Hour of the Wolf:
The evening hours dimmed the sky as Bowser, Daisy, and Warra made their way into The Forest Meadow. As they moved towards the center, an astral clone of Rosalina appeared in front of them just as before. Warra bowed in front of the image of the cosmic being, but Bowser was not so generous.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Bowser shouted. "You said you had nothing to do with anyone's dreams! And yet Warra here says that you came to him in one of his!"
"I was aware and surprised that you were able to take down the Flame Behemoth by yourself, Bowser," said Rosalina.
"You're the one that wanted to underestimate me," Bowser replied. "Now tell us what's up!"
"I did not cause any dreams of yours," Rosalina confirmed. "However, I felt the need to intervene in some of those dreams. I did not interfere with yours or Daisy's because you two knew of my existence already, and would therefore seek me out. The other six elemental wielders, including Warra, did not know me. Because of this, I felt the need to visit them in their slumber and offer my aide to them. I have already visited Warra, but I will be visiting the others in their dreams tonight and relay to them what happened today so that they may join you as soon as possible. We can be certain that they are experiencing the same nightmares that you have experienced; the nightmares of your elements turning against you."
"I am grateful for your aide, lady of the cosmos," said Warra.
"We are all grateful," added Daisy. "We were discussing our trip to the Stone Shrine earlier and how we would need the stone wielder to be with us."
"I see," said Rosalina. "Then I will have to visit that person first. Remember that I will be watching from above. So whatever happens, whatever information you figure out, I will know as well. From here on out, should we need to communicate, I will provide an astral clone to speak through wherever you are at that moment when necessary, as the rest of your mission will take you on a grand tour of the continent and you will not be able to return to the area here until your task has been completed. The Stone Shrine is just north of here, but the rest of the shrines are far away."
"This shrine stuff feels like some sort of video game," muttered Bowser.
"If this was a game, this would have to be one of the most demented ever made," Daisy remarked.
"I assure you this is far from being a game," said Rosalina. "I also see you encountered our enemy on the way back."
"Yes," replied Bowser. "And he is a very formidable adversary at that. The magnitude of his energy signature is unreal."
"Avoid conflict with him if you can," Rosalina advised. "You are not able to even consider rivaling him in your current states."
"We'll try not to engage," said Warra.
"Before you leave, I have some information that may be of interest," said Rosalina. "The area the Stone Shrine is in has become very harsh and desolate. Exercise caution."
"Why? What happened there?" asked Bowser.
"Our enemy has created a dimensional rift there," Rosalina said.
Varying degrees of shock appeared Daisy's, Bowser's, and Warra's faces. Dimensional portals were not unheard of, and actually was a special ability among some beings, but an entire dimensional rift was not only deemed immoral, but nearly impossible as well.
"That's just insane..." said Daisy, her tone grim.
Rosalina went on. "The entire south-central region of the continent has been warped by this rift. In addition, the corruption of the stone element has advanced dramatically. The Stone Shrine still remains, unchanged, but its resting place, the mountainous Abnoba Desert, has become a cascading wasteland of distorted platforms, some of which seem to defy the law of gravity. However, the dimensional rift seems to have prevented the effects from radiating outwards past that region. I cannot explain this."
"Some things you just can't," Warra replied.
"Remember what we discussed here," said the Elder of the Cosmos. "I must now leave you and attend to other affairs. I wish you luck on your journey, all three of you. And I will be sure to spread this information around to the other fated ones."
"Rosalina, wait!" Daisy quickly called out.
"Yes?" Rosalina asked.
"I was wondering about last night..." Daisy said. "Before we left to get ready to go to the Fire Shrine, you referred to me as, 'Earthen Spirit.' Why was that? What did that mean?"
"And you referred to me as 'Flame Titan!'" Bowser added.
Rosalina smiled, saying, "That's something you will figure out and realize for yourself as you progress throughout your journey." As soon as she finished her statement, her astral clone dissipated.
"Let's return to my palace," said Bowser. "I'm getting hungry, and we need rest for tomorrow."
"Yeah, let's eat!" the earth wielder agreed. "You're coming along, right Warra?"
"I'd be glad to," the water wielder answered. "I'm very grateful for the hospitality."
"Don't mention it," the fire wielder responded. "I don't have company over too often."
The moonlit sky vibrantly projected a serene nightly glow on Bowser's palace. Standing in the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom, the four-story building had a very regal appearance to it with a new age feel mixed in. Almost every animal in the area was deep in slumber.
The wind lightly blew outside, but inside, Daisy still could not sleep. The same prophetic nightmares plagued her, but a new feature had made its way into her dreams – Someone that she didn't want to see found his way into her sleep. This realization had upset her greatly to the point where anger kept her from getting her nightly rest. Maybe I'm just an angry soul, she thought. Truth be told, I haven't had much to not be angry about.
The constant tossing and turning in the bed irritated her further, and her arm still felt ginger from earlier in the day. As the minutes passed she became evermore restless. Rarely are her eyebrows not seen arched or furrowed, and now was no exception. At times she couldn't figure out if she was asleep or awake, and once wondered whether she was dead or alive. The palace was deafeningly silent.
Daisy decided to get up out of the bed for just a little bit. I need as much sleep as possible for the upcoming trials that lie ahead, she thought. But there's no use frustrating myself from being too frustrated to go to sleep. That's nothing but a self-fulfilling prophecy.
She walked out of the guest room she was in and stealthily strolled through the hallways and down a couple flights of stairs. Her night vision let her see without turning on any lights and waking anybody up as she made her way to the back of the palace and out the door. She stepped outside onto a large, tile-floored patio illuminated by the lunar light and the sporadic night torches from the palace walls, all giving way to a staircase that led into a large garden maze with a water fountain in the center. The whole patio was lined with gray railings, and to the right, Bowser was leaning over one, looking off into the distance.
"The hour of the wolf..." Bowser mumbled, sensing that Daisy was behind him. "The hour when the troubles of the spirit are in full force and you are forced to confront them, unable to retreat back into dreamland..."
"So that you can be brutalized by your own element?" the earth wielder asked.
"No. I didn't have any dreams about fires," the koopa responded. "And I don't think I will since we dealt with the Fire Shrine earlier."
"Then why aren't you asleep?"
"Why aren't you asleep," Bowser replied flatly.
"Too much on my mind," answered Daisy.
"Too much on mine," said Bowser.
Daisy then thought back to Rosalina and Bowser's exchange the day before, then realized what must have been weighing on Bowser. "I don't know the how or why of your rivalry with Mario and your hatred with the Toadstool family," she began. "Come to think of it, I don't know much about you at all, but I can tell that you must've gone through a lot to want to wage battle after battle against the Mushroom Kingdom. So I can also tell that you're not the villain everyone of the kingdom makes you out to be. You're just misunderstood."
Bowser did not respond.
"You have reason for it all, don't you?" asked the earth wielder. "I want to know."
"Why?" the koopa asked. "So you can mold some perception of me?"
"My perception of everyone and everything," came the response.
Bowser paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Even if I did tell you, then what? What would you do with the information? What do you hope to gain from it?"
"Understanding," was Daisy's solid and true response.
Bowser made another deep breath before he spoke. "We koopas were a peacefully thriving nation who worked in harmony with the surrounding races, inhabiting the land that is now the mushroom kingdom. Everything was as it was supposed to be..." his voice trailed off before picking back up again. "...Until the Toadstool family invaded our land and attacked."
"Peach's family?" Daisy asked, dumbfounded. "But why?"
"They wanted our land for its location in relation to the surrounding nations and the sea south of here, as well as the bountiful resources that we were graced with. And when they saw us, they mistook our appearances as evil and threatening to their existence...so they wiped out ours in response."
Bowser's tone grew grim and heavy. "Koopa after koopa was eliminated in an all-out offensive. Their weaponry and technology were unlike anything we had ever seen... We had no response. The princess, Peach, a simple tween at the time was the one in charge of the patrol squadron that infiltrated the citadel where my parents and I resided in times of distress. I, roughly the same age as her, and the heir to the throne, watched my parents get cut down right in front of me. An overhead explosion had given me a chance to take cover and escape from their sight. The last thing I remember was hearing the demented laugh of one of the soldiers while watching my parents get beaten to near death, chained, and taken away in cages as if they were slaves or circus animals. That princess looked on with the best poker face you would have ever witnessed. They assumed I was dead, crushed by debris, so they left. I never saw or heard of or from my parents again."
The koopa paused for just a moment. "But I remembered that woman's face and the name 'Toadstool.' "
Daisy could not remove the dour expression from her face. It was a gruesome story, but she did not doubt its truth. There was nothing but truth in his voice.
Bowser went on talking. "Our bountiful kingdom was laid to waste. Not even our ruins were sparred. Our numbers are now but a fraction of what they once were thanks to them. Us survivors and our affiliates were exiled to the outskirts and wasteland territories outside of the kingdom's boundaries." His voice choked in emotional agony for a brief moment. "The Mushroom Kingdom has masqueraded itself, building up an image of a clean and utopian nation of pure values, but its current status was achieved through war and massacre – Tell me what is honorable about that!"
Daisy had no response, allowing Bowser to get out all he had to say.
"As a result, I have grown bitter of humankind, especially towards the Toadstool monarchy where all my hatred is directed. How could anyone think that my actions towards that kingdom are senseless and meaningless? Only humans would destroy and conquer for no other reason than their personal gain. But no, I am seen as the villain by all those that aren't koopas. I only wish to bring about justice and return honor to the Koopa name! I only wish to restore the prosperity and peace that was stripped away when those beings came and so ungracefully slaughtered the innocent that were my people!"
Daisy remained motionless and silent. It was definitely a lot to have to take in, but none of Bowser's words were lost on her.
"If Rosalina is indeed correct, then on this journey, I may be able to find out what happened to my parents. But as far as the genocide of my people..." Bowser's eyes glared at Daisy with a fierce and shining passion. "I carry the hatred of an entire clan and the burden of revenge – it's just simply something you couldn't possibly understand!"
Daisy lowered her eyes, and said in a cool, somber voice, "Oh, I understand completely..."
"A bold declaration," the Koopa King responded.
Daisy took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's not bold at all. You see, I try to be happy and cheery and all that, but it's really hard sometimes. I'm really mad, really bitter, about a lot of things."
"Is that so?" asked Bowser. "Oh this I've got to hear."
Daisy reopened her eyes but her voice became much more depressive. "Since I was a kid, my father has been the King of Sarasaland. I doubt you've heard of it, but it's a nation built in the heart of a great forest in the far east of the world. When I was a child, my mother told me that I was born with a great amount of natural energy that was far more substantial than the greatest warrior in the Sarasaland. But at that age, I didn't know how to use it. My mother didn't want me to use it. As the years went on, I would slowly learn, but my mother looked at me as if my power was more of a nuisance and a curse than a blessing. She wanted me to be a princess, to involve myself in the political affairs her and my father were always in...but...I never wanted that." She sighed. "In the end, it didn't matter what I wanted because my father would always force it upon me anyways, and my mother always went along with whatever he said."
The rasp in Daisy's voice increased in indignation as she went on. "About five years ago or so, our kingdom was encountered by some race of alien beings. The alien leader, Tatanga, demanded that my father surrender all resources and wealth to the aliens or they would kill him and raid the kingdom themselves. My father however, was stubborn and did not want to comply to any of the terms. Instead, I was given away to the aliens to be used as a type of nuclear reactor - to be used as nothing more but a resource to harvest energy from. My mother did nothing to change the situation. She was always on his side..."
A small gust of wind cut through the air. It seemed that as Daisy said more, she became increasingly angered.
"My earth teacher, Master Terran, had taught me most of what I know in regards to my handling of earth. My mother objected to his presence when she learned that he was teaching me and ordered him to be banished from the kingdom, but if it wasn't for him...who knows where I'd be right now..."
Daisy's tone suddenly lit up."Who would think, that a man would sell his only child just to save himself?!" She clenched her fist. "Why should I trust anyone if I cannot even trust my own parents?!"
A wide-eyed Bowser looked on at the earth wielder. Yet another gust blew through in between her words, coinciding with a shift in Daisy's tone. "I am grateful for Mario's aide against Tatanga. I think I'm actually grateful for having left with Tatanga in the first place, because I was then finally able to get away from my parents. My goal after that was to take advantage of my natural blessing of energy and become as strong as I possibly could be so that I would be dependent upon no one. I now strive to be the very best that I can be so that I can escape from the shadow of my father and emerge as a woman with exemplary power. Yeah, you know what – I am distant, and I am aloof, and I have kept a lot to myself, but it's to make sure that I can work on my skills and hone my athletic abilities the way I always intended to! I will not be controlled and treated like some mindless puppet the way he treated me! As far as I'm concerned, I HAD NO FATHER!" Her voice echoed outwards as her eyes started to shine."So you see, I am well aware of what mankind is capable of, which is why I am not surprised by your story one bit!"
Bowser did not say anything, but continued to listen. Daisy had all the right in the world to vent.
"I don't believe your revenge is right, but I will not object to your decisions," Daisy firmly stated. "I am in no position to say anything. But somewhere out there, your parents may be wandering about, and I believe that at least if only for the time being, you should heed Rosalina's words and continue with our mission."
A long pause ensued, broken by the occasional rustle of a breeze through the garden. The two both took in what the other had said, both with weighted words and pasts that have been looming on their spirits and influencing much of their present decisions.
Bowser then closed his eyes and finally broke the silence. "Every time I kidnapped Peach, I would interrogate her to find out how her and her family did it, why they did it, what happened to my family... I would get either a bowed head or another emotionless stare, and it would always come in silence. And every time, I would ask if she or any of them felt guilty at all about their actions. She would not answer that either."
He opened his eyes halfway, maintaining the quiet volume of his voice. "We live in a world where the strongest survive and the weak perish – that's how it has always been and how it will always be. Humans have taken advantage of this world to create their ideal society at the expense of other races and species. Don't think that I don't realize that there are outliers, but those outliers are few and far between. It's those outliers that are able to see and perceive with untainted eyes, and unbiased judgment. So if what you said is true, then you may be one of those outliers."
Bowser locked eye contact with Daisy. "Whatever you do, don't let the world change that, even if it means you have to walk alone in your path for the rest of your life."
