The journey to the East Reservoir Dam took far longer than was comfortable. Bazz, Gaddison, Rivan, and Tottika had gone with him and Sidon in order to carry the four healers. The plan was for Link and Sidon to handle the Divine Beast's outer defenses, then for the other Zora to take the mages to join Link in entering the Divine Beast.
The ten of them caught sight of the Divine Beast from afar. "Whoa," Mercedes said, in awe.
"It's amazing," Linhardt agreed. Marianne and Flayn said nothing, struck speechless by the sight.
It was amazing. The Divine Beast was in the shape of an elephant, a creature from the continent to the south of Fódlan that the four Fódlani had only seen in books. However, it was massive, larger than even the tallest buildings they had seen. The technology that had gone into its construction defied their attempts to comprehend it. It was entirely mechanical in nature, covered in gears and strange, red-purple lights. Something on its body always seemed to be moving, spinning, or hissing steam. Without a doubt, it was Ancient Sheikah in nature; its body made of the same combination of metal and stone that all of the other Sheikah structures had been made of, with Sheikah designs carved into it.
"I thought the same when I first saw her," Sidon agreed, as he entered the water. "Link, are you ready?"
Link climbed onto Sidon's back. On his own back were his bow and the folded-up paraglider. "As I'll ever be."
Sidon took off swimming, and Link could barely hold on to him.
"Link, do you see the glowing sections on her back, just above her legs?" Sidon asked as they got closer. He began to swim in a wide circle around Ruta, slowing his speed, which Link was grateful for. He was still far enough away that the Divine Beast did not react to their presence, as he said it would as they got closer.
It took Link a moment, as the Divine Beast had quite a few glowing sections on its body, but he thought that he found them. He could see four glowing spots of red light, held within stone enclosures that protruded out of the Divine Beast's back, just above its legs.
"The schematics that we have for Ruta suggest that many of her functions are tied to those spots." Sidon slowed further, looking back at Link to make sure he understood. "If you can hit all four of them with the shock arrows, we think that it may shut her down. At least, that's what we hope for."
The targets were, from what he could tell at this distance, large, but they would be out of his bow's range. He said as much to Sidon.
"See those places where the water is falling from her back?" Sidon pointed out. "That's where you swim up. You reach the top, shoot your target, and glide back down to me with your paraglider. Then we do it again!"
Link wasn't sure about this, but he told Sidon he understood.
"Are you ready?" Sidon looked back at him, and at his nod, grinned, showing teeth. "Then let's go!"
Sidon kicked off, angling directly for the Divine Beast. Link pulled his bow free—it was a newer bow of Zora design, which was made to be used in wet climates. It was made of the same silvery metal as their other weapons, and the bowstring was coated with something that helped it withstand water without losing its tautness.
The Divine Beast made a trumpeting sound, and Sidon called back, "She noticed us!" Link looked up and saw that the Divine Beast had turned in the water, placing its side to them. "Hold on, Link!"
Link watched in some amazement as the water next to the Divine Beast rose into the air, taking shape. There was a sudden and familiar series of cracking noises that rang out, as the water froze solid, sending out a puff of ice crystals and snow that quickly dispersed in the rain. Where the water had been moments before, now there were jagged shards of ice, each the length of a man's arm.
"Huh. That's new. Usually she only throws ice blocks at us," Sidon noted. He dodged and weaved through the storm of ice spikes, getting Link to a place where water was cascading off of Ruta.
To Link's surprise, he easily glid up the waterfall. He didn't even really have to swim; the Zora armor all but carried him up the waterfall. Fortunately, he had kept his mouth closed, because from all the water that poured against his face, had he opened it, he'd have drowned.
"Hold on, hold on," Jeralt said. "I've seen some strange things in my lifetime, and I'll be the first to admit, I don't have much of a sense of disbelief anymore. But armor that can carry a man up a waterfall? Did this really happen?"
"It did," Leonie assured him. "I've seen Link use the armor to swim up waterfalls."
Jeralt scanned the crowd for any signs of disagreement. He found none. "I think I have to see this for myself."
"Sadly, there is no nearby waterfall," Rhea reminded him.
Jeralt frowned, and Link continued his story.
As he reached the apex of his flight, muscle memory took over. Link fired a shock arrow as he began to fall, then returned his bow to his back and opened the paraglider. His aim was true, and he hit his target.
"I didn't even know I could do that!" Link thought.
He dodged his way through the ice spikes on the way down to Sidon, and then the two of them kept at their assault on the Ganon-possessed Divine Beast.
"Good work, Link!" Sidon said. "Only three more—"
He was cut off as he was forced to make a sharp turn, nearly unseating Link in the process. A massive wall of ice had suddenly formed directly in front of them. As they turned away from the Divine Beast, swimming alongside the ice wall, Link heard several ice spikes splash into the water right behind them.
"It's trying to box us in!" Sidon said. He was right. The wall of ice formed a curve ahead, forcing Sidon to turn back the way they'd come. As Link looked around, he saw that the ice was being created far faster than Sidon could swim. It was forming a circle around them, trapping them within. Sidon could, perhaps, jump it on his own, or even swim under it, if it did not extend all the way down, but with Link on his back…
"Hold on," Link said. "Swim towards the ice!" Going off of a hunch, he pulled the Sheikah Slate off of his belt. Sidon did as he suggested, swimming towards the ice, though at a slower pace now. He looked back at Link uncertainly.
Link ignored him and pressed the Cryonis rune icon, lifting the Sheikah Slate as the screen turned translucent, highlighting all of the water with bright blue light. He found the ice wall in his view screen, which was highlighted red. He pressed the Cryonis rune again. A section of the ice wall shattered, crumbling and falling into the lake.
The Divine Beast's attack halted, and Sidon took the opportunity to bring Link close again. Once more, Link took out one of the enclosures.
With only two legs still active, Ruta became still. "It's not trying to attack us now. Why isn't it trying to attack us?" Link asked.
"I don't know. But we have to take advantage of this opportunity," Sidon said, bringing him to the third waterfall.
Link hit his third target as easily as the other two. However, as he was gliding down, Ruta started shooting spikes at him again, far more than before. He had to dodge and weave through them, and too many of them got far too close for comfort.
When he reached Sidon, his back felt oddly light. He reached behind him to confirm his suspicions. His quiver was gone. One of the spikes must have torn it off of him.
"Sidon! Ruta got my shock arrows!" Link said, as Sidon took him a bit further away from the Divine Beast.
"What do we do now, then?" Sidon asked.
Link had a flash of inspiration. "We're not finished yet. I have an idea. Keep us a safe distance from Ruta." Pulling out the Sheikah Slate, he called Linhardt's Mini-Slate. "Linhardt! I need to talk to Mercedes!"
Linhardt handed the Mini-Slate to Mercedes. "Yes?"
"Mercedes. I need your help," Link said. "I'm out of shock arrows, and there's one target left. You know lightning magic, right?"
Mercedes realized what Link needed. "I'm on my way."
Mercedes and Rivan joined Link and Sidon a ways away from Vah Ruta. "Sidon and I will draw Ruta's attacks away from you two," Link told them. "We'll approach as if I still have shock arrows left. You approach the back. Act as if you're the distraction. Ruta should ignore you. Once you get close enough, disable that last target."
"We won't let you down!" Mercedes assured them.
As expected, Ruta ignored Mercedes and Rivan and let them get close as it sent large spiked balls of ice at Link and Sidon. It didn't recognize them as a threat, especially since the two of them were headed to a target that had already been disabled.
Rivan carried Mercedes up the waterfall, and the two of them made it onto Vah Ruta's back. However, a number of floating skulls greeted them.
Mercedes readied a Thoron spell, and the skulls paused and began circling her. They were waiting for her to strike first, Mercedes realized. When she fired her blast at one of them, the others would tear her and Rivan apart.
Mercedes fired her Thoron blast...at the fourth target, which was just within her range. The Thoron blast was just as effective as a shock arrow, and the skulls were frozen in surprise for a moment. Taking her chance, Mercedes mounted Rivan's back once more. Rivan dove off of Vah Ruta, swimming down the waterfall that he had swam up moments ago.
The Divine Beast trumpeted once more as the red lights all over its body flickered rapidly and then died. Its trunk, limp, crashed down to the water. The ice that it created began to crack and break apart.
Mercedes and Rivan rejoined Link and Sidon. Overhead, the rain stopped. Link looked up and saw the clouds, which had formed a strange swirling pattern, begin to break apart, letting shafts of sunlight stream down. It was nearly blinding after being in the gloom of rain for the last several days.
"We did it," Sidon said, his voice in awe. He looked at Link, eyes widening, his lips splitting into a grin. "Link, we did it! The rain has stopped! This is wonderful!"
Link breathed a sigh of relief, allowing himself a smile. Suddenly, however, the Divine Beast lurched back to life. Link's heart sank as he watched the red lights flicker back on. Its legs bent, sinking it partially into the lake. He saw the expression on Sidon's face and imagined that it mirrored his own.
It wasn't enough. The rain had been stopped, but he had not yet saved the Divine Beast. He had not yet removed Ganon's influence—the thing that had killed Mipha. No, for that…
"Sidon, I need to get inside of it," he said, gritting his teeth. Sidon looked over at him, eyes meeting his, and nodded.
"We're going with you," Flayn said from behind Link and Mercedes. The three other Zora had carried her, Marianne, and Linhardt out to join him and Mercedes.
Link wanted to argue, but he didn't.
"I know where the entrance is," Sidon said. "We will take you there."
Sidon led the way to a platform extending from its side that sat just above the water. Link and the four mages climbed onto the platform.
"Sadly, here we must part ways," Sidon informed him. "I would love nothing more than to join you, but there is talk of an impending Lizalfos attack on the city. I must protect my people."
Link nodded. "We'll finish this. Go."
Marianne said a quick prayer. "Goddess, protect us, and give us the strength to overcome the enemy. And protect the Zora as they fight their own foes."
"Amen," the other three mages said.
"Well," Linhardt said. "Let's see what's inside."
With that, they entered the Divine Beast.