Now it's finally time for Chapter 44, sorry if it's been taking too long to bring out new chapters, while I don't know how long it will take for me to do this, I fully intend on seeing this story to the end, please bear with me!
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Reirousa, Halei and the backup guards all stood before a bookshelf in the Hall of Knowledge, one that seemed to have strange sounds coming from it.
"It sounds like some banging sounds... and... does everyone else hear voices?" Link asked.
"You... don't think this place is haunted do you...?" Reirousa muttered in an uneasy tone.
"Haunted?!" exclaimed Aviel, causing her to vault into the air and fall into Nemisa's arms, of whom sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I somehow doubt that." Nemisa said dropping the bird girl.
"Oh yeah?! What about that time that ghost lady haunted the palace back in Gerudo Town?!" Aviel got up and shot back.
"Wait, the palace is haunted too!?"" Halei exclaimed with her bunny hood ears standing on end.
"It's okay, that was already taken care of a while back!" Nabooru assured Halei and sighed, "For now let's just see what this really is before we start jumping to conclusions."
"But what is it, and where is it coming from...?" Nemisa asked looking around.
"Hmm..." Saria pondered, noticing a lone book on one of the bottom shelves, "Despite all the shaking and banging going on, this book is still staying upright..."
She took the book and tried to pull it out, only for it to move slightly and click. Everyone looked in shook as the shelf started to shift and move away from the wall. The group stepped back and peeked behind the shelf to see a doorway concealed behind it.
"A secret door!" Link exclaimed, "Nice work Saria."
"Alright, stay on your guard everyone." Nabooru said, "Halei, since you're not a fighter, you stay behind us."
Everyone slowly went into the doorway behind the shelf, the guards going out it front to protect Link and Nabooru, as they went down a short hallway and eventually into a much larger and more spacious room then the book archive room they were just in. This room didn't have much of note other then tall pillars, as well as statues of Efaeme, the Gerudo goddess of knowledge.
The one thing that did stand out though was a large pile of rubble on the other side of the room, and standing before it was a group of Gerudo woman. Most of them were holding spears, swords axes and torches, and were all dressed in black colored Gerudo outfits.
One in particular however was a bit different, she had well-defined muscle, though not as bulky as Reirousa. She wore a short helmet which for some reason was painted a bright yellow, and she also wore a vest that was a bright orange with a black horizontal stripe across it, and she was holding a pair of strong looking pickaxes in her hands.
"And who are those people...?" Reirousa muttered, 'They kinda look like..." it was then she realized it, "Uh-oh."
"It's no good boss." said one of the black-clothed Gerudo to the pickax holding one, "This rubble is too heavy to do anything with."
"Hmm, this is quite a problem..." the pickax holder muttered, "We've investigated everywhere else, and this is the only way through, but these bigger stones blocking the way are too heavy for us to move..."
"Huh? Who are they?" Saria asked tilting her head, "They look like Gerudo women..."
Nabooru simply narrowed her eyes coldly and folded her arms.
"I recognize those outfits, they're the group we told you about before." Nabooru said, "...the Ebony Sisterhood."
"Yeah, the rebellion controlled by that Mother Eclipsis." Link said, preparing himself to unsheathe his sword and shield.
"S-So this is them... the ones that want to kill you and Lady Nabooru, and free Ganondorf from his prison..." Saria said nervously, gripping at her Deku Staff.
"Oh no..." Halei whispered, hiding behind Reirousa.
"Not them again..." sighed Reirousa, putting a hand to her forehead.
"Hoo-boy, just when we thought the worst part of this trip would be the riddles..." Aviel sighed, pulling out her crossbow.
"Stay on your guard everyone." Nemisa said cracking her knuckles in anticipation of battle.
"Hey boss, don't look now, but we got company." one of the rebels then pointed out to the Gerudo in the yellow helmet, gesturing to Link and his team.
The one known as their boss spun around and took a look at Link, Nabooru and the others. She titled her yellow helmet upwards to get a good look at the group, her golden eyes were narrowed and her expression was stern. Link just stared back, ready for anything she and her allies might try.
It was then however the Gerudo woman smiled brightly and waved a hand to them.
"Oh, hey there! The name is Faurugo; member of the Ebony Sisterhood, and these are my associates!" she turned to the other rebels, "Say hello, everyone!"
The rebels didn't say anything, but just glared at Nabooru and Link in particular, until one spoke up.
"Lady Faurugo, that's the false king and the traitorous Lady Nabooru, I say we kill them now while we have this chanc-!" the rebel started, but was cut off by Faurugo, who leaned forward with a large smile.
"Come on, I said to say 'hello' to them! It's not good manners to attack someone without proper introductions!" Faurugo grinned.
"But we're not supposed to be friendly with them! They're-!"
"I said to say hello. Do you need to see me in private later tonight to discuss your work conduct...?" the boss asked, while still sporting a wide grin, it was clearly unnerving the rebels.
"Uh..." the rebel gulped a little and spoke meekly, "No! Of course not! I'm sorry!"
The tension Link and the group had been feeling before was quickly extinguished when the rebels all dropped their threatening stances and all bowed at the waist to them, all politely shouting "Hello, a good day to you all from Lady Faurugo and her salvaging team!"
"Very good, that's the spirit!" it was then Faurugo turned back to Link and the others and waved again with her unusually big grin, "Sorry you all had to see that, just keeping my associates in top form! Good work ethic keeps morale up after all!"
"Uh, so what exactly are you doing here then?" Link asked, still on his guard despite Faurugo's friendly demeanor.
"Well you see, we're under orders from Mother Eclipsis to obtain a hidden archive of books and tomes located within this place, while we found the hidden passage like you just did, we haven't had much luck tracking it down in here." Faurugo said shrugging her shoulders.
"Lady Faurugo, don't give away our secrets to the enemy!" shouted one of the rebels, brandishing long metal claws on her hands.
"Ha ha ha, it's fine, it's not like they're going to see the light of day again, after all!" Faurugo smiled to her fellow rebel, clinking her pickaxes together, "And as soon as we strike down the false king we'll get right back to our assignment!"
"Now that's what I like to hear!" grinned the rebel.
"Eep! I'm sorry I can't fight everyone..." Halei gulped, as she hid behind Reirousa.
"Salright, just leave this to us rabbit girl." Reirousa said, pulling out her Bombos Warhammer, "We'll take care of these punks."
"O-Okay..." Halei nodded., looking somewhat downcast.
Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria and the backup guards all stood firm with their weapons drawn, ready to battle the rebels, but then Nabooru herself stepped up and spoke out to them.
"Sister Faurugo, is it?" Nabooru asked with her arms folded, "Before we battle, tell me something; do you truly think Mother Eclipsis' plan to free the former king Ganondorf is the best path for the Gerudo? Do you truly think our people can prosper under his rule?"
"Ha ha, of course we do!" Faurugo answered with a big grin, "Mother Eclipsis is working to give us Gerudo the freedom to do as we please and pursue out dreams! You see, my passion has always been about exploring ruins and salvaging treasures. Problem is the Banishment Law keeps me from leaving the valley to go exploring, and our own Gerudo law keeps me from doing much around ruins like these, but Mother Eclipsis gave me the go-ahead to disregard our law so that we can get what the Ebony Sisterhood needs to succeed, so that we can all be truly free!"
"Hmph, our laws have a purpose. They exist so that the powers of these ruins cannot be used for self-gain." Nabooru clarified, "We only use that which is gifted to us by the Goddess Aifet like the Sand Rod. If you choose to violate those laws and defy our goddesses, then we have no choice but to punish you for it."
"Meeheehee! That's rich coming from you of all people Lady Nabooru!" laughed the rebel with the claws, "Weren't you not a rebel yourself once, breaking the rules and fighting against the great King Ganondorf? You of all people should understand why we're doing this!"
Nabooru narrowed her eyes and scowled before speaking out to them.
"...Ganondorf was a cruel tyrant, our people only suffered under his reign of power, and things would have been worse for not just us, but Hyrule as whole if he continued. As far as I'm considered this world is a better place with him imprisoned."
"Yeah, and we're not going to let you guys free him, or hurt King Link and Lady Nabooru!" Aviel shouted angerly.
"After what Ganondorf did to the Great Deku Tree, I can never forgive him!" Saria said, "I don't like to fight, but I will if it means stopping all of you!"
"That's right, as the new King of the Gerudo, I and my friends will never allow Ganondorf to rule over anyone again!" Link said, brandishing his sword and shield, while the backup guards all cheered out at Link and the group's triumphant words.
"Heh, so that's how it's gonna be? Fine then." grinned Faurugo, spinning her pickaxes in her hands, "I guess this is going to cut into our next break time."
As the two sides stood, waiting for the other side to launch the first attack, Link spoke up to his side.
"Listen girls, I know this sound weird, but hear me out." Link said, "Fight them with all your might, but try to avoid killing them if you can."
"Are you sure about that your highness?" asked a guard curiously, "You know what they intend to do to you."
"Yep" Link nodded, "But try to capture them alive regardless."
Nabooru paused, looking to Link and nodding, "Very well, you've heard your king everyone, fight with valor, but minimize the bloodshed. Now prepare to battle!"
"Gladly." Nemisa said with a smirk, punching her fist into her palm.
"Alright then, time to clock-in girls," Faurugo said, holding out one of her pickaxes, "Let em have it!"
And with that the two sides went into battle. Most of the rebels tried to charge in and gang up on Link, he brought is shield up to block their attacks, while getting in quick strikes with his sword. Thankfully his friends wouldn't allow it to go any further, as Reirousa charged into a small group from the side before impacting her warhammer into them. Saria spun out her Deku Staff and started smacking around some rebels to back them off from Link, while Nemisa did a flying kick across one rebel before landing down to do a sweep kick which knocked another to her back.
Aviel stayed back to protect Halei, using her crossbow to deflect the weapons being used by the rebels. Occasionally one would try to get a close up attack on them, but Aviel would just swing her crossbow as a blunt weapon to drive them back, allowing one of the other warriors to take down the rebel.
Nabooru went in with her twin scimitars against Faurugo, who brought up her pickaxes to fight back. The two clashed and slammed their attacks against each other. Faurugo jumped back, impaling her pickaxes on some smaller stray stones laying around, then hurling the blocks at Nabooru, who quickly jumped and flipped through the air to avoid most of them, then deflecting a smaller one with her scimitar.
Faurugo was shocked at how Nabooru fought off her attack, which gave the Gerudo leader the opportunity to rush in and smack away Faurugo's weapons. She was about to cut down the rebel with a fatal blow, but then remembered what Link said about sparing them. She nodded to herself, before delivering a spinning kick to knock Faurugo backwards into a wall. Faurugo fell forward and down to her knee as she saw another rebel go flying back from an attack Link delivered.
"Boss Faurugo, this is bad, the false king and Lady Nabooru are kicking our rears! He's just as strong as they said in the report on what happened to Big G Jousak and her Molderm!" a rebel gasped in exhaustion to her boss, referring to what happened back in Gerudo Wastes.
Faurugo gulped herself and stood there, taking in what she was told, then looking over to the Gerudo girls surrounding Link, all standing there to protect him. Faurugo was somewhat surprised by how close they all seemed to each other that they could fight so well, just to protect Nabooru and the false king.
But it was then Faurugo sported a small knowing grin, as a plan occurred to her to turn the battle in their favor.
"Ha ha ha, interesting!" Faurugo laughed, despite her injuries, "It makes a lot of sense to hear your resolve to prevent Ganondorf's freedom, especially after what Mother Eclipsis told us about you, false king!"
"What are you talking about?" Link asked.
"You see, just a while back Mother Eclipsis told us something pretty interesting..." Faurugo said, leaning forward a bit and spoke with a smug tone, making sure her voice could be clearly heard by the Gerudo on Link's side.
"...that you were the reason King Ganondorf was captured in the first place."
Link froze up, almost dropping his sword and shield in the process, as a cold sweat started to trickle down his head. The eyes of Nabooru, Saria and Reirousa widened at those words, while Aviel, Nemisa, Halei and the backup guards all looked to each other in confusion.
'You can't be serious.' Link thought to himself baffled, 'How did they possibly know that?'
"What...?" Nemisa asked in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"So he never told you?" chuckled Faurugo, "Mother Eclipsis knows full well what you did false king, and she told us everything! We all know that you're the one that told the royals at Hyrule Castle that King Ganondorf needed to be imprisoned, knowing that would provoke the late Lady Imono to attack Hyrule, and then you would seize power in the aftermath. This whole thing was your plan to become the new king of the Gerudo!"
Almost everyone's jaws collectively dropped in shock by what Faurugo had said, especially Halei.
"Isn't that right, 'King' Link?" grinned Faurugo.
"Is... this true your highness...?" one of the guards asked Link, who was staring at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates..
"Uh, that's a lie!" Reirousa, being one of the few to know what Link did, said frantically to try and cover for Link, "There's no way-"
"No... she's at least half right... I did come to learn about Ganondorf's plan, and used that information to notify the royals of Ganondorf..." Link admitted, then rose his head up, "But I did it to stop him from taking over Hyrule, I had no intention on taking his place as king back then."
"And yet here you are." Faurugo smirked, "I admire your work ethic, but getting the old king stripped of his power just to become the king yourself, that's pretty shady I have to say, and so many of our people suffered and died for what you did."
"Hey shut yer yaps, Link ain't like that!" Reirousa shouted with tears in her eyes, recalling her mother and friends who died in the war. In reality she held no resentment towards Link over what happened, but the pain of her loss still stung after all this time.
"Now wait a minute!" Nabooru stated, "Link may have been the one who had Ganondorf captured, but I'm the one who selected him to take over!"
"Heh, doesn't that just prove it further then?" Faurugo grinned, "The leader of the rebellion against Ganondorf, and a Hylian male that had connections to the royal family, conspiring to overthrow King Ganondorf and replace him, and didn't give a second thought to anyone who suffered for it!"
"That's right, its because of the false king that we all lost so many of our dear sisters!" said the rebel with the claws, who in particular was strained in her words as faint tears formed in her eyes.
"Yeah, we'll never forgive you for what you did, false king!" said another rebel.
Link gulped, looking to the Gerudo on his side, namely Aviel, Nemisa and the guards, all of whom he hadn't told about what really happened, out of fear of what they would feel about it.
Saria was at a loss of what to say herself, while Link had told her and the Kokiri what he had done to avenge the Great Deku Tree, she herself was unsure of telling any of the Gerudo it for Link's sake.
"And don't forget all those poor half-bloods who were exiled for it as well!" a rebel brought up.
Halei's eyes widened in horror at that realization, as she looked to Link, who was looking at her with apologetic eyes.
"This... this isn't all true, is it King Link...?!" Halei asked pleadingly.
"I... swear Halei, I wasn't trying to take over Ganondorf's position..." Link stammered, "I was only trying to... to..."
"So that's what happened, King Link was the one who captured Ganondorf... it's what resulted in the war..." one of Nabooru's backup guards said.
"I lost a few of my family in that battle..." muttered another guard, "You don't seriously think King Link really caused that to gain power do you...?"
"I... don't even know anymore..."
Link flinched as he heard the guards speak, as the mistrust between him and his future people was stirring. He looked down, the sadness he felt before crawled right back over him. The Gerudo who suffered so much from the war, the rebellion uprising, and those like Halei who was pulled from their happy lives... While he had saved so many from Ganondorf's evil plan, it still resulted in the war. And the people he had come to live with and care for, and who suffered and lost so much thanks to what happened, it was something he could never forgive himself for.
"Link, please... don't blame yourself for that... You didn't cause any of this." Nabooru said to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, she then turned to Faurugo, "Listen here you, Link becoming the king was my idea, I planned it out years ago, as I deemed him worthy of being a true king for us all!"
Faurugo paused, and looked to Nabooru with a grin, "Hm, ya know, maybe you're right, maybe it wasn't the false king's choice after all. Perhaps it was all you, Lady Nabooru... you and your hidden power."
"Hidden power? Now what are you talking about?" Aviel asked.
"I'm talking about Lady Nabooru's power to hypnotize others into doing her bidding. Haven't you ever wondered what it was that makes her such a supposed great leader, despite her inability to make real progress for the Gerudo?"
"Hypnosis...?" Link muttered, recalling having heard some Hylians he met in Gerudo Valley once mentioning something like that. He looked up to Nabooru, who's expression didn't waver or flinch. She just narrowed her eyes coldly at Faurugo.
"What?! How dare you even suggest that! Lady Nabooru would never use power like that to control us!" shouted Nemisa.
"Yeah, she's a great leader who's done so much to help us! We've sworn loyalty to her because we all trust her!" said Aviel.
"And how do you know that loyalty you have to her is real, or if it's just a trick of her powers?" grinned Faurugo, "You thought you could trust the false king just a moment ago after all!"
"Don't be swayed by her words." Nabooru simply said to everyone, "She's just trying to throw us off because she's too weak to fight back anymore."
Halei meanwhile watched in shock at the words the rebels spoke, looking to Nabooru herself, as she pulled her bunny hoods ears over her eyes. Being such a recent addition to the Gerudo tribe, she was finding herself unsure of what to believe anymore.
The two sides went back in and fought against each other. Once again, the rebels weren't doing too well, as the combined power of Link, Nabooru and their friends was overwhelming for them. Nabooru herself deflected two rebels away and slammed her swords down on Faurugo's pickaxes.
"All you're doing by staying as the leader is holding our people back, you're claiming that Mother Eclipsis would just make everyone worse off, but how do you claim to be any different?" Faurugo shouted.
"We're doing everything we can to make things right!" Nabooru said angerly at Faurugo, her scimitars were quickly overpowering the rebels' pickaxes, "I'm nothing like the fiend you work for!"
"Yeah? And how do you know what you're doing is truly right?" Faurugo asked, though sweat was running down her head from how much Nabooru was overpowering her, "Your hard work is admirable, but what good is it if it doesn't get results? We need to use force to get what we want and need!"
"It's that very mindset that put the Gerudo into this situation to begin with!" Nabooru retorted with a scowl, "Lady Imono was a stubborn fool who went straight to war and look what happened, she lost her life and in the end it resulted in the exile!" Nabooru then swung out her swords, sending Faurugo backwards to her knees.
The rebel just held herself up and spoke out, "That's because the Hylian Parliament consider us lower then trash, and all you're doing is being complacent with them! All they'll understand at this point is power, which is why Mother Eclipsis sent us on this job, to get what we need to build our strength further!"
Faurugo staggered up to her feet, as she reached into a pocket in her travel pack and took a small vital of yellow liquid in it, "Just watch for yourselves what we have in store for them, when we finally launch our strike on Hyrule Castle."
With that, Faurugo pulled the cork off the vital and chugged down the contents, throwing the vital away. Everyone stood and watched as Faurugo took a deep breath, her body seemed to be shaking a little, before bringing up her head with a wide grin and her eyes an eerie blood red, a mysterious, yet somewhat familiar red aura formed around her.
"What...?" Link muttered, watching Faurugo.
"Wait, boss!" shouted a rebel in a sudden panic, "We were told not to do that unless-"
"Time for your immediate termination!" Faurugo shouted, bringing down her pickaxes and impacting them into the stone floor, causing an eruption that shot shock waves out around the room, flowing right across the ground and knocking Link and his team backwards.
"What.. the hell was that?!" Nabooru asked.
"Whatever was in that vital has increased her strength?" Link gasped out.
"HAHAHA! This power is amazing!" Faurugo shouted, swinging her pickaxes to chuck more stones from the ground at the group. They did their best to protect themselves from the attacks, but Faurugo was throwing them too quickly and forcefully to counter everything.
"No... boss... she's going to end up like..." whispered one of the rebels, "Sister Faurugo, please stop!"
"Die false king! DIE!" Faurugo shouted out, bombarding the group with stones. Reirousa stepped out in front to act as a shield and drive back the stones, but soon even she was having trouble against Faurugo's new power.
"Grr... Link's right, whatever she drank just now, it's making her ridiculously strong!" Reirousa shouted.
"This seems all too familiar..." Nemisa said as she focused on defense.
Even the rebels working for Faurugo were in peril from her rampage, she didn't seem to even know or care what she was attacking anymore. As the attacks continued, the room shook and quaked, as one of the goddess statues started to shift and started falling over, right above where a rebel had chosen to stay out of the way. The rebel looked up and screamed out in horror, but Link quickly took the intuitive, running forward and grabbing the rebel, diving out of the way just before the statue impacted and shattered down onto the ground.
"Are you okay?" Link asked the rebel, who looked to him with wide eyes, and she hugged him closely, as her body was shaking. Link hurriedly brought the girl back over the group who were doing their best to fend off Faurugo's attacks.
"We gotta do something..." Link said, "That Faurugo woman's out of control! Nabooru, can you help me?"
"This wouldn't have..." Nabooru started with an angry voice, but sighed and turned to Link, "Alright, let's take her down together!"
"Right. You girls try to help the other rebels." Link said handing the girl that he had saved to Nemisa, as he and Nabooru darted out form behind Reirousa and charged from both sides at Faurugo, who was still slamming more shockwaves and stones out everywhere.
"AHAHAHAHA!" laughed Faurugo, "This is the fruits of our labors! We'll be victorious, you'll all be checked out, and Ganondorf will be relieved of his suspension!"
Link and Nabooru quickly jumped and dodged each attack thrown at them, using their weapons to block off the stones as well. Occasionally a hit or two would smash against them, but they held their ground, until both leaped high into the air and struck their weapons across Faurugo's back.
Faurugo flinched, and gagged out in pain from Link and Nabooru's combined attacks, her eyes flashing back and forth between normal golden yellow and red, before she collapsed to the ground in a daze.
"Ugh... Let's take... a fifteen minuter..." Faurugo muttered before falling outcold.
"Whew..." Link sighed, "Guess that's i-"
That was when the interior of the room started to shift and shake once again, as Faurugo's attacks had taken quite a toll on the room. The rest of the statues were falling, and the ceiling of the room was starting to break away and collapse.
"Ack! We gotta get out of here!" Aviel shouted.
Everyone started on their way to escape, but as Link and Nabooru started to try and follow, the ground gave out from under Nabooru and she lost her balance.
"Kyyaa!" shouted Nabooru, trying to get back onto stable ground, but more of the floor came down.
"Nabooru, hold on!" Link shouted, running forward to help, but the ground completely collapsed under them and they both went falling through the increasingly large hole in the ground, along with the unconscious body of Faurugo.
"LINK!" Nemisa shouted in panic, trying to run forward to help him, but was stopped by Reirousa.
"Hang on, we gotta get out of here! Don't worry, Link's a strong guy!" Reirousa shouted, she lifted a worried Saria up onto one shoulder and grabbed the panicked Nemisa with her other arm, and they all escaped out the hidden bookshelf passage.
When all the destruction had finished, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria, Halei, the guards and the rebels were all in the library room, with rubble covering the hidden passage. They all stood worried as they saw there was no way to get back in.
"Boss..." the claw-wielding rebel said worriedly.
"Link... Lady Nabooru... please be safe..." Saria said sadly.
So that ends the chapter. Seems Link and Nabooru have gotten themselves into a bad situation, but just what is waiting for them down in the depths of the Hall of Knowledge? Stay tuned!
As always, leave a like, follow or comment if you like! Your encouragement motivates me to keep this story going!