Just uh… building up momentum. Yeah, that's it. "Momentum"
(It's totally not filler, no.)
…
I promise the next chapter will be full of so much plot it'll totally make up for this one!
…
Chapter one.
For the last few days, it was all Kamek could do not to scream.
Since the incident with his crystal ball, he and Kammy had been doing nothing but trying to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on. Of course, spending this much time with Kammy was enough to make Kamek want to retch, and it was made worse by the fact that the odd magical field wouldn't go away. Every crystal ball in the castle was in pieces, numerous magic talismans had burst into flames and casting any sort of spell took the utmost concentration in order not to backfire. Not to mention the fact that the imbalance between his body's innate magic and the magic around him was making him feel very much like a helium balloon at the bottom of the ocean.
And then there was this.
He and Kammy both found themselves standing before King Bowser, who had started to catch on to the crisis among the castle's magic-users. They had tried to hide it from him, they really had—after all, Bowser wasn't the patient type and they really didn't think his constant and inevitable demands that they tell him what was going on RIGHT NOW would help—but some things just couldn't be concealed.
"Would you two care to explain why none of my Magikoopas will tell me where my kids hid my diary?!" the Koopa King roared.
Kamek and Kammy glanced at each other.
"Er…," Kamek said.
"That is to say…," Kammy mumbled.
"Well?!" Bowser rumbled.
Kamek hesitated, then looked to Kammy. "Show him your crystal ball."
Kammy frowned, then waved her hand. A bag appeared before her, and she handed it to Bowser. Bowser emptied its contents onto the floor, making a pile of glass shards at his feet.
"You broke your crystal ball?" Bowser asked, "So what?"
Kamek produced a bag of his own and handed it to Bowser. "Here's mine."
"You too?" Bowser rolled his eyes, dropping the bag onto the remains of Kammy's ball. "So you're telling me that every Magikoopa has suddenly become really, really clumsy."
"No, your highness," Kamek said, "We can't work our crystal balls at all, they keep overloading and breaking. Something's wrong with the magical field here."
Kamek was sure that Bowser had no idea what that meant, and he was proven right when Bowser said simply, "So fix it."
"We can't, sire," Kammy said.
"We've been trying," Kamek told him.
"It's just not that simple," Kammy added.
"So how am I supposed to find my diary if you idiots can't use your magical whatsits for me?"
Discipline your children for once so they'll just tell you? Said the little voice in Kamek's head. He sighed. "Look for it, I suppose?"
Bowser grunted, leaning back in his throne. He furrowed his brow, looking rather agitated. "So tell me, why can't my greatest wizards solve this problem, whatever it is?"
Kamek didn't know what to say, but Kammy spoke up instead.
"We'll figure it out soon, your highness," she assured him, completely dodging his real question. "We can assure you of that. Everything will be right as rain very soon."
"Right," Kamek nodded, "We can assure you that we've got every magic-user in the kingdom working on this around the clock. No problem is so difficult that we can't solve it."
Bowser huffed, unimpressed. He waved them away. "So get to it. Go."
Kamek and Kammy both bowed hurriedly and shuffled out of the throne room, breathing heavy sighs of relief as they exited. The two elder Magikoopas walked down the hall, heading toward their studies.
"We need to figure this out soon, Kamek," Kammy said.
"I know," Kamek replied.
"This can't be an omen of anything good," she said.
"I know," Kamek said again.
"I can't even think of anything that could possibly prevent us from controlling all this excess magic," Kammy said, adjusting her gaudy glasses. "Really, I don't see what's stopping us from using it to be even stronger, but—"
"No, I can think of something," Kamek said.
"Hm?"
"Something's already in control of this magic field," Kamek said. "And it doesn't want any sort of interference."
"If that were the case, this 'something' would have to have more magic in it than the entire world does," Kammy said, "Don't you think that's a bit far-fetched?"
"I don't know," Kamek glared at Kammy, "This whole situation's pretty weird, isn't it? Shouldn't we be considering anything, even the far-fetched solutions?"
Kammy shrugged.
Kamek paused. "You were there when the Shadow Queen was released, Kammy. So tell me, what sort of magic field did she emit?"
"Something very much like this one," Kammy said, "But she was defeated; I felt her magic field dissipate. This isn't her."
Kamek nodded. "Of course, of course."
The two stopped in front of the door to Kamek's study. Kamek put a hand on the doorknob.
"I don't know how we're supposed to face this. I can barely think straight."
"I've got a constant headache," Kammy agreed.
Kamek looked to the side, staring down the shadowy corridor. "Do me a favor, Kammy."
"What?"
"Find the Shadow Sirens, and tell Beldam to stop by."
"What'll you be doing while I'm doing that?" Kammy asked, crossing her arms.
"Making protection charms," Kamek said as he opened the door to his study, "As many of them as I can."
Kamek walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He felt uneasy, and it wasn't just because of the magic imbalance.
He took a few steps into the room.
He felt like he was being watched.
He looked around. There wasn't anyone else in the room. There were no windows, no way to see into the room, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching his every move.
He snatched a piece of chalk from a nearby shelf and scrawled a protection circle onto his door.
He had the distinct feeling that he'd be needing it.