W3d. Green. The symbol of life. Without green, the world will fall to ruin.
Rosalina's attention snapped suddenly towards the balcony which had a view of the nearby Castle Grounds golf course. Worry struck her sharp features as she stared out into the distance, suddenly drawn away from her joyous, incredibly awkward attempt at dancing with Peach and Mario.
"Rosalina?" Peach stopped her celebratory dancing when she noticed her friend's sudden change in demeanor. While Rosalina was often a mystery to the pink princess, this sort of worry seemed sudden and incredibly troubling. "Is something the matter?"
Mfk3t. The Lady in Turquoise. A symbol of rebirth and renewal. Without turquoise, all will perish.
Rosalina glared sharply at the balcony. What was out there speaking on this level of existence? It was otherworldly, bellowing in a voice only the galaxies understood, speaking words from a long-lost language. Only she had heard the voice, and it troubled her. All will perish? The world will fall to ruin? "Something's very wrong," she replied to Peach. She wasn't sure she could explain this to her pink-clad friend, but she also wasn't certain she knew what was happening quite yet.
A rumbling resounded in the room, quickly interrupting the joyous music and drawing everyone's attention to the balcony where the sky suddenly turned black, or it seemed to, at least, as the black wispy cloud began to overtake the balcony and flow into the room. A few stars twinkled within the blackness, but they weren't stars belonging to the natural order of the galaxies. They'd been kidnapped.
"Star eater!" Rosalina shouted at the darkness, withdrawing her star wand from her sleeve. Several Lumas fell out of her sleeve as well, quickly clinging seeking refuge by clinging to Rosalina's legs. Using her wand, she drew a large circle, creating a barrier to protect the party guests as the galactic cloud flowed into the ballroom. The bubble barrier grew, enveloping the crowd.
"Do you know that... thing?" Peach asked, planting herself behind Rosalina. Right now, that seemed to be the safest location as Mario would probably be drawn out to fight the thing. While Bowser was certainly adept at magic, as was his advisor Kamek, this seemed a bit far beyond his scope of capabilities.. This thing, whatever it could be called, felt different. It put a pit in Peach's heart, a fear in her mind. Something was wrong.
Rosalina shook her head. "I do not; however this thing has swallowed stars. I fear it's up to no good." That was understating the situation, really, but she didn't want to cause unnecessary panic, especially as they were supposed to be celebrating. Yet in her heart, she knew something more sinister was afoot. A star eater was hardly a good sign and was a possible threat to the safety and lives of the stars and people dwelling near them.
The luma near Rosalina began acting somewhat strangely, its glow falling dimmer as it suddenly turned around and stumbled towards the middle of the crowd. It grew larger rapidly, expanding at an unprecedented rate. Rosalina turned, calling out to it in the language of the stars but it payed her no mind. Suddenly stopping before Luigi and Daisy, it quickly wrapped itself around Luigi despite his best efforts to wiggle free.
"Oh no you don't!" Daisy shouted, frantically kicking the possessed luma. "Give him back! He's mine!" True, Luigi could handle himself once he'd been pushed past his fear, but this sort of thing seemed even beyond him and Daisy combined.
Rosalina pleaded again, this time in an understandable language, "Luma! What are you doing? Please stop! Luigi is our friend!" The other lumas huddled around Rosalina, afraid. What was happening to it? Would the same thing happen to them?
"W3d," it replied, its voice somewhat warped and deep. Its color was fading away, turning the same black as the wispy cloud that had invaded the room. It lost its light, falling quickly into darkness.
"Luigi!" Mario reached forward, attempting to pull his brother out of the luma. He managed to grab Luigi's hand, but even pulling with all his might, he couldn't stop the consumption. Luigi's hand, along with his entire body, had been consumed by the possessed luma, which now proceeded to chew on Mario.
"Dshr," the luma stated, pulling Mario further and further inside it. Several star bits fell out of Mario's pocket as he was pulled inside, catching the attention of the real luma under the spell but only for a moment, before it sucked Mario inside then quickly dissipated, becoming a wisp of black smoke and floating away.
Peach leapt for the wisp but it evaded her grasp, leaving her on her knees on the ground, sobbing miserably. Daisy stood devastated beside her, staring in disbelief. She'd finally found happiness and it had been ripped from her very grasp. Both brothers were gone in less than a minute.
Rosalina turned to see the cloud retreat quickly back through the balcony and away from the castle. What did this ancient cloud want with the Mario Brothers? Star eaters were normally after stars and stardust, craving the taste of creation, yet eating two human brothers seemed completely uncharacteristic.
W3d. Dshr. Green. Red. Luigi. Mario.
Just what was it planning?
...
After spending a few days with Peach and Daisy to comfort them and ensure their safety, Rosalina had left the two princesses and returned to her home among the stars. The mysterious shadow plagued her mind since it had attacked the celebration.
The shadow had spoken in an ancient language, one even the stars seemed to have forgotten. It had first spoken of green and turquoise, but for some reason, it took red in place of turquoise. Rosalina turned the idea over in her head a few times, reasoning that Mario's disappearance was a mistake in the end. If going by colors, the intended target would have been her.
Speaking in ancient terms, the Lady in Turquoise which the shadow had mentioned, was the goddess of the sun and stars, a symbol of rebirth and renewal. Rosalina lived among the stars and she wore a blue similar to turquoise. It made sense, though why their absence would send the world into ruin she didn't quite understand. The stars would continue to live even without her.
What worried her even more was that the cloud could possess her luma. It frightened the other luma, and they hid themselves within the Comet Observatory and within the sleeves of her dress, hoping to not be possessed as well. Rosalina had holed herself away in the Observatory's library, hoping to find something in any of her books that would point to what this thing truly was and how to stop it. This thing was more than just a star eater; it was something more ancient and dangerous. And most important of all, she wished to find a way to return those who were taken. She had to rescue her friends.
She closed the book suddenly, standing up. The luma hiding in her sleeves shifted anxiously. "We need more information," she stated aloud. What she had at the Observatory just wasn't enough, but there was one place that might have the answer.
Rosalina piloted the Observatory across the galaxy to the only place she could even imagine contained information about such an ancient language. She shook the luma out of her sleeves, asking for them to help her search the ancient archives to find the answer. They quickly scattered about the Ancient Library seated at the heart of Sagittarius A*, the heart and soul of the galaxy. They were certain that the place would be safe even from the star eater.
Sure enough, after several days of searching, two luma returned with a large book titled The Colors of Recreation. Taking the book, Rosalina dusted it off, causing several luma to sneeze. The book looked as though it hadn't been checked out in millennia. She sat down, leaning against the bookshelf while the luma crowded around her. They felt safe around mama, and like Rosalina, they were curious why this odd ancient shadow had suddenly absorbed their friends, Luigi and Mario.
The book was ancient, perhaps as old as the galaxy itself. It was relatively thick, requiring both of her hands to hold it. The cover was decorated in geometric shapes in red, green, and turquoise, surrounded by frames of gold. The binding of the book was an ancient yet seemingly eternal technique of glue and twine, sewing the pages to the hard leather binding. The pages had yellowed throughout the years, warping slightly at the edges. Rosalina delicately turned the pages, studying the drawings decorating each page.
The first few sections detailed the birth of a new galaxy, the flow of magic and energy traveling from one point to the next, creating stars and worlds alike. The next few chapters showed unfortunate ends to galaxies. Collisions with other galaxies, pulling of magical forces, and simply dying after living out their full lives. None of this was new information. Rosalina knew much about the lives of the stars and their galaxies.
Yet one section remained within the book, one completely unexpected. "The Recreation of Worlds," she read the title aloud. "I don't remember this being in any of my books." True, some had tried to recreate worlds with galactic engines, but that was all modern technology and black magic. This book was far too ancient for such modern techniques.
Seeing the next page, she nearly dropped the book, gasping. It detailed something almost horrific: an ancient, magic-powered world engine which was capable of destroying a living world and stars and recreating them according to the world master's vision. It showed four stars of different colors with energy being forcibly removed, each one labeled in the language the mysterious cloud had spoken. The luma, sensing her surprise and shock, cowered behind her for protection, though a few peered over her arms to see what this book contained.
"Dshr, red," she read the first body's description aloud, tapping a finger on the page. "'The color of destruction and of life. This is the first color required to begin reformation.'" She paused. Mario was indeed red, but did he truly represent this sort of power? Granted, Mario was a hero beyond all description, capable of helping restore the stars and the luma who had gotten lost before. Was it possible someone so pure-hearted could also cause destruction and reformation?
She continued to the next body. "Mfk3t, Turquose." The cloud had spoken of this when it had first arrived. "'The power of restoration. With this power, the new world will begin.'" So far, the cloud had only mentioned turquoise but did not possess the power. Rosalina had planned to keep it that way.
Moving to the next color. "W3d. Green. 'The power of renewal, the power required to rebuild the new world.' Luigi!" He did have a pure heart like his brother, though Luigi was far too often overlooked. His heart was perhaps stronger than his brothers, though he was often held back by cowardice or shyness.
"The final color, Khenet. Gold. 'The color of eternal persistence. This power will breathe life into this new world, making it eternal.' Daisy?" She certainly was a persistent person, capable of surviving many hardships and continuing on with such a positive attitude. The cloud hadn't mentioned gold, but perhaps it was attempting to collect them in order.
"'For the restoration, one must build the world engine and power it with the life of the planet and the stars.' The life of the planet and stars?" she glanced at the luma, who were now truly afraid. Of course, that was why she sensed the cloud was a star eater. It literally needed the power of the stars to create this world engine. "This has to be stopped. We can't allow that to happen."
Closing the book, she stood up and tucked it under her arm. "Send word to the luma staying with Peach. We need to warn her. Tell her we'll be on our way."
"That won't be necessary, Mfk3t."
Rosalina dropped the book in surprise. "Star eater!" Before her stood a man in a floor-length robe colored like a nebula and the stars, his scraggly hair covered in stardust. Like Rosalina, he was floating above the ground, seemingly floating on the mysterious cloud-like substance from where his feet would be.
"That's harsh, Lady in Turquoise," he chided. "If only you could see the vision for the new world. Pity you won't live long enough, lady of the stars." He suddenly thrust his arms out to the side, his cloak opening up to reveal galactic energies and stars. "I'll be taking you with me."