Hello readers! Sorry for the delay, but the latest chapter is finally here! This week, Link goes out on another outing to Hyrule Market Town, only to meet an old friend, as well as a startling new situation! Enjoy!
"Pant... pant... I can't believe it! To think, something like this could happen to- gaaah!"
"There, finally caught you."
"W-What is it?! What would you want with me?!"
"You were the one all this time, weren't you...?"
"... ...I didn't think you'd find out. How you could have...?!"
"Simple. Some people just don't know when to keep their mouths shut."
"Please, I'll do anything! I give it back to you, and I won't say anything either, I swear!"
"Sorry, but I can't let you live."
"NOOOOooo-!"
"Well that finishes it... after all this time... Now all that's left, is to dispose of it all."
Doodoo-doo doodoo doodoodoodoodoo doodoo...
It was a fine day in Hyrule, as Link went for a walk down one of the many corridors of the royal castle. It was a day off for everyone as they were all busy with preparations for the big meeting to decide on a peace treaty between the Hylains and the Gerudo, as well as abolishing the Gerudo Banishment Law.
Thanks to Nabooru's knowledge and charisma; things were going well so far with negotiations, though it was ultimately up to the meeting with the Hylian Parliament to finalize everything. Thankfully they had Ruto, Darunia and even Vekai of the Kokiri all coming soon to lend their support.
He considered going to take a nap, but he was afraid Nemisa would grab him by his pants and drag him off for another dance lesson to prepare for the royal meeting dance coming up, so he decided to remain on the move for the sake of his feet.
'Wonder if Ashe would be available to go out for the day?' he thought, 'Then again... she said she's been even more busy ever since she got promoted to Lieutenant...'
As Link continued down the hall, he came to a stop at the sight of one person standing alone, staring up at a certain portrait.
It was Prince Darius, looking at the same portrait of Zelda's mother that he himself had been captivated by some weeks ago. Darius was just staring up at it with a pained look in his eyes. Link wondered what was going through his mind, and was unsure about approaching him in that moment.
"She looked so much like..." Darius then glanced over in Link's direction and seemed to quickly snap out of his trance, "Ah ha, greetings friend Link! Just admiring the artwork of the paintings in his hall!"
"Oh no big deal, sorry to have interrupted you." Link shrugged, "I'll just be on my way and-"
"... ...actually Link, if you wouldn't mind leaning me your ear?" Darius spoke up,
"Did you want to talk about something else?" Link asked.
"Why yes, naturally I would not ask you to literally lend me your ear, that would be quite painful." Darius spoke, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to take a trip out to town with me later tonight?"
"What for?" Link asked.
"I thought perhaps someone with your skill would be willing to help with a secret mission of mine." Darius explained, "One that requires a tactical mind, and meticulous skill."
"I see, what do you have in mind...?" Link inquired curiously.
"At last, we've arrived!" Darius spoke as he and Link stood at their destination.
"The Bombchu Bowling Alley?" Link asked sweatdropping.
Hyrule Market Town was known for many things; the bustling public, the shopping, and a number of games and attractions. But one of the strangest games to play was the Bombchu Bowling Alley, where people would hurl mobile mouse-shaped bombs into targets to win prizes. Link had frequented the spot back in his youth, but didn't get a chance yet to see the place open until now due to it's odd night hours.
As opposed to when he was out with Zelda a few days ago, Link and Darius were currently dressed in more casual clothes, looking more like market town locals.
"Yes, a game of precision and planning, plus many loud explosions!" Darius laughed, "Thanks for agreeing to come with me out here!"
The two walked into the place and were immediately greeted with the ear-splitting noise of Bombchu reeving across the floor accompanied with explosions all over. The laughter and chatter of people accompanied all the bomb noises, as well as a colorful jukebox in the corner playing a very familiar tune in Link's pointy ears.
"Wow, they really expanded here since I was gone." Link whistled.
There was multiple bowling lanes, as opposed to the single one he used to spend a lot of time and rupees trying to get some of the prizes they had. He needed to remember to take the girls out here sometime.
The two of them went over to the nearby sign-in desk, and it was there Link saw a very familiar-looking young woman leaning against the desk, appearing to be napping with a blissful smile on her face, She had short purple hair with two locks hanging down the sides of her heart-shaped face, and a little pink lipstick gracing her lips.
"Excuse me, we'd like two passes for your bowling alley!" spoke Darius, smacking his hand down on the desk to try and rouse her awake.
"Zzzzz...zzzzz... Huh? Wha-!" muttered the woman, slowly waking up to show her green, emerald like eyes which snapped open, "Uh-oh! Some more customers!"
The girl propped herself up against the counter with her hands and put on a big smile with her lips puckered out. She wore a vertically striped pink and white parlor outfit. She wore the top tightly, doing very little to conceal her large pair of breasts, and it was short enough that it showed off her midriff. She leaned forward on the desk and started swaying her shoulders and hips left and right energetically, a large contrast to her sleepy demeanor from a second ago.
"Hey there big boys, welcome to our cutting-edge amusement center: The Bombchu Bowling Alley!" spoke the woman with a lively voice that had a hint of rhotic tone, "You lookin' to play a game? It's only 30 rupees a person for 10 whole frames!"
"That will do just fine, many thanks, Maam!" Darius said, paying up the rupees and taking his bag of Bombchus along with his alley number ticket.
"Hey, don't go callin' me Maam! Makes me feel old!" the girl said with a pout. She pointed to herself with both index fingers and sporting a bright grin, "You two hunks can just call me Jovie!"
"Very well Maam Jovie!" Darius said in an overly majestic manner. He went off on his way, "Come my friend, let us head off... to Lane 6!"
"And here's your Bombchus, hot stuff." grinned the girl as she handed Link over his own bag with a flirtatious wink, "Have fun blowing stuff up!"
"Jovie, do you happen to recognize me?" Link asked pointing to himself.
"Huh? Am I supposed to?" she asked tilting her head to the side. Jovie stared closer at him while swayed her hips a little more vigorously, as she seemed to be thinking hard about it, "Waaait a minute, you ain't that bastard that stood me up three months ago, are ya?!"
"Uh, no. It's me Link." he clarified, "I was that kid in the green tunic that used to come play here?"
"Green tunic, the hell're you-" the girl muttered as she paused for a moment, leaning forward to get a better look at him, before she yelped out in surprise, "Oh... OH! It is you! I didn't recognize you with that hair and tan!" her eyes darted up and down with a grin, "Wow, woulda lookat you Linky! You've grown up into a big time hunkie!"
"And you're just as much of a sleepyhead as ever." Link snickered, though he knew in the back of his mind that he probably wasn't one to talk.
"Ah zip it and get to yer lane already!" Jovie complained in a fit.
Link held his Bombchu and looked carefully at the lane before him, it was a sort of narrow tunnel shape with two steel spike traps slowly moving left and right.
While he had shrugged off traps like these in dungeons he had visited in the past, dealing with these ones was a far more daunting task. One wrong move and his Bombchu would explode and take a point off his score, and Darius was well ahead of him in their game.
'I'm really out of practice.' Link thought to himself. He looked over to Darius who was laying back feeling very confident in his last frame.
Link took a deep breath, brought back the Bombchu and hurled it forward across the ground. The Bombchu scurried down the tunnel, barely avoiding the traps, but then it ran over a strange red panel which lit up and caused a cucco to drop down out of nowhere right in front of the bomb and block it off with it's body. The bomb exploded to pieces, but the cucco remained unphased.
"Ah damnit!" Link shouted in frustration, stomping off and falling backwards into his seat. He could hear the snickers of a few other patrons in their neighboring lanes and he shot them an annoyed look.
"Tough luck Link!" Darius said, "Seems like those cuccos thwart you at every turn, don't they?"
"You don't know the half of it." Link groaned.
"Hey, you two boys enjoying yourselves?" Jovie asked, walking up with a tray of food, "Got your order here piping hot!"
"I'm enjoying myself quite well Maam Jovie," Darius laughed, "Though I'm afraid my dear friend here is sulking over a surprise cucco attack!"
"I'm not sulking." Link muttered, "This game's gotten a lot harder than I remember it."
"Glad to hear that!" Jovie smiled just a little wider, "I put a lotta hard work into that one!"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Link asked, already eating at one of the wings.
"Weeell, this is just between us since you're an old friend..." Jovie spoke with a smug grin, "But I'm the one who built all these bowling lanes!"
She gestured to another lane where a man hurled a Bombchu down the tunnel before him, only for the explosive to hit a button which sent it flying far away from the target hole and blasting into a wall, she laughed a little as they saw the man throw a tantrum while his buddies all laughed out.
"Ever since we expanded with more lanes and having more frames to play per game, I've been working on setting up the new ones." she grinned cheekily, "I've been driving folks crazy with em for a few years now."
"Really?" Link said astonished, "You build all of these yourself? I thought it was the owner who did it, or they just hired a contractor."
"Nah, boss man is a total cheapskate, so I volunteered to do it.." Jovie said. She sat herself down on a chair beside Link, "I've spent a lotta time watchin' the patrons play, so it's given me all sortsa ideas for new challenges we could throw at em."
"I'm surprised you can concentrate with all the explosions around." Darius commented as another Bombchu loudly exploded nearby. He looked over at the colorful jukebox nearby playing it's usual cheery music, "And I swear that melody is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the week!"
"Eh, when you've been workin' here as long as me, you kinda get used to it." Jovie shrugged her shoulders, "Some of the regulars too. You'd be surprised what kinda talk people can make around here that gets drowned out in all the noise." she pumped up her fists and statrted excitedly shifting her shoulders left and right, "Like this one time I heard a guy talkin' about a secret mistress he had, another mentioned how he was robbin' cash from his boss' funds..."
"Okay, okay. I get it!" Link said, not really wanting to hear all that gossip. He looked around at the other lanes and seeing the designs, "But still, it's really impressive that you made these. I didn't realize you were so good with your hands."
"Heh heh, thanks for the compliment." Jovie scooted closer to Link and sported a knowing smile, making sure her shoulder was brushing against his arm, "So how about you Linky, where you been these past three years?"
"I-I've been pretty busy..." Link blushed a little from how flirty she was getting all of a sudden, but then a loud voice suddenly boomed out.
"YO JOVIE!"
"Uh oh." Jovie muttered as the three looked over to see a man come up to them.
He was a tall, somewhat broad-chested man in a dress shirt with a tie, as well as brown slacks. He had short brown hair, an unshaven face, and was smoking a cigarette.
"Ah, Mista Burbok!" Jovie gasped, she quickly stood up and flashed an innocent toothy smile and a slight head tilt, "It's rare to see you out of your office, Boss! Is somethin' the matter?"
'So this is the guy who runs the bowling alley?' Link thought, having never met him himself before.
"Feh, flirting with customers again?" the man named Burbok spoke with a scowl, "Thought I told ya to knock it off with that when you're on the clock, ya stupid broad!"
"I-It's not like that, I was just chattin' with these two!" Jovie said in her defense.
"Yer chattin' with way too many guys!" the man said right back at her, "I don't need more slimeballs comin' in here and makin' my business look bad like before, fuggetaboutit!"
Jovie wiggled her hips left and right anxiously, "L-Look, last time was different! That guy was-!"
"This is getting kind of tense. Think we should speak up Darius?" Link whispered as the two argued.
"Indeed we should." Darius nodded, he stood up with a serious scowl as he looked right to the manager, "Mr. Burbok, I have something very important to ask of you..."
"Yes...?" Burbok asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...I need to know where the men's bathroom is!" Darius said dynamically, causing Link to fault over.
"Its in the back." Burbok said, sticking his thumb out behind him in the direction of it.
"Then I shall make great haste!" Darius said going off on his way.
"...look Mr. Burbok," Jovie said after a moment of awkward silence, she stared down, folding her arms behind her back and shifted her hips left and right with a small pout on her lips, "Me n' Linky here go back a long way. He was the kid that first won the Bigger Bomb Bag all those years ago."
"Huh, so this is that kid?" spoke Burbok, looking to Link carefully, "...hold on, think I've seen youse before... Ain't you that Gerudo King that recently arrived here in town?"
"H-Huh?" Jovie spoke, quickly turning to Link with wide eyes, "No way Linky, YOU'RE the Gerudo King I been hearing about?!"
"Ah ha ha, guess I've been found out." Link chuckled embarrassingly.
"Woah, you were just a normal kid back then..." Jovie spoke in awe, before zipping up to Link and staring at him closely, her shoulders and hips swaying left and right anxiously, "Never would have figured you as a big hotshot king like His Majesty Reinald!"
"W-Well I don't think I'm on the same level as him..." Link said sheepishly, feeling a little uncomfortable at how close and flirty Jovie was being again.
"Hey Jovie, you forgettin' somethin'?" Burbok sneered as he gestured to the counter, where there was another group of customers already lined up.
"Oopies!" Jovie exclaimed, "Sorry Linky, I gotta get back to work!"
"Whadda pain.." Burbok muttered as Jovie ran off to the counter. He turned to Link, bowing his head respectively, "My apologizes Gerudo King, for that clueless dame."
"Oh, it's no trouble. The two of us go back a long way after all." Link nodded.
"Hm, guess yer right..." muttered Burbok, seeming to get a look over of Link as he flicked some ashes from his cigarette into an ash tray, "She can be pretty clueless at times, and I catch her nappin' way too much..."
Burbok looked over at her smiling politely to the customers as she handed them their Bombchus, and he took a drag of his cigarette, puffing out some smoke.
"...but she's got this sort of charm that keeps bringing in customers." Burbok muttered, "The problem lately though is that sorta charm has also been drawing in a lot more unsavory types..."
"That sounds like a pain." Link frowned, looking back to Jovie who was putting on an award winning smile to another patron.
"Sometimes though... I wonder if she'd just be happier with a new life somewhere..." Burbok looked off distantly for a moment, "...well I've talked yer ear off long enough, enjoy the bowling alley Mr. Gerudo King."
Link nodded as Burbok went off on his way, and a moment later he saw Darius come walking up. Link noticed a couple squares of toilet paper still stuck to the bottom of his shoe
"At last I've returned!" spoke Darius, "Shall we begin the next frame, my friend?"
"Y-Yeah, sure." Link nodded, taking one of his Bombchu and preparing to throw it. He took a moment to see Jovie waving off another customer, before looking off somewhat distantly.
Later that night Link and Darius' bowling match came to an end, and the two left the parlor.
"A good game my friend! You dueled well, but I barely won out in the end!" Darius boasted.
"I would have done better if I didn't keep getting the lanes with the cuccos." Link grumbled.
"Well that's just the breaks!" Darius slapped his hand down on the young king's back, "Now come Link, as long as we're still in town, I have to go claim a gift at a local shop to give my lovely princess!"
"Okay, sure." Link nodded, as he followed Darius into a somewhat fancy jewelry store.
"Welcome!" the store clerk at the counter said, "Can I help you two?"
"Greetings, I've come to pick up a piece of jewelry I ordered a while ago." Darius explained.
"So then do you have the claim ticket we should have gave you?" the clerk asked.
"Why yes, I have it right-" Darius began reaching into his pocket, but stopped, "...have it right..." he started to feel around his clothes, "...oh dear. I seem to have misplaced it!"
"Did you maybe forget it back at your bedroom?" Link asked.
"No, I remember specifically having it on my person!" Darius said frantically, "Oh no, I had even promised Princess Zelda that I would come home with a better surprise than flowers!" he grabbed Link and shook him vigorously, "What shall I do?! Buy her a new carriage, or perhaps a cow?"
"I don't know!" Link exclaimed with dizzy eyes, "Why a cow of all things?!"
"Ah, 'cuse me!" spoke a small voice, it was a small child who reached their hand up to wave to the store clerk, as they were a bit too short to be seen otherwise, "I'm 'ere to pick up my order!"
"Okay, do you have your claim ticket?" asked the clerk.
"Sure do, I got it right 'ere!" said the child, pulling out a ticket and sliding it as far as they could onto the counter.
Link and Darius both looked down at the small person. It was a child that looked to be about ten years of age. They had large cat-like eyes with dark blue pupils, they wore a torn blue vest, purple shirt and white shorts. They also had a red bandanna around their neck. They also wore a large Breton-style cap over their short blonde hair.
"Ah, you must be Ralph then. Very good!" said the owner, "Now, I just need the passcode number and I can get you that right away!"
"The... passcode numbah?" the child asked in confusion. Link noted the child looked strangely familiar.
"That's right, the number we told you as a secondary means of security." the clerk explained.
"Uh... 'bout that..." the child said, "I think I might've... uh, forgotten it?"
"Wait just one minute." spoke Darius, looking at the ticket carefully, "This is my claim ticket for the jeweled brooch I had ordered!"
"HUH?" exclaimed the kid with wide eyes.
"That's certainly the item that was ordered." nodded the clerk, "What was the code number?"
"The code was..." Darius did a majestic poise, "Two!" he did another pose, "Three!" he did one last pose, "One! Twenty three is number one!"
"Oh, so then you must be Mr. Ralph, my apologizes!" said the store clerk in surprise, "I'll go into the back and get that for you right now!"
"Ralph?" Link asked looking over at Darius.
"Why yes, I needed an alter ego so no one would know that I'm doing this sort of thing like a commoner!" Darius whispered. He then reached down and grabbed the vest of the child as they were trying to sneak away, "As for you, it seems we caught you in the act!"
"You bloody dodger!" the kid shouted, waving their arms and legs around in a fit, "Let me go!"
"Wait a minute, now I know who you are! You're that kid that stole my ocarina on the day of the talent show!" Link realized.
"Oh cobblers! You again?" exclaimed the kid at their own realization of who Link was.
"I'm going to presume you must have stolen my claim ticket from me back at the bowling alley?" Darius suggested.
"H-How did you figure that out?" the kid said with their jaw dropped.
"Simple logic my tiny thieving friend!" Darius laughed, "With all the noise in there it would a fine place to pick the pockets of oblivious patrons!"
'Does Darius realize he just called himself oblivious?' Link thought sweatdropping.
"You thought all you needed was the ticket, but it seems you were foiled by this store's procedures!" Darius laughed out, "Now, don't you think you owe us an apology?"
But in a moment of desperation, the kid simply bit down on Darius' thumb with their teeth, making him yelp out and drop the kid, and they went running off.
"Hey, that was no apology!" Darius exclaimed, but the kid simply turned around and stuck their tongue out at him before running off out of the store.
"Jees, what a brat." Link rolled his eyes.
But as he watched the kid ran away, he could have sworn they looked far more upset than angry...
After claiming his purchase, Darius and Link were back on the street. The young prince was carefully looking over the brooch he had bought. It was a shining blue jewel in a silver case.
"Looks great, I'm sure she'll love it." Link grinned.
"It took quite some time to have this ordered, but it was worth it." nodded Darius, "I can only hope this jewel shines as brightly as Princess Zelda's own lovely aura!"
"On that note, I've been curious about something." Link said, "Why don't you ever refer to the princes by just her name?"
"You noticed that?" Darius spoke, "Well as you know she's going to be Queen of Hyrule when her father steps down fro his position, and I merely feel she needs to be respected by her rank, even by that of her husband!"
"Hm." Link didn't know if he could agree with that, but he wasn't one question how Darius felt.
The young king reached into his pocket and pulled out something he brought along with him, a green leaf-shaped key. It was to a locket he had bought for a certain someone as a gift a long time ago. By holding the only key to open it, it had been a vow that he would return someday and he would unlock that locket with them...
"KYAAAAAAHHH!"
"Wh-What was that?" Link asked, turning in the direction of the scream.
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling..." Darius said narrowing his eyes as he pocketed the brooch.
Link put away his key as he and Darius went running down the street and turned into an alleyway, only to see a truly horrifying sight.
It was there they found an older man in a flashy red and gold suit laying on the ground, with what appeared to be a handled weapon of some kind impaled all the way into his chest. His eyes were glazed over with his mouth agape, and it was clear to Link that he was already dead.
"Dear goddess..." gasped Darius.
There was also two other individuals who were present as well; one was a curly-haired man who had plaster medical casts on his left arm and right leg. He had dropped the crutches he was using to keep himself standing, and had fallen backwards on his rear, shaking in absolute shock some distance away.
The other was a woman with reddish-brown hair who was currently standing over the dead body with some blood on her modest dress, and with a look of absolute shock in her eyes. She slowly looked up to see Link and Darius both staring back at her.
"K-King Link...?" she spoke looking at the young king in particular.
"It can't be..." Link whispered.
What was even more surprising though, was the two people he saw with the dead body were those Link recognized too well,
The former twirling couple of Hyrule Market Town known as Honey and Darling.
And that ends the chapter. Next time, Link is on the case to discover the truth behind the mysterious killer of Hyrule Market Town, and maybe even discover a whole lot more in the process...
So yeah, I've decided to get the Bombchu Bowling Alley girl involved into the plot now. I know she's pretty popular among the fandom, and I've always loved her design. The name Jovie comes from the word "jovial", meaning happy, cheerful and friendly. To go along with the murder mystery story, I gave her a sort of New York gangster girl type of personality as sort of an homage to film noir type crime stories.
Originally I had an idea for a Bombchu bowling tournament that Link was going to take part in, but I couldn't come up with enough material to write around it. Thankfully I was able to tie her into this arc instead.
Anyway, thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a like, follow, comment or just send a private message if you choose. Your feedback is always encouraged!