Chapter 4 Kamella
Junior trekked across the barren, black landscape, tears streaming down his face. He had been listening in on the conversation that Bowser and the Koopalings had the night before. The emotions that he had regarding his birth story were ones that he wanted to desperately get rid of. All his life, he had been wishing for the presence of a mother. To hear that he didn't have one, never had one, and never will have one caused him great amounts of distress.
And Bowser had been right. The Koopalings had no idea who their mother was. For all they knew, she could be the worst person in the entire world. After all, she had given them up before they were even born. But no matter how bad of a person she could possibly be, there was the guarantee that she did exist. Or at least had existed.
With this thought in mind, Junior picked up the pace. He didn't want to go back home. His dad would normally comfort him during times like this, but his dad was mad at him right now. He hadn't given Junior his punishment yet, but the fact that he promised the Koopalings that there would be a punishment filled Junior with a sense of dread. He had never been punished before.
Junior walked for a good four hours. He wanted to go for longer, but he was feeling extremely hungry. And thirsty. He realized that he probably should have packed a lunch before he headed out. He walked for about ten more minutes before the hunger and thirst became overpowering. He decided that if he couldn't eat, the least he could do for himself was lie down and rest. With that, he got down on his belly and just went to sleep.
…
Junior woke up in what felt like a bed made of straw. He looked around and saw that he was in some kind of hut. There was a cauldron in the center of the room, and shelves were situated all over the walls. Junior squinted at the jars on the shelves, and he saw that most of them contained eyeballs. Junior instantly felt like throwing up.
"Where the World Eight am I?" he asked out loud.
"Language, young man," said a smooth female voice.
Junior saw a magikoopa coming out of the next room. She wore a purple robe and had green lips. She smiled down at Junior. Junior only scoffed.
"I'm the Koopa Prince," he said. "I can do whatever I want."
The magikoopa chuckled.
"Yes, I suppose that is true," she said. She extended her hand toward Junior. "I'm Kamella, your highness."
Junior stared at her hand for a minute before he decided that he had better shake it.
"So," Kamella said. "Why were you sleeping in the middle of nowhere?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Junior said as he stared at the blanket.
Kamella's expression grew darker.
"You know, if you don't want to talk, I have other ways of getting information out of you," she said. "I have a truth telling potion on one of my shelves."
Junior scoffed.
"If it is that stuff that has the human eye in it, I'm not going to take it," he said.
"Alright," said Kamella. "Then I could probe your mind."
Junior noticed that Kamella didn't have a wand in her hand, which was required for the practice of mind probing.
"And how are you going to do that?" Junior asked.
Kamella let out a teensy smile.
"I have many wands in my storage closet," she said.
"That is illegal," said Junior. "Dad told me that magikoopas are only allowed to have one wand, considering the star bits that serve as the wands' gemstones are hard to come by on this planet."
Now Kamella beamed.
"You really are a clever koopa, your majesty," she complimented the young prince. "I suppose that due to that, you may keep your intentions a secret."
As Kamella walked into the next room, Junior instantly felt a longing developing in his mind. The truth was, he wanted to talk about what had happened.
"Wait," Junior said.
Kamella turned back around, and Junior launched into the full story. He told her about his birth story, the ice cream incident, what he said to the Koopalings, and how his father still had yet to dole out a punishment. Kamella listened intently and when Junior was done, she looked genuinely sympathetic.
"Hmm. Yes, I have heard about your birth story in the past," she said. "I can imagine that knowledge feels like a heavy weight on your heart."
Junior instantly burst into tears. Kamella went over to the bed and patted him on the back.
"It's just...it's not fair!" Junior said between sobs. "Why can't I have a mother? Everyone else does. Even the Koopalings." Junior dried his eyes. "I wanted to talk to my dad about this, but he seems okay with the birth story. And the Koopalings couldn't possibly understand! They're just...I don't even know what they are." Tears started to flow down Junior's face again, and Kamella wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh, baby," she said with a hurt tone. "I can't say I know what it is like to live without a mother, but I do understand that it must be hard. You must be lonely."
Junior shook his head.
"I don't know if I would say that," he said. "I have my dad and the Koopalings."
"But didn't you just say that you can't go to them? Isn't it true that your siblings wouldn't understand?"
Junior thought about this. She had a point. He supposed on some level, he was lonely.
"I guess...I guess the one thing I want the most is something that I can't have," Junior said.
Kamella nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that can be hard to wrestle with," she said. Then she smiled. "You know, I can't give you a real mother. But I can do something."
Junior looked up at Kamella.
"What is that?" he asked.
"I've always wanted a child of my own. Why don't I be your adoptive mother?"
Junior's eyes twinkled and he bounced out of the bed.
"You can do that?" he asked.
"Yes I can," said Kamella. "Of course, my experience with kids might be a little rusty, but I can still do my best."
Junior beamed.
"That would be awesome!" he squealed. "Thank you, Kamella!"
Kamella smiled down at Junior.
"You're welcome, son," she said. Then she got up off the bed. "Now, why don't we see about getting you something to eat?"
