му нєяσιиє (Prince!Link x Hero!Reader)

ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀs ᴘᴀʀᴛ 2: ғɪɴᴀʟ ᴄᴀʟʟɪɴɢ

Despite the outer beauty of the sacred place, the temple from within was dim and nippy from the surrounding mist. Familiar pale blue stones illuminated the halls with a gorgeous cyan. Each step you took deeper into the stomach of this area caused an echo beneath your feet, it's sound stretching to the end of the hall. The only other noise you could make out at the moment was the dripping of water droplets falling from certain statues of Zora warriors from the past. Looking around, you see engravings on the walls of Zora evolution over time. Fine craftsmanship went into these marks. In only a few years, no less. You could tell the Zora people greatly treasure their legacy. The one-way hall continued on for what felt like an hour, leading to a large water hole in an empty room surrounded by white pillars. You look down at the water to see your dark silhouette reflection in the soft waves. Lightly touching one of your Coral Earrings, you step back several feet. You take a deep breath and run, jumping over the edge and dove into the water. You began descending into the deep abyss, letting yourself fall deeper into the cold water. The little emeralds on your jewelry began to create a small light source for you, allowing you to see a few feet around. Unfortunately, the light seemed to be the good news. The bad was you were running out of breath, and fast. You felt the red spread across your face as you struggled to hold on. Even lifting your hands over your mouth proved fruitless. But pressure gave in and you gasp, ready to accept your fate.

But you didn't.

You were breathing.

And yet you were still underwater.

Your eyes open slightly and look around. You were still underwater, floating, and still alive. 'I'm not dead...?' You think. Then you remember what Ruto II said: the Coral Earrings let non-Zoras survive underwater. That must include being able to breathe. You then let out a noise of some sort, but it was out of relief. "Oh, thank Goddesses!!" You say out loud. You knew this was unprofessional for this moment in time, but hey! You're alive and want to express it! And thank Hylia you're able to talk underwater too. Not that it would help much with the current situation, it was just nice to know. After your gratitude-to-the-Goddesses moment, you continued on your way, letting yourself sink a bit more. You knew you weren't the best swimmer in Hyrule, which is why you weren’t moving around just yet, but you were good enough to get the job done.

You then find a cave somewhere near the bottom of the hole and quickly stop, waving your arms and legs to just hover in place. You swim through and go in, stopping at the entrance to look around. Nothing from what you could see, so you decide to keep going in more. You swam in silence for a few minutes and slowly put your feet on the ground, deciding not to tire out by swimming. But that was a mistake.

As you moved along (via hops), you saw that you had to go through a seaweed patch. Not too surprising, considering this was an ocean-based temple. So you went through, pushing longer strands of plants away as the ground began feeling softer the farther you went. But then you managed to find a particularly sticky part, catching your foot and holding it in place. You glance down and try to keep going, but you wouldn't budge. "Crap, not again...!!" You say. You grab onto your leg and try to pull it out, making very little progress. You try to hop up to start swimming out. No luck. You growl in frustration. You then look at your amulet, then hold it in your hand. "Zelda?" You ask. "Can I get some help? I'm stuck in some seaweed patch and can't get out...!"

The amulet glows faintly, then Zelda's voice was heard. "Merely swimming will not free you, (Y/n)," she says. "Maybe if you pull free with a rope or vine, you can escape...!"

"Rope or vine?" You repeat. "Where am I gonna get a--"

You cut yourself off, looking at the surrounding seaweed. "Ooooh...!" You grab onto a clump of seaweed from a few feet in front of you, then pull. After a few tugs, you managed to break free, some dirt and plant remains caught on your boot. "Yes! I'm out!" You say, brushing the muck off. "Thank you, Zelda!"