Kingdom of Runes

Chapter 23

They followed the trail of withering and fading vines to where they had left their friends with Malik and Ashlyn. Once everyone had reunited, Wolf was spotted unconscious in Red's arms. The wings had disappeared and the two were free from Nayru's Love.

Margot took a small step closer, studying the apprentice. Outwardly there didn't seem to be anything wrong. It looked more like she was asleep. "Is... is she alright?"

"I think she just fell asleep." Red said. "Whatever you guys did worked."

"What happened to the weirdo?" Shadow asked, looking around. Ever since things started to get quiet, he hadn't seen any sign of him.

"He along with those who helped him are supposed to be brought before King Malik and Queen Ashlyn in the throne room." Zelda answered.

Not wanting to keep the soldiers who had already captured some of the culprits waiting, everyone went to the throne room. The scene waiting for them was a group of soldiers holding Xero down on his knees. His hands were tied behind his back to prevent him from using any kind of rune.

Malik stared at the researcher, who avoided the stony gaze. The silence lingered for a few moments before the king spoke up.

"Well, there's no way you can defend yourself for what happened today." he began. "Not only did Margot have an adequate amount of evidence against you, you practically exposed yourself during that little stunt of yours."

Xero was only halfway paying attention to the lecture given to him. 'They should've been at the meeting so if something did went awry, they wouldn't be around to witness it.' he thought. 'How could this have gone so wrong?'

Seeing that he was wrapped in his own thoughts, Ashlyn sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, what's with the world these days? Be glad our guests here are mature for their age. If all of the younger generation is forced to go through something like this, we may as well kiss the hope of a peaceful future goodbye."

"Take him away." Malik ordered the guards. "And continue to search for those who helped him."

It was only when the soldiers forced him on his feet that Xero suddenly became animated, screaming out desperately as he was dragged away. "No! I was so close! The answer was within my reach!"

Malik sighed and shook his head, turning his attention to Zelda once the former researcher was gone. "Your experience here has been nothing but trouble for you and your knights. For that, I apologize. " he bowed his head to the young princess. "As our guests, you should've been treated better."

"Well, it seems that thanks to Margot's warning, the most that happened was just a scare." Zelda replied. "As long as no one was hurt, then we'll be able to quickly recover from this."

"Unfortunately, until we figure out who exactly was involved in this, I don't feel like it's safe for you to stay here any longer."

"So we're leaving already?" Blue questioned. It was a bit better than just being turned away for their young age but still annoying that they're quickly being sent home after everything they went through to get here.

"The only thing we can do to make up for this is to send you home safely." Malik explained. "We'll use the same rune that was used to transport Margot to your kingdom. You'll be back home before you realize it. Just give us time to prepare."

"Using the transportation rune was easy." Margot assured them. "I'm sure Miss Wolf won't even be disturbed from her rest."

"Well... if you don't feel comfortable having us here while you're going through your investigation, I suppose we'll just have to take you up on your offer." Zelda said.

"I promise that we'll have everything settled." Malik promised. "We'll start over on this alliance of ours. Matter of fact, we'll come to you when the time is right."

Ashlyn couldn't help but smile at that proposition. "Yes that sounds perfect! After hearing what Margot had to say about Hyrule, I simply have to see it for myself."

Wasting no time, the king and queen walk off to do the necessary preparations. Once they were out of sight, Margot looked over to her friends with a sigh.

"I'm sorry that your first experience here was... troublesome to say the least."

"Well if one good thing could come out of this, we got to meet you." Vio replied.

Margot couldn't stop the heat rushing to her face at the sudden compliment. 'The one good thing was meeting me!?'

"Is this really the time to try and flirt with a girl?" Blue questioned.

Vio's response came just as quickly as the question thrown at him. "If you want to pick at someone, choose the damsel in distress of the day."

Shadow soon realized that his brother was pointing at him. "Rude."

Zelda soon spoke up once again. "Well, I agree with Vio. This was a fairly fun adventure. Even if we didn't get to accomplish what we came here to do. Margot, please come visit us again soon."

A smile automatically formed on Margot's face as she nodded. "Of course I will! While this investigation is happening, I'll harness my skills and make the journey to Hyrule on my own. And I'll stay longer than just a few days. Take the time to really enjoy your kingdom."

Zelda smiled back. "And one day, we'll do the same for you and your kingdom one day."

Suddenly a large rune materialized in the middle of the throne room. Golden light emitting from it. It didn't take long for King Malik and Queen Ashlyn to return from where they disappeared to. One look at the rune on the ground seemed to have given them a sense of relief.

"Oh good, it's starting already." Ashlyn said before turning her attention to their guests. "Whenever you're ready, just step in and you'll be home."

Zelda took a breath. "Well, I suppose it's time for us to go then." as she led her friends to the large rune, she took one last glance at their friends in Miniel. "Thank you for inviting us to your kingdom."

Margot, Ashlyn, and Malik watched as their guests from Hyrule step into the middle of the rune, each one vanishing from sight the moment the stepped in. Soon they were the only ones left in the room and the transportation rune disappeared. Once they were alone, Malik let out a tired sigh.

"We really need to make it up to them."

"And we will." Ashlyn assured him. "Once we have everything on our end settled."

Neither of them noticed the determination burning in Margot's eyes before she spoke up. "And I need to resume my training. Once I feel like I'm ready, I'm making the journey to Hyrule."

"Why don't you just wait until we go and visit them?" Malik suggested.

"If your investigation finishes the same time I'm done training then that's fine." Margot replied. "But I'm going no matter what the timing of everything else is. Oh to see the sights of the ocean again! And the little port town! I simply can't wait!"

The king and queen watched as Margot picked up her things before running off.

"Her parents aren't going to be thrilled about this." Malik noted.

Ashlyn could only laugh in response. "Oh, let her enjoy her youth."