Hello reader! Chapter 172 is here! This week Link announces what he's figured out, and then we start off with the first part of the battle against the Hylian Parliament! Enjoy!
"What did you just say, Brother? We can disband the Hylian Parliament?" Darunia exclaimed.
"It's just a theory, but it would make sense given what's happened." Link nodded.
Link had brought up a rather shocking idea to Nabooru, Sarami, Saria, Impa, Princess Zelda, Prince Darius, Malon, Ruto, Zopem, Hemeron, Darunia, Link-Goron, Meifa and Petra as they all sat in the medical room of Hyrule Castle.
Laying on beds nearby was Aviel, Nemisa, Togau, Reirousa, Kesuta, Korume, Halei, and Ruto's bodyguard Kaidon, all of them suffering from eating the poisoned chili. Their faces very slowly turning more purple.
"Well spit it out already! How do you figure this?" Darius asked, "And what does it have to do with you developing antibodies to fight off the poison you ate?"
"I can only think of one time I could have been inflicted with this deadly poison." Link said, "It was back when we fought the Zola pirate leader Admiral Krehaul."
"Oooh! You mean when we attended Ruto's rite to become the Zora queen?!" Saria exclaimed.
"I knew it…" Ruto nodded.
"Ah yes, that was the fine day I met you aaaaall!" Hemeron nodded, "I couldn't have thought back then that you'd all go so far to save the Zora and my dear Princess Ruto from those savage monsters!"
"Ruto told me much about all that." Zelda spoke astonished, "But what does all that have to do with the poisoning?"
"Well I defeated Krehaul to claim the Smooth Pearl that Ruto needed to complete the rite." Link said, "But he had a very dangerous power to excrete poison from his body. It was a tough fight that I almost didn't survive."
"I know that for a fact," Zopem acknowledged, "He was in a bad state when he emerged from his battle."
"But how we can be so certain it was connected to this?" Impa asked, "You could have been poisoned another way before."
Link explained, "Because you see, Krehaul is actually…"
"...actually what?" Petra asked, anxious to hear where this was going.
Link paused, looking over to Zopem sadly, who just looked back in confusion. Knowing what Zopem had told him once, he knew this wasn't going to be easy for the Zora bodyguard to hear.
"Because Admiral Krehaul… was actually a Zora, one who left his people years prior to becoming the leader of the Zola pirates. I also came to realize his true identity, a knight of the Zora royal family who failed to defend Ruto's mother during a conflict with a certain occult…"
"W-What? A Zora?" spoke Meifa, "But who was it?"
Link took a breath, "...he had once been known as Sir Titas."
Ruto and Hemeron both gasped out in shock.
"WHAAAAT? That vile fiend was Sir Titas?" Hemeron asked, "But he was once a renowned knight of her late majesty! He swore his life to protect her!"
"THAT'S RUBBISH!" shouted Zopem, "You must be mistaken King Link! There's no way the man I admired, the man who motivated me to become a solider of the Zora army, would become that evil pirate, to wage war over his own kind!"
"Zopem, please calm yourself." Ruto said, placing a hand on his arm,
"I believe Link is indeed right. My mother was struck down by a lethal poison that even a Zora could be poisoned by, despite our normal immunity to it. And there's only one group that we know of who could hold that kind of power…"
"The Order of Reyahm…" Hemeron spoke with a grimaced stare, "They wanted to gain knowledge of the Zora's sacred rite to create their own Goddess of Water, and when Queen Louruta refused, they declared war on us…"
"That's right…!" Zopem rrealized, "Both the queen and Sir Titas were inflicted with the poison, and while the queen died, the Zora doctors tried to save Titas using an experimental process… He recovered, but disappeared after that!" he looked downcast, "It… it can't be..."
"Krehaul said his power to excrete poison in vast amounts was a side effect of what the Zora doctors had done to him." Link explained, "And to add to all that, he kept a picture of Queen Louruta in his room, something he was very protective of."
"So he was loyal to her to the very end." Darius frowned, "What a shocking revelation."
"To think it had been him that whole time…" Zopem quivered a little, "Sir Titas… why…?"
"I understand what you mean now Link." Nabooru said, "The fact you have an immunity to this very same poison that could harm Sir Kaidon, is potential evidence that it's the same type of poison the Order of Reyahm had."
"And if that's the case, then that would mean the Hylian Parliament obtained this poison from them!" Zelda realized, "That could be the final strike needed for me to justify disbanding the Parliament!"
"Exactly." Link nodded.
"To think that whole crisis at Zora Coast would come to this!" Sarami spoke astonished, she gave Link a bright smile, "Oh Link-honey, you're so smart!"
"But how can we be so sure of all this?" Hemeron asked, "The Hylian Parliament might try to refute this claim, we really need more proof."
"If only we knew what actual type of poison it was." Darius pondered, "Then we could connect it to the Order of Reyahm."
"Everyone, I've found it!" spoke up a voice suddenly.
Everyone looked over to see Vekai, the Kokiri assistant to Mido was holding up a tattered old book.
"Oh Vekai, what do you have there?" Saria asked.
"It's an ancient tome we obtained from the Forest Temple some time ago." Vekai said, opening the book and flipping through some pages, "It has information of various flora in Hyrule's history. I had brought it with us to use as reference material during the roundtable meeting…"
"...and you wouldn't believe what I've found in it!"
"There it is, the Toxiplume."
Everyone was gathered around Vekai as she was reading from the ancient book. In the tattered pages was a sketch of a rose with odd vines circulating around it, aside from Meifa who was focusing on treating Kaidon and the Gerudo.
"A very poisonous flower whose origins dated back to before the founding of Hyrule. It has a deadly poison to ward off predators, and it's power could potentially be enough to strike down a Gleeok."
"To think it was that strong." Link spoke, mentally thanking the Zola swabbie Jonas for saving him back at the marine base by sucking out the poison from the wounds he got, and wondered if he had came out of that okay...
Vekai continued to read, "Despite the danger of it though, the plant is harmless to touch normally. Only by digesting it, or applying it's petals against an open wound can the poison's true potential be used."
"That's right, the assassin from the Reyahm Order used a dagger to kill the queen." Hemeron nodded, "It must have been laced with the poison excreted from this flower."
"So why is it I've never heard of these in Granny's studies?" Sarami asked, she leaned forward a little, unwittingly pressing her left breast against Vekai's head.
"…" Vekai tried to ignore that and continued, "The Toxiplume was thought to have gone extinct after one of the first queens of Hyrule had issued a decree that they all be destroyed to prevent their misuse."
"One of the first…" Link spoke, "So it's been maybe centuries since those flowers have existed."
"Though with something of that power, it's not unreasonable there would be someone who would try to keep and preserve them." Nabooru said, "Namely the Order of Reyahm."
"The order's leader Sokou has lived since ancient times, it's not unreasonable to think he managed to save a few from being destroyed for all this time." Impa said.
"And that's not all there is." Vekai said, pointing to the flower, "Something's been bothering me since we first started attending the Royal Roundtable meetings, does it look familiar to you at all?"
"The flower?" Impa asked, getting a closer look at it, "Whatever do you mean, little one?" but she was then hit with the realization of it, "AAAH!"
She recalled a certain man who attended the meeting, a tall bulky man, clad in a white suit and a red tie, with a purple flower decorating the lapel of his suit.
"Governor Balterius! That purple flower he wore on his lapel, it looks exactly like the one in this picture!" Impa exclaimed, "To think it was right in front of us that whole time!"
"He must have been very possessive of it to wear it like it was just some decorative flower." Zelda spoke with a drop of sweat running down her head, "Just being in possession of a flower like this, sitting before the king even, is a grave crime."
"For that matter, there's something else I find rather interesting." Darius said rubbing his chin, "Do any of you recall what Sokou said in the courtroom just before he left using the Song of Soaring?"
"...I've been working to atone for what happened all that time ago." Balterius scowled.
"Heh, not enough it would seem." chuckled Sokou, "Especially if you'll have to resort to that flower."
"Huh? The flower?" Link asked, looking to the odd purple rose on the governor's suit lapel.
"It's been a while since I've seen one like that…" Sokou rubbed his pointy chin, "It seems you have something big planned to need to order that from us and-"
But Sokou's words were cut off by a wind blade slash from the Windcleaver sword impacting into his protective barrier.
"Enough!" Balterius scowled, "I shall put an end to you now and protect Hyrule!"
"That's right!" Zelda gasped out, "Then it all makes sense!"
"That sounds like enough evidence to have Governor Balteirus, and by extension the Parliament, looked into, doesn't it?" Nabooru smirked.
"…" Zelda stared down at the drawing of the flower, she brought her hand up to her chest, seeming to be conflicted about something, 'Can... I really do this…?'
"My Princess," Darius said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I think it's time we bring justice to the Parliament, not just for Link and his family, but for all of Hyrule itself. Don't you think?"
"…" Zelda put her hand gently over Darius', then looked to Link and Nabooru, then to the Gerudo and Kaidon who were laying on the beds.
Her gaze in particular fell on Aviel, the sweet young lady that was hugging her with her wings a few days ago, now suffering from such lethal poison.
"...very well." Zelda said, closing her eyes and standing up, "This might just be a formality for now, but after looking over all the evidence, and taking in all we've learned about their actions, I have an official statement to make."
"Here it comes…" Nabooru whispered with a knowing smirk.
"Governor Balterius of the Hylian Parliament has fallen under suspicion of having ties to domestic terrorists, with intent to harm its people, he has put the future of this kingdom in jeopardy."
"Therefore, as the current ruler of Hyrule, I therefore put a disbandment on the Hylian Parliament's authority over Hyrule, including the abolishment and suspension of all laws placed under them..."
"…including, but not limited to, the Gerudo Banishment Law!"
"Finally!" Ruto squealed out, clapping her hands.
"Princess…" Link whispered, seeing the strength in Zelda's eyes. It seemed Darius had a knack of drawing out her courage to speak her mind. They were truly a great pair.
"And with the Parliament disbanded, that means we don't have to hold back." Darunia nodded with a big grin, "It's time to finally confront those bastards and save everyone!"
As the others all cheered out, Nabooru looked on with a smile, but glanced away with a somewhat saddened gaze...
"Okay, we've gotten the report from the knights about the Parliament's positions." Zelda spoke, looking down at a map of Hyrule Castle's layout,
"They've hid out at seven locations of the castle; the courthouse, the conservatory gardens, the courtyard cemetery, the royal vault, the fountain room, the armory... and even the castle rooftop for some odd reason."
"And only one of them is holding the source of the poison, the Toxiplume." Darius said, "If we try to attack them with an all-out assault of knights, they'll destroy it. We'll have to confront them one-on-one to prevent that."
"Furthermore, you recall their threat? They are willing to fight back, and we don't know what they're capable of." Nabooru said, "So we'll split up the seven of us who are most capable of fighting to take on each of them."
"Yeah, if they're too busy fighting us they won't have time to destroy the Toxiplume." Link nodded.
"But then the question is, who will go?" Vekai asked worriedly.
"Naturally Link and myself will go." Nabooru nodded, "We're not going to sit ideally by as our sisters suffer."
"I'll volunteer!" boomed Darunia, smacking his fist against his chest, "To help my sworn brother, I'll fight even these government windbags!"
"To help my dear sisters? You can count on me to fight too!" Ruto nodded.
"My queen, you can't!" Zopem said desperately, "Please allow me to-"
"No Zopem, I have the power of a zora queen now." Ruto said clenching her fist, "I won't back down."
"I'll go too, for Aviel, Nemisa, Togau, Reirousa, and everyone's sake!" Saria said, "With my Deku Staff, I'll be able to fight!"
"Very well then," Darius nodded, "Guards, make yourselves useful and procure King Link, Lady Nabooru and Lady Saria their weapons!"
The knights saluted to the prince and ran off.
"After all the Parliament has put us through, this is going to be rather satisfying." chuckled Impa, whipping out her kunai, "As an official Gerudo now, I shall not fail my new family!"
"Thank you, all of you." Nabooru smiled at them, recalling Link's story about how the four of them all had worked with her as sages in the dark future, "Now we just need one more ally to help us."
"…" Zelda stared downwards, looking like she wanted to say something. Her sword arm twitched a little, and she looked up about to say something, but stopped herself.
"I'll do it!" Darius proclaimed, brandishing his sword with a smirk, "For my dear friend Link and his lovely family, like a knife to butter, and then to a bread roll…"
He did an over-the-top poise with his hands.
"I shall bring the swift blade of justice down on these corrupt fiends, and then eat their authority up like yummy buttered bread!"
There was a slight pause, as everyone looked to Darius for a moment. They could barely hear a noise, that was likely his stomach growling.
"...but on the way, I will need one of those bread rolls from the chili luncheon!" Darius stated, wiping his mouth clean of drool, "I need some sustenance before going into battle!"
"That'll be fine Darius." Link said with an admirable smile, "Thank you for helping us."
"Everyone…" spoke up a voice, as they all turned to see the Gerudo all laying on their beds, Aviel was looking weakly over at them, her face even more purple than before, "Please… be careful…"
"Aviel…" Link whispered, running up and taking her hand, giving it a firm squeeze, "I swear, we're going to save you all!"
"Saria…" groaned Togau as Malon was looking down at her worriedly, "We're… all gonna be a family together, right…?"
"Yeah, so just hold on Togau!" Saria said, "We won't let you down!"
"Way to go Saria, give em heck!" Malon said, pumping her fist.
"Sister Ruto…" sobbed Kesuta as the zora queen looked down at her, "I… don't wanna die… I wanna start a family with Link… and raise them all together with you…" she brought up her hand, "You gotta stick it to those Parliament bastards!"
"Believe me Kesuta-dearie, I promise." Ruto nodded, clenching Kesuta's hand with determination in her eyes.
"Just please… don't get yourself killed over trying to save us…" Nemisa tried to force herself up, only to collapse again.
"No Nemisa, don't try to exert yourself!" Sarami pleaded. She looked up to Link and everyone, "You leave the everyone to me and the medical staff, we'll keep them stable until you find the flower!"
"I'll help too!" Meifa spoke up, "You can count on us!"
"I may not be well versed in medicine, but I'll do whatever I can as well!" Malon said.
"Same here! Just tell whatever ya need me to run and get," Petra said, "Even if I haveta steal it!"
"Please don't get carried away Petra." Link said sweatdropping.
Soon the knights returned carrying Link, Nabooru and Saria's weapons. Link equipped his sword, shield, Longshot, Fairy Bow and arrow set, and Bombos Medallion, Nabooru obtained her dual scimitars, and Saria got her Deku Staff and the Triple Spingshot she won at the shooting gallery.
"I've authorized the sue of all your weapons and tools." Zelda said, "I only ask that you be careful."
"As you wish Princess," Link said with a thankful bow, spinning his sword in his hand and held it out, "It's time to take it to the Parliament, we're not going to let everybody down. right?"
"Right!" nodded Nabooru, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa and Darius.
Zelda looked on to the seven of them with a small smile, though mentally wishing there was something else she could do for them all…
"Well then, is everyone ready?" Nabooru asked.
"There is one last thing though," Link spoke up, "This might sound strange, and maybe a little selfish on my part, but I have one last request."
"What's that?" Ruto asked.
Link stared downwards, thinking of the words someone told him not too long ago.
"… ...if any of you happen to run into a certain person before I do… there's something I want you to tell them..."
Darunia was gripping his Megaton Hammer as he ran down one of the halls of Hyrule Castle, alongside his son Link-Goron, as well as a number of Hylian knights.
"It's just up ahead Chief Darunia, the royal vault is just down this hall!" a knight spoke.
"Ha ha, thanks a lot!" laughed Darunia, "it's time to lay down the hurt on these bastards!"
"Halt!" shouted some knight guards guarding the doorway to the vault, "None of you are permitted entrance here, by order of Duke Geronim!"
"So he's the one hiding out here, is he?" Darunia commented.
"By order of Princess Zelda, the Hylian Parliament has been disbanded!" said one of the knights by Darunia, "The Duke has no authority to be in there any longer!"
"Is that so…?" one of the guards asked, he brought out his sword, "Well sorry, but our orders come straight from the Duke regardless, if you try to barge through, we'll have to fight you!"
The guards lunged out to fight Darunia and the knights, but Link-Goron stepped out and blocked off their blades with his rocky back. They were shocked to see the attacks had no effect on him.
"You're not getting in Dad's way!" Link-Goron shouted, quickly spinning around and decking the knight with his fist. The other guards were surprised, but came at Link-Goron, who quickly punched another one away.
"Son?" Darunia spoke.
"You fight the Duke and get the flower Dad!" Link-Goron said, "We'll deal with these bad guys!"
"Ha ha, you've really come a long way, son!" laughed Darunia, running in through the door as the other knights assisted Link-Goron.
Darunia walked into the vault room, seeing it was a large square shaped room with a giant steel wall on the other end. The steel wall had a reinforced door with a key lock on it.
He also noticed there was a certain round egg-shaped man with a gold suit and top hat, who was busy trying to undo the lock of the door with a large key that had a lion's head on it.
"Come on you stupid Magic Key… why aren't you working?" grumbled the man, "Grrr… last time I do business with that black market dealer!"
"Hey, it's you!" Darunia said, pointing at the man, "You're Duke Geronim!"
"Ah, I recognize that graveled tone!" Duke Geronim of Wealth and Finances spoke, twirling around and spinning his cane in his hand, pointing it right at Darunia, "If it isn't the royal rock-biter of Death Mountain! So you're the one who's come to negotiate with me?" he laughed out, Yogogogogo!"
"Enough! The time for negotiation is over!" boomed Darunia, "The Hylian Parliament has been abolished by Princess Zelda, now hand over the Toxiplume flower!"
"Toxiplume? Is that what it's called...?" Geronim asked, "I highly doubt one of your… limited brain activity could have figured that out, so I'm guessing one of the Gerudo King's friends got this information?"
"...that doesn't matter." Darunis narrowed his eyes, gripping at his Megaton Hammer, "If you don't hand over the poison, than I'll take it by force!"
"Well too bad, for you, but I don't have it!" laughed Geronim.
Darunia turned towards the doorway out just as bars slid down over it, rending him trapped in there. He snarled and turned back to Duke Geronim.
"I didn't want to have to do this, but I guess it's time to deal with you, rock-biter!" Geronim said,
The round man thrust out his stick-thin arms as suddenly a metal plating started to wrap around his body. A shining red and gold armor came on around his entire body save for his head.
"What the heck?" Darunia exclaimed, "What is that?"
Geronim then brandished his cane and clicked it open, revealing a sharp steel sword blade was inside of it. He wielded his cane sword, and pointed it out at Darunia.
"Now rock-biter, have at you!"
"Woah, he's a weirdo, but he's serious." Darunia spoke, gripping at her hammer, "Guess I don't have to hold back. It's time for a pounding! Graaaah!"
Darunia charged forward with the hammer and slammed it into Darunia's sword. The Duke managed to block off the attack and drive Darunia backwards with a counter swing, causing Darunia to slide back a bit, and leaving him surprised that Geronim was so strong. He ran forward and bashed at Geronim's sword, who manged to block off each blow. Geronim swung out his sword and struck Darunia, in the side.
"Man, you're a lot stronger than you look!" Darunia admitted.
"Yoogogo! You think we've just been sitting around on their rears talking politics this whole time?!" Geronim laughed, hopping around left and right, "Governor Balterius anticipated we may have to fight for our cause, so we've all been training in our downtime!"
Geronim lunged at Darunia and swung down his sword, putting the Goron on the defense. He blocked off each slash as quickly as he could, then as Geronim swung his sword downwards, Darunia quickly brought up his fist and smashed it right into his side.
"Ha, finally got a hit on you!" Darunia grinned, only to then see Geronim was grinning right back.
"Didn't even feel it!" Geronim chuckled, bringing down his blade and smacking the Goron away.
"Huh, how tough is that armor?" Darunia spoke in shock.
The Goron ran forward and swung his hammer down at Geronim, but the top-hatted man stepped aside, and swung his sword to strike the Goron back. Darunia backed up, narrowing his eyes, as he summoned all his strength and swung his hammer at Geronim, bashing him right into the lower abdomen, only for the attack to not even make him flinch.
"As you can see, nothing you do shall work!" Geronim chuckled, slashing Darunia away, "What I'm wearing right now you see, is the Magic Rupee Armor! As long as I hold rupees on my person, no attack can harm me whatsoever! It's the power of money!"
"What? So you can't take any damage at all?" Darunia spoke in shock, as Geronim swung his blade at the Goron again, forcing him to use the Megaton Hammer in defense.
"Yes, and now that you know that, if you know what's good for Hyrule, you won't dare strike me again!" Geronim grinned, slashing wildly at Darunia.
"What do you mean?" Darunia snarled, fighting off the slashes and striking his hammer into Geronim, who again didn't flinch.
"Because for every hit you inflict on me, my net worth of rupees goes slightly down. Only when I run completely out do I become vulnerable." Geronim explained, swinging his sword at Darunia, "But you wouldn't want thaaaat!"
"Why not?" Darunia asked, blocking off a swing.
"Because I am the duke of wealth and fiances here in Hyrule! For each time you hit me, that's more rupees gone from existence, and thus less rupees that will go into the kingdom's economy!" Geronim said slashing again at Darunia, "Every hit you inflict wastes money!"
"Grk!" Darunia went back a bit from the blow and gasped out.
"Just like back at the meeting, you have no mind for the importance of money in this world!" Geronim stated, "It's what keeps our society as peaceful and thriving as it is!"
"It's not like I don't understand that, but-!" Darunia blocked off another attack, before thrusting his fist forward and punching Geronim in the stomach, but he didn't feel it, and struck Darunia back.
"That's another few rupees gone." Geronim said, "More money you're wasting by fighting me!"
"You rotten little…!" Darunia scowled in anger as he blocked another attack.
"You keep this up and you'll just make things worse for the kingdom!" Geronim said, "I should know, for I was once a humble banker at my old kingdom of Vividel, before it was destroyed by that vile Ganondorf!"
"What?" Darunia exclaimed at this news, only to have to bring up his hammer to block another sword strike.
"I lost my business, and all I had worked so hard to retain!" Geronim scowled, "I went penniless for years before I met with King Sirius again, who gave me the opportunity to help him here at Hyrule!"
Darunia backed up, and quickly curled into a ball shape before rolling and bashing into Geronim, only for it to yet again have no effect, and the Goron was kicked backwards by the Duke's long leg.
"But what I saw of this great kingdom, was a place where these fools just go about their lives, unaware of of the danger of those desert fiends the Gerudo will bring this land, naive to the real truth like you rock-biters. So I was working to make them understand!"
The two clashed with their weapons wildly, but Darunia couldn't so much as injure him. Darunia tried to curl into a ball to use his rocky back to withstand another sword, but Geronim used a side side to send Darunia spinning away and crashing into a wall.
"Through all the taxes and regulations I imposed, bringing them all closer to poverty, just I was once before, so that they can feel the loss I suffered! So they can understand what's important!"
Darunia laid back against the wall, he took a deep breath as he glared at Geronim across the room. He thought about how bad of a state Link was in due to the poisoning, as well as that of his wives. He gripped at his Megaton Hammer and narrowed his beady little eyes at the duke.
'What's… important, huh?' Darunia thought.
"You know… maybe… you're right about something…" the Goron spoke with his head downcast,
"For years I was selling the jewels we gathered from the Goron Mines without realizing their value… and I was taken advantage of by you and your subordinates… I didn't mind the heavy taxes you imposed on me with my Hot Spring resort… I just wanted to make the people happy…"
"You're probably right that me and my people aren't too bright when it comes to things like money…"
Darunia looked to Geronim with a fierce glare and pounded his chest with his fist,
"But what we lack in brains, we Goron make up for it with strength and heart! We'll do whatever we can to help our allies, whether they be the Hylians, the Zora, the Kokiri and even the Gerudo!"
He swung out his Megaton Hammer and grinned confidently,
"And I'll prove that today by helping to save my Sworn Brother's beloved family!"
Darunia then rushed forward at Geronim with his hammer and avoided a sword slash before smashing him in the side with his weapon.
"Yogoogogo! I told you before, it's useless to hit me!" Geronim shouted, slashing at Darunia.
But the Goron kept going, bashing and smashing at him with his hammer, his punches and roll attacks. Geronim took every blow and counter attacked with his cane sword. He managed to slash Darunia across the chest, before kicking him away, causing him to crash into a wall.
Darunia forced himself up, gasping out from fatigue, but he roared out and rushed at Geronim again.
'What's with this nutjob?' Geronim thought as he blocked off Darunia's attack and knocked him backwards again, 'Why doesn't he just go down?'
Darunia got himself up and narrowed his eyes as he ran at Geronim again, he saw the duke was about to slash at him, but this time Darunia slid down, before bring his hammer upwards, bashing it into Geronim and sending him flying up and impacting into the ceiling, but he dislodged himself from it and went hurling down with his sword. Darunia jumped out of the way as Geronim impaled the ground with his blade, before pulling it back out and glaring at the Goron.
Darunia rushed at him again with his hammer and used it to block another strike, before rapidly punching the duke with his fists, then delivering another strong punch that sent him flying back.
"Why… don't you just… DIE?" Geronim shouted, swinging out his sword again.
But Darunia sported a big grin before he ducked the slash and swung his fist upwards, uppercutting the duke into the air and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Yog… yoogogogogo!" laughed Geronim, standing himself up, "Like I told you countless times, I'm one the wealthiest men in all of Hyrule! I have all the money I need onhand to protect myself from your mindless brute force! Now I shall… huh?"
Geronim paused, as he realized he wasn't able to move. He tried taking a step forward, but found his legs too heavy to even lift.
"Wh-What's going on?" Geronim asked, "Why can't I move anymore?"
"You said rupees are what keep that armor powered, right?" Darunia gasped out, while sporting a big grin, "So I just did the simplest thing a big dumb rock-biter like me could think to do, I beat you up until you ran out!"
"M-My rupees?" Geronim exclaimed, "You beat my armor until you exhausted my money? No! Nooooooo!" the man stomped his foot angerly, "How could you, you… you vile rock-biter! I'll ruin you, I'll destroy you!"
He tried to slash at Darunia with his sword again, but found he couldn't even move his arms, he was completely helpless. He looked up to Darunia who was forcing himself back up to his legs.
'Even after all this… he can still fight?'
"Now, time to show you that true Goron strength!" Darunia said, curling into a ball and rolling right at Geronim, smashing directly into him and sending him into the air.
"Gaaaaaarrrrgghh!" Geronim's eyes began to white out as he went flying into the air, his armor breaking off of his body, leaving him in just his tattered suit, before he impacted into the ground.
Darunia watched as the armor pieces clanged to the ground, and the Duke was laying back on the floor with his limbs spread out, and his eyes a blank white. Geronim muttered one thing thing before he fell unconscious,
"Bye… bye… money…"
Darunia let out a sigh of relief now that the fight was over, and saw the bars over the door slid away.
"Well, better take this guy with me." Darunia commented, grabbing the Duke by his skinny leg and throwing him over his shoulder.
He walked out of the room to see Link-Goron and the knights detaining Geronim's guards. His son came running up to him with worry.
"Dad, are you okay?" Link-Goron asked.
"Woah, the Goron chief took down the duke!" exclaimed a knight.
"Unfortunately he didn't have the poison." Darunia frowned, he looked down the hall with a big grin, "But I just know everyone else will pull through!"
In another area of the castle, Zopem and some Zora knights were fighting off the personal guards of the Parliament. One came at Zopem with a sword, but he blocked them off with his staff before knocking them away. Another guard tried to attack a knight, but he got sprayed backwards by a powerful stream of water.
"Back off from my men!" Ruto spoke up with her finger out, firing off another stream of water to knock down another guard. The guard tried to crawl off, but Ruto brought her foot down on his rear to keep him pinned down, "You're in the presence of the illustrious Zora queen!"
But then more guards standing at the entrance to the fountain room pulled out their swords and spears, aiming them at Ruto.
"H- Hey, should we really be doing this to the Queen of the Zora?" asked a guard.
"The Parliament said to do anything we can to protect them all!" said another guard, "They're going to let us escape the castle with them!"
"Hmph, so you're turning your backs on Princess Zelda and Hyrule?" Ruto scoffed, "You traitors, you need to know your place!"
"Fine then, attack the zora!" the guards said, charging at Ruto and her knights.
"Oh boooooysssss!" spoke up a voice. Everyone turned to see the clownfish zora Hermeon was standing there, having been changed into a woman again. She sported a flirtatious smile and winked at the guards, shifting her shoulders so her breasts bounced wildly, as she puckered her giant lips,
"I think you honeys need a little sugaaaaar!"
The faces of the guards all paused, as they turned a pale white at the sight of the head zora mystic,
"...you know what? I think it's time for my break!" said a guard, before hightailing it away.
"Hey, get back here!" protested a braver guard, seconds before Zopem bashed him over the head with his staff, knocking him out.
"My queen, go on ahead!" Zopem said as Hemeron was playfully wrestling with a few guards who were trying to scramble away, "We'll deal with these fools!"
"But of course, Zopem!" laughed Ruto, as she went through the door.
When Ruto walked into the fountain room, she took a look around the layout. There was large statues lining the walls that were constantly pouring water into the large pools of the room. There was also one giant humanoid statue at the end of the room holding a large jug that was pouring out water into the pools. Being a Zora, she loved coming to to this wing of the castle with Zelda and enjoying the water. The two would spend hours talking together when she came to visit.
The zora queen playfully splashed her hand through the water of a miniature fountain near the entrance, and gazed around the room cautiously.
'Now why would one of the Parliament be hiding out here for...?'
There was silence in the room aside from the pouring water of the fountains as she walked down the path between the pools. She stepped up the giant statue at the end and gazed up at it, finding it curious no one was there.
'Could the report have been a rouge I wonder...?' Ruto thought, looking back at the doorway out.
As she began to walk back towards the door, she noticed the water of the pools were rippling for some reason. Ruto saw the ripples beginning to go faster as the water splashed around. She then heard some metal shift, and saw steel bars slam shut over the door.
"So it was a trap." Ruto scowled.
She heard another noise, and quickly turned around to see with alarm that the giant statue was coming to life!
"What in the goddess' name? That thing's been alive this whole time?" Ruto exclaimed.
The light on the statue's head gleamed as it brought up it's jug and swung the open part down at her. Ruto quickly jumped away in time before the jar could contain her.
"Now what is ti trying to do?" Ruto spoke.
"Hmph, just barely missed." spoke a familiar voice.
The zora queen looked up to see a certain man walked out from behind the statue's head, holding a large strange rod in his hand.
"Marquess Haralden of Foreign Affairs and Immigration…" Ruto narrowed her eyes, "I should have had a feeling it would be you here."
"A pleasure to see you again." Haralden said with a graceful bow, "I'd like to thank you again for that lovely time we had together back at the Royal Dance."
"I wouldn't call it lovely myself, more like nauseating." Ruto spoke coldly, pointing her finger up at the man, "And I've been waiting to a chance to give you a thrashing!"
"Perish the thought." Haralden spoke, "Rather than sully my clean hands with something like a battle, I think I'd prefer capturing you with this."
The light on the statue's head gleamed as it began to stand upwards and towered over Ruto, still holding it's water jug.
"H-How are you controlling this thing?" Ruto spoke, stepping back.
"The Dominion Rod, an ancient weapon of the past." Haralden spoke, maneuvering the rod carefully, "This statue you see was once a battle weapon of Hyrule in the distant past, and this rod allowed them to fully control it by that ball of light currently within the statue's head."
"Oh my, I never knew it had that kind of power!" Ruto gasped.
Haralden explained, "The rod was lost ages ago after that war, and so this device was remodeled into a harmless fountain statue. But the black market finally discovered the rod recently, and now I possess it to assist the Parliament in escaping from this castle."
He gazed down at Ruto from the statue's shoulder, focusing namely on her tall, curvaceous figure, her wide hips and large breasts, made that way due to the rite she performed back at Zora Coast.
"And to my luck, you've come right back to me, my dear goddess of the water." he sported a confidant smirk, "A beautiful Zora woman such as yourself should stand by my side as my pure, lovely bride."
"Hmph, you're still going on about that?" Ruto scoffed, "As if I'd ever marry you."
"I figured you would resist, which is why I intend to capture you with this statue." Halarden said, "But with time I'm certain we'll be able to form a new life together, using that illustrious figure of yours to produce many pure children for me."
"Disgusting." Ruto scowled, "If you think you're going to lay a hand on me again, you're horribly mistaken!" she brought up her fist, "I'm here to defeat your Parliament, and save my Gerudo sisters. Now hand over the poison!"
"I apologize, but I don't have it, it's in the possession of one of the others." shrugged Haralden, "But that effort for nothing, because the reality is the Gerudo's fate is sealed. That poison will soon take their filthy lives."
"NEVER!" Ruto snapped, firing a spray of water at Haralden, who quickly stepped out of the way.
"Very well, if you won't come quietly, then I shall have to take you by force." Haralden said, pulling on a pure white glove.
Ruto watched curiously as the large statue slowly rose up onto it's legs and flexed it's arms, letting out a powerful grunting noise as it's joints creaked.
"Now my dear, you shall face the wrath of the great 'Domindine'!" Haralden shouted out from inside the hulking jar-wielding fountain statue.
"This could be harder than I thought." Ruto whispered.
The Zora queen brought up her hands and took water from the pools around them, and fired off two surges of water at the Domindine. The statue took it directly, but it didn't seem to phase it. The Domindine swung down the jar's open part at Ruto in an attempt to sweep her up inside of it, but she managed to leap out of the way.
"Such a graceful technique, but useless!" Haralden said.
The zora queen flipped and fired off another spray of water right into one of the joints of the statue, but again it didn't have any effect. The Domindine swung it's free hand at her, swatting her into the water. Ruto emerged out just in time to see the jar come down to scoop her up, so she dived down into the water to avoid it. She emerged from the water and sprayed a stronger surge of water from her hands at the bottom of the jar, which caused it to stagger back and crash into the back wall.
"Gack!" Haralden exclaimed from within the statue, "V-Very clever of you, but you forget this statue was installed with a fountain pump!"
The statue then brought it's foot into the pool, and started sucking up the water using a vacuum mechanism.
"What?" Ruto exclaimed as the suction started to pull her towards the foot.
"This is just a sample of the potential of this ancient technology!" Haralden said, "And it will serve us well in supporting our new life together, my delicate mermaid!"
"As if that would happen!" Ruto said, spinning through the water to propel herself out from the pool.
But as she was in midair, the jar aimed and fired a torrential blast of water right into Ruto, sending her crashing into a wall. She impacted to the ground as the water splashed down over her.
"I apologize for being so rough, unless you're perhaps into this sort of thing!" Haralden spoke from within the statue as it slowly walked forward, "But you struggle for nothing! You can't win agains-!"
But then a powerful beam of light fired out from Ruto's hand, blasting the statue right in the chest and making it stagger back and crash over.
"GARG!" Haralden shouted.
"You fool…" Ruto said narrowing her eyes as her hand was glowing with light, "This is the ultimate power of my zora queen training. Now I'll put an end to this."
Ruto charged and fired off light beams at the statue, it took a few hits, but brought up it's giant arms to protect itself from the attacks. She changed to firing at it's legs, causing it to stagger a bit.
"Ah, that's it!" Haralden realized, manipulating the position of the Domindine as it staggered, it leaned itself forward with it's jar out,
"What…?" Ruto whispered, as a precaution, she put hand to the puddle of water under her and started to make it spin.
The statue lunged forward with the jar and brought it down quickly, slamming it down over Ruto.
"Ha… and now, you are finally mine, my lovely queen." Haralden smirked.
But then a blast of light impacted directly into the back of the Domindine, making it almost fall forward. The statue staggered upwards and turned to allow Haralden to see that Ruto was now standing on one of the wall fountain statues.
"What? How can that be?" Haralden exclaimed. He moved the jar open to see that Ruto wasn't inside of it, but just a strange looking whirlpool in the center of the puddle, which should have been impossible considering the lack of depth.
"Ooooohohoho! One of my best tricks as a Zora Queen!" Ruto laughed haughtily, "The whirlpool transport technique! With enough time, I can generate a warp point between two bodies of water that I can move between within a second!"
"So that's why you hesitated…" Haralden spoke, "Hmph, clever as you are beautiful."
"Naturally." Ruto smirked.
"Which makes you all the more desirable for me." Haralden chuckled.
"I remember when I first met your people in my father's meetings with the royals. Even as a child I was captivated by the pure, beautiful grace of the Zora. Its why I resolved to live in such a state of purity and cleanliness."
"Is that so…?" Ruto spoke, "I suppose I can at least respect your admiration of our ways."
"That's why I saved myself for the day I would meet the ideal Zora bride, one as pure and clean as I have lived." Haralden said as the Domindine stomped forward towards her,
"I'm sure you'll grow to love me as well, as I take you as my pure virgin bride!"
There was a brief moment of silence, aside form the dripping water in the room.
"Virgin… bride…?" Ruto asked.
"Of course, cleanly and pure in mind, soul and body, an untouched maiden such as you will be the ideal bride for me." Haralden spoke, "It almost pains me that I shall have to sully you myself on our honeymoon, but it will be for our illustrious future!"
'…well, well well...' Ruto thought to herself with a devilish smirk, 'It seems this man is greatly mistaken about me… I wonder if I can exploit this somehow…?'
"Oh my," Ruto spoke in a mock tone, putting her hands to her cheeks, "You certainly are such a strong and authoritative man, maybe even one suited for my tastes… if you would claim my virginity on our wedding day..."
"Ah, I'm glad to see you finally see things my way." Haralden chuckled, "Now if you'll just-"
"There is… just one small problem however." Ruto said, looking aside and toying with one of her earrings, "You say you desired a pure, virgin Zora bride…?"
"But you see, that's impossible for me..."
"Huh? Why is that?" Haralden asked.
Zora folded one leg over the other and gazed upwards, "Because you see, I've been engaged to the Gerudo King Link for quite a while, and as time has past, he has gone from just being an innocent young man to becoming so manly, and an experienced with women..."
"Wh-What are you saying?" Haralden asked.
Suddenly she disappeared through the whirlpool transport, confusing Haralden. He looked around frantically, until he heard a voice speak behind him.
"The first person that claimed his innocence was the great Gerudo leader Lady Nabooru, and she awakened him to so many techniques and methods to pleasure women… even going so far as to impregnate a number of them already."
"I don't see what this has to do with anything…" Haralden narrowed his eyes, swinging the giant jar at her, but she disappeared again before the fountain was destroyed.
He then heard her voice again, "There was a time when I was jealous of the Gerudo, to the point where I almost wanted to out them as criminals in order to keep Link for myself…
"…but I realized how good of a people they had become under Nabooru's influence, and that they should be a part of our great kingdom… much like how the Zora once were like generations ago…"
Haralden turned and saw Ruto sitting on another fountain, and he swiped the statue's hand to grab her, but she disappeared through another whirlpool.
"What are you trying to get at…?!" Haraldan asked, shifting his gaze around the room to find Ruto.
"I decided in the end, that I wanted to not just become Link's bride, but become a part of the Gerudo family as well, to be with such lovely and beautiful women, not quite so as I, but close enough."
The Domindine backed up to allow Haralden to look around for Ruto, a trickle of sweat ran down his head as he searched.
"And then came one wonderful day, when my beloved husband-to-be invited me to the Festival of The Desert Goddess, a wonderful time when the Gerudo celebrate the Desert Goddess Aifet, and King Link had taken me on our first true date together!"
"S-Stop this!" Haralden said in a panic.
"We had such a wondrous time, and he gifted me this lovely silver necklace." Ruto said, playfully nudging the sapphire jewel on it, "After so many years of waiting for him, in the end it was all worth it…!"
"Enough of this meaningless prattle…!" Haralden exclaimed, "Know your place, woman or I'll-!"
Then Ruto appeared on the fountain at the highest point in the room, gazing down at Haralden. She sported a wicked smirk.
"And that night… the mighty and powerful Gerudo King kissed me all over, and eventually took me into his sleeping quarters…"
"No... no!" Haralden exclaimed in horror, "STOP TALKING!"
Ruto brought a hand up to her head and ran it down her face with a smirk, as she slowly spoke,
"...where he took me for our first time, and make sweet, passionate love to me."
"No…" muttered Haralden, "N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"It was just my first time, but I shall never forget it." Ruto moaned out lustfully, "The way he touched me, the way he kissed me.. the feeling of his mighty power inside of me…"
She brought her hands up to her face and smiled widely with her eyes rolled back.
"He completely defiled me that night… and proceeded to do it again and again and again…" Ruto moaned out.
"NO! YOU LIE!" Haralden shouted in absolute rage, but with faint tears in his eyes, bringing up the fists of the Domindine and punching it into a wall, "S-SHUT UP!"
"Some days it was so intense it felt like my mind was going to break…" she moaned, running a hand along her wide hip, "And things only got better when I took on his new body, he just couldn't keep his big, strong hands off of me…!"
"NO! NONONONONOONONONO!" screamed Haralden, tears flowing down his eyes as he was waving around the Dominion Rod, causing the Domindine to smash and punch everything around him.
"Yes, it won't be long now before I am wed, and he begins impregnating me with his many, maaaany children…!" Ruto moaned out, rubbing her hand along her stomach,
"You do know when we mate with Hylians, that we lady Zora carry the eggs inside of us almost the entire time? I just can't wait to experience the feeling of my eggs growing after being fertilized by him… growing bigger inside of my once pure body…!"
"GGGAAAARRHHHHH!" Haralden exclaimed with his eyes sunken in, squeezing the Dominion Rod so hard that his hands were cutting into it and starting to bleed.
"And soon we will have many sweet children that I shall love my whole life!" Ruto squealed happily, a drastic change from her more lustful words from earlier.
"You…" Haralden muttered from inside the statue, "You impure, dirty wench..."
Haralden glared up at Ruto with an insane scowl in his eyes, as foam flew from his mouth,
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Haralden went into the rage, smashing into the wall with the statue, but Ruto had already vanished through the whirlpool to avoid it. The Marquess started swinging around wildly, trying to punch at Ruto, but she kept leaping from fountain to fountain, and using her whirlpool trick to transport when she didn't have enough room to dodge.
Haralden gasped out from waving the rod, as he looked around frantically to find Ruto, seeing she wasn't in the water, or on any of the fountains.
"Yoohoo! Right heeeere!" Ruto said, standing on top of the Domindine's shoulder and waving down at Haralden.
"How dare you! Get off me you filthy stain!" Haralden shouted.
He brought up the Domindine's fist and punched at her, but she gracefully leapt away, cuisine the statue to instead punch itself, and crack open. She then landed down to the ground and pointed her finger up at head now that it was more exposed.
"Now it's time for you to clean yourself up!" Ruto chuckled.
"You contaminated bitch!" Halardsen shouted, as the Domindine slowly stood up and began to lunge it's hands down to crush her.
But that gave Ruto all the time she needed to manipulate the water in the area, and blast it directly into the head of the statue through the large crack, and filling the hole where the Dominion light was. It started to fill the statue with water at a rapid rate, causing it to stagger backwards.
"What are you doing?" Haralden exclaimed, seeing water pouring into the space where he had been hiding inside the statue, he waved the rod to make the statue swing it's fists, but water started spurting out from it's limbs from inside, the sheer amount of water pressure was getting too intense for it.
The statue staggered around, as Haralden tried one last ditch effort to take it's one working arm and throw the water jar at Ruto, but she flipped out of the way of it and fired a powerful beam of light directly into the statue's eye. The impact caused the statue to go flying backwards and crash directly into the wall.
"NO! YOU DAMN FILTHY WOMAN, I'LL-!" Halarden exclaimed as he was thrown backwards from the impact, his eyes whiting out from the intense pain as water continued to pour into the statue around him.
The Domindine started to shake uncontrollably, and Ruto quickly dived into one of her whirlpools just before it blew up into a violent explosion of water and stone.
'AAAAARRRGHH!"
When Ruto emerged from the water that had splashed down into the room, she saw that the Domindine statue had been completely destroyed, now little more than a pile of stone and pebbles. And Marquess Haralden, member of the Hylian Parliament, and head of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, or what was left of him, had been completely buried within it. Laying on the ground nearby was the blood-stained Dominion Rod.
"I suppose that takes care of things." Ruto spoke, emerging out form the water, her body completely healed and clean by the crystal clear water of the fountain.
The bars to the door slid open, as Zopem and the zora knights all came running in to check on Ruto.
"My queen, are you okay? We heard the noise but we couldn't do anything!" Zopem said in a panic.
"Ohohohoho, think nothing of it Zopem." laughed Ruto, "I got through it all spotless!"
She gazed to the remains of the statue with a sharp stare.
"As for the Marquess on the other hand... it seems his spotless reputation has been soiled for good."
"T-To think the Zora queen has gotten this strong!" a zora knight spoke in shock.
"What of the flower?" Zopem asked.
"Unfortunately that fiend didn't have the Toxiplume poison." Ruto spoke, lowering her gaze sadly,
"We can only hope the others are more successful."
And that ends this chapter, next time more of the rescue party confronts other members of the parliament, but what surprises await them, and can the Toxiplume flower be found in time? Find out next time!
For those curious, the 'Domindine' is a reference to the Undine, a water nymph from European folklore who carries a large jug of water, who becomes human when she falls in love with a man but is doomed to die if he is unfaithful to her. It felt symbolically appropriate for the confrontation.
Oh and... don't think too deeply about Ruto's *ahem* strategy to defeat Halarden. I'm not into that sort of thing at all and was more so poking fun at it... unless you're into that sort of thing, in which case you're welcome.
So on unrelated news, that recent Nintendo Direct was absolute fire, especially The Legend of Zelda: Echos of Wisdom. You know I'm hyped for that game, you get to play as Zelda in a classic top-down game in strategic ways to solve puzzles and combat enemies? It looks so much fun!
Anywho, thank you all for your continued support! If you're new please leave a like and follow, and drop me a comment or Private Message if you choose to, your feedback is always supported!