It took all of Link's will to enter the audience chamber, and for more than one reason. The throne room would have been breathtaking without another soul inside it.
The ceiling was a kaleidoscope of silver and blue masonwork supported by a ring of pillars. Fountains fed their surplus into channels carved into the floor, which in turn fed the aqueducts and waterfalls throughout the Domain. Those areas not covered in water were mostly occupied. A set of three rising benches sat on either side of the audience chamber. The throne itself - a gracefully wide masterpiece of silver-blue workmanship - was slightly elevated from the floor and extended all the way to the ceiling. Directly in front of it rose a small dais. Both it and the back of the throne were adorned by a symbol that tugged at Link's memory - a trio of crescent moons, each touching the others along their outer curves.
Link kept his eyes straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the elders that filled the benches. He wondered how many of them already found his face familiar. Perhaps one or two had already recognized him and were even now trying to restrain their rage.
I can't help that, Link told himself forcibly. I must trust to myself, Sidon and his father.
Thinking of the latter returned Link's attention back to the throne itself. He could not imagine a king that looked more the part, not even Rhoam. Dorephan of Zora's Domain made his son look like the youth he was. His whale-like body was riddled with hard-won muscle and scars, but it was the king's face that Link felt affirmed his station. Wise yellow eyes peered calmly from a visage that seemed to have witnessed a hundred lifetimes.
An enormous headtail fell over the Zora monarch's left shoulder. Belt, bracelets, necklace and headtail ring were all wrought of silver and bejeweled with opal settings. Dorephan's massive chest was partially covered by a red sash and three golden cords of office, all held together by a star-shaped pendant of silver. The diadem resting on his brow was also silver and fashioned into a sun with seven opal-topped rays emerging from its perfect circle. None of the grandeur distracted from Dorephan himself, who managed to impress and calm at the same time. Link could think of no other who would rule this proud people.
As he approached the dais with Sidon, however, Link could not help but notice a gathering murmur from the seated elders. Whether it was over the race he represented or the person they remembered him to be, he did not yet know.
Sidon reached the center of the dais and knelt. Link did likewise just to the left and behind him. Only when the murmuring ceased did the king speak. Link felt the tense bands inside him loosen considerably upon hearing Zora the king's confident authority.
"May Hylia's waters welcome you home, my son," Dorephan warmly welcomed. "Like those who preceded you, we thank you for your service and pray that Hylia bless you for it."
"My safe return by Hylia's waters is blessing enough, Father," Sidon answered formally. "She has guided me to one who is willing to help our people. I present him to you with the utmost confidence that he possesses both the skill and honor to do what we would ask of him."
Silence greeted this, and Link thought he knew why. Sidon had not yet disclosed his name, an omission his father clearly had not missed. The prince stepped aside, allowing Dorephan a full view of the Hylian before him. Link remained kneeling, feeling he should do so only because he had not yet been addressed.
"We welcome you to Zora's Domain, good sir," Dorephan finally rumbled. "You have my thanks, as well as those of my people, for the help you so freely offer us."
Link rose slowly, but he no longer tried to avert his face or eyes. As it had with Dorian in Hateno and his parents in Kakariko, some deeply buried memory seemed to waken in this moment of ceremony.
"I thank you for your welcome, Dorephan, King of the Zora, Guardian of the Domain, Will of the Water," Link said while placing his right hand to his heart. "I thank Hylia that her waters have brought me to your home."
The steady splash of fountains was the only flaw in the utter silence that greeted Link's flawless formality. Link did not dare look to gauge the reaction of the elders. Dorephan's eyes, however, had widened considerably. The Zora king leaned forward, his great head more than halving its former distance to the Hylian before him.
"You must forgive my son for not introducing you properly," Dorephan said slowly. "I confess you seem familiar, and your greeting is one known only by those accustomed to our ways. What is your name, may I ask?"
There was no hesitation behind Link's ice-hard eyes or clear, ringing voice.
"I am Link of Hyrule, Your Majesty," he answered.
More than murmurs bloomed from the benches this time. Raised voices issued questions and, in some cases, demands. More than one hiss issued from the elders as well, and Link had to restrain himself so as not to look for their origin.
Instead, he kept his attention on Dorephan, who had sat back so suddenly that a considerable thud issued from the collision of back to throne.
"Link of Hyrule," the king murmured in disbelief. "Surely you are not - though come to think of it, you do look a great deal like… but it cannot be-"
"I am the same Link you knew a century ago," Link confirmed loudly enough to cut short the commotion his introduction had produced. His voice resounded with a certainty he had not felt since awakening, declaring himself in a way he had been unable to do even to himself. He felt his confidence swell as Purah's recalled words carried the echo of something lost but now found. "I am the Hylian Champion, the knight entrusted with the protection of Princess Zelda, wielder of the Sword That Seals The Darkness and trusted emissary of Rhoam, late King of Hyrule."
Link heard his own echoes answer him. He was surprised at the silent response - until a red-skinned elder stood and sharply accosted him.
"You declare much without proof to show for it, Hylian," the Zora accused him. "Neither Zelda nor Rhoam live to support your ridiculous claim. Nor do I see the Sword That Seals The Darkness in your possession. On what basis do you expect us to believe you and the Link you claim to be are one and the same?"
"It is he," Dorephan cut in sharply. Every head in the chamber turned in surprise toward the Zora king, who was observing Link with an extremely thoughtful expression. "I do not pretend to know how he stands alive and well before us, but this is the same Link I saw grow up with my own eyes. The same who fought alongside my daughter. Now that the name matches the memory his face begets, I recognize him for who he is."
Further silence reigned as the weight of Dorephan's words sunk into each Zora in attendance. Link allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief. He felt extraordinarily lighter after having embraced aloud who he was. Though he had no idea what would happen next, his new-found conviction replaced whatever apprehension he had felt before announcing himself.
"If he is the same Link that oversaw our doom, why let him stand there in peace?" one ebony-skinned elder snarled suddenly. He was standing, his sagging and wrinkled face twisted in rage and loathing. He pointed a clawed finger at Link, spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. "He must pay for the blood and tears we have shed! He must answer for the lives we have lost and the rain-filled hell that besieges us! If he can live one hundred years without age or death claiming him, let the next hundred be filled with payment for what we have lost!"
The elder's words seemed to open a floodgate of furious protest.
"He is a demon revived by Ganon to harm us once more!"
"Throw his cursed body to the rocks below!"
"Justice! Kill the one who all but slew our Mipha!"
Several of the elders rose to their feet in anger. Link was loath to defend himself. It would only further incite the elders against him, but neither could he allow himself to be set upon by vengeance-filled Zora. Just when he thought there might be no other recourse, Dorephan's voice boomed over everything.
"BE SEATED," the Zora king thundered. "REMEMBER YOUR PLACE AND STATION, ELDERS OF THE DOMAIN."
Shock greeted Dorephan's unyielding command. All but one Zora resumed their seats: the ebony-skinned elder who had first spoken out against Link. Outrage battled desperation as he pleaded with his king.
"Surely, Your Highness, you do not intend to entrust your people to the same Hylian whose failure cost you your daughter?" the Zora asked hoarsely. "Surely, you do not-"
"DO NOT SHAME MY DAUGHTER'S MEMORY BY INVOKING IT FOR YOUR OWN ENDS," Dorephan knelled. "BE SEATED OR BE DISMISSED, SEGGIN. I SHALL NOT TELL YOU AGAIN."
Seggin's eyes bulged and his throat constricted. Choking on rage and shame alike, the elder resumed his seat. Link was more troubled, however, by the green-skinned Zora at his side. The elder was studying him intently, his eyes narrowed in cold calculation.
"How and why are you here once more, Link of Hyrule?" the ray-headed Zora asked in a tone that told Link he would very much distrust whatever answer he heard.
"After I fell to the Calamity, Zelda and the Sheikah healed my wounds," Link answered firmly. "The price was a century's time and my memory, both of which I have only begun to recover."
Link stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fire kindled by his own words.
"I am here to take Vah Ruta from Ganon's control, to take back all the Divine Beasts," he blazoned. "When that is done, I and those who would go with me will march on Hyrule Castle. We will slay Ganon, as was our intent a century ago. We will finish what we began, and Hyrule's peoples will again know safety and freedom."
Link's last words echoed off the silvery ceiling as the elders digested them. More than one Zora appeared visibly moved by his speech. Others, including the ray-crowned green and the one called Seggin, appeared even more opposed to his presence.
Finally, the most elderly of the gathered Zora stood and pointed a gnarled, red-skinned hand directly toward him.
"I remember you, Link of Hyrule, even if you do not remember me," he said tremulously, his eyes brimming with tears. "I was there when we entrusted you with the safety of our kingdom - including that of our late princess. Now you ask us to trust you again. Why should we believe you will succeed where you have already fallen?"
The question cut deep, running parallel to the darkest of Link's own thoughts since awakening. By pressing forward, he had not allowed himself time to answer it privately. Now, with the might and authority of Zora's Domain before him, he heard his voice ring with certainty.
"I cannot foresee what will happen save for this," Link declared firmly. "I will not rest until Mipha - and Hyrule - are avenged. If I fail, those of you who hold my life as payment will be satisfied. By Hylia's light, I swear it."
By Hylia's light. He had not meant to say it. As it had with Dorian and the Sheikah, instinct had seized his tongue, made him utter words unremembered until the moment they were spoken. A brief image of himself, kneeling in a circle of stone, came to him. Then it was gone, leaving only the silence that greeted Link's promise. The aged questioner appeared conflicted, but Link could tell his words had only strengthened the previously formed opinions of those set against him.
"You have voiced your questions and concerns," Dorephan finally said to the Council. "We will make this decision as we have always done. Those in favor of accepting Link's aid?"
Many hands of varying colors were raised aloft. Link was unsure whether they formed a majority, and the uncertainty sent panic lancing through him. The feeling eased only slightly upon seeing the eldest of the councilors raise his weathered hand in support. The Zora king quietly counted the votes before nodding.
"Those opposed?"
A healthy number of hands shot up with vicious enthusiasm. Seggin glared daggers at Link while holding his own clawed hand aloft. When Dorephan finished counting, his great sigh rumbled through the chamber.
"Twelve for and twelve against," the Zora king murmured. "We are truly divided my friends, and it gives me no pleasure to tilt the scales one way or the other. But I will decide as I feel I must."
The tension in the chamber was palpable. Link remained standing in respectful silence, willing himself to focus only on Dorephan as he addressed the disunited Council.
"I loved my daughter," the Zora monarch began, and Link felt the bone-deep sorrow in Dorephan's voice. "Her loss was a spear to my heart, as it was to us all. Unlike several of you, however, I do not lay blame at Link's feet. It is Ganon who turned the Divine Beasts against us, the same Demon King who sought to destroy our kingdom before he was finally kept at bay."
Angry mutterings bubbled from the Council, but Dorephan silenced them with a stern glare. Then, for reasons Link could not fathom, the king looked pointedly at his son and nodded before continuing. Link saw Sidon hasten out of the throne room. Several elders noted the prince's departure with suspicion, but their attention was drawn back to Dorephan's address.
"If our desire is truly to see Vah Ruta's wrath turned aside, I can think of no one better to do it than Hyrule's Champion," the king forcefully explained. "Many of you remember Link as a swordsman with no equal. More importantly, I feel confident that he possesses the means to remove this threat from our kingdom."
Link did not miss Dorephan's meaningful glance toward the Sheikah Slate hanging from his belt. He gave the Zora king mental credit for noticing such a diminutive yet important detail. Just then, Sidon re-entered the audience chamber bearing an aged chest in his arms. Dorephan also saw his son's return.
"Above all, my friends," Dorephan resounded, "I would tell you this: could my daughter speak to us now, she would urge us to accept Link's help. Accept it and thank him for it, for she esteemed him above all."
With a nod from his father, Sidon opened the chest and bent over to retrieve its contents. When the Zora prince stood up again, he held several pieces of silvery armor in his hands. Link's simple curiosity - the armor appeared much too small for a full-grown Zora - was cut short by an immediate uproar from the Council.
"Surely you do not intend to give this outsider the armor crafted by Mipha herself!" a dark blue elder snarled above the commotion. "He may be the Champion of old, but Mipha had no such relationship with him! She crafted those for the Zora she would marry, not this Hylian filth!"
"You are wrong, Trello!" Sidon passionately cried. "My sister's heart was not won by a fellow Zora, but by this man! It was for him she forged the armor all maidens make for their intended!"
Link's head spun. Their intended? Surely Sidon could not mean...
"You ask us to believe such nonsense only when he is just arrived?" Seggin spat. "It is too convenient by far. I knew your sister better than most, Sidon, and she gave no sign of affection for this… this man!"
"How could she, Seggin?" Dorephan interrupted forcefully. "Even before the Calamity, you - and several others here - openly mistrusted Hylians. How could she entrust her feelings to those whose hearts would be hardened against them?"
"Again, a convenient story!" Seggin hissed. "I do not believe it!"
Link nearly did not believe it himself. Then he recalled the feeling of Mipha in his arms, and the mutual realization that something far beyond friendship had blossomed between them. The lack of further recollection gnawed at him. What had they shared that would lead Mipha to even consider…?
Dorephan's voice rumbled over Link's scattered thoughts.
"You accuse me of falsehood, Seggin?" the Zora king challenged, causing the former Demon Sergeant's eyes to widen in alarm. "Then you neither know nor respect your king as much as I was led to believe. But very well, I will humor your mistrust long enough to reveal it for the blind foolishness it is. Link, don the tunic and armor, please."
Link had been so immersed in the heated exchange that he was nonplussed at being suddenly thrust into its center. Feeling the weight of eyes both curious and suspicious, Link removed the sword belt from his back before stripping off his own cloak and tunic. Murmurs rose at the brief sight of his scarred body before he donned the Zora armor.
The tunic — which in and of itself sparked further discussion among the observing Zora — felt foreign but comfortable. Like the Sheikah garments,it fit him like a second skin. He felt insulated, yet pleasantly cool. At Sidon's encouragement, Link also donned a pair of silver pauldrons and vambraces. They felt much lighter than regular armor, but something told Link they would yield far less readily. On the front of the tunic, just below the neck, was sewn a silver pendant with a gleaming white scale at its center.
Satisfied that all was in order, Link turned to face Dorephan and the Council. Overwhelming silence greeted the Hylian wearing Zora armor that fit him perfectly.
"You see now, my friends?" Dorephan said softly. "My daughter loved Link. I do not believe she would have us cast him aside now."
The green-skinned elder stood to break the silence that had followed the king's pronouncement.
"I taught your daughter, Your Highness," Muzu began in slow, measured tones. "I treasured her, as so many of us did. Had this Hylian not failed her, she would still be with us. Now you ask us to place our fate in his hands once more. It is too much, Your Highness. It is too much."
Without another word, Muzu left the bench and departed the throne room. After a brief, shocked silence at the elder's exit, Seggin and Trello also stood and and withdrew, though each took the time to glare malevolently at Link on their way out. Four others followed suit, leaving the remaining elders, Dorephan and Sidon to contemplate the magnitude of what had just taken place. It was the Zora king who finally spoke.
"By final vote, it is decided that we will accept Link's aid," Dorephan formally stated before softly adding, "Hylia help him and us in the days to come."
Sidon breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the elders exited the throne room. Only he, his father and Link remained. The latter was already removing the Zora tunic and armor and redressing in his own clothes.
"I am sorry, Your Majesties," Link said heavily as he redid the clasp on his cloak. "It was not my intent to further divide your people."
"It was nothing you did, Link," Dorephan heavily assured him while rising to his massive height. "Your presence merely exposed a wound that has lain infected for one hundred years. Perhaps our success can purge it. I pray to Hylia it will."
"Frankly, I am astonished seeing you in that armor didn't convince them to accept you," Sidon sad disbelievingly. "It is clear my sister made it for you, Link. Her seal of approval should have been enough."
"Hearts clinging to one point of view are blind to all proof to the contrary, my son," Dorephan observed sadly. "We have done what we can to help them see. Now we must attend to more pressing matters than petty grievances."
Sidon nodded in agreement with his father's wisdom.
"Link, I hope you are still willing to help our people despite their... welcome," Sidon said ashamedly. To his delight, his friend answered with what was quickly becoming his trademark determination.
"I told you before, Sidon, I would confront Ruta with or without your people's approval," Link answered fixedly. "I meant what I said to your elders. I will not rest until Mipha is avenged, Zelda saved and Ganon slain."
"You mean to say that Zelda is as alive today as you are?" Dorephan asked incredulously.
"Only just, Your Highness," Link admitted as he buckled his sword belt over his shoulder. "Even now she fights to keep Ganon at bay within Hyrule Castle, buying us time to gather the Divine Beasts and Hyrule's people."
"Amazing," Dorephan breathed. "I would ask you a hundred questions more, but all of them can wait. First I must bear the burden of asking even more than what my son has already told you, Link."
Sidon listened in astonishment as his father related Seggin's failed venture, the loss of the shock arrows, and the necessary resolution to retrieve them. By the end, he was quivering with indignation.
"To think that a Zora of Seggin's honor would do such a thing," the prince said incredulously. "I would not have imagined it of him."
Sidon's umbrage cooled upon noticing Link's visage, which was drawn in deep concern.
"Link?" the prince asked his friend. "What is it?"
The Hylian closed his eyes as if in pain before shaking his head and answering.
"Nothing, Sidon," Link replied slowly. "I am just remembering the last time I faced a lynel. I am not afraid," he added quickly, "but neither am I blind to the danger."
Sidon felt pride surge on behalf of his friend, who seemed to greet everything with a sincere dignity he greatly admired. His father also seemed understanding of Link's plight.
"I do not pretend to know the best way to go about this, Link," Dorephan confessed. "A demonspawn's senses are keen. Were I to send a party of soldiers in support, the beast would hear them before they were within an arrow's reach, and I doubt fewer would be of much help against a lynel with shock arrows at its disposal."
"You said it resides at the top of a nearby mountain?" Link asked suddenly.
He's onto something, Sidon thought with a smile.
"Ploymus Mountain," the prince confirmed quickly. "Its peak extends over the reservoir and is the highest point in the kingdom."
"It would take me too long to climb," Link said with crestfallen realization. "Once I reach the summit, I doubt I would have strength enough to face the lynel."
"Hylia is with you Link," Dorephan assured him with a warm smile. "The armor you donned is more than mere clothing. My daughter's love and magic endowed the wearer with the power to swim as a Zora. With them, you may ascend quickly to Shatterback Point. Mipha made them," the king added gently, "with the hope you would one day swim the waters of the Domain together."
Sidon saw Link look over at the still-open chest that contained the Zora armor. The prince felt his own heart break as the Hylian's face threatened to crumble in grief.
"My sister loved you, Link," the prince added softly. "Let that love see you through this task now, so that you may honor her with your tears after it is done."
Sidon was sorely tempted to applaud as he witnessed Link gather his emotions and nod resolutely. He felt his father's massive hand rest on his shoulder.
"Well said, my son," Dorephan said quietly.
Link, meanwhile had begun pacing a small circuit in the throne room. Sidon saw his right hand half-consciously touch the odd, rectangular object hanging from his belt. Link had described the Sheikah Slate in the broadest sense during their journey to the Domain. Sidon understood only that it was a tool that would wrest control from Vah Ruta when the time came.
Finally, Link stopped and appeared to nod to himself. He has it, Sidon thought excitedly. The Hylian turned and faced the Zora king and prince.
"Luck must favor us, but I believe this will work..."
Bazz paced impatiently in his father's cave. The waiting gnawed at him, but he had not dared linger near the audience chamber. His father's plan needed time and secrecy to play out, and he did not trust himself to either with the Hylian so close at hand. Hylia send the ill-named filth far from here! he viciously prayed.
Three long-awaited splashes greeted Bazz's thoughts, and he rushed to hurriedly greet his father, Trello and Muzu. The trio shook the excess water from themselves before giving vent to a rage even Bazz had not expected.
"How?" Seggin's howl was punctuated with a closed fist to the rock wall. "Blessed Hylia, how?"
"Demon witchcraft!" Trello snarled in reply. "It must be! Nothing else would keep that cursed Hylian alive so long only to send him back into our midst!"
"Father!" Bazz cried in an attempt to arrest Seggin's attention. "What happened? What do you mean the Hylian was sent back?"
"What your father means," Muzu answered with a startling contrast of calm, "is that the Hylian is the same Link that failed our people a century ago. The very same."
Bazz sat down at once, the shock of the news momentarily dashing coherent thought. The elders, however, were already continuing their collective outburst.
"And still our king accepts him!" Trello raged. "He and his son forgive him all and welcome him with open fins! They diminish our loss and call it kindness!"
"The Council voted to accept his aid?" Bazz asked incredulously. "How could they, Father, knowing who he is and what he did?"
"Because they are blinded by our king's soft words and softer spine!" Seggin spat. "A century's worth of uneasy peace has blurred the worth of his own kin, and now we risk repeating the most costly mistake in our people's history."
Bazz felt his father's anger seep into him, felt his teeth bare in furious protest.
"Calm yourselves, brethren."
Bazz's own expression mirrored Trello and Seggin's amazement at Muzu's seeming nonchalance.
"How can you remain calm, Muzu?" Trello demanded. "Your pupil's demise walks amongst us! His very presence mocks our grief, yet you would have us sit here and accept it without raising a fin?"
The ray-crowned Zora emitted a wet snort through widely dispersed nostrils.
"You give vent to your spleen and cry injustice when you fail to see that Hylia has laid vengeance at your feet," Muzu explained dryly.
"I was not too blind to see you do the same and depart without the king's leave!" Trello returned accusingly.
"You think the king would not have found it suspicious had I, of all Zora, willingly remained in support of the Hylian?" Muzu answered with mock long-suffering. "Dorephan is as wise as he is forgiving. He would have seen through any pretense I might have offered. Instead we are but a few of many who share the same, aimless rage."
A vicious grin split Muzu's wide, aged face.
"The Hylian, however, will find out too late that we are more than that," Muzu continued. "As I said, do not spurn the gift we have been given. We have stewed in helpless grief for a century. Now we are granted the opportunity to rid ourselves of its source."
Understanding dawned on the other three Zora. Bazz felt his heart quicken and his brain race with half-formed thoughts of just revenge. The feeling was intoxicating, and part of him longed to seize his spear from its place on the wall then and there.
The young Zora's bloodlust, however, was momentarily cooled by the shared concerns of the other two elders.
"Had I my youth, I would challenge… him," Seggin said with reluctant distaste. "Our lives' waters are nearly run, Muzu, while he retains the strength of his youth. I detest admitting it, but the Hylian's skills are formidable."
"As are the lynel's," Muzu reminded them readily. "As we discussed, we need only rely on our own strength if the Hylian survives the demonspawn and Vah Ruta, and there is no guarantee he will."
"Dorephan is no fool," Trello said bitterly. "He will concoct a plan to help the Hylian, one that tips the scales in his favor."
"That is why we must be ready to tip them back," Muzu answered smugly. "We need only do that much before risking open opposition."
Seggin gnawed his lip in indecision while Trello frowned at the options laid before him. Bazz, however, approached the eldest councilor.
"Elder Muzu," he said with a bow of his head, "If vengeance can heal my people, then let it be mete out through me. Your youth is gone? Use mine. Let me serve the role I have already sworn to perform: to protect my people against all that would harm them."
Muzu and Trello looked questioningly at Seggin, who stood and approached his son. His father's eyes bored into his own. Large, wrinkled hands rested on muscled young shoulders.
"You would risk your king's wrath to do this, my son?" Seggin asked searchingly. "You would risk your life to avenge those you love?"
Bazz nodded forcefully, his yellow eyes brimming with fierce tears.
"Very well," Muzu said decisively. "This is what you must do…"