Akko and her friends are getting ready to go to the Wedinburgh dungeon, already arming themselves better with the trio that is going to explore the place, already showing how well prepared they are for the situation that is going to get complicated from now on, they are going to put the girls through their paces, Meanwhile, far away, Andrew was on the chase to find Atsuko in any way he could. That was the whole reason for him to achieve some kind of victory, the incessant desire for the girl that could be the sign that his journey could come to an end if nothing worked out, which he had already done in Edo, but there was still one more thing he needed to do.
At the imperial castle in the capital of Edo, a group of soldiers arrived on a long journey, they were bringing a person, who was carrying a sack on his head, apparently wearing noble clothes from Appleton, which until then could have been something that impressed the royal woman when she let those soldiers come with the mysterious man there.
"We brought this prisoner all the way from Hokkaido, my majesty, he tried to sneak in here, but we're already bringing him to you, who appears to be someone from Appleton" said the soldier, which brought a smile to the empress's face.
"Oh, so we have another Appleton spy here, let me see his face..." said Reiko and soon they were removing the bands from the boy's face.
Everyone was frozen without reaction when they saw that the face was simply that of the Lord of Appleton, who just shouted "it's a trap!" until most of the soldiers around them fell dead to the ground, including those who had accompanied the boy to where he was staying in the castle, being betrayed byAndrew who gave the biggest smile to the girl who looked astonished.
"Hello Empress Reiko, did you think you'd run away from me? Here I am in person, showing up at your little castle, what do you know?" said Hanbridge.
"How did you get here? How did you get here?" asks the girl.
"I didn't need anyone's help, I came here on my own, knowing that you're with my girls, it was quite easy to convince these two to take me all the way here from Hokkaido pretending to be with a prisoner, I just came here to talk and ask a few questions, it's no big deal" said the dark-haired boy trying to intimidate.
"Because your dialogue here will be fruitless, I'll tell you right now that you can't find who you want to find here, by now she's gone far from here with her friends, it's inevitable that they'll all make it, before you, I can see the fear in your eyes, knowing that it won't be your two triforces that will be able to defeat Akko with all their might, I can see how desperate you are, so much so that you came here, crossed the sea of Edo, which has dangerous waves to the north that sink any ship, and you still arrive here empty-handed, you really need a lot of courage to come here, when you have my entire castle and all my soldiers ready to attack you - said the empress.
"Oh you're really being straightforward with your conversations, but there's no point in lying, I know they've come here for a bit of refuge, I'll go through here and search every metre of this castle, I bet you didn't wait for me and if they try to escape, I'll know, I'm not that stupid" Andrew said, coming closer, getting quite close to Reiko.
"Good luck" said the younger girl confidently.
And there the boy went, sidling up next to the empress, creating a whole aura of tension in the castle, even the soldiers around him were afraid of the boy's presence, while the empress stood still in the same place, keeping her face closed, a little afraid and anxious at the very presence of the lord.
He began to walk around the palace, accompanied by some guards who were with him, where he checked place by place, even incredibly giving orders to the soldiers to find any trace of Akko.
Several minutes went by, and he tried to find them in every corner of the palace, to the point that it was already deeply irritating the green-eyed man who couldn't believe that there was simply nothing there, they had already left, not even a clue as to what had marked the presence of the nine.
He soon returned to the throne room, with a slightly smiling expression, all happy and even showing an air of tension as he passed the place, he stared right into the eyes of the 14-year-old girl, who stared back, even feeling a little afraid.
"Look how scared I was, a little girl like you knows that things can get pretty ugly, don't you? It looks like your little friends have really left, you were right, but where to? If you tell me, I guarantee I'll spare your kingdom" said Andrew, laughing as he walked closer to the girl.
"I can tell you what happened here, look at the news, you'll know," said the Empress.
"Nothing like that, I didn't find anything big in the news, you paraded the girls around town for a few days, they turned up more than once, even the day before I arrived they were still here, you owe me an explanation of where they've been hiding, you knew I'd come round at some point didn't you? - Hanbridge said.
(You knew so much that I used other metamorphised girls to pretend to be the girls, you believed me and now I'm just going to let things roll on, I'm going to make him waste as much time as possible finding them, he has no idea that by now they must be where they want to be, and there's nothing he can do to find the girls).
"So? Are you just going to keep your mouth shut? I'll send my entire navy to tear this place down, a completely desolate place with no empress - said the green-eyed man, who then took a deep breath and started to look up, smiling and pointing at Reiko.
"You can kill me, the kingdom of Edo will still stand, your army won't get close, we'll be saved by the divine winds - said the 14-year-old girl.
"Hahaha, look at my approach, you have a point and you're right about that Empress Reiko, I'm acting very cruelly, I would prefer to take it harder, it would be more humiliating for you to see your entire kingdom destroyed as the last thing in your life, to see my troops decimating your population, which would make the presence of my trophy even rarer, you don't want that do you? Oh I guess I owe you that one, but yes, I ordered my spy Louis Blackwell to kill your parents, to destabilise your empire and it seems you've managed to cope, look I just did you a favour, now you can do me a favour back by telling me where they went - said the dark-haired man, who soon heard a laugh coming from the empress.
"Oh sure, Louis Blackwell, he revealed it to me before he was killed by my friend Marianne Leclerc, the one you stabbed, did you know he was here? - Reiko said, feeling confident again.
"It was to be expected, wasn't it? I know the Blackwells betrayed me, it was to be expected, so they did this to me? - Said the lord.
"He wanted to assassinate his target, but he didn't succeed, from the beginning his intention was to kill Akko, he wanted your trophy not to be achieved and for you to focus on Appleton, but he was killed before he could fulfil his objectives, with a kunai to the back of the head, he fell hard to the ground - said the short girl to which Hanbridge simply shrugged.
"Look, you've at least done me a favour, so can we negotiate or do I have to pressure you into revealing the location of your friends? - The boy asks, intimidatingly.
That's when a long exchange of glances began between the two of them, the powers of two different parts of Hyrule, an island that hasn't been dominated and is very strong in a military sense, against one that has occupied the lands of Wedinburgh and also has a very strong military force, but which still has the added flavour of the presence of the boy with Ganondorf's spirit.
He realised that the girl wasn't going to say anything, so he turned away and started walking towards the corridor that led to the exit, but something stopped him.
"Hold on! - Said the empress.
"Oh it looks like the little girl wanted to give in, are you really going to betray your friends so freely like that? -Andrew asks.
"I'm sorry for them, but the kingdom of Edo cannot suffer genocide," said Reiko.
"I'm glad you made the right choice, I guarantee that once I've taken them prisoner in my castle and married them off, I'll come back here with a fat reward in gold, even open an alliance and hand over some territories to your kingdom," said Hanbridge.
(He fell right in, he must still think they're hiding here, luckily I have the girls in disguise so I can make him lose as much time as possible, that's what I want to happen, it'll be perfect).
And so it went in the capital of Edo, the empress was accompanied by the lord of Appleton, walking through some streets of the city, the girl was even disguised so that the citizens would not notice her, only her friends
who would notice her walking through the streets and thus activate the disguise they intended to make, it was already something signalled in such an indirect way that she could hardly notice Hanbridge.
"Woah, it seems that this is a very lively city, there's even this festival of lights in the sky, who would have thought it, you really want everything to preserve these people, look I understand you a lot, the beauty of these people is very unique, so much so that my target even fascinates me a little - Said the green-eyed one.
(Wonderful, the signal has been given, they must have realised by now, they'll start disguising themselves as girls and that will waste his time, I knowAndrew is a liar, he won't give me any reward for my kingdom, he'll even cause a genocide of my people, but that will be enough to keep him going for a long time).
And off they went on a tour of the city, it was already signalled that everything was ready, so the girl walked to the house where the hiding place would be, but first she blocked the passage so that the lord wouldn't enter, pretending to be desperate.
"Wait a minute, let me at least say goodbye to them" said the Empress.
"Oh hahaha, she looks like she's feeling really bad, what are you going to do, tell them to run away? There's no point in doing that" said the boy, who simply burst open the door to reveal the girls behind it in disguise.
Fear gripped the girls, while the boy had a huge grin on his face as he saw the nine of them there, especially as they were in disguise, just as they had been before arriving in Edo, Reiko realised that this was her last chance, so with her friends she cried with emotion, going to hug the girls goodbye.
"Please, girls, be tough, he may be strong, but he's not invincible yet, I know we lost this one, but we'll win others" said the girl, hugging her friends.
(The plan even worked, it was what I wanted, he fell right into the traps, I'm just waiting to see what he'll do from now on, they sacrificed themselves for the kingdom, I'll feel the weight of those lives later, they did everything for Edo, for Hyrule, they'll be recognised as heroes too).
"Oh how sweet, but now I have to go, I have to take the prisoners, come on, lock them up and put them where they belong, I don't have all the time in the world" said Andrew.
"Please don't, don't do this, let us go, just take who you want to take" said the one pretending to be Sucy.
"I'm going to take all nine of them, I want to make a point of emphasising that I'm with all of them, they won't be killed, but they'll be locked up for the rest of their lives, after everything you've done, you've defied my authority, don't think you'll escape, now handcuff them and put them in a cage, I'll watch them day after day until I get to Appleton" said the lord who was in a rage.
And with that, he handcuffed each of the nine, who also received another hug from the empress, for all their courage in sacrificing themselves on a mission like that, which was a success even for the part of distracting the boy who thought it could be a sure victory, from there he caged the nine inside what was ironed with iron, as well as their hands being handcuffed, next to their feet, to prevent them from getting out in any way.
Once in the wagon, the boy was taken like a nobleman with a carriage that had each of them caged, and he went along in comfort, looking at them staring at the boy, especially the one pretending to be Akko
"You tried, you went as far as you could, but you can't run away forever, now you're going to be my prizes, what do you know, the nine heroines who went to try to bring the legend of the nine witches to reality were captured, they tried to run away to Edo, to enjoy a break, they didn't even have time to run away with their little friends, not even the empress... Hahahahaha, you really are a comical failure, you thought you were going to escape from Andrew Hanbridge's hands" Andrew said, staring at the nine.
"You're a cruel manAndrew, you can't win forever, soon another hero will come along and replace me and he'll kill you, you can't run away forever either, you won't be a dictator for all eternity" said the one pretending to be Atsuko.
"Don't think I'll accept marriage to you, I'm already married to Akko and there's no way you can annul that" said the woman pretending to be Diana.
"You can try anything, your marriage isn't valid, but mine will be valid and there's nothing you can do about it, that's right Akko, you'll see me consummating the marriage with your wife, having descendants, which you can no longer do, I'll bring prosperity to the kingdom, hahahaha" said Hanbridge.
The girls pretend to react, which generates a few laughs, and then they become quiet, since they don't have much to do since the powerful lord has them in his hands, which he hardly noticed as he went along the road, until he spent some time arriving in the harbour town, he was arriving on the ship to take back to Appleton's land, which would make him lose as much time as possible.
The girls crossed the sea with the dark-haired man, who didn't suspect a thing, already managing to eat for a long time, at least in a matter of days, which he wasn't even aware of the strategy that had been devised by the Empress herself.
"You're pretty quiet for someone who's been captured, I thought I'd hear more screaming and begging, it looks like you've just made your peace" said Andrew.
"And what did you want? We were captured, our mission failed, you found us, just when we were far away, now that we would have the chance" Said the one pretending to be Akko.
"Well, when we arrive, we'll ask you a few questions, you'll tell us everything you've done in your free time, I imagine you must have a whole plan" said Hanbrige.
"What if we don't talk?" asked the woman pretending to be Hellene.
"Look, I only feel sorry for Akko and Diana, I'll torture the lot of you mercilessly if you don't answer me clearly, so you'd better be aware of that" said the boy, who stared at them with intimidation and soon they were rising in despair.
"So that's it? You're going to torture us to get the truth out? What a cruel monster you are" said the one pretending to be McLaren.
"You're not going to get out of this without paying, you're still going to get the worst of it, we're going to beat you and you have no idea" said Leclerc.
"What do I have no idea? What are you going to do like this, with your hands and feet bound? Oh give me a break, you nine don't even have a proper escape plan, for the triforce, I never thought Ganon would have one of his incarnations with heroes as pathetic and weak as you, did you really think you could defeat me hahahahaha, never, I could snap my finger and turn you into a mincemeat" Hanbridge said.
(Empress Reiko, I'm sorry if our sacrifice doesn't pay off and he finds out too soon, but we'll try to hold out as long as possible, I hope we can still get out of this alive, I hope the girls can, we're doing this for Hyrule, we're doing it for the good of the whole of Edo, for all the people who live in Hyrule, this guy scares the hell out of me just by being near him, as if he's going to kill me every moment).
"You've really come far, look, you've travelled all over Hyrule, you've travelled in the Arctic, you've travelled on other islands, but you couldn't get far, you couldn't escape the inevitable end, if you stayed quiet and separated, each in your own corner you wouldn't go through this, do you see what you've caused Akko? Because of you your friends will all suffer here, they are suffering because of you" said the intimidating Andrew.
And he continued on his way, sailing across the ocean to the other side, while back in the capital of Edo, the empress stared at the pictures of the nine girls who had volunteered to pretend to be Akko's friends on this practically suicidal mission that would involve simply making the boy lose as much time as possible, giving her friends the chance to finish the remaining dungeons.
"You nine were brave, everything you did you can be sure that your families will not only be well rewarded, but you will be remembered throughout the history of Edo as the heroines who saved Hyrule alongside the nine of you, here in Edo you will get statues of yourselves" said Reiko.
(In the end all this, a bloodbath without limits, just to avoid a bigger one, did I do the right thing, even though the girls had agreed to it during months of preparation and with the help even of Mari before she left, will it be worth this sacrifice, in the end all this can only cause more pain and pain, he will find out and come here massively to destroy us, well? At least I was able to give the kingdom a breather, but I don't think I have a choice).
The 14-year-old girl walked to the throne room, where she summoned all the important generals to the throne room for a more serious and in-depth conversation, all about what was going to happen on the island in a few days' time and which could define the fate of Edo once and for all; it could be definitive for Hyrule and the conquest of peace.
"You called us Empress Reiko?" Said the senior royal general.
"I did, I have an extremely important mission, I want you to prepare all the troops, call as many people as possible, spread the word throughout Edo that a massive attack byAppleton's soldiers is coming, protect all the vulnerable people and leave the strongest people ready to fight for victory, can you do it?" The Empress said, and all twelve generals were surprised.
"We're going to war, we heard here that the lord of Appleton simply turned up, intimidated our guards and you allowed him to capture the girls, how come you want that now? You've demoralised our troops enough" said one of the twelve.
"It was all part of the tactic, I wanted to distract Andrew so he wouldn't know that he'd actually captured the fake girls, the real ones are already far away and disguised, I'm just buying him time, I know it's inevitable that Andrew will come here with his troops, so that's why I've been taking the opportunity to get all the troops ready, when he comes to attack we'll get out of this alive" Reiko said.
"So the sovereign already had an idea that everything was going to happen like this? Why didn't she tell us?" asks another general.
"I wanted to keep it secret, I don't want to risk the girls' identities being leaked and some Appleton soldier capturing them and interrogating them enough to give away the girls' location, so that's why I made this plan, but now it's all or nothing for Edo and Hyrule, we're going to protect our lands, for everyone's sake, we have to think of strategies to buy time, even pray for the divine winds to cover the oceans so that we can save ourselves from invasion by sea, let's weaken Appleton's army as much as possible, embarrass their tactics and become great" said the girl who had already won over all the generals who raised their swords.
"Then we'll warn everyone that war is coming, we'll go with a massive army to fight evil, we'll go with all our might, with all our men, Appleton won't touch our land, we have to spread it all over the city!" Said the senior royal general.
And it was with this decision that each of the twelve generals left the castle and spread out to different corners of the island to warn each barracks of an imminent war and prepare the men for this battle that will define the future.
The empress even breathes a sigh of relief, she knows that this is the last resort, but she still feels a great deal of worry, very much because she felt the presence and the weight when the man himself showed up.
(If he shows up we won't win, he'll kill everyone, including me, he was able to come here without any fear, as if he didn't care about my troops, you could see that he doesn't feel any fear of fighting, he really is extremely strong, all I ask is that the divine winds come to our aid, sink all of Andrew's warships and save Edo from destruction, he won't be able to defeat us that way, we'll be able to make him lose time, it'll be days enough for them to explore the whole dungeon, we've got at least a week before he returns toAppleton and finds out everything from the girls, they'll play along as they can, but you can't completely rely on that).
She continued to worry a lot about this whole war, so much so that she was already looking at the city seeing that the generals were already spreading the news and taking a deep breath, she was genuinely afraid that this could be the end, already hoping that this could all work, it was the most she could do to help the girls stay safe, they who far away in Wedinburgh were looking at the landscape, before leaving for the dungeon.
Far away, the queens of Wedinburgh saw the whole land conquered byAppleton, somewhat abandoned, the people in the town living in the worst conditions, even with the help they could bring, that would have to be resolved somehow, left them with a very troubled heart from what used to be a bustling town, full of festivities and excitement, turned out to be an abandoned town.
"Wow, I can't get out of here to walk around the town of Wedinburgh anymore, it's not the same, people are even hopeless, are we really going to make it? We don't carry the same weight as before, these people aren't even the same as when we were here" said Diana.
"Look, love, the important thing is that we can keep going and not give up, the most important mission, which is to get here and conquer the dungeons, has to be the priority, soon we'll be back here, with Andrew defeated, he'll bring back all the prosperity, look, Frank will bring things here, more resources, you can be sure that in a few days, in less than a month we'll be here together, like queens rebuilding Wedinburgh back to the glory when their mothers were alive" Akko said.
"Will we? I've been having nightmares about him coming up to me, bullying us, on Triskellion Island, are we really going to make it?" Cavendish said, and that's starting to worry Kagari.
"Wait... You didn't tell me that, love" said the crimson-eyed girl.
"I'm sorry love, I've been having nightmares like this since Edo, you weren't in them, but he was, he arrived on Triskellion Island, he fought me, we tried everything, but I only ended up waking up when he came to attack me, as if something was telling me that something was going to happen on Triskellion Island... I'm scared it's going to happen" said the blue-eyed girl.
"This is worrying, I've had nightmares of you leaving, of Andrew capturing me six years ago and they've come true, I'm scared it's going to happen, but you can rest assured, you're strong, just like the others, and it's strange that I wasn't... What do you mean I wasn't there?" asked the brown-haired girl.
- You just weren't, those dreams were specific to Triskellion Island, it seems like it could have just been a hallucination of mine, a nightmare from the time before you were rescued, I remember having similar nightmares before I left there, so that could be it, just the fear and trauma taking over me" said the platinum blonde.
- We have to think about this, I also want to talk to you more seriously, I know you're getting powerful... But I need to warn the girls about a measure, something I don't know if everyone will agree with" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
She was even silent for a while, because she was thinking about what to say, while her wife was a little confused about her change of mood, which seemed to be something very important, Akko took a deep breath and put his hand on Diana's shoulder, telling her something more important.
"I have to say that it's better for me to go into the dungeons alone after this, I don't think that putting you at risk on a journey like this is the smartest thing to do, I know it's a bit annoying to say it, maybe I'm thinking it, but Diana, this is what I've come to think might be best for you... The monsters are more deadly, when I was in the last dungeon, I could see Amanda and Constanze struggling and there's something else too" said Atsuko.
"Oh that's it, I can understand it, you're getting stronger and you have the power in your hands to defeat Andrew, it would be a real burden from now on, but what else could it be, I think your decision was very intelligent, in fact, you thought it through" Cavendish said.
"Love... If Andrew captures the girls they'll die or suffer to death, or just be tortured for years if it all goes wrong, or they'll suffer a lot until they're rescued, I appreciate what you've done for me, but I don't want them to go through anything worse, Andrew only spares me because I'm his trophy and possibly you because he wants to turn you into a future wife, But the truth is that the others are going to suffer a lot, I don't want him to get his hands on them, but we'll discuss it after I get back from the dungeon, we'll have to separate, all of us, so that it's harder for Andrew to find us, so that Empress Reiko's plan can work better" Kagari said.
"So I agree love, it makes sense for you to want to protect us, but please Akko, don't get captured, do everything you can to make it, even alone, you have to be careful, we don't know the dangers that lie ahead, me and the girls will also make sure we go safely, you can leave it to us that we will help with whatever is needed, even from afar, so this is practically our last days together before the big moment love?" asks the platinum blonde-haired girl, and her wife immediately takes her face in her hands.
"Unfortunately it's going to be love, but let's enjoy it as much as we can, our love can't be stopped from happening, let's make a point of living these days as the best, even if it's not the most luxurious place in the world, let's bring back the feeling of what once was the time when you were a princess? Today you are queen, the queen of my heart" said the crimson-eyed woman, who then kissed her wife with all the love in the world.
The two then began to grow closer romantically, with worries about the future of Hyrule always creeping up on them, but at that point, they decided to let go, began to get more intimate and enjoy the time they had free, after all, these could be the last days of the couple that was together, since the dangers of Akko's mission are much greater, to the point that she could be at risk alone.
Empress Reiko, despite everything, has succeeded in realising her plan, and all sides are trying to save the lands of Hyrule from an inevitable terror without size, which Andrew has been trying in every way to capture Akko, but he has little idea that he has been deceived by the girl who hides a huge secret behind everything, He has no idea that he is being tricked by the girl who is hiding a huge secret behind it, that he will soon witness a deception of grandiose proportions, of all the lost time he has spent, while far away the nine are
making their way through the dungeons and it will soon be a matter of time before Akko has the power to defeat the boy.
See you, invader witches...