Hello folks! Chapter 127 is finally here! This time, we look into not just Foluma's background, but another long-time character who's been keeping secrets of their own...! Enjoy!
A strong wind blew through Gerudo Valley that night. It would be considered dangerously freezing to anyone going out at that time of night, yet there was a lone person walking through the sands, wearing a coat and scarf that helped protect them from the cold.
This was Foluma, the Ebony Sisterhood rebel maid also known as 'MAGIS-01'. She had been living with Link and his friends in Gerudo Town for two months. Despite meting them as a cold and emotionless automation devoid of the memories of her past, time there caused her to recall snippets of those memories, recall more of her personality, and open up to them all more and more. For the first time in a long time, Foluma actually felt happy to be around people like King Link and Aviel...
But then all that came crashing down just a couple hours ago, when she finally regained her true memories... everything she had forgotten about her past. After that, she realized she couldn't stay any longer and escaped Gerudo Town. She held her coat together to protect herself from a breeze, as she made her way to a light in the distance.
"Damn cold..." Foluma muttered, she sighed out, "Guess it won't be long now anyway... once I get there I won't have to worry about the feeling of coldness... or anything else again..."
She soon came to a rocky area, and after walking through a mountain gorge, arrived at her destination; a giant pyramid crafted from black marble. There were an obelisks tower that stood at each of the pyramid's four corners. Leading to it was a bridge that went over a deep ravine.
This was the Pyramid of Power, a place once sacred to the Gerudo, but for a brief time had become the stronghold of the former king Ganondorf. He had used the pyramid to train his dark powers and craft his arsenal. Gerudo slaves like Saveore and Ratoka had been forced to work to renovate the pyramid to suit Ganondorf's dark whims.
Foluma stood silently, staring up at the pyramid until she heard some voices shout out,
"Halt! Who goes there?"
It was a pair of Gerudo clad in black silk decorated with golden symbols, indication they were members of the rebellion known as the Ebony Sisterhood. They were holding halberds as they approached Foluma.
"It's okay. It's me, 'MAGIS-01'." Foluma said, pointing out the antennae on her head, though one had been broken off at some point.
"What?" exclaimed a rebel, "We were told by Mother Imono that you were captured by the false king!"
"I managed to escape, but am in need of repairs." Foluma said, "I was notified by some of our sisters that the supreme and unprecedented engineer Meokuro is currently working here now."
"Ah, yes!" the rebel said in astonishment, "Come with us."
"Thank you." Foluma said with a polite bow. As she followed the rebels into the pyramid, she took one last look out at the valley with a sad gaze, before walking inside.
"Damnit, you got to be kidding me!" Nabooru said slapping her forehead in her study at Gerudo Palace, "Why was our reservation canceled? We booked it months in advance!"
"I don't know Lady Nabooru, they just sent this rejection notice to us." Halei said holding up a letter she got from a servant, "Something about 'technical difficulties'."
"Ugh... We're going to have to come up with something else then." Nabooru said, carefully looking over a map, "As much as I hate to say it, we may have to resort to our last choice..."
"Nabooru!" shouted Link, running into the study, "We got bad news, Foluma has escaped out of town!"
"What?!" Nabooru exclaimed.
"That's quite an... interesting story." Nabooru spoke.
She sat at the dining able along with Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, the child-bearers Ragome, Leivuri and Esolu, as well as Sarami and her parents Saveore and Ratoka. Sarami had been visiting with her parents that night, but came to the palace to give Link, Aviel and the three child-bearers chu jelly medicine capsules to help prevent them from getting hangovers.
"Let me get this straight, Foluma was acting strangely, she said she remembered everything about her past, then she kissed you and ran off?" Nemisa asked.
"Y-Yeah..." Aviel said with a light blush on her cheeks.
"But what caused her to remember everything all of a sudden?" Saria asked.
"Not sure, but I remember smelling something really good when I went out that night." Aviel said, "It was pleasant and sweet... which is weird cause I was right next to the trash cans."
"You say that maid's name is Foluma? Weird, where have I heard that one...?" Saveore pondered.
"...?" Ratoka seemed to be lost in thought, before she whispered into Saveore's ear, making her gasp out in shock.
"Are you serious honeybunch? That was her name?!" Saveore exclaimed, "Could it really be her then?"
"What are you talking about?" Link asked.
"Tell us, is this about that one incident...?' Nabooru asked Saveore, "The one from years back...?"
"Indeed it is." Saveore nodded sadly. looking to the others, "Allow me to explain; back after we were released from being slaves and formed Forsworn Village, our people had became fearful, isolated and paranoid. We didn't trust outsiders for the longest time. Then one day we were approached by some Gerudo patrolwomen who claimed they were there on behalf of Lady Nabooru."
"I had gained knowledge about Forsworn Village and wanted to delegate with them about coming here to Gerudo Town." Nabooru explained.
Saveore nodded and continued, "Unfortunately due to our isolation, we didn't know Ganondorf had been arrested and that Lady Nabooru had taken leadership of our people. So when her team came out to speak with us, we assumed she was still a Grand Colonel of Ganondorf's army, and that he was going to subject us to more slave labor, so we fought them off... unfortunately, it wasn't without a few causalities..."
"Oh no..." Sarami gasped.
"But I don't get it, what does all this have to do with Sister Foluma?!" Aviel asked desperately.
"Yeah, what it was that happened that day?" Link asked.
But just then, Halei came running into the room, almost tripping over herself in her hurry as she was carrying some papers in her arms.
"Here you go Lady Nabooru, I found the paperwork you requested!"
"Thank you Halei," Nabooru took the paperwork and read it over, her eyes narrowed at what was written, "...it's just as I thought. I could have sworn I remembered this name from somewhere."
"What do you mean Nabooru?" Link asked, and Nabooru handed him the paper.
"These are the names of the patrolwomen who had been sent out to the village that day." Nabooru explained, "Does that last one look familiar?"
Link stared down at the page with wide eyes, "You can't be serious!"
"Yes, this might very well explain what happened to her." Nabooru said, she turned to look at one person in the room in particular, "Isn't that right... Esolu?"
Everyone turned in shock to Esolu, who was gripping at her arm and looking downcast. Ragome and Leivuri looked especially shocked at this news.
"It must be difficult for you, but could you explain to us what happened?" Nabooru asked, handing her some blank pieces of paper and a pencil.
"..." Esolu stared down at the papers, then over to Link.
"Please Esolu, we want to help Foluma,... so tell us what you can." Link said.
"It's okay Sister Esolu, me and honeybunch will provide them with what information we can as well." Saveore assured her.
Esolu gulped slightly as she nodded and started to write what she knew with shaky hands...
Flashback – Twelve years ago
"Hey girls, lemme squeeze those for just a second!"
"H-Hey, leggo of me!"
"Oooooh, nice and soft! Just as I like em!" a fourteen-year old Foluma said cheerfully as she ran up behind another girl and groped at her breasts, "And I think you've grown about three centimeters since last time!"
"Kyaaaa! Foluma, you're so perverted!" giggled the other girls as they ran away from her down the halls of Gerudo Fortress.
"Ah, it's so nice to feel a real pair like those!" Foluma swooned.
"Tsk, still being a perv?" spoke someone with a mellow but moody tone, it was a young Gerudo about Foluma's age with short hair. She was sporting a rather cross stare, as her arms were folded,
Foluma spun around to face the girl and smiled brightly, "Hey there Esolu! I was looking for you!" she pulled out a bottle of milk, "Got you a little something from a traveling merchant!"
"Oh, thank you." Esolu said with a slight smile, she sipped the milk and sighed out, "This is just what I needed today. Lon Lon Ranch style milk is the best."
"Hey, anything for my friend." giggled Foluma, "Besides, I've heard Lon Lon milk can help your breasts grow bigger!"
"Don't tell me that's why you got it for me." Esolu scowled, "What the hell has gotten into you over the past few years? If you wanna grope breasts so badly, grab your own!"
"You can't possibly expect that of me..." Foluma said in faux grief, "My chest has always been so flat... It wasn't until one day when I accidentally grabbed one girl's budding breast that I realized how lovely they were, and what I was missing out on!" she sobbed rubbing at her own chest, "Such pillowy cushions of love... it's almost a crime that I had to be so deprived..."
"You're impossible..." the girl sighed, only to suddenly feel Foluma quickly come up from behind and grip at her chest, "Aaahhh!"
"So instead I'll enjoy your luscious bosom!" Foluma said cheerfully.
"Leggo of me!" shouted Esolu, bonking her upside the head.
"Aw, come on! I also heard if you massage a girl's breasts enough, they'll get bigger!" Foluma said giggling, "When I'm done with you you'll have such big ones that I won't need anything else!"
"...d-do you mean that...?" the girl whispered softly with a light blush.
"Huh?" Foluma asked in confusion.
"N-Nothing." Esolu said, "Come on, we have some training to do today."
"Heaaayyaahh!" shouted out Esolu as she used her halberd to disarm her opponent and knock them to the ground. The other soldiers cheered out for her as she helped the opponent up to their feet.
"Nice work as always Cadet Esolu!" her drill instructor Sargent Rairiku nodded as she puffed on a cigar, "Go ahead and take a well-earned rest!"
"Whew," Esolu let out a sigh as she sat back on a bench. She placed her halberd to the side and wiped down her hair, "That was a good workout."
"Hey Esolu, congrats on the match!" Foluma said coming up and handing her a canteen of water, "You're getting to be a really great warrior, I can hardly keep up with you! Course, you've always been like that since we were little!"
"Thanks." Esolu took the water and smiled, "But don't sell yourself short Foluma, I'm sure you'll get plenty stronger someday and protect the ones who mean the most to you."
"Sounds great, I'd love to be able to protect you!" giggled Foluma, hugging her friend.
"Hey, come on now..." Esolu spoke, looking away.
"Foluma!" shouted a voice.
"Oh no." sighed Foluma, as she turned to see an older woman before them, "Hey Mom, something the matter?"
"I'll say it is, Sargent Rairiku says you've been slacking off in your training again!" the mother said, taking her by her ear, "We're going to have long talk, you and I!"
"Mehheheh, guess I'll see you later Esolu!" Foluma said with a wave.
"Alright..." Esolu said, watching Foluma as she was dragged off by the ear.
She could overhear Foluma's mother scold her, "So, too busy chasing the other girl's skirts again?"
"Hey, I'm not after their skirts!" she heard Foluma say, "I'm just after what's in their tops!" Esolu then heard a loud bonk in the distance, followed by an "Oowie!"
Esolu let out a long sigh as she stared up into the sky, clutching at the canteen.
"Hey Esolu, you sure I can't see that?" Foluma asked one day, "It's gotta be something other than those penguins you usually draw to take this long!"
The two were both hanging out on an upper story patio, giving them a great view of Gerudo Valley and the waterfall some distance away. Esolu though was focused on sitting back drawing on her sketch pad.
"Not yet, I'm still working on it." Esolu said, "You'll have to wait until I'm done."
"Okay, okay." Foluma sighed, leaning on the ledge. But after a prolonged moment of silence, Foluma spoke up to her friend, "Yo Esolu...?"
"Hm?"
"Have you... ever kissed someone before...?"
Foluma's question startled Esolu so much she almost dropped her sketch pad, "E-Excuse me?! Where did this come from?"
"I'm just askin'. You ever kiss anyone?"
"...n-no, I haven't." Esolu shook her head, "What about you?"
"Nah, neither have I."
"Oh..."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence, as Esolu went back to drawing, though she made a slight mistake due to the random question being raised that she had to erase it.
"What made you bring up something like that out of nowhere?" Esolu asked.
"I dunno, just askin'..." Foluma shrugged her shoulders, "My bad."
Esolu tied to focus on her drawing to get that strange conversation out of her head, but little did she know it was only going to get weirder,
"Hey Esolu... wanna kiss?"
"H-Huh?" Esolu looked up with a bright red face, "What are you saying? This isn't a trick to try and grope me again, is it?"
"Nah, not this time." Foluma said, "You've heard that King Ganondorf is working to make peace with the Hyrulian royal family right?"
"Yes, what about it?" Esolu asked.
"Well, eventually that means we'll be able to come and go into Hyrule as we please someday... The two of us are best friends now, but who knows what will happen when we start seeing the world outside the valley?" Foluma said, "We might end up living in new places, making new friends, and we might even meet men we want to have families with..."
"Oh... yeah..." Esolu stared down at her sketch, clutching at her pencil.
"They say you can never forget your first kiss, and I think I want it to be with my best friend, so we never forget each other!" Foluma explained.
"... ..." Esolu sat still, lost in thought of Foluma's words, "B-But, what about the law King Ganondorf passed about... relationships between... each other? We could get in trouble if..."
"Don't worry, we wouldn't get caught! Besides, it's just a simple little kiss, it's not like I'm asking to marry you or anything!" Foluma turned to her friend and smiled sheepishly, "Meh heh... s-sorry, I know it's a weird and selfish question, but-!"
"No..." Esolu spoke with a small smile, "No, I see what you mean, and it makes sense... so let's go ahead and do it."
"O-Okay!"
Esolu set her sketch pad to the side and stood up, walking over to Foluma. The two stared into each other's golden eyes for a brief moment.
"Meheheh... I guess this is a little awkward..." giggled Foluma.
"Lets just close our eyes and do it on three."
The two closed their eyes, counted to three in union, and pressed their kiss together. It was just for a brief second, and they pulled away quickly afterwards. They both opened their eyes, staring at each other with flushed faces, and they both giggled at how embarrassed the other looked.
"That was... kinda weird huh?." Foluma grinned, 'But it was fun!"
"Yeah, it was..." Esolu said smiling back, she turned to go pick up he sketch pad and held it to her chest, "But I don't think you have to worry too much. No matter what, we'll always be best friends."
"That's right..." Foluma said smiling, "Well I gotta go!" as she went running off.
When Foluma was gone, Esolu brought her hand up to her lips, and smiled warmly.
Esolu walked down the halls of Gerudo Fortress, humming happily to herself. She was on her way to see Foluma, planning to take her out horse-riding and have a picnic alone together.
"Hey Esolu, have you seen Foluma?" asked one Gerudo girl.
"Yeah, we've been kind of worried about her, she hasn't tried groping us in a while!" said another one.
"..." Esolu glanced over at the two girls, "Don't worry, I'm sure she's just fine. I'm going to go check on her right now."
It had been a couple months since the two of them shared a kiss together, and they had grown much closer over time. Foluma even stopped fondling the chests of other girls. Occasionally the perverted girl would grope Esolu herself once in a while, but lately she wasn't as hostile towards her about it...
'Maybe, at the picnic...' Esolu blushed lightly, "I could finally tell her that-"
But as Esolu approached the door to the dorm where Foluma and her mother lived, she could hear some shouting from within. Curiously, she put her ear to the door to listen,
"But Mom, it's not what you think, we were-!" Foluma started, but was cut off.
"Don't you throw that bullshit at me! I've been watching you two lately!" she heard Foluma's mother shout, "Do you know what will happen if King Ganondorf sees something like that?!"
"But we're not like that Mom, we're just fri-!"
"No excuses! I don't want you around that girl alone again!" shouted her mother.
Esolu broke out into a cold sweat at hearing this. She heard the door start to creak open, and quickly propped herself up against the wall to avoid being seen.
Just then, Foluma slowly walked out of the room, and her cheeks were stained with tears. Esolu took a breath and stepped up, pretending like she had just gotten there,
"H-Hey Foluma, are you ready for our picnic?" Esolu asked.
"... ...n-no, I'm not in the mood for it today." Foluma said turning her head away from her friend, "I gotta go do some extra combat training today, okay? S-See you later Esolu."
"Oh, okay..." Esolu said as she silently watched her friend walk off...
Esolu left the dorm area and went outside, slumping down on a bench. She was at a loss of what to do about Foluma.
It had been a couple weeks since she overheard Foluma arguing with her mother, and since then her friend had been going out of her way to avoid speaking to her outside of much other than combat training, and even then it was purely for the sake of their lessons.
As much as she didn't like Foluma's mother treating her that way, she knew she could never work up the courage to confront her about it. Foluma had a rebellious attitude, but even she would relent to her mother's wishes after enough pressure.
The young woman reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small, round, oval-shaped trinket. The outside of it was a dull gray metal, and there was a tiny hole on the bottom. Esolu clutched the trinket in her hand, thinking about the day she got it.
"Hey Esolu, check this out! I got you something from a merchant!"
"More Lon Lon Milk, Foluma? I already told you I don't really want my breasts to grow bigger."
"Nah, this is something else! See?"
"Huh? What is this?"
"Now I just gotta use the key and..."
"Oh! How pretty! And that lovely smell..."
"Yeah, it's awesome huh? I thought you might like it! We better make sure to close it up though, don't want it o wear out too soon!"
"You sure about me keeping this though? It must have cost you a lot of rupees..."
"Mehheheh, no problem! We're best friends after all, aren't we?"
"Yeah... of course we are..."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, you hold that, and I'll keep the key! That way we'll only open ti when we're together!"
"Oh, that's a good idea! Okay then!"
"Now if you really wanna thank me, you can let grope at your-!"
"Hands off."
Esolu pocketed the trinket and let out a sigh. The two had been best friends since they were children, and while Foluma had grown up to have a rather perverted side to her, she still cared for Esolu deeply, and Esolu cared for her right back. She greatly admired Foluma's energy and kindness, and despite being initially annoyed by her groping of her chest, as time went on she started to enjoy the skin-ship between her. In fact, Esolu's affection for Foluma was far greater than she thought. It had taken a long time for her to come to terms with the reality of it, but by this point knew it to be true...
Esolu had fallen in love with Foluma.
It was a strange feeling at first for her to fall for another woman, but she knew it in her heart to true. She wanted to be with Foluma and maybe someday start a family together.
But Foluma's mother semed to fo anything necessary to keep the two apart. In some ways she could understand, as she knew about the law King Ganondorf had imposed. But it still bothered Esolu, she didn't know what to do...
"Greetings cadet, something the matter?" spoke up a voice, she turned to see it was her drill instructor at the training grounds, Sargent Rairiku walking up to her.
"W-Well... I think something's wrong with Foluma..." Esolu said looking away.
Rairikue looked away and muttered, "Tsk, that slacker? There's a lot wrong with her... Boy, if I ever got the chance I'd-" Rairiku then noticed the stare in Esolu's eyes and smirked slightly, "Come on soldier, tell me what you know We've trained in the trenches before, so you can trust me!"
"..." Esolu hesitated for a brief moment, she knew Rairiku to be a tough but fair instructor at the training grounds, and she cared deeply about her students, so she nodded, "O-Okay, you see..."
Esolu woke up from her dorm bed early the next morning to hear some strange screaming and yelling outside. Setting down her trinket, Esolu walked outside to see what was going on.
There was a large crowd of Gerudo at the giant metal gate that led out to the desert. There she noticed some guards had been leading some women onto a large horsecart. She stared down at those on the cart in particular, only to gasp out as she recognized one of the women on it.
"Alright, that's the last of them!" called out a guard, "Get 'em out of here!"
"..." the Geurdo on the horse cart were all bound in gags, ropes and chains. They were all shaking and crying as their relatives and friends were all shouting out to them, but were blocked off by some of Ganondorf's guards...
…and among those on the cart were Foluma and her mother.
"No stop! You can't do this!" pleased one woman in the crowd.
"Give me back my big sister!" shouted a small girl.
"What's going on? Where are you talking Foluma?" Esolu shouted out, rushing through the crowd and right up to the cart.
"Silence! By the order of King Ganondorf, these women shall serve him at the mineral mines out in the west!" shouted the head of the group of guards, Brigadier Asaeku.
"You mean make them slaves!" shouted a Gerudo.
"Foluma, what happened?" Esolu shouted out to her friend.
"..." but Foluma only stared down at Esolu with tear filled eyes, before looking away.
Before Esolu could even get any kind of response, the guards called out to the horses and they rode the cart off. Esolu tried to run past the guards after Foluma but the gate shut down just before she could cross the threshold.
Esolu stared out at the cart as it disappeared into the valley. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clenched at the bars.
"F-Foluma..."
"Hey, quit straggling! Put your back into it damnit!" a Gerudo guard shouted angerly.
"Ack! You damn bastards, you know I can't carry this much at once!" Foluma shouted back as she was trying to gather up some ore she had dropped.
Foluma and her mother had been taken far east to a mining facility where Gerudo were made to mine for iron ore deposits that could be used to craft weapons and tools. While her mother was on mining duty, Foluma was made to help transport the ore to be processed, but the sheer weight of them was oo much for her.
"Hey Sister Runesa, lay off of her! She's only been doing this for a couple weeks!" another slave said.
"I don't give a crap, our weapons need repairs and replacements yesterday!" Runesa shouted, "Now keep going!"
"Ugh..." Foluma groaned, leaning down and gathering up the ore. But Runesa tried to rush the girl by giving her a strong kick from behind, causing her to fall down on top of the ore in such a way that her arm impacted into it, causing a sickening crack, "YEEEEOOOWWWWW!"
"Tsk, alright, alright. Take five you baby." Runesa said rolling her eyes.
"Yeeoooooowieeee!" screamed out Foluma as the mining doctor made the final touches on her arm splint. Sitting by Foluma's side was her mother, trying to comfort her through the procedure.
"There, that outta hold it for a while." said Dr. Eifou, she coughed a bit of blood out as she adjusted the bandages a bit, "But it's going to take some time to heal up. Gonna have to put on work leave for a while until the bones knit."
"Oh Foluma, you poor thing..." her mother said holding her, "I'm so sorry this happened to you..."
"This sucks Mom, it hurts so much..." sniffled Foluma, "I wanna go back home to Gerudo Fortress..."
"I know sweetie..." her mother said patting her back, "But there's not much we can do."
"I hate being so weak..." Foluma trembled, "I wish I had a stronger body, then I could beat up those guards and that asshat Runesa... and we could all escape..."
"Don't put all that on yourself, it's not like this is your fault." her mother said, "There's only one person I blame for this, and I swear when I see them again, they will pay..."
Foluma didn't know what she was talking about, but continued sobbing as her mother held her close,
"...and I won't allow anyone to hurt you again, my daughter..."
With Foluma unable to properly work, her mother had to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, even she had her own limits, and Runesa became fed up with both of them. After discussing with her superior Commander Imono, they decided Foluma and her mother were a lost cause, and had the two exiled.
While Foluma should have been happy she and her mother were free from their enslavement, they were also not allowed at Gerudo Fortress any longer. They were left with little options of where to go. Foluma still having her broken arm didn't help matters.
They eventually heard about a place far off in the east where the exiled former slaves lived called 'Forsworn Village' and having very little other options, decided to go there. The sandstorms on the way were fierce, and Foluma's mother had to protect her every step of the way, but they soon arrived. Upon hearing their plight, the forsworn Gerudo welcomed them with open arms, though that was about all they really could give them.
Supplies were scarce in this area, most of the food came from savage monsters that attacked the village. Foluma went many days without eating, which only made it harder to recover from her arm injury. She tried to do what she could to contribute to the village, but she'd more often than not get injured.
"This sucks Mom, this sucks so much!" sobbed Foluma, burying her head into her mother's shoulder, "Every part of my body hurts... I'm hungry... I can barely even sleep with all the storms and monsters keeping me up..."
"I know dear, I'm so sorry..." her mother whispered.
"I wish I didn't have to feel this kind of pain... I wish I didn't have to worry about eating or sleeping..." Foluma spoke, "I just want to forget it all!"
"..." her mother sat silently as she just held her daughter in her arms.
"...thanks for being here for me Mom..." Foluma spoke, "I'm sorry I was always a pain in the ass to you before, you're all I got now..."
"That's alright sweetie." her mother whispered, "I promise never to let you go..."
"Who did you all say you were again...?" spoke a member of the Forsowrn, standing before the village entrance as she and the guards were confronted by some other Gerudo clad in soldier garb, "...and what the hell do you want from us?"
"It's okay, we come in peace." said the soldier, "We come on behalf of the exalted Lady Nabooru. She would like to speak with you all about joining us."
"Nabooru? You mean the Grand Colonel of that wretched King Ganondorf's army?" exclaimed the forsworn guard, "She can kiss our asses before we even consider that!"
"Yeah, that tyrant Ganondorf probably just wants to put us back to work for him!" said another forsworn.
"I'd sooner die than go through that hell again!"
"Wait, hold on!" the soldier said, "You don't understand, Ganondorf is no longer with us!"
"Yeah, he's been captured by the Hylians!" stated a second guard, "Lady Nabooru has established a new home for us and-"
"A likely story!" said a forsworn, "We go along with your deception and BAM, we're back in chains and working in the mines for that monster!" shouted the guard.
"We won't allow that you bastards!" said another forsworn pulling out her spear.
"Damnit... this isn't going good..." muttered a solider to another.
"How are we even going to convince them at this point?"
"Hey, where did the new girl go off to?" asked another soldier, looking around.
"You mean Esolu? She was pretty anxious to come out here with us, I hope she didn't get cold feet..."
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" shouted forsworn guard, as they all saw one of Nabooru's soldiers running into the village.
"Foluma! Foluma where are you?!" shouted the solider desperately, it was Esolu, who had used the experience she had in her combat training to become a patrolwoman for Nabooru's army after she joined them in Gerudo Town.
"Someone stop her!" shouted the forsworn, chasing after the young woman as she focused on trying to find her friend.
"Foluma!"
Esolu's shouting got the ears of both Foluma and her mother, and the two came out from their home to see who it was.
"What was that?" Foluma asked running out and looking around, "It sounded like..."
"...Foluma, you stay inside." her mother said narrowing her eyes, "I'll find out what's going on."
"But Mom-!" Foluma was cut off by her mother pushing her back inside their home, she shut and loocked the door, taking a sword and running off into the village.
Foluma's mother followed the shouting she heard, her blood boiling with every passing second, before she turned a corner and ended up in an isolated area. It was there she saw Esolu, gasping out from running around the village and away from the guards.
"There you are." Foluma's mother scowled, "It's you, isn't it?"
"Oh, you're Foluma's mother!" Esolu exclaimed, happy to see she was still alive, "Listen, I just want to talk with her!"
"I never thought I'd see you again..." Foluma spoke coldly, "But it seems fate has allowed us to cross paths after all..."
"Please listen, I volunteered to come to this village because I heard you and Foluma ended up here. Lady Nabooru has a new home for all of us, and I want you both to join us at-!"
"I don't give a damn what that tool of Ganondorf wants with us!" Foluma's mother shouted, drawing her blade, "And I won't let you hurt my daughter!"
"Please, I don't want to fight you..." Esolu pleaded, "I just want to help you and your daughter, and-"
"Help? Don't make me laugh. I know the truth about you..." Foluma mother spoke bitterly, "...and just what you did to us all that time ago!"
"Wha-?" Esolu gasped out in shock, then gulped, "...listen, it was all a mistake, I didn't mean to-!"
"Mom?" shouted someone running into the area. It was Foluma gasping out for breath, "What's going on- ESOLU?! What are you doing here?"
Esolu stared out at Foluma and horrible condition she was in, her arm was in a splint, her body was covered in scars and bruises, and she looked malnourished. The young patrolwoman was pained from the sight of the woman she loved being in that condition...
"Keep back Foluma," her mother said, "I won't allow this woman to hurt you anymore than she has."
"What do you mean mother? She's my best friend!" Foluma exclaimed.
"Your best friend, huh?" the mother spoke coldly, "I've never heard such an incredible farce. Your 'best friend' as you call her is the very reason we were captured and enslaved to begin with! She told Sargent Rairiku that I was keeping the supposed love between you two apart!"
"What...?" Foluma spoke, she looked over to Esolu.
"No, that's not entirely true Foluma..." Esolu said trembling as she clutched her halberd, "Your mother was trying to keep us apart, all I wanted Sargent Rairiku to do was talk to her about it and see things our way... I thought I could trust her with what I had to say." she shouted out with tears in her eyes, "I had no idea she was going to use that has a confession of forbidden love to have you both arrested!"
"W-WHAT?!" Foluma exclaimed, "You told her we were in that kind of relationship?!"
"I'm sorry daughter, I kept quiet so as not to hurt you... but now you know the truth." Foluma's mother spoke, she readied her sword, "She's the one who did this to you, did this to us... and I won't allow her to hurt you again!"
"Wait, Mom!" Foluma shouted, but it fell on deaf ears as her mother charged into battle against Esolu.
Esolu instinctively took her halberd and clashed it against the blade of the vengeful mother, "Please stop! I said don't want to fight you!"
"Then just lay back and die!" screamed Foluma's mother, clashing at Esolu's weapon with her own.
Foluma couldn't move a muscle as she watched her mother and friend fight each other. The loud clashes of steel echoed through the village, but no heard it due to the loud arguing and fighting going on between the forsworn and Nabooru's soldiers.
Esolu brought up her halberd and deflected the swing her the mother's sword. She skillfully blocked each swipe and jumped to avoid an attack at her legs. While Esolu was following the orders of Nabooru not to directly harm any of the forsworn, and she especially didn't want to hurt the mother of her friend, this woman was driven purely by anger and a material instinct to protect her dear daughter.
The young solider deflected another attack and thrust her halberd forward to try and knock the sword out of her grip, but the mother took that opportunity to grab at the pole and yank it out of Esolu's hands. Esolu was caught off guard, which allowed Foluma's mother to bash her in the face with the blunt of the sword, sending the soldier to the ground, and give the mother a chance to charge at her with clear killing intent.
In that moment, Esolu closed her eyes tightly and let the hardest choice she could have to make in that moment, she managed to reach out and grab her halberd and thrust it forward just in time.
"GAAACCKKK!"
Esolu opened her eyes and looked up in shock to see Foluma's mother had been impaled all the way through her chest by the halberd. The older woman coughed up some blood as she remained standing for a brief moment, before falling over to the side with the weapon still impaled in her.
"M-MOM!" screamed Foluma, running over to her mother's side.
"F-Foluma..." whispered her mother weakly, bringing a shaky hand up to her daughters cheek, before she collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
"No..." Esolu spoke softly, as she saw Foluma stared down in disbelief of her mother's death.
"Mom..." Foluma whispered, her whole body was shaking and tears were running down her face onto her mother's body. Long ago she resented her mother for trying to drive and Esolu apart, but after she had devoted herself to care for and protect her all the time they were slaves and outcasts, through all her pain and hunger she suffered, Foluma had realized just how much her mother truly cared for her...
"M-MOOOOOOM!" screamed out Foluma in grief.
"F-Foluma... I'm so sorry..." trembled Esolu, reaching her hand out to her friend.
"G-Get away..." Foluma looked up angerly at the young solider, smacking her hand away, "KEEP AWAY FROM ME!"
Foluma got up to her shaky legs and ran away, as Esolu tried to follow after her.
"Foluma, wait!" Esolu shouted, chasing desperately after her. Foluma was so upset and angry that she didn't pay attention to where she was going, running out of the village and into the desert where the sandstorms were blowing fiercely.
Esolu continued to follow after Foluma, desperately calling out to her to come back to the village, but it fell on deaf ears, and the sandstorm was blowing brutally around them. Esolu only grew more worried of Foluma's condition as she ran after her.
Esolu stopped and called out as loudly as she could, "Foluma, please wait! I didn't mean to-!"
Foluma slowed down and came to stop herself, gasping out for any air she possible could in the sandstorm, "SHUT UP!" the forsworn girl shouted, "Just shut up! I don't want to hear what you have to say anymore! It's because you couldn't keep your damn mouth shut that me and mom ended up as slaves! It's your fault we went through all of that hell! It's your fault my mom is dead! I hate you!"
She turned to Foluma and screamed out as loudly as she could,
"I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR YOU SPEAK TO ME AGAIN!"
Esolu stood frozen in shock, she trembled on her weak shaking legs of the girl she loved saying those horrible words... And the worst part was she couldn't bring herself to disagree with what she said...
But just then, the sand in the area shifted around, and the ground was rumbling. Esolu looked around in confusion, and then bursting out from the ground right behind Foluma was a tall, towering insect creature called a Lanmola. It was a long green centipede-like creature with a elongated segmented body, multiple claws, and large razor-like clippers for a mouth.
"SKREEEEEEEEE!"
Esolu stared up in absolute horror of the monster, making Foluma look up to see what it was. Foluma's eyes sunk in at the sight of the horrific creature, it's three red eyes all stared down at her as saliva dripped from it's mouth, just before it lunged down at her.
What Esolu witnessed in that moment could only be described as an absolute horrific massacre. She could hear the pained screaming of the girl she loved being savagely attacked by the Lanmola. Crimson blood splattered onto the sand in front of her. Her weak legs shook, and make her to fall to her knees. She was in so much shock that she couldn't bare to move.
It took Esolu a moment before she recovered, got back up and went running for her life. She knew there was nothing she could do for Foluma, as her weapon was back in the village. Esolu could hear the screaming of her friend fade away to nothing as she ran back for the village, tears flowing down her cheeks as she did.
Some time after that, Esolu ran into the rest of her soldier friends who had been looking for her It seemed any attempt to negotiate with Forsworn Village had fallen on deaf ears after the body of Foluma's mother was found, and the soldiers were forced to retreat.
"Esolu, you're okay!" said one solider, running up and hugging her.
"Thank the goddess Aifet we found you!" a solider said, "What the heck happened?"
"..." Esolu slowly opened her mouth to speak, but found no words could come out, "..."
"Huh? What's the matter?" another solider asked desperately.
Esolu kept trying to talk, but found she couldn't say a single word to any of them. The soliders realized she needed medical assistance, and so they decided to call off the mission and return to Gerudo Town.
As the soldiers headed off to gather their supplies at the campsite, Esolu took one last look out at the wild sandstorm, and hung her head down silently...
End Flashback
"...and that ends my story." Nabooru read off of the piece of paper Esolu had been writing on for the past while. Even the Gerudo leader herself was rather shaken up from having read the tragic story...
"That about matches up with what I was told." Saveore sighed, "Me and honeybunch were out hunting at the time this all went down, but I was able to get as much information from our sisters as possible. Esolu here filled in the rest of the blanks."
"By the goddess Aifet..." Nemisa gasped out, "So that's what happened to her..."
"Foluma..." Aviel said with wide teary eyes, "I can't believe she went through all of that..."
"And yet despite all that happened, she somehow managed to survive and join up with the Ebony Sisterhood. getting made into an automation." Link muttered.
"Yes... Granny mentioned something to that extent..." Sarami said, "The patient that Meokruo had been worked on was in severe critical condition. Granny assumed she was a rebel who had been injured in battling a monster..."
"The fact she was even alive after all that is nothing short of a miracle." Nabooru muttered.
"Esolu, we had no idea you had suffered and lost so much..." Leivuri said softly, putting a hand to her shoulder.
"Yeah, it's no wonder you lost the ability to talk!" Ragome said.
"..." Esolu looked downcast, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Looks like Korume was right with her guess from before." Link said, "She suffered severe psychological trauma from what she experienced, and that's why she couldn't speak."
"Or why she wouldn't tell anyone." Nabooru spoke, "Losing the person you loved like that, I wouldn't blame her..."
"And then there's Foluma..." Aviel sniffled, "Having all those painful experiences and memories... it's no wonder she didn't want to remember them again..."
Link grimaced at that, as he recalled what Foluma had mentioned before about getting the operation that would make her a fully functional automation...
"Once the exalted engineer of awesomeness Meokuro retrieves me and makes the final repairs to my body, I will become a fully functional automation. I shall be relieved of the impractical organic parts that burden my tasks, such as the need for nutrition."
"But don't those parts make you forget things more? What about your memories? Your happiness?"
"Mere sacrifices for me to carry out any and all duties as a maid."
"My hunch was right, she was trying to run away from her past after all..." Link muttered.
"What should we do then?" Sarami asked, "if she goes through with the complete operation, she may never be able to remember anything again!"
"Going after her will be pretty risky too... What do you think we should do Link?" Nemisa asked.
"... ..." Link closed his eyes in deep thought, and Esolu watched him curiously. He then opened his eyes and looked out to the group, "We're going to get Foluma back before she can go through with that operation. I'm not going to let her lose herself to that!"
"But... if she doesn't want to remember her past..." Saveore pointed out, "...do you really have any right to make the decision for her to live with those painful memories?"
"..." there was a moment of silence as everyone contemplated that.
"...hang on a sec..." Aviel realized, "Esolu, you mentioned in your story about a trinket that Foluma gave you, right?" she pulled out a small metal oval shaped object, "Is this it?"
Esolu's eyes widened, she quickly snatched the object out of Aviel's hands and held it close to her chest. She held up a piece of paper to Aviel that said 'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' all over it, along with a grateful penguin bowing in the corner.
"Oh, I've seen that doohickey before!" Ragome said, "I kept pegging you on what it was but you never told us!"
"I can see why now." Leivuri said sadly, "It's the only keepsake she has of her friend..."
"Foluma had been holding it in the back of the bar, she dropped it just before she took off." Aviel said, "And just after she... uh..." the bird girl blushed a little, "...you know..."
Link paused on that note, as he thought about something Foluma said in Esolu's story...
"They say you can never forget your first kiss, and I think I want it to be with my best friend, so we never forget each other!"
"...so that's it..." Link realized, as the others all looked surprised to see him trembling a little as small tears formed in his eyes, "That key she showed me yesterday, it must be for Esolu's trinket."
"Oh, then that would mean...!" Sarami spoke.
"Yes, I think I see where you're going with this Link." Nabooru nodded with a smirk, "Even though she wanted to forget her past, the fact Foluma has been holding that key this whole time is proof there was always a part of her, no matter how small, that still cared for Esolu."
"...!" Esolu gasped out in surprise at that, looking down at her trinket.
"These past two months that Foluma's been with us... the more she spent time with us, the more she opened up, and showed off the personality she thought she had thrown away. To give up the things that makes her who she is would be even worse than death itself as far as I'm concerned."
Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa and Sarami all looked to each other with growing smiles.
"Those memories Foluma has from her past may be painful, but that's why she needs us more than ever." Link said, "We won't let her forget those memories, but instead help her cope with them, just as we've done for each other!"
Nabooru slapped the table with her palm, smiling brightly, "That's the way to talk Link! We'll track Foluma down and bring her back to our side!"
"Right, and when she's finally ready, she can be honest with Esolu about everything!" Aviel said.
"..." Esolu found herself smiling softly at Link, Nabooru and Aviel's determination to help her friend, as Leivuri and Ragome both assured her as well.
"Hahahaha, that's pretty impressive!" Saveore laughed out, "It's easy to see why our Sarami fell in love with you, King Link!"
"But... where would we even know where to start looking for her?" Sarami asked, "Meokuro's old laboratory was destroyed by us back during that whole incident with Sheeva and Granny."
"That's a good question..." Link muttered in thought.
"Um... I was just wondering... but maybe this might help?" Ragome asked, lifting up a small little pointy object that looked broken off of something.
"Hey... that looks like one of those little antennae things that Foluma wore over her ears. Where'd you even find that?" Link asked.
"Back in the bar, after you all crashed into each other." Ragome explained.
"...?" Ratoka reached out and took the antennae from Ragome, and examined it carefully.
"What is it honeybunch?" Saveore asked.
Ratoka stared at it for a little longer, then whispered into Saveore's ear. The muscular woman nodded a few times, and suddenly her eyes widened.
"Ah! Ratoka says she recalls seeing old relics and statues like this over at the Pyramid of Power, back when we were being used as slaves to renovate it!" Saveore exclaimed, "Part of our work was dismantling them for raw materials!"
"Maybe that's where Foluma was made into an automation to begin with!" Aviel said.
"Alright, so the Pyramid of Power is where we'll go then!" Nabooru nodded, she stood up and clenched her fist, "We don't have much time, we'll infiltrate the pyramid and take back our sister!"
"Right!" the others said.
"..." Esolu looked worriedly at Link and Nabooru, and held up a sketch of a pyramid with an evil aura around it, as well as some caricatures of the rebels with devil horns and holding pitchforks.
"Don't worry." Link assured Esolu, " We're not going to do anything that'll risk ourselves. We'll go out there, save Foluma, and bring her back. And once she's back, you two will have all the time you need to patch things up."
"..." Esolu stared up at Link, then nodded with determination.
"Alright, let's save our sister!" Aviel cheered out.
Meanwhile far off in the Pyramid of Power, within a room near the center of the stronghold, a lone female figure in a black cloak was gasping out as she held a sword.
She looked up to see a giant scorpion creature called a Skarmah before her. The creature's eyes wee a blood red, and it was heaving out a yellow mist, signs of it being infected with the strength-enhancing power tonic FZ-501.
The woman gripped her sword, which was crackling with red energy, and before the Skarmah could even come close to attacking her, she delivered a mighty swing of her weapon, cutting the creature clean and half and destroying it.
"With that, another victory." spoke the woman, taking a deep breath. She wiped some of the Skarmah's blood off the broken porcelain Couple's Mask she wore.
She was the 'Holy Mother' and leader of the Ebony Sisterhood, Imono Dragmire. The Soulbinder sword in her hand was glowing and crackling even brighter with red energy.
"Very impressive Holy Mother." spoke a dull voice from the shadows.
It was another Gerudo woman, a younger one with pale white skin, as well as long disheveled white hair. She bore an expressionless face, her lips were painted black, and as opposed to the golden eyes of typical Gerudo she had deadpan red-tinted eyes. She wore a black lab coat over a white blouse and black skirt, and had on long black boots. On her right arm was a strange gauntlet with a tube that ran up to a metal shoulder plate, with a black crow perched on top of it.
"The tests have all gone beyond expectations." the girl spoke in a dry quiet tone, holding up her gauntlet and seeing a small energy reading from it, "I think with this, the experiment will reach fruition."
"Good, I was fortunate to have you join us in this eleventh hour." spoke Imono, "We've suffered through constant failures in the past thanks to the wretched Lady Nabooru and the false king, and we are quickly approaching wartime. This may very well be our last resort to claim victory, no matter how many sacrifices must be made... Now what of Sister Asaeku?"
"She is making some progress as well, albeit slower." the woman said scratching her crow's chin, "I was hoping the information that professor you abducted from Hyrule Market Town would have provided us with what we needed, but the destruction of Meokuro's old laboratory also resulted in losing much of the documentation he put together."
"Hmph, I see..." Imono scowled.
"E-Excuse me Holy Mother, I have big news!" said a rebel running in and saluting, "It seems our lost sister 'MAGIS-01' has returned to us! She's in a bad state though, and has said she needs repairs!"
"So she finally showed herself." spoke Imono, "I think it's time we finally learn the truth about that."
"We must also confront that person about it as well." spoke the girl. She narrowed her eyes as the crow on her shoulder cawed out, "After what I have observed, she must answer for her defiance."
"Indeed. Let us go." Imono said, sheathing her sword and walking out of the room.
"Understood Holy Mother." the girl said following after her, "I'll do everything I can to assist you."
And that ends the chapter! With Link, Nabooru and Aviel are off to the Pyramid of Power to take back Foluma, will they make it in time? What dangers will they face? And who is this new ally of Imono's...? Find out next time!
This backstory for Esolu has been a long time coming, and it feels good to finally explain what had happened to her. This chapter ended up flowing together a lot better than I thought it would, and I'm glad I rewrote the arc with this in mind!
Again, I apologize for the delays as of late, and thank you all for your continued support! Please leave a like, follow, comment or PM at your leisure! Your feedback is always encouraged!