Hello readers! Happy to say that chapter 173 is here! This week we see a number of the rescue team going after more members of the Hylian parliament to find the Toxiplume, but will they be successful? Read and find out!
Also as a minor correction, Countess Le Roesia's first name is going to be spelled differently. I'm changing it from the beta name 'Verane' and she'll be refered to as 'Veraan' rom now on. I'll make the changes in the previous chapters as well.
"Gurk!"
"Gyaaah!"
"I-It's impossible," spoke one Hylian Parliament guard in terror, laying back against a hallway wall with his sword broken to pieces. Around him were his fellow guards, who were all knocked unconscious, "We can't win against him…!"
"Don't take it too personally, but when my dear friend Link's lovely brides are at stake, I will not allow myself to lose!"
Prince Darius stood triumphantly as he held out his sword. He had some of his Fargent knights backing him up, but they wound up not needing to fight at all, as he took down all the guards quickly.
"That said, your efforts were admirable, and I'll be sure to put in positive feedback to your employer." Darius said, pointing his sword at the guard with a smirk, "Now if you'll just open the door so that I can see to him personally."
The guard nodded nervously, and unlocked the door to the Royal Courtroom.
Darius looked to his knights, "Okay boys, do me a favor and round these guards all up. I'll be handling the negotiations."
"Of course Prince Darius, but aren't you just going to fight him?" a knight asked.
Darius nodded, "But of course, my sword is one of the best negotiators around! Though his usual argument tends to be, 'Give up or get slashed.'!"
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have an enemy to fight," he said, walking up and pulling on the door handle, "Wish me luck!"
But the knights just stood and watched as Darius tried to pull on the handle, not seeming to be able to get it open.
"Uh, you have to push it open." said the guard.
"Of course!" Darius said with bravado, as he pushed the door and walked inside.
The prince walked into the royal courtroom and took a moment to gaze around the place. The windows that normally had sunlight coming into the room were covered by curtains, so the only light came from the torches. The judge's podium was still there, but he noticed all the seats in the room seemed to be missing for some reason. There was still the carpet that led up to the podium, so he walked down it to reach the other end of the room.
"Feels like we just had the trial of that Gerudo guard here." Darius spoke, looking around cautiously, "I wonder what scoundrel decided to make off with all the furniture?"
He arrived at the podium, looking up at it curiously. But then he heard a loud clanging noise, as he turned to see iron bars slam down over the door. He then heard a loud banging noise, as he looked back up at the podium to see Judge Isambard of Hylian Law and Order sitting up at the judge's chair.
"HERE YE, HERE YE! Court is now in session for the trial of Prince Darius Leofrick Terricus Salvador Dragonhand Fargent!" boomed the voice of the judge, he leered down at the prince with his gavel raised, "If they sent you Prince Fargent, I take it they have no desire to negotiate terms with us?"
"You called for millions of rupees and to release that demon Ganondorf to the governor's clutches. Like we'd reasonably allow that to happen!" Darius said, unsheathing his sword and pointing it up at the judge, "I ask that you surrender now and hand over the Toxiplume flower that you used to poison the Gerudo!"
"Hmph, Balterius figured as such." Judge Isambard spoke as he suddenly disappeared from sight
"Wha…!" Darius looked around cautiously for Isambard.
"You're all just as stubborn as you were at the meeting, unable to understand the bigger picture here." the judge called out from somewhere, "What we do is for the good for all Hyrule!"
"I fail to understand what good can come from you fiends hurting innocent people!" Darius scowled.
"Innocent? The Gerudo? Ha, none of them are innocent!"
Suddenly, Darius turned just as the judge appeared from seemingly nowhere holding his gavel, he pulled on the handle which cause it to stretch out to nearly ten times it's original length, even longer than Darius' sword.
Before Darius could even react, Isambard swung it out, bashing it right into prince and sending him flying back towards the doorway.
"They are all guilty of bringing Hyrule to imminent destruction. They cannot be allowed to thrive as you fools desire them to! GUILTY!"
"That thing packs quite a wallop. Fortunately, my sword is more than ready to negotiate with slashings instead!" Darius spoke, pointing out his sword, "Very well Your Honorary, have at you!"
Prince Darius sprinted at Isambard with his sword out, but the judge just stood still. As Darius was about to slash at him, he suddenly disappeared into nothingness! Darius came to a halt and looked around.
"What's going on? How is he doing that?" Darius asked.
Suddenly, Isambard appeared again behind Darius and swung down his gavel. Darius quickly spun around and blocked it off with his blade. He swung again, only for Isambard to vanish again.
"Your efforts to fight against justice are for naught." Judge Isambard spoke, "You Prince Darius, are guilty and will face the wrath of this hall of law and order!"
Isambard reappeared again and swung his gavel at Darius, who quickly sidestepped out of the way, only for his legs to collide into something he couldn't see, and make him almost trip over. This gave Isambard the chance to impact into him with his gavel.
"Gah! What did I stumble over?" Darius asked, looking around to see nothing around, "I could have sworn it was a hard object..."
"Now, DIE FOR JUSTICE!" Isambard shouted, dashing at Darius with his gavel and swinging it down, but the prince quickly rolled out of the way and swung up his sword, striking Isambard across the side.
"ARGH! How dare you strike justice!" Isambard shouted, swinging his fist punching Darius away.
The prince recovered, but Isambard vanished again, leaving Darius confused again. After a moment of silence, he felt a presence and jumped away from one of Isambard's swings, only to stumble over again on something.
"How is this happening?" Darius asked looking around, "There's nothing in here!"
Darius then heard an odd bumping noise, and he quickly turned to see nothing. He narrowed his eyes as he brought back his blade, and fired off a Crissword Wave, creating a powerful force of energy that shot across the room, and he could strangely heard a smashing noise.
"Wait one moment…" Darius whispered.
Before he could gather his thoughts, Isambard appeared again and swung his gavel at him, who blocked it with another swing of his blade, and did a series of back flips to get away from him. He landed down on something, only to almost stumble over on it. Darius looked down and bizarrely saw that he was standing on nothing. It looked almost like he was floating!
"Ah ha, now I get it!" Darius spoke, he looked around the room, and then jumped away just as Isambard brought down his gavel to cause another smashing sound.
Darius landed down and took a breath, "You pulled a deceitful act Your Honorary, but I've figured it out now!"
He turned to Isambard and pointed his sword at him, "It turns out, the chairs in this room are still here, but you've hidden them away with the same vanishing trick you're using on yourself!"
"Very observant of you." Isambard spoke, gesturing to a black and purple cape he had on over his shoulders,
"This is the Shrouded Cape, an ancient Sheikah tool that allows me to not just camouflage myself from sight, but other physical objects within a certain range."
Isambard then used the cape to turn invisible again,
"And in the name of justice, I shall use it to put an end to you!"
"Observation wasn't responsible for my deduction." Darius said, "My eyes are being deceived, so I instead discovered it with my other senses; touch and hearing!"
Isambard then appeared to his side, ready to strike him again, but Darius smirked and spun to his side, blocking off the gavel with his sword.
"And my sense of smell tells me something with a strangely fragrant odor is emitting from you, Your Honorary! I doubt you wear perfume, so I'm going to guess that it's the Toxiplume!"
"...!" Isambard narrowed his eyes and vanished again.
"Now I understand how Ms. Meifa's chili was poisoned, you used your cloaking power to sneak into the kitchen and apply it to the zesty and meaty stew!" Darius said.
"… ...I did what was needed bring about true justice." Isambard said, not even trying to argue against Dareius' claim.
"Justice… you DARE talk about justice?" Darius spoke coldly, "You try to kill my friends, make demands of my dear wife, and try to frame that poor zora girl…"
"You sir, are the absolute opposite of justice!"
"Y-You dare… question my justice…?!" Isambard spoke coldly, materializing back into view with his head lowered, he leered up at Darius with absolute fury in his eyes,
"I'll destroy you for that!"
Darius then heard what sounded like a strange mechanical skittering noise that sounded somewhat familiar. He quickly dived out of the way just as an explosion went off seemingly from nowhere.
"What?" Darius asked, he heard the noise again and jumped out of the way just as another explosion net off. He landed on another invisible chair which he stumbled on for a second.
"FEEL THE WRATH OF JUSTICE!" Isambard shouted, as more of the noise went off around him.
"That's it, I recognize that noise from the forlorn bowling alley!" Darius said, leaping away from another explosion, "This man has a supply of Bombchu he's keeping invisible as well!"
"Stand still!" Isambard shouted, sending out more invisible Bombchu at Darius.
Darius gripped his sword and swung out another Crissword Wave, blowing up one of the Bombchu, but missing the others, forcing him to leap away. He landed on another invisible chair and almost tripped over it, causing him to get caught in one of the blasts.
"GAH!" Darius fell back against the side wall, he forced himself up and rubbed his head, "Can't allow myself to get careless here."
He looked over at Isambard appear again and send out more invisible Bombchu, forcing him to dive out of the way.
"This maniac is going to blow up this whole courthouse!": gasped Darius, "If only I could there was some weakness to that cloak of his, I could-!"
But then he looked up to see one of the curtains had shifted due to one of the Bombchu rolling up the wall and passing it by. He saw said Bombchu was now visible and rolling across the ceiling until it exploded. He was confused why the Bombchu would suddenly appear, but then it hit him.
"Wait... the curtains!" Darius realized.
He heard more Bombchu coming at him, so he quickly jumped away and ran across the side of the room where he figured there wouldn't be any invisible seats. Isambard fired off more Bombchus at Darius, but he managed to stay one step ahead of them and they instead went right up the wall.
One Bombchu went straight up to the window and bumped into the top of it, causing it to explode and destroy the curtains. With them gone, light shined through the window and exposed a number of broken chairs in the room.
"Ah ha, so now I get it!" Darius said trumphjantly, "The cloak's weakness is pure sunlight!"
"Tsk!" Isambard scowled, "Curse you for defying justice!"
"Now watch as I shine the light of truth on your shadowy deception!" Darius said, jumping up off a pillar and striking at another one of the curtains, causing more light to pour in and expose more of the broken chairs in the room.
With more light in the room, Isambard was forced to step back into the darker areas and vanish, sending out more Bombchus. The bombs were quickly exposed to light however, allowing Darius to get out of the way easily.
The prince landed down and looked around, seeing the light was limiting Isambard's places to hide. Unfortunately, he couldn't smell the flower scent anymore due to all the gunpowder lingering in the air from the Bombchu explosions.
"Now where could you be…?" Darius pondered,
He slowly walked around, focusing on any spot the light of the room couldn't shine on. He stood at the judge's podium and looked around, unable to see Isambard anywhere.
'Fool…' Isambard thought, materializing at the top of the podium with his gavel out, 'You have let down your guard, now you shall suffer the true wrath of justice!'
Isambard leaped silently off the podium, coming straight down at Darius, ready to strike with his gavel and break his spine.
"Heh, you fell for it." Darius grinned, "What better way to expose yourself, than to give you the most obvious opportunity to attack?"
Darius then quickly turned around and swung out his sword just as Isambard was about to bring down his gavel, slashing him away.
"GAAAAH!" Isambard shouted out as his gavel was cut in half, and causing him to tumble over to the ground. The judge scowled as he pulled out his final Bombchu.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Isambard said rushing at Darius, intending to smash him in the face with the Bombchu, "FACE TRUE JUSTIIIIICE!"
Just as Ismabard thrust the Bombchu at Darius though, the prince easily evaded the attack.
"Too sorry Your Honorary, but I believe your justice is now held in contempt!"
Darius then delivered a powerful Crissword Wave, smacking it right into Isambard and sending him flying backwards into the judge's podium, just as the Bombchu exploded.
"AAAARGH!"
Judge Isambard gagged out as he fell forward and collapsed to the ground, as the podium began to break apart and collapsed down on top of him, causing a large cloud of dust.
When the dust finally cleared, Isambard was laying on the ground in a daze with the remains on the podium weighing him down.
"You… you fool…" Ismabard muttered, "You will doom Hyrule with your accursed self-rightous ways… just as what happened to Vividel…"
"We'll see about that." Darius spoke, sheathing his sword, "As long as we hold our beliefs. My dear princess, my friends Link and Lady Nabooru, as well as myself won't rest, until this kingdom shines with the true light of justice!"
He knelled down and held out his hand.
"Now do be so kind, and hand over the Toxiplume flower so that I can help the Gerudo."
"I… don't have it." Isambard muttered, "That scent you got from me was just left over from when I was carrying it… the truth is… I lost it earlier… and I don't know where it is…"
"What?" Darius spoke as his knights came running in to check on him.
"Heh… it seems in the end… we win." Isambard spoke.
"Prince Darius, are you okay?" asked a knight.
"I'm fine…" Darius narrowed his eyes, before he bashed Isamabrd upside the head, knocking him unconscious.
"...but I fear our Gerudo friends are in an even greater crisis…"
"Step aside you traitorous knights."
Impa spoke as she stood in the middle of the hallway that led to the palace courtyard's cemetery, confronting the Parliament guards watching over the door.
"I-It's Lady Impa?" one guard exclaimed, "What do we do? She's a full blood Sheikah, we can't beat her!"
"Don't back down or we're done for!" a guard shouted back, he pointed his spear at Impa, "Halt! Surrender or we'll be forced to fight you!"
"Come at me then." spoke Impa, going into a battle poise and motioning them with her fingers.
A number of the Parliament guards rushed at Impa with their spears drawn, but Impa brought up her hands and did a Sheikah ninja technique that caused her to be engulfed in a cloud of smoke. One guard managed to stab at the cloud, only to see he only stabbed a small log with a paper of a crudely drawn face that resembled Impa on it.
"Up here." spoke a voice, as they all looked up to see Impa standing on the wall. She leaped off and threw a number of kunai. One of the guards stepped away from all the weapons she threw but only watched as the kunai impacted into the ground around the knights.
"Ha, you missed!" the guard laughed, only to then realize his men were all pinned down by a net that had been attached to the kunai.
Impa then came down with a flip and kicked the guard square in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground out cold. The ninja landed down to her feet gracefully as she snatched the key from the unconscious guard and went through the door outside.
The Sheikah walked slowly through the cemetery, taking moments to glance at some of the graves and the names on them. There was a few of people she knew personally, as well as a few Sheikah who worked for the Royal Family before her time.
She soon came to a stop at one large grave in a clearing area, it was a memorial dedicated to Rauru, the ancient Sage of Light. A symbol was engraved on it in the likeness of the Light Medallion. Impa had taken time to pay respects to this memorial numerous times since his death.
But as of right now, sitting before the grave was a hunched-over old woman with a tall bishop's hat on. She slowly turned to see Impa walking up to the clearing, scowling at the sight of the Sheikah.
"So it's you who arrived here." spoke Minister Odleh of Supernatural and Religious Affairs, she took some powder and shattered it into a bowl before the grave, "I'm sure you're here for the poison flower, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am." Impa spoke with her arms folded, "Though I have feeling you don't have it."
"How did you guess?" Odleh asked, as the bars leading back into the castle slammed down behind Impa, but the ninja didn't even seem to care.
"Knowing you, you would have already destroyed it. You don't have anything to gain from Balterius' demands." Impa pointed out.
"That young fool, he thinks he can deal with Ganondorf with his own hands." Odleh spoke, looking at the memorial, "When even the great Light Sage had to give his own life just to trap that demon."
"The Parliament has been disbanded by Princess Zelda due to his use of the Toxiplume flower." Impa spoke, "Link and the others are already going after your group as we speak. I ask that you please surrender yourself so we can talk about this."
"I apologize Lady Impa, but I have no interest in that," Odleh said, she slowly stood up and turned around to face Impa, "No matter our differences, the Parliament always had one thing in agreement."
"The Gerudo must die."
"…if that's how you feel Mystic Odleh, than face me." Impa struck a fighting pose, narrowing her eyes at Odleh, "For you stand before an honorary Gerudo."
"…" Odleh scowled as she brought up her hands, which were glowing with an intense light.
Impa then saw appearing around her was a golden ring, so she quickly jumped away just before Odleh brought her hands together, causing the ring to close together. The Sheikah leapt away as another ring formed around her, and tried to close around her again.
"You've done well to master the sealing ring technique." Impa said, tossing a kunai at Odleh's shoulder, but the mystic brought up another light ring that blocked it off.
"Before he died, the great Light Sage taught me well in order to help keep Ganondorf sealed away." Odleh spoke, creating more rings to try and close them around Impa, "Now watch as I do the same to you."
Impa quickly dashed across the courtyard, jumping and dodging past the gold rings as Odleh tried to bind her with them. One appeared around her, but she jumped up to avoid it closing around her, only to see she was about to be trapped in another airborne ring.
She quickly did a Sheikah ninja technique with her fingers and vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Odleh saw a log was captured by the ring instead.
"Just as you were trained by the Light Sage," Impa spoke as she stood on one gravestone, "I was trained by my father and my ancestors. Now let me demonstrate our technique to stop you."
Impa flipped into the air to avoid another ring and sprinted across the ground at Odleh. The old woman cast out more gold rings to try and bind around her legs but Impa darted left and right to avoid them, before leaping up and tossing a kunai at Odleh's arm, scraping it.
"Grk…!" Odleh flinched, throwing off her ring casting.
Impa was about to capture her with a kunai net, but then Odleh cast a gold ring which came down around herself and caused her to vanish! The Sheikah warrior skidded to a halt and looked around.
"A teleportation technique?"
Then she realized two rings were formed around her legs, so she did a back flip to evade them. Two more rings formed where she landed down with her hands, forcing her to leap from them up onto another gravestone.
'if I hesitate for a moment, I'll be captured.' Impa thought, shifting her gaze left and right to try and find where Odleh teleported to…
But then Impa realized she was now surrounded by five gold energy rings around both her and the tombstone. Before the rings could close around her, she leaped onto her hands and bounded up into the air, clinging to a nearby wall.
Impa looked down in shock to see the rings had closed around the tombstone, and actually applied so much pressure that it crushed the stone to pebbles.
"How dare you!" Impa shouted out at Odleh, "That was a memorial for the great advisor Zoh Pawdir! Have you no respect for the dead?"
"Hmph, I do what is needed, no matter what must be sacrificed." Odleh said, casting out more rings at Impa, "As if you care about the dead yourself."
"What do you mean?" Impa asked, leaping off a wall and tossing kunai at Odleh's shoulders.
The Minister didn't answer, but deflected the ninja weapons using more rings, but she doubled over and gasped out in exhaustion.
"Minister Odleh, it's time to end this." Impa spoke, "Using that power is exhausting you."
"You…" Odleh gasped out, "How can you... claim to have empathy... for those who have departed, when you so greatly disrespect… the late Light Sage... by turning your back on your destiny?"
"My destiny you say?" Impa rose an eyebrow.
"Yes, your destiny... as the future Sage of Shadow."
Odleh took a deep breath, "The great Rauru told the Parliament everything that had happened in the 'dark future', where Ganondorf took over all of Hyrule, and you became the Shadow Sage to put an end to his reign."
"Link told me all about that as well." Impa spoke, "But that only happened because the ancient sage of shadow was slain by Ganondorf in that time. Thanks to Link and Rauru's efforts, that never happened, and Ganondorf has been captured. Link has made it clear he's never going to allow Ganondorf trhat opportunity again."
"Yet he plans to withdraw the Master Sword form it's pedestal to use against the rebellion, thus opening the way to the Sacred Realm." Odleh pointed out.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Impa simply spoke.
"Hmph, so that's it then? Just going to shirk your responsibility that easily?" Odleh huffed, "Rather than fulfilling your duty, you'll just spend your days raising a family?"
"Why is it you have such an issue with how I live my life?" Impa questioned.
"… you see…" Odleh cast her gaze aside, squeezing at her staff with her wrinkled hand.
"There was once a long ago, that I was prophesied to become the next Shadow Sage."
"W-What?" Impa exclaimed.
Odleh explained, "I had been told by my ancestors that, in the event of the current Shadow Sage being unable to perform her duty, that I was destined to take her place, to maintain the balance of the sages, and keep the peace of Hyrule."
The minister gazed upwards as she recalled her younger years,
"It was the happiest moment of my life, to find out I was destined for such an important and fulfilling duty to the goddesses, a chance to help the people prosper. I devoted my life training my body and mind for the day that my calling might come..."
"So what happened?" Impa asked.
"Quite simply Lady Impa… you were born." Odleh narrowed her eyes.
"The elders saw the potential within you, and came to learn that your power was far greater than mine could ever be, to the point that you were to take my place as the next Shadow Sage."
"I didn't realize…!" Impa spoke surprised.
"At first I felt dejected, as if my training was for nothing. But as time past, and I saw how you grew and devoted yourself to the Royal Family and Hyrule, I began to respect it. I only wanted what was best for Hyrule after all."
Odleh narrowed her eyes and slammed her scepter on the ground.
"But rather than devoting yourself to discipline and chastity, of sacrifice and duty, instead you lay with the Gerudo King and bear a child… and despite outright knowing what you were destined for, you turned your back on becoming a sage just to plan to run away to the desert and live a selfish life of pleasure and debauchery!"
"So that's why you feel that way..." Impa muttered.
"I have no intention of killing you here Lady impa, I'm going to capture you, and make you understand your true place." Odleh said, her hands glowing with golden light again, "You shall not turn your back on your destiny!"
More rings appeared around Impa, and they all closed down around her, but in a poof of smoke, another log fell to the ground in her place. Impa then appeared leaping out form a tombstone and tossed another kunai at Odleh's other shoulder before disappearing into smoke.
"Grk!" Odleh flinched and narrowed her eyes, but as she looked around she heard Impa speak,
"I'm not turning my back on anything Minister. I've simply chosen a new path in life."
Impa shot through the air and flung some more kunai down at Odleh, barely missing her on purpose. Odleh took a step back nervously.
"And as long as I have my new family the Gerudo, my precious children, and my beloved husband Link,"
Impa appeared on a tombstone with her arms folded, looking down on Odleh with a small smirk.
"I have no need to fear or sacrifice anything for the future."
"You dare mock me?!" Odleh shouted, out, casting more golden rings at Impa, "Take this!"
But Impa quickly flipped into the air, leaping through the rings Odleh created. She dashed across the courtyard dodging more rings that the minister created and closed up. She ran up the side of the wall to avoid more rings trying to close around her, then leaped into the air and tossed a kunai at Odleh, scratching her again across the arm.
"Now I have you!" Odleh shouted, creating a long column of golden rings that Impa was leaping down towards, "There's... nowhere… to escape... n-now!"
But as Impa flew through midair, she stared down at the rings. Sure enough the column was going to be too high to leap from when she hit the ground, and since she didn't have time to get her paraglider earlier she couldn't just fly out of the way...
'Wait, that's it, I know what to do!'
Odleh watched as Impa fell right down into the center of the ring column, and the old woman sported a gap-toothed sneer.
"It's over... for your foolish ways… Lady Impa!"
Odleh clenched her hand as the rings were all about to close up around Impa, but then realized they weren't moving. She squeezed her fist harder, but while the first ring in the column closed tightly, the others couldn't.
"Now I get your technique." Impa spoke from within the ring column, "I was studying the movement and control of your rings this whole time, and realized they all close in the order you created them."
Impa smirked lightly,
"But what if one of the rings couldn't close?"
Odleh looked up in shock to see a kunai was lodged into the ring at the top of the column that appeared to be closed. It was actually stopping the ring from being completely closed up.
"Now, prepare yourself Minister, for the shadow technique of the Sheikah!"
Impa did a gesture with her fingers, and suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke, before appearing and sprinting at Odleh with her kunai out, she leaped into the air and threw them all down around her.
"I… lost…" Odleh spoke, closing her eyes tightly and preparing for death...
...only for all the kunai to come down in a ring shape around Odleh, and the minister found herself forced to the ground with a thud under Impa's 'kunai net' technique.
"Gack! You damned youngster, I'll-!" Odleh struggled, only to cough out.
"Calm yourself Minister, you've exerted yourself far too much." Impa spoke, "If you keep this up… you'll end up just as Rauru once did…"
"Then end me…" Odleh muttered, "I'm tired… I've failed to protect Hyrule…"
"Trust me, if I wanted to kill you, I could have done it as soon as you attacked me." Impa said kneeling down, "The truth is, I was holding back this whole time."
"What?" Odleh exclaimed, "But why spare me?"
"Because I have no reason to strike you down. Regardless of the side you've chosen, you have done much for Hyrule these past years, namely working to keep the barrier around Ganondorf up." Impa explained, "I didn't know Rauru myself personally for too long, but I'm certain that he is truly proud of you for your hard work and sacrifice."
"You… truly think so, huh?" Odleh stared downcast.
Impa nodded, "I do, and just as Link and Princess Zelda both told me I have done enough for Hyrule, and that I should live my life however I choose it, I think at this point you should do the same,"
"Because it's with Link as the King of The Gerudo, and Zelda soon becoming Queen of Hyrule, I have faith that they will led Hyrule towards a truly great future."
"…" Odleh stared up at Impa, before letting out a low sigh, "It seems… I may have made a terrible mistake…"
The bars over the door that led back inside the palace reopened, as Impa nodded to her.
"You have much to atone for in your work with the Parliament, but I'm certain the princess will treat you fairly, for all the good you've done for us all."
"Maybe I was wrong about you…" Odleh spoke, "Despite your impurity, it seems you're wiser than I am. You truly would have made a fine Shadow Sage."
"Perhaps I may have agreed in another time. But now I'm content being King Link's loving wife, and mother to the new generation of Sheikah that will support our great new future."
"I see… thank you…" nodded Odleh, "Now… if I could ask you one favor…?"
"What is it?" Impa asked.
"Now could you be a dear and get me out of this net...? IT'S KILLING MY BACK!" Odleh shouted.
"Is it this way?"
"Y-Yes, miss. The conservatory is just this way, but-!"
"Alright then, I'll lead the way!"
Saria was holding her Deku Staff, marching boldly down the hall with the Hylian knights following after her. Despite the determination in her eyes though, the knights could only see a small little girl holding a big stick leading them into battle. Floating by her side was her guardian fairy Faete.
"Are we really going to let a kid fight one of the parliament?" a knight whispered.
"She insisted that she could handle it." whispered another back.
"You don't have anything to worry about!" Saria said, spinning her staff in one hand and slamming it to the ground, "I'm a capable adult, and I'm going to take back the Toxiplume and save my family!"
"Yeah, you tell em Saria!" Faete said.
The Kokiri then turned to go back on her way, only to bump her knee into a stool, causing her to drop the staff and clutch at her leg, hopping on one foot as she did.
"Ooooow! Owie owie owie!"
"Ah Saria! Hang in there!" Faete spoke in panic.
"Is she really going to be okay?" a knight thought as they all sweatdropped.
"I-I'll be fine!" Saria said after recovering, looking before the doorway to the conservatory and jumping up reach for the door handle, "I'll call you all if I need assistance."
"As you wish!" the knights saluted.
Saria went in through the door, shutting it behind her. She and Faete took a look around the room to see a very beautiful garden area full of trees, flowers, bushes and even a couple of big rocks everywhere. This was a place where during their stay in the castle, Saria and some of the girls would come in for a nice tea break at the gazebo set up in there.
But now sitting at the gazebo, the two saw a certain mature but beautiful woman sitting at a table. She was sipping a martini, as wasps were flying all around her. One landed on her hand and she gazed at it, before letting it go flying off.
It was the Hylian Parliament member and head of public relations in Hyrule Market Town, Countess Veraan Le Roesia.
The woman had a distant stare in her eyes as she gave her martini another sip. Saria noticed she had a necklace on with a small jar attached to it, and within in she could see a small sparkling insect buzzing around inside it.
More importantly though, the Kokiri also noticed a very distinct purple flower that was on the table.
"You're… Countess Roesia, correct?" Saria asked.
"...so, you managed to avoid the poison, didn't you?" Roesia spoke, not even bothering to reply to her question, she glanced at the Kokiri, "You're quite a lucky one…"
"I happened to be with the princess when it happened." Saria said, "Tell me, that flower on the table, is that… the Toxiplume?"
"Definitely looks like it!" Faete said, "We finally found it!"
"Huh? The Toxi-what?" Roesia asked in genuine confusion, looking down at the flower she had found in the Parliament's meeting room.
'Wait, so she doesn't know about it?' Saria thought to herself, 'Then that means Link was right about…!'
"Hey, be careful of those wasps, lady!" Faete spoke up in a panic, "They got really nasty stingers!"
"Not to worry, these little ones will obey me." Roesia spoke as they flew by. She gazed upwards at the wasps as they were flying through the trees, she fiddled with the small jar around her neck, "As long as I have this…"
"What is that thing?" Saria asked.
"It's called the 'Sacred Bee', a little something I was given by Minister Odleh." Roesia said, "As long as I'm in possession of it, I can fully control this entire swarm."
'So that's where those things came from.' Saria thought, she called out, "Listen, we need that flower you have there! Link is-!"
"Link…" spoke Roesia with a distant stare, "It's been so long since I've met a man like the Gerudo King… Good looks, gentle voice… very strong and skilled in combat…"
"But most importantly a very kind man… someone I could confide my thoughts to…"
She took a long drink of her martini and gave out a slow breath, as the wasps all flew down around her, buzzing loudly, as a faint blush formed on her face as she thought about the goofy grin he gave her back at the Silver Pegasus.
"I haven't met a man like him since… Frederick…"
"Countess…" Saria whispered.
"B-But now… his life has been struck down by this damned Parliament… and it was all because I wanted to reach out and talk to him… to understand him… and for him to understand me…"
Roesia hung her head downcast,
"And they only had that opportunity because of me… it's all my fault…"
"Once again… I've caused another man I care about to die…"
"Again…?" Saria whispered curiously, "Wait, you don't understand!" she shouted out, "Link is-!"
But the wasps all continued to gather around Roesia, buzzing loudly, and drowning out any possible words Saria's small voice was attempting to shout to her.
"Link is dead by my actions, and the Parliament has forced my hand. I can't stay here anymore... I have to run away…" Roesia stood slowly up, bringing up her martini glass and smashing it in her hand.
"I ask you young one, that you leave me now to my own despair."
Saria took a step forward, "But Countess-"
"I SAID LEAVE!" Roesia shouted furiously, holding out her hand and causing the swarm of wasps to fly at Saria.
"Uh oh!" Saria said, bringing up her Deku Staff and swinging it to fend off the wasps.
"They won't strike unless I make them." Roesia said with a hand to her hip, her other hand clenching at the Sacred Bee jar, "Leave this place and that won't have to happen."
"Please, you have to stop this!" Saria shouted out over the buzzing, fending off the wasps with her staff, "Listen, Link is still alive, we just need that flower to-!"
"LIES!" shouted Roesia, sending the swarm down at Saria, "You're just trying to get me to comply with you!"
But the Kokiri girl crafted a giant Deku Leaf that she used as a shield, preventing the wasps from being able to sting her. She then conjured large spiked deku nuts at the ends of her staff and smacked more of them away. She then conjured some vines to whip at the others.
"...what a strange power she has there…" Roesia spoke.
"Faete, I'll hold these things off, you go after the jar!" Saria said, "if that 'Sacred Bee' is what's allowing her to control this swarm, freeing that thing should put a stop to it!"
"Got it!" Faete saluted, flying straight forward at Roesia.
The countess sent some more wasps to attack Faete, but the little fairy zipped and dodged past them. She started flying around Roesia's head to try and throw off her concentration.
"Grrr, get away from me you pest!" Roesia shouted, swiping at her with her fingernails.
"You're using all those bees and you're calling me the pest?" Faete protested.
As Faete flew around trying to distract her, she suddenly had an idea, and flew around Roesia wildly before diving right into the cleavage of her dress.
"Huh…?" Roeisa paused, looking down at where the fairy went, only to start feeling a funny ticklish sensation,
"Loo… lohuhuhu…!"
It didn't take long before Roesia started bursting out giggling from Faete tickling her body, trying her hardest to get the guardian fairy out of her dress.
"Looooohuhuhuhuhu! Stop it you- loohuhu! Stop this! Loooohuhuhu!"
As Saria was fighting off the wasps, they started to disperse and fly off, confusing the girl. She looked to see Roesia was laughing like crazy, feeling at her body to try and stop the small fairy.
"Loohuhuhuhuhuhuhu!" she giggled like crazy with tears in her eyes from being tickled so much, "Get out of, loohuhu, my dress you little- looooohuhuhu!"
"Wow, she's really ticklish." Saria spoke sweatdropping.
As Roeisa was subdued, this gave Fatete the opportunity to fly out from under her dress and smack the Sacred Bee jar from around her neck, causing it to fall to the ground.
The buzzing of the wasps started to recede, as Saria looked up to see the swarm were now completely dispersed, and flew to rest in the trees and flowers of the conservatory.
"Just as I thought, now they've calmed down!" Saria said, "Great work Faete!"
Saria saw Countess Roesia had collapsed from exhaustion and laid sitting on her side, so the Kokiri went running up to her and kneeling down.
"Countess, are you okay?" Saria asked sympathetically.
"You… still won't... give up, will you…?" Roesia gasped, glaring up to the Kokiri angerly, "I-I don't need your pity! Link's blood is on my hands, just like… like…!" she trembled and covered her eyes with her hand, as tears started to fall from her face.
"No Countess, you have it all wrong!" Saria shook her head, "I was trying to tell you this whole time, Link is alive, and the Gerudo are all still holding on too!"
"W-What…?" she spoke astonished, "B-But Balterius and Isambard said the poison already..."
"No, it turned out Link has antibodies that could resist the poison, it's how we were able to get enough proof to disband the Parliament!" Saria said.
"The… Parliament's been disbanded…?" Roesia gasped, "Then... that means…!"
Saria nodded, "In fact, just before we all split up to go find the Parliament members, Link wanted whoever of us that found you to tell you something."
"What's that…?" Roesia asked curiously.
"Link wanted us to reassure you Veraan, that he trusts you."
Countess Veraan Le Roesia sat there with wide eyes, she brought her hand up to her lips and her body quivered. She slowly brought her hand down to her chest and took a breath.
"I don't know what he meant, but I'm certain it means something important to you." Saria smiled earnestly, "He's always been like that, it's why I've loved him for so long, he's devoted to the people that matter most to him!"
"He… he trusts me…" Roesia whispered with a light blush forming on her cheeks.
Saria held out her hand to her. "Now come on, we gotta get going! We need to get the Toxiplume to Sarami so that we can use it to help cure everyone!"
"I…" Roesia stared at Saria's hand, slowly reaching out for it...
But before their hands could come together, suddenly a small object came straight down and impaled itself into the back of Roesia's hand.
"AAARGGH!"
"Countess?" Saria exclaimed, seeing the Sacred Bee from earlier had jabbed itself into Roesia's hand.
"W-What's going on?" Roesia exclaimed, her hand in intense pain, she looked over at the jar to see that it had shattered when it hit the ground, "Oh no, I was told to never open the-!"
But before Saria could try to knock the Sacred Bee off her, it gave off a small glow that allowed it to actually enter into Roesia's hand!
The voluptuous woman slowly got herself up with her eyes closed, her body shaking and twitching, as she put her hands on her head with a massive headache.
"W-What's happening to m-me…?" Roesia groaned, as she threw her head back and screamed out, "Aahh! AAAAAHHHHH!"
"Countess!" shouted Saria, only to get blown backwards by a sudden burst of energy spiraling around Roesia.
She could only watch helplessly as all the wasps in the conservatory all started flying down at the woman. They all joined into the energy spiral as it went faster and faster. It wasn't long until Saria could now hear a very fiendish feminine laughter coming from it.
"Ha ha ha ha… zaaahahahahaha… ZZAH ZAHZAHZAHZZA ZZZAAAA!"
Then, with a powerful blast of energy, Saria saw with horror that in place of Roesia, was a gigantic bee monster flying in the air. It's orange compound eyes twitched and focused on the Kokiri before it, it's mouth leaking a drool as it's multiple arms were twitching out.
"Vzz vzz vzz,,, at lazzt, I have taken on my true form!" cackled the giant bee, "That foolizzzh woman made the perfect hozt for me, and now I'm finally free… free to take my reveeenge!"
"W-What are you?" Saria asked, "What did you do to Roesia?"
"I am known as the great Vezperia Queen!" the giant insect monster spoke, "I have the ability to abzorb various typez of organic matter, whether they be other insects, plants or even humanz…"
"What?" the Kokiri exclaimed in shock.
"I once tried to conquer the world with my chiiiildren, but I was thwarted by a group of acccurzed myzticz, and zealed within that little jar. I was zold to the black market and wound up in that woman'zzz clutchezzz…"
Saria heard a slam of metal behind her, and turned to see the door was now locked by steel bars.
"But now that I'm freed, I zhall take my revenge againzt the humanzzzz!" Vesperia cackled, "Thank you zzzo much for freeing me from that infernal jar, little one!"
"N-No… What have I done…?" Faete stammered.
"'Sacred Bee' nothing, this thing's nothing but a monster!" Saria said wielding her Deku Staff, "It's okay Faete, I'll handle this!"
"Now, to kill yooou!" Vesperia said, firing off stingers from it's lower abdomen at Saria.
The Kokiri started running to avoid each stinger as it came down at her. Each time Vesperia shot one stinger off, another quickly grew back to replace it, allowing her to fire them off rapidly.
Saria went on the offensive and took out her Triple Slingshot she won from the Shooting Gallery. Using what she learned in her years of playing Berry Blitz with Link, she ducked into a roll, squatted down and fired off Deku Seeds at Vesperia, they exploded upon contact with the creature.
"GAAH! HOW DAAARE YOU!"
Vesperia started flapping her wings wildly at Saria, blowing back the seeds and causing them to explode on the ground. The Kokiri didn't allow that to stop her though, and fired off some vines from her staff to grapple and swing up to a tall tree using the wind.
From that high angle, she fired off some more Deku Seeds form her slingshot, blasting into the bee monster. Vesperia shook it off, and flew straight at her with it's claws out and it's drooling mouth open. Saria quickly dropped down and swung in a loop on the branch, kicking the bee in the face and sending it downwards.
Saria then leapt off the tree and came down at it with her staff, but Vesperia recovered and grabbed the Kokiri with it's claws, squeezing at her arms, before tossing her to the ground with a great impact.
"Ugh…" Saria groaned laying back.
Her eyes came into focus and looked up to see Vesperia coming right down at her with the stinger, so she rolled out of the way which caused the queen bee to impact it's stinger into the ground.
"Grk! You little pest!" Vesperia scowled, trying to pull it's stinger out from dirt.
"She's calling us the pest?" Faete asked sweatdropping.
Saria then looked over and saw the Toxiplume still on the gazebo table, and ran to grab it while she had this opportunity, but Vesperia managed to break free and fly at Saria, giving her a powerful headbutt that sent her crashing into some bushes.
"Now… what have we heeree…?" Vesperia said, gazing down at the purple flower, "A Toxiplume… I haven't zeen one of theze in agezzz…!"
"Wait, don't go near that!" Saria exclaimed, climbing out of the bush.
But Vesperia didn't listen, and picked up the flower with her claws, before grinning widely. She brought it to her thorax and managed to absorb the flower into her body, much like how the bee entered Roesia's hand earlier.
"NO!" Saria exclaimed.
"GRAAH!" Vesperia groaned out, her body starting to convulse and shake.
"Now what's going on?!" Faete asked.
They could only watch as Vesperia's body started to turn more a shade of green, her wings developed a wider and more grandees design, her compound eyes turned red, and even grew out two more, and her claws were now dripping with venom. The venom dripped onto the grass, killing it almost immediately.
"S-She was able to absorb the Toxiplume?!" Saria exclaimed.
"Aaaaah… zzuch power…!' Vesperia cackled, "Whoever cultivated thizzz zpezimen of the Toxiplume did a fine job of it…!"
"No...!" Saria whispered with tears in her eyes, "Without the flower, Aviel and everyone are-!"
Vesperia turned to Saria and glared down at her with her four red eyes, brandishing her claws.
"Saria, snap out of it!" Faete shook her, "We got trouble!"
"You zzzeem to be quite a powerful Kokiri…" the bee observed, "I can zenze a great amount of forest magic within you… I think I will abzorb you first..."
"Th-That's not going to happen!" Saria shook her head and held out her staff, "I'll stop you and save Countess Roesia!"
"Fooolizzh… it won't be too long before I fully abzzorb her into my being… and zhe will be gone forever!" the bee spoke.
"Saria, what are we going to do?" Faete asked, "If that thing stings you, it's going to be a lot worse than just eating the chili!"
"Don't worry, I'll put a stop to it." Saria said narrowing her eyes, "Everyone is counting on me!"
Vesperia screeched out and fired off stingers at her, so Saria ran forward and dodged past them. As the stingers impaled into the ground, they created small poison pools. The Kokiri jumped and vaulted over the attacks and used her slingshot to fire more Deku Seeds at Vesperia, causing her to flinch.
"Grrr… just die!" Vesperia screeched, opening it's mouth and firing poison needles at her.
"Uh oh!" Saria said.
She quickly conjured a Deku Leaf and used it as a shield to block the needles. But soon the leaf quickly turned purple and collapsed into goo. The Kokiri looked down at the remains of the leaf for a moment, before looking up and smiling innocently, and running off.
She quickly ran behind a big thick tree to hide, only for a large stinger to jab into it, and quickly cause it to turn purple and wilt.
Vesperia flew down at Saria to slash at her, but the Kokiri quickly threw down a Deku Nut, causing a bright explosion that temporarily blinded Vesperia. When her vision came back, she saw the Kokiri was missing.
"What? Where did that little pezt go to?" Vesperia looked around.
As the giant bee buzzed about the conservatory, Saria and Faete were both hiding behind a rock.
"She's still calling us the pests…" Faete whispered, "But that's some powerful poison, there must be something we can do!"
"Poison… that's right… the Toxiplume…" Saria though, looking back at at the bee, "It has this new power because of a plant…"
"Saria?" Faete asked.
"But… can I really do this…?" Saria asked, looking down at the staff, thinking about the Great Deku Tree who gave it to her to protect those she cared about...
"Aviel, Nemisa, Halei, Togau, Reirousa, Kesuta, Korume... and Sir Kaidon..." Saria whispered, holding the staff close to her chest, "I'm not going to let you down…!"
Saria then jumped out from behind the rock, and fired off some Deku Seeds from her slingshot at Vesperia, causing them to explode against her.
"GRAAAH! How daare yooou!" screeched the bee, flying right at her.
But Saria just held up her Deku Staff before her, closed her eyes, and concentrated.
"Just ztanding there? Then DDIIIIEEE!" Vesperia shouted with her stinger aimed right at the Kokiri.
Saria thought, 'She absorbed it into her thorax… which means if I focus right there…!'
"Saria, I don't know what you're doing, but do it quick!" Faete exclaimed.
Just then, Saria's body started to glow with a strange green energy, she then opened her eyes to show they too were glowing a bright green.
"Great Deku Tree… please give me your strength…" Saria whispered, as she cast out her hand.
As Vesperia came at Saria with her stinger, she started to feel a strange sensation deep within her.
"Huh…?"
The bee started to twitch and shake, her skinny arms jerking around.
"Wh-What 's going on?" Vesperia shouted, "How are you doing this, you little- ghrk!"
"Saria?" Faete asked, looking to the Kokiri as she held out her hand at the bee, "What are you doing?"
"No matter how poisonous it is, at the end of the day the Toxiplume is still a plant…" Saria spoke, "And the Deku Staff allows me to control plant life…"
"Oh, I get it! Since the giant bee absorbed the flower inside of her, you're able to manipulate it from within her!" Faete said.
"Gaaaarhhh! Gaaah!" Vesperia exclaimed, convulsing and twitching, "The… poison… why can't I control it?!"
"It's just like Sarami said, antibodies are made to help protect one's body from being inflicted with things like poison." Saria said, "But since the poison was absorbed directly into her form, I figured if I could manipulate it just right, I can spread the poison throughout her body!"
"GAAAH! GAAAAARH!" Vesperia shouted, forcing herself up, "You… you little whelp! I'll strike.. you down and…!"
But the bee seemed to be having more trouble than before, it gasped out and twitched violently,
"Graaaah! Gaaaah! Zzzzzzzaaaaaeeeeelp!"
"What?" Saria spoke.
"I… won't let myself… be taken by you…!" the bee shouted out in an oddly familiar voice, "Not… when Link trust… trusts…!"
"That voice… it's Countess Roesia! She's fighting it!" Faete exclaimed.
"The poison is weakening the monster, and allowing Roesia to break through!" Saria realized,
"Grk…! Zzilence you infernal…!" Vesperia screeched out, "Get… back.. in…" she then Saria heard Roesia'sv voice once again, "Little… one… pleazze… help…!"
"She's calling out for us… so she can still be saved!" Saria gripped at her Deku Staff and nodded, "Alright, time to win this!"
Saria jumped down from the rock and sprinted forward, wielding her staff and striking it directly into Vesperia, before firing off Deku Seeds that blasted the bee backwards.
"Eeeerrraaah! Die!" Vesperia shouted, lunging forward and firing off poison needles.
But Saria spun her Deku Staff out in front of her to deflect the needles, before bringing back her weapon and smacking the bee across the face. Before the bee could recover, Saria generated a spiked Deku Nut at the end of the staff, and swung it right into Vesperia's face like a mace. The bee went tumbling over from the impact and crashing to the ground.
"This… this is impossible…!" gasped Vesperia, puking up more venom.
The insect queen got up and screeched out, swinging her multiple poisoned claws at Saria, but the Kokiri managed to deflect most them with her staff. She got scratched by a couple swipes, but Saria endured them and quickly bound up Vesperia's claws with some vines. The bee trashed around wildly to try and break free, so Saria quickly created another spiked Deku Nut and flung it down at Vesperia, blasting it into her and sending her crashing to the ground.
Saria gasped out from being struck with the poison claws, as Vesperia laid back twitching around, before letting out a loud cry of pain. Small blue flames started to rise up form her body.
"This… can't be… losing… to a mere… plant…?"
The 'Sacred Bee' Queen Vesperia let out one final groan, before she collapsed to the ground, her body breaking apart as it erupted into blue flames, before completely evaporating into purple mist, bringing an end to it's reign of terror.
When the mist finally cleared, Saria and Faete saw with relief that Countess Roesia was laying dizzy on the ground, now back to her regular human self.
"We did it…!" Saria spoke with a smile, as she approached Roesia, falling to her knees beside her, "Countess, are you okay?"
"Huh…?" Roesia slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at Saria, surprised to see she was okay, "Little one… what... happened…?"
Saria said weakly, "It's okay… thanks to you I was able to win against that thing… I…" she gasped before falling against Roesia, who caught her in her arms.
"Little one?" Roesia gasped. "Oh no, you've been poisoned!"
Just then, the bars to the door opened up, and the knights that accompanied Saria came in. They saw Saria had collapsed against the Countess and pointed their spears at her, but Faete quickly stopped them and explained the situation.
"To think she saved me..." Roesia whispered, looking around, "But where's the purple flower?"
"It got absorbed into that giant bee when it took control of you." Faete explained in a panic, "But I don't see it anywhere!"
"Don't tell me it was destroyed…!" Roesia realized with horror, she looked down to Saria, seeing her face was turning purple from the poison, "Oh no, little one! We have to-!"
But Roesia cringed as she doubled over in pain herself, she held Saria protectively in her arms as the two were reacting badly from the poison. The knights stood there in shock of what had just happened.
"Well, what are you idiots standing around drooling for?!" Faete exclaimed, flapping her fairy wings in a flurry, "Get them to the medical wing, quickly!"
"Y-Yes, maam!" saluted a knight as they all began to carefully lift both Saria and Roesia out of the conservatory.
"This is bad… without the Toxiplume, we can't figure out what antidote to use!" Faete said as tears started to form in her little eyes, "And now both Saria and the Countess are poisoned!"
"What are we going to do...?"
And that ends this week's chapter. With the Toxiplume seeming to have gone missing, how will the Gerudo survive, what will the rescue team do, and what dangers will Nabooru and Link run into...? Find out next time!
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