Hello readers, chapter 168 is here! This time the trial reaches it's conclusion, and the true culprit will be revealed!
"Wh-What?!" exclaimed Judge Isambard in the Hylian Courthouse, "Lady Nabooru, you claim the killer of King Reinald is in this very room?"
"That's correct." the Gerudo leader nodded, "They've been laying in hiding this whole time, but I've finally pieced together the truth."
"Hmph. That's a bold claim to make Lady Nabooru." Governor Balterius spoke, he adjusted his sunglasses and fiddled with the purple rose-like flower on his lapel, as he leered at her from across the room, "The two of you aside, everyone else here are either esteemed loyal knights, members of the royal family, and of course we of the Hylian Parliament."
Balterius gestured to Inspector Turrel, his men and the royal knights, then to Princess Zelda, Prince Darius, Lady Impa and Counselor Xebes sitting at the spectator stands, then to Minister Odleh, Duke Geronim, Countess Roesia, Marquess Haralden, and Captain Andreas who were all sitting behind himself.
"To claim that one of us is the culprit carries some grave consequences, especially if you're proven wrong." Balterius spoke, "Knowing that, you'll still indeed go on with this accusation?"
"I am." Nabooru nodded without hesitation.
"T-The actual killer is here?" Duke Geronim asked, looking left and right, and wiping at his brow with a handkerchief, "Ooooh… I wish I had brought my armor with me…!"
"Shhh.. keep your mouth shut about that!" Minister Odleh scolded him.
"Interesting…" whispered Roesia to herself, recalling Nabooru's assistance in solving the Wdiowmaker case, "Let's see what you have to say.."
"Very well…" Judge Isambard said slamming his gavel down, "Please proceed Lady Nabooru."
Nabooru walked out to the center of the courtroom. The people watched her pace, unsure of who she was going to call out. One person in the room though, had a trickle of sweat running down their head.
"The culprit did a fine job covering their tracks up until now, but this trial has made me remember something I was told a while ago," Nabooru said, "And with all that I've learned, I can prove their true identity with one question to someone here."
Link watched Nabooru silently, he had no idea where she was going with this, but had upmost faith that she was right.
Nabooru took a deep breath, and turned to one particular person in the room, looking right at them, and speaking the words;
"Counselor Xebes, would you please take your gloves off?"
"Eh?" the old man asked, looking left and right, "What is this about?"
"Xebes?" Prince Darius asked, looking to his advisor, then to the Gerudo leader, "What are you getting at with this Lady Nabooru?"
"I just wish to see Xebes' bare arms." Nabooru shrugged, "Please, if you will Counselor."
'What?' Zelda thought, looking to the advisor herself, 'But why him of all people…?'
"Lady Nabooru, what meaning is there to this request?" Balterius asked, "What's so important about his arms? This is a complete waste of time!"
"I'll be the judge of that." Nabooru said, "Come on Mr. Xebes, all you have to do is pull off your gloves."
"N-Now wait a minute, this doesn't seem like anything significant!" Xebes stammered, the hunched-over old man started shaking as he gestured to his long green gloves that went up to his elbows, "There's nothing under these but wrinkled old skin and frail bones! Aha ha ha ha!"
"If that's all that's under there, there should be no problem, right?" Nabooru smirked.
"I… no! I can't do that!" Xebes explained, he started pummeling his face,
"Ah ha ha! W-Would it suffice if I punish myself for this defiance? Bad Xebes, bad!"
"Though I don't see the point of this..." Isambard shook his head, and slammed his gavel down, "Counselor, please remove your gloves so that we can move on."
"N-No! Please, my prince!" Xebes pleaded to Darius, "Ask them to stop! You know I don't have anything to hide, right?"
"Now hold on one moment Lady Nabooru." Darius said, standing himself up, putting one foot on the seat in front of him, and doing an over-the-top poise with a smirk on his lips,
"Counselor Xebes has been assisting me with my role as prince for many years after my nanny retired!" Darius stated, "I wouldn't be the person I am today without his help, and I have nothing but supremely awesome trust in this man!"
"I suppose that's true in a way…" Nabooru admitted.
"My prince…!" Xebes whispered with a grateful smile on his wrinkled face.
"Now with that said," Darius said putting a hand to his chest and looking down to his advisor with a wide smile,
"Prove Lady Nabooru that awesome trust I have in you, by removing your gloves and showing that you have nothing to hide!"
Xebes' face of gratitude quickly turned completely pale white in shock, as he nervously looked up at Nabooru, who was now sporting a knowing smirk.
"I ask you once more Counselor." Judge Isambard said, slamming his gavel down on the podium, "Please remove your gloves for this court to see."
"I… … …v-very well." Counselor Xebes said, slowly and hesitantly removing both his green gloves and setting them aside.
Everyone looked to Xebes' arms, and their eyes turned wide with surprise and shock.
"Counselor… y-your hands…!" Zelda gasped.
"His arms too…!" Link spoke.
"I knew it." Nabooru nodded.
They all saw that rather than the aged, wrinkly fleshy arms they expected, they instead saw two arms made from a strange hard, brownish-tan colored material. The finger and wrist joints were made from some kind of gears and wires. They went all the way up to his elbows, which had cylinders to keep them in place.
"What… the hell…?" Geronim exclaimed, "What are those things? What happened to his arms?"
"That's a very good question." Nabooru said, "Tell us Xebes, what happened here?"
"O-Oh this? This is just a tan I have!" Xebes laughed in a panic, "A really good tan!"
Suddenly Xebes' limbs started to twitch, and they jerked up and pummeled at his face.
"A-Ack, bad Xebes!" the counselor exclaimed as he was being punched, "You shouldn't be tanning your arms when you have more important duties! Bad Xebes, bad!"
"Wait a minute, those limbs look familiar," Link realized, "They look like they're designed almost like Foluma's…" his jaw dropped in shock, "NO WAY!"
Nabooru nodded at the acknowledgment of their maid friend, and finished his sentence for him,
"That's right Link, the artificial prosthetic limbs the Ebony Sisterhood are developing!"
"GAAACK!" shouted Xebes, flinching and punching himself across the face.
Everyone started talking to each other about this new development, but were silenced by Isambard's slamming of his gavel.
"ORDER! ORDER I SAY! I WILL HAVE ORDER!" shouted Isambard, "Lady Nabooru, what is the meaning of this?!"
"It's just like what I told you about back at the round table." Nabooru said, "The Gerudo rebels are manufacturing artificial body parts to replace severed ones... and it would appear the counselor here is a client of theirs."
"N-NooOOOooooOOoooo!" Xebes exclaimed as sweat rolled down his head, "This all a misunderstanding!" he got himself up, "I-If you you'll excuse me, I must go use the toilet and-"
But he was stopped when Inspector Turrel took his arm and inspected it carefully.
"Hm, you seem to have scratch marks on your 'tanned' arms." Inspector Turrel pointed out, peeling a small piece of the shaven material off it, "These marks look pretty new as well."
"Geep!" Xebes flinched, "I-I just had a run-in with an irate cat the other day! That's all!"
"Oh don't worry, we can figure it out on our own." Nabooru said, "I think all we have to do is compare the material of your arms with what we found under the king's fingernails, and that should be all the proof we need of your involvement with the king's murder!"
"This… this can't be happening!" Xebes said in a panic, he looked to Darius, "Please my prince, this isn't what it looks like!"
"…if that's the case, maybe you can explain what it actually is?" Darius spoke darkly, giving him a sharp glare, "Because it seems Lady Nabooru's argument is quite solid."
"Gaaaaah!" exclaimed Xebes, he started pummeling himself in the face with his fists, "N-Not you too my prince! NoooooooOOOO!"
"So it was the Counselor…?" Isambard asked, "Counselor Xebes killed King Reinald?"
"This is insane…!" Haralden gasped in terror, "An ambassador of killing the ruler of a kingdom? This could lead to an international incident between Hyrule and Fargent!"
"...you raise a good point Marquess." Balterius spoke up, silencing the room.
Everyone turned to the governor who adjusted his tie and spoke out to Nabooru.
"You've made some compelling arguments, but there could be a number of reasons for why his arms are scratched up." he smirked lightly, "But there's one underlying question you've yet to answer."
"And that is…?" Nabooru rose an eyebrow.
"Quite simply, motive." Balterius said, "What possible reason could Xebes even have to do this? All it would do is lead to disaster for the relations between both kingdoms."
"Y-Yeah! That's right!" Xebes realized with relief, "I've been working with Prince Darius to help build good relations between Hyrule and Fargent, and I deeply respected King Reinald, what possible reason could I have to murder him?"
"Very compelling argument." Isambard nodded, "Lady Nabooru, your response?"
"True, you might not have a political motive," Nabooru said pacing around, she came to a stop and leaned down at him,
"But in your mind, the king still needed to die, so no one would know the real truth about you... 'Xebes'."
"Huh?" Xebes spoke, he brought up his arm, causing the sleeve to slide down and show his elbows better, as he shook his fist angerly at Nabooru, "W-What is that supposed to mean? You meddlesome Gerudo, I should report you to my highness and-!"
But Xebes was stopped when a powerful hand grabbed his arm and held it upwards. It was Impa looking darkly down at him.
"Lady Impa?" exclaimed Isambard.
"Tell us Counselor…" Impa spoke a low, cold tone, "How exactly did you lose your arms to need these prosthetic limbs in the first place…?"
Xebes stared up at Impa with a cold chill going up his snipe, his free arm was twitching like crazy and jabbed him in the side of his face.
"I… I was trampled by a horse in my youth a-and… uh… no wait…" Xebes gulped, "I mean I was run over by a carriage and-!" he began to stammer, but was silenced when Impa squeezed his arm more.
"I repeat. HOW. DID YOU LOSE. YOUR ARMS?" Impa spoke in a louder tone.
"Impa, what's the matter...?" Zelda asked worriedly, but then took another look at Xebes' artificial limbs and her eyes widened with realization, "By the goddesses! So that's what this was about!"
"That's right." Nabooru nodded to Zelda, "It's just like the story Sister Impa told us before…"
Impa had spoken,"Years ago, back when I was still a child, the last of my people had managed to defeat the Order in a final battle, and even succeeded in capturing Sokou. Thanks to Vaati's blessing of immortality however, they lacked the power to totally destroy him…"
Nabooru continued, "…the one who shortly after being released from his imprisonment..."
"...so instead they took away the very means of which he performed his dark rituals, by severing him of his arms. After that, they sealed him away deep within the farthest depths of the well, where he was meant to stay for eternity."
"….would then have escaped out of Hyrule to the kingdom of Fargent, where he reestablished his organization…"
Darius explained to everyone after he had come to the castle, "That's when we started learning more of this 'Order of Reyahm', a religious cult that desired to destroy the deities of our world and replace them with new gods of their own choosing. Truly a group of maniacs."
"Of course, no risk of sullying my reputation would interfere with awesome heroic justice!" Darius had said, "We eventually tracked down the hideout where the Reyahm Order were performing their rituals. I took charge with my most loyal knights and we brought down their organization!"
"...and has now been reforming the Order here in Hyrule again." Nabooru spoke, "The mastermind behind all of this, Counselor Xebes…"
Naboour gave the old man a sharp intimidating glare,
"...or by your true name, the Order of Reyahm's ancient leader, and traitor to the Sheikah people, the Dark Priest Sokou!"
Xebes stood still with his head hung downwards, despite impa squeezing his arm, he didn't even seem to flinch anymore.
"Counselor Xebes…?" asked Isambard, "Do you have anything to say?"
"… … … …it was all his fault… he had to stick his nose into my business… and discover my secret."
"What?!" the crowd spoke.
Xebes slowly looked up at Impa with a chilling and creepy smile,
"It was the night King Link announced he was making you his bride. I had gone to do some research alone…"
'Hm? The royal study? Who could be there at this hour?' the king wondered. Thinking it might be Zelda, he creaked the door open to take a peek.
And it was there he saw a very shocking sight; Counselor Xebes was reading through some documents, but there was something very odd about him. His gloves were removed to make it easier to turn the pages, but his arms were not of flesh and blood, but seemed to be a hard artificial material. The king was so startled he accidentally bumped the door, getting Xebes' attention.
'Huh? Who is that?' Xebes thought looking up.
King Reinald backed up out of view before the counselor could see him, and hurriedly ran down the hall to get to his personal quarters. But unfortunately, Xebes had poked his head out just in time to see it was king who was fleeing, and he narrowed his eyes.
"So it was him… this could be trouble." Xebes muttered darkly, "I may have no choice… if he tells anyone, it could blow my cover..."
"I just need to form a plan… it'll have to be on a night when there will be very few witnesses around… I'll need a means to do it so no one suspects me…"
He glanced down at one of the chairs in the hall, and noted the mini-pillow included with it. A wicked thought ran through his mind as he shuffled off.
"…and I may need an accomplice to help me..."
After Day One of the Royal Toundtable, Jezebelle walked through the halls of the castle until she arrived at Xebes' living quarters.
"I received your note, what was it you wished to talk with me about?" Jezebelle asked with a snobbish air to her.
"I'm glad that you came. I've been looking into your past life, before you got to your current position." Xebes said with a smile.
"Hmph, that's rather rude." Jezebelle stuck her nose up.
"Forgive me, but it was thanks to that I could see the cruel injustice you suffered," he said, referring to how she was given away by her parents to Welsom Rochchild and forcefully impregnated her, "And that terrible man who caused all of it to happen." he added, referring to King Reinald.
"…it's been a long time since then. It still hurts each time I think about it…" she said distantly, "...and both of them…" she added with a scowl, referring to having to carry Petra and her older sister, "But why would you even care about something like that?"
"Because we both have an interest in the same thing, we want him dealt with." Xebes said.
"So what exactly are you proposing we do? Spit it out already!" Jezebelle said in a huff.
"I'm saying that tomorrow, we have the opportunity to put an end to it. We can finally make him answer for what happened to you." Xebes said, referring to the royal dance the next night.
"… … very well, I'm listening." Jezebelle nodded as Xebes began to discuss his nefarious plan.
"I almost got away with it, things would have gone more smoothly if not for that troublesome woman." Xebes said, glaring over at the defendant Falin.
"M-Me?" Falin asked.
"With you as a potential witness to my crime, I had no choice but to get the Gerudo involved in the cover-up. I had taken your dagger that you dropped and was planning to impale King Reinald's body with it." Xebes explained.
"But then you had another run-in, didn't you?" Nabooru said, gesturing to Petra.
"That's roight, I recognize you now." Petra said, huddling close to Zelda, "You're that limey bloke who took my dagger!"
"And you're that little brat who ran into me while I was heading back to the king's bedroom!" Xebes spoke with a scowl, "It's thanks to you I got the wrong dagger which threw off my plan! I had hoped the Parliament would simply indict the woman, but then that Gerudo doctor insisted on doing a full autopsy…"
He glared up at Prince Darius coldly, a stark contract to how kindly and feared he normally was of him,
"...and then you had to go and find the pillow outside before I could dispose of it for good!"
"Ah, it all makes sense now." Darius realized,
"But why would it be out here of all places?" Xebes asked out in the Hyrule Courtyard
"A very good question indeed…" Darius nodded, he glanced up at the windows overhead, scratching at his chin, "But enough of that, we should get this pillow into evidence, past-haste!"
"I had been bothered for a while about the bush I had found the pillow in." Darius said, "With the way the windows on that side of the castle open, it could have only been dropped from a window above that bush, and your personal quarters is one of the windows just above that bush!"
"So that's how he got rid of it!" Link exclaimed.
"That damn fool, he went and bit at the pillow to try and save his own life," Xebes muttered, "I didn't have time to destroy it before the knights searched the castle, so I had to throw it out my window."
"Heh, the king turned out to be more resilient than you thought, didn't he?" Nabooru pointed out.
"Indeed…" Xebes grumbled, "That sedative I had prepared and given Ms. Jezebelle should have been enough to completely knock the king out cold so I could climb on top of him and smother him to death, but he somehow gained the strength to resist me and scratch at my arms as well."
"You underestimated my father." Zelda glared back at Xebes, "Despite what people may said about him these days, he was a strong king who would fight to the very end against those who try to harm Hyrule!"
"First you betray our people's creed… you commit countless crimes for centuries… you took the life of my father and my people, then you took that of my dear friend and Zelda's father…" Impa muttered, angerly squeezing Xebes' arm tightly, "We'll see to it that you pay dearly for this, you damned traitor."
Xebes said nothing at first, but gazed upwards at a window with the sun shining through it.
"…I had been sealed within the Order's old hideout in the Kakariko Well for decades thanks to the Sheikah clan…" Xebes mused, "Then one day my people had approached the well and undid the seal, finally giving me the freedom I yearned for. I learned about how Ganondorf had recently been captured and imprisoned, and thought this was the perfect opportunity for the Order of Reyahm to rebuild."
"So you went out to the kingdom of Fargent?" Nabooru asked.
Xebes nodded, "I had also learned that there was still a full-blood Shiekah who was still alive, and couldn't take the risk of being found out, so we decided to go out to another country to regroup. While my people began recruiting subordinates to assist us with spreading the world of our 'rising salvation', I decided to infiltrate the royal family of Fargent by becoming the advisor of the young prince." he looked to Darius, "Thanks to my centuries of world history knowledge it was easy for me to earn your father's favor."
"Unbelievable…" Darius spoke angerly, "I swore to stop the Order… but to think their leader was by me this whole time…?!"
"There was also the matter of replacing the limbs your damned father cut off from me," Xebes scowled at Impa, "So before we moved to Fargent, I had the Order's science division seek assistance from a rebellion group called the Ebony Sisterhood, and it's through their research into artificial limbs that my top scientist was able to create these arms."
'A top scientist…?' Link thought to himself.
Nabooru spoke, "The king knew about what the Sheikah clan did to punish you back then, and when he saw the condition of your arms at the study, there was a chance he might eventually put two and two together and realize your true identity. So you had to silence him. But those limbs you had made aren't perfect, are they?"
"...yes… we were warned about the potential side-effect of memory loss caused by the limbs connecting to my nerves," Xebes nodded, "But it's with my top scientists knowledge that we were able to find a workaround…" he sighed, "Unfortunately it caused another side effect that makes them twitch uncontrollably when I get too stressed out."
"That's why you pummel yourself with your own fists so much." Nabooru smirked, "And you covered for it by pretending to be punishing yourself."
"As you can tell, I'm a man of performance." Xebes chuckled darkly.
"Well your show is over, and you shall face true JUSTICE for your crimes." Judge Ismabard said pointing out his gavel, "Guards, arrest the Counselor- no, the Dark Priest Sokou!"
"...heh, like that's going to happen." Xebes chuckled as knights began to surround him.
"Oh yeah? And who's going to stop us?" a solider asked with a sharp glare.
"GAAAAHH!"
Everyone turned just in time to see a guard knight near the entrance to the court house fall over to the ground with blood spraying out from him. Two more knights tried to see what had happened, only for one to get impaled by a black object, and another to get his head gruesomely lopped off by it.
"What's happening?" Zelda asked in shock.
"Huhuhuhuhuhu… thank you so much for enchanting my parasol Mr. Sokou…"
Spoke a very familiar voice that sauntered into the room, a black dressed woman with a bandaged-up nose and blood splashed onto her body, as well as her parasol dripping with it,
"The knights never would had expected it while I was in treatment."
"J-Jezebelle?" Link exclaimed, as Petra looked to her mother in absolute horror.
"Murderer! Kill her!" shouted the knights as they rushed at Jezebelle.
"That power…!" Zelda sensed something, and shouted, "Wait, stop!"
But Jezebelle held up her parasol as it opened up and revealed it now had a single demonic eye and teeth lining the underside of it, it also had sprouted wings, and the handle had grown a talon-like claw.
It screeched out at the knights, before clamping itself down on one of the men and biting into him, causing blood to spray out from underneath as the knight shouted out in pain and was quickly silenced, before the umbrella started consuming his legs. The other knights were so terrified they dropped their swords and ran.
"Wh-What the hell is that?" Geronim asked peeking out from behind his seat.
"That's an Umbrekeese!" Minister Odleh exclaimed in surprise, "A powerful breed of Keese that takes on the form of an umbrella or parasol to devour it's prey!"
With the others caught off guard, Sokou was able to break free of Impa's grasp and run over to Jezebelle's side. Before more knights could approach them, Sokou brought up one of his artificial hands, revealing a mark on the palm in the shape of an eye of Vaati, much like those he had before Impa's father severed his arms off.
"That mark…!" Impa spoke.
Sokou's palm gave off a shine as a large purple shield of energy appeared in front of them, blocking off the knights. One tried slamming his sword against it, but nothing happened.
"Unfortunately my power is only a faction of what it once was thanks to only having these replacement limbs, but it won't be long before my body is fully recovered." Sokou grinned wickedly.
Sokou reached under his cloak and pulled out a large bongo drum from the back of it, he then stood up straight and cracked his back out.
"Whew, I suppose it's just as well, it was a real pain pretending to be a hunched-over old man."
"He had a bongo drum under that cloak this whole time?" Impa spoke, "This is bad. That's how he performs his hexing rituals!"
"Just like his form from the dark future, the shadow demon 'Bongo-Bongo'…" Link muttered, "Damnit, we can't let them get away!"
He looked down at the sword one of the knights dropped, he grabbed it and ran at Sokou's shield, shouting out as he leaped up and brought it down to try and cut it, but was repealed backwards and the sword broken to pieces.
"Ugh… no good." Link groaned.
'Heh heh heh… hey buddy, want to borrow my power, just a little…?'
Link's eyes widened at the voice in his head, and he shook it off.
"No… no I don't need that!" Link said.
"Heh heh heh… nice try boy." Sokou smirked, "Now I believe it's time for the two of us to escape!"
"Thank you so much for helping me, Mr. Sokou." Jezebelle chuckled, giving the older man a kiss on the cheek, then she gazed down at Link, "It's a shame I had to lose my chance at a new royal lifestyle with you Gerudo King… but I think I'll be just fine within the Order of Reyahm."
"Jezebelle…" Link scowled angerly, "You damn bitch… you're not going to get away with this! We'll bring you both to justice for killing King Reinald!"
"And as for you Zelda…" Jezebelle smirked haughtily at her, "How does it feel for the pampered little princess to now be a lonely orphan herself? Huuuuhuhuhuhu!"
"…!" Zelda was at a loss for words, but narrowed her tear-filled eyes at Jezebelle.
She was so upset she didn't realize Petra was trying to break from her arms, the young child soon pulled herself out and ran up to the barrier, calling out to her mother,
"Mum!" Petra shouted, "Please, don't do this! Don't go with him!"
But Jezebelle simple stared down coldly and silently at Petra, before turning her back to her, leaving her in shock.
"Now, I think I'll leave my little ones that I've been raising in private to deal with all of you now." Sokou smirked as he banged at his drum, causing a wave of energy to form around it.
Opening up through small warps tunnels was a large number of monsters, the spider-like creatures known as Tektikes, and the flying one-eyed bat creatures known as Patras. They all gathered around Sokou and Jezebelle to protect them.
One of the Tektikes hissed out and lunged at Petra, but Link struck it down with a swift punch, before he took Petra in his arms and pulled her away to protect her. Petra was shocked to see Jezebelle didn't even so much as care.
But as more of the Tektikes and Patras came at the group, a powerful blade of wind shot through across the room and cut a number of of the Patras in half, before impacting into the barrier.
"W-What?"
Everyone turned to see it was Governor Balterius, gripping at a long, two-handed wavy-bladed sword.
"You think you can escape? Not on my watch!" Balterius shouted.
"Woah… what weapon is that?" Link asked.
"I've heard about it…" Nabooru gasped, "It's the Windcleaver, a powerful sword that can split through the very air itself!" she gulped a little, "B-But if he has that sword… could he possibly be…?"
"Hmph, kill them." Sokou said, sending the rest of his Patras and Tektikes to attack.
But then a swarm of wasps came from nowhere, flying at the Patras and attacked them wildly, while some golden rings formed around the Tektikes and closed around them crushing them into a pulp. More Tektikes attacked the knights, but then a strange green presence impaled itself through one of them before bashing away the others.
"That's far enough." Roesia stepped up with a wasp landing on her hand, "I won't let you hurt anyone else here."
"You underestimate the power of the mystics Sokou." Odleh scowled with a gold ring in her hand, "The very power that sealed away Ganondorf!"
"We won't allow you to escape!" Captain Andreas shouted angerly as he gripped at his giant spear, which was giving off an odd green glow.
"Tsk, meddlesome pests." Sokou muttered.
"Dark Priest Sokou, former duchess Jezebelle Rochhchild…" Balterius spoke stepping up with his blade in hand, "Your crimes shall not go unpunished, you have made powerful enemies with the Hylian Parliament."
"Hold on… that blade…" Sokou spoke gazing at it, he bore a sinister grin, "Heh, now I know who you are. You've lost weight, haven't you…?"
"Huh? What's he talking about?" Turrel asked.
"...I've been working to atone for what happened all that time ago." Balterius scowled, he brought up his sword and swung it, releasing a wave of wind that smashed into the barrier.
"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 chin, "It seems you have something big planned to need to order that from us and-"
But he was cut off by another wind blade impacting into the barrier.
"Enough!" Balterius scowled, "I shall put an end to you now and protect Hyrule!"
"Really now? And how can you possibly do that…" Sokou smirked arrogantly, "When you couldn't do anything about Vividel…?"
"Grk!" Balterius broke out into a cold sweat.
"Wait, Vividel?" Link spoke, "Isn't that the place where…?"
"Yes, the kingdom that was destroyed some time ago." Zelda said stepping up, "A few years before Ganondorf attempted his attack on Hyrule Castle…"
"The kingdom that was said to once rival Hyrule in peace and prosperity…" Impa spoke.
'Right, Aviel's parents mentioned they had been living in New Vividel, a town formed by the survivors while they had amnesia.' Link recalled.
"But does Balterius have to do with Vividel?" Darius asked curiously.
Just then, a Patra shot up from behind the barrier and fired a small laser at Balterius, he tried to block it with his sword, but the laser managed to graze off his sunglasses, sending them flying and smashing to the ground.
"Governor! Are you okay?" Geronim asked.
"…" the Governor covered his eyes for a moment, before slowly pulled his hand away, showing his eyes that had been hidden behind his glasses. His left eye was blue and the other was brown.
'It can't be…!' Nabooru thought to herself with wide eyes, 'It's HIM?'
"Yes, just like before, how fittingly ironic that the king is powerless to do anything for his kingdom," chuckled Sokou, "Isn't that right, Sirius?"
"WHAT?" Zelda exclaimed, "You mean King Sirius?"
"Princess, who are you talking about?" Link asked.
"The king of Vividel before it was destroyed…!" Zelda spoke, "His name was Sirius Terrakon Baldwin…!"
"Wait, you're saying Governor Balterius was the king of Vividel?!" Marquess Haralden exclaimed, causing most of the people in the room to gasp out in shock.
"…" Balterius just stood still and silent. In the back, Countess Roesia, Duke Geronim, Captain Andreas and Judge Isambard were the only ones not to be surprised.
"Heh, if I had to lose my cover, seems fitting you should too." Sokou chuckled, "Isn't karma great?"
"… …" Balterius leered his differently colored eyes at the dark priest.
"Governor, step back!" Impa shouted as she ran across the wall of the courtroom and leaped off it.
She struck against the barrier with a number of her explosive kunai, but found it to be ineffective, she kicked at it with her powerful legs, but still nothing, and landed to the ground gracefully.
"This is a strong shield Sokou, but it won't do you any good without a means of escaping!" she said.
"Oh we have a way." chuckled Sokou, he brought up his hands and started playing a new melody on the bongo drum.
'Bum, bum bum, bum bum bum, bumbum bumbumbumbumbumbum-buuuuum'
"Wait, those notes…" Link spoke as his pointy ear twitched, and his eyes widened, "That's the Song of Soaring! He's going to teleport away!"
"Stop them!" Nabooru shouted, grabbing at two swords off the ground.
'Bum, bum bum, bum bum bum, bumbum bumbumbumbumbumbum-buuuuum'
But suddenly two large black feathered wings shot out from behind Sokou and Jezebelle, wrapping around them both and started spinning. Link, Nabooru, Impa and Darius all ran to try and stop the two, but they quickly disappeared, leaving behind only a few feathers floating in the air.
"Wh-What just happened?" Geronim asked looking around, "Where'd they go?"
"Link, what's this 'song of soaring'?" Nabooru asked.
"A power I once used back in Termina." Link said, kneeling down and picking up one of the feathers left behind, "The ability to transport yourself to bird statues… but I thought that was only a power Kaepora Gaebora had."
"That owl who was the alter ego of the Light Sage Rauru…?" Minister Odleh spoke, shuffling up to Link, "But he's long since dead, and those didn't look like his wings..."
"Just what is going on here…?" Zelda whispered.
Meanwhile, Nabooru looked over at Balterius, and the sharp gaze in his contrasting eyes.
"Well, it would seem we've reached the end of his trial." Judge Isambard spoke.
After everything had settled down, the bodies of the dead knights had been taken away, and the participants of the trial were back in place, the court resumed, though they were all uneasy at the revelations made known that day.
"As far as the lab tests go, we can confirm everything Lady Nabooru stated." Inspector Turrel said, "The material of the shavings found on the king's fingernails were nowhere to be found on the Gerudo equipment, but instead it matches that of the material I pulled off from Sokou's arms."
"We'll also need to do a proper inspector of my 'advisor's' living quarters for more evidence to his true goals." Darius pointed out, "Though I doubt we'll find anything significant."
"On the plus side, we have both Sokou and Jezebelle's confessions of their involvement to take into account." Nabooru said.
"Hrm, does the prosecution have any other words to add?" Isambard asked.
"…the prosecution… rests." Balterius simply spoke.
Isambard nodded, "Then I'm able to hand down my verdict. On the charge of the murder of King Reinald, find the defendant, Ms. Falin…"
"Not Guilty."
Nabooru and Link both gave sighs of relief, as Link patting her shoulder reassuringly.
"You did great work Nabooru." Link grinned, "I knew you could."
"Thanks." Nabooru smiled warmly, putting her hand over his.
"Lady Nabooru… King Link…" Falin said running up to the two and embracing Nabooru tightly, "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, just as like our Gerudo creed says, we never turn out backs on our people." Nabooru chuckled.
Meanwhile in the audience, Zelda let out a sigh of relief as Darius smiled ever-so-lightly, while Petra laid sleeping in the princess' lap. Impa was sitting beside them, looking down grimly in thought.
"But unfortunately…" Link spoke, "Our troubles aren't over yet…"
He looked to Balterius who was in deep thought, and then gazed upwards through a window, as he thought about all that had transpired in the courthouse that day,
"In fact, they're just beginning."
And that ends the chapter, next time The group reflects all the revelations that happened, and try to take a little rest and relaxation... and maybe something a little more...
So unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on hiatus again. Just when I got back into writing again, I have gotten some bad news about my living situation, and I'm going to have to look into finding a new pace soon. As such, I'm not in a position to be writing right now. Maybe this will change once I'm certain about what to do. Don't worry though, I'm not going away forever, but just bear with me.
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