Author's Note: Hello readers, so sorry it's been this long since an update! One thing led to another, and I haven't had any time to post chapter nine. But finally, it is here at last. And I hope it doesn't disappoint.
I didn't get as much vote on the poll as I would have liked, so on the next poll I will just let you vote in the review instead of having to leave me a PM to vote. Make sure to vote on the next one, which you will read about at the end of this chapter. Anyway here are the results of last week's poll on who will die at the end of this story:
-Nobody who voted thinks Peach will be killed off. (0 of votes)
-Mario, Flavio and Bowser are all tied with 12 of the votes each.
- 25 of you think Luigi will die by the end of the story.
- And last but not least, Toadsworth has the highest number of votes (38)!
You can continue submitting votes for this poll. If I get votes, I will update it along with the other poll at the end of this chapter. Now, enjoy!
Chapter 9: Tessa's Tale
"I'm guessing this is no ordinary doctor, Giovanni," stated Peach. The Pianta had been leading her down a street when he abruptly turned to the right, down a small path that lead into the forest. She could see why Giovanni was so hesitant about visiting this place at night; the trees were densely packed, allowing no moonlight to shine through, which made the jungle seem like a dark abyss.
"Princess, how exactly are we supposed to see?" asked a small voice behind her. Toad and Toadette, walked with caution, acting like something might pop out and attack them at any second. Before leaving the house, Peach had requested that her two most faithful servants, Toad and Toadette, accompany her and her journey, leaving the other toads in the house to take care of dinner. The siblings had obliged happily to join her; now, however, they seemed less enthusiastic.
"Hold on," said Giovanni, and Peach could barely see Giovanni pull something out from a pocket of his green shorts. Seconds later, a match struck, and suddenly there was light.
"That's better," declared Toad, and he continued to follow the others down the narrow path.
From then on the journey was completely silent, except for the fact that every animal in the forest seemed to be hooting or buzzing or making some other kind of noise loudly. Peach tried to look calm, but on the inside she was panicking. She hated being in places unfamiliar to her, and this was about as unfamiliar as it got for her.
"How long until we get there, Giovanni?" Peach asked, trying to hide her nerves.
"Well," he began, also sounding somewhat frightened, "I haven't been down this way in years, but I think we should be there soon. There's nothing to worry about, Miss Peach. Nothing really…"
Peach didn't even respond. She was thinking about Mario; where he was, what he was doing, and if he was any closer to solving this mystery. She sure hadn't found anything out or helped resolve matters herself, but she had already decided what she was going to do next. She would visit the library the next morning to see what she could find out about The Great Espiritu and the island's history. It's not much, she told herself, but it might help us find out who would want to take it.
"Hey, what's that up ahead!" asked Toadette, pointing to a structure Peach couldn't quite make out, "It looks like a fence."
"Yes!" shouted Giovanni, now speeding up, "We're finally here! Follow me, everybody."
Peach ran behind him until they reached the small fence Toadette had pointed out. At first, Peach didn't know what the fence was made out of, but as she examined it more closely, she stepped back, appalled. The fence had been constructed out of some type of bones; Peach wasn't sure if she wanted to know what kind, and she was starting to wonder where exactly Giovanni was leading them.
"What is this place, exactly?" Peach asked Giovanni, examining the area enclosed in the fence. There was nothing there but a tall, wide tree fixed right in the center of the area.
"There's nothing here but a tree!" shouted Toad, folding his arms in disappointment, "How it this supposed to help Toadsworth?"
All Giovanni did was smile slightly at him, and then pointed his right index finger upward. Peach wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but when she looked up the large tree, she knew what he was pointing at. More than thirty feet above them, resting in the tree, was a small house. Peach couldn't tell much else about it, except that there was light coming from the shack, and there didn't seem to be anyway to get up there.
"Um, Giovanni, how just how do you plan to get up there?" she asked the Pianta, "I don't think there's any way I'll be able to climb this thing."
"Don't worry," he replied, "You won't have to." He then hoisted himself over the bone fence and hopped into the enclosure. Peach didn't know what he was doing, but Giovanni seemed pretty sure of himself. He walked right up to the tree and slammed his fist on the bark three times. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds a long rope ladder fell from the house and down to the dirt floor. Peach smiled at Giovanni, realizing that he was a very useful person to travel with.
"Well that helps!" Peach exclaimed, also climbing over the fence to join Giovanni, "Toad, Toadette, come on!"
The toads, however, stayed on the outside of the fence. "Actually, Princess," began Toad, "I really don't think there's any way I'm making it up there, even with that ladder."
"Yeah, me neither!"
"Well you better climb over this fence at least," replied Giovanni, "Who knows what could get you out there."
Peach wasn't sure if the Pianta was being serious, but Toad and Toadette weren't taking any chances. They both jumped over the fence awkwardly and landed on their backs. They stood up quickly and ran over to the rope ladder.
"I guess one of you could hold onto my back," Giovanni told them. Instead of deciding who would do this, both toads lunged for Giovanni, but Toadette was able to grab hold of his neck first.
"Ouch! Don't choke me!" shouted Giovanni, "Sorry, Toad; there's no way I could carry both of you."
"Your loss," Toad informed him, "I weigh less."
"Hey!" shouted his sister.
"Come on guys, let's get going," said Peach, and she was the first to grab on to the rope ladder and start climbing. She was followed by Giovanni, and Toad brought up the rear.
Peach was surprised at how out of shape she was; she hadn't even reached the halfway point of the climb and already her arms and legs were beginning to ache with pain. You can do this, she told herself, thinking of how tough a time Toad must be having with this. Peach began smiling when she started hearing Toad repeat the words "don't look down" over and over again.
After what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, Peach was finally able to pull herself to the small deck outside of the house, and when she got her whole body up, she practically collapsed in front of the small wooden door. Moments later, Giovanni hoisted himself onto the deck with Toadette on his back and, to Peach's surprise, Toad holding onto his right foot.
"Phew! Thanks for that, Giovanni," Toad said.
"Ouch! No problem, Toad," replied the very soar Pianta.
They all stood up and stared at the mysterious tree house from a closer view. It was much bigger than Peach first thought, with many smaller rooms branching out from one larger, central one. There were also many windows in each room, but only about half of them contained glass panes, yet every window stool held several candles, giving the house an eerie sort of feeling.
"Should we knock?" asked Peach, making her way towards the door.
"No need to," Giovanni responded, "She already knows we're here, I think. You can just open the door.
Peach looked at him curiously, but did just as she was told. She closed her hand around the wooden knob, turned it slowly, and opened the door with caution. What she saw inside was one of the strangest sights Peach had ever seen.
Inside the large, circular room was a woman- a female noki- performing some sort of ceremony. She was short and wore a long, blue dress with a matching blue head dress. Coming out of the head dress were long clumps of dirty blonde hair, which were swaying back and forth as she danced around the fire she had created. What was even stranger about this woman was all of the jewelry she had on. There were at least ten necklaces around her neck, which were made out of gold, shells, and other various objects, followed by several bracelets around her wrists that were much too big for her.
The only thing stranger than the noki herself was what she was doing. As she was dancing and chanting in a language that Peach herself was unfamiliar with, around blue flames that seemed to get larger by the second, Peach and her companions watched in horror as a helpless chicken was lowered into the dancing flames on a rope. It was only five feet away, but with every passing moment it was inches closer.
Four feet away.
Three feet away, Toad let out a small gasp.
Two feet away, Peach grabbed Giovanni's arm.
One foot away, everyone watched in awe.
The struggling chicken was dropped and engulfed in the flames; it died almost instantly.
Toadette shrieked loudly, and it was only then when the woman realized that she had visitors. She turned around and smiled at the sight of Giovanni. She was missing a few teeth, Peach noticed, but they were replaced with gold ones.
"Ah, look who it be!" she shouted in a thick Caribbean accent, "Giovanni, it has been to long! Oh, and others he has brought with him too! Dis be a huge surprise to me!"
"Hello, Tessa," replied Giovanni, waling towards her and hugging her awkwardly, "It's good to see you again, too."
Tessa smiled again and looked in Peach's direction. "Ah, who is dis that you bring to see me! Wait! DO not tell, for I have visioned a woman of your aura composition coming to see me! It is great that we finally meet, Princess Plum."
Peach laughed in her mind. Was this lady serious? "Um, it's Peach, actually. It's nice to meet you too, Tessa."
"Ah, Peach… of course," replied Tessa, "Sometimes me readings can be…slightly blurry."
Tessa then turned her attention towards Toad and Toadette, who still looked slightly terrified from what they had witnessed. "Yes, I do remember seeing something about you two also… I believe it was a love quarrel?"
Toadette snickered loudly and Toad burst out laughing. Tessa looked at them oddly, but then smiled yet again. "Do not worry, me young lovers. What seems strange now may one day be what is mean to be. So, me friends, what brings you here at dis hour of da night?"
"Well," began Peach, "A friend of mine is injured, and Giovanni told me that maybe you could help?"
Tessa instantly walked away into another room, out of Peach's sight. Within minutes she was hurrying back towards them with a large glass jar filled with an electric yellow liquid, and handed it to Peach.
"Give dis to da friend who needs it, and he will be betta within a day."
"Thanks," Peach said to her, taking the strange concoction from Tessa and hoping that they could leave this mysterious abode as soon as possible. "Well, I guess we really should be going. Like you said before, Giovanni, it is getting late."
The cerulean blue noki looked at them sadly. "Leaving already?" she asked, "And we had only just met…well, if you must. Watch out for da fence on your way out. Da only reason I have it iz to keep da Zoshis out."
Toad looked at her curiously. "The Zoshis?"
"Ah, nevamind," retorted Tessa, walking towards a bookshelf and picking up a stack of books that looked like they were thousands of years old, "I must do some more studying, anyway. It was nice to meet all of you. Please come by anytime, now."
Peach would have gladly left that house that very instant, but one of the books Tessa was carrying caught her attention. The History of The Great Espiritu was its title, while the other books had names that were closely related to that very topic.
"Peach, ready to go?" Giovanni asked, already at the door with Toad and Toadette, who by now seemed squeamish about being in this place.
"Iz der sumting else, Princess?" Tessa asked curiously, turning her attention back to her guests.
"Well," began Peach, still not sure what she was going to say. Peach did not particularly care for the way Tessa lived her life or many of the things she did, but from the looks of the books she was carrying, the noki knew at least something regarding The Great Espiritu. But would Peach go as far as asking a woman as strange as Tessa for help? The answer for the Princess was yes. "I was wondering why you were studying these books. Do you know about The Great Espiritu?"
Tessa laughed slightly but answered Peach's question quite seriously. "I have been here in dis treehouse for years learning about da spirits on dis island. Do I know about The Great Espiritu? HA! Of course, I know more about it dan anybody else on dis island."
Peach, wanting eagerly to cut to the chase, did just that. "My husband and others have gone to search for it. I was wondering if maybe… if you could tell me what you know."
Tessa adjusted the way she was carrying her books and then looked over at Giovanni. "I'm guessing dat all of you want to know what she wants to know?"
"Oh, as long as it's quick," replied Toad nervously.
"Alright den, follow me," announced Tessa, "Dis won't be quick, I assure you; you're asking me to explain one hundred years of history to you in one night!"
Peach and the others found themselves following Tessa through an old wooden door, which to Peach's surprise led to a spiral staircase that was built into the very tree the house rested on. When reaching the second floor, she noticed that there was only one very large circular room. Like the room they were in before, it was surrounded by large, open windows, each of which held several red candles that seemed to emit an odd scent. Unlike the other room, however, an enormous oak table took up most of the space, and directly about it was a large, glass-paned sky window, giving Peach a perfect view of the stars above her.
When all five of them had reached the room, Tessa threw her pile of books on the already crowded table, and told her guests to take a seat. She grabbed the book entitled The History of The Great Espritu and began to talk.
"Now, da Great Espiritu is not as ancient as you might tink," she informed Peach (seated next to her) and the others, "It was only two-hundred years ago when the civil war between da Pianta and da Noki ended, and dis unity was when da Great Espiritu was created. Eva since den, da Espiritu Festival has been celebrated annually."
"Had it ever been stolen before?" Giovanni asked.
"Well," Tessa started, "No, but people have plotted to steal it before, but nobody has eva succeeded until now. There is one person who is famous for trying to steal it. he was a Pianta who believed dat his kind should rule da island. His name in unknown, but his death is a well known story. After many attempts at taking da Great Espiritu, it was decided that he be banished from da island. Da people strapped him to a small raft and pushed him into the seas, but not before he said his final words. He promised that one day he would return to this island when the spirit is taken from here so he can rule Isle Delfino forever as a spirit."
"What? That sounds crazy!" Toad exclaimed.
Peach herself wasn't sure how much of this story she believed to be true, but she was interested nonetheless to hear someone's take on The Great Espiritu's history. "So what's going to happen now that The Great Espiritu is gone?" Peach asked, "Will the evil spirit return to Isle Delfino?"
"Most believe to," Tessa replied, grabbing another book named Tales of The Great Espiritu: Fact or Fiction?, and opening it to a page she had previously marked, "About one-hundred and fifty years ago, an oracle prophesized what would happen if da Great Espiritu was taken off the island. Dere are four disastrous events that will occur, and they get worse the longer it is gone.
"Disastrous events?" Peach asked curiously, "What are they, exactly?"
Tessa turned her book a few more pages to a section that Peach could see listed something she couldn't read, though Peach doubted that Tessa had not memorized them herself. "Da first one is not so bad, actually," she told her guests, "It is only a week of nonstop rain and deadly winds. If dis book is correct, dis should start witin days."
Since when are deadly winds not so bad?" Toadette asked.
"What comes after that, Tessa?" Giovanni questioned.
"It is said dat during da storms, da tension between Pianta and Noki will grow quite strong. Strong enough…for another civil war."
Peach looked stunned. She had no idea what she as getting herself into.
"And afta dat," Tessa continued, "Corona Mountain will erupt, which welcomes da last even to take place. You see, it is said dat da eruption of da volcano is what welcomes back the evil spirit, the final event."
"What will the spirit do once it gets here?" Peach asked, starting to think there was a chance that this tale might be true.
"Just what he said he would do," Tessa replied, "He will rule for a period of time known as 'The Dynasty of the Abyss'"
As far-fetched as most of this sounded, Peach didn't know what to believe. Tessa seemed too strange to take seriously, but at the same time too serious to ignore. Would this be the fate of her home if something was not done soon? How long did she and her friends have before it was too late? Peach soon realized how late it was, and figured she could ponder over all of her thoughts in the morning. "Well, thank you so much, Tessa, but we really must get going."
"Of course," the noki replied, "I am always glad to share my stories."
"Tessa," Giovanni began, still somewhat shocked over what he had just heard, "How long is this Dynasty of the Abyss?"
The smile on Tessa's face vanished, and she looked at her friend with a sad expression, one that made everyone in the room realize what the answer was.
"Forever."
Author's Note: As you can tell, the chapters are getting a lot longer as the story goes on. Because of this, I have no idea when chapter 10 will be up, because I still have a lot of work to do on it. Anyway, I said there would be a poll, so here it is:
By the end of the story, there will be at least one person who is revealed to be a traitor. There are many characters in this story so far, so who do you think it will be? It could be anybody, so vote a couple times if you wish. You can PM me your vote or just vote in your review of this chapter, which I'm sure you will be doing. And be sure to vote on the other poll as well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look out for chapter ten! (Whenever it comes out!)