"I'm, I-I-I... this can't be appropriate!"

Zelda's gown had been a gift, hand-stitched by Queen Sonia's most loyal handmaidens when the monarch discovered the slight niggle that her great, great granddaughter possessed no spare changes of clothes. The dress, mystifying in its splendor of beige and emerald, fit well—perfectly, in fact; the thing draped about her bodice in a manner that provided adequate aeration during the day as well as sufficient warmth in the cooler evening hours. But Zelda's second problem came about when she discovered that no material available to her in the past could match the silken smooth texture her silken undergarments. Attempts to replicate them were moot; the technology simply didn't exist yet. So, seeing as her current underwear was being tended to by the royal handmaidens, Zelda opted to "do as the Zonai do" and forgo underwear, at least for the time being. After all, she was technically among family, and barring truly bizarre circumstances Zelda did not anticipate intentionally or unintentionally revealing herself in her daily comings and goings.

By most metrics, being helplessly dangled, upside down from the ankle, by the tender smooth pads capping the tips of Mineru's clawed finger, counted. "H-h-how is this display meant to fix the curse?!"

When Zelda woke up from getting hit by a curse from one of the Demon King's forces, her first instinct had been to thank her lucky stars (and the Goddess of course) that she was still alive. However, when she realized that she'd in actuality been reduced to the size of an insect, that gratitude turned into a new kind of horror. It was frankly a miracle she'd been retrieved rather than getting crushed into a splat beneath a passing Bokoblin or, even worse, one of Hyrule's own warriors.

As chief science officer, Mineru had been selected to analyze Zelda and hopefully divine a reversal for her new state. Mineru, seated at her study, brought the diminutive princess closer to her feline snout and sniffed a now almost entirely exposed Zelda--the gown seemed an inverted flower, with Zelda's nubile form acting as an odd, cream-colored stem.

"I'm... I apologize," Mineru said, as if suddenly snapping out of a trance. "I don't quite know what came over me... I just..."

The blood had long since rushed to Zelda's head, leaving the rest of her body justifiably pale. Zelda wanted to see the expression on the Zonai's face, but her vision of everything had been obscured by her own dress. Soon, that changed--Zelda's dress was clutched between a massive, clawed forefinger and thumb, and was yanked downward, past the diminutive princess's arms and neck, leaving her completely and utterly exposed in the cold. Zelda squirmed even as she remained upside down, feeling more vulnerable than ever. This was no longer funny--not even a trace of comedy could be found! Zelda would ensure Sonia heard about this treatment... this wasn't how you show hospitality to family! Zelda lifted her gaze upward, intending to give Mineru a piece of her mind, Zonai be damned. Until...

Even though the beast-like woman's face was inverted, Zelda could more than make out the way a long, prehensile tongue licked her lips as her eyes remained trained on Zelda with a disturbing level of obsession.

"But is it possible...?" the Zonai seemed to murmur to herself. "The consequences for failure would be vast... but it may be the only way to return her to her original form..."

Suddenly, Zelda's world shifted. She was lifted upward so quick she couldn't even make out Mineru's expression. "W-WAIT! Lady Mineru, what are you doing?! Unhand me, please! I need to speak with Sonia! I need... huh?"

Zelda was now dangling above Mineru's wide open maw. A procession of fangs lined the Zonai's lips. The scientist spoke quickly. "My deepest apologies, Princess. This will be over soon..."

Then--

”Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh...”

"Mineru! Mineru, stop! Stop this! Put me down, this instant! H-Help!? Sonia, Rauru?! Link, someone please! Help me!! HEEEEELLL--"

Gulp...!

The moment the princess landed on her ancestor's spongy tongue, her fate was sealed. She received a face full of slobber—evidently, Mineru had been quite eager to devour her morsel--before the jowls snapped shut, leaving the princess in darkness. Zelda hadn't even oriented herself by the time Mineru threw her head back and swallowed, pushing Zelda along with the deluge of saliva in her cheeks down the Zonai's bizarrely long neck in a ride that Zelda could only describe as horrifying. Every system, pulse, thump and bump that dictated the functioning of her great aunt's body was magnified to a horrific scale as Zelda was unerringly ushered into the bubbling cauldron of soup that was Mineru's stomach.

Zelda couldn't scream. She couldn't even think. She was just... shocked. Why? Why would Mineru do this?

***

Mineru, for her part, relaxed back in her chair as something small and delectable plopped into her tummy. She allowed one slender paw to rub against it, and she released a contented sigh as her eyes closed in bliss.

"I truly am sorry, Princess," Mineru murmured, knowing the chances of Zelda hearing her were nil--assuming she was still alive, of course. "The curse itself seemed, by all measures, irreversible. But... if you were to, say, expire, and have the Recall ability utilized on your remains... that should rebirth your body free of hexes or magical ailments."

Mineru's lips curled into a smile. "Someday, Princess, you'll look back at this and laugh. I'm certain of it. But for now..." Mineru let out a yawn, and she curled into her chair as her stomach rumbled. The Zonai let her eyes rest—Sonia would come by to see her shortly, and by that time Zelda would be ready to release out the other end. "All that's left to do is wait..."