Author's Notes: Well, first things first. I would like to start off by saying welcome. I see that shiny little link brought you here.
Just to disclaim, I own nothing but my imagination. Gantian.
I hope you will enjoy this featured presentation…
A grand white mansion stood high on top of a virgin snow hill. Ivory walls stretched four stories high and maroon tiles coated the roof of the estate.
A woman waltzed out of the its wooden doors wearing an elaborate, pink ball gown. She looked up at the sky; streaks of light from the sun reflected off the her golden crown.
Today looked like a fine day for a walk.
She strolled down the hill away from the mansion as she took a deep breath in and sighed. The chilling breeze brushed past her. Each step she took into the snow was met with the sound of a heavy crunch. The heavy, white blanket eventually stretched towards its limit, and soon she was close to the Edge.
The Edge, her thoughts announced at the sight. The boundaries of her freedom ended there.
She took her hand and pressed it against the transparent barrier. The sun reflected its true nature as its beams bounced off its smooth, rounded surface. It was a glass dome that engulfed the entire field as well as the mansion in the distance.
"PEACH!" a loud voice echoed from behind her. She spun around. A young blond man and a small, pink marshmallow sprinted over to her side. His blue clothes and yellow scarf rustled furiously as he rushed towards her. He slid into a sudden stop, and was panting to catch his breath. The pink puffball mimicked his movements by trying to catch his own breath as well.
"Isaac. Kirby. What are you guys doing here?" she questioned in a cheery tone.
"We. Were. Looking. For. You." He paused after each word to take a deep breath; mist blew out from his mouth. Isaac's pale face burned scarlet from the freezing air. His hands rested on his knees.
His pink companion shivered as held his stubby arms up. Then he begged, "Poyo! Poyo!"
Peach giggled. "Okay, come here you." She picked him up and squeezed him in her arms. His beady eyes sparkled as they stared into her sapphire gemstones. His body felt warm and soft, just like the teddy bear she used to own as a child.
Isaac finally recovered his lungs, and he looked blankly at the glass behind her. "So you came here? Why?" he asked, uneasiness evident in his weakened voice.
The woman only smiled. "For someone who is supposed to be assisting me, you don't seem very supportive." The light in her eyes soon faded like the empty, winter winds. "Have you ever wondered why this barrier was built here?"
His head twisted back around to face her. He squinted his eyebrows and stared curiously at the woman. Then the blond looked up at the sky, or better said, the glass ceiling. The sun's rays pierced through its walls.
"There must be a reason…" His voice was so feeble, it was almost inaudible. "This place is meant to be a safe haven. That's why the Smash Mansion was built here. Isn't this barrier supposed to protect us…?"
"It—" There was a catch in her voice. She sighed, and then whispered, "What are we supposed to be protected from? Why should we be trapped like worthless pennies inside a jar?" Peach spoke under her breath. "Why does the Edge even exist?" She squeezed her arms tighter around Kirby, who whimpered from the sudden pressure.
"Pui…"
"Oh my gosh!" She languished the strength of her squeeze. "I'm so sorry, Kirby! I didn't mean to do that."
The teen chuckled at Peach's aberration."You do realize Kirby can't squeak, right?" he teased playfully.
"Hey!" she lightly shoved Isaac. Her body then shivered from the frozen air. "We should probably head back home. It's getting pretty cold out here."
"Yeah." He wrapped his arms around himself. "We should go back."
Together, the two trudged through the snow towards the manor in the distance. Each footstep crunched along the icy ground. Kirby snuggled himself deeper within Peach's arms.
"Isaac?" Peach asked softly. His head shot up out of his yellow scarf. "What do you think is gonna happen, let's say, in a few years from now?"
He ran his fingers through his tousled hair thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not sure really. What's making you think about the future?"
"I don't know. I just wanted to ask," she said. A few seconds of silence passed before she spoke again. "I guess I was just thinking about what it would be like. You know, like getting married and have a family and stuff."
His cheeks burned a bright red. He started fumbling with something in his pocket. Not once had his glances met Peach's. Even Kirby stared curiously at him.
"Hm? Did I say something wrong?" she said worryingly, noticing his stiffened position.
"No, no. There's nothing wrong." He feigned an innocent smile.
"Okay…" She brushed off her suspicions and continued playing with Kirby.
The adept pulled out an object from his pocket without either of the two noticing. It was a small black box. His eyes gazed down at it for a while before he shoved it back in his pocket.
The glistening hill darkened. Isaac looked up at the skylight. A shadow eclipsed over them as if something was looming over the glass dome. The ground suddenly shook momentarily. The two crouched down onto the sleet and snow; they could feel the area around them rising.
"Peach! We gotta get out of here now!" Isaac screamed in a panic. She quickly nodded; her cerulean eyes dimmed with concern. The two immediately sprinted towards the mansion.
But it was too late.
The ground rumbled and violently shook. Peach was caught off guard and tripped into the snow. Kirby tumbled out of her arms, rolling away just a few feet away from her. Isaac turned back as soon as she fell.
The violent shaking tripped up his feet; neither one of them was able to get up and stand. He crawled over to Peach and Kirby, who huddled together. The pink puffball whimpered, and yet he urged to scream. Peach hugged them both tightly; she was too scared of letting them go. They sealed their eyes shut. Isaac silently prayed as he held Peach's hand.
The snow then rose up and swirled around them in a tempest. Raging winds spun them round and round like a wild carousel, causing the princess' hair to blow up from the freezing gusts. Soon, the three of them were within the eye of an apocalyptic storm. Was this the end? There was no escape.
Then just as suddenly as it came, the winds stopped blowing. The lifted sleet rained down as hail. The earth lay still among a pool of anxiety. The three figures slowly removed themselves from of their huddle. For a moment, they all forgot to breath.
Snowflakes gradually fell from the sky. They slowly floated down from up above. A fallen snowflake gently kissed the bridge of Peach's nose. Then she exhaled deeply.
"What was that…?" the blonde princess gasped out. She glanced at Isaac, but then looked down. He followed her eyes and noticed that his hand was on top of hers. Flushed with embarrassment, he ripped away from her. His cheeks lit up as a bright burgundy and he turned away, hoping she never noticed.
"S-sorry," he said as his teeth chattered from the biting frost.
She giggled, momentarily forgetting the portent omen that had just occurred earlier. "Aw, why so shy?" Even the pink puffball laughed merrily at his timid nature.
Snow continued to softly drop. The precipitation diminished little by little, and eventually the sky cleared up again. The sun soon shone through the glass.
They stood up, and dusted the flakes off of their clothes. The young adept stared up at the dome ceiling. "Why does that always happen whenever it snows…?" his voice drifted off.
"This world is quite strange," Peach said thoughtfully as her fingers rested on her chin. "I thought we were gonna die just a moment ago."
"Yeah… Me too…" he whispered.
They walked through the icy field and towards the mansion. The young blond adept took out the box from his pocket and held it in his hands. Two sets of eyes glanced curiously at the object.
"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby's radial arms pointed at his box.
"Hey, what is that?" Peach asked inquisitively. Her hands reached out to grab it, but he blocked her from doing so.
He said defensively, "Leave it alone, Peach. It's nothing special. It's just a box."
"But what's inside? Are you gonna show me?" she whined playfully.
"No. I told you. Just leave it alone."
"Fine," she huffed. "I guess if you really don't wanna show it…"
They continued trekking up the snowy hill. Isaac glaced down st the box in hand. He flipped it open. A small, silver ring sparkled inside. A sapphire gemstone was adorned in the centre. He closed the container and stuffed it back into his pockets. Still couldn't do it, he thought to himself. He sighed. If only I could…
The trio finally stood in front of the wooden door; the ivory walls of the manor stretched high above them.
The princess nudged the adapt. "…Hey, Isaac? Do you remember how long we've lived here for?"
"How long…?" He cocked his head and scratched his head. "I don't know… Time passes by pretty quickly. I mean, it felt like I met you just yesterday."
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded his head in agreement.
"Well," a silly grin was plastered on her face. "I'm very glad I met you guys." After a few moments, her smile soon faded and her blank eyes stared at nothing. "You know, sometimes I wish that there were more people here. It's kinda lonely with just the three of us here…"
He sighed. "Yeah… I don't even know how I even came here myself…"
"But at least we have each other…"
The three of them looked at one another as they stood there. Isaac took out the small box from his pocket. Again, he gazed at it contemplatively. Should he show her? Was now the right time?
"Hey, Peach…? There's something I've been meaning to ask you…"
She inquiringly watched him fumble with the box. "Yes?"
This was it. He had always wondered why he never did it sooner. He knelt to the ground on one knee and pulled out the box. Then he opened it and watched as she gasped at the sight.
The adept blushed in a shade so red that roses couldn't even compare to it. He then said in a quiet voice, "Sometimes, life can become unexpected. My coming here and meeting you would be one of those unexpected things, but I never regretted a moment of it."
Her hands covered her mouth as she silently stared at him in awe. Her sanguine cheeks matched the shade of the adept's. Under the light, he watched as her cerulean eyes sparkled with joy.
He couldn't help but smiled. "Peach Toadstool, will you—" but he never got to finish his sentence.
The ground suddenly shifted, and the world tilted sideways. Everything started sliding down towards the bottom of the sloped earth; the snow piled against the glass dome.
Soon, they were in the state of free fall.
The three figures flew up against the manor. Their bodies sprawled across the wall. Peach's screams deafened the noise around them. Kirby shut his eyes tight; tears streamed up his face from the rushing winds. Isaac's heart stopped cold; he never expected this to happen so quickly.
The adapt was the only one who watched as the bottom of the slope got darker and darker. His hand held on hard to the box. He closed his eyes as soon as he saw what they were hurtling towards. The barrier smashed against a solid surface and the glass dome shattered upon impact. Without the velocity, the three bodies fell off of the wall and started tumbling towards the earth.
Neither one of them ever opened their eyes after they hit the ground.
"What did you just do?"
"Me? I didn't do anything!"
"Yeah, you did! I can't believe you dropped it! I told you it could break!"
A young child in a blue parka dug his fingers through his brown, burnished hair. He nervously paced back and forth around the small cemetery on top of a verdant, grassy hill. His sister, who wore a similar pink parka, glared angrily at him. Her hands planted themselves firmly on her waist and her foot was tapping the pavement floor in irritation.
"Oh, man. They're gonna haunt me now, aren't they? Oh no. Nonononono," the young boy's voice shook with fear.
His sister face-palmed and sighed. "Popo, no one's gonna haunt you. We'll clean it up later. We can bring back another one to replace it, alright?"
"But Naaannaaa," Popo whined, "that was from the grave! Do you even know what happens when you break people's offerings? Aww man…"
"Let's just go back home. Everyone's probably worried that we left without telling them." Nana grabbed his hood, tugging him away from the scene.
"Fine," he scoffed. "But I'm blaming you if I see their ghosts tonight."
She started dragging him away from the cemetery. They left the cemented circle where three tombstones were arrayed side by side.
In the centre of the pavement was a broken snow globe, completely shattered in a million pieces.
Tune4Toons: This story uses the rules and themes from Tonesticpilot's The Armageddon of 2012 Contest. No, I am not competing. I am just simply incorporating the rules to this fic. If you have seen the contest rules, then you will know what specific themes were included in the story. If not, then feel free to check it out!
I hope the story wasn't too rushed or too confusing. If it was, please tell me. Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed that. I also hope this fic stirred up those imagination gears and inspire you to enter the contest as well!