Purah examined the miniature Slate. "Now this is interesting."
"Have you figured out what the runes are?" Linhardt asked. He and Purah had tested the two unfamiliar runes. One, when tapped, simply displayed a message that said "There are no devices in this device's contact list." The other displayed a code that Linhardt didn't understand.
"I examined the code, and it seems like it's not complete," Purah informed him. "I won't know what it means until you find the rest of it. But the other rune is a communication rune, I think. If we connect this Slate to Link's, you could contact him even over a long distance."
"That could be useful," Linhardt said.
"I'm going to try something," Purah said. "I'm going to offload the code onto my storage system. Once we get all the pieces of the code, I'll know what it is. But for now, it's not useful.
"In the meantime, I can install one of the other runes on your Mini-Slate. But only one."
Linhardt thought about Purah's offer. "Give me Stasis."
"Stasis it is!" Purah exclaimed. "After I load the Stasis rune onto your Mini-Slate, I can try setting up the communication rune."
"Maybe you can show me a bit more of how this technology works?" Linhardt suggested. He was fascinated by the Sheikah tech.
"Sure," Purah agreed.
"I think this is the place," Link said, opening the Sheikah Slate's image gallery and pulling up an image.
Claude looked at the arch in the picture, then at the arch behind them. "It could be the same arch."
Link looked at the picture, then at the arch. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe this wouldn't trigger his—
Link and Zelda met the Champions at the archway, just as they had agreed to.
"Well? Don't keep us in suspense," Daruk asked. "How'd everything go up there on the mountain?"
Zelda shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. Link wanted nothing more than to try to comfort her, but it wasn't his place.
"So you didn't feel anything?" Revali asked. "No power at all?"
No, no she hadn't. "I'm sorry, no," she answered.
"Then let's move on," Urbosa suggested. "You've done all you could. Feeling sorry for yourself won't be of any help. After all, it wasn't like your last shot was up there on Mount Lanayru. Anything could spark the power to sea Ganon away. We just need to keep looking for that thing."
"That's kind of you. Thank you," Zelda said, clearly not comforted.
Mipha seemed to have an idea. "If I may...I thought you...Well, I'm not sure how to put this into words. I'm actually quite embarrassed to say it. But I was thinking about what I do when I'm healing. You know, what usually goes through my mind. It helps when I think-when I think about-"
What Mipha thought about went unsaid as the earth shook. Revali flew up into the air to try to find the source of the tremor. When he landed, he said only two words, but the two words signified the worst possible outcome. "It's here."
Link's heart leapt into his throat. Ganon had returned.
"Let's stop wasting time!" Daruk insisted. "We're gonna need everything we got to take that thing down! Now Champions! To your Divine Beasts! Show that swirling swine who's boss! Link will need to meet Ganon head on when we attack. This needs to be a unified assault!" He turned to Link. "Little guy! You get to Hyrule Castle! You can count on us for support. But it's up to you to pound Ganon into oblivion!"
Link knew that if Princess Zelda couldn't seal Calamity Ganon away, it wouldn't be enough to weaken it. He would have to destroy Ganon completely, or die trying.
He steeled himself. If destroying Ganon outright was what he had to do, he would do it. There was too much at stake for him to fail.
Urbosa attempted to guide Zelda away. "Come, we should go. We need to get you someplace safe."
After a moment's hesitation, Zelda came to a decision. "No! I am not a child anymore! I may not be much use on the battlefield, but there must be something I can do to help!"
"-tain? Captain?" Claude waved his hand in front of Link's face.
"I remembered something," Link said. "The Champions..."
"Your friends?" Claude asked.
"Yes. I...I think it was the last time I saw them alive," Link told him. "Ganon had returned, they went to their Divine Beasts, Zelda and I went to take on Ganon..."
"And the rest is history," Claude finished.
Both of them stayed silent for a moment. Link then looked at Claude. "Captain?"
"Well, you're the Rising Sun company's leader," Claude justified. "Usually mercenary companies are headed by a captain."
Link shrugged. "We should head back to Kakariko village."
Suddenly, a ringing noise came from the Sheikah Slate. Link looked at the Slate, and it was displaying a notification. When he tapped the notification, an image of Purah and Linhardt appeared on the screen. "Linky! You will not believe what Lin here found!"