Summary: General Haston journeys to Zora's Domain for his interview with Link's daughter Mila and spends some time with Link as well. Midon takes a shot at cracking the Sheikah Slate password.

It was a sunny late afternoon in Zora's Domain as Link's older daughter Mila concluded her interview with General Haston, commander of the Royal Hyrule Army, in one of the gazebo-like structures overlooking the plaza. The General was a distinguished-looking taller than average Hylian in his late fifties with gray hair and brown eyes. He looked quite fit and was clearly a person who kept himself in good shape.

"So, we were able to just barely hold on and contain the shrines long enough for Her Majesty and your father to destroy the source of the evil on Eventide Island," said Haston. "It was getting touch and go at the end as the monsters continued to grow in strength. But we went over the battles at each of the shrines, so you already know that, Princess Mila."

"Yes, thank you, and I think that about covers all the items I wished to ask you about the invasion, General," said Mila. "I very much appreciate you traveling all the way here to meet with me."

"Not at all, Princess, I was happy to do so," said Haston. "Her Majesty was very keen for me to help you complete the historical narrative she said you're working on. And besides that, it's been far too long since I last visited your beautiful home here. Seeing Zora's Domain again reminded me of how much I forgot its grandeur. It's magnificent! There is no place in Hyrule that comes anywhere close to its architectural beauty."

"Thank you, General, that is very considerate of you to say," said Mila. "We are indeed very proud of our Domain, of course. But may I ask when you were last here?"

"Yes, let me see, it's hard to believe, but it must be close to forty years ago now," said Haston, looking off into the distance. "I was a young Captain back then, and we were tasked with routine assignments, keeping monsters under control and things like that. My squad and Captain Feron's, which was the squad your father served in, by the way, took turns patrolling here occasionally to help rid the area of Electric Arrow wielding Lizalfos. Hyrule Command knew your people were at great risk from electric-based weapons, and so Hylian soldiers were periodically dispatched here to help. After a busy day's work, we were invited to relax here afterward, enjoy some music and food. We were very grateful for your people's hospitality."

"This is not part of my historical inquiry," said Mila. "But speaking of my father, I've been asking those I interview if they remember anything about my parents before they married. It's just out of personal curiosity."

"I understand, and let me think back now," said Haston. "I don't know too much about Princess Mipha, your mother. I first met her at one of the celebrations here after we completed a mission. She would personally thank each of us, but more importantly, she would heal any injured among us. She was so kind and caring that battle-hardened soldiers would weep in gratitude afterward. But she would say it was the least she could do for our help in protecting her people. I think the last time I saw your mother before she and your father married was at Hyrule Castle when most of us were on duty attending the Champions Inauguration ceremony. That was quite the big event, the late King Rhoam himself presiding over it."

Heston paused for a moment.

"As to your father, I know a bit more about him, but mostly second hand. As I said, he served under my colleague Captain Feron back when I myself was a Captain. Our two squads used to be assigned similar duties at different times. Feron used to tease me that his squad could accomplish twice as much as mine, thanks to your father's combat ability. I lost a few good-natured bets to him over that! But I won that all back and more when your father won the swordsmanship championship."

"What do you mean, General?" asked Mila.

"Well, it was the last round of the swordsmanship championship at the Coliseum, and the place was full, every seat taken. There was a good deal of betting on the outcome among the soldiers to make it more exciting, you understand. Your father was actually the underdog, as his opponent was more experienced and a well-known swordsman at the time. So, Feron and I could get good odds betting on your father. He and I both cleaned up after he won! By the way, your father looked more nervous after the fight than during it. He got tongue-tied pronouncing his name to Princess Zelda when she was about to award him the medal, and it came out 'Lnk' instead of 'Link.' We all got a chuckle over that, and I'm sure he took some teasing about it later."

Haston briefly laughed, recalling the incident, then grew serious again.

"But, of course, it was soon afterward that your father was chosen by the sword that seals the darkness. News that your father returned from his journey with Her Majesty carrying the sacred sword spread throughout the ranks. Feron told me he received orders from on top to let your father do pretty much whatever he wanted after that, and your father soon struck out on his own to train. Feron said he seldom saw your father once he left, and when he did, it was not like before. The few times they met, your father seemed distracted, so preoccupied with his training that he couldn't relax or spare time for socializing. Feron would ask where he'd been, and the answer was that he had traveled pretty much all over Hyrule, battling the strongest monsters he could find. Though, now that I recall, he said your father mentioned he often passed through here, Zora's Domain, on his travels. Maybe it was so your mother could heal any injuries he sustained. But I can't think of much else about your father. I was never as close to him as Feron was."

"Thank you, that was still very helpful," said Mila.

"I'm happy to oblige," said Haston. "By the way, I'm hoping your father has some time to say hello after we're done. But I completely understand if he's too busy."

"No, not at all, he told me he was looking forward to it," said Mila. "He asked me to Tab him when we were finished. I'll do that right now."

Mila sent a quick message to her father, and a few moments later, they saw Link walking to the plaza, having come from Mikau Lake. Mila waved, and he waved back, then made his way to where they were sitting.

"I will leave you two now and go over my notes," said Mila. "Thank you again, General."

"You are very welcome, Princess Mila," said the General as they parted. "If you find you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Mila departed, and Link spoke up.

"General, welcome, it's good to see you, Sir," said Link as they shook hands.

"It's my pleasure, Link," said Haston. "I'm glad you have some time for me. I didn't get an opportunity to speak to you at Her Majesty's victory banquet."

"No, that's true. But I'm happy to spend some time with you now and to congratulate you on organizing such a fine campaign in defense of Hyrule," said Link. "I know it was a big assignment."

"Well, thank you for the compliment, but without you and Her Majesty, we would all be overrun by monsters by now," said Haston.

Haston paused for a moment, then went on.

"You know, back in the day, I envied Captain Feron that you were assigned to his squad instead of mine. I was just telling your daughter that he used to tease me, that his squad could do twice the work mine could, all thanks to you. And, to be honest, I had to agree with him."

"That's funny," laughed Link. "I don't remember too much about those days. As you may have heard, I suffered some memory loss."

"Ah, yes, I heard that," said Haston, shaking his head. "By the way, do you ever see Feron these days? I know he retired as a Major and lives by the Riverside Rest Area with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law now."

"He visited me here once shortly after he retired," said Link. "We haven't had occasion to see each other since then, though. I, um, I find it a bit awkward meeting with him because I can't remember much of our time together, and I don't want him to think it's because I'm snobby or because he meant so little to me. I actually appreciated his help a great deal. I remember he was the one who encouraged me to compete in the swordsmanship competition, and you could say that was the first step toward changing my life."

"Ah, yes, I can see that," said Haston. "I'm going to stop by to see him on my way back, have dinner and reminisce a bit."

"Then please say hello to him for me," said Link. "I hope he's doing well."

"I will," said Haston, then he glanced up at the late afternoon sky. "I should go as the two guards with me will be eager to get started toward home before it's too late. I'm happy to see that things worked out so well for you, Link. Please say hello to Princess Mipha for me. We still remember her kindness healing our wounded long ago."

"I will, and I'm sorry she couldn't visit with you this time," said Link as they stood up together. "Our youngest son and his family just returned to the Domain a few days ago from an extended absence, and Mipha is off spending time with our adorable granddaughter. But you are welcome here anytime, Sir, and perhaps we can all get together the next time."

"Yes, I would like that. Perhaps we can," said Haston. "Until next time, then."

Link walked Haston back to the plaza. Then they shook hands, and Haston left. Link watched him as he crossed the Great Zora Bridge, where a vehicle was waiting to whisk him to the Riverside Rest Area and eventually Hyrule Castle.

When Link returned to Mikau Lake, it was empty. Everyone had swum up the falls to the upper level, so Link did the same.

"Yay! You're back!" shouted Tara as she swam over to him for a hug, and Link picked her up and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Yes, I'm back, and you look like you're having a fun time," laughed Link.

"I am now that I'm back too," said Tara.

Then Link put her down, and she swam off to play some more. He swam over to where Mipha was floating, and they kissed.

"It's nice having Linky, Tila, and Tara back," said Link. "Tara seems especially thrilled to be back here."

"Tila said she missed being here," said Mipha. "Which is nice if it means they spend more time here with us."

"I couldn't agree more," said Link.

"Your meeting with the General go well?"

"Yes, fine," said Link. "He said to say hello to you and to thank you again for the times you healed the wounded soldiers who came here long ago to rid the area of Lizalfos. He said they still remember your kindness and the generosity of our people in offering them their hospitality afterward."

"That was nice of him," said Mipha. "I never minded doing that. And it's quite nice you remembered to say our people. By the way, as I recall, it was on one of those post-combat mission festivities that you met up with someone you described as a pretty Zora girl that you 'assumed' must have been me. Assumed?"

"Oh my gosh, do you remember everything?" laughed Link.

"Well, one of us has to," laughed Mipha. "We can't count on your memory."

"Very funny," said Link. "But it turned out that it was you I was with after all, so there's no need to get upset."

"I'm not upset. Just having some fun teasing you is all, sweetheart," laughed Mipha as she took his hand. "Come! Join me for some swimming."

"It's my pleasure," said Link as they dove back into the water.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Ancient Tech Lab, Midon and Lapha had been busy going through the code in the Sheikah Slate recovered from Eventide Island. From the pictures Purah had found and begun cataloging, it was clear the device had been used ten thousand years ago when the Divine Beasts were first built. Midon and Lapha had been seeking to discover a password or passphrase that would unlock a portion of the device that had been secured and had been putting in many hours over the past several days. They had settled into a routine of working in the lab, stopping only to eat and get in some much-needed sleep time in the river below, then resuming work the next day.

By now, it was the evening of the fourth day since they had started, and Midon felt he was making some progress. After considerable effort and thanks to Lapha's help with the ancient Sheikah dialect, Midon had been able to break the passphrase into two parts. The first part he had decoded as MARK OF THE SHEIKAH. And the last part comprised some ancient Hylian symbols which transcribed to TEECANGNNIREY.

Midon thought the mark of the Sheikah probably referred to the eye symbol so common on their clothing and artifacts. Assuming that was the case, removing EYE from the remaining letters left TECANGNNIR.

Now he looked for some word or word combinations derived from those letters. The combination ING looked promising as the end of a word, so he removed it, leaving TECANNR. Then he began looking for some combination of those letters that would make sense and create a word that came before ING. After some trial and error, he cried out in excitement.

"I got it!" said Midon. "It's a passphrase, and it must refer to the Sheikah eye symbol."

"Good work!" said Lapha. "What is the passphrase?"

MARK OF THE SHEIKAH ENTRANCING EYE

"Great!" said Lapha. "Let me tell Dr. Purah before we unlock that section of the device to make sure she approves of proceeding to do so."

Lapha went over to where Purah and Robbie were working to secure Purah's permission to proceed, which was readily given.

"There's no danger," said Purah to Robbie as they excitedly accompanied Lapha back to the device to observe. "We've isolated the Sheikah Slate on this separate Guidance Stone."

"I agree, in this case," said Robbie.

"Go ahead and enter the passphrase, Princess Lapha," said Purah. "I'm eager to see what pictures or information is hidden."

"Here goes," said Lapha.

She dutifully entered the passphrase, and everyone waited expectantly. But nothing happened. Fearing she had mistyped it, Lapha entered it again. But again, there was no response from the device.

"It's not working," said Lapha. "Are you sure it's correct, Midon?"

"Zodont!" swore Midon, then composed himself. "Crab bites! I could have sworn I cracked it!"

"Well, you just swore at least, so please go easy on the language," laughed Lapha. "Sorry, Dr. Purah. I guess we need to keep working."

"No, no, that's fine," said Purah. "The fact you could get this far shows great promise. I am sure you will get there, eventually."

Purah and Robbie returned to where they had been working, and Midon looked over at Lapha, discouraged.

"Come on, Mido," said Lapha. "I'm getting hungry, tired, and I think we could both use some water time."

"Same," said Midon. "We should call it a night."

They made their way down to the river together and dove in.

"Ah!" said Midon as he luxuriated in the freshwater.

They each caught a fish for dinner, then soaked in the water together and prepared to sleep.

"I don't know, Laff," said Midon, shaking his head. "I really thought I had it. I've been staring so long at those letters that they're swimming around in my head like frogs in a rainstorm."

"Let them swim around," said Lapha. "And don't be discouraged, Mido. You're making significant progress!"

"Well, perhaps tomorrow will be better," said Midon.

Midon sent off a goodnight message to Larena that he missed her and received a reply that she missed him too. Then he closed his eyes, and they both soon fell asleep.

But as sometimes happens with the subconscious during sleep, Midon's mind kept going over what had occupied so much of his waking hours, primarily the scrambled letters. His mind kept rearranging the letters in different combinations. He was not sure how to explain it, but the sun was just rising when he suddenly awoke, and he realized his mistake and what the words probably were.

Now it was his turn to wake up Lapha early. He reached over and shook her awake, sending ripples through the river water and scaring away some nearby fish.

"Laff! Wake up! I got it!" said Midon excitedly. "It came to me in my sleep."

"What?" said Lapha, rubbing her eyes. "You figured out the passphrase? What is it?"

"It's not ENTRANCING EYE," said Midon. "It's ANCIENT ENERGY."

"Oh, wow!" said Lapha. "I think you're probably right. Let me catch you a breakfast fish for that!"