We got to the Temple of Diamonds without a lot of problems (which was surprising). Fiamo and I were up in the nest, making sure that Brian wasn't going to run into a lot of problems. Once he docked at the entrance, we got to the deck, and discussed the next best move. The first thing that Brian was worried about was leaving his boat alone; although we were out in the middle of the ocean, he still had his doubts about leaving it unattended. After discussing it back and forth, we decided that the best thing to do was to split the team in half; Wendy would go into the Temple of Diamonds with me, Waluigi, Daisy, and Rose. Mario, Fiamo, Eugene, Peasley and Peach would stay with Brian on the boat. After making sure we had everything, we went into the Temple.
It had the same layout as last time. Thankfully, I was in the lead, and warned every one of the short ledge at the very entrance. Luma lit up the place, and peeped at me that it was the same as last time. I nodded, and spoke to the others that we needed to go one at a time to make sure we got over. Taking a deep breath, I backed up to the wall, and nodded at Luma, telling him that I was ready. He counted down from three, and shouted 'go'. I shoved myself off the wall and sped up to the ramp. Right before the drop of the slope, I jumped in the air, and stiffened my body, taking the position of a mummy. I felt the wind and snow sting my face and nose as I slid at an alarming rate. Unlike last time when I went air born, I kept my composure until I was clearly over the gap. I unlocked my knees so when I hit the ground, my knees bent, and I managed to stay upright. I skidded to a stop, and told Luma to get the next person. He flew away, and I watched his yellow light dance around as he was instructing the next person.
I waited a few seconds before I saw his yellow light move with great speed alongside the ramp. The person got launched in the air, and they kept their structure until a few feet away from the ice. Rose landed, but didn't stop soon enough and crashed into me. Thankfully, I didn't fall over, and I could hear Waluigi's laugh echoing off the walls. Luma flew back, and ushered the next person to go. I got confused when Luma flew back to me.
"Nice Doctor Lady scared." Luma peeped.
I saw Rose's hair begin to float, and I told Luma to tell Wendy that Rose would help her if she didn't make it. Luma nodded, and flew back. Rose and I waited for a few seconds, and Luma lined up next to the ramp. I could only imagine the stress and fear Wendy was going through. Luma started moving towards us slowly, and Rose circulated the air underneath the ramp. Luma picked up speed, and I heard him say 'stay still' as Wendy became air born. Rose made the wind thrust upwards with such force that it sent Wendy a few more feet in the air, making sure that she got over the gap alright. She landed on the ice, and Rose went and checked on her sister. Luma congratulated Wendy, and went back to help out Daisy and Waluigi.
Daisy was next, and she overshot the edge and ended up crashing into me; she didn't land on the ground then hit me, she landed on me. I groaned in pain as Daisy apologized and got off me. Waluigi got over with grace and no problems, and Luma returned to my shoulder. I explained that I went down the hall, and then I ran into Waluigi and Wendy when we were here last. We slowly continued forward, and we got to the wall with the ancient writing. I looked at it again with more interest than last time.
"Hey." I stopped everyone. "Does this look familiar to anyone?"
"We were here last time." Wendy answered the obvious. "It is the same place we were before Luma got snatched."
"No, I mean…the writing. It looks…familiar."
"Luigi, I think I hit your head." Daisy said coming up to me. "Let's continue forward."
I pulled out my phone and sent different images to the crew on the boat, hoping for an answer. I waited for a few seconds, and when we got no answers. Right before we left the room altogether, my phone went off.
It is Ancient BeanBean. Peasley answered me. Do you know what you sent me?
Umm…no. Should I be worried? I asked.
Luigi…where is this located?
I sent Luma to go get Peasley, and Daisy decided to go with him to switch places, saying that her power would not work in a temple completely made of ice. We waited for a few minutes, and Luma returned with Peasley in tow. I gestured to the wall, and the prince skated up to it, reading it in interest and fear. We watched his eyes reading the wall, and he rested his hand on it, slowly tracing his fingers across the carved ice.
"This…" Peasley whispered. "This is the entire revival legend."
"The ones the Shroobs used?" Rose asked.
Peasley shook his head. "The one that revived Bonechill." Peasley skated back, trying to read the entire thing at once. "This is an amazing find! Someone call Brian; they need to hear this as well."
"Got it." Wendy answered.
A few minutes passed, and Brian had answered the phone. Both Wendy and he had their phones on speaker so everyone could hear.
"My translations may be a bit shaky," Peasley spoke softly, "but this is what it says:
"Before the time of the world where life forms upheld the law, the lands that we know today were an icy terrain. Man and beast froze in this terrible weather. There was a dramatic shortage of food, and there was no clean water to drink for all the water was frozen. There were the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, but even they could not melt the ice. The Gods had sent Man to rid of this ice, but every idea that came to test ended up falling short. The land was at risk of perishing before it could even begin.
"The cause of the ice staying on the land was a monster made of the element itself. He was a heartless creature who only wished to see the blood of his victims as a thin layer of color on his icy world of chaos and madness…"
Peasley stopped (probably because that was how much he had translated) and he was still reading in interest and fear.
"How do you know what it says?" Eugene asked through the phone.
"I took an Ancient Writings and Analysis class a year ago." Peasley explained. "It is very important for Royalty to know the ancient text as well as they know their native language. Everyone in Beanbean is required to take the class, but I had to take more to make sure I knew the text well."
Waluigi warned him to take his time with translating the text, and Peasley nodded. We waited in silence, and I slowly approached the prince and held a notebook in front of him for a few minutes before he noticed it. He thanked me quietly as I handed him a pen as well. He scribbled a few symbols down, and looked up at the wall again.
"The monster showed no signs of stopping his reign of terror and bloodlust. The people of the lands would risk their lives to travel to the one and only temple to pray to the Gods to end the reign of ice. Many did not make it past the ice, and the ones who did ended their travels at the face of the monster. Very few people actually made it to this temple, and prayed with their entire hearts for the nightmare to end. The monster grew angry at the people, and to demonstrate his hatred, he destroyed the temple, extinguishing any and all hope the people had.
"The Gods saw this action, and selected four heroes from different areas of the land to end this monster's raging chaos. A man from the boiling north, a woman of the windy west, another man of the dark south and one more woman of the earthly east were summoned to the lair of the Ice Monster…"
Peasley took a breath and rubbed his eyes. Wendy warned him not to overwork himself; that there was no rush of the translations. He nodded, and yawned slowly, deep and softly. Fiamo's faint voice echoed from Wendy's phone, saying that he was repeating the legend to Queen Bean, who had scholars on standby to write down everything he was saying. The Queen told Fiamo to tell Peasley to take his time, and he nodded, thanking him for the message.
"I know that I have to read the entire legend; this is a magnificent find." Peasley spoke lightly, "but my concern is if this tells us how to seal him back."
"Take your time, Prince Peasley." Fiamo spoke (apparently Queen Bean didn't know about their relationship), "You are in no rush."
The prince stood up again, and continued to look at the wall. Luma sat on his shoulder, and Peasley's skin began to glow softly. Luma said that he was helping Princely Bean Man by giving him energy to continue translating. Peasley smiled, and continued to read silently to himself. Rose was soon skating around in circles quietly, saying that we all need to move a little bit so we wouldn't freeze.
"Are you ready?" Peasley asked. When he got the approval, he continued reading the legend. "The enchantress of the earth used her rage and fury to rip apart the earth to its very core; a direct portal to the Underwhere. The wizard of wind summoned deadly gales in order to push the beast towards his doom. The monster fought with everything he had, freezing everything within its reach. To protect the other summoners, the Fire Caster cast his fierce flames to place his curse upon the land, melting the ice that got close to the flames."
I heard Fiamo (as well as some others with him) trying to suppress a laugh.
"Once the monster no longer could withstand the flames, he submitted into the portal to the Underwhere, when the Dark Descendant sealed the portal with his touch and mixed it with the surrounding ice. The spell was a weak one, so there was a chance for the monster to break free once again. Within this temple is a beacon for Dark Ice; a matter which only a Mage approved by the Ice Illusion can control. That power is the very…" Peasley stopped, leaning closer to the ice. "That power is the very…essence…yes, essence of the Dark Descendant's power. Sorry, the characters were beginning to melt."
"Is that all?" Fiamo asked softly.
"Yes."
Fiamo spoke softly to the Queen, and he informed the rest of us that he had ended the phone conversation with her. Peasley turned to us, and explained that the Dark Ice would probably be in the same location as the Ice Illusion was when Wendy got her power in the first place. We nodded, and slowly made our way forwards and deeper within the ice temple. We were making good time, and we got to the point where Waluigi knew where we were and he took the lead. Slowly, we traveled through the corridors, and soon it got to be so dark that Luma would sit on Waluigi's shoulder and light the way.
We got to the end of the hall, and it opened up into a room about the size of the entrance hall in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. There were torches that lined the walls, so Luma dimmed his light and returned to his Mama. Waluigi extended his arm out, prohibiting us from going forward. Wendy looked at him in concern, and he turned around, resting his hands on her shoulders.
"Someone, for his sanity, hold Luigi in place." Waluigi spoke openly regardless of looking at Wendy. I felt Rose lock arms with me, and Peasley whispered that he was beside me as well. Waluigi sighed, and looked at Wendy in the eye. "I want you to be very careful here. Do you remember what we saw last time?"
Wendy nodded. "Are you going to warn the others?"
"Wendy, I think the dark, crystal-like object we saw was the Dark Ice that was written in the Legend. No one would leave something this powerful just unprotected. For the love of my sanity, if the casket opens up and the mummy starts chasing us again, run like hell."
At the mention of the mummy, I felt my face completely drain. Waluigi knew me well; I wanted to go back to surface and cry in fear, but Rose and Peasley wouldn't let me move. They tried to comfort me, but that didn't stop the fear of going through the trauma that I went through last time. I gritted my teeth, trying not to cry out in fear, but my nerves shook me too much and tears stung my eyes. Luma flew out of my hat and nuzzled under my chin, telling me that Luma was there to protect his Mama.
"I'm…I'm afraid that I'll freeze up in fear." I said looking up at Waluigi.
"We can't afford for anyone to do that." He retorted sharply. "Luigi, after the Ice Illusion accepted her, he warned us of the monster in the next chamber; the one just a few feet away from where we are now. Once Wendy is within the Dark Ice's reach, it will try to destroy her. As a chain reaction, the mummy will awaken and try to kill her in order to protect the Dark Ice. Trust me, I am terrified and am not comfortable with the thought of Wendy doing this, but I have to put my fears aside for the sake of the world. If we do not do this, we might as well kiss the world we know good-bye, and the Reign of Ice will be reborn!"
Wendy held Waluigi hard, trying to keep him from falling apart. Seeing him physically scared for Wendy's safety reassured me that we had to go through with this. I nodded, and told Rose and Peasley that I would be alright. They released me, and I repeated myself, directing the statement towards Waluigi. He smiled softly, thanking me for my courage and reassurance. Peasley interrupted the moment, bringing up the issue that he has no magic power other than when he plays his violin, and there wasn't one that he could get to. He said that he had his sword, but expressed his fear of it not being enough to protect Wendy. Wendy reassured him that it would be enough, and Peasley smiled softly.
"Besides," Wendy pointed out, "If all else fails, you can blind the living hell out of him."
There was a little laugher from all of us, and Peasley nodded. After making sure we had some sort of plan (it was very loosely structured), we continued into the room. The torches glowed brighter and brighter as we made our way in. Right smack in the middle of the room was a circular platform, and on it was a pedestal with the Dark Ice standing there like a valuable gem. It sparkled a dark and haunting black and purple against the ice, making its true power relevant. Before we continued, Rose expressed her fear of the darkness possessing Wendy like King Boo did, and I got a hold of Eugene, sending him multiple pictures of the ice.
Based on what I see, he answered using Brian's phone, If Wendy keeps a clear head and a strong purpose, she should be fine. Wendy, sweetie, make sure you don't lose the reason why you are doing this, the Darkness can alter your vision, and make you think that the people you are protecting are dead. Keep your chin up and your eyes dry; I'm sure you'll do great. If you can get through King Boo, you can do this :)
Slowly, Wendy skated to the platform, and slowly walked up to it. The Dark Ice started reacting to her presence as lights of black and deep purple emitted from it.
"Before I go through with this," Wendy whispered loud enough for us to hear. "If I fail…please protect my sister."
With a deep breath, Wendy glided to the Ice, took off her gloves, and rested her bare hands on it. Dark power started swirling around her, and she closed her eyes in deep concentration. It wasn't a few seconds when the ground quaked, and the room filled with ice scraping against ice. One of the coffins that were on the same side as Wendy was opened, and a monster slowly pulled himself free. I snapped electricity in my hands as Rose gathered her power. I heard Waluigi scream a cry of pure fury.
"Remember." Peasley said as his sword rang of freedom from being pulled out. "This is for Wendy."