The Everlasting Nightmare
The Everlasting Nightmare
11. Luna, Mistress of Light
Our heroes found themselves in front of the dimension Prince Dargoul had created, where all the dreams come and turn into nightmares. The Clue Compass indicated to go inside.
"It's finally time…" whispered Mario.
"Okay, on three… One… Two…"
"Three!" shouted the whole crew, as they bounced into the vortex.
They were inside this bizarre gap, probably between Dargoul's dimension and their own… It was filled with flashy lights of all different colors… some colors that nobody had ever seen, colors too beautiful to create.
They spun around for a while until they reached the end of the "tunnel" they were traveling through. Mario and co. appeared in a dark place… There was absolutely nothing, only darkness. They heard whispers and screams; they saw ghastly images and balls of light turn into dark ones.
"This place is horrifying…" said Peach.
The gang slowly walked around in the empty world, until they reached its end. It was blank. It was like walking on a purple piece of paper, reaching its edge and realizing that there's nothing there. Just white.
"What do we do? It's a dead end…" said Wario. But not all hope was lost.
"We have to jump!" announced the brave Mario.
"Jump? Are you nuts? There's… nothing there!" replied Wario, shocked.
"Wario… It's true. It's the only option." said the princess.
"Let's-a go!" shouted Mario. He jumped down the edge of this weird world, and it seemed like an endless pit, but it wasn't. As he fell lower, it got darker, and he finally fell brutally onto the drawbridge of a castle. It must be Prince Dargoul's.
Every great villain had a castle, but out of all the castles our trio had seen, this one was the most imposing, with its beautiful windows, large and tall towers and magnificent shape.
"Well, this must be the place…" said Peach. She gulped.
They entered the edifice.
MEANWHILE…
"Powz, we seem to have intruders! The power of my Darkness Dimension seemed to have weakened because of all the Luminas that were released. It weakened enough for that pesky plumber and his friends to come inside… I sense them near. Take care of this situation!" demanded Dargoul.
"Ay, right away sire!" replied Powz, itching for a fight. He rushed off, in search of our heroes.
BACK WITH MARIO…
The halls were enormous and long, and the portraits were very strange. They were pictures of good things, like fields and flowers, candy and care. But then, suddenly…
The portraits transformed into horrible scenes, like ghosts and goblins, thunder and terror. The good dreams were being twisted into nightmares!
"By now, almost all of the earth must be asleep. We have to hurry!" said Wario. The group rushed to the end of the corridor, but they were intercepted by Powz.
"Eek! Who are you?" screamed Princess Toadstool.
"I, my fair maiden, am Powz, loyal servant of Prince Dargoul. I am here to stop you from going any further!" said the villainous brute.
"Stay out of our way, meathead!" shouted Mario.
"MEATHEAD? NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" screamed their foe.
He ran towards Mario and body slammed him so hard that he went flying back to the front of the hall.
"Mario!" shouted the worried Princess.
She ran to Mario, while Wario was trying to hold off Powz. Mario and Peach ran back to the end of the room.
"Mario, Peach, keep going! I'll hold him off!" Wario shouted.
"But.. Wario…"
"Just go!"
The duo nodded and proceeded to the next room. It was a large chamber with four thrones at its end, three slightly smaller than the one above them, where their most fearsome enemy awaited the princess and the plumber.
"Ah, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting a long time for this encounter." said Dargoul.
"Well here we are! Get ready to be defeated, you scoundrel!" said Peach.
"You stand no chance of defeating me!" the prince replied. "Because of you, I haven't seen Meloda or Claire since they met you. But it does not matter, I have enough strength to take you down in one blow!"
"What do you mean you haven't seen Meloda or Claire since we met them?" questioned Mario.
"Don't be a fool, I know you got rid of them. I don't know how you did it, but you'll pay. Take this!" answered the shady-looking character.
He spread out his arms and produced a dark ball of energy that he sent flying towards Mario and Peach.
"Say goodbye!"
All hope was lost… Until…
"Stop!"
Griphaun intercepted the attack, taking the blow himself.
"You two, head to the next room and release Luna, the Mistress of Light. She is the only one who can stop Dargoul!" he shouted.
Once again, the duo nodded and rushed towards the next door, leaving Griphaun behind to fight the evil prince. Who was this "Luna" person?
As they entered, they noticed a beautiful woman, with long, blond hair and gold glowing eyes. She was sporting a long and gorgeous purple dress.
"Are you… Luna?" asked Peach.
"Indeed." The woman's voice was so serene, and it was echoing loudly in the chamber. "I have been sealed here since Dargoul started creating this dimension. He knew that I was the only one able to stop him. But now, I am powerless, since he drained all of my magic. I am the mistress of light, and if I had my magic, we could seal Dargoul in his own world."
"But we still don't have all of the Light Orbs!" explained Mario.
And that's when they heard a sort of triumphant sound. A kind of squeak, a strange, incomprehensible sound.
It was Yoshi! He returned with another amazing 2 Light Orbs! Fantastic! They seemed empty, so he had probably already used them.
"Excellent! Now we only need 1 more orb…" said Peach.
"Dargoul keeps it under his throne. I don't know why he didn't destroy it… He seemed to hesitate over that." explained the Mistress.
"Well, we need to get that orb!" shouted Mario.
END OF CHAPTER
