Complications Chapter Ten
The Sky Maze was an interesting place; beautiful but deadly, though not for a spirit. In a way, it reminded Peach of Nimbus Land, with thick vine-like trees tangled up to form a complicated structure. The vines had many large, sharp-looking thorns, but unlike the ones in Nimbus Land, these didn't have any leaves. The maze extended beyond the skies, twisting in odd shapes. There were pieces of wood attached to the vines to make it easier to walk on them without stepping on the thorns.
"Rainbow!" Mercy waited for a moment, footsteps were heard rapidly approaching then the sounds came to a stop.
At the base of the boards forming stairs, there was a koopa child with a spiky pink shell and rainbow hair worthy of her name. The koopa pouted and pointed at Peach. "Why is she here?"
"Peach is stuck in our world and needs your help to get back," Mercy explained. She knew that Rainbow wouldn't easily accept helping Peach.
"Magic can get rid of her!" Rainbow ran back into the Sky Maze in a hurry. It was clear she didn't like Peach, even if she didn't really know why.
"It looks like you'll have to chase after her. Let me tell you something; those thorns can't physically harm you. The way you look, the dress you're wearing, it's how you looked when you were still in your body. That is how you think you look, so that is the shape you take in this world. You base your looks on what you remember from your world, but spirits are used to manipulating their shapes. In other words, because you're only here in spirit your dress won't be ruined by the thorns."
"Then, I'm not in any danger?" Peach asked. It sounded as if that was what Mercy tried to explain, but somehow Peach thought it wasn't quite all there was to it.
"Oh no, all the opposite," Mercy was a good person at heart, but sometimes she could be a little sarcastic and misleading. She grinned, amused by Peach's predicament. "To injure your soul, that must hurt. There's a reason why you were able to survive being sent here, but it won't help you in this case. Be careful." With that final warning, Mercy started to walk away.
"Wait! What's the reason? Why can't you tell me more? I know I'm supposed to understand things for myself, but are you sure you can't tell me anything else?" It was clear that Rainbow didn't want to help... Magic didn't look like he was too busy earlier. Even if he had a temper, so did Rainbow, from the looks of it. Peach was tired of all the ambiguities, she felt helpless in her confusion, following directions even if what was happening hasn't fully sunk in. "What about Magic?"
"It is necessary that Rainbow is the one who helps you find your way. I can't tell you anything else, and you might not believe it if I did. It's about time Rainbow's unfinished business was put to rest, and I know of no one else who can do it, only you." Instead of clarifying the situation, Mercy's words only made it harder to understand. It was as if she spoke in riddles that Peach couldn't decipher.
Peach sighed as she watched Mercy walk away. The princess turned to look at the Sky Maze looming before her. If she was going to return home, and possibly come to understand what was happening, she needed to find Rainbow. Peach entered the Sky Maze carefully avoiding the thorns. The old wooden boards creaked with every step she took, as if they were ready to fall apart.
"Go away!" Rainbow's voice came from above. "Don't follow me!" She sounded annoyed. More footsteps were heard, she was moving fast.
Peach tried to follow the sound of Rainbow's voice. She caught a glimpse of bright pink, blue, yellow and green, hidden among the dull shades of brown, right above her. She wasn't sure how to reach that area. There was a tunnel of tightly spiraled vines up ahead; it appeared to be the only way to move forward so Peach ran through it. "Rainbow! Please wait, I just want to talk to you!" If only Peach could understand why Rainbow was so upset, then maybe she could do something about it.
"I don't want to!" This time Rainbow's voice came in the form of an echo. It was impossible to identify in which direction it originated.
"Princess Peach, is in our world?" Peach jumped in surprise and turned around to face a raven. "Is it her heart, she cannot quell?" The bird looked like a normal raven except for the fact that she could speak with the voice of a young woman.
"It seems a lot of people know me here." Peach wasn't sure what the raven's second question meant and somehow, she was sure she wouldn't get a straight answer. "What's your name?" Peach's guess was that this raven represented the spirit of the ravens, or the spirit of flight, or feathers, or something along those lines; or perhaps the spirit of poetry, but her guesses were all wrong.
"Denial is what I am called, though they should call you that more, about the one that you adore." The raven spoke in a poetic way, including a rhyme in each of her puzzling sentences.
"Denial..." The spirit of denial was telling Peach that she should be called 'denial'? "The one that I adore? Who are you talking about?" Just when Peach thought no one could speak in a more ambiguous and confusing way than Mercy, the raven had arrived with her poetic riddles.
"Forevermore!" Denial screeched.
"I don't understand. Mercy told me that Rainbow would help me return home, so I'm following her right now." Maybe the spirit of Denial could help Peach find a way to reach Rainbow in that eerie, silent maze.
"I was once there, as was her. For me, in love we were. For her, I do not know if poetic devotion he bestowed." Denial spoke of her past as well as Rainbow's, but there was little to no information that could be interpreted from her riddles.
There was an amused laugh as new footsteps approached. The boards creaked, the air felt lighter and the solemn silence didn't feel as eerie as before. The young man who had just arrived had red hair, in the brightest shade Peach had ever seen. His blue eyes revealed his carefree nature and he smiled. "I'm Freedom, they all want me," he winked.
Freedom, the spirit of freedom… this was one guess Peach would have gotten right. Everything about him seemed to say how carefree he was, from his casual clothes to his relaxed posture, even his attitude. "Pleased to meet you," Peach paused as Freedom looked like he was holding back laughter.
"I don't think we've met yet, Peach, but you're very well acquainted with Denial over there, a lot. By the way, did you catch what she was saying before?" Freedom asked.
Peach considered what Freedom had said. Peach spent most of her time in her castle; or in captivity in Bowser's castle, even if it wasn't the way one would expect captivity to be. Every now and then she felt a little trapped and confused, but everyone felt that way sometimes. She could spend time with her friends, play sports, and visit all kinds of interesting places.
Overall, Peach didn't truly feel like she wasn't free. She liked her life, she was thankful for everything she had, she wanted to go back, she didn't want to make Bowser or anyone else worry about her anymore. "To be honest, I don't understand what either of you are talking about," Peach admitted.
"I thought so. She wants you to move on." Freedom's words felt incomplete and Peach still looked puzzled. He decided to elaborate, "Denial, the raven, once went to your world. Even without a spirit, the feeling of denial will still exist, so it's not like it disappeared while she was a mortal. She got married and all that stuff, then, she came back. When spirits take a mortal form they die young most of the time, because they don't truly belong in that world. Denial still remembers; it's kind of ironic because she doesn't deny any of it, but her husband was in denial for a long time."
"Rainbow is an entirely different story. She has no idea what happened while she was a mortal, but the feeling of an unfinished life bothers her. Mercy watched the entire thing, gossipy as she is, but she won't tell us. I thought it would be another cheesy romance, cheesier than the fox; the spirit of cheese is a fox. What an odd guy he is... wait, I wasn't talking about that. Oh yeah, so anyway, Rainbow's memories of her time as a mortal are gone, but her unfinished business bothers her, a lot. That's pretty much it." Freedom nodded to himself and smiled. There were few things that could bother him.
"Mercy said that I was the only one who could help Rainbow with her unfinished business. Is this related to her time as a mortal?" Peach felt that the conversation was finally moving forward.
Freedom shrugged. "I don't know, a lot..."
"With a painful goodbye, her spirit echoed 'why?' She did not know how to let go, her memories were sealed, she could flow. Only a small hint remains of whom she once was, the seven colors that the rainbow can encompass." Denial spread her wings and flew out of the Sky Maze; she had nothing more to say.
Peach watched Denial disappear in the distance. She looked at Freedom; maybe he had an explanation for Denial's words this time too. "Did you understand any of that?"
"Denial said that Rainbow didn't want to leave the mortal world, but she had no choice. Rainbow lost her memories because she didn't know how to deal with not being able to go back to your world. We can only have one life there and then we have to come back to the spirit world. I think the last part meant that what rainbow left unfinished is all that's left of her time in your world, since she can't remember her life there," Freedom explained.
The spirit world was a surprising place. The spirit's personalities didn't always fit in with what they represented, yet in a way they did. Peach was letting it all sink in. She was trying to make the connection between Rainbow and what she left unfinished, since it was clear that, even if Freedom knew, he wouldn't tell Peach directly. At least he gave her more information than most of the other spirits. Rainbow's unfinished business must be something that happened during her time as a mortal. But if that was the case, then Peach couldn't do anything about it unless she returned to her world.
"Who do you like?" Freedom suddenly asked. "From your world, who do you like? Do you have a crush on anyone? Tell me." Curiosity seemed to be another of Freedom's characteristics.
"Mario." Peach had to pause and think about her answer before replying. She realized how much she had been thinking about Bowser, and how worried he must be.
"Are you sure? Its okay, you can tell me. You're free to like someone else, even if it's not the one people expect you to like. I'm Freedom and I say so, it must be true. So, who do you like? Who do you like a lot?" Freedom asked again.
At first, Peach wasn't sure where this was going, then she caught on. Freedom was asking about Bowser. Suddenly what Denial had about the one that Peach adored made sense. Why was it that most of, if not all, the spirits thought they made a good couple? They saw the world from a different perspective; maybe they had seen something that she had missed. Or maybe they were just expressing opinions and nothing more. "I... appreciate him, but I don't think of him in another way..." Peach was at a loss for words, since when did she appreciate Bowser? He kidnapped her constantly, even if it was out of love, but that was certainly an unusual way to show it.
"Look over there," Freedom pointed towards a barrel that was unnoticed in a corner. A path of boards made it accessible, despite the thorny vines on which it stood.
"A barrel?" Peach wasn't sure how that could be helpful.
"It's in the barrel, a lot!" Freedom shook his head. He wasn't one to stay in a single place for too long and he didn't have too much patience. Besides, this was Peach's mystery to figure out, he couldn't do it for her. "I'll be going now."
"Wait, what's in the barrel?" Peach asked.
"Take a look," Freedom was gone the same way he came and Peach was left with curiosity.
The Princess approached the barrel and looked inside. It was full of water... She remembered what Mercy had told her about water and reflective surfaces. "I want to see Mario." Peach concentrated on Mario, but she wasn't happy with what she saw. Mario was in the middle of a fierce battle in Bowser's castle in Darkland. She couldn't bear to watch this; she needed to return as soon as possible. Peach wondered if Bowser was still in Iceland and if he knew what was happening in Darkland. The image changed to match her thoughts.
"She's alive," Kamek tried to explain. "I didn't say she wasn't. Her body is just empty, frozen in place. The spell I used will help preserve her body, so that it doesn't die before Peach's spirit can return. There's nothing that can be done, she has to find a way back on her own... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry to have failed."
"Kamek, it's not your fault. I know you tried to help," Peach spoke even if she knew they couldn't hear her.
"Leave!" Bowser roared. In a puff of blue smoke, Kamek was gone. Bowser gently brushed Peach's hair away from her face. She had been placed in a guestroom, but they were still in Iceland. He looked so sad; it broke Peach's heart to watch. "My princess... I shouldn't have trusted that stupid matchmaker. This is my fault for making that deal." He held her hand and watched her; she was like sleeping beauty. Kamek didn't want to say it, but Bowser knew there was a possibility that Peach would never wake up, and he couldn't stand to think about it. "Wake up Peach... I love you."
Peach had never seen Bowser so sad. He looked helpless staring at her motionless body. He looked frightened, so different from what she had seen before. She had to return to her world.
To be Continued
There were plenty of fantasy elements in this chapter, there's a reason for all this, it will all tie together in the end. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. Many thanks to Razzi (ebtwisty9) for beta reading and advice.