A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 63: The Precious Ceremony

"Ah... This is nice," Celessa moaned. She had just collapsed onto her recently rented water bed, her body swaying with the gentle rippling of the liquid mattress. "I've never lain on a water bed before. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to a regular bed..."

"The water beds here in Zora's Domain are considered to be some of the most blissful beds in Hyrule," the red-scaled innkeeper, Kodah, said. "It'd be considered a crime if you didn't try one."

"A–a crime?" Paya asked fearfully, sitting up in the regular bed she had chosen. Kodah giggled.

"Not a true crime," she said. "You have nothing to fear. If a regular bed suits your tastes, then that's perfectly fine."

"Oh... alright," Paya responded, still sounding a little nervous. With a small, cheerful bow, the Zora innkeeper left for the inn's front desk, leaving the trio alone to enjoy their beds.

"You're missing out, you know," Celessa spoke up, now lying on her backside as she let the waves of the bed gently bounce her up and down. "It's like swimming, but without having to move your arms. You're missing out too, Zelda."

"I'm fine with my choice," Zelda said from her regular bed. "As comfortable as you look, I need to get up early tomorrow to meet with Muzu. My sleeping habits aren't as finely-tuned as they were before having lived with Link, so I'm sure if I took a water bed, I'd oversleep."

"I could see that happening on a bed like this," Celessa agreed, sighing in relaxation as Paya's cheeks flushed at the thought of Zelda and Link living together. "So... You're getting up early to meet with Muzu?"

"That's right," Zelda said with a nod, still sitting upright on her bed. "He's going to teach me about the Champion's Festival they hold annually in honor of Lady Mipha, the Zora Champion. I've told you a lot about her already."

"Do you think we'll need to be there for that lesson?" Celessa asked.

"That's a surprise," Zelda said, truly shocked by her friend's words. "I thought you'd be excited to get a lesson on something that's so rooted in their history from a century ago."

"I am, but it's actually for history that I want to skip out," Celessa said, rolling onto her side before propping herself up on her elbow. "I want to see those stone monuments I heard about today."

"The Zora Stone Monuments?" Zelda repeated. "I remember those. Link and I were given the task of finding all of them a few months back for the historian, Jiahto, to decipher. I'm sure he still has all of them deciphered if you just ask him."

"I will, but I still wanna see those monuments for myself," Celessa said, lying back down on her backside with her hands behind her head. "Experiencing it is always better than just hearing about it. If I can, I always prefer to go see things for myself."

"Like the springs?" Zelda asked with a smile. Celessa nodded as she closed her eyes.

"Like the springs," she said. "Whenever I went to the Spring of Courage or Power, I felt somewhat closer to you. If I go see the monuments, maybe I'll feel what it was like to be in Zora's Domain back then, too."

"It hasn't changed much in the last century, but I understand the sentiment," Zelda said. "Will you be going too, Paya?"

"H–huh? O–oh..." Paya stammered thoughtfully. "U–um... If I'm not needed, then I'd like to, if that's okay...?"

"I don't mind you coming along at all," Celessa chirped. Paya nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you," she said, before turning back to Zelda. "I–I'm sorry. I was brought along to be useful, but it doesn't seem like there's much I can do for you here..."