Chapter 27 is here! This time Nemisa begins her plan to assassinate Jayde, but just how will it go down, and what weight will Link's words from the last chapter have on her...?

"Greetings to our esteemed guests!" shouted a slaver, standing on the theater stage of the Dark Salamander tavern, "Tonight we have an amazing show for you! The alluring exotic beauty, the red goddess of the dance, Madame Scarlet!"

The patrons of the black market auction all whispered and murmured to each other, having never heard someone like her before.

Meanwhile, Nemisa was standing behind the curtain. While dancing before an audience as Madame Scarlet wasn't out of the ordinary for her, this time it was before a crowd of mostly men. She had been able to practice her dance pretty easily by listening to the musicians rehearsal, but that wasn't the problem. The only man she had ever danced for before in the past was Link, and the idea of these men all looking at her was unnerving, she also knew among them her target was going to be watching as well. Nemisa gulped, she couldn't afford to screw this up...

It was then the curtain started to rise up, and she took a deep breath, getting into position.

As the curtain exposed her, the crowd gasped out.

"She's beautiful!" exclaimed one man.

"What a looker!"

"My, she's got some nice hips..." muttered one of the women in the crowd.

Nemisa closed her eyes and spread her arms out slowly, as the musicians started their melody, and she started to dance. Her hips swayed slowly, her arms moving up and down with the fluidity of water, her legs moved slowly with the pace of the music, and as she heard high notes her legs rose and swung out. The crowd said nothing, but sat in awe of her performance.

Nemisa took a curious glance out at the crowd, and in the near back she saw where the man she hated more then anyone, Jayde, was sitting. He was with about four other men, judging from the way they stood around him they seemed to be bodyguards, though for some odd reason all four of them wore thick scarves, perhaps a mark of their status?

She saw Jayde himself looked very much the same as before, the same handsome but despicable man she knew; the mature and calm demeanor, the clothing, the long blue hair, the thin-rimmed glasses, and the jewels that were no doubt hiding his sais. Through her graceful dance, she couldn't help but stare at Jayde, it was a grueling test for her to maintain the grace of her dance while knowing the one she hated was sitting back watching.

However, it was then she noticed Jayde looking at her intently, leaning forward and adjusting his glasses. Perhaps he was captivated by her, or did he recognize her as Nemisa? The latter seemed unlikely, as it had been about two years, and there was no way he'd think of her become a dancer, right?

As she continued on with her dance, she went noticed by one particular aristocrat in the crowd, who watched her carefully, and a small smirk formed on his lips...

Soon Nemisa could hear the music approaching it's end, and she decided to end it with a marvelous bound into the air, flipping into a somersault, making the crowd gasp out in awe, as she landed with a perfect poise on the final note.

With that, the crowd erupted into applause and whistling.

As she opened her eyes in that moment, she noted one particular man towards the back, a large burly one with an apple on his table who was giving her a standing ovation, sporting a wide grin. But she disregarded his praise, as her focus was instead on Jayde, who was clapping lightly with a small smile on his face, he gestured to one of his guards and whispered something to him. She wasn't sure what it was, but she hoped that Jayde would take the bait and allow her to meet him after the show.

"N-Nice work out there, Madame Scarlet." one of the slaver workers said, captivated by her beauty as he handed her a towel and some water.

"Thank you so much." Nemisa said, putting the towel on her shoulders to absorb the sweat from her dancing, and taking a sip of the water.

"One other thing, my boss, Mr. Jayde asked for you to meet with him in private in a bit, in order to discuss payment for your show tonight." the slaver said.

'Perfect. It won't be long now.' Nemisa thought to herself, glad her target saved her the trouble of having to ask, she then spoke up, "But of course, just notify me when he's ready to see me."

With that, she went off to her dressing room and gathered what she needed, she attached the steel bands to her wrists and legs, with the red silk of her dancer's garb hiding them underneath. She then took the gray chu capsules Sarami had provided and put one in her pocket.

"With this... I will finally have my revenge..." Nemisa whispered, she paused on that note, remembering what Link asked her earlier, but shook her head and went on her way.

"Here she is boss, Madame Scarlet." a slaver said, leading Nemisa into a backroom where Jayde was lounging on a chair, beside him was a single guard, who also wore a scarf like the others he had been with earlier. There was a single table between them, and some glasses of wine to drink from on it.

'That'll do nicely.' thought Nemisa, as much as she wanted to just attack him on the spot, she knew how dangerous he could be, and she had to wait for her chance. 'All I have to do is slip a gray chu capsule into the wine and make sure he drinks it. I can easily take out that guard right after, and then finish off Jayde himself.'

"My, a pleasure to meet the red goddess herself, Madame Scarlet." Jayde said, getting up from his seat and strolling over to her, taking her hand and giving it a gentle kiss, "The rumors of your reputation don't quite do you justice, my dear."

"The pleasure is all mine." Nemisa said in a pleasant tone, while in reality she was outright disgusted with his attempt to charm her.

"Well then, let's have a seat and we'll discuss the matter of your payment for the wonderful show you put on tonight." Jayde said.

Maybe it was just the lighting of the room, but as she sat down at the table, Nemisa couldn't help but think Jayde's hair seemed lighter then before, maybe whiter, but she put it out of her mind.

"You did an exquisite show tonight, and the patrons loved your performance, I suppose we couldn't trouble you to stay around? A lady of your beauty and grace will do nicely around here."

"I'm flattered," Nemisa said, "But this will be a one-night only show. I have other plans..."

"I suppose you will have an important future ahead of you." nodded Jayde, "Very well then, we were proposing the idea of two-hundred and fifty rupees for your show tonight, would that suffice?"

"Two-hundred and fifty? That seems off, I'm sure with the people you bring in that you could surely afford a larger sum?" Nemisa said, bating her eyelashes at him.

"Yes, I suppose." chuckled Jayde, "You drive a hard bargain, four hundred it is."

"Sounds good." Nemisa nodded.

As Jayde turned to the guard to notion them to get the payment, Nemisa took that as her chance, she pulled out the gray chu capsule she had and placed it into Jayde's wine, seconds before he turned back to her with the bag of rupees in hand. By the time he looked back, the capsule had quickly dissolved.

'Dr. Sarami, you're a miracle worker.' she thought to herself, happy to be able to trust the good doctor to produce something so helpful for her plan. Though at the same time, Nemisa felt a little guilty knowing this wasn't what Sarami had developed the capsule to use it for. Nemisa just tried to keep that out of her mind.

"I believe this will suffice?" he asked.

"Greatly." Nemsia nodded, "Now how about a toast then?" she asked, holding up her drink, "A toast to a great night, where anything can happen..."

"Sounds splendid." Jayde said smiling, holding up his wine glass.

They clinked their glasses together, and Nemisa watched intently as Jayde slowly brought the wine up to his lips...

...and then he swung it over his shoulder, causing the wine to fly out and splash to the ground harmlessly.

"Did you really think I would fall for something like that, red goddess?" Jayde asked with a smirk.

'What?' Nemisa thought with wide eyes, then spoke out loud, "I'm not sure what you mean..."

"You really thought you could lace my drink with something so obvious?" he smirked, shocking Nemisa.

"B-But how did you know I had done that...?" she asked baffled.

"Because my dear, you just told me." Jayde replied with a chuckle.

Nemisa froze up, a cold sweat trickled down her head. She was about to get up from her seat, but was forced back down by two men pushing down on her shoulders.

"Now then..." Jayde said, "It's time for my actual reason to call you here. I'm sure you're aware now of what this place really is, correct?"

"The Wyvern Keepers hideout..." Nemisa said coldly.

"Correct, and normally we sell off our slaves during the auction, but I've been asked by a certain clientele for an... off the record purchase."

Nemisa tried to get up again, but was forced back down, as she felt an odd but familiar feeling encase itself around her neck... a feeling very reminiscent of three years ago...

"No..." whispered Nemisa, realizing she had a slave collar around her neck again.

"We gladly accepted the rupees, such a large amount for a beautiful and exotic dancer like yourself. Makes me wonder what he has planned for you..." smirked Jayde.

"You.. bastard..."

Nemisa wasn't going to take this sitting down though, and in a surge of adrenaline, she flipped into the air off her chair. The guards couldn't even react in time as she kicked them both across their heads, knocking them to the ground. The other guard tried to grab her, but she swung around and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the ground. She then turned to Jayde who was still sitting calmly.

"My, such deadly fangs for a lovely one such as yourself." Jayde said, "You almost remind me of someone from long ago..." he sipped a fresh cup of wine given to him by a guard, "But I wouldn't try fighting back anymore if I were you, or..."

"Or what? You're electrocute me?" Nemisa asked, gesturing to the collar, "I'm stronger then you think, I can deal with a mild shock."

"Whoever said the collar did that?" Jayde asked, "That particular collar you wear was built from ancient Bombchu technology." he held out his hand as the guard handed him another collar like it, he then tossed it behind him and activated a small orb he had similar to the one that was used by Monsieur Adulph to keep her in line.

Only instead of causing an electric discharge, the collar exploded, causing Nemisa to gasp and freeze up.

"If you so much as try to defy me, forget a mild zap, you'll no longer have a head." Jayde chuckled, "Now prepare her to be taken away."

"No... NO!" screamed Nemisa, as she was taken by the guards and carried off, "YOU MONSTER!"

"Oh that reminds me, if you know what's good for you you'll stay quiet, so as not to attract attention. I can't have the other patrons know I'm doing special deals behind their backs." Jayde said, waving his hand dismissively..

Nemisa was in stunned silence, as she hung her head down, tears running down her face as a guard wrapped her up in a cloth, much like back when she was captured three years ago, and he carried her off over his shoulder.

'No... not again...' Nemisa thought to herself, 'He tricked me once again...'

In that moment, Nemsia wasn't even aware of where they were going exactly due to being wrapped up in the cloth, she could only hear voices around her.

"Hey, if you go that way she'll be seen by the patrons on the way out!" she could hear one of the guards say, "Take her through the prison chambers and down that one hall to the secret passage!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." the guard carrying her said.

Nemisa was carried down the halls of the prisoner's barracks towards her destination, she was too afraid to shout or even struggle with the bomb collar secured around her neck. As the guard carried her down the hallways, she could hear voices from other rooms.

"What are we going to do...? It's almost time for the auction..."

"I wish I had never met that man!"

"What use would they have for someone like me...?"

"We're doomed... we're doomed!"

"I wonder where my team is now...?"

"Mommy, I'm scared... what's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know honey..."

"Hey shut up in there!" she heard a guard shout, making the prisoners silent.

As Nemisa was carried down the hallway, she absorbed every word from who she assumed were the prisoners, soon to be slaves, that the Wyvern Keepers captured. Everything she heard felt like a blade plunged into her heart.

It was then she heard one woman shout out.

"You men are all bastards!"

Nemisa started to tremble, as horrible memories from her past flashed through her mind, her thoughts drifted to certain people she knew from years ago, her friend Erien, the other slaves in Monsieur Adulph's basement, and the sushi restaurant waitress who had been taken away by Jayde...

She couldn't even grip her wrist in that moment to collect her thoughts like she usually did. Tears ran down her eyes uncontrollably, as she recollected of all the mistakes she made that day, unwittingly sneaking into the slave hideout, attempting and failing to drug Jayde, her reckless attitude that Link called her out on...

And it was in that moment Link's words from before ran through her mind.

"Are you sure revenge is the answer to this? Do you really think it will make you happy?"

Nemisa hung her head down, and wept softly, at the realization of her greatest mistake.

'What have I done...?' she thought to herself, 'Link... I'm sorry...'

Meanwhile, Link manged to sneak back into the prisoner chambers without being caught by any guards, and arrived at the room where Aviel, Togau and Nemisa all sat, waiting for the moment to strike.

"Well good news." Link said, "I found the magic detection seal. It's been deactivated, and as far as I know, no one's the wiser."

"Alright, nice work!" Togau said.

"How about Nemisa? Did you find her yet?" Aviel asked worriedly.

"Yeah..." Link sighed, he had a light blush on his cheeks as he thought of her, and all the things she said and did to him, "She has an important mission here, but hopefully she can help us soon."

Sarami in particular didn't miss his reaction. She had a small guess as to what went down with the two earlier, and she gave a near silent giggle.

"So we ready to start then?" Togau asked grinning.

"Yeah, we just need to sneak out of here and report to Lady Nabooru before the auction starts." Link nodded.

"Link!" shouted Remo, barging into the room, carrying some things on his back wrapped in a thick cloth. Whatever they were, they were making clanging sounds.

"Remo, what's wrong?!" Link asked.

"It's bad..." gasped Remo, "Ms. Nemisa's been captured!"

"WHAT?" Link exclaimed in his normal voice as opposed to fake woman's voice, surprising some of the other prisoners there.

"No... Nemisa..." Aviel said sadly.

"Please, you must tell us what happened!" Sarami pleaded.

"One of the slaver bosses captured her and she's been sold to some rich guy! She's being taken to one of the secret exits as we speak!" Remo explained.

"Where in tarnation is this exit?!" Togau demanded.

"I just found out about it, it's down the hallway, hang a right at the end, then make an immediate left, down the hall, then make the second right you come to, you'll find a dead end, but just pull on the third torch from the left!" Remo said, "That'll open a door that leads to the secret exit!"

Link paused, he clenched his fists as he thought about the woman who just confessed to him and kissed him not too long ago, the one who promised she'd be fine, "Nemisa... we made a promise... I can't let this happen, I won't lose her!"

"Here," Remo said, setting down the bag, "I managed to get this." he opened the cloth and revealed a sword, a shield, a crossbow and an ax, "It's not much, but it's the best I could do with the weapon types you asked for."

"Nah, these will do nicely." Link said, picking up the sword and shield, "Thank you so much Remo."

"This isn't as nice as mine, but I can get the hang of it." Aviel said, aiming the crossbow upwards.

"Yeah, soon those bastards will get what's comin' to them!" Togau said.

This didn't go unnoticed by the prisoners, who were shocked to see them all with weapons.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" asked one in confusion.

"This is a prison break!" grinned Aviel, "The Gerudo are all stationed outside ready to save you all!"

"The... Gerudo?" exclaimed a Hylian, "Why would they help us?"

"Do we need a reason?" Togau asked, swinging her ax with a grin, "We ain't gonna let you folks get sold away like these bastards want, just hang on until we start the action!"

The prisoners were in awe of the Gerudo girls determination and kindness, and they all nodded to them.

"Okay, I'm going to go save Nemisa," Link said, "Remo, you get outside and tell Nabooru we need to begin the raid!"

Aviel handed Remo the crude map she drew of the Nest, "Show this to Lady Nabooru, she can probably figure it out where the other secret exits are from this."

"Alright!" Remo nodded, as he ran off.

"You girls keep low, I'll try to make it back before the guards go after the prisoners." Link told Aviel, Togau and Sarami.

"Fu-fu-fufufu... Don't worry." Sarami said, adjusting her glasses, "I'll see to it they'll pay if they try to so much as lay a hand on any of them. Just promise me when the two of you reunite that you and Nemisa will kiss and make up."

"R-Right..." Link said, wondering if Sarami somehow already knew what he and Nemisa had talked about.

With that, he turned and ran out the door with the directions Remo told him, hurrying to save Nemisa.

"Lady Nabooru!" shouted Remo, frantically running across the desert towards the Gerudo's hiding spot behind the sand dunes, "It's time! We need to launch the raid now!"

"So Link and the others did it?" Nabooru exclaimed, "Is the magic detection orb dealt with?"

"Yes!" Remo said, gasping out as a Gerudo handed him water to drink, "They also made this map for us to find the secret exits!" he pulled out the map and showed it to the Gerudo leader.

"Hmm... not much to work with..." Nabooru muttered, "There isn't much detail to it... we still don't know where the prisoners could be evacuated from..."

"Hang on, lemme see it." Reirousa said, taking the map from Nabooru and examining it closely. She then observed a more detailed map the spies had made of the exterior of the area. The muscular solider took a look up at the building, and the hills around them, before nodding to herself.

"Alright, the exits should be around here, here, here..." Reirousa said, drawing Xs on the spies' map, with everyone gathered around and observing "... here... and right here!"

"I'm... genuinely impressed!" Nabooru said wide eyed, "Nice work!"

"Uh, thanks." Reirousa said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly as the other Gerudo women complemented her, "S-So can we start smashing stuff then already...?"

"Not yet, first we have some pompous rich folk to deal with." Nabooru said, as she turned to Kesuta and Korume, "Okay, now with the magic detector seal gone, you can do just like we planned!"

"Goody!" Kesuta said, rubbing her hands together, generating some flames, "It's time those rich fools get a taste of our technique!"

"Then we'll go in and find the poor innocent souls that we seek." giggled Korume with a rhyme.

In the tavern, the noblemen and aristocrats were sitting around, sipping wine and eating some imported food the tavern had prepared for that night, patiently awaiting the slaves to be shown off for the auction.

"I wonder what slaves they'll have for us this time?" spoke one nobleman.

"I don't know, I kind of wanted that alluring dancer, myself!"

"Hopefully their supply tonight will be up to par with her."

"Yes, of course, I'm not leaving until I see something that really surprises me!" laughed one of them.

"...hey, do you all suddenly feel a chill...?" asked one aristocrat, rubbing his arms.

"No, but I do feel heated." gasped another, wiping his brow with a handkerchief, "This accursed desert weather is so unpredictable!"

"Hey, what's that?" asked one of the patrons, pointing out something over at the theater.

Everyone looked to see an orange and a blue wisp appear in the air and float around.

"W-What are they?" asked one patron.

"I don't know... they're kinda pretty though..." said his wife, leaning a little forward to get a good look at them.

"Maybe this is another show?" asked another nobleman.

They all sat and watched as the wisps started flying around, and more started to appear over time.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asked a slaver guard to another.

"Beats me, didn't know there was another show tonight." whispered the other.

As the wisps grew in number, they all stopped in motion, before floating downwards to get close to the crowd...

"Huh...?"

And then all the wisps let out a horrifyingly loud wail, as they all grew hollow-looking eyes and gaping mouths, giving off a deadly aura to them all.

The patrons sat there for a few seconds, before all yelling out in panic.

"G-Ghosts!" shouted one nobleman.

"I'm scared honey, save me!" screamed one of the aristocrats' wives as the wisps flew around them.

"Everyone calm down!" shouted a slaver, though he was just as shaken and nervous as they were, "We have this under contro-"

It was then an orange wisp floated down and wailed at the slaver, before breathing fire in his face, causing him to fall to the ground burnt and out cold.

"We gotta get out of here!" shouted a patron, as they all scrambled out of the tavern, all afraid for their lives, until all that was left was the slavers and the wisps, but once all the patrons had retreated, the wisps seemed to all vanish.

"W-What the hell just happened here?!" asked a slaver, "Master Rassan and Jayde aren't going to be happy to find out our patrons ran away!"

"What are we going to tell them?" shouted another, "That a bunch of spooks just scared them out?!"

"Hey there boys, losing business?" spoke up a voice, as the slavers turned to see Nabooru, Reirousa, Kesuta, Korume, Remo, Usaulu and a large group of other Gerudo all at the door. Nabooru held her twin scimitars with a smug grin on her face.

"It's... it's the Gerudo! What do you all want?!" shouted a slaver.

"We're here to take back our sisters." Reirousa said, holding her warhammer on her shoulders.

"And the other prisoners as well." Kesuta said, snapping her fingers and making a small ember.

"We'll give you two choices, either scurry away like dirty little cockroaches... or battle us and die." Korume said, conjuring ice spears in her hands.

"Um, please?" Remo asked timidly.

"H-Hey, it's that Brown Geckos kid, the one that brought the new slaves!" pointed out one of the slavers, "Did he get captured by those bitches?"

"S-sorry guys." Remo said, hiding behind Usaulu, "I'm working with the Gerudo now."

"The little traitorous bastard..." fumed one of the slavers.

"So what is it going to be, you going to give up, or do we need to do this the hard way?" Nabooru smirked.

"That's it, kill them all!" shouted a slaver, as they charged into battle.

"Sisters, strike them down!" shouted Nabooru, as the Gerudo charged in as well.

"Bout damn time!" shouted Reirousa, swinging out her hammer and smashing it into a slaver, before bringing down her weapon with such force that it repelled several more away.

"Die you giant bitch!" shouted a hysterical slaver, running at Reirousa with a sword, only to suddenly be scorched by a surge of fire erupting from under him, leaving him covered in soot and collapsing to the ground.

"I won't have you hurting my dear sister." Kesuta said with a grin. She looked up at Reirousa and the two nodded, before charging into more battles.

"This is insane!" shouted one slaver, "We gotta go warn the bosses!" he was about to turn when he saw a ghostly ice wisp floating there, which wailed out and exploded on him, freezing him completely over.

"Too late." Korume said to the frozen man, before going off to aide her friends.

While that was going on, the guard escorting Nemisa had just arrived outside in a guarded exit behind the Wyvern's Nest. At the exit was a few more guards and a secluded road with a fancy horse carriage stationed there, and standing by the carriage was a rich nobleman from the theater, the same one that had his eye on Madame Scarlet intently.

"Here she is." the guard said, setting down the cloth and removing it, showing off Nemisa, who was hugging herself in fear as the bomb collar was secured on her neck. She looked around for any chance to escape, but the exit was closed off in all directions except the path, and she couldn't even harm a guard without risking the collar getting activated and blowing her up.

"Very nice! She's even more a beauty from up close!" the rich nobleman said, leaning forward and getting a good look at her, as one of the guards handed him the activation orb for the bomb collar.

Nemisa shivered, he reminded her too much of Monsieur Adulph, only this time if she didn't fall into line, the punishment would be even worse then electrocution... and it only made her worry more about what he would do to her...

"Well let's get going then!" the nobleman said with a smirk, "I have big plans for you tonight!"

Nemisa shut her eyes tightly, as she started to take the first step towards her new life...

"NEMISA!"

It was then she heard a loud voice shout, snapping her out of her trance.

"L-Link?!" Nemisa exclaimed, turning to see Link sprinting right at the group, holding a sword and shield.

A guard unsheathed his sword, "Hey, what do you think you're doin-" but the guard was stricken down by Link impaling him in the throat with his sword.

"That's it, you're dead!" another guard said to Link, alongside another guard. The two were was about to cut down Link, but the Hylian swordsman lunged up and slashed them both down in single blows as well.

"H-Hey, keep back you crazy woman!" shouted the nobleman to Link in a panic, unaware of him being a guy thanks to his disguise, "I'll blow up her collar! I mean i-"

It was then that Link turned to the nobleman and glared at him, between his hood and veil were a pair of blank white angry eyes, and some blood splattered on his clothes from the dead guards.

"Give me the orb and her key, and leave, now." Link muttered in a cold voice.

The nobleman paled white and started to shake, he nervously nodded and handed Link the orb and key, hastily turned and ran for his carriage and hopping in, as it rode off in a hurry.

"Link," whispered Nemisa, the two of them now alone, "You came for me..."

"Of course I did!" Link said, he used the key to unlock her bomb collar, and then hugged her once she was free, "Damn it... I told you to be careful..."

"I'm so sorry, I was a fool..." whispered Nemisa, hugging him back.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're safe now." Link said sporting his goofy grin from under his veil. Nemisa couldn't help but smile seeing his light-hearted attitude once again.

"Listen, we're about to start the plan." Link then said, "Nabooru's going to be launching her assault on the Wyvern's Nest anytime now, and we'll need your help to fight."

Nemisa closed her eyes, thinking to herself, then giving a nod.

"Very well, but I still need to go after that man first." Nemisa said, "I can't let him escape."

"Nemisa... I really don't think-" Link started, but was cut off by Nemisa removing his veil and kissing him on the lips.

"Don't worry." Nemisa said with a gentle smile and a light blush, placing her hand on Link's chest, "I know what I have to do now."

Link was hesitant to allow her to do it at first, but it was then he saw the look in her eyes. She was no longer hesitant or worried as she was last time he saw her, now she had a look of determination and confidence, the Nemisa he knew and loved, and he felt in that moment he understood what she was doing and why.

"...all right." Link said smiling, "But for now, we'll go together."

Nemisa nodded with a smirk. She removed her dancer's hood and veil and rolled her hair up into a makeshift bun, before the two of them went running back into the Wyvern's Nest, to confront the masterminds behind the Wyvern Keepers organization...

And that ends the chapter! With her new resolve, Nemisa is ready to take down Jayde for real, but does she stand a chance? Find out next time!

Thanks again for all your guy's support. Please take the time to leave likes, follows or reviews, as those have been a major motivation for me to continue this story as long as it's been.