And now it's time for chapter 40, and the conclusion of Togau's latest character arc!
Togau being changed back to normal was the talk of Gerudo Town, so soon after the news that she changed in the first place. While everyone had pretty much accepted her as a Lynel for a while, they were more then happy for her that she was back to her old self.
Kesuta and Korume were a little frustrated that they weren't able to do anything to help Togau drive the Lynel's soul out from her body, but in the end they were just happy to see she was completely out of her grief. They did at least make the effort to check her body over to make sure this new power she held didn't have side effects though.
Meanwhile, thanks to the opening of the warp path at the temple, Nabooru was finally able to start sending her people into the Lost Woods to speak with the Zoras about establishing a trade route. With the help of Link and Saria's knowledge of the forest, they were able to plot out a path through the woods to the warp shrine that led to Zora's Domain, and negotiations could soon begin.
The four Desert Wolfos left over from the Hinox's gang ran off sometime after their assistance in the defeat of the Lynels and left to parts unknown. The guards would see a Wolfos or two near the town on rare occasions, but they never approached the gate or attacked anyone, and it wasn't clear if they were the same ones from the pack or not...
As for Togau herself, as fulfilled as she was now that she as free of her curse and would marry Link someday, she knew there was something else she needed to do now...
In a somewhat remote Gerudo Town residence, an older woman sat in a bed, staring out her window with a deadpan look in her eyes.
"Afternoon Ms. Tusimu, I got your medicine, courtesy of Dr. Sarami!" spoke up a voice, as the woman turned to see a Gerudo nurse from Sarami's medical clinic with a small bottle of chu jelly capsules.
"Ah, thank you..." Tusimu muttered as she looked to the nurse.
This was Tusimu, the mother of Togau and her late sister Murin, as well as the grandmother of Malon. She was falling ill from a disease similar to that of Murin's, but Sarami had vowed to do everything in her power to help Tusimu's condition, including appointing a personal nurse to bring over medicine and help with any physical tasks in her house.
Tusimu's attitude was a stark contrast to Togau's usual upbeat and outgoing personality. It all went back to the deep depression she went under after her husband's untimely death from defending his family from a band of raiders, and Murin's death shortly after that only worsened things for her. It had been many years since then, but she still felt the pain of those losses from time to time. It was especially bad right now since her late husband's birthday was coming up soon, which only served to worsen her grief these days.
"Have you been trying to get some exercise at all?" the nursemaid asked, examining Tusimu's body as she handed her a capsule to take.
"...not particularly, the pain has been too much for me to move around much at all." Tusimu muttered, taking the capsule and swallowing it with some water.
"Oh come on, it's only going to get worse if you don't try!" the nurse said in annoyance.
"I'm perfectly content with staying here until the death goddess Nerif takes me to the world of spirits." Tusimu said.
"Oh come ooon!" the nurse repeated with a pouty face, waving her fists, "Don't be such a fuddy-duddy!"
"What are you, a child?!" Tusimu exclaimed in annoyance.
"Hey Ma?" they then heard a voice call out, "Ya home?"
The two of them turned to see Togau walking into her bedroom, "Hey there Ma, how ya holdin' up?"
"Oh, hello daughter." Tusimu said, "I'm glad to see you're doing fine, especially after I heard about that Lynel curse you were inflicted with..." she then narrowed her eyes, "...which you didn't tell me about."
"Na ha ha... sorry bout that Ma..." Togau laughed nervously, "I just didn't wanna trouble ya with it."
"Hmph... so what did you come here for?" Tusimu asked as the nurse worked on taking her pulse.
"Hey comon, I just wanted ta see you!" Togau said defensively, "You tryin' ta keep yerself active at least?"
"Well actuall-" the nurse was cut off by Tusimu stuffing a beard roll in her mouth.
"I'm quite fine, thank you." Tusimu said annoyed.
Togau sighed, her mother could be stubborn as a mule about many things, and it only made her more nervous about what she had to tell Tusimu. Despite that, she decided to just come out and say what she wanted, and took a deep breath.
"So Ma, there is something I did wanna tell ya..." Togau said, she looked out the room and motioned to someone, and soon coming into her mother's bedroom was Link, he stood upright and adjusted his vest to straighten himself out, while Togau cleared her throat and spoke up.
"I'm sure ya know 'bout the future King of the Gerudo, Link? Well... he's decided ta select me as his next bride, and I'll be marryin' him someday!" Togau said with a light blush on her cheeks.
Her mother's eyes widened in shock in that moment. With her condition, Tusimu didn't get to spend much time outside of her house, so she was surprised to finally meet the king face-to-face. He was much younger then she thought, especially after everything she had heard about him and his accomplishments, and was even more shocked to hear this news about him and Togau.
The nurse practically spit out the bread roll in surprise, not having heard the news herself, "Woah, really?"
"A pleasure to finally meet you, maam. You should be proud of your daughter's work that she does for the town, and I myself have come to fall in love with her. We're here to get your blessing." Link said, bowing politely.
"You.. you're going to be marrying the king, Togau...?" Tusimu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"R-Reckon course!" Togau said, still unnerved by her mother's tone, but held her ground, "In fact... I-I also got some others to introduce ya to..."
With that, Nemisa, Kesuta, Korume and even Princess Ruto of the Zoras all came in to greet Tusimu as well. Togau took the time to introduce all four of them to her mother.
"It's good to meet you Ms. Tusimu." Nemisa said bowing, "As the bodyguard to my king, I'll be watching over your daughter as well and seeing to her well-being, you can leave her in my care."
"Our mother Koleima told us much about you in the past, that you were a great warrior of valor and might." Kesuta said.
"Togau is our beloved family now, and we hope you accept all of us within your sight." Korume rhymed with a polite curtsy.
"Yes, an honor to greet you, as I'm sure you find it an honor to greet me yourself!" Ruto spoke up with a giggle, "She accepted me into your tribe back when we first met at Lake Hylia without hesitation, and I now accept and welcome her into our royal family!"
Princess Ruto of course was enthusiastic about having the trade route established, as it allowed her to come visit Link whenever she wanted to now. She was also overjoyed to see Nemisa and Togau were now both Link's future wives, though it was a little awkward when she started trying to probe them on how he was in bed with them. At that moment though, she just stood proudly alongside the others.
Tusimu paused, seeing the six of them as they stood there. She put a hand to her chest for a second, but then clenched her hand and narrowed her brow.
"...so Togau, this means you're going to be a part of this Gerudo King's harem then...?" Tusimu asked with a stern tone, the last words seem to have been spoken with a bit of venom added to them.
"W-Well..." Toagu stammered.
Link looked to Togau who just stood there and gulped a little, as he recalled what she had told them all before they came to meet Tusimu...
Flashback to earlier that day...
"Oh, it's so good to finally talk to you like this! I haven't properly congratulated you on your engagement to my darling husband!"
"Y-Yes.. thank you, P-Princess Ruto..." Nemisa stammered to the Zora as they sat at a table.
Link and Togau, along with Kesuta, Korume, Ruto and Nemisa had all gathered at Sovan's diner to discuss what the rancher wanted to do, that she wanted to introduce everyone to her mother. After coming together, Ruto was quick to chat with Nemisa, of whom was a little embarrassed about it. Having been acquainted to speaking to royal people formally, it was difficult for Nemisa to talk to Ruto as casually as the Zora wanted to.
"Oh enough with the formalities, Nemisa." Ruto said, waving her hand dismissively, "As Link's fiance, you'll soon become a queen as well, yes? That'll make us equals!"
"Thank you Princess, but I... don't really know about seeing myself as a queen..." Nemisa said, looking to the side sheepishly.
"Are you kidding? Think of all the great perks you'll get with the royal lifestyle!" Kesuta leaned forward on the table and spoke up with a big grin, "You get to go around wearing really fancy clothes and jewelry, you'll have servants waiting on you hand and foot, and you'll get all kinds of fancy VIP privileges when you're visiting other kingdoms with Link! You can even quit your bodyguard job and spend your days being pampered by Link and your servants; just lazing around getting fat from eating whatever your heart desires, and having sex with Link constantly to birth all those children you said you wanted!"
"What?! I refuse to allow myself to live in such a sedentary lifestyle!" Nemisa exclaimed in annoyance.
"You say that now but just wait until you get the opportunity to lay on your bed all day and have servants take peeled candied grapes and feed them to you!" Kesuta said with a longing look in her eyes.
"Don't tell me that's the reason you wish to be Link's wife, sister..." Korume said sweatdropping.
"Of course not, I love my husband!" Kesuta defended herself with a pout, hugging Link around the arm tightly, "...but I also like the idea of the side benefits of royal life as well." she added with a small voice.
"So what was it you wanted to tell us about, Togau?" Link asked his newest fiance, casually patting Kesuta on the head as she nuzzled him affectionately.
"Yes, you said before you wanted us to meet your mother today, correct?" Korume asked, trying to pull Kesuta away from Link so she could hold him for a while.
Togau nodded, "Yup, but before we go, there's... a few things you outta know about her."
"What, is she allergic to fish?" Kesuta asked, pointing at Ruto.
"Hey!" Ruto shouted.
"Nah, it's just that... I don't know if she's going to approve of me marrying into our group." Togau said.
"Why not? Doe she not know about the tradition for the Gerudo King to marry multiple women?" Ruto asked.
"Well yeah she does, but that's the problem." sighed Togau, "There's something I haven't told any of you about Ma. Back when she was younger, she was a tough-as-nails warrior, and was actually selected to be one of the former king's harem of wives."
"Former king... ...wait, seriously?!" Link realized, "Your mom was going to marry Ganondorf?"
"That sounds like a match made in hell..." Korume muttered.
"So what happened then?" Nemisa asked.
"Well from what I heard from Dr. Sarami, she was pretty excited about becomin' one of the royal Gerudo queens, but Ganondorf wound up neglecting her for the longest time, favoring the more curvier and beautiful wives, before eventually tossin' Ma out on her rear end, after that he selected someone else to replace her." Togau explained.
"That's terrible!" Nemisa said scowling in anger, slamming her palm on the table.
Togau sighed and continued, "Yeah, Ma was pretty peeved off about that herself, she ended up hating the idea of the king having a harem due to girls being chosen as favorites over others. She even gave up on love for the longest time before she met Pa, because she thought she wasn't pretty enough to be a wife..." Togau's voice sounded somewhat strained when she said that last part, which Link couldn't help but notice.
"Hmph, that man was such a cruel bastard." Ruto said folding her arms, recalling what he had done to Lord Jabu Jabu back at her home, "I hope he has to feast on filthy rats in his dungeon!"
"Not while we're eating, sister Ruto." Kesuta said with a pale face.
"I think I'm beginning to see where you got some of your insecurities about your looks from." Link realized as he commented to Togau.
"Heh, ya can read me like an open book, huh Link?" Togau smiled lightly, "Yeah, Ma wasn't too much help fer my self esteem when it came ta meetin' a husband, that's the reason I wanted to bang one of those guys during our caravan trip all that time ago."
"So what happened to make you change your mind about that?" Korume asked, not having been there herself for the trip.
"Link happened." grinned Togau, "He taught me that I was plenty pretty in my own ways, and rather then just havin' a kid, that I should show off a family to Ma that I can be proud of!"
"How sweet, you and Link were like that even all that time ago?" Kesuta asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, I really took to getting along with her quickly when we were on the caravan trip, though at the time I wasn't even aware of the idea of marrying anyone, let alone all of you." Link blushed, rubbing the back of his head, "I just... you know, wanted to help her make the choice she really wanted."
"That sounds like you all right, husband." Ruto smiled as well, poking her fiance on the cheek.
"Yeah, that brings me to this; I just can't bring myself to marry Link til I get my Ma's blessing like my sis Murin and my bro-in-law Talon did. I hate to put this on you all, but I can ask for yer help to win her over?" Togau asked.
"Of course." Nemisa spoke up without hesitation, "You're part of our royal family now, right? We'll do what's necessary for your mother to accept you into this marriage."
"That's right Togau, we'll all support you in this, and we'll see to it you get to see that smile of your mother's again." Link nodded, along with Ruto and the twins.
"Thanks everyone..." Togau grinned.
With those memories from earlier recapped, Link looked to Togau, who was trembling a little, before taking a deep breath and speaking out to her mother.
"T-That's right, I'm going to be part of Link's harem of wives..." nodded Togau, "But we all get along great and care about each other, and we're all gonna work hard ta keep ourselves healthy and safe! And someday we all plan ta have kids with Link, not just to repopulate the Gerudo race, but to have and hold as a family! Link means everything to me!"
"Yes, our beloved husband even fought against a Golden Lynel to save your precious daughter, she matters just as much to him as any of us do." Ruto said, smirking lightly.
Tusimu's eyes widened, this was the first she had heard about her being under attack by a Golden Lynel. She had fought one once back when she was a warrior, and the idea that her young daughter had been in that sort of danger disturbed her. There was also a part of Tusimu that was annoyed her daughter didn't mention this information before either, but then she started to reflect on the idea that she didn't know so many things like this about Togau...
Togau herself continued to speak though, "Ma, Link thinks I'm a beautiful woman, even back when I was cursed in that Lynel form. In fact there's somethin' else you outta know..."
Togau stepped forward, took a deep breath and thrust out her arms with a shout, transforming into her Lynel form, which shocked Tusimu, the nurse and Ruto.
"T-Togau?!" Tusimu exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Oh my!" gasped Ruto, Link and Togau had mentioned her Lynel form before, but this was her first time seeing it for herself.
"This is my other self; a gift from the Lynel that cursed me." Togau continued to explain herself, "Despite how scary I was to everyone, Link always stuck with me, and treated me well. He was even just about ready to get in the sack with me back when I was still stuck like this, he cares about me no matter how I look!" she then thrust her arms out again and changed herself back to normal, "I love him so much, and I'm tellin' ya right now I'm gonna to become his queen and have his cute lil' daughters someday, alongside the others!"
"That's right, the two of us have a special bond together." Link brought up with a nod, "Just as I have a bond with Nemisa, Ruto, Kesuta and Korume. I may be marrying them all, but I vow to treat each of them equally, regardless of their looks or social status. I'll probably be picking out other Gerudo women as well to take as wives, but I assure you that no matter what happens, your daughter will always have the same place in my heart."
Tusimu stared at Link after hearing that, as the girls all blushed, slowly gathering around Link and holding him close to them, Togau included.
"I'm not really ready to have children just yet Ma, not with my responsibilities at the ranch," Togau continued, "But someday when the time is right, I want to have a daughter to show to you, and I'm sure the others will be wantin' to do the same... We're all joined together for life, and beyond that... because ya see Ma..."
Togau then grinned widely to her mother, embracing Link tightly.
"This is my family."
Tusimu sat back in surprise, looking over her daughter and her smiling face.
She then looked to the king, and their four other members of their royal family. She closed her eyes, and thought to herself for a short while. It was kind of awkward standing there for all of them, unsure of what Togau's mother would say.
"To think my daughter... would have such an absurd arrangement, to marry our king like this along with so many others..." Tusimu muttered in a quiet voice, which bothered the others a little. Togau nervously gripped Link's hand, which he squeezed back as they waited to hear what her mother had to say.
Togau's mother continued, "But to see you all here... so happy and at peace with one another..."
It was then Tusimu looked up, and the sides of her mouth slowly turned up, and everyone was in shock of her expression.
It was one of the most beautiful and radiant smiles they all had ever seen, contrasting greatly from how Tusimu had been just a moment ago. It seemed to light up the whole room, much like how Togau could take on a whole new appearance in her beast form, seeing the happiness on her mother's face was a magnificent transformation of it's own.
"...you have a wonderful family, my daughter."
Togau was at a loss for words, her eyes were wide with tears started to form, as she remembered all those years ago the last time her mother made that smile, as her sister Murin had introduced Talon and Malon to her.
"Mama..." Togau said trembling, as she rushed forward and gave her mother a firm hug.
The others watched as Togau embraced her mother, unable to hold back smiles of their own.
"That's so nice..." Kesuta said, a little misty-eyed.
"Now I see what Togau meant all that time ago, she has a lovely smile." Nemisa whispered to Link, referring to when Togau mentioned her resolve.
"I'm sorry my daughter... perhaps I have indeed spent so long in this house, that I've missed how much you're grown as a woman..." Tusimu whispered in admittance to Togau.
"Thank you Mama..." Togau sniffled, holding her close.
Kesuta and Korume in particular were enjoying the sight of the mother and daughter hugging, it reminded them of their own mother, and how proud she was when they returned back from the Spirit Temple, having broken the 'curse' on their family.
Nemisa looked on and saw the smile of Togau's mother, in some ways, it reminded her of the motherly charm of her old friend Erien from back when she was a slave. She reached up to her customized dancer top, where she had the green jewel from the music box attached to the front of it some time ago, as a constant reminder of her old friend, and her own resolve.
Ruto meanwhile, looked at the two with tears in her eyes, and a look of reminiscence. This didn't go unnoticed by Link, who remembered what she said before about her mother passing away when Ruto was a child, and the words her mother said to give the Zora's Sapphire to the man that would become her husband. Link took and held his Zora fiance closely and she leaned her head onto his shoulder for comfort.
Some time after that, the group bid Togau's mother goodbye and left, Tusimu sat back on her bed as the nurse applied some lotion to her shoulders to help soothe her cramps.
"There you go Lady Tusimu, so are you ready to eat lunch now? You must be famished after all that!" the nurse asked.
Tusimu paused, looking down at herself, then out the window.
"Nurse, do... you think I could eat outside today?"
"Oh...?" the nurse asked tilting her head, then she realized what she meant, "OH!" she exclaimed with wide eyes, "Of course Lady Tusimu! Here, let me help you up!"
The nurse went ahead and helped Tusimu up onto shaky knees, as they started the task of getting her out the door to have her meal.
"Well guess I better get back to the ranch, I gotta go round up the animals back to the barn!" Togau said as the group were going down the street back to their homes, aside from Ruto who was clinging to Link and anxious to get him into bed that night.
"Okay, but make sure you come back to the palace later tonight, Nabooru wants to hold a feast for us in honor of our engagement." Link said. He turned to the twins and added, "You girls can come too if you want."
"Whoo! Sounds great!" Kesuta cheered out.
"Ugh, first that nice lunch and now a feast tonight, I really got to watch my weight when I'm around here." Ruto sighed out with a hand to her cheek.
"Well don't worry about it Ruto, go ahead and eat up! Fish tends to be high in fat anyway!" Kesuta teased with a cheeky grin.
"Oh like you're one to talk!" Ruto snapped, suddenly turning and grabbing at Kesuta''s waist, "Aren't you the one who wants to be our husband's fat and lazy wife? You're probably already concealing some rolls under this outfit of yours!"
"Hey, let go of me!" Kesuta exclaimed with a blush.
"Kukuku... perhaps Togau should put you to work at the ranch for what you did with that prank, you could lose some of that blubber if she works you hard enough..." Korume suggested to Kesuta.
"No way! I'm way slimmer then you, sister! Maybe you outta lay off the omelets!" Kesuta shouted.
"Maybe you need to use that fire elemental power of yours to just burn off the fat from those pastries you always stuff into your mouth." Korume retorted coldly.
"This family of ours is so stupid." Nemisa groaned, only to suddenly get slapped across the rear end by Kesuta, "What th-?!"
"Don't act like you're innocent too Nemisa, not with a soft cushion like this!" Kesuta said, pointing to Nemisa's round rear.
"Hey, I'll have you know Link loves me like this, he certainly looks at it more then your nonexistent one!" Nemisa argued back.
"That's it!" Ruto shouted in a fury, "Husband, after the feast tonight we're all going to make hot love to you until we burn all the extra weight off!"
"But you girls all look just fine." Link said sweatdropping, seeing none of them even looking the slightest bit chubby, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. It looked as if either way he was going to have a busy night later...
"Guess there are some perks to being as scrawny as I am..." said Togau sweatdropping as well.
As the other girls continued to argue about their weights, Link let out a sigh and looked to Togau, the two of them then sported grins on their faces and laughed out together. After Togau's experience with changing into a Lynel, then joining up as Link's next wife, her future seemed to have changed as well, from the bleak fate she had been handed at one point to something brighter then ever before.
As they laughed though, Link thought to himself about what Togau had gone through... and something that had been bothering him since the day he arrived at Gerudo Town...
Meanwhile in the bustling town of Hyrule Market, a man was reading over his mail he had just picked up in his shop. He was known as the Happy Mask Salesman, who true to his title owned a business where he sold masks. Masks that could, as he often told others, bring happiness to all who wear them. His eyes were squinty and bore a somewhat wide creepy smile, as he took one particular letter that came from an old friend of his, Link.
"So my old friend has sent a reply so soon? Hee hee hee, interesting..."
The Happy Mask Salesman and Link went back a long way; once as a child Link worked for him as a traveling salesman of sorts, and later he was the one who helped Link change back from a Deku Scrub after being cursed so long ago using the Song of Healing, and continued to provide Link assistance to take on a dangerous threat to the land of Termina. After that adventure, the two parted and both eventually found their own separate ways back to their homeland of Hyrule.
"Ah, so the curse on the mask has been lifted and the spirit of the Lynel is at peace now. I suppose I wouldn't expect any less of him to pull it off." the salesman chuckled as he continued to read the note.
"...and the power of the headdress has become one with his friend... Hmm, a pity I couldn't reclaim the mask again, but it seems it's brought happiness to someone after all, which is truly what counts."
He paused on that note and pondered to himself, turning his gaze up at his collection of masks, settling on one mask in particular.
"The real question though... is whether you be able to handle what power is within you..?"
The Happy Masks Salesman took a sip of water and sported a somewhat eerie grin, as he went back to his mail.
"Hee hee hee... I guess we'll just have to wait and see..."
And that concludes the arc, I have to say I really liked how well I managed to make this ending work, even as observed as this arc was in general.
Next time, Link and Nabooru find themselves in a situation involving a looming threat, and Link's friend, adviser and mentor learns a little something herself...
As always, thank you for reading, and leave a like, follow comment or whatever if you enjoyed it!