Author's Note:

Oh wow, I just realized that I didn't have anonymous reviews enabled. Heh, so for any of you who don't have an account on here want to say anything now you'll be able to do so. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Chapter 8: Splitter of the Seas

Wasting no time in continuing their adventure, Mario, Alex, and Driad make their way to the docks of Toad Town, which lies due west from E. Gadd's Laboratory. For a port mainly used for business trade and travel, it is surprisingly vacant, the only active workers being those who are taking inventory near the piles of crates underneath the crane. Even ClubWii, A.K.A. the renovated Club 64, has closed its doors for the day. "How eerie. I'm not used to this area being this empty. Usually there are boats going in and out, the Toads hustling about as they try to get stuff done." Mario is quick to note, and to find out just why things are the way they are he goes over to one of the Toads and asks them about it. "Ah, Mr. Mario, what brings you here on this inactive day?" The monocle wearing fungi named Enven T. says to the famed hero. "Just on another adventure. Say, why are the docks so quiet today?" "I'm afraid that business has been a bit slow due to how dangerous the waters are this time of year, so all that can really be done around here is inventory. Of course, anyone who wishes to visit here will now be able to enjoy the tranquility of sitting on the edge of the docks, feet kicking against the boards as the open seas play their gentle melody."

As the Toad closes his eyelids and begins to imagine that wonderful feelings, Mario places one hand against his chin and bites the lower part of lips. "Oh. Well, I hope things pick up again for you soon." He says as a bid of good faith, to which Enven T. thanks him for with a nod of his head. With that, the plumber joins his two friends over by the boards. Alex is currently at the edge of the boards, leaning out to try and find anything that resembles a palace out on the horizon. "Nothing there...Nothing there...Definitely nothing over there. Huh, if I were a palace made to hide the Water Elemental Stone, I would obviously be placed underwater...But there are no signs of one around." As he ponders to himself about the hint E. Gadd gave them, Driad and Mario stand behind him as they discuss the encounter with Joe Dark.

"Driad, if you don't mind me asking this..." "Hmm?" The Crayzee Dayzee flinches, turning his focus towards the plumber only a moment afterwards. "Yes Mario?" He says in a curious tone. "Why did you attack Joe Dark as violently as you did? Even if he was breaking one of the Forbidden Laws, there was no reason to go that far." Seeing as he was hoping that both of friends would've forgotten about what he did, Driad slants his eyelids upward and turns his head away from Mario, placing his left vine into his mouth and biting down on it. "I...I honestly don't know what to tell you Mario. When I came into the area and saw that Alex was in danger, it was like some furious instinct awoke inside of me and completely took over. If I had to take a guess, then maybe it has to do with the fact that, despite being a Good Guardian and all, I have a hidden urge to protect things I care about buried deep inside of me...At all costs."

As Mario listens in, another question comes to mind, though he is patient enough to let his friend release his thoughts, and once he is done he turns himself back around and reveals that a smile has returned to his face. "At the very least, if I do have these urges, I am able to prevent things from getting out of hand. After all, I didn't kill him, now did I?" "That's true, but I just had to state my concerns. Speaking of which, how come the Good Guardian of this next temple hasn't shown up by now?" "Beats me." The flower bluntly states with a shrug of his shoulders, to which Mario quickly responds by falling to the ground with his arms outstretched. Once he gets back up and dusts his overalls off, he asks Driad to ignore what he just did and continue. "Its not like they'd be able to recognize me. None of us have been told about the others' identities."

"How come?" The plumber asks, interested to hear the reasoning behind Driad's statement. "Probably so no mystic or user of the dark arts could read our minds and discover the locations of the other temples via our memories of where the other guardians are at. We were never told why, so I'm just theorizing here." "Sounds like a well-founded theory to me." Mario responds. "Still, I'd imagine the Good Guardian would have a unique appearance like I do. So when or if they choose to make themselves known it shouldn't be hard to identify them." As they continue their conversation, the two heroes walk out onto the boardwalk to join Alex and help him out. "Still, we don't have all day to wait for...Whoever it is to show up and assist. Not only that, but from the sounds of E. Gadd's hint I don't think they are going to show us the way to the Aqua Palace." "Maybe, maybe not. You never know until it happens." Driad retorts.

Once the two of them have made it by Alex's sides, the boy turns around and rubs the back of his head, his lips curled upward as he tries to make sense of things. "Sorry guys, but I haven't been able to figure it out...Tag-out?" "Mmm-hmm!" As both Alex and Mario switch places, they exchange a quick high-five. Now the plumber is leaning his head out to scan the seas, and Alex is standing beside Driad. "Say Alex, since we got a minute, would you mind telling me a few things about yourself?" The flower innocently requests. "Ummm..." The boy places one finger against the front of his chin and looks up towards the sky with one eye, with the other one looking down at Driad from the corner. "Like what exactly?" He asks. "Just tell me stuff you'd feel comfortable mentioning. If I'm being too intrusive, then just say so and I'll drop it." Driad responds, assuring his friend that he will respect his feelings on the subject.

"Well, I guess I'll start off with the basics. First off, unlike Mario, I was born on the Planet Earth." "Oh! Fascinating...So how did you get here?" "E. Gadd's Stargadd, a device that is apparently capable of allowing one to travel to whatever planet they desire so long as they have the name of the place in mind. Anyways, Earth is a pretty normal place honestly. Unlike here, our plants and animals can't talk, nor do our hills have eyes that watch your every move. Even so, there are some lovely sights. I myself live in a house built within a mountain range. Usually by myself since my parents..." For a few seconds, Alex stops what he is saying and his eyes show signs of sadness, which Driad quickly catches. "You ok there?" He asks. The boy shakes his head to regain his composure. "Yeah, I'm fine." Once he has finished shaking he continues talking about himself. "I'm usually by myself because my parents travel a lot, and while it does seem crazy to leave someone my age alone in a house I can assure you that I'm capable of feeding and taking care of myself. Sometimes I prepare salads-"

"What's a salad?" Driad interrupts with one vine raised. "A meal usually consisting of leafy greens and carrots." "People on your planet eat plants?" The Crayzee Dayzee exclaims, his jaw dropped in absolute disbelief. "Remember, they aren't alive on Earth." Alex's reassurance of that fact causes Driad to return to his normal expression, instantly caring little about what was just said. "Sorry, continue." "...Anyways, the only other thing I can really share with you is that most of the things I have learned throughout life, such as mathematics, literature, and science, was self-taught." "...What is a...Mat-he-maticks?" Driad asks, his pronunciation of the word leaving much to be desired. "You don't know? Well, I guess that's understandable. Tell you what, I'll make sure to give you some lessons later on. But with that said..." Alex turns his head towards Mario and finds that he has gotten on his knees with one finger put into the water.

"Made any progress there Mario?" He asks. As the plumber lifts his body up, he checks his finger to see bits of sea moss attached to it. "I got nothing, unfortunately." As Mario walks past the other two, he presses his arms against his chest and starts to think to himself. "The Overlord certainly did a good job hiding this temple. I'm really starting to wonder just how-" Before he continues, he catches a glimpse of the sun beaming down onto him, and at that moment he remembers E. Gadd's hint. "God's light..." He murmurs to himself, reaching into his overalls and pulling out the Grass Stone. He then turns around and rushes to the edge of the dock, lifting the stone into the air so it is positioned in front of the sun.

"Whatcha doing now?" Alex asks, surprised at his friend's sudden actions. "Just trying something out. We don't really have any other options now do we?" As the sunlight comes down onto the stone, its appearance becomes clear and it begins to absorb it all into itself. When it has gotten enough of it, it solidifies as green sparks start to emerge all around it. Then a series of glowing leaf-green rings surround the stone and sink into it, and without any forewarning it fires a large beam of solar-powered energy in the direction of the water. The power of the beam alone would've been enough to knock any normal person back, but the strong-armed plumber keeps his fingers wrapped tightly around the stone, letting it carve a predetermined line across the water until it reaches its destination and automatically stops firing. Now the seas have been split slightly by the beam's strength, and after the ground trembles slightly the two massive walls of water move aside even further as if to give the heroes enough walking room. At the very end of the now dried up walkway is the top of what appears to be an entrance to some underwater ruins. That is to say, a long, marble tiled structure that is only two stories tall with a black passageway in the very front of it.

Alex and Driad's mouths are wide-open as their bodies lean forward in utter shock, and even the eyes of the usually composed Mario are being kept open by this incredible phenomenon. Even so, as the plumber puts his stone away he has a very important fact to bring to the table. "We probably don't have much time. Lets get moving." With a prompt given by the wave of his right hand, the other two heroes regain their composure and follow their overall garbed friend as he jumps off the dock and lands on the ground below. As they head out on their way, a random Toad passes by the docks and notices the split seas. "...Maybe I need to lay off the Shroom Shakes." He says after a brief pause to gather his thoughts. Giving it no further heed, he proceeds to leave the area without saying a word.

Back with the heroes, they have made it halfway towards the temple, their eyes mainly focused on the wildlife swimming around in the seas. As much as they wish to leap out and take a bite of them, they are smart enough to know that doing so will just lead to their deaths. "I'm not the only one staying alert for the outer guardian, right?" Alex asks as he sees a school of Cheep Cheeps peacefully floating in the water. "Not like we'd have any way to know what it will look like, but yeah, I am." Driad responds, and Mario simply nods. Though little do they know, that a creature has begun to stir within the waters. From afar it glares at the heroes with its glowing yellow eyes, its presence concealed by the dark depths from which it floats in. In particular, the creature is looking at Driad, thinking in its mind that he would be the easiest target to attack first.

Soon the heroes are only a few yards away from the entrance, but they stop moving for a moment because they don't want to repeat the events that transpired at the Nature Castle. With them now motionless, the creature decides to makes its move, waving its tail back and forth to propel itself through the sea towards them. Sensing something amiss, Driad turns his body to the left just in time to see the yellow dots that represent the creature's eyes coming right at him. "Its here!" He says in a panicking tone, but it was too late for him to caution his friends. The beast bursts through the wall of water and opens its mouth up wide to try and bite down onto Driad. The Crayzee Dayzee's reflexes though allow him to jump into its mouth just in the nick of time and use both of his vine arms to keep the it from slamming shut. He then holds his breath as the creature returns to the sea, the other two heroes barely having any time to react to this series of events, and once Driad has been taken away they fear the worst.

Inside the waters though, the flower warrior is proving to be a stubborn little treat for the creature to devour. As he slowly backs out of the mouth, he keeps his vines in the same position to ensure his survival, for if he allows the creature to close his mouth, he will die. Once near the teeth, the Crayzee Dayzee comes up with a crazy plan to get back to the mainland. As he lets go, he quickly leaps back and retracts his vines right as the beast closes his mouth. With the speeds it is going at causing Driad to ram into his face, the flower warrior then works against the water pressure to climb to the top of the creature and wrap one of his vines around its neck so he can control its movements. There is still a little difficulty involved because its hard for him to keep a steady footing on this slimy beast, but once he has gotten a hang of things the Crayzee Dayzee jerks his vine to the left to cause the creature to do a complete 180 and swim back to land.

However, there is some resistance along the way. The creature sways itself towards some of the submerged rocks to try and shake his rider off, but Driad is able to regain control every time and avoid the rocks long enough for the end to come into view. As they are about ready to burst out of the wall, Driad releases his grip around the creature and leaps up, the speed built up from riding the creature providing him with just enough momentum to break through and quickly lash his vines around the guts of his two friends and falls down beside them, somersaulting to the left and pulling them along with him onto the ground so they aren't crushed by the creature as it emerges from the water and crashes into the ground. After saving Alex and Mario, Driad removes his vines from them and gets up, as do they. The boy's heart is beating rapidly though, and it takes him looking at the creature's motionless body for him to calm himself down.

With now being a good time for them to look at it, it also a convenient time for a description of the creature's appearance. Its head is a perfectly rounded sphere perfectly wrapped up in yellow seaweed and swamp-green moss, with triangle shaped teeth and circular eyes with bulging yellow pupils in the center. Connected to the head are a couple of stubby, scaled claws resembling those you'd find on a velociraptor, and behind it is a long, slimy tail whose appearance is similar to that of an eel's, with a dark-yellow center and a wavy light-blue exterior. "Guess it can't survive on land. Well, that was easier then the-" Alex should've known better then to tempt fate, for before he can finish his sentence the creature's eyes spring to life and focus their attention towards the heroes as it snarls, immediately causing them to jump back in surprise as the beast rises up off the ground and turns itself around so it can stare down the three with both of its eyes. As the wiggling of its claws signal two pillars of water to burst from the ground beside him, the creature opens its mouth and chomps down a few times, a metal clink being heard each time along with a familiar sounding bark.

Creeper of the Tides: Gecko Hydra

However, after the Hydra's brief moment of intimidation, it quickly turns and moves flies back into the water. Curious as to why the creature isn't fighting them yet, the heroes are caught completely off-guard when it bursts through the wall at bullet speed. "DUCK!" Mario yells out, and both he and his two friends instinctively do just that, the Hydra flying harmlessly over them as it zig-zags back and forth to try and ram into them. When it tires of that action, it returns to its original position and snaps its claws to cause water spouts to emerge at random intervals across the ground around him. Driad tries to attack it by swinging his arm out in front of his body to send a few sharp leaves at him, but the Hydra simply opens its mouth and spits out a few bubbles that manage to catch the leaves without breaking and send them floating up into the sky.

The Crayzee Dayzee only has a moment to curse his failure before he is forced to jump out of the way of a spout. Mario takes advantage of this spout to jump onto it and upon it reaching the top and dissipating he leaps over to the next one, continuing to do so until he is in range of the Hydra, at which point he jumps off and sticks both his feet out to divekick at its head. The creature defends itself by moving back and performing a spin that sends a cascade of water up from the end of its tail that successfully knocks Mario away. With that momentary distraction though, his spouts have stopped appearing, and Alex takes full advantage of this to fly forward and slam his right fist into the Hydra's forehead. Amazingly, this leaves an indent in the creature and pushes it back slightly until the boy pulls his hand out, at which point the the skin pops back into place and the creature spins around to smack Alex away with the hard part of its tail.

The boy is caught mid-air by Mario, who lands on the ground and lets him get off, accepting his thanks before rushing forward with two fireballs floating below the palms of his hands. The Hydra re-summons the water spouts to impede his overall progress, but the plumber leaps into the air and wall kicks off of the spouts to get through, at which point he combines the fireballs into one singular orb and dunks it on top of the Hydra's head, the force put into the attack slamming the creature down into the ground, which Mario then uses the tail as a springboard to backflip over to where Alex and Driad are at. Before the plumber can even clap his hands together for a job well-done, he and his two companions suddenly find themselves trapped within sphere composed entirely out of water, which begin to rise into the air along with the Hydra, who reveals that save for a small singe mark it was completely unharmed by Mario's attack.

It then opens its mouth up as water begins to gush within the esophagus, a sign that the Hydra is preparing quite possibly its strongest attack to finish the heroes off. While Alex and Driad are worried for their lives, Mario closes his eyelids and decides to have absolute faith that something will happen to save them. The Crayzee Dayzee and the boy, however, close their eyelids for entirely different reasons, for they have chosen to accept the fact that this might be their final moments. With their vision obscured, they have no clue about the events unfolding around them. The noise the waves make around them distracts from the sound of footsteps rapidly passing by them. Right as the Hydra is about to fire a torrent of water from its mouth, someone kneels down in front of it and squeezes their arms against their chest. The wind ruffling behind their shoes as smoke comes out from the legs. Once a proper charge has been built up, the person propels themselves through the air like a missile, hitting the creature's jaw with enough force to cause its head to be jerked upwards and the blast of water fired into the sky.

After doing some damage, the mysterious person jumps back twice as the creature slowly lowers its head into the proper position. That single blow to the jaw was just enough to dispel the water bubbles, and with the heroes unaware of what just happened they all fall on their bottoms with their eyelids jerked open. It takes a few seconds for the heroes to get their bearing and stand on their feet, but when they do they are able to take a look at their savior. Recognizing who it is without even taking a moment to ponder things, Mario gets a joyous grin on his face, Alex's eyes become wide with shock, and Driad, who has no clue just what the big deal is, just tilts his head and innocently places one of his vines against his currently pin-hole sized mouth. It was the man in green, the younger yet slimmer brother of Mario, the wielder of the Thunderbrand and a guy easily identified by the "L" on his cap and his random bouts of cowardice. It was Luigi, who is currently standing sideways with his arms held out in front of his stomach and his head turned to stare the creature down as it barks at him.

As the heroes get ready to say something, Luigi holds one hand up to stop them. "We can play catch up in a bit bro." The green-garbed man turns his body around so all of it is pointed at the beast. He then holds his left hand in front of his chest and punches it with his right. "Just give me a couple of minutes to finish this thing off." He says in a surprisingly confident tone of voice as the water fired earlier rains down around the area. The Hydra responds to his confidence by opening its mouth and sucking all these raindrops in, combining them all together and unleashing most of it in the form of one quick aquatic blast that is easily jumped over by the Italian man, his body ending up high in the air from that single bound. The Hydra raises its head up and fires another blast, but Luigi retaliates by holding an electric charged hand out in front of his body that makes contact with the water and threatens to send an amplified amount of voltage back at the user. However, the creature catches wind of the electricity fast enough to close its mouth and thus cut the water off from the source.

As the water explodes and creates a diagonal pillar of smoke, the man in green falls to the ground and takes advantage of the concealment offered by the smoke to pull his silver hammer out and leap at the unsuspecting creature, bringing it down onto its head with enough force to shatter a human skull. For the Hydra though, its bones are merely cracked, and it nudges its head upwards to send his opponent away. When Luigi has landed on the ground the creature tries to trap him in the same type of bubble that it did the others, but having observed that technique from afar the man in green is able to somersault out of the area of which it was preparing to trap him, leaving a lone water bubble there for Luigi to take advantage of. With his hammer still gripped tightly in his right hand he holds his left one out with the thumb pointed up. He then presses down on the bottom of his pointer with it and a bolt of electricity is sent out that turns the water bubble into a large lightning orb. Quickly running to the back of the orb so he can make it work for him, the man in green positions his hammer just right behind him and takes a massive swing at the back of the orb, the impact sending it flying straight at the Hydra.

With the attack still being composed of water though, all it takes is a snap of the claws for it to be dispelled and the electricity to fizzle out of existence with nothing to keep it together. But in the time it takes for the creature to think about its next move, Luigi rushes towards it and leaps into the air, delivering a powerful uppercut to the jaw of the creature that cracks the bone structure of the skull. With his fist still supercharged with electricity, the man in green declares the name of his final move. "SUPER CONDUCTOR PUNCH!" As a few storm clouds begin to loom overhead, the booming sound of thunder spreading across the skies as a massive conglomeration of lightning bolts comes down and smites the Hydra full force. Being the one who summoned the attack, Luigi is unharmed, and as he lands on the ground and walks away from his opponent it falls to the ground, its entire body roasted into a crisp light brown color with eyes wide-open and jaw disjointed. There are no signs that it is even the least bit alive, but that is to be expected.

Having watched Luigi's entire performance, Alex's arms are drooped forward with his jaw agape. He slowly twists his head to look at Mario, who is chuckling happily to himself as his brother walks over to him and the two exchange a quick brotherly hug. "Since when has LUIGI been such a badass?" The boy thinks to himself as the man in green turns his head to look at him, at which point he decides to keep his cool. "So you must be Alex Whiter, right?" Luigi asks. "How do you know my name?" The boy responds. "And why did you come here? Last I checked you were in Sarassaland and weren't going to be back for a few more days." Mario also points out. The man in green steps back and adjusts his hat upward as he gets ready to explain himself.

"I'm here because E. Gadd asked me to help you guys out. He called me up about a few hours ago and told me all about your quest, so I took a plane back to the Mushroom Kingdom and came here right away because this is where he said you'd be at. As for being in Sarassaland, Daisy had no problem with me coming back, in fact, she said hi." "Well I'm glad you came and rescued us Luigi." As Mario and Alex converse with the man in green, Driad listens on, and after hearing his name repeated a few times something finally clicks in his head. "You are THE Luigi?" He asks, and the plumber turns his body around to pay attention to the Crayzee Dayzee. "Gadd didn't tell me anything about you. What is your name little flower?" He asks while kneeling down slightly. "My name is Driad. I am one of the Elemental Overlord's Good Guardians who has lived in the Osagi Woods. I have heard stories about you."

"Huh? I thought you had never visited Toad Town before Driad, so how would you know about Luigi?" Mario ponders. "Luigi, do you happen know someone by the name of Hayzee?" Driad quickly asks. "Yeah, he was one of my partner's during my travels in the Waffle Kingdom, why do you ask?" "Because he has come into the Osagi Woods a couple of times for inspiration for future plays. We spoke to one another, and he told me the story about the adventure he had with you. I think he said he had also come to the Mushroom Kingdom to visit you. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it I do remember him saying that he spoke with one of the natives of the Woods. So he was referring to you then, how interesting...Well, I must admit, it will be nice to get to know you Driad." The man in green says with an arm outstretched to shake the Crayzee Dayzee's hand. The plant holds one vine out, and the greeting is completed when the two of them do the handshake.

"So anyways..." Luigi gets back up and turns to look at Mario. "I stopped by the lab on the way here, and the Professor wanted me to give you this." Reaching into his overalls, the man in green pulls out a miniature suit shaped to look like the skin of a frog. "He said that this would probably come in handy for where we about to go." "Oh cool, a Frog Suit!" Alex says in a moment of excited nerdiness as the red plumber takes the suit and puts it into his overall pocket. "Thank you very much Luigi, and I'll make sure to say the same to the Professor once we get back. For now though..." The heroes all turn to look at the now unguarded entrance to the Aqua Palace. "It's time to get a move on. You all ready?" There are no objections from the group, and Mario gives one nod of the head to show that he feels the same way. So with that, they make their way towards the structure, ready to conquer the inside of it and get the next Elemental Stone...

Next Time: Don't Drown. In Fear of Lifelessness they Swim.