Unrest Through the Night:
"Stop stuffing your stupid schnoz in my business, puppet!" Marissa hollered.
Geno let light energies crackle around his left fist. "Leave these two for now." He couldn't help but notice Marissa's Malocchio Eye was active, invoking feelings of dread within him.
Lord Arkana gasped. "Why? Explain why! Why can't I take care of them now?"
"What does it matter?" Geno replied with a smile. "What is time to you? I didn't say to leave these two alone for good. I said to leave your conflict with them for a later date."
Marissa cocked her head and started tapping her face with her finger. "Well now that you put it that way, that's a more adherable demand. BUT, I don't take demands. I give them. I take pleasure in giving them. Loads of it. In fact, if I were a male, dominating and controlling anything living would make it most difficult to tell that I am wearing the relatively loose dress I am in now, especially considering my commando status."
"Oh dear lord..." Tamara muttered. Neva immediately was forced to suppress an upchuck upon hearing Marissa's statement.
"Man, you guys are so immature," said the grinning demon witch.
"And you're as deranged as you are psychopathic!" Daisy called out.
"Thank you; you're all too kind," the demon witch replied, winking. "Seriously. You're all far too kind. Anyways, Naraka! Tamara! Let's get out of here and return to the lair! I don't need to be soiling my hands dealing with Geno. I've got King Sarasa to keep tabs on." She narrowed her eyes at Daisy and Neva. "You two better watch it. You're off the hook for now, but the next time I see you, you won't be so fortunate."
"They're sticking with me," Geno declared.
"Eventually, that's not going to matter, now is it?" Naraka replied.
"We shall see," responded Geno.
Marissa took out some dust from one of her pockets. "We shall see indeed. I sure as hell will see if nothing else." She threw the dust at the ground, creating several voluminous, colorful clouds. The clouds took a few moments to dissipate, but Marissa and her two Sweeps were nowhere to be seen once visibility was restored to the area.
"What went on here?" Geno demanded to know. "I thought you were going to get your resistance members!"
"I was, and I did!" Neva shot back. "We got here, got set to go, and then the neurotic witch ambushes us with two of her Sweeps and her overgrown hellhound! The whole team's been demolished, so now it's just me and the mud-crawler here!"
"I apologize..." Geno murmured. "I should have been aware. I didn't believe that she would have been able to track you down, at least not so quickly, that is."
"Acceptable loses," muttered Neva. "We just have to carry on without them."
"Aren't you at least a little distraught that your resistance group has been decimated?" Daisy asked.
"Hey, shouldn't you be in a cave?" Neva snapped.
"Shouldn't you be on an iceberg?" Daisy snapped back.
"Watch it, earth-digger," Neva growled. "Don't tell me how to feel!"
"Hey, ice-carver!" Daisy called out. "I thought you would at least care that the members of your resistance are all gone!"
"Why?" Neva replied. "It's obviously their own fault that they failed."
"Then why are you so willing to accept help against Marissa and my dad?" asked the Kruna of Earth.
"The help is welcome," the ice wielder answered. "But I will not surprised at all if the help fails. If I myself end up dying, it's my own damn fault for not being able to survive."
"I see that Lord Arkana had her Malocchio out," stated Geno, diverging from the quarrel. "It's never a good thing when she decides to put her Malocchio to use."
"Okay – what's so significant about is this 'Malocchio' I keep hearing about?" Daisy asked.
"So you have yet to witness any of the Malocchio's abilities, Sarasa?" asked Geno. "That's a good thing; a very good thing."
"Marissa was about to make use of it before you showed up," mentioned Neva.
Geno nodded, then began explaining Marissa's special trait Daisy. "The Malocchio is a legendary ocular evolution – it is a type of third eye, and a very advanced one at that. It's a very mysterious eye, and its abilities seem to be partially dependent on the individual user. However, Malocchio Eyes are extraordinarily rare. Less than a dozen beings throughout history had one. Marissa was not one of these beings. Instead, she grew and developed a third eye in the center of her forehead through intense meditation and a forbidden ritual. This third eye of hers was not a Malocchio though."
"Then how does she have a Malocchio Eye now?" Daisy asked.
"Through recklessness," Geno answered. "Some have rumored that she stole the Malocchio Eye she has now – that her third eye is actually a regenerated eye from the Shadow Queen. This, though, is both true and false. What actually happened – and this is from ages ago, I might add – was that she traveled to the Palace of Shadows to steal the life force of the sealed away Shadow Queen, and then channeled it into her third eye to cause it to evolve into a precursor form."
Shadow Queen? Daisy wondered. Who's the Shadow Queen? Wait, Marissa did mention her moments ago. She must have been significant enough to warrant being sealed away and for Marissa to want to steal a portion of her life force...
"Over time and through further empowerment and enchantment, her mystical eye developed into her present-day Malocchio Eye," Geno further explained. "The extent of its abilities is unknown. However, since the Remote Viewing of her Malocchio not only offers sight of distant areas but also of any associated sounds, you have to wonder not only about the power of that eye but also of its biological makeup." He paused, glancing around the environment before continuing. "It could very well be possible that Marissa knows where we are as we speak and will know where we are once we leave here. She could be watching and listening to us right now through the view of her Malocchio Eye, even though she just left the area."
"Are you sure she's gone?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, I don't sense her presence anymore," replied Neva.
"So? We didn't sense her when she first appeared!" remarked Daisy. "It was only moments after she and her Sweeps got here that we were able to sense their energy signatures. Why didn't we sense her coming before then?"
"Marissa is not only a powerful demon, but a potent and knowledgeable – albeit devious – spellcaster as well," said Geno. "She has numerous spells committed to memory, and countless more recorded within her Book of Spells. I believe she has a Stealth Spell that conceals the energy signatures of her and her accomplices."
Daisy frowned, her tone growing agitated. "So we're up against an insane three-eyed demon witch with a band of underlings and a hellhound horde on one side, and the megalomaniac tyrant earth wielder that is my father with super advanced elemental war weapons and a whole town of misguided puppet followers on the other side?"
"Yes," Geno replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "Although both King Sarasa and Marissa are major enemies that must be stopped, Marissa takes priority over the king. The king is not actively pursuing you as of late, but Lord Arkana is a stalker, a hunter, and a killer who does not even think once before slaying her prey. But so long as you two don't stray too far from me at any given point for too long, Marissa will not attempt a confrontation against us."
Skeptical, Neva asked, "Why not?"
"You saw how swiftly she left when I arrived," Geno began. "She is a formidably powerful being, but so am I. She will not try to engage in battle with me, not at the present moment, at least."
"So you're more powerful than she is?" asked Daisy. "Then why haven't you defeated her yet?"
Geno lowered his tone of voice. "If I could defeat her, I would have confronted her when I set the distraction for you to escape from Lord Arkana's mansion, Sarasa."
"So that was you that caused that bright light!" Daisy determined.
Geno nodded. "I go back to what I just said – Marissa's defeat takes priority over King Sarasa's defeat, because the time limit on Marissa is considerably more constrained. We only have three weeks – or twenty-two nights, to be exact – of a window in which to take down Lord Arkana, after which the Blood Moon will rise."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Neva asked.
"The twenty-second night from now will bring a total lunar eclipse," explained Geno. "The eclipse will turn the moon a sickly red hue, hence the term, 'Blood Moon.' Past occurrences of Blood Moons have boosted Marissa Arkana's power over the ages. She seems to be able to harness power from the moon's rays. Spellcasters have a practice of 'drawing down the moon' during a Full Moon to empower themselves with the divine lunar light shining down on them. Marissa does something very similar, except in a critically more substantial way by drawing down the light from the Blood Moon."
Neva tilted her head to the side. "How does that work? This is all so fantastical! I mean, drawing power from the moon?!"
"You could say that the Blood Moon is an embodiment of the Earth's wickedness," Geno continued to elaborate. "The lunar light of the Full Moon is amplified by the sun, but during a Lunar Eclipse, the light of the Blood Moon is tainted by the Earth. Our planet's cruelty and collective evil create a form of negative energy that is reflected onto the Blood Moon and that is consequently able to be absorbed by Marissa. So as the planet has succumbed more and more to evil forces, the power boosts Marissa has been receiving by each Blood Moon have become evermore stronger. You'll have to defeat Marissa before this next Blood Moon rises. Otherwise, you're going to be in for quite a night, to say the absolute least. I will not be able to resist her any longer once that night comes and she absorbs that next boost in power."
"Wow," murmured Daisy. "I didn't think the moon could have had such significance."
"Oh yes," replied Geno. "The moon here has many effects on the planet, not limited to the gravitational pull, tides and increase in seismic activity! In fact, the time of day has a small but not too hard to notice effect on elemental wielders. Throughout the hours of the day, the dominance of the moon aids the control of wielders of water, earth, ice, and shadow, whereas the dominance of the sun assists wielders of fire, air, stone, and light. It's a less direct influence on elemental wielders than the immediate environment, so it is less often talked about, but it is very much a factor! Really, the Great Beings have done well to balance out the powers of the eight elements!"
"I'm curious," Neva muttered, squinting. "How do you know all of this? I'm starting to think that you're setting us up for something..."
Geno answered without hesitation, "Setting us all up for victory, yes. Worry not about how much I know. Worry not about how I know." He gestured with his hands off to the east. "Come. We've used enough time here. Daylight will break in less than two hours, and you will need all the sleep you can get. I shall lead you all to my sanctuary at the base of the Muda Kingdom's mountain ranges."
Ramona was the only one sleeping peacefully in Marut's house.
Warra could not sleep. Bowser could not sleep. Andrew could not sleep. Marut himself could not sleep. Besides the Kruna of Light, there was a lot of tossing and turning going on throughout the house. However, not everyone was in bed. Andrew was up, wide awake, a beaming look of vibrant malaise evident. He was leaning up against one of the walls in the kitchen looking over his twin forearm machetes, the former elemental tools of the deceased Kruna of Ice.
"I'm not worthy of wielding these, am I..." the Kruna of Shadow murmured, clutching the machetes as if they were canes. "I'm not worthy of being a part of this team, am I?" That gash he suffered on his left arm from the final battle in the Twelfth Dimension was healing, but still needed more time for recovery. His eyes shifted down to peer at the laceration that was all but certain to scar. I have too many scars, he thought, letting his eyelids drift closed. Way too many...
"What are you doing up?" a voice grumbled.
"Feeling," Andrew replied, not opening his eyes to see Bowser standing in the living room, rubbing his own orbs. "I would say thinking, but that seems like something better suited for you and Athelstan. What are you even doing up?"
"Well, for a nation that's made up mostly of clouds, I'm finding it hard to get some rest," the Koopa King answered. "So I came to get some water – and not go roaming around outside."
Andrew smirked, replacing his blades across his back. "Outside it is."
Nimbus Land looked like a ghost town at night. Bowser and Andrew walked through darkened streets, passing by residences with their lights off and businesses all closed down. Maybe one or two Nimbi were outside in total, but that was it. They both attributed it to the fact that it must have been three hours or so past midnight.
"This is the best time to be out," said Andrew. "Everyone else is asleep, so you can get a chance to enjoy the tranquil serenity of the night. I wish I didn't have to sleep, just so I can be out here at this time. It's even better on the surface. You should take notice of the way the plantlife and animals tend to kinda 'glow' even though the environment's in darkness."
"It's kinda like a reversion," Bowser added. "It's as if during the night, the world goes back in time to an era well before modernization."
"Exactly," stated the Kruna of Shadow. "Back to a simpler time, when there wasn't so much trouble in the world. And then the sun comes up and reality fast-forwards back to the present day...or whatever you want to call the time that we are currently experiencing. I'm not one to be particular."
"Time," Bowser mumbled. "It's an interesting thing. How quickly it slips by. The moment we acknowledge the present, it has already become the past. So would I be able to get away with saying that time is relative?"
"I think so," Andrew replied. "I remember about a decade or so ago when I was nine, all the kids around me seemed to love that Mini-Mario toy series, but not me. There was something else I loved that almost as popular where you took a bunch of big and small plastic and metal pieces and put them together to make a custom action figure, and you color-coded them to represent the element they would have, but until I became a shadow wielder, I didn't realize how much of a microcosm it was on our world! Then again, if I knew as a kid that I was going to be a shadow wielder, then I would have began training as early as I could, with as consistent of a work ethic as possible. I would've picked up the weights at nine, would have meddled with shadows even earlier than that, and I would have had so much more time to hone my technique and craft so that I could have been better than I am now!"
"Shoulda, woulda, coulda," said Bowser. "What's done is done. We can both sit here and exchange thoughts on what we could have done better or differently or what we could have avoided or not done, but in the end, the past is set in stone, and that's all there is to it. Not to sound like someone pessimistic or apathetic, but-"
"Of course; I get it," responded Andrew. "But at the same time, I can't help it. I still feel mediocre. I should be better, I need to be better."
"We all need to be better. That doesn't mean we have to be perfect, though."
"But if I was better, then perhaps we could have powered through the elemental shrines and the Twelfth Dimension without losing Grekka. We could have saved him. I could have saved him. Maybe it would've been better in the end if I was the one you all had to face."
"Nothing was going to stop that Master Pendant from taking over somebody and doing what it did," stated Bowser, shaking his head. "It could have latched onto any of us; Daisy, Warra, myself, Ramona-"
Andrew perked up in disbelief. "No way, not Ramona! Not a chance! I can't even imagine something like that! She's like the sweetest one here by far!" With a little bit of a quieter volume, he added. "All I'm saying is that Master Pendant really should have went for me. Grekka should still be here."
"And what makes you say that? I could very well say the same thing about myself."
Andrew shrugged. "It would take more time to explain than you would care for."
"Even if that is the case, don't dwell on it."
It took a few seconds for Andrew to respond with, "I can't help it."
Bowser sighed. "You know, if Rosalina was here, she would have said something along the lines of, 'everything happens for a reason,' or some similar phrase of that nature."
"A witty saying proves nothing if you're not prepared to back it up."
"She would've backed it up by attributing events to, 'fate,' and, 'destiny,' and, 'stars.' I feel pretty silly myself talking about this. Me in the past would have dismissed such things without a second thought, but now, not so much."
Andrew didn't say anything more. His expression was blank. The Kruna of Fire could tell that his shadow teammate was deep within himself. It seemed to be a look that he noticed often, not just from Andrew, but from several others as well. It seems like this whole team of Kruna has been plagued with personal troubles, Bowser thought. Ramona and Athelstan may be the only ones that aren't...haunted, but then again, everyone has their crap that they have to deal with. Daisy, Grekka, Elkon, Warra, Marut, Andrew, Peach, myself; it seems like a requirement. It seems like living requires us all to go through trials and tribulations. Our problems and issues are the price we pay for life. The only differences are that what we each must deal with is individualized. No one gets away free, and even if they do, I'll bet it catches up to them at some point. And still, one can only wonder how many people are forced to press on through the adversity alone, and how many force themselves to traverse through difficulties because they perceive themselves to be alone...
"I believe I recall Toad saying that he wanted us to stop by his armory, correct?" asked Andrew.
Bowser nodded. "We can stop by tomorrow when we return to the surface. We only have a handful of hours before morning, you know. We should get back to the house and at least try to get some more sleep before we head back down."
Just a couple hours after the sun rose over Sarasaland, King Sarasa summoned Vastus into his throne room to instruct the police commissioner to execute classified orders. The King made sure that no one else was present when Vastus arrived. He did not want anyone questioning or intervening with the special request he had for his police commissioner to carry out. The moment Vastus stepped in, he noticed the angst and umbrage in the king's face. He knew then and there that he had to be very careful with his speech at that moment, because it's never a good thing to be around the king when he is in a bad mood.
"Close the doors behind you, Vastus," King Sarasa murmured with the darkest bass he could manage. "Lock them. I don't want anyone walking in."
Vastus did as the king ordered, closing the doors behind him and bolting them shut with the locking plank. If there was every an opportunity to come up with an excuse to leave, it was not in play anymore.
"Step forward," the king grumbled.
The police commissioner took a few dozen steps until he was a handful of yards away from the king. "Yes, my lord."
"You know what happened yesterday evening, correct, police commissioner?"
"In regards to the interruption of your address at Sarasaland State University?"
King Sarasa nodded very slowly, his eyes looking hazy as he did so. "That was indeed my daughter there. She returned to cause a stir, to cause unrest. We can't have that. I can't have that."
"So what do you intend to do, sir?"
"I would like to say that the most she'll be able to do is humor me," stated King Sarasa. "She was useless as a child, but I have not a clue as to what she is like now. If the outcomes of yesterday's events were any indication, she's still useless."
"You don't think she'll cause us any serious trouble then?" asked Vastus.
"I do not," the king answered. "HOWEVER...she is still an aggressor, an instigator. She can not be trusted. She refused and failed the title of 'Princess of Sarasaland.' She is an enemy of our nation and a rebellious little brat dabbling in treason and walking a fine line she need not walk upon, which is why I am instilling a restraining order upon Daisy Sarasa, effective immediately. She is prohibited from entering Sarasaland Castle Town. If she is found anywhere near the Central Castle, she is in direct violation and is subject to capture and imprisonment."
Vastus nodded. "And what do you want to do about the Chai Kingdom?"
King Sarasa propped his hands on his knees and leaned forward. "...What was that..."
"The...Chai Kingdom..." said Vastus, stuttering and sputtering with nervousness. "There's still that issue; the increasing disappearances of the citizens, you know?"
"If it's such an issue, then what's stopping you from taking a squadron out there and settling it?"
Vastus gave no response. He had opened his mouth to say something, but stopped.
"That's what I thought," King Sarasa spat. "Think of it this way, Vastus, if you are so concerned; the less the population, the less money that must be spent keeping them alive, and the more funds and resources we have available to power my military might so that we can further expand Sarasaland's dominion."
"Forgive me, king, but are you sure this is the right way to go about things?"
"I beg your pardon," King Sarasa said, smirking. "You have too many boundaries. You don't need boundaries when you have these two words; 'limitless ambition.' You will learn, Vastus. You will have to, because if I am unable to attain a successor to my throne... Listen; as it stands now, I won't be able to keep up with this forever. In the future, I will be too old to continue my current work – unless of course, science paves the way for lasting longevity. I was hoping my daughter would have shown her father some love and respect by carrying on my will and legacy, but she refuses to cease her defiance. Pity it had to be this way."
"So your daughter stands against you now," said Vastus. "But what if you're underestimating her? What if we can't defend against her and you yourself end up confronting her face to face?"
"She is a threat to what I wish to accomplish," the king answered. "I thought she was gone for good, but she came back and wants to oppose me. I did not have this in mind when I wanted a child. I envisioned a loyal, obedient image of myself, but she has turned out to be something other. She's a full grown adult, so if it suits her to challenge her father, then so be it. If she is so adamant about destroying my legacy, then she will just have to die."
Daisy, Neva, and Geno traversed to a spacious plateau at the base of the Muda Kingdom's mountain ranges through much of the morning hours. With the morning sun rising higher into the sky, Geno lead them through a secret tunnel that took them directly underneath one of the mountain ranges. The opening on the other side of the tunnel opened up into an enchanted valley.
"This is where I reside," said Geno, gesturing around the area. "This is my home."
"Here?" asked Daisy. "Your home is here?" Even with the sun shining overhead, the valley looked ethereal with its copious mist and haze that thickened as the elevation increased. The mountain tops themselves were concealed by the silvery blur. The environment seemed like a timeless, peaceful region with a mystic aura. Something about that aura felt like a barrier to her, as if it worked to block or neutralize something. The Kruna of Earth's eyesight caught a small house built on the other side of the very passable river that ran the length of the valley.
"Yes," Geno replied. "It was a self-imposed exile that I accepted centuries ago that has now become my sanctuary. It is in my time here that I have been able to keep an eye on both the demon witch's workings and the relatively recent stir that King Sarasa has created in the past several years." He turned to his left and pointed up the valley. "There is a canyon far off into the distance. It is further north on the seaside of the mountain chains; where we would be if we continued heading in the direction furthest from Castle Town. That is a prime example of the magnitude of the T-29 Remodeling Devices. You will not be able to understand the true breadth of its terror unless you ascend to the higher levels of the mountains and look down into the canyon itself. In some of the deepest of its trenches and ravines, light can not even penetrate all the way down. It's a wonder if the king actually managed to cut through to the mantle..."
"He's not only messing with the political map but the geographical map as well!" exclaimed Neva. "What do you think, Daisy? I'd like to shove my bayonet up his-" She peered at the Kruna of Earth to see that she was busy gazing at a cherry blossom tree.
Daisy looked back at Neva "I'm sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention."
"Obviously, you weren't," said the ice wielder. "I'm sorry I interrupted you, flower-plucker."
"Flower-plucker?!" Daisy shouted.
Neva threw her hands up. "I wanted to say something else but I don't now who's listening to us!"
"That's disgusting!" Daisy yelled.
"I'll bet it is," Neva replied with a grin.
"When you two are quite finished, you should get some rest," said Geno. "You can jump across the river and make yourselves at home in the house over there. Get as much sleep as you can, for we have a lot we must attend to, and only so much time to tend to it."
From the gardens of the Comet Observatory, Rosalina looked down on Earth, sensing and surveying the events and occurrences taking place on the planet's surface. She was emotionless – even more than usual – and brooding in her stature. Lubba came from inside the observatory to join her, although he was delicate with his words when he noticed his superior deep in thought.
"You're taking Athelstan back in a little while, correct?" Lubba asked.
"Yes, I am," Rosalina answered, not breaking her gaze on the planet. She said nothing more.
Lubba didn't want to disturb her anymore than he possibly already had, but he had another question for her, one significantly more weighted. After a few moments, he decided to ask, "Have you been watching Sarasaland?"
Rosalina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Yes, I have."
