"No." Anna whispered. "No. Not him." Kamek didn't reply. "But how?" She demanded. "How? You were keeping the pieces safe. No one could get them. How?"
Kamek sighed. "Kammy is a fool."
Anna frowned at him. "Kammy isn't that stupid." She insisted. "To bring back him?"
"Kammy never paid attention to history. She never cared for anyone but herself."
"She thought she'd get rid of you." Anna realized. "She brought it to the attention of the Council. That's why you were banished!"
Kamek nodded. "Then she summoned him herself. You saw it." He said; it was not a question.
It did not occur to her to be surprised by this revelation. "I did not realize it was her." Anna said softly. "Or what she was doing." She stared at her uncle helplessly. "You have to stop him." She said.
Kamek shook his head. "I cannot."
"You have to!" Anna persisted. "You're Kamek. That's you! You can-"
"I cannot!" Though it was not a shout, it felt loud. Though he was not using magic, there was power behind the statement. Kamek stood straight, defiant, angry.
"I don't understand." Anna said at last. "You're the most powerful magikoopa of our time." Peach wasn't as surprised by that as she thought she should be. She had known Kamek was powerful, but…
Kamek shook his head. "I am not what I once was." He said softly.
Anna reached forward and took his hand. She glared at the mark on the back of it. "Just because the council banished you-" She stopped short, frowning.
"It is not the council." Kamek replied. "Surely you have seen it, Anna."
The magikoopa bit her lip. She pulled his hand closer to her and stared at his arm. Abruptly she drew back the sleeve and pointed at a small scar. "What is this?" She demanded. Her finger lightly traced the mark.
Kamek hissed and tried to jerk his arm back. It was a mark of how weak he actually was that Anna still held him.
"Kammy." The two spat. Kamek looked furious, and it frightened Peach.
She looked around. Actually, this frightened everyone. Even Anna had drawn back from the magikoopa.
Kamek let loose a snarl in some language, and Anna paled while Iggy clapped his hands over his mouth.
He noticed, and was instantly calm again, confirming Peach's theory that he was not simply imperturbable, but rather, normally unreadable.
Finally, Anna spoke. "You know the prophecy." She said softly. "You're the only one who can do it."
He frowned, lost in thought, perhaps. "Very well." He said at last, heavily. "I will need your help, Anna."
She nodded. "What can I do?"
He almost smiled. "I have nothing left, Anna."
She frowned. "But you're going to use the amulet." She guessed. "Family heirloom. It stores magic." She added, for Peach's benefit. "But it reacts to magic, so he will need help drawing from it."
Peach hesitated. "I could help too." She offered. Anna smiled.
"It would make it easier." Anna admitted, stepping closer to Kamek and taking his right hand in her left. Peach stepped forward as well, Anna took her left hand, and Kamek took her right.
"Do not fight me, Princess." Kamek said wearily.
She felt his presence instantly. Anna's as well. His was weak, unsteady, hardly there at all.
Then she felt the pull. It didn't hurt, really, but it felt like it should have. He grew stronger, and she saw Anna grow weaker. She was growing weaker herself. The pull increased.
Kamek let go of both of them as he muttered something Peach could not understand. She staggered backwards, and nearly fell; Toad caught her before she did.
Kamek stood still, staring into the distance. Then he nodded, and was his old self again. Almost.
He nodded to them each in turn. "Teach her." He told Anna. "You are both ready."
Anna nodded, and Peach realized that this could very easily kill Kamek. He knew it, too.
He turned to Iggy. "Be careful." He warned.
Iggy burst into tears. It was the first time Peach had ever seen anyone in Bowser's family cry. It was also the first time the thought occurred to her that anyone might actually like Kamek.
Kamek said nothing to Toad. Instead he merely bowed before turning to Peach.
"Thank you, Princess." He said softly. He reached forward and touched her lightly on the forehead. The skin felt funny there, for a minute, but the feeling quickly vanished.
Anna spoke. "We're staying here, aren't we?" She asked. Kamek nodded.
"Until the battle has ended. You will know." He answered before she could ask. Then he disappeared, with hardly a snap.
The four sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. None of them knew what to say. None of them wanted to say anything. They were tired, and confused, and uncertain what any of this meant.
"How will we know when the battle is done?" Anna finally asked. Peach didn't know. Iggy had fallen asleep in her lap, and Toad had begun to doze off as well.
"He said we would know." She offered.
Anna sighed. "I just don't understand him." She said, glaring at the floor. "He just doesn't make any sense. Ever."
The castle rumbled. Peach wondered if that were the sign they were waiting for. She wondered, too, why she was so tired. She blinked, her eyelids heavy. She would close her eyes, she decided, just for a minute.
Disclaimer: The world of Mario does not belong to me.