Hello readers, chapter 99 is finally here! It's a race to stop Link from committing an irreversible act, can Nabooru and the others figure out what's going on and stop him in time? Read and find out!
Link was slowly walking down Gerudo Canyon, towards the bridge where he intended to confront the Hylian knight who he had been led to believe killed his child-bearer Esolu. He kept getting delayed by monsters and bandits, not an uncommon sight at this time of night outside of Gerudo Town, but Link didn't show them much mercy, if any at all.
All Link could feel anymore was a sense of hatred and fury within him. He tried in the past to hold off that feeling, but circumstance kept making it come back to him. Now that Esolu was dead it seemed like he had just stopped caring, and all rational thought that would convince him to turn back was clouded under the feeling he had at that moment.
He was going to confront the knight who killed Esolu, and make him pay with his own blood.
"Hey Link!" shouted a voice. It was Aviel, flying to him with Nemisa, Saria, Reirosua and the backup guards following her, "There you are! Do you know how worried everyone is about you?!"
"..." Link said nothing, but came to a stop and stood there as Aviel landed down and took his arm.
"Come on Link, let's go back home!" Aviel pleaded.
"Yes Link," Nemisa said walking up and putting a hand to his shoulder, "Forget about this and come back to us!"
"...Esolu..." Link muttered, "He... killed Esolu..."
"No you're wrong Link, Nabooru said Esolu is just fine!" Saria said, "Please, if you just come back we can-"
"Eeeeraaaahhh!"
Link brought back his arms and suddenly drove away the three girls off of him, trying to focus on his mission of hunting down the knight. But he was stopped again when the other guards ran up to him and grabbed at his arms.
"Please your highness, don't do this!" said a guard.
Link snarled and struggled with them to break free. He managed to throw one guard off of him, but as he drove away a second guard, Reirousa ran up and decked Link across the face before punching him in the stomach. She grabbed at his shoulders and shouted out to him.
"Cut it the hell out Link!" shouted Reirousa, "We're here to help you! Now quit fightin' us and-"
"ERRAAAAHHHH!"
Link thrust up his arms and shouted out, creating a powerful shockwave that drove Reirousa and all the guards off of him. With all of them stunned by the impact, Link turned his back to them all and started going back to walking down the road again.
Saria stared out at Link and saw the blood-stained sword he was holding, thinking about the mutilated bodies she saw of the Red Jackal marauders earlier, as she remembered the strange dream she had before coming to live with Link in Gerudo Town...
…a dream where Link stood in the middle of some kind of battlefield, with numerous people lying on the ground, and his sword was stained in blood. He slowly turned his head back to show he had piercing angry white eyes.
What she saw now was a nearly perfect recreation of that dream, she knew it had been trying to tell her something about her friend. It was one of the reasons she had decided to go with him to Gerudo Town to begin with, she wanted to protect Link and stay by his side...
"What's happening to you Link...?" Saria thought.
Suddenly an arrow came down inches from Link's feet, and he turned to see Aviel nervously holding her crossbow at him. The young Gerudo's arm was shaking as she had it aimed at him.
"Link, you need to stop doing this!" Aviel pleaded, "This isn't like you!"
Link just paused and stared at the girl before him. He felt a strange sensation from within, before he shook his head and continued off down the road.
"Hraaayhhh!" Nemisa shouted out, swinging her leg out at Link, who quickly turned out of instinct and blocked it with his shield. Nemisa jumped back and went into a fighting stance, "Snap out of it you moron! I don't like having to do this, but I'll fight and knock you out if I have to!"
Link paused for a moment, staring at the girl before him, before he shook his head and went charging at Nemisa, who came at him with a barrage of kicks and punches. The young king nimbly dodged most of the attacks, but Nemisa's speed allowed her to get a few hits in. The young king swung out his sword, but she blocked it with one of her wrist bands before decking him across the face. He scowled and lunged forward, bashing into Nemisa with his shoulder, before hitting her across the face with his shield. He swung out his sword at her again, forcing her to bring her wristbands up in defense, but after a number of blocks, Nemisa found herself staggering back.
'He's way too strong compared to before...' Nemisa thought, 'Something's seriously not right here!'
Link deflected another punch she swung before giving her a forward thrust of his shield, sending her flying back and down to one knee. Nemisa was about to jump back into action, but heard a faint chipping sound, as she looked down to see her wrist bands were getting so worn out over the years she's used them that Link's brutal attacks were enough to dent and nick them.
"Uh oh..." Nemisa muttered. Link came at Nemisa, forcing her to go on the defensive, dodging a few of his attacks and attempting to block a few with her legs as well, but even her leg bands were starting to come apart. Link eventually got a swipe on her that sent her flying back.
"These things are at their limit, I can't block with them anymore..." Nemisa spoke.
But before Link could land another blow, he found his right arm and chest immobilized by a tightening feeling, and saw there was green vines wrapped around him, making it awkward to swing his sword. It had been done by Saria using the magic of her Deku Staff.
"Sorry about this Link, but you need to stop now!" Saria shouted out.
"Nice work Saria!" Nemisa said, "Aviel, try shooting him in the leg, that might be enough to incapacitate him!"
"Wha- shoot him in...?" Aviel spoke, holding her crossbow nervously as she looked to Link, tears started to swell up in her eyes, "B-But I can't do that, he's our friend and husband!"
"Our friend and husband is on the verge of starting a war!" Nemisa shouted, "Trust me, I understand how you feel, but stopping him is important too! You know as well as I do that he's a tough guy, he can take it!"
"But..." Aviel stammered.
Before Aviel could come to a decision though, Link thrust his arms out and snapped the vines apart. Nemisa tried to restrain him, but he simply forced her off and threw her away. Saria tried to send out more vines, but Link simply swung his sword and cut them away before they even came close. Aviel just stared out at as Reirousa and her guards tried to hold him down again, while he just knocked them all away with his spin attack. She shook her head, as she couldn't deal with it any more,
"Link please stop! If you keep doing this I'm... I'm... " Aviel spoke softly, before getting angry and shouting out, "I'm not going out for shaved ice with you anymore!"
The young king stopped in his tracks, surprising the others and making them think Aviel's words might have actually worked at getting through to him. Link put his hand up to his head and breathed heavily, but he shook it off and kept trying to walk down the path.
In that moment though Saria had noticed something. It had been very faint and hard to see among the red and orange rocks of the canyon at night, but she could had sworn she saw something familiar come from Link when he breathed.
"I wonder... could he possibly be...?" Saria pondered, she turned to Aviel and Nemsia, "Listen, we need to go back to town, I think I might know what's going on! I just need to check something out to make sure, and I'm going to need Sarami's help to do it!"
"But what do we do about Link in the meantime?" Nemisa asked.
"You guys go on back to town!" Reirousa said, pulling out her Bombos Warhammer, "We'll keep Link busy for however long ya need!"
"Are you sure about this?" Nemisa asked, "He's on a rampage right now!"
"Well then me and the girls will just go on a bigger rampage!" Reirousa said going into her fighting stance, "Now go!"
Aviel, Nemisa and Saria were all hesitant, but nodded and ran off back to Gerudo Town, leaving Reirousa and the other guards to deal with Link. They had him surrounded in a circle to keep him from escaping.
"King Link, please step down!" shouted one guard, "You remember me don't you? I was the head of the backup guards who accompanied you on your caravan trip through Gerudo Plains with Sister Togau!"
"Yeah, I was there too!" said a guard to the left, "We know you're not like this! We had fun traveling with you, playing in the oasis, hearing you play that cute song by the campfire... we want you back to the way you were!" she pleaded.
Link snarled and clutched at his head, feeling faint memories from within. But he remembered the knight he hated so much once again and shouted out, running at the girls and knocking them all away with his shield and sword attacks.
"That's it..." Reirousa fumed, she came right up to Link and decked him across the face. She reached back and grabbed him by the back of his head, before she bashed his face into the ground. The guards flinched at every painful blow Reirousa gave him.
Before Link could recover, Reirousa grabbed him by his arms, lifting him into the air and making him drop his sword, "You're coming back with us Link! I don't care what you think of me, we're gonna get you home and back to yer old self!"
Link paused for a few moments staring at Reirousa, but then narrowed his eyes at her. Reiroussa was surprised to see his blank white eyes and the strange markings on his face. She had never seen this side of him before, though she recalled Aviel had mentioned something about it before. She always thought it was just Link being a bad-ass, but this seemed like... something else.
The young king pushed himself away from Reirousa and quickly swung his legs up, kicking her across the face and making her let go of him. He landed to the ground and picked up his sword, and shouted out in rage as he stood before the general.
"So that's how it's gonna be huh?" Reirousa scowled, wiping some blood from her cheek, before grabbing and throwing her vest off her shoulders. She took her warhammer to fight with, "Alright then, I'll show you some more tough love! Come on girls!"
Link shouted and charged right at Reirousa and the guards with his sword and shield, as the battle unfolded. There was a great clash of steel as Reirousa and the guards fought Link with all their strength. Every time Reirousa managed to deliver a blow to Link, she swore she could feel the same pain. It was perfectly understandable why Aviel couldn't bring it to herself to hurt Link, it hurt her to do it as well.
"I'm just gonna have to be the one to do it then, so they don't have to..." Reirousa muttered, as she ran forward at Link.
She swung her hammer down at Link, but he dodged to the side and managed to slash her with his sword. Reirousa was able to endure the hit and bash Link in the stomach with her warhammer, sending him flying back. Reirousa then loaded a bomb into her hammer and swung it down on him before he could even get up, causing a large explosion that made Link shout out in pain. This gave the other guards the chance to run over and hold him down.
"Please King Link, snap out of it!" a guard shouted, along with the others.
Link gritted his teeth as he heard the voices calling out to him, but he shouted out with fury as his body seemed to surge with great energy.
"What the hell?" Reirousa exclaimed.
Link released the energy force that knocked all the guards off of him. He got himself up and glared at Reirousa and the girls. His mind was growing more hazy with fury, and he was having a hard time understanding who these women were and why they kept making him feel strange. But they were preventing him from killing the knight he was after, and he needed to deal with these obstacles in his way.
Reirousa watched as Link swung out his sword, ready to keep battling them. She squeezed the handle of her hammer and gulped somewhat nervously.
"Alright... bring it then Link!" Reirousa shouted, running at him along with the guards.
Some time later it was all over, Link gasped out, he looked out to see the fallen warriors who had just attacked him. They were all laying on the ground motionless, including the large muscular one who kept making him feel weird sensations in the back of his mind.
He aside those strange thoughts, and turned to resume going down the path towards his single-minded goal...
"Captain, I have a report!"
A Hylian knight solider came running up to Captain Andreas at the bridge to Hyrule Field and saluted. They were stationed there to stop Link from crossing onto Hyrule territory, through any means necessary. By his side was Link's friend and lover, the Hylian lady knight Ashe. The tall captain himself narrowed his eyes and nodded,
"What is it, scout?"
"We've just located the Gerudo king on his way here, approximately five thousand seven hundred and fifty meters away!" the scout said, "He ran into some monsters and bandits on the way, but he struck them all down effortlessly!"
Ashe closed her eyes, in deep thought of just what Link could be trying to accomplish.
"Hm, I see..." Andreas pondered. He licked his lips ever-so-slightly at a thought going through his mind, before he then asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Well actually, there is something very unusual on the road to here... and I'm not sure how to describe it..." the scout said.
"Huh?"
Link was walking down the road, having left behind the strange warrior women that had attacked them. For some reason Link felt a tinge of guilt over striking them all down, but kept going.
As he got closer to the area where the bridge was, he felt a presence, and looked up to see before him another large group, but this was something far different from the monsters and people he encountered on the way.
These were strange machines with spider-like legs and clamps for hands. They had single eyes not unlike that of ancient Beamos traps frequently seen in dungeons. Their eyes were glowing red as they all looked right at Link.
'Wiiihihihihhihi! How do you like my custom build now, false king?!" shouted a voice. Link looked up to a peculiar woman standing on the edge of a small cliff.
She had a bizarre bronze helmet on her head with small metal tendrils sticking out from it. She had on a pair of green goggles, and wore a bronze belt around her waist. She had her arms folded and sporting a wide grin.
"You remember me dontcha? I am Engineer Meokuro, the greatest of the Gerudo geniuses!" the rebel Gerudo woman shouted, "You've interfered with the Ebony Sisterhood long enough, now I'll destroy you with my new line of Beamos Walkers and their buffed stats!"
Link stared out at all the Beamos Walkers, as they focused their sensors on him. He saw red beams of light pointing out like they were locking onto him. Two of the walkers charged up and fired off their beams, but Link quickly evaded each beam that came at him and charged in to fight the walkers. More of them shot off beams, and Link managed to dodged and roll out of the way from each shot.
"Jees, does he have Sneak 100 or something?! Hurry and blast him already!" shouted Meokuro, "Just spam your attacks!"
The Beamos Walkers charged and fired more lasers at Link, this time one managed to nick him a little while two more then blasted into him. He blocked one beam with his shield, but another managed to hit Link and knock the young king back to the ground.
"Wiiiihihihihi!" laughed Meokuro, "Guess I was too much for ya, huh false ki-?"
"GRAAAAHHHHH!"
Meokuro looked down in surprise to see Link force himself up to his legs, and she saw the blank white rage in his eyes. Meokuro was baffled, she had never expected to see him acting like this. She could only watch as Link charged forward and started bashing and smashing away the Bemaos Walkers that attacked him. A few managed to hit him with lasers, but he continued destroying them with absolute fury in his eyes.
"The hell...?" Meokuro thought.
She recalled back when she and Link fought back at her factory, and how determined he was to stop her plans. But she had never seen him reacting as furious as this before. In the back of her mind, she remembered when the factory was blowing up, and the words the false king said to Meokuro when he saved her from the room they had battled in...
"Ugh... what are you doing...? Why are you saving me...?"
"Because you need my help."
Meokuro stood there, lost in thought about the compassion he had given her despite all she had done to him and his friends... But then she remembered why she was here, and shouted out to the Beamos Walkers.
"S-Stop him! Keep up the tower defense strategy and don't let him through!"
The Beamos Walkers all charged and aimed their lasers right at Link for a combined attack, though the king didn't even seem the slightest bit fazed, as he readied himself for their next attack...
"Thank you all for coming here," Dr. Sarami said, "I felt it was important all of you should know what's going on with Link-honey."
Link's friends were all sitting down at the dining room of Gerudo Palace, all focus was put on Sarami, along with Saria, who had some glass bottles in front of them.
After Aviel, Nemisa and Saria all returned to Gerudo Town to report what had happened, Saria immediately went off to go get Sarami to help her with some research she needed for a theory she had about Link's situation. Togau, Kesuta and Korume had also came to join them, Togau in particular was sniffling with tears running down her face.
"So what the heck's going on? What's happened to our husband?" Kesuta asked desperately.
"I don't know Kesuta!" sobbed Ruto as the zora and fire mystic were hugging each other along with an unwilling Korume.
"Please let go of me." Korume muttered having her face pressed against Ruto's large chest.
"That's just what we've been working on finding out..." Sarami said with a heavy heart, as finding out about Link's situation was painful for her as well.
"Okay, so what did you have to tell us then?" Impa asked. Standing beside her was Sir Lackey and Sir Knave at attention.
"Yes, what the heck happened to my sworn brother?" Darunia asked.
"Well when me, Aviel and Nemisa were trying to bring back Link, I saw something unusual about him..." Saria said, "The more worn out he was getting, the more I noticed he was breathing some faint yellow mist from his mouth."
"Huh?" exclaimed all the Gerudo women.
"Yellow mist? Are you certain?" Nabooru exclaimed.
"Yes, that's why I thought we should check something from back at the nightclub." Saria said, gesturing to Sarami.
"Take a look at this." Sarami said, showing them a bottle with some remains of food and bone inside it, "This is what was left of Link's appetizer platter that the supposed waitress served him when she gave him Reirousa's note. Me and Saria did an extensive examination of the contents, and sure enough she was right. We found traces of two familiar compounds inside of it, specifically FZ-501 and the neuron-hypnotic substance."
"Uh... which means what?" Darunia asked rubbing his head.
"The power tonic and the hypnotic candy..." Korume gasped out, "The same drugs the Ebony Sisterhood rebellion have been using against us!"
"So that explains it all." Nemisa spoke sadly, "The power tonic is capable of enhancing one's strength beyond it's limits. It's no wonder Link is acting like that, and was able to overpower all of us."
"Yes, it seems there was a large amount of both within the sauce the food was marinated in. The chefs at the nightclub didn't know anything about it, so it's likely the waitress slipped the formulas into his food before she brought it out to him with Reirousa's note." Sarami said.
"This also explains how he was led to believe Esolu was murdered." Nabooru spoke, "Especially after what I was just informed about by the patrol guards..."
"Poor Christine..." sobbed Togau, "It's bad enough the bastard behind all of this drugged Link to make him flip out, but they went and killed her and her poor little ol' kid!"
"Wait, who's this Christine?" Darunia asked, wondering if Link really did see a pregnant woman die.
"It's not what you think, according to some patrol guards, they found an abandoned house in the back of town with a rather unsettling scene... a dead goat was found in there, it was wearing silk garments like Link's child-bearers wear, and from the looks of the wound it was cut open by a sword." Nabooru explained.
"A... goat...?" pondered Lackey, "Oh, that was the goat Ms. Togau was looking for the other day!"
"Yeah, I was worried about her a lot since she was pregnant." Togau said wiping a tear from her eye before slamming her fist on the table, "I ain't gonna forgive the bastard who did this to her and Link!"
"Yes, I think I see what's happened now..." Nabooru spoke, "Whoever is behind all of this must have kidnapped Togau's pregnant goat and stole Sir Knave's clothes to impersonate a knight. They then drugged Link with the food and captured him, tricked him into thinking the goat was Esolu through hypnotic suggestion, and killed it while wearing Knave's outfit to make him think a Hylian knight did it."
"That's right, it's no wonder Link's acting like this." Saria said sadly, "After witnessing something as horrible and traumatizing as that, the power tonic induced all that rage within him to make him lash out like he is..."
"But why do all of this?" Ruto demanded, slamming the table with both hands while tears continued to run down her face, "What sick monster would go through all this trouble just to make Link want to kill a knight?"
"It must be the Ebony Sisterhood!" Kesuta said, getting angry at the thought as the end of her ponytail surged with flames, "This must be some evil plan of theirs to get Link killed!"
"...I'm not so sure about the rebels being behind all of this..." Nabooru said cryptically, "But what matters right now is stopping Link before he get to the bridge!"
"Right, Reirousa and the guards are holding him off for now, but if he really is affected by the power tonic it won't be for much longer." Nemisa said.
"Me and Granny are working on a countermeasure to the power tonic. It works well enough on animals, but we're still having setbacks as far as the way humans are affected." Sarami sighed.
"Um, there is something else that's bothering me..." Aviel spoke up, "I've seen what the power tonic does to people, but I don't think that's all Link is getting angry from... I saw his eyes, they weren't red like the tonic did to the Hinox and that miner lady, his eyes were pure white."
"That's a good point..." Nemisa realized, "But why would that happen?"
"I'm not certain, but I think it's because there's something else within Link..." Saria said, "Something much more dangerous than even the rebel's power tonic."
"Wait a minute, that power I felt before..." Kesuta spoke, "You felt it too, right Sister?"
"Yeah, we sensed it back when we first met him. We didn't know what it was, and we still don't know now." Korume said, "But we saw a sample of it back when we fought Twinrova at the Spirit Temple. I'm afraid of what it's turning Link into..."
"..." Nabooru reflected on that note in deep thought, but then a guard called out to all of them,
"Lady Nabooru I have urgent news!" a guard said, "The king's child-bearer Esolu has escaped out of the palace!"
"WHAT?!" shouted everyone in the room.
"You've got to be kidding me, how the hell did she manage to do something like that?" Nabooru exclaimed.
"The other child-bearers were all in a panic over what happened to Link, and while the guards were trying to calm them down, we believe Esolu snuck out in the confusion." the guard said.
"Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up with them after all." Nabooru said slapping her forehead.
"You don't think she's going out to track down Link do you?" Nemisa suggested.
"Oh no no no!" Sarami said in a panic, "She can't go out like that in her condition and on a cold night like this, she needs warmth and rest! We have to find her immediately!"
"But what about Link?" Aviel asked, "Reirousa can't hold him off forever, and he's getting closer to the bridge!"
"Don't you worry little lady!" Darunia stated, "If it's too dangerous for us to do anything about Link, then me and my son will go find that woman!"
"I'll assist too. I have some medical knowledge to help Ms. Esolu when we find her." Vekai said adjusting her root glasses.
"Me, Tatl and Tael will go look too!" Skuld said, "They can go flying around to make finding her faster!"
Sarami's eyes lit up at the words of them all, "Thank you, Goddess Aifet bless you all!" she said with relief, happy to be able to relay on others like this in such a time of crisis, just like Link always told her.
"Very well, then we're all going to head out to the canyon to stop Link." Nabooru said, "I have an idea, we'll cut him off at the pass before he can even reach the bridge and ambush him."
"Huh? How are you going to do that? The canyon's just one long road." Ruto asked.
"Don't worry, we have just the way." Nabooru smirked.
"I've never seen this road before." Togau said as she,Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Sarami, Kesuta, Korume, Impa, Knave and Lackey were all walking along a long narrow path behind the canyon.
Nabooru spoke up, "That's because I created it using the Sand Rod the last time I had it. I figured we may need an alternative path through the canyon to make our travel to Hyrule Castle simpler. Luckily I never told Link about it yet, as he's been taking the longer route through the main path." they started going on an upward hill that was leading up to near the top of the cliffs, "And there's an area up ahead I made to use as a camp spot, it will give us a good vantage point to plan our ambush."
"Heh, ever one step ahead, aren't you Lady Nabooru?" Nemisa said with a smirk.
"Thanks again for coming to help us Lady Impa!" Saria said bowing her head.
"Well it's the least we can do, since the culprit used Knave's equipment to fool Link." Impa said.
"I'm so sorry..." Knave pouted, clutching at his poncho for decency.
"Don't worry about it Knave, this isn't your fault." assured Lackey, "For now we have a mission to do."
"R-Right..." Knave nodded.
Not long after that they arrived at a small clearing that was covered by the rocky walls and impossible to see from the bottom or anyone on the other side of the canyon. The Gerudo immediately started setting up their base of operations there. Sarami had prepared a great deal of medical supplies to help with Link and whoever got injured, as well as some sleeping mats to rest them on.
"Hey, you can even see the bridge from here!" Aviel said running up to the ledge and peering down at it, she noticed the secret path that led from their camp site that went all the way down to the main road. There was some large rocks around the very end of the new path to hide it. She focused on the bridge and the people there, "Looks like there's a lot of Hylian guards for just guarding a bridge."
"You're right Aviel, even Captain Andreas of the Hylian Parliament is here, and they all seem prepared for battle..." Impa said looking out at the knights herself, recognizing the captain among them.
"Strange, it's almost as if they already had knowledge of what was going to happen." Nabooru spoke suspiciously, "Something's not right here..."
"Hey, I see Sister Ashe down there too!" Aviel said, looking down at the army with her vision enhancing goggles, "Oooh, I wish I could say hi to her!"
"Ashe you say? I've heard about her, she's been making quite a name for herself as a knight." Impa nodded, "Some are even saying she's already on her way to being promoted to General."
"I'm not sure if this is good or bad for us." Nabooru said, "She could help Link back down, or knowing her assertiveness she might make things harder..."
"Then I'll see what I can do to convince them to back down instead." Impa said running off with Knave and Lackey.
"Thank you for this!" Aviel said waving her bird wings happily.
Nabooru smiled at Impa's kind effort to assist them, despite her accusation from earlier towards her knights. At times Nabooru felt a true companionship between her and Impa that went beyond any petty deputes.
"Lady Nabooru, we spotted Link coming down the road!" said a spy, prompting the girls to hurry over to the spot the spy told them.
Sure enough they saw Link walking down the path. Blood was dripping off his sword as he walked. Some more Lizalfos came to attack him but he quickly and effortlessly cut them all down. Even two silver Lizalfos rushed out at him, but he brought up his Quake Medallion and slammed it to the ground, causing a shockwave to stun the lizards, before running them through with his blade.
"Woah, I remember it took all of us once just to beat one of those things... that power tonic must be doin' a number on him..." Togau muttered sadly, though for some reason the way he was acting made her think of something familiar...
"Damnit, I didn't realize he had the Quake Medallion on him as well..." Nemisa spoke, recalling she was the one who gave it to him. While it had served Link well the past, she was aware of the toll it took on his body to overuse. He must have been using it during their fight as well, which would explain the strange force he gave off.
"Oooh... I really hope Reirousa and the guards are okay..." Aviel spoke worriedly.
Nabooru said nothing, but watched Link carefully. She couldn't see the look in his eyes from how high up they were, but she could tell from his movements and fierce attacks just how serious he was about going after the knight.
If he really was under the influence of the power tonic and hypno candy he'd be difficult to stop. She recalled past opponents they fought that had been given the tonic, including the Hinox from the warp point, Boss Faurugo from the Hall of Knowledge, and the unfortunate Moblin Togau fought at Meokuro's factory... in particular how Togau had strike that last one down to stop him...
"The question is, can he truly be stopped and saved...?" whispered Nabooru, she found a single tear went down her cheek as she thought about a certain man she knew from her past,
"...or will we be forced to put a stop to him... for good?"
"Ugh... mission failed..."
Meokuro groaned out as she laid in the middle of the path down the canyon. Scattered around her was the remains of the Beamos Walkers she had built to destroy Link.
"He was way too powerful, Mother Eclipsis won't be happy to hear about this..." Meokuro muttered, thinking about what the rebel leader might do to her for this.
As the rebel mechanistic laid there, too weak to move, a large figure came up casting a shadow from the moon's light overhead. Curiously, Meokuro looked up to see who is was.
"Huh...?"
"Excellent. He's already on his way there." spoke a voice standing on another ledge overlooking the path across the canyon, a far distance away from where Nabooru and the Gerudo were.
It was a tall man with long black hair and wearing a silver cloak, and on his face was a monocle that resembled a clock. He was accompanied by two others; a slender woman with squinted eyes wearing a red chinese-style battle dress, and beside her a large heavily-muscular man with a ponytail.
It was Chaplain Iktiakh and his companions Jianya and Omaldak. They were members of the religious organization known as the Order of Reyahm. Back in the Rito village of Dhaijialoft they had attempted to aide the storm dragon Geelorokhi in regaining his lost power, but they were thwarted by Link, Aviel and their friends.
They were now all carefully watching as Link was going along the route. They had just witnessed Link defeating Meokuro and the entire group of Beamos Walkers that had gotten in his way, and he was continuing on without hesitation.
"My, my, he's so much stronger then before!" gasped Jianya the acrobat.
"..." Omaldak the muscular monk said nothing, but watched Link carefully as he struck down a Leever monster in his way before continuing on.
"It won't be long now before he finally gives in to the power within him." Iktiakh spoke, he turned to a fourth person behind them, the Gerudo waitress who had worked with Reirousa and Saria in making the note to meet with Link, "And it's all thanks to you, my friend."
"It was my pleasure. Infiltrating the Gerudo's town was difficult, but I always love a good challenge." spoke the waitress with a bow.
She took her outfit and pulled it off to reveal herself now as the male Hylian knight who impaled the pregnant goat in front of Link. He then pulled off that armor to reveal himself to look almost exactly like Reirousa, albeit a little shorter, with a armor plate painted to resemble her bulky physique. He then pulled off those garments, showing his true self to the three.
The man was of average height, very slim-bodied and with pale skin. He had short black hair and had red circles painted on his cheeks, while his lips were painted a light blue. The clothing he wore was a red and white striped vest with white sleeves, and he also wore thin black pants.
"It pleasures me to take advantage of the trust and love between others to decisive them." chuckled the man, "It's truly a demonstration of my talents as a quick-change artist!"
"Yes, if anyone could trick the Gerudo King it would be you, Marceau the Mirror." Iktiakh nodded.
"I regret wasn't able to capture the woman I wanted to use for his awakening, but I found a decent substitute at their livestock ranch. It just required a little work with my disguise skills." chuckled Marceau, "And of course finding a means of manipulating him into thinking I killed her and their mutual offspring."
"Huh...?" Jianya asked in surprise, looking to Marceau, "You mean you tricked the Gerudo King by making him think you killed a mother and their child?"
"Yes, it was a fitting means of bringing out the inner power Iktiakh told me about. I had to make a few deals with a shady group of women to get a hold of the drugs I needed, but the results were far better than I could have thought! Myeheheheh!" Marceau spoke with a laugh.
Jianya paused, and looked down to see the complete anger Link was in as he cut down another monster attacking him, "All this... because of that woman and her child..."
Iktiakh reached into his cloak, pulling out a red orb with makings on it and held it upwards.
"And once his power is brought out, we shall seal him away within this orb just as we were going to do with that dragon Geelorokhi, so that when the time is right, he may emerge as a new perfect god in our great new world!"
Chaplain Iktiakh smirked as he looked in the direction of Gerudo Town.
"In addition, those Gerudo who meddled with our affairs back in Dhaijialoft... they shall pay for interfering in our plans with their lives. When their king slaughters the knights at the bridge, the Hylian army will show them all no mercy." he spoke.
"And all in full view of the Captain Andreas." nodded Marceau, "Your associates did well in contacting him in time to be a witness to it."
As she listened to their conversation, Jianya found herself thinking of Aviel, the young bird girl who had defeated her in battle those months ago, and even spared her in the end. She recalled back when she heard the Gerudo girl's vow to protect the rito child she had captured as a hostage.
"No... I'm not running away... I'm going to protect you Pecoli, just like I promised!"
Jianya felt a strange sense of uncertainty in the back of her mind. She wanted to help the Order to satisfy her debt to them, but found something was still nagging at her conscious. She tired her best to hide that uncertainty, but Omaldak still noticed regardless.
"At last, on this night, the power deep within the Gerudo King will be awakened," Chaplain Iktiakh said with a smirk, "The great force of fury that was lost to us ages ago..."
"The power of the Fierce Deity!"
And that ends this week's chapter, now that the true culprit behind all of this has been revealed, what can Nabooru and the Gerudo do to stop Link? Will they be able to save him, or will they have to put an end to him...? Find out next week in a climatic chapter 100!
Whew, can't believe I'm finally approaching my 100th chapter of Heart of the Desert. I honestly didn't even think this story would make it to 50. It's all because you guys that have pushed me to keep writing this and see it through to the end. There's still so much more to go, and I hope you guys keep reading!
As always, leave a like, follow, comment or even drop me a PM if you choose to! Your support is always encouraged!