Summary: Purah's team visits the shrine on Eventide Island, and Lapha later notices something unusual. Mipha's and Link's family celebrate their victory over a meal together, and afterward Mipha and Link share a quiet moment.

It was a sunny afternoon as Purah, Robbie, and Lapha were seated on a high-speed North Hyrule boat that skimmed across the green waters of the Necluda Sea toward Eventide Island.

"This boat is remarkably quiet for its speed, isn't it, Robbie?" said Purah. "It's very impressive technology."

Robbie just nodded as he was busy calculating their speed in his head as a mental challenge. Later he would check his calculations using his Tab's map and travel time.

Meanwhile, Lapha quietly looked out the boat's side as they passed the now deserted Tenoko Island. That tiny islet was only a little larger than the ancient shrine it housed, but was the source of so much suffering for Hateno Village and her little brother as well. A pair of Lizalfos from Tenoko Island had nearly killed Linky. Thank Nayru that Mila had saved him in time! Speaking of which, she still could not determine scientifically how her sister's and mother's healing ability worked. It remained something beyond their current understanding. Just then, a small school of blue Armored Porgies hurried away from the boat's path, breaking her concentration. Like any Zora, Lapha's eyes were better adapted for seeing through water, and she watched the fish swim away, then turned her gaze straight ahead.

Their destination was Eventide Island, and you could make out sandy Toronbo Beach, the tropical jungle behind it, and tall Koholit Rock with its enigmatic shrine at the summit. The Zora pilot slowed the boat as it neared the shore, then steered it onto the beach along the southwest part of the island and helped everyone disembark. Since the two North Hyrule Zora guards planned to accompany Purah's team on their trek to the summit, Purah wondered how they intended to moor the boat, as there was nothing nearby to secure it to. But the boat's pilot pulled out his Tab, and with the press of his finger, activated a Stasis spell on the ship, holding it in place on the shore.

"Someone after my own heart!" exclaimed Purah. "But aren't you worried about what will happen to the boat when you release the Stasis?"

"Sorry?" said the pilot.

"When you release the Stasis effect upon our return, isn't it possible that the waves and wind hitting the boat in the meantime will accumulate sufficient kinetic energy to cause it to shoot off into the sea or, even worse, crash onto the shore at high speed and damage itself?" Purah asked.

"Oh, I see what you mean," said the pilot. "Yes, for an ordinary boat, that would be a concern. But this boat has an internal mechanism of Sheikah design, something that redirects external forces as they occur, making sure they essentially cancel out. When we release the Stasis effect, the boat will barely budge."

"Amazing!" said Purah, remembering the incident with the door to the Ancient Tech Lab. "I should like to study how that is done."

"One thing at a time, please, Dr. Purah," said Robbie, impatient to get on with their trip. "We have a shrine to investigate."

"Yes, yes, of course," said Purah. "Let's proceed."

They made their way directly East, frightening away a pair of Blue Winged Herons pecking for food. The two North Hyrule guards used their Tabs to check for any nearby monsters, but their Tab screens showed they were alone on the island. The only sounds were the cries of birds, the rhythmic splash of the sea against the shore, and the rustling of palm tree leaves in the brisk offshore breeze. After a short walk inland, they began the climb that took them to a plateau and the site of the ruined settlement.

"These ruins still intrigue me," said Purah when they reached the ancient settlement, and they briefly surveyed their surroundings.

"We may never know what happened here," said Robbie as he looked up toward the peak of Koholit Rock. "But we should press on, Dr. Purah. We still have a steep climb ahead of us."

"I'll just be a moment longer," said Purah as she knelt to examine part of a broken wall.

Lapha was quiet, letting herself soak in the mood of the situation. While Purah and Robbie examined the ruins, Lapha studied her four companions. She did not have her sister Mila's healing power, but she had her sister's ability to read emotions. She smiled as she remembered when they were younger how she and Mila would confuse her older brother Midon as they read each other's feelings and made comments that seemed to Midon to originate out of nowhere.

Anyway, now Lapha could read the curiosity and eagerness in both Purah and Robbie, their thirst for knowledge. But Purah was the more impulsive one, ready to throw caution to the winds to try something new and thus make a new discovery. Robbie, her junior, was the more careful researcher, wanting to think things through more thoroughly first. Robbie embodied the sentiment of click before you pick, or look before you leap, as Hylians say. They were both brilliant scientists but a nice check and balance on each other's tendencies. Purah's impetuousness assured they made some progress, not ending up so cautious that they never experimented. But Robbie acted as a brake on her actions, ensuring things did not get too far out of hand or grow too dangerous. As for the two Zora guards, they were completely business-like, alertly checking their surroundings for danger.

Lapha glanced up at Koholit Rock. The island itself seemed to have a personality of its own too, and a somewhat sinister one at that. Fishers completely avoided it, and you sensed something was different as soon as you set foot onshore. Eventide Island was the first of many islands in the Necluda Sea that stretched off into the distance southeast of Hyrule. Perhaps it was the border between Hyrule and some other realm? Ganondorf had hidden here, and that no doubt also contributed to the feelings of unease the island caused in anyone who dared to venture ashore.

"I've seen enough for now," said Purah, interrupting Lapha's thoughts.

"About time," Robbie muttered under his breath.

After a short but steep climb, they reached the shrine at the top of Koholit Rock. Fortunately, no rain or thunderstorm had hindered their progress.

"Well, here we are finally," said Purah between deep breaths. "We should develop small flying machines for climbs like this. But Queen Zelda is more interested in larger-scale passenger transport, and all flying machine funds are going into that."

"A little exercise will do us both good, Dr. Purah," said Robbie. "Especially after being cooped up in the lab all this time."

"True," said Purah. "Are you alright, Princess Lapha?"

"Yes, just a bit winded as you say," said Lapha, also breathing hard. "My lungs are smaller than yours."

"We will wait outside the shrine and keep watch," said the Zora Captain.

"Yes, of course," said Purah, as she looked around at the vast expanse of southern Hyrule visible from the peak. "The view is magnificent from here, isn't it?"

Robbie groaned, and Purah got his point.

"Very well, let's proceed," said Purah.

The door to the shrine was open as Link and Zelda had left it.

"The three of us can enter if we all squeeze together on the elevator platform," said Purah. "Robbie, you stand here and Princess Lapha, next to me here."

Purah, Robbie, and Lapha huddled together on the elevator, and a moment later found themselves lowered onto the first floor of the shrine. As was true of most shrines, the area was well lit with a bright sunlit ceiling and a variety of lamps glowing blue with ancient energy illuminating the room.

"Interesting, but just as Link described it to me," said Purah. "An empty room with a passageway built into the floor. He said the real shrine had a monk sealed in a chamber. I wonder what happened to the real shrine? Anyway, let's proceed."

The three of them made their way through the opening in the floor and down the steps. This led to another room, where the remains of a diamond-shaped mechanism lay broken on the floor, Zelda having destroyed it with an arrow. Proceeding through the door on the opposite wall to the next room, they easily slid the floor block in place, opening a door on their right. The next room was also empty.

"Our trip through here is a bit anti-climactic, I guess," said Purah. "Link said there were two mechanical knights in this room when he and Zelda arrived here, but he destroyed them both. Your father is quite the warrior, Princess Lapha."

"Yes, and he's quite the father too, Dr. Purah," said Lapha. "If you only saw the warrior side of him, you would miss a lot and never realize how good the other side of him is."

"I fully believe it," said Purah as she smiled and nodded. "He is justifiably proud of his fine family. Your father is the most remarkable person I have ever met, Princess Lapha. Anyway, Link told me that the next room is dangerous, so let's all wait before we enter."

The next room contained four cross-shaped devices, one in each corner of the room, with two pointed blades at the end of each cross. They could sense the presence of anything between them and would viciously snap together, impaling their victim.

"Link said the traps return to their positions more slowly than they snap shut," said Purah. "His technique was to run through them while they re-open after triggering them. But we can simply use Stasis on them."

Purah froze the traps in place using the Stasis Rune on her Sheikah Slate, allowing them to all pass through the room. There was a door on the left that led to another stairway down to another level.

"Below is the room in which Zelda and Link fought and destroyed Ganondorf," said Purah as they made their way down the long stairway toward the room at the bottom.

They walked quietly, and you could still feel a sense of foreboding in the stale musky air. When they reached the bottom, a doorway opened into a single room, which was empty save on the floor lay what appeared to be a Sheikah Slate. They all approached it for a closer look.

"Be careful about handling it," said Robbie. "Anything Ganondorf used could be dangerous."

"I understand," said Purah as she stared at the mechanism lying on the floor. "There is no doubt it's a Sheikah Slate, but Ganondorf may have altered it in some way. We will need to study its code back in the lab, and that's where you come in, Princess Lapha. Robbie, can you create some tongs and a vessel to hold it, so we don't have to touch it?"

"Yes, of course," said Robbie, pulling out his Tab and creating the needed items.

Purah used the tongs to place the device inside a container Robbie held open, and then she sealed it shut.

While Purah and Robbie busied themselves retrieving the device, Lapha took a moment to look around the room. Zelda and her father had battled Ganondorf here, but there did not seem to be anything else to see. Then she spotted a red stain on the floor. It could only be from blood, and she shivered. That was probably Zelda's or her father's dried blood on the floor, but most likely her father's. She had spoken to her mother afterward, and Mipha had said her father was fine. But that was no doubt after she or Mila had healed him. Fortunately, whatever his wound had been, it had not been fatal. But how many people realized all her father went through, how much he suffered, for Hyrule's sake?

Then Lapha heard a noise she recognized, and it was only the fact that her hearing was more acute that she noticed it at all.

"Do you hear that, waves, the sound of the sea?" said Lapha.

Purah and Robbie both stopped what they were doing and looked over at her.

"No, but our hearing may not be as sharp as yours," said Purah. "What do you hear?"

"Just the sound of water against the structure," said Lapha. "Perhaps we are at sea level in this room? I wonder if there is a concealed passage somewhere?"

"Yes, we have traveled downward a fair amount," said Purah, nodding. "It's possible we have reached sea level or even below. But I don't see any evidence of a passageway. Let's take some pictures of the room before we go. I suspect the secret to what Ganondorf did lies in the Sheikah Slate code, not in the shrine itself."

"Yes, by all means, let's take some pictures and go," said Robbie. "I don't know about you, but this place gives me the creeps."

Purah took pictures of various portions of the room, and then they prepared to leave. They reversed their way back out of the shrine, and when they reached the surface, Purah used her Sheikah Slate to seal the shrine door closed behind them. The two Zora guards were waiting for them there.

"It looks like a storm is coming," said one of the guards, pointing to the east. "We should not linger here on the summit much longer."

"We can leave at once," said Purah. "Link said we would be lucky to avoid a thunderstorm."

They made their way back down to the beach without incident, boarded the boat, and were happy to see the island recede into the distance as thunderclouds and lightning lit up the sky over the island.

"Can you take us straight back to our lab?" said Purah.

"Yes, of course," said the pilot.

Lapha messaged Mipha in the meantime.

Lapha_ZD: To: Mipha_ZD :: Returning from the island, Mom. Dad is okay, right? There was some dried blood on the shrine floor.

Mipha answered at once.

Mipha_ZD :To: Lapha_ZD :: Ugh! He's fine. His arm was injured in battle, but it's all healed now.

Lapha sighed, then put away her Tab. She was right - that was indeed her father's dried blood. When they reached the Royal Ancient Tech Lab, they thanked the two Zora guards, who left to return home.

"I'll just grab a bite to eat and soak for a bit," said Lapha. "Please wait for me before doing anything with the device we found."

Purah nodded as Lapha dove into the castle moat, then Purah and Robbie entered the lab.

Lapha helped herself to a fish, gobbled it down, then relaxed in the water for a while, thinking about what she would do next. When she was finished, she entered the lab. As expected, Purah was eager to begin analyzing things, impatient for Lapha's return. She was about to connect the Sheikah Slate they had found to a Guidance Stone when Robbie interrupted her.

"I think we should isolate this Guidance Stone from the rest of the system first," said Robbie. "We don't know what's on the device."

"Yes, you're right, of course," said Purah. "Let me do it."

Purah used her own Sheikah Slate to isolate the guidance stone, then replaced her slate with the one they had retrieved.

"We can dump the code onto here," said Purah, indicating a device with a screen she connected by cable to the guidance stone. "You're the coding expert, Princess Lapha, so we will leave this to you."

Lapha began reviewing the code, but it was complex.

"This may take some time," said Lapha. "Let's hook up your normal Sheikah Slate as well, so I can compare the code in each section."

Purah did as asked, and Lapha began working her way through the code.

It was some hours later before Lapha could claim any progress. She could identify the code controlling runes, the code that opened a shrine, and then there was a block of code that existed only on Ganondorf's device.

"This is the key section," said Lapha finally. "From what I can tell, it takes over the part of a shrine that creates a Guardian Scout for the hero's trial and replaces it with code that creates something else that I am not familiar with. I can only imagine that what this code is creating is a monster. But I'm not sure there isn't more to it, some element of dark magic perhaps that makes it all work. This code corrupts the shrine mechanism, but I'm not sure it could create a monster on its own."

"I see," said Purah. "Well, that would explain why only shrines with tests of strength were the ones corrupted. Only those shrines could be re-programmed to produce monsters. And Ganondorf is powerful at magic. I don't doubt his evil magic played a role in all this as well."

"That makes sense," said Robbie.

"Now we need to analyze how to prevent what was done," said Purah. "But we can all take a well-deserved break. I feel we made a good deal of progress."

"Thank you, Dr. Purah, I agree," said Lapha. "If it is acceptable to you, I would like to spend some time with my family now. I haven't spent any time with them since the victory."

"Yes, yes, of course, Princess Lapha," said Purah. "By all means, go home at once, and thank you for your help. We will research this further at a later time."

It was two days later in Zora's Domain that Lapha's family was enjoying a celebratory meal with King Dorephan, sitting around a large table set up in the area adjoining the throne room. Dishes of snail appetizers had been spread around the table, and platters of fresh and cooked fish had just been delivered. Everyone was there, a somewhat rare event these days. Link looked over at Mipha, and she was beaming with pleasure. He knew how much she loved it when their whole family could be together like this. And so did he, of course.

King Dorephan was served an individual meal, but the rest of the meal was family style.

"If I could have your attention for just a moment," said King Dorephan. "I want to say how proud I am of all of you. Each of you played a major role in protecting our Domain and even Hyrule itself. I have never felt prouder of all of you, and I think you all owe yourselves a great big Zora cheer."

They all shouted, "Zo, Zo, Zo, Zora!" and then clapped.

"Now, let's enjoy a fine meal together," said King Dorephan.

Midon was eagerly waiting for Mila to pass a platter of Hyrule Bass when Mila paused to speak.

"I would like to add that this great moment in Hyrule history is also a great moment for me personally," said Mila. "Queen Zelda has honored me by asking me to chronicle the events of this Hyrule invasion for the official Royal Hyrule History they store in the Castle library. I will need to interview people across Hyrule to assemble all the needed information. I am looking forward to beginning the project and feel proud and honored to be selected to do this."

"And well you should, sweetheart," said Link. "That is a great honor. But you earned it with your past scholarship, and that's being recognized now."

"Yes, that is great news, Mila, and we're all very proud of you," added Mipha with a smile.

"Can you wait to discuss Hyrule history until after you pass the fish, Mi?" Midon interrupted, eager to begin eating.

"Gee, Mido, are you starving or what?" said Mila as she passed the dish of Hyrule Bass after taking one herself. "Doesn't Larena give you any time to eat?"

Everyone laughed as Midon blushed.

Tara was sitting between her parents, Tila and Linky, and helped herself to a pair of snail appetizers, popping two of them into her mouth at the same time.

"One snail at a time, please, Tara, until you're bigger," said Tila.

"Okay, Mommy," said Tara, with a smile after swallowing the snails.

Then Tara reached for two more snails from the bowl, popped one into her mouth, waited for a second, and then popped the second one in as well. She smiled at her mother as she began eating.