Break The Cycle

chapter 11

As it turned out, the exit was not difficult to find at all.

The instructions had been etched into the wall; pull the lever behind the tapestry and wait for the stairway to appear.

As soon as you all arrived back close to Gerudo Town, Riyoko murmured something about stationing guards around the ruins and ran off, leaving you, Link and Malo alone.

"C'mon. Riju has been waiting to see you again."

"Uh... am I allowed in?" Link asked, remembering the no-voe rule.

The raven-haired woman chuckled, "Oh... this is gonna be funny, I can already tell..."

She opened one of her small bags, taking out an outfit that was extremely recognisable.

"You're really going to make him wear that? The Desert Vai outfit?" you laughed, covering your smiling mouth with your hand.

Link let out a scoff of indignation. "No. You won't get me to wear that in a million years. We'll simply have to find another way in." The male folded his arms across his chest.

Malo glanced at you in defeat, but then a smirk spread across your face due to the idea that just popped into your head. "You know... I am the princess."

"Mhm?" your knight asked, nonchalant.

"And... any command I make has to be followed..." you continued.

"Oh."

Laughing, you snatched the clothes from Malo and held them out to Link. "So I order you to change into this outfit at once!"

The blonde-haired boy seemed to regret every decision he had ever made, leading up to this moment. "Fine." With that, he took the clothes from you, and stalked off to find a quiet place to change.

The two of you waited in silence, until Malo finally broke it.

"I didn't know you'd use the 'leader' card. Very clever," the raven haired woman smirked, glancing down at you sideways.

"You aren't the only one who plays dirty to get what she wants," you shrugged nonchalantly.

Your Hylian aunt gave you a wry smile, then turned to face the sea of sand before the pair of you. "What's taking him so long? It's not exactly hard to put on."

Right on cue, a figure started walking towards the pair of you. Squinting, you were able to make out the shape of the Gerudo Top and Sirwal, and could then figure out the fabric on top of the stranger's head was the veil.

"I hate this," Link muttered, a look of obvious disgust on his face.

You placed a hand on his shoulder, and gave a small smile. "It's only temporary, I promise."

The three of you approached the guards at the gate. Malo gave a wave, and a smile, and the two Gerudo women bowed their heads.

"Oh! Princess Y/N, how have you been?" Dorrah, one of the guards, asked, placing the butt of her spear in the sand.

"I've been very well, thank you."

Smiling, you bowed your head, and entered the town.

As the three of you walked through Gerudo Town, you could hear people whispering about you as you went past. You were only planning to visit your family, so why was there such a big fuss?

When you reached the stairs to the throne room, you saw Riyoko about to leave, and gave a small wave. She grinned back, whispered something to Malo, and continued down the stairs with a few guards behind her.

"Riju!" you smiled, walking into the throne room with a smile.

She looked up at you. "Y/N, it's been a long time since was last spoke. Any changes happened?"

"Well, I got a knight!" You looked over at Link, who gave you a look as if to say, 'Don't tell her it's me.'

You nodded, then coughed. "However, he isn't here. And this is my friend... Bertha."

Riju stood up, then bent down to get a better look at 'Bertha'. "You realise I can see right through this disguise? The Hero tried to trick me with this 20 years ago."

Malo looked away, realising her mistake. "Ah... forgot about that."

Unexpectedly, the Chief started laughing. You glanced over at Link, who looked back at you with a confused expression, and Riju went back to sit in her throne.

"Still, I admire your courage. And... I assume you're Y/N's knight, yes?"

Link nodded. "You assumed correctly, ma'am."

"You know, I'm not sure anyone would actually care if there was a voe in our town. It's just rather amusing to see their feeble attempts at disguises. And with everyone excited for the festival coming up, I doubt the residents would care. So, I suppose I can make an exception just this once," Riju continued. "But remember, Y/N, just because you're the princess, it does not mean you can always get away with this."

You grinned. "Oh, thank you! It will not happen again."

"Glad to hear that," the chief muttered, resting her chin on her hand. "But I would like to discuss these... ruins that the four of you have discovered. We should wait for my sister to return, though."

Riyoko did not take long in coming back from the ruins.

"Riju, I'm back. I only showed the guards where to stand, and told them that if any monsters emerged they were free to kill them, like you said," she announced, looking at her younger sister and raising a hand.

The chief nodded at the woman, then back at you. "Y/N, what did you find in there?"

You pulled the scroll from your bag, uncurling it. "I don't know what it says yet. I could try translate it, but I'd need a dictionary. I can't- I can't even work out which language it is. An old text, maybe?"

"You can feel free to visit the library underneath the throne room. And when you've translated the writing, you'll let me know, right?"

Smiling, you nodded, and rolled it up back up. Placing it carefully back in your bag, you watched as Riyoko lead you to the area where Riju's sand seal, Patricia, usually resided, and into the storeroom.

Then, the Gerudo woman shoved a cupboard out of the way and revealed a staircase, inviting you and Link down. The male let you go first, therefore bringing up the rear. Your aunt pulled a second lever to turn the lighting on.

"You ready?" Riyoko asked, before giving a smile. The three of you began the descent in silence, aside from three pairs of boots echoing.