Hello folks! Chapter 129 is finally here! This time, it's an all-out battle against a new threat to Gerudo Town. Can Link and his friends combat this monster, or will they need a little extra help to stop it?
"Hurry everyone, we have to get back before it's too late!" shouted Nabooru, dashing across the sands of Gerudo Valley along with Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Foluma, Osena and the soldiers on their way home.
"I wonder what the rebels sent to attack the town?" Link spoke, "Do you happen to know Foluma? Is it one of Meokuro's experiments or something?"
"No clue, but I also don't think it's the supreme goddess of engineering Meokuro who's behind this!" said Foluma, "She was the whole reason I was able to escape from the lab to begin with!"
"What? She helped you?!" Aviel asked flying overhead.
"That's odd, what drove her to do something like that?" Nemisa asked.
"Oh, I have a feeling of who may have made her see things in a new light." Nabooru smirked, loking over at Link and sporting a knowing wink.
"Ah heh heh..." Link chuckled sheepishly, "You don't really think she'd change because I helped her before, do you?"
"I wouldn't be surprised, after all you did the same thing for me!" Foluma pointed out.
"And myself." Nemisa chuckled.
"Hm." Link was so lost in thought that he tripped on the sand and almost went stumbling over, but Foluma was quick to catch him in her arms.
"Please refrain from mimicking Aviel's knack for klutziness until we deal with the threat at hand Link." Foluma said as she carried him.
"Hey!" Aviel exclaimed.
"Ah heh heh.. sorry." Link said, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's fine Link, you had a difficult battle against Princess Croco-Tits." Foluma said referring to Ghilmarelm in her demon beast form, "Now please rest for now and allow me to support you." she smiled, and giving him a kiss on the cheek that made him flush red.
"Jees, even when rushing into danger Link can be a ladies man!" Osena giggled, "So if it's not that Meokuro woman behind this attack, then who could it be?"
"Oh I have my suspicions..." muttered Foluma, narrowing her eyes as she thought of a certain woman she encountered in the pyramid laboratory...
"The hell's going on here?!" General Reirousa shouted as she arrived at the backgate of Gerudo Town alongside Sovan and her gang the Sandstorm Vipers, only to see some Gerudo patrolwomen badly injured and being escorted through the gate by their sisters into the soldier's break room.
"These girls were out in the valley when they were attacked out of nowhere!" said a guard, trying to support one of the women who was trembling.
"They were too powerful..." groaned a patrolwoman, "We couldn't do anything to stop them, and now they're all on their way here!"
"They? What are you talkin' about?" Reirousa asked.
"I think she means that." Sovan gulped, pointing out at some monsters moving across the desert towards the town.
The creatures were moving through the sand as if it was water, displacing the dunes as they passed through them. Occasionally one or two would leap out of the sand and back in like a fish jumping out from a river, giving the group a brief look at the creatures. They were the long, green centipede-like monsters of the desert known as Lanmola.
"The hell?! What are those things doing all the way out here?" asked one of the Vipers.
"That's a good question!" spoke up a voice, it was Togau alongside Saria, Kesuta, Korume, Dr. Sarami, Chupil, her parents Saveore and Ratoka, as well as the other members of the Forsworn Village all running up the gate,
"These big lugs don't normally come near the canyon on account of all the solid rocks, it's part of the reason Lady Nabooru built the town in this spot!" Togau stated.
"Looks like there's a lot of them too..." Saria spoke clutching at her Deku Staff.
"Lanmola tend to work in groups, they can even displace rocks to use as projectiles too." Saveore spoke, "Me and Honeybunch got plenty of experience fighting them back at Forsworn Village."
"Good thing we got you for help." Reirousa nodded, pulling out her Bombos Warhammer, "Looks like you and yer team'll get to start that protection you promised Lady Nabooru!"
"Yes, I see why she called on us." Saveore said pulling out her claymore sword, she turned to the other Forsworn, "Well girls, ready to earn your keep today?"
"..." her wife Ratoka said nothing, but pulled out a pair of long katanas from under her robe and held them out, while the Gerudo of Forsworn Village all responded by raising up their weapons and shouting out war-cries.
"Wait, what about Lady Nabooru and King Link?" asked a guard, "They're still out on that mission!"
"I talked to Link on his ocarina earlier, he says they just saved Foluma and they're all on their way here!" Saria said, "We'll just have to hold these things off until they arrive!"
"No problem Saria!" Togau said, thrusting out her arms and transforming into her Lynel self, she growled and bared her pointy teeth as she clutched at her hand ax, "Long as we're around, we ain't gonna let any of them overgrown worms lay a pincher on this here place!"
"Yes, whether we freeze them all solid first or burn them to ashy soot," Kesuta and Korume spoke at the same time as they joined hands and took on their fused form of Dualsera, "We'll squash those damned vermin under our mighty foot!"
"I'll stand by here and help the patrolwomen with their injuries! Come along Chupil!" Sarami said, rushing into the break room carrying her medical bag with her ChuChu pet following after her.
"You girls keep a watch of the town and don't let the Lanmola through, got it?!" Reirousa said to the guards, she then shouted out to the others "Alright girls, let em have it!"
With that, Reirousa, Saria, Togau, Dualsera, Saveore, Ratoka the Vipers, and the Forsworn all charged into battle against the giant Lanmolas. The centipedes all screeched out ready to fight as well, the closest ones slammed at the ground as they dove through it, causing rocks to fly up at the group.
Togau charged forward on her Lynel hooves, she dodged a rock before bashing a Lanmola with her hand ax. She then let out a powerful Lynel's Roar to blast through some of the rocks and impact into another Lanmola, who cringed from the force of sound blasting into it, and it dove down into the sand to evade her attack. She felt the sand shift under her just slightly, so she leaped away just in time as the creature burst out. The ax she threw earlier came right back to her and slashed through the Lanmola's head on the way, killing it.
"That Lynel power of yours is rather impressive, Sister!" Saveore spoke to Togau.
Seeing two Lanmola coming at the gate, she leaped forward and blocked off a Lanmola's attack using her claymore, while Ratoka leaped into the air and cut it across the back with a graceful swing of her katanas. This allowed Saveore to push it back and deliver a powerful swing of her claymore, releasing a blade-like wave that sliced one of the Lanmola down the middle, while Ratoka cut down the other.
"Dang, you ladies're pretty tough yerselves!" Togau grinned.
"The life we lived as the Forsworn was harsh, but we didn't allow it to break us." Saveore spoke, "Now instead of our survival, we'll use this power to protect you all!"
Saria swung out her Deku Staff firing off some Deku Seeds into the face of a Lanmola that attacked the gate, then unleashing some thorn-covered vines that managed to constrict it tightly. This allowed her to bring out the spiked Deku Boas which she used to pummel the Lanmola until it vaporized into purple mist.
Reirousa gripped at her Bombos Warhammer and slammed it directly into the face of a Lanmola, sending it flying to the side. Another emerged up from the sand to try and attack her, but Reirousa quickly jammed a bomb into it's mouth, causing it to explode and leave the centipede in a stunned state. This allowed Reirousa to grab the creature by the end of it's tail and swing it around with all her strength, bashing it into the other monsters.
Dualsera flew up into the sky and fired off a bombardment of fire and ice down on the monsters, forcing some of them to retreat into the sand. She conjured a fire whip and ice spear and flew down at a more resilient bigger one, lashing her whip against the creature to burn it before jabbing it through the throat with an ice spear.
"Looks like thing're going swell so far!" Togau said, cutting down one Lanmola with her ax before using her hind-legs to bash another coming up from behind her, "They ain't all that tough!"
But just then, the ground started to shift wildly, and even more Lanmola emerged out from the sand, screeching out at the group. Unlike the others though, they all seemed to be wearing strange helmets.
"What? Why are there still so many of them?!" Saria asked.
"That's a very good question." Saveore narrowed her eyes, "I've never seen them work together like this before..."
Then the ground rumbled even more, and the sand in the distance started to move around, taking on a more spiraling form like a whirlpool. They all looked in shock to see another Lanmola emerge out from the center of the sand whirlpool, only it looked far different than the others..
This particular Lanmola was a much longer and bigger one, and had some very odd traits to it; it was covered in various places with a type of metallic plating. It had eight long metal claws in place of the stubby ones they were known to have. The head of the creature was covered in a metal helmet-like object with metallic mouth pinchers, and it's three eyes were glowing a eerie crimson red. It's metal claws opened out and the creature let out a terrifying screech that could be heard all around.
"ssssssssSSSSSSKREEEEEEEEE!"
"I've never seen one that looks like that before!" Dualsera said with Kesuta's panicked voice, "Why's it covered in all that armor?"
"I'm willing to take bets that a certain loathsome rebellion of fools is behind this abomination." Dualsera replied in Korume's cold tone.
"This must be the work of that rebel engineer Meokuro!" Sarami said walking out to see for herself, looking up at it and adjusting her glasses, "Those parts look very similar to the ones Ms. Foluma has!"
They then noticed the other Lanmola that had just come out all reacted to the monster with screeches of their own.
"Could that large one be controlling the others?" Saria asked.
"How observant of you, little one." spoke a dry monotone voice, as they all turned to see a Gerudo woman standing beside the giant monster.
She had pale white skin, as well as long disheveled white hair with red highlights. She bore an expressionless face, with 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 metal glove with a tube that ran up to a metal shoulder plate, with a black crow perched on top of it.
"Are you one of them rebels?" Togau asked narrowing her eyes.
"Yes, I am Dr. Yissa. The new head scientist of the Ebony Sisterhood." she spoke in a dry tone, running her hand along the hide of one of the Lanmola, "And you must be the brides of the false king..."
"Head scientist? What about that dreadful Meokuro person?" Sarami asked, still feeling contempt for the engineer after what she had put Granny Truttlo and Lady Sheeva through.
"What about her? She's proven herself to be a lost cause to the rebellion and turned against us." Yissa shook her head, "So as a demonstration of my skills to Mother Imono, I've taken control of one of her experiments to destroy your pitiful little town."
"That scientist lady defected from the rebellion too?" Kesuta asked, recalling when she and Korume were defeated by her before during their last attack on Gerudo Town.
"She showed her weakness by sympathizing with you fools, and she shall meet her end soon enough." Yissa spoke, "Just as you all will today when my pets turn your home into a glorious bloodbath."
"But wait, what about the rebels we've captured here?" Saria asked, "If you do that you'll hurt them too!"
"Such is life." Yissa shook her head, "Their blood will join your own when this all over." she stared upwards, "It will be quite a spectral, I look forward to harvesting your bones and organs after it is all over. They will provide excellent research materials..."
"Ugh, she's even creepier than you Sis..." Kesuta spoke.
"Kukuku, I rather like her style..." Korume observed.
"Okay, now I don't know who's creepier!" Kesuta exclaimed.
"Now Cybermola, kill them all." Yissa spoke, bringing up her metal glove and unleashing waves of magnetism that caused the giant monster now known as a 'Cybermola', as well as the other Lanmola to all screech out and attack the group.
"This is bad, we're going to need help." Togau said, "We need..."
Suddenly though, a barrage of bomb arrows came down from the sky and blasted at the Lanmola, while four figures leaped into the air and kicked four of the creatures across the head. Aviel landed to the ground and folded her Roc's Wings back. Landing by her side was Nemisa and her three other selves created by the power of the Four Bracelet; Gemisa, Bemisa and Pemisa.
"Hi guuuys! We're back!" Aviel waved out.
"Is everyone okay?" Nemisa shouted out as her three over selves stood to face the giant worms.
"Aviel! Nemisa!" Saria exclaimed with relief.
As one Lanmola was about to attack a Forsworn Gerudo from behind, another figure shot by slicing the large monster's head off with her twin scimitars. Landing to the ground was Nabooru, spinning her blades in her hands and holding one up over her shoulder.
"Looks like the party's just getting started!" smirked Nabooru, "Now Link, go for it!"
"Right!"
A long chain shot out from nowhere and jammed into the side of one Lanmola's head. The creature screeched out in pain as the chain pulled up Link, who flew through the air and slashed a number of the Lanmola on his way up to it's head with his sword in the other hand. He then leaped off the Lanmola and stuck out his sword, cutting it open as he fell to the ground. On this way down, he quickly readied his Quake Medallion, slamming it to the ground to blast away two more Lanmola.
"It's King Link!" cheered out a guard.
Link gasped out from the power of the Quake Medallion, before standing upright and grinning to everyone, "Nice work everyone! Now let us help you out!"
"Sav'aaq, everyone!" spoke up a Gerudo in a maid dress, running up to Saria and Sarami. It was Foluma, but her voice had a strange echo to it, "Sa'sohi that it took so long for us to get back!"
"Hey Foluma, you're okay!" Saria said with relief, "But why are you talking so strange? Did the rebels do something to you after all?" she asked in a panic.
"Oh there's nothing wrong with her." suddenly the spiritual form of a Gerudo woman emerged halfway out of the maid's body, "Foluma was starting to have some trouble with her parts so I possessed her body to help her along!"
"Eep!" Saria and Chupil both exclaimed in surprise, quickly hugging Sarami tightly.
"Chiiiio!" sobbed the ChuChu.
"Sister Osena, please try to warn us before you do that." Sarami sighed, trying to comfort both Saria and Chupil.
"It's Lady Nabooru..." muttered Dr. Yissa, she turned to see Link, "...and the false king. So they all escaped Mother Imono and our sisters. Disappointing."
"You're the one Foluma mentioned to us." Nabooru narrowed her eyes, "What is it you possibly hope to achieve working with the Ebony Sisterhood?"
"..." Yissa stared at Nabooru with deadpan eyes. For a brief second, the rebel doctor thought about a tall woman with red hair and wearing a white gown, smiling as she put her hand on her head. Yissa glanced upwards for a moment, before shaking her head,
"You can never hope to understand me, False Queen Nabooru. You may have escaped the Pyramid of Power, but now you can all die here instead. Cybermola, attack."
By Yissa's command, the Cybermola screeched out and attacked the group, unleashing it's metal claws and slashing them wildly at Link and his friends.
"Everyone, steel yourselves!" commanded Nabooru.
"I don't use steel swords, but okay!" Aviel said, taking to the sky and started firing wooden arrows down at the creatures. The normal Lanmola took some hits, but the Cybermola's metal parts proved resistant, so she focused on using her bomb arrows to fight it. She swooped around the sky firing arrows at every opening she had, though she had to be conservative with them since she didn't have as many bomb arrows as regular ones.
Nemisa sprinted into battle, evading rocks shot at her when the Cybermola shot out from the sand to attack. She leaped through the air and kicked a rock into dust before landing a flying kick down on the giant creature's exposed hide. It resisted and smacked her away with one it's metal claws, but she flipped onto her feet and ran right back into battle. Another Lanmola emerged up to attack her, but her purple copy Pemisa delivered a strong kick to it. The creature tried to bite at her, but Gemisa and Bemisa both came up from behind and punched it down to the ground.
"We got these puny little things, you take on that big thick one." Pemisa chuckled with a sultry voice.
"P-Please don't make those kinds of comparisons Pemisa..." Bemisa said sweatdropping.
"Thank you girls." Nemisa nodded with a smirk, jumping high into the air and delivering a flying kick into one of the Cybermola's exposed body parts.
Link meanwhile charged right at the Cybermola who swung down at him with it's metal claws. He blocked it off with Hotaig's Shield and delivered a powerful spin attack on it. The Cybermola cringed from the sharp pain and swatted Link away, so he took his Fairy Bow and started firing off fire and shock arrows at the giant to stun it. The attacks didn't seem to have much of an effect however.
A smaller Lanmola emerged from the sand and dived down at Link, so he quickly countered by firing an ice arrow that managed to freeze it in it's midsection and make it screech out from the extreme cold. Link quickly ran forward with his Quake Medallion and slammed it into the Lanmola which caused it to break into pieces, leaving the monster cut in half.
"So these things are weak to ice!" Link realized, he shouted out to Dualsera, "Hey Korume, give that monster all you can dish out!"
"With pleasure my love!" Korume cackled from within Dualsera, firing down ice spears that pierced through a number of the Lanmola on the ground. She then released a large wave of icy mist that engulfed the body from the Cybermola to weaken it's body.
While the Cybermola was thrown-off, she flew forward with her flame whip and lashed it out, binding squeezing the monster by it's neck. She then brought up her ice spear and stabbed it brutally through it's throat. The Cybermola screeched out, breaking free from the flame whip and bashing Dualsera backwards. It then started to slam it's head into the ground to try and squash the Gerudo.
"Hm, looks like it won't be long now..." Yissa whispered, looking carefully at her glove as a light flashed on it, "This test shall prove useful."
"Now it's my turn, we'll finally put an end to this!" Nabooru shouted.
The Gerudo leader sprinted at the Cybermola as it was slamming the ground, evading the rocks that flew at her. She leaped onto the back of one Lanmola as it lunged at her and she ran along it's back, cutting at any others that tried to bite at her. The tail of the Lanmola suddenly flicked up, catapulting Nabooru upwards. The Cybermola swung at Nabooru with it's claws, but she spun in midair to evade them. As a metal claws came directly at her, she swung her sword cutting it off at the joint, and she landed against the Cybermola's back, running up it's body and cutting at it wherever it wasn't covered in metal plating. When she reached the top she gave it a powerful cross slash in the back of the head to send it reeling forward.
"Reirousa, now finish it!" Nabooru commanded.
"You got it Lady Nabooru!" Reirousa said. As the Cybermola fell downwards, she jammed a bomb into her warhammer and brought it back, before swinging it forward with incredible strength, blasting the giant automation insect backwards.
"Look like we got it on the ropes!" Nabooru landed to the ground with a grin "Now we just need to-"
"Pathetic." spoke Yissa, pushing a button on her glove and emitting more magnetic waves at the Cybermola, "Now you'll know true suffering."
Much to everyone's shock, the Cybermola started breathing out some familiar yellow mist as it's eyes glew bright red. It screeched out loudly and seemed to be engulfed in a powerful aura, lashing out it's tail with a mighty swing, knocking away everyone who was stationed on the ground. Even many of the still-living Lanmola were knocked away.
"Ugh... how the hell did that thing get stronger all of a sudden?" groaned Reirousa.
"That yellow mist... it's a side effect from the rebellion's power tonic!" Link realized.
Yissa leaned forward slightly with a creepy stare, "Yes... the traitorous Meokuro was using this monster to test the effects of FZ-501... but you'll soon learn what that tonic can truly do now that I've taken over the project." as she cast out more magnetic waves on the Cybermola.
The giant monster swung down it's metal claws, causing a huge waves of sand to erupt from the ground and shoot right at the group. They quickly evaded each attack that came at them, while Dualsera and Aviel took to the sky, blasting at it with bomb arrows as well as ice magic. The giant insect shrugged off the attacks and swiped at the two airborne fighters with it's claws wildly. Despite their effort to dodge, Aviel was struck by one claw and went falling down to the ground near the gate door.
"Aviel!" Dualsera exclaimed, she turned to the monster with her hair ignited with flames, "Oh you're gonna pay for hurting my family!" Kesuta spoke from within, as she bombarded it with fire.
Togau leaped over another swing of the Cybermola's tail and threw her hand ax out at it, but the aura it was giving off managed to deflect her weapon. She then saw Ratoka was getting overwhelmed by the creature's new strength and darted over to hitch her up on her horseback and riding off to safety.
"..." Ratoka gasped out, nodding to Togau as if to thank her.
"Hey Lady Nabooru, got any ideas to take on this thing?" Togau asked as Saveore scooped up her wife to make sure she was okay.
"Good question, we've seen just how dangerous that tonic can be multiple times." Nabooru said, she looked back at the wall to see it had a few cracks but was still pretty intact, "And we can't allow too much damage to happen to the wall. Now that the Sand Rod is gone, repairs to the town will be harder to do, and we have very little time before we have to meet with Hyrule Castle."
"Well we just gotta kill this thing real quick then." Reirousa said gripping her warhammer, "Before it destroys the wall, I'll break it to pieces first!"
The Cybermola sent rocks down at Reirousa as she ran at it. She smashed through the rocks effortlessly with her hammer. One smaller rock came right at her, but she simply responded by leaned down and allowing the rock to bash against her head, and she kept running without even flinching from the impact. She put another bomb into her warhammer, before swinging it out and blasting the Cybermola backwards.
"Yeah, take that!" she shouted.
But the Cybermola's eyes gleamed as it screeched out, slamming it's claws to the ground and firing off more waves of sand. Reirousa tried to keep her footing, but the waves started to get more violent, and she started to feel nauseous from the jerky motion.
"Ulp..." groaned Reirousa, she staggered around as the Cybermola got itself back up.
"Oh no, it's her motion sickness again!" Sovan exclaimed.
"Hold on Rei, I'll help you!" Link shouted, trying to defend himself from another Lanmola.
"Let me assist her!" Osena said, emerging out from Foluma's body and flying towards Reirousa.
"H-Hey, what do ya think yer doin'?" Reirousa groaned as she felt the spirit trying to possess her.
"Just let me enter you so I can help you escape!" Osena said, "...ugh, you really do get sick from this sort of thing, don't you?"
"Shad up or I'll pound you, ya damn ghost!" Reirousa shouted out, but a wave of sand caused her to feel sick, "Ulp..."
Aviel meanwhile slowly sat up and rubbed her head, "Oooowie... that thing really packs a punch..." she looked over at Foluma who was still in a bit of a daze herself from being possessed, "Oh, hi Foluma!"
"Ugh, what happened... why does everything taste like purple...?" Foluma groaned, she looked up at all the commotion going on and her eyes widened at the sight of the Cybermola, "Huh?!"
"Foluma?" Aviel asked.
"T-This..." spoke the maid, as she saw the Cybermola before them. Her pupils shrank down and her body was starting to quiver. She quickly turned and kneeled before Aviel, clinging tightly to her outfit.
"K-Kyyyyaaaaa!" Foluma screamed out, "Bugs, bugs everywhere! Get rid of them! Kyaaaaaaa!"
"Oh no, Foluma's freaking out here Link!" Aviel said, trying to hug her protectively with her wings.
"It's no wonder, after what Saveore and Esolu told us about what she went through." Link spoke in realization,"We'll just have to protect her for now!"
"Right!" Aviel nodded.
Two more Lanmola emerged up from the sand and attacked the three at opposite sides, so Link and Aviel armed their bows; Link shooting an ice arrow while Aviel used a bomb arrow, blasting the two Lanmola out of midair and to the ground, allowing the Forsworn Gerudo to impale the insects with their weapons until they were both dealt with.
"Foluma, are you okay?" Aviel asked, holding out her crossbow as she held the maid close.
"Keep them away, please!" Foluma sobbed, "Damn stupid bugs, bugs, buuugs, I can't stand it!"
"Poor her... why did it have to be these darn Lanmola of all things?" Aviel asked.
"Aviel, here comes some more!" Link said, taking aim with another ice arrow
"Right!" the bird girl said, loading up a bomb arrow to protect Foluma.
Meanwhile in Gerudo Palace, the guards and nurses all watched helplessly as Link, Nabooru and the others were fighting off the giant insect. Many of the townspeople fled into their homes for safety while more soliders rushed out to help with the threat.
"Let me go!" shouted a loud voice, "I've had solider training before, I can help fight em!"
"Please Ragome, don't do anything so reckless!" Leivuri of Link's royal child-bearers pleaded, "You wouldn't stand a chance against the Lanmola in your condition!"
"What do you mean 'in my condition'?!" Ragome shouted as her large breasts bounced around.
Esolu was laying back on some pillows as she held up a picture she drew of Ragome's head on a cow's body.
"So what if I'm a little out of shape, it's not like I'm pregnant right now!" Ragome said, trying to grab a spear while the guards and other child-bearers restrained her, "Please let me go help King Link!"
"Forget it, we need to get these girls down to the underground pool area for safety!" said a guard.
"..." Esolu sighed as she heard Ragome fighting everyone, as she gazed out a window. Maybe she could have helped fight the monster if she herself had still been in her prime as a solider. She looked down at the sketch pad she had been drawing on; it was a heavily detailed picture of Foluma as she looked back before she had been turned into an automation. Her writing hand trembled as she thought about what Foluma had told her back when they shared their first kiss together,
"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? We might end up living in new places, making new friends, and we might even meet men we want to have families with..."
Esolu hung her head down at the sketch, she looked down to her and Link's daughter Noleire. She placed a hand on the baby's head and stroked it affectionatly.
"Sister Esolu, let's get moving. We're going to get you down to the cellar for your protection!" a guard spoke up, jolting the mute woman out of her thoughts.
"..." Esolu nodded and sighed sadly, before putting a big 'X' over the drawing, and setting it aside. She picked up Noleire and followed the others who were trying to keep Ragome under control.
Back at the gate, Link and the others charged right back into battle against the monsters.
The Cybermola brought down it's claws to attack, but Link leaped to the side to evade them and sprinted up, using his sword to slash at the beast's body again. It tried to slam it's tail down on Link, so the young king took his shield and jumped on top of it to sled across the sand, allowing the ruptures in the sand that the Cybermola created to carry him. He pulled out his bow and fired off ice arrows to stun the beast as he rode by, giving Nabooru the chance to stab at it with both her scimitars.
The Cybermola roared and brought up it's head to tower over everyone. Link took his longshot and fired it at the helmet of the beast, pulling him up to it's head and thrusting his sword down on it's eyes. However, try as he might, he couldn't pierce through them. He took his Quake Medallion and slammed it onto the monster's head but that didn't seem to have much of an effect either.
"Huh?" Link spoke before the Cybermola forced him off it's head. He went hurling down, but Dualsera caught him in midair and helped him down to the sand.
"What's the matter Link?" Dualsera asked, holding him protectively in her arms.
"There's something real weird about that thing's head." Link said, giving her a kiss as thanks, "I don't think our weapons will be able to damage it normally."
The Cybermola screeched out and swung out it's tail at the town wall, but Reirousa braced herself, brought up her arms and grabbed the tail with her bulky arms, trying her best to hold it in place.
"Oh no ya don't, ya bastard!" Reirousa shouted. The Cybermola then swung it's tail to the side, launching Reirousa into the air and sliding across the sand before impacting head-first into a rock.
"Rei!" Link shouted, running over to his fiance and making sure she was alright.
"Now I have you both." Yissa said, amplifying the magnetic waves of her glove to command the Cybermola, but suddenly a spear of ice shot down and she quickly sidestepped to avoid it from piercing her leg, "Troublesome."
"Leave our family alone!" Dualsera shouted, conjuring fireballs in her hands and launching them down at Yissa, "It's time we deal with you, little wench!"
But when the fire came down at the rebel scientist, it started to move strangely, before it flew right back in Dualsera's direction, forcing her to fly out of the way of it.
"What the hell?" Dualsera exclaimed, looking down to see Yissa had a strange energy aura in front of her that had taken on the form of a shield. It seemed to be emitting from the metal shoulder pad she was wearing, "How did you do that?"
"It's futile, your magic will do nothing to me." Yissa spoke.
"Cawww!" Her pet crow Rarth said as it spread it's wings.
"Hey, do you remember that power Sister?!" Kesuta spoke frantically from within Dualsera, "That's just like that weird power Meokuro used on us back when the town was invaded by the rebels!"
"That power is based off of our people's sacred treasure the Mirror Shield." Yissa spoke dryly, "Meokuro developed it to fight against the traitorous descendants of the late sorceress Twinrova, and it was a mere task for me to replicate it."
"This is bad, we stood no chance against that Meokuro woman when she used that..." Korume spoke, recalling when they fell in battle, "She managed to turn our power against us with it...!"
"Now kill them." Yissa said, casting out magnet waves on the Cybermola to attack Dualsera, Reirousa and Link again.
"Not so fast ya giant worm!" Togau shouted, sprinting up and firing off a powerful Lynel's Roar to stun the monster.
As the Cybermola was distracted, that gave Reirousa the opportunity to recover and run at it, load a bomb into her Bombos Warhammer and swing it out, bashing it into the Cybermola and causing an explosion that sent it flying back.
"Kukuku... now it's my turn to finish it." Korume spoke. She cast out a powerful blast of ice magic to completely freeze the creature's head in a block of ice. The weight of the ice caused the creature to become dizzy and collapse motionless to the ground.
"Did... did it actually work?" Saria asked.
"Ha, take that!" Reirousa shouted out.
"Annoying." Yissa muttered, shaking her head as she started inputting some commands into her glove...
The monster seemed to be laying still on the sand, but then Nemisa noticed a strange amount of red light coming from the head of the frozen Cybermola's three eyes, and she broke out into a cold sweat, recalling something very similar from quite a while back,
"That light..." whispered Nemisa, "Everyone, spread out and escape!"
Without waiting for an explanation, everyone did as Nemisa asked, as the ice covering the Cybermola's head shattered, and a powerful red beam shot out of all three of the eyes. The monster got right back up, it breathed out more yellow mist as it's eyes started to glow brighter than before. It screeched out as a red tracking beam started to form from it's eyes at the group. It stared down at Link and his friends as the beam started to flash and beep rapidly.
"It's going to fire a laser again, everyone get away!" Link shouted.
Everyone retreated as the beams fired out from it's three eyes and shot across the ground, making powerful waves of red energy. It even seemed to be able to shift the beams around in different directions by rolling it's eyes around.
"What in tarnation, that dang thing can fire lasers too?" Togau exclaimed, "Reminds me of those Beamos doohickeys from the rebel's underground lab!"
"Yes, Foluma had a weapon just like that back when I fought her in the palace!" Nemisa said.
"This is the Cybermola's ultimate weapon, a triple Beamos laser blast." spoke Yissa, "And amplified by the effects of the power-enhancement drug FZ-501, you all stand no chance against it. So just die."
"This is bad, the buildings in town aren't going to be able to withstand that much force!" Nabooru said, "We can't let it attack our home! Keep it distracted!"
Everyone charged into battle once again, striking at the Cybermola, but making sure to keep it facing away from Gerudo Town so no stray lasers could cause any damage. The large monster was getting harder to injure due to the effects of the power tonic coursing through it, and it's laser attacks were getting more dangerous as a result.
"This thing won't let up!" Saria called out, "Anyone got any new ideas?"
Aviel meanwhile was trying to get Foluma towards the gate to safety, but she was surprisingly heavy for her relatively small frame due to her automation parts.
"Keep them away... evil crawling bugs, bugs bugs...!" Foluma sobbed against Aviel's chest.
"Come on Foluma, please snap out of it!" Aviel pleaded, "I need to get back and help everyone!"
"H-Help...?" Foluma spoke, looking up at Aviel and realizing that she was trying to carry her.
"Aviel, Foluma, watch out!" Link shouted.
The Cybermola charged up and started firing off more lasers around it. One shot ran across the ground, barely avoiding Aviel and Foluma, but the sand erupting from the ground sent them flying in different directions anyway.
"Gack, are you okay Foluma?" Aviel shouted out.
"I... can't... I..." the maid put her hands to her head, her antennae were shifting around wildly, "Error... error error... I am error!"
"Oh no, she's still having trouble!" Aviel said, getting up to go run over to her, but then a large rock flung out by the Cybermola smashed into the ground in-between them
Despite all the chaos going on, Foluma couldn't focus at all. Thanks to the trauma she experienced so long ago, the giant Lanmola terrified her far too much, and it was causing her to experience even more programming errors.
"Aaaahh!" screamed out a voice, as Foluma looked over to see Aviel run from another laser blast by the giant monster. As the bird girl was running, she tripped and fell over onto the sand. She looked up to see one of the Cybermola's lasers coming right at her.
"A-Aviel!" Foluma shouted, she tried to extend out an arm to grab and pull her away, but she heard the Cybermola screech out which left her terrified again and hesitate.
Just as the laser approached though, Link managed to run over and block the beam away from Aviel with the Shield of Hotaig, and the bird girl quickly clung to him in gratitude.
"Liiiiink, thank yoooou!" sobbed Aviel.
Foluma could only kneel helplessly as she watched Link and the others fighting the Cybermola with everything they had, and all she could do was cower in fear from the giant insect...
"This is getting bothersome." Yissa said, "I think we need to focus on a less mobile target."
She pushed a button on her glove, causing the magnet waves it was emitting to amplify. The Cybermola stopped it's attacks and set it's sights on Gerudo Town itself, namely the palace in the center.
"Destroy it." Yissa spoke.
"Oh crap, it's aiming for the town!" Link shouted, he cut down an attacking Lanmola and ran with the others to try and stop the giant insect.
Foluma stared up at everyone fighting with all their might to stop the monster, but thanks to the power tonic flowing through it, the monster was resisting their attacks. It seemed not even Dualsera's ice attacks were having an effect anymore.
Nemisa and Gemisa both flew back from an impact by the Cybermolas claws, Gemisa gasped out and looked over to Yissa casting out the magnetic waves on the monster.
"I beg you, please make that thing stop!" Gemisa pleaded with Yissa, the embodiment of Nemisa's happiness being heavily worried about Link's children, "There's innocent babies in the palace!"
"... ..." Yissa stared at Gemisa for a brief moment, before shaking her head, "No child is innocent. They are simply blind to the evils of this world as they are. And soon they shall all be dead."
With that, she turned up the magnetic waves on the Cybermola, causing it to start charging up it's laser to attack the palace.
Foluma gasped out, looking to the palace as she thought about everyone who was living there, the servants, the soliders, Link's children, the child-bearers...
...and a certain woman who she shared a long history with... one who at one point caused her so much pain... someone she hated, and yet...
"Everyone..." Foluma whispered, the maid lowered her head and muttered to herself.
"It won't be long now." spoke Yissa, "Soon Gerudo Town shall be no more."
"Oh no you don't!" Nabooru shouted running forward, thrusting both her scimitars into the Cybermola's body and forcefully yanking them out to do extra damage, but the creature didn't even seem to notice.
Link fired off more ice arrows, though the Cybermola was shrugging them off, "Damnit, the power tonic is helping it resist even ice attacks!"
"What do we do, your highness?" Saveore asked, trying to hack at it with with her claymore.
"Warning... intense energy readings detected... Extreme threat level in vicinity... exceeding Super Duper Omega Red." spoke up a voice.
Everyone turned towards the wall of Gerudo Town to see Foluma was now standing atop it. The maid had her eyes focused on the giant monster before her. The unbroken antenna on her head shifted as she stared up at the creature, "Beewoooop, beewwoop. Belelele whoooooooooooop...!"
"The hell's she doing?" Reirousa shouted.
"Foluma, get away from there! It's gonna fire!" Aviel shouted.
Foluma spoke in a monotone voice, "Detecting threat level Super Ultra Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot Red... Emergency override initiated, now entering combat mode!"
With that, the maid brought up her arms, and her wrists and ankles opened up. Her limbs twisted and shifted until her forearms took on a long cylinder stone-like form, as well as her shins, along with large stone feet in place of her normal ones. Even the maid's head opened on the sides and a stone band with a red center wrapped around her eyes. The center then lit up with a piercing red gleam.
"What?! Foluma?" Link exclaimed.
"Meokuro-engineered Automated Gerudo Intelligence Servant model number one is now fully functional. Prepare yourself giant repulsive bug for utter annihilation by big explosions." Foluma stated,
She brought back her fist and thrust it forward, sending an extended arm forward and impacting it into the Cybermola's face, causing it to turn it's head and misfire it's laser harmlessly into the distance. Foluma leaped down to the sand and stood before the giant insect.
"That's the form she was in when I battled her!" Nemisa gasped.
"So her combat systems are back online!" Nabooru spoke.
"Annoying. Destroy her." Yissa spoke.
The Cybermola screeched out and lunged at Foluma with it's pinchers, but she kneeled down and zipped to the side to avoid it. The giant insect continued to slam against the ground but she quickly sidestepped and evaded each attack, before bringing back her fist and throwing out an extendable punch that bashed it right across the face, sending it flying far back.
"Woah, whadda punch!" Reirousa exclaimed.
The Cybermola screeched and swung it's tail out at Foluma, who leaped over it into the sky and delivered another long-range punch down across it's head, breaking through it's pinchers and damaging one of it's eyes. The creature retaliating by lunging out and headbutting the maid, causing her to fall and crash into the sand. Foluma quickly got up just as the Cybermola tried to slam it's tail at her. She shifted her movement around to avoid each impact within seconds, before jumping up and delivering an extended sidekick that sent the beast sliding far away from the palace wall.
"Dang, look at her go!" Togau grinned, "I'm glad she's on our side now!"
"Take it down Foluma!" cheered Aviel.
As the Cybermola laid stunned by her attack, Foluma squatted down, then leaped high into the air above the monster, converting her fists into drills. She swung both her arms down at the monster, drilling into it's armor plating, causing it to start cracking apart. As the insect monster thrashed around in pain, it's eyes suddenly glew and fired off a laser that blasted Foluma right out of the air.
"Oh no, she took a direct attack!" Saria exclaimed.
Stunned by the laser blast, Foluma went falling downwards. The Cybermola lunged forward at the maid in an attempt to eat her in one gulp, but she was quickly snatched out of midair from the attack by Link using his Longshot on a flagpole some distance away.
"Link...?" Foluma whispered looking weakly up to Link.
"Don't worry Foluma, I got you!" Link said. While the two wound up falling downwards quickly due to the the maid's weight, they were caught safely by Reirousa.
"Nice catch Rei!" Link said, giving the hulking woman a kiss on the cheek.
"Uh, s-sure..." the general blushed, looking away.
"So she's fully regained her combat abilities. This could be bad. I won't be able to get close enough to her to control her either." muttered Yissa, looking down at her glove. She turned to the Cybermola, "Destroy her before it's too la- huh?"
The Cybermola slowly rose upright, and everyone saw some of it's armor plating starting to break off thanks to Foluma's drill attack, exposing it's inner muscle tissue and organs. The monster let out another screech at Link and his friends, seemingly too drugged up by the power tonic to realize how much in pain it was in from it's nerves being exposed to the open air.
"That's it, I've just about had enough." Nabooru spoke narrowing her eyes at the monster, "It's time to put an end to this. Everyone, show that monster no mercy!"
"You got it Lady Nabooru." Saveore narrowed her eyes, "We're not gonna let you or our daughter down. Come on girls!"
With that, everyone charged at the monster and went all-out on it with attacks. With much of it's armor plating broken off it had numerous soft weak points for them to all to exploit and attack.
"Looks like it's just about done for... Bothersome." muttered Yissa, "Then I'll end this now. Cybermola, focus all your power into one more attack on the palace."
The Cybermola screeched and quickly dived down into the sand to escape it's attackers before bursting out some distance away, and immediately charged up a triple laser, aiming right at the town.
"Don't let it fire!" Nabooru shouted to the group, but she was suddenly stopped by someone stepping out in front of her, "Huh?"
Foluma was standing back up, staring at the monster. She was in pretty bad shape, and had numerous burns and some of her automation parts chipped and cracked off from the laser attack she took. She leaped up into the air and landed on top of the wall, standing between the Cybermola and the palace.
"Foluma, hold on a second!" Nemisa shouted, "Don't do anything reckless!"
"I apologize Mistress She-Tiger," Foluma interjected to Nemisa, "...but I must protect the palace at all costs."
As terrified of the giant insect as she was, Foluma took a deep breath. In that brief moment, she thought about the past two months she spent caring for Link, Aviel and everyone, and how they had all treated her so well. For the first time in years she had been treated as a person first and a servant second. She hadn't been that happy since her days with Esolu back when they were younger...
Her gaze then fell on Aviel in particular, and she thought about the words she told her about how important her memories were. And then to Link, who gave her the chance to remember what it was like to do things that make you happy...
"I must protect... everyone... I must protect... them all."
The center of the stone-like band around Foluma's head opened up, revealing a single red eye that charged up energy. She stood perfectly still as energy built up quickly inside of her.
"Calculating force of enemy attack. Determining appropriate angle. Systems locked... Fire."
The Cybermola then fired out it's tri-beam laser, but Foluma countered by firing a red laser of her own. The two blasts impacted into each other, each trying to overpower the other, but the Cybermola's triple attack was starting to prove to be more powerful. Foluma's legs shook, and she started to step back a bit from the pressure of the blast.
"Error, enemies' blasty laser too strong." Foluma spoke, "Unable to maintain balance and accuracy."
But then Foluma felt something brace her in place; it was Link and Aviel both grabbing onto her arms.
"It's okay Foluma, go for it!" Link shouted, holding her close to him, "Give it one more push!"
"Yeah don't give up, we're here to support you!" Aviel said.
Foluma paused at the feeling of them both holding her, recalling when she was helping Esolu give birth to her child, and how Link had helped support her old friend in her time of need the same way...
"... ...affirmative. Now initiating full-power blast beam of blasty destruction." Foluma spoke, fully charging up the beam and sending the energy right at the monster.
Just when it seemed the Cybermola's attack was going to prevail, Foluma's laser overcame it and shot out at full power, managing to blast the monster right into it's head and out the other end.
"What?" Yissa spoke, as even her pet crow's eyes widened.
"She did it!" Dualsera shouted out in astonishment.
The Cybermola let out one last screech, before falling over to the ground with a mighty thud. It lingered on the sand for a brief moment, before it's body disintegrated into purple mist and it's armor plating collapsed to the ground.
"The Cybermola was defeated..." Yissa muttered, taking a step back. She saw Link and Nabooru, along with their friends, all turn to her with sharp glares.
"Caww!" Rarth said, flapping it's wings wildly in panic.
"Yes, perhaps we need to flee." Yissa said, she forced one Lanmola that was still alive back up using her magnet glove control, and she rode off on it far into the desert, presumably back to the Pyramid of Power.
"And don't come back!" Reirousa shouted.
"It's finally over..." Nabooru let out a deep sigh of relief, "We have protected the town from the rebels and emerged victorious everyone!"
The group all cheered out with their weapons all held into the air, and many thanks were handed out to each other for their hard work.
"Foluma...?"
The cheering however came to a quick stop as everyone turned to see Link and Aviel were looking over Foluma. She was now laying on the sandy ground, her limbs had broken off from her last attack, and she had taken massive amount of damage all over.
"Oh no, are you okay?" Aviel asked desperately with tears in her eyes.
"Ugh... I think I took too much damage today... meheheh..." Foluma groaned with a weak, forced smile.
"Foluma, hang in there!" Link shouted, "We'll get you some help!"
"Thank you... but... I think this is it for me..." Foluma muttered her eyes started to black out, "S-Shutting... down..."
"...is she going to be okay...?"
"She will if you stop hanging over me and give me some time! I'm almost done!"
"For your sake, she better be back to normal when she awakens."
"Hey, I said I'm trying to help here!"
"Leave her alone Nemisa, she's doing her best."
"Hmph, as you wish Lady Nabooru."
Foluma could hear strange voices as her vision started to come into focus, and the first thing she saw was a familiar pair of green goggles staring down at her, before taking a step back to show it was Engineer Meokuro standing before her, along with Link, Aviel, Nabooru and Nemisa.
"What...?"
"She's awake!" Link exclaimed.
"Folumaaaaa!" shouted a high-pitched voice, as the maid was quickly hugged by Aviel and her bird wings, "You're okaaaay!"
"Wha- Aviel? Link? The great engineering goddess Meokuro?! What's going on here?" Foluma asked in surprise, "I thought I was done for!"
"You took ome heavy damage from fighting the Cybermola," Nabooru said with a relieved smile, "But shortly after that rebel Yissa escaped, Meokuro here showed up with some spare automation parts, and she offered her help to fix you."
"You were already in a bad state before, so I got ahold of a bunch of equipment parts that I needed to swap out." Meokuro explained pulling up her goggles, "Thankfully it was just enough to get you back to fully working condition."
Foluma looked down in surprise to see her prosthetic limbs were fixed up properly. She brought one hand up and flexed the fingers to see they were operational, "You... did this for me?"
"Y-Yeah, wiihihihihi..." Meokuro glanced over at Link for a moment, before she rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous laugh, "After all, I had to help my greatest creati-" she paused and hung her head down, "...h-help you function again... Foluma."
"Thanks for helping her Miku-kupo!" Aviel said, hugging Meokuro tightly.
"H-Hey, cut it out with those things!" Meokuro snorted, trying not to laugh from the ticklish sensation.
"But she's right, we owe you greatly for helping our sister." Nabooru nodded, "And we admire your courage to defect from the Sisterhood."
"I dunno about that..." Meokuro said looking away, "I may have come to realize the Ebony Sisterhood are going down the wrong path... But it's way too little too late for me... I can't apologize enough for what I put you all though with my work, especially that Cybermola. It's purpose was supposed to be just for testing the formula and prosthetic parts."
"Don't worry about it too much Meokuro, I know we've had our differences in the past, but you came through and helped Foluma without being asked, and we can't thank you enough for this." Link flashed Meokuro a bright smile.
"But... I'm the reason she ended up like this to begin with... I was following Mother Imono's orders to make her into a weapon..." Meokuro muttered.
"But in doing so you saved Foluma and gave her a second chance at life." Link said, he took Meokuro's bare hand and gave it a kiss, "And if there's anything I believe in, it's giving people second chances."
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-!" Meokuro staggered back with a beet-red face and her eyes spiraling, "D-Don't go pulling your casanova act on me, False King! You can't charm me with your pretty boy looks or that rockin' bod or that compassionate voice or... or...!"
"Uh, you alright, Supreme Engineer?" Foluma asked.
"..." Meokuro looked left and right, before pulling her goggles back down, spinning around and screaming out, "Graaaaaah! Why did you make me say all thaaaaat!"
"Heh, looks like you charmed another rebel into succeeding. As expected from you Link!" Nabooru snickered, patting him on the shoulder.
"Maybe I laid it on a little too thick..." Link said sweatdropping.
Nemisa took Meokuro by her shoulder and smirked, "Don't you worry, you'll have all the time you need to get that second chance in prison. You have a lot to make up for after all."
"Sorry Nemisa, but we made a deal." Nabooru stated, "In exchange for helping Foluma, I agreed to let her leave at her own discretion."
"Tsk, fine." Nemisa looked away.
"Well as soon as you're ready to leave, I'll have the guards escort you out Meokuro." Link said.
The scientist paused for a moment, glancing away with an uneasy look in her eyes.
"Um, actually... Before I go, can I possibly do one thing first...?"
"So this is the place..."
Meokuro stood before a gravestone in the Gerudo Town cemetery. There was one headstone with a yellow-painted helmet attached to the top of the headstone. With her were Link, Nabooru and Foluma.
Written on the stone was the name 'Sister Faurugo'. She had been a rebel archaeologist who raided old temples and ruins for ancient treasures to benefit the Ebony Sisterhood, but met her end at the Hall of Knowledge when she overused the power tonic FZ-501 to try and kill Link and Nabooru.
"Thanks for giving me a chance to see her before I leave." Meokuro spoke to Nabooru, "We used to work together in acquiring technology for my inventions, and she was a great friend of mine. Those parts I used to convert Foluma into an automation came from what she salvaged years ago..."
Meokuro took a step forward and kneeled down at the grave, putting her hands together and bowing her head in prayer.
"Faurugo... you worked so hard to help support the Ebony Sisterhood. You believed so much in the future Mother Imono wanted for us..."
Much to the surprise of the others, tears were starting to spill down Meokuro's cheeks,
"And now here I am defecting from the Sisterhood and that belief you held so strongly... I dunno if I can even call myself your social link..."
"Meokuro..." Link muttered.
"A-Anyway, I hope you're enjoying your retirement..." Meokuro said wiping a tear from her face, "Rest well, you earned it." she stood up on shaky legs and took a sigh, "S-Sorry you all had to see that."
"It's quite fine, I'm glad I made it in time to see it." spoke up a familiar voice, as everyone turned to see Dr. Sarami standing there alongside the former rebel doctor Eifou.
"Huh? Eifou?!" Meokuro spoke.
She saw the former rebel Dr. Eifou was much different than before. Most of her old partner's stitches were properly sown up now, she had less bandages covering her body, and the arrows that had been stuck in her before were all removed.
"Hey, long time no see Meokuro." Eifou waved, "I just came out here with Dr. Sarami to see Boss Faurugo myself."
"I shouldn't be able to forgive a cruel monster like you for what you put Granny and Sheeva through..." Sarami spoke, adjusting her glasses which were giving off an unreadable gleam, "If it were up to me you'd be thrown in prison until you understood the suffering you brought to our people..."
"She's pretty good at that." Eifou muttered, recalling her battle with Sarami.
Sarami then continued, "...but I do wish to say, I've never seen such a cruel monster cry like that before... Perhaps there is a good heart deep within you."
"..." Meokuro looked away from Sarami, "No... you're right to think like you did. I believed so much in what Imono said before, about how sacrifices needed to be made in pursuit of science, and for the greater good of our people. I had stopped caring about how important life really is..."
"Sooo... what brought about this change?" Eifou asked.
"I have a feeling it was our dear king, yes?" Nabooru smirked.
"...y-yeah, when he saved me from my underground laboratory." Meokuro admitted, "He didn't have to do anything, he could have just left me to die, but he saved me anyways. I used to hate him for what I thought he did to Faurugo... but after that I started to think he wasn't all that bad..."
Link chuckled a little sheepishly as Nabooru grinned and nudged him with her elbow.
"I eventually came to understand who's the one who really took Faurugo's life that day..." Meokuro trembled, "It was the power tonic I made Granny Truttlo produce, the power tonic I gave Faurugo that day to use..."
Tears started to spill down Meokuro's cheeks again.
"She lost her life that day because of me.. and I can't expect her or anyone to forgive me for what I've done..."
"..." Foluma stared out at Meokuro, before glancing down at her limbs, thinkign about Esolu all of a sudden...
Meokuro wiped her nose and took a deep breath, "That's why I can't stay here in Gerudo Town with you all. I need some time to do a solo run... and think about what I need to do with myself now.."
"That'll be just fine." Nabooru nodded, "Take your time, and seek the answers you desire."
"And don't forget, you'll always have a home here." Link assured her with a goofy grin, "After your prohibition, maybe we can help you find a way to use your science for the good of everyone."
"...o-okay, t-thanks... King Link." Meokuro said with a very light smile, she turned to Foluma, "As for you Foluma, I have one final order for you."
"What shall be your command?" Foluma asked, tilting her body to the side and raising up a hand.
"...quite simply, I want you to stop obeying me and live your life the way you choose to do." Meokuro said, "Walk your own path, free from the Ebony Sisterhood, and find your own happiness."
"No problem, that's something I've decided I wanted to do for a while ago anyway." Foluma grinned and bowed, "Thank you for everything, oh Great Elite Goddess of Engineering Supremacy."
Meokuro turned embarrassed as she heard Nabooru, Link and Eifou snickering.
"...a-and while I'm at it, stop with the lascivious praising."
Shortly after that, Meokuro was escorted out of town by the guards, while Link, Nabooru, Sarami and Foluma all returned back to the palace. They were quickly greeted by Aviel, Nemisa and Saria as soon as they came into the main dining room.
"Welcome back everyone! I'm so glad to see you're okay Ms. Foluma!" Saria said.
"Are you certain it was a good idea for Meokuro to go free?" Nemisa asked skeptically.
"Yeah, we made a promise to her. And besides, I'm sure she's not going to try anything." Link nodded.
"I wasn't too sure about it myself, but Link and Nabs were certain she'll be fine." Sarami nodded.
"So with that done," Nabooru said as as they all sat down around the table, "Foluma has something important she needs to say to all of us."
"Thanks Lady Nabooru." Foluma cleared her throat, "I just want to say that I've come to a descsion on what I'm going to do now. I'm going to continue to keep working here in the palace as a servant to you all."
"Really Foluma?" Saria asked, "Isn't there anything else you'd prefer to do instead?"
"No, at least not at the moment." Foluma shook her head, "I may have free will now, but I feel like this is something I need to do. I still have all my skills and functions as an automation, and I want to use them to keep this place tidy of dirt and safe from giant blasty monsters."
She thought briefly about what Meokuro said before, about being unable to forgive herself,
"I... also promise to help support the child-bearers while you're all gone, including helping to deliver their kids, especially Mistress Fluffy-Tail when her time comes. It's the least I can do for everything you've done for me." Foluma bowed her head.
"It's a relief to know that!" Sarami said cheerfully, "You did a wonderful job delivering Esolu's daughter, so I can put my faith in you to handle it while we're at Hyrule Castle!"
"Speaking of which, are you going to be okay looking after Esolu herself? I mean, what with all the bad blood you had with her...?" Nemisa asked.
"... ...yeah, she caused me a lot of pain in the past. But I can't say I haven't done the same to her recently..." Foluma muttered, thinking about when she took over the palace, and how Yissa was able to get information from her memory back at the pyramid, "But regardless, I still want to protect her and Noleire..."
"You proved yourself to be a fine protector yesterday by defeating that Lanmola." Nabooru nodded, "If you truly feel that way, we're happy to keep having you here. Just don't push yourself too hard."
"Yeah, I hope when the time comes you can find what you really want out of life." Link nodded, reaching out and patting Foluma's hand, "And maybe with time, you'll eventually be able to make things up with Esolu."
"M-Maybe..." Foluma nodded with a light blush.
"Yaaaay! Glad you're gonna stay with us Foluma!" Aviel cheered out, hugging her tightly.
"T-Thanks Aviel..." Foluma said with a small smile, "It's because of you and Link that I was able to remember who I am, and even if my memories of Esolu are still painful, I'm not going to let myself forget them."
"That's great, there's so much fun stuff I wanna do with you now that we're real friends!" Aviel said.
"Oooh, if that's the case I have an idea..." Foluma quickly brought up her hands and started groping at Aviel's chest, "I wouldn't mind giving these a nice rubdown..."
"Aaah! Hey! Cut it out!" Aviel exclaimed with a heavy blush.
"Hmmm... fascinating." Foluma siad with eager eyes, "Hey Link, I think she's grown about a centimeter and a half over the past two months! By my projections she'll be a full F cup by the end of the year!"
"Uh..." Link stood there sweatdropping.
Two seconds later, Foluma was pounded face-first into the table by Nemisa's fist.
"Cut it out with that, you pervert!" Nemisa shouted.
"I guess somethings haven't changed with her." Saria sweatdropped.
"Meheheh, sorry. Can't help myself..." Foluma got herself back up and spun her head around to get it back in place, "Now if any of you need anything I'm ready and waiting! Just give me the word!"
"Actually there is a certain word I'd like to give you." nodded Nabooru, "A word we've been trying to figure out for a while now."
"A word... You mean the password for her to tell us Imono's war plans?" Link asked.
"Shouldn't she be able to just tell us now that she has free will?" Nemisa asked.
"No, my programming still has it locked." Foluma shook her head, "Only the password can unlock it from my memory, my bad."
"It's not a problem, I'd like to give it another try." Nabooru said,
"Alright then," Foluma nodded, her head spun around and she closed her eyes, "Accessing Ebony Sisterhood war plans database... Accessing folder... ...please input user password."
Nabooru nodded and narrowed her eyes, "The password is... 'Prophecy'."
"Checking..." Foluma paused for a second before she gasped out, her eyes widened as the antennae on her head shifted around wildly, "P-Password accepted!"
"Oh my, it worked?" Sarami exclaimed.
"Heh, Meokuro was telling the truth." Nabooru chuckled, "Getting the password from her was part of our deal to let her go. Looks like we were right to trust her."
"So what can you tell us?" Link asked.
"Checking... checking..." Foluma spoke, reading through all the information in her mind, before she gasped out in shock, "By the goddess Aifet, she's serious about that?"
"What is it?" Nemisa asked.
"It's Mother Imono's plans..." Foluma spoke grimly, "I'm not certain of whom she got this from, but she's following some sort of prophecy... I guess that's why she picked that password."
"Well, go ahead." Nabooru nodded.
Foluma took a deep breath and spoke out what her new memory told her,
"When the blood moon is cast over the field of battle, the blood of Hylian and Gerudo alike shall be spilled, and only then when the false king is struck down, shall the true Gerudo King rise to power again."
There was a long silent pause at Foluma's ominous words.
"That's all of it." Foluma bowed her head.
"W-What...?" Nemisa spoke up, "Does that mean they intend to free Ganondorf by killing Link on the battlefield?!"
"That's really scary..." Aviel trembled.
"What you just said... about the blood moon..." Nabooru spoke, she slammed her hand down on the table with a look of horror in her eyes, "You're absolutely certain about this?!"
"Absolutely certain." Foluma nodded.
"The... blood moon...?" Link asked titling his head, "What's that?"
"It's a strange anomaly that happens once every eleven years..." Nabooru spoke squeezing her arms, "The moon and the sky both turn blood red, and the clouds turn black as shadow... and a deadly aura forms around the land of Hyrule. No one knows exactly how it came to be, but it's a force that influences the minds and bodies of monsters, and makes them even more strong and savage."
"I saw it one time, back when I was traveling with Papa and Mama," Aviel shivered, "It was real scary... we all had to go into hiding for the night because the monsters got too fierce..."
"Have you never seen it yourself Link?" Nemisa asked.
"Me and Link were still living in Kokiri Forest at the time of the last one." Saria said, "I've seen it before, but the Great Deku Tree's blessing has had been protecting us from the monsters each time it happens."
"So that must be what Imono's planning, she's going to have the monsters she captured be powered up by the blood moon!" Nemisa said.
"But if that's the case, why have they been trying to kill Link all this time?" Saria asked, "Wouldn't doing that get in the way of this prophecy of theirs?"
Nabooru sighed, "Knowing Imono, she probably thinks it would be more efficient to just kill him as soon as possible so she can seize our people and resources." Nabooru said, "I've heard tales of rituals to resurrect beings of darkness by spilling the blood of the hero who slayed them. Perhaps she thinks Link's body would be enough to undo the seal the Hylian mystics put on Ganondorf."
"Still, I wonder where she heard about this so-called prophecy from, or from who...?" Nemisa asked.
"Good question..." Link pondered to himself, "So how much longer until the next blood moon?"
"Not for another six months thankfully." Nabooru said, "But the Ebony Sisterhood will not be idle during this time."
"Well we're not going to be idle either." Link said, "We need to appeal to the Hylian Parliament with this information and get them to let me use the Master Sword to stop Imono."
"Right. We won't allow her to succeed." nodded Nabooru, "Nothing can be worse than Ganondorf being freed and claiming the Triforce. Link went back in time to give us all this bright future, and we shall not let his effort go to waste."
Later that night, Foluma was concentrating on cleaning the dining room while Link and Nabooru were having a private dinner together and discussing the recent events that transpired over the past few days.
"Well it's nice that Meokuro has defected from the Sisterhood, but I'm bothered by that woman who's apparently taken her place." Nabooru spoke.
"Yeah... Dr. Yissa was her name?" Link spoke, "Foluma mentioned she's a half-sheikah and was part of the Order of Reyahm up until that whole thing with the Fierce Deity taking me over. I wonder what drove her to leave them for the Ebony Sisterhood?"
"Dunno, but her ability to take control of those Beamos machines makes her a great threat to us." Nabooru said, "We can only hope negotiations with the Hylian royal family go well so we can properly prepare for the battle against them..." she looked downwards, "...on the day of the blood moon..."
"Yeah." Link nodded, he glanced up at Nabooru who was staring downwards playing with a piece of fruit, "Something else on your mind?"
"...n-no, nothing." Nabooru snapped out of it, shook her head and sported a smile, "How about we just enjoy this lovely dinner for now?" she held up a piece of fruit with her fork, "Here, try this. I know you're not fond of the taste of lime, but this syrup makes it nice and sweet!"
"Okay..." Link said, he knew something was bothering her about this new information, but he wasn't certain of what. He leaned forward and bit the lime off her fork, "It's delicious Nabooru, thanks." he grinned, "It does take away a bit of the bitterness."
"Heh, yeah..." Nabooru said glancing to the side, confusing him.
"Is everyone good you two?" Foluma asked, waving a feather duster in front of Nabooru.
"H-Hey, keep that thing away from the food!" Nabooru scolded her.
"Yeah, the food's delicious Foluma!" Link nodded, "Thanks for preparing it for us!"
"Alright, you two go back to flirting, I'm gonna get back to cleaning!" Foluma grinned.
Foluma strolled off as Link and Nabooru both blushed lightly.
"S-So anyway, I'm glad that when we leave we'll have Foluma around to help keep an eye on things." Link said looking over at the maid, "Do you think she and Esolu will ever make up with each other?"
"Can't say for certain," Nabooru said, "But from what I've seen they're both strong Gerudo in their own ways. They share a desire to live for themselves and others. We can only hope they move on from their past and fears now."
"Yeah, Foluma was even able to face her fear of insects to save everyone." Link said, "I'm sure she can find that strength soon enough."
As they were talking, high up on the ceiling was a small beetle that had wandered into the palace. It had been crawling along the curtain of the balcony and was just starting to get into the shade the palace provided.
Foluma was wiping down the dining table when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, the antennae on her head shifted, as her laser visor suddenly shifted over her eyes and the single red eye gave off a piercing gleam as she shouted,
"BUG!"
Foluma immediately turned her head backwards and fired a powerful laser beam right into the spot where the bug was, causing a small explosion and leaving behind a smoking ashy mark on the wall.
Link and Nabooru both sat still in surprise as Foluma turned her head back straight, her visor closed up, and the maid she sported a big sweet grin to her king and head lady.
"Meheheh, got it!"
"I can't tell if that's better or worse than her being afraid of them." Link said sweatdropping.
And that ends the chapter, next time the group makes their preparations to go out to Hyrule, all the while wondering just what is in store for them...
And with this I'm finally done with the Foluma arc! Sorry so much for how long and tedious this ended up being. In a lot of ways I kinda regret even trying to include her into the story. I think she debuted way too late to have such an impact on the story. I was also hit with multiple rewrites and having to cut a lot of stuff. That said, it was fun at some points to write and I like how her personality turned out.
Now we can finally start getting on with the main plot, but I also have a promise I made that I'd like to see through after the next chapter, as a certain someone people have been waiting for will finally appear!
As always, thank you so much for your support! Please leave a like, follow, comment, or just send a PM at your leisure!