Next chapter, this time our heroes have entered the Hall of Knowledge, but what secrets await them there, and will the knowledge they find there truly just come from books...?
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Reirousa, Halei and the backup guards all made their way into the room that had previously been sealed off by the last riddle that Link solved. They all stood in awe of the place; while the Gerudo Library was quite large enough and filled with many forms of literature, the Hall of Knowledge made it look like a market magazine rack. The shelves went up high into the air, and each of halls stretched out as far as they could see.
"Oh wow..." Aviel muttered, looking up so high she staggered backwards, but was caught by Link because she could fall down.
"There's so many books here..." Halei said longingly with sparkling eyes, "I could spend my whole life here..."
"It's a shame we have to just get one then." Nabooru said, snapping Halei out of her trance, "We need to find the book, 'Gerudo Blood Alchemy Arts' as soon as we can so Dr. Sarami can find out what was going on with that savage Hinox."
"Ah... yes..." Halei said with a small pout.
The group went to looking over the shelves, consulting what information Halei could give them to make finding the book they needed faster.
"Is this one it?" Aviel asked, holding up a tome to Halei, who was currently sitting at a table to check over her notes and the various books brought to her.
"No, that's a copy of Roads of Ikana, n historical piece about the rules of the distant valley of the Ikana and the battle of-"
"Okay, okay, I'll go find another one!" Aviel said, throwing the book away as she went running off, leaving Halei to quickly catching the book to preserve it.
"H-Hey, be careful!" Halei shouted to the bird girl, but she didn't seem to hear it as she went back to searching.
"How about this one...?" Saria asked, holding it up to Halei.
"Ah no." Halei said, taking the book and flipping it over, revealing Saria had been holding it upside down, "This is a light novel on the expedition of the frog prince Richard."
"Oops." Saria said sweatdropping, "Sorry, I can't read Gerudo text very well."
"Are any of these it?" Reirousa asked, walking up to Halei and Saria while holding a stack of twenty seven books effortlessly.
"Don't carry them like that, they'll get damaged!" Halei exclaimed.
"I think these are already pretty damaged as they are." Nabooru spoke up, pulling a book from a shelf and opening it, only for the pages to fall out in tattered shreds.
"You'd think this place would had been designed to make these books last." Link muttered.
"No..." muttered Halei, examining a book Reirousa had given her, "The shelves are expertly designed... and this interior should have protected them from wear and tear... But the damage these books have experienced look more... recent." she ran a hand along one of the pages of the book.
"You're saying someone might have come here before us recently?" Nemisa asked.
"Perhaps." nodded Halei.
"Maybe it was bandits?" Link asked, "We've had our share of thieves trying to steal Gerudo treasures in the past."
"It's a possibility, though if it was I'm surprised they were able to get past the riddles at the entrance." Nabooru pondered.
Meanwhile Aviel was rummaging through some books, she found one in particular and went running over to Halei, "Wait, I think I might have found it!"
"Oh! Let me see..." Halei said looking it over, "No, this is just a cookbook."
"Well, a cookbook is kind of like alchemy, right?" Link pointed out with a cheeky grin.
"Yes, but a lot more dangerous." Nemisa said, taking the cookbook from Aviel and reading it herself.
"I dunno about that, remember that time Togau tried to make stew for Link and it-" Aviel spoke up.
"Don't talk about that again, the servants were scrapping food off the ceiling of the palace for a week after that." Nemisa said annoyed.
"Speaking of cooking, I'm starting to get hungry." Saria said, pulling out a lunch box from her traveler's bag "Maybe we should all take a break to eat?"
"Sounds good to me." Nabooru nodded, "We'll continue searching afterwards."
The group had sat themselves down at a long table to eat their lunches they all had brought for the trip. Most of the group's meals consisted of food prepared by the palace cooks, though some of them like Aviel and Reirousa had brought takeout from the diner Sovan worked at. Halei herself though was just nibbling on some rice crackers while she was consulting the books the others had recovered.
"Is that all you're eating?" Nabooru asked Halei.
"Y-Yes, I'm not too hungry." Halei said, only for her stomach to give off a growl.
"You sure about that?" Nabooru raised a skeptic eyebrow.
"Um..." Halei didn't say anything else, but just buried her face into a book to hide her embarrassment.
"Here, why don't you eat up?" Link said, taking a small portion of his lunch and handing it to Halei.
"B-But I couldn't accept that... I mean, you're the King of the Gerudo... I'm just a commoner of the town an-" Halei stammered nervously, but her stomach growled again in protest of her refusal.
"Don't worry about it. I may become your king soon, but I don't want you to treat me differently then anyone else. You're doing a lot for us by coming out here, so enjoy the little pleasure in life." Link said with a grin.
"... ...okay, thank you," Halei said, sporting a small smile as she took a bit of the food portion Link gave her, though she seemed somewhat distant as well, "It's really good..."
"So I've been meaning to ask, but where did you get that cute hat, Halei?" Aviel spoke up, deciding it was a good time at that moment to bring up her bunny hood.
"Um, well... it was a gift..." Halei muttered, rubbing her hood's ear absentmindedly while she tried to think of the right words to say.
"It looks familiar, I think I remember Link wearing something like that once before himself..." Saria pondered with a small smile.
Link flinched a bit with a light blush on his cheeks, while the other girls perked up with big grins on their faces.
"Oh really?" snickered Nemisa, "Please, do tell us the information Saria."
"It was back when he was on his quest as a child. He came up to me one day wearing a hood like that, asking if I was interesting in buying it!" Saria giggled, "He looked really cute wearing it too!"
"Aw, I wish I could have been there to see that!" Aviel said.
"Would you let us borrow that hood for a second, Halei? I wanna test something." Nabooru said with a snicker as she looked to Link.
"I, um... don't really like taking it off..." Halei said embarrassingly.
"Yeah, how about no!" Link exclaimed. He then sighed and rolled his eyes, "You remember what I said before about being a traveling salesman for that mask-selling friend of mine?" he asked, referring to back when Togau had been transformed by a Lynel mask, "He hired me go out and sell that bunny hood to anyone willing to buy it."
Halei's eyes lit up when she heard Link's words.
"I wound up selling it to this one guy who runs around Hyrule Field all day, and for some reason he was overjoyed to have a mask like that, never really figured out why." Link continued, scratching his cheek.
"T-That..."
It was then everyone looked to Halei, whose head was lowered. The ears of her hood were hanging down over her eyes, but it was clear some tears were starting to fall from her face.
"Halei...?" Saria spoke up, "What's wrong?"
"That must have been my father..." Halei said softly.
"Your father...?" Link asked.
"Um, yes..." Halei trembled, "My father is a very energetic man, and he works as a traveling postman for Hyrule. Since I was little growing up in a Hyrule village, I've always loved rabbits, but mom is allergic to them, so I could never have one of my own. Father gave this bunny hood to me as a birthday gift just before... before..." she reached up and rubbed the ear of the headpiece, trying to force herself to speak up.
"...you were exiled." Nabooru instead finished for her upon realization of where she was getting at.
Halei simply nodded.
Link was pretty surprised to hear this news, it now made sense to him why that running guy would be so enthusiastic to get the bunny hood, and how much he had been willing to pay Link for it. Link could tell he had definitely been a good father to Halei, and found himself taking that moment to think about how important a father's love for their child could have on them...
"You going to be okay...?" Aviel asked sympathetically, putting a hand to Halei's arm.
"Maybe it'd help you feel better if ya told us a little more bout yourself?" Reirousa proposed.
"Yes, since you're still relevantly new to our people, I'd like to hear it too." Nabooru nodded.
"O-Okay, it's probably not as tragic or epic as you expect from the backstories of others... but I'll tell you..." Halei said, gulping a bit, feeling more nervous at everyone looking to her.
"My mother met my father while vacationing in the country of Fargent, and after I was born we lived there for my early years," she started, "We eventually decided to move to Hyrule just about ten years ago, where Father took a job as a postman. Unfortunately it wasn't too long after that until the Hylian vs Gerudo war. We couldn't make the attempt to move back to Fargent without getting caught by the immigration patrol, so we hid out in the village for seven years." Halei explained.
"But why wouldn't they just let you leave for Fargent then?" Aviel asked.
"From what I recall, the banishment law also forbids Gerudo from moving to other countries, it was to keep our people from staging foreign revolts against Hyrule." Nabooru explained.
"Fargent... isn't that the country you mentioned before?" Link asked, "The one whose prince is engaged to Princess Zelda?"
"That's right." nodded Nabooru, "Last I heard she's set to marry the prince in about two months from now."
"I see..." Link said, lost in thought on that.
"Did you have much trouble staying at the village after the law went into effect Ms. Halei?" Saria asked.
"No, the people in the village were quite nice, and despite the Gerudo Banishment Law they covered for us. But unfortunately a traveler eventually spotted Mother and reported her to them, and the two of us were forced to move here to Gerudo Valley." Halei sighed, taking a moment to rub at the ears of her bunny hood, "Father tried to help defend us, but he was powerless to do anything..."
"Oh, that's so sad..." Aviel said with sympathetic eyes.
"I-I'm sorry to hear that..." Link said, his guilt creeped back to haunt him at that moment, after what had happened to not just the Gerudo, but the half-bloods like Halei as well due to him having Ganondorf captured, and the idea of a kind father like the running man being separated from his daughter tore at him further.
This didn't go unnoticed by Nabooru, Saria and Reirousa, the only ones who knew about his involvement in Ganondorf's capture and they looked to him with sympathetic eyes, Saria put he hand on Link's and squeezed it to help reassure him.
"Damn Hylian mongrels..." Nemisa scowled, "They have a lot to answer for when Link and Nabooru meet with them for a peace treaty." She was pulling on an already ruined book, and managed to tear it in half with her bare hands.
"Just promise me you won't go punching any of them." Link said to his fiance while sweatdropping.
"It's alright..." Halei said smiling faintly, "It's been about half a year now, and I've gotten used to it. The Gerudo have been really accommodating for me, and I was even able to get my job at the library." she turned to Nabooru and smiled, doing a slight bow of the head, I owe you so much for welcoming me into your town, Lady Nabooru."
"It's quite fine..." Nabooru nodded with a light smile, "You're our dear sister now, and we'd never turn our backs on you."
Link smiled as he looked to Nabooru, the kind, mature gaze she gave Halei, and the sincere tone when she spoke to assure the girl of her place with them. It reminded him of when she welcomed himself into the town, and it made him think more about another matter he wanted to talk about with her...
"Yeah, we're honored to have you here supporting us." Link then added with a nod of his own.
"Thank you King Link..." Halei said, looking down at the food he had given her, "I was really surprised to see the new Gerudo King turned out to be a Hylian male, but you seem like a good, kind person... and quite handsome!" she paused for a second before turning and covering her face, "Oh goddesses, what am I saying?!"
"Ah, thanks...?" Link said with a light blush.
"That's you Link, ever the charmer of women's hearts." smirked Nabooru.
"So would you like to become one of Link's wives then?" Aviel brought up all of a sudden, causing everyone else to fault over from how blunt she was about it.
"Meep!" exclaimed Halei in shock of what Aviel asked, causing her to fall over out of her seat, and the books she had been working with to fall on top of her.
"I think I understand her accident back at the library now..." Nabooru said sweatdropping.
"Um, I'm not so sure about the idea of something like that..." Halei said, slowly getting up with a small whimper, "I-I don't really like the idea of joining the king's harem or anything... I'm... um, more of a traditionalist in terms of marriage, and someday I'd like to..." she nibbled at her finger a little nervously, "...meet a man who I can just love for myself."
"That's fine, I hope someday you can." Link nodded, "We're going to do whatever we can to make that peace treaty happen so you can do as you desire."
"Thank you... you're all so kind." Halei said bowing, "I hope not too cause all of you too much trouble in the future, don't think of me as a major part of your lvies, but maybe a.. um, more supporting role then anything."
"I still don't get what she's talking about." Link muttered sweatdropping.
As the others went back to their meals, Halei looked back down at the remains of the food Link had given her, and she sighed lightly with a sad look in her eyes.
'Would they be so kind to me If they knew the truth...?' she thought to herself.
Sometime after their lunch, the group went back to searching the archives for the Gerudo Blood Alchemy Arts book they were seeking, but even with their numbers, they weren't having much luck. Aviel tried searching the top rack using her wings, while Reirousa used her strength to move loose shelves around to clear the way.
"Ugh... all this searching and still nothing." muttered Nemisa, flipping through one book.
"Don't give up, we'll find it soon." Link said.
"Perhaps, though I just still left wondering how the book was stolen in the first place." she muttered, "Do you think Reirousa might be right about the library head master being the thief?"
"I can't deny it's possible, though I don't like to think about someone inside the town being a mole for the rebellion. If I'm going to become a proper king for everyone, I want be able to fully trust them." Link sighed.
"That sounds like a great deal of pressure to put on yourself, my love." Nemisa said, "I mean, just about everyone has their own secrets, you know that from me..." she said, looking down at her wrist with the scar Jayde gave her on it, "And I'm sure you have your own secrets you would prefer to keep to yourself, not that I would judge you for it, of course."
"Y-Yeah..." Link said looking down, as he reflected on what he hadn't told Nemisa or the other Gerudo about yet, namely his involvement in Ganondorf's arrest which led to the war, or what he had done in the dark future...
"Just because you're going to be our king doesn't mean you have shoulder the burden of everything on yourself, we'll all be here for you." Nemisa smiled lightly.
"Thanks." Link nodded as he reflected on what Nemisa said. He was really impresed at how much Nemisa had changed over the time he had known her, or more likely she was always like that on the inside, and it was just coming out now after she had moved past her regrets.
Link paused on that note and thought back to a time from his past, back when he was still very young.
He stood with his sword out, protecting someone in a war-torn village from a group of monsters, who all jumped at him. He fought them off as hard as he could, though their numbers were getting too much for him. Then one monster leaped at him with it's weapon...
Then he thought to another memory of him cowering in fear in a lonely place as rain pounded down around him. He was curled into a fetal position, with his eyes closed, and tears running down his eyes. But then he saw a hand reach out. He looked up to see a woman with a ponytail holding her hand out to him and smiling warmly...
But it was then Link was snapped out of his thoughts by someone else speaking up.
"Hey Link, can you come with me for a bit?" Reirousa asked, walking up to the future king, "I need your help with something."
Link looked up to Reirousa, and saw she was awkwardly looking left and right, with a light blush on her cheeks. Despite her words, it was clear to him what she actually wanted to see him about, and he smiled lightly.
"Okay Reirousa." Link nodded, then told Nemisa, "I'll be back in a bit, Nemisa." As the two of them went off on their way, Nemisa just smiled lightly as she saw the two going off together and went back to searching for the book.
This didn't go unnoticed by Halei as well, who started following discreetly after Link and Reirousa out of curiosity to see what they might had found.
The bunny hood-wearing woman peeked into the secluded area of the archive where the others weren't around, only to see Link and Reirousa alone and hugging each other.
"...huh...?" Halei whispered to herself in surprise.
"T-Thanks Reirousa... I didn't want the others to see me like this right now." Link told his friend.
"No problem Link, I could tell that whole thing with Halei's exile earlier was gettin' to ya." Reirousa said calmly, holding Link in her large muscular arms.
"It seems like it just keeps coming back to haunt me... like so many things..." Link trembled.
"Hey, it's alright man. Just gotta handle it one day atta time, right? Just like what you told me." Reirousa nodded with a small smile.
"Yeah, you're right... thank you." Link said, tears forming in his eyes as he was leaning his head against her abs, and he felt a close comfort in her strong arms.
Halei didn't know what they were talking about, but saw the tears in Link's eyes starting to spill down his cheeks. She stepped back and put a hand to her chest, feeling rather sad herself to see her king like that.
"Just what is it he's been through...?"
It was then however, a strange and powerful impact started going off somewhere in the Hall of Knowledge, causing the books littering the place to shift and bounce a bit.
"Huh? What was that?" Reirousa asked.
"Dunno... let's go check it out." Link said.
The rumbling got the attention of everyone else as well and they broke from their search to see where it was coming from, preparing themselves for anything that might happen.
But little did they know what they would encounter that day would reveal dark secrets some of them were holding back for so long...
Well that does it for now. Next part ended up being longer then I planned, so I had to split the chapter here. I promise to get it out as soon as I can!
Meanwhile, give me a like, follow or comment if you choose, your feedback really helps!