigade walked to the edge of the platform and stared.

Vah Ruta's trunk curled up above its head, as a massive red ball of energy grew between its two mechanical tusks-

SHOOOOOOM!

-then fired straight out of its face. The powerful laser beam flew many miles across the plains of Hyrule, eventually colliding dead-center with Calamity Ganon's swirling malice around Hyrule Castle. The explosion sent giant red sparks all across the fields in front of it. It was an incredible spectacle, and the mass of Zora could do nothing more than stand in awe of it.

But Link was not at all fazed. He was completely numb inside.

He stared blankly at Vah Ruta in the distance, fighting back tears. An aggressive game of tug-of-war was taking place in his mind between his sense of duty, and his sense of tremendous guilt-

And the guilt was winning, handily.

He turned away from the commotion, making his way back to Dorephan. The king seemed equally unbothered by the distant event. Link's friends all patted him on the back as he passed by them, and they took their leave from the throne room in order to give Link and the King some privacy...

"Link…" Dorephan said, "I am truly and eternally grateful for what you've done for us. But… there is something I wish to ask you..."

In sheer dread, Link's heart immediately broke yet again. He knew precisely what was coming.

"You journeyed within Ruta, the Divine Beast of Water… Now you are back, but Mipha has still yet to return…" The king frowned, a pained expression growing on his face. "Is it as I feared? Were we too late?"

Link returned the expression. The tears began to fall before he'd even opened his mouth to answer…

"The creature I faced within… the one I slaughtered…" He paused, sighed. "It had killed Mipha one hundred years ago." He stared up at Dorephan, wiped his eyes.

"I met her spirit."

Dorephan suddenly leaned forward in his chair, eyes widening in shock and grief.

"It did what?! " he said. "So that means Mipha really is… Did… did she say anything to you?"

Link lowered his head again and closed his eyes. He recounted his conversation with Mipha, how she'd given up hope that her soul would ever be set free from the confines of Vah Ruta and the clutches of Ganon's Blight.

He told Dorephan of MIpha's great happiness to be able to finally fulfill her role in defeating Ganon, as well as her relinquishment of her healing powers to Link.

And finally, he told Dorephan of his great love for her.

"I see." Said Dorephan. "My dear Mipha… I simply cannot believe it. There was nothing I could do to save her…" The king wiped his own eyes, and sighed. Even after one hundred years, he had never given up hope that Mipha was still alive. He'd ever let go of the belief that his dear daughter would return to his side once again.

And that hope was all dashed away in an instant.

A familiar sinking feeling began to press against Link's chest. A tremendous weight of responsibility he hadn't felt since pre-calamity days. This only seemed to enhance his overwhelming pain of guilt and shame...

I wasn't strong enough.

Dorephan continued. "Still… Mipha fulfilled her heroic duty as Champion. And she will never be alone… It is my duty as her father to watch over her, even now."

I failed you.

"Link… She really loved you too, you know. There is no mistaking that even now she is overjoyed to be able to help you. Promise me… that you will always remember her. Promise me that-"

"It's my fault!" Link suddenly shouted. "It's not fair!"

He gripped his fists tightly at his sides in rage. "I wasn't strong enough to protect her. All those years ago… she didn't deserve to die. It should have been her waking up in that resurrection chamber, not me!" He gritted his teeth, glaring furiously at Dorephan. He placed his fist across his chest.

"We're united now. I will NEVER forget her. Never." He was shaking with rage, with absolute hatred for Ganon. Hatred for himself.

Dorephan shook his head. "Link… please do not blame yourself. Nobody could have anticipated what happened-"

"I don't deserve to have this," Link said, pulling the Lightscale Trident off his back. He gently placed it on the ground in front of Dorephan.

"I failed you. I failed all of you. I'm... so sorry."

Link turned away from the throne and began to walk away. King Dorephan attempted to call after the despondent young Hylian, but the words fell on deaf ears. Link pulled out his slate, blindly tapped around on his map to teleport away. He didn't know where he was going, didn't care.

Somewhere. Anywhere but here...

Link's body splintered into a thousand strands of blue light. And before anyone could stop him, he found himself graciously whisked away by the wind's breath...


Short, and not very sweet. Sorry.

Next is Chapter 18: Error.