Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 57 - Underwaterblight Ganon - Part 2

Summary: Despite misgivings by his family and the risks involved, Link agrees to Dr. Purah's outrageous plan. But concern over how his family will react makes Link wonder what he may be losing in life. He briefly ponders a decision he will have to make in several months. Mipha does her best to prepare the children and avoid hurting Link, with surprising results.

"Link will have to become a Zora," said Purah.

Dr. Purah's last words had stunned everyone on the call into silence. The idea someone could transform from one race to another was unheard of. As Purah waited for a reaction, the scientist in her made her refine the preciseness of her statement.

"Well, that's not entirely accurate, so let me elaborate," said Purah. "Link won't become identical at the genetic level to a Zora as if he had been born one. His genetic structure will be something of a hybrid. In being efficient, the transformation process will only convert the part of his genetic structure that is needed, which is the part used to maintain his Zora body, keep it healthy, and in working order. That works out to be probably less than a quarter of his entire genetic structure. The transformation process will leave the rest of his genetic structure unchanged since it serves no useful purpose. Therefore, a genetic test would show that Link is part Hylian and part Zora, and by the percentage of genetic material, actually more Hylian than Zora. But he will possess all the physical characteristics and attributes of a Zora and can live life as a normal Zora. Unless someone performs a genetic test on him, they could not tell he wasn't one hundred percent Zora, hatched from an egg."

"That is actually possible?" said Zelda. "I have never heard of this process. It seems a pretty drastic step. Putting aside your genetic technicalities, Dr. Purah, for all practical purposes Link will become a full-fledged Zora? And is this process reversible? Can he return back to his Hylian self afterward? I would imagine that's an important consideration for Link."

"Yes, he will be physically indistinguishable from a normal Zora. And yes, in theory, the process is reversible," said Purah.

"In theory?" said Zelda.

"Well, it's never actually been done, a person going back and forth," said Purah. "As you can imagine, this process has seen only minimal use, perhaps a handful of times over the years. But every attempt has been successful, although the Sheikah limits its use because of the high risk involved. That is why I hesitated even to bring it up."

"Speaking of risk," said Link. "What is the risk?"

"As you can imagine, this is a very complex process, completely rebuilding an individual's body structure while keeping them alive. If something were to go wrong, well, the resulting organism would not be viable in our existing environment."

"In other words, I would die horribly?" said Link.

"Well, that's another way of putting it. But we would put you out of your misery as quickly as possible to minimize your suffering," said Purah.

"That's very considerate. How long does the process take?" said Link.

"I don't have a precise number," said Purah. "But I would put it on the order of three weeks."

"So, for three weeks, I would lie in a chamber while this process transforms my body into a Zora body. Is that correct?" said Link.

"Yes," said Purah.

"Would I feel anything?" said Link

"No, you would be unconscious the whole time," said Purah.

"Will this affect my memory?" said Link. "I'd hate to go through all that again!"