Super Mario - Quest for the Zodiac Stones
Prologue: That's Just the Way it is
Months have passed since the quest in Rogueport to prevent the Shadow Queen from reviving. Princess Peach was safe, Bowser was still angsting about losing to Mario yet again, and Mario and Luigi were just being themselves. Luigi was reading his "best selling" books in his room while Mario was reading an e-mail he received from Goombella and Vivian on his Mailbox SP. Seems like they were all doing well for themselves, as was Koops, Bombarry, Ms. Mowz, Flurrie, and Yoshi. Things were once again normal in Mario's life, at long last, until he heard Parakarry, the Parakoopa Mailman, shout outside his door...
"Mail call!"
Mario's eyes widened as he heard the familiar sound of "mail call." Everytime that happened it would mean that Peach would ask them to see her and she would be in trouble. He sighed and watched as Luigi walked outside to get the letter. Seconds later, he ran back inside.
"Hey, bro, it's a letter from --"
"I know who it's from. It's from Princess Peach, isn't it?" Mario asked.
"Ye-yeah. How did you guess?"
"No one else sends us mail, Luigi, besides people who have read your books."
Luigi smiled modestly. He couldn't help it. He was somewhat of a hero in Rogueport as well as Mario. So what if he didn't defeat the Shadow Queen and save Peach from being a demon? Big deal. He was an author of sorts and soon to be in the movie of his quest. Mario sighed again as Luigi handed him the letter. He was thinking it was going to read "Hey, Mario, it's party time. Let's go have some punch and then I get kidnapped again." Instead, the letter's contents' shocked him:
"Dear Mario and Luigi:
I'm sure you figured it out already, this is Princess Peach. Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen... I hope. Anyway, I just wanted to call and tell you that, well, I'm engaged. When I returned to the Mushroom Kingdom the Chanceller introduced me a prince from a faraway kingdom namedDarius of the Sterling Kingdom. He's everything I had hoped for. He's strong, he's brave, he's handsome, and he has aspecial sparkle in his eyes that takes mybreath away.I want you to come to the castle for the engagement party and meet him. I can't wait for you to arrive. I will see you when you get here.
Signed, Princess Peach"
He couldn't believe this. He put the letter down and walked away from the table. Luigi looked worried, then decided to read the letter. He too was shocked to read it. He walked after Mario, who was outside the house, sitting down near the pond near the flower garden. Luigi sat down next to his older brother.
"I take it you read the letter also?" Mario asked.
"Ye-yeah, I did. What's the big deal? Peach is getting married. I thought you'd be happy for her." Luigi said. "Are you upset because you thought Peach would've married you instead?"
Mario lowered his head into his knees.
"It's just that I've been protecting her for a long time. I've saved her from Bowser on countless occassions, we both, with help from Mallow, Geno, AND Bowser, saved the world's wishes. I even saved her from becoming the world's worse nightmare. After all that THIS is how I'm rewarded?"
"Mario, listen, I'm sure that the Mushroom Kingdom would've loved to see you marry Peach. That's what I was expecting as well. But the thing is, we're not royalty, we've never been royalty. It just the way it is."
Mario knew Luigi was right. He couldn't ignore the fact that Peach was indeed going to be married to someone of her own class. He was somewhat of her guardian, her knight, her bodyguard to her. In reality, he was just a plumber from the streets of Brooklyn. There was no way he would've had a chance with her. Absolutely not. This feeling felt like hell to the poor plumber in red. Luigi sighed and patted Mario on the back, trying to comfort him.
"WHAT!" came a roaring scream.
The scream was coming from the throne room of Bowser's Keep, the home to the diabolical Koopa King, Bowser. He seemed furious for some apparent reason. He was huffing and puffing so bad that fire and smoke was exiting from his nostrils. Cammy Koopa, as well as a few Koopa Soldiers, were scattered about all over the ruined throne room. Cammy grabbed her broomstick and steadily rose to her feet, her legs trembling with fear. She knew why Bowser was bad. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand. Not just any piece of paper, but a letter.
"My king, please, try to calm down. You shouldn't be getting yourself all worked up over a girl --"
"SHE'S NOT JUST ANY GIRL, CAMMY, YOU STUPID, OLD HAG! THIS IS PRINCESS PEACH WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE! AND SHE'S GETTING MARRIED TO SOME CHUMP! WHAT ABOUT ME!" Bowser barked, fire escaping his mouth as he screamed.
How was Cammy going to answer that? Where was ol' Kamek when you needed him? The old Magikoopa hasn't been the same since Mario teamed with the Yoshi clan to pulverize Bowser years back on Yoshi Island. But Cammy was no Kamek. Kamek could calm Bowser down in a split second. She tried to open her mouth to say something but then Bowser started to shoot more fire from his mouth in a rage. The fire was headed right for the old Magikoopa. She yelped and tried to fly off on her broom but the fire hit her and knocked her against a wall.
"SOMEONE GET MY CLOWN COPTER READY! I'M GONNA SHOW THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DON'T GET THE WIFE I WANT!"
"But your scaly-ness... cough hack You've been doing that for quite sometime now... cough cough..." Cammy said, scraping herself off the wall.
Cammy knew that she shouldn't have said that. Once again Bowser let loose a stream of fire onto the old crone, making her scream in pain. The enraged Koopa King stormed out of the castle as Cammy fell backwards from the wall.
"Note to self, keep your old mouth shut, Cammy."
The people of Nimbus Kingdom, as well as the other residence of the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as Rogueport, were excited to hear the news of Princess Peach being married. Some were disappointed that it wasn't to Mario. Some thought that it was the right choice to make. Others thought that Mario should've proposed when he had the chance. Yet nobody knew of Sterling Kingdom, or of their prince, Darius. A few people in the Mushroom Kingdom were assuming thatDarius wasn't a prince, more like a princess, and that Peach went "loose." But from the description that a female toad told them he sounded like a miracle from the Star Road itself. Mario didn't seem to enjoy hearing people talk about the engagement. A part of him didn't want to go to Peach's engagement party, but he had to. He was Peach's best friend for years. There was no way he would disappoint her. Hours passed and the people whom Peach and Mario met on their journeys were coming into the Mushroom Kingdom, talking about the engagemnt. He even got a comment fromMs. Mowzabout it.
"Hey, if you don't care for Peach anymore I'll marry ya." she joked, kissing Mario on the cheek.
That didn't make Mario feel comfortable either. He groaned about it, kicking the dirt on the ground. He wanted to know what made this "Darius" so special that Peach had to marry him over the one who saved her on multiple occassions. As the time drew near, Luigi and Mario walked to the castle with their gifts. Luigi was thinking about giving Peach copies of his books while Mario was going to give her a Mailbox SP, one similar to his. As they entered the castle it was crammed with people from all over the Mushroom Kingdom and Rogueport. Mario wanted to try and find Peach before the announcement. He set his present on the table with the rest of them while Luigi mingled with the guests, bragging about his journey to save Princess Eclair. Prince Mallow, soon to be king, was engaged as well toa lovely princess named Yun. Frogfucius was pleased to hear that.
Mario was pleasedto hear about Mallow's life, but he still wanted to find Peach. He headed toward her room when a voice stopped him.
"Mario? Is that you?" came a female's voice.
Mario slowly turned around and saw a young woman that resembled Peach standing behind him. This girl was wearing a yellow dress instead of pink, and her hair was brunette instead of blond. She had a white flower in her hair, along with a similar tiara.
"Daisy?" Mario asked.
Daisy, the girl,giggled excitedly and hugged the plumber. She hadn't seen Mario since him and Luigi went to her kingdom, Sarasaland, and saved her from the space demon, Tatanga.
"How have you been, Daisy?" he asked.
"Oh, just fine, really. I came here to give my support for my cousin during this engagement. By the way, who was the name of the person she's marrying?" Daisy asked.
"His name is Darius of the Sterling Kingdom. Tell me, Daisy, have you heard of the Sterling Kingdom?"
Daisy looked at him buffled. She was as confused as he was. She had never heard of the Sterling Kingdom at all. She shook her head, this disappointing Mario. He had hoped that Daisy knew a thing or two about this mysterious Sterling Kingdom.
"Sorry, Mario. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but..."
"It's okay, Daisy. It's okay. I understand. I was going to ask Peach about him in the first..."
Mario was interrupted by the sound of fanfare. Apparently Peach and Darius were already on their way to the front of the castle. Mario and Daisy quickly ran to the front as fast as their feet could take them. There she stood at the top of the staircase, dressed in a beautiful silver dress. Next to her was a tall man that resembled the prince of Fire Emblem, Marth, except his hair was silver and his eyes were silver as well. He wore a silver tuxedo, grasping Peach, hand-in-hand. Peach looked radiant. The citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, Nimbus Kingdom, and Rogueport bowed before the two, as did Mario, Daisy, and Luigi. Mario looked at the young man standing by Peach, the man whom he was feeling total rage toward. Total jealousy, even. His hand balled up into a fist, wanting to launch a Fire Orb the size of Bowser's shell at him. Peach gave the hand signal to the people to raise. They did as commanded.
"Subjects of the Mushroom Kingdom. Friends and allies to us all. We bid you welcome to a new day and era to our glorious reign. Days ago, I met this man, Prince Darius of the Sterling Kingdom. Together, hand-in-hand, in holy matrimony, we will unite our kingdoms into one. Together, the Mushroom Kingdom AND the Sterling Kingdom will know peace forevermore." Peach said, the people applauding.
"Foremost, for those of you unfamiliar with the Sterling Kingdom tradition for weddings, Prince Darius is to hand his bride in true affection the symbol of peace and unification. The legendary crystal, the Tierkreis. With it shall the new age of peace begin."
The subjects applauded in celebration. Darius bowed his head to the people attending the party and spoke to a tall, young, blond man. The man nodded and walked to the back of the castle. Seconds later, the man returned, holding a beautiful crystal in hand. It was a round, silver crystal with a golden circle etched onto it. The circle itself was something Mario and Luigi recognized. The symbols of the constellations... no, the Twelve Zodiacs: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Saggitarius. The man handed Darius the crystal, which started to glow a white light in his hands. Peach held out her hands and touched the crystal as well. The crystal then flashed pink. She flashed Darius a smile that Mario had only seen her do in front of him. To his surprise, he saw Peach closing in on Darius for a long, passionate kiss. Before it could be made, the north wall exploded. The people screamed in fear and ran. Peach was launched into the opposite direction of the wall, crashing against a table and shattering a vase. Darius gasped and looked at the source of the explosion. Right on cue, the King Koopa himself, Bowser, in his Clown Copter, emerged through the hole he had made, Cammy flying by him. Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Peach, Mallow, and Darius glared at him. How dare Bowser ruin this glorious day? But secretly in mind, Mario was waiting for this to happen. It would be a cold day in hell before he let anyone else kiss Princess Peach.
"Did someone forget about the Koopa King here! HUH!" Bowser laughed.
Author's Note: Dope! I forgot to add a disclaimer at the beginning. Oh well. As you figured, I don't own Mario whatsoever. However, Darius and the Tierkreis is an original idea of mind. Just so people know, for all you new generation Mario peeps, I added familiar characters such as Mallow, Frogfucius, Daisy, Kamek, and Tatanga just so people can remember the good ol' days of Mario. Don't expect Paulina, though. Sorry. Read and review, please.
PS: Whaddya guys think of Mario's little jealousy thing going on? I don't know why, but when I wrote this chapter it reminded me of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe because of the whole "I'm so P.O.ed right now I could blow someone up," kind of deal. But I'll let you guys give your opinion. No flaming, though. Don't make me hurt you, lol.
