It has been a while. Let's just get straight to the chapter, shall we?
38. The First Tyranny
Ever since Sly had turned her into a Shadow Raposa, Mari had been locked away into pure subconscious as the Shadow Goo gained control. Once Sly had given her the Book of Life and left the Village, she had abused it in every which way she could by summoning corrupt versions of the Creator's creations into existence. This included warping Village Hall into a Shadow-estic palace of sorts, Shadow Goo wings on her back, a small Shadow Goo tiara on her head and otherwise turning the Village into her personal playground.
Isaac had noticed the commotion from in the Turtlerock store, but didn't go outside after using a window to find out what was going on. Only seeing a corrupted Mari meant it was too dangerous to go out alone, in fear of being captured or recorrupted.
In just a few short hours, the Village was full of Shadow Creatures once more, along with corrupted creations. Luckily, they were all pseudo-Shadow Creatures, and could be destroyed by anyone, but that didn't make them less threatening.
The Shadow Goo possessing Mari decided she needed a different name; so she wouldn't be confused with the weak little Mari she controlled. Perhaps something like...
Queen Marium?
Yes, that was a proper ruler's name; one that sounded mature and strong.
Thus, began the First Tyranny known as Queen Marium.
"Alright, let's find Mari and see if we can go anywhere else," Jowee said happily as he and Samuel stepped out of the Gate door. Samuel nodded to assure Jowee was heard as they crossed the river from the ocean. Afterwards, the both of them were surprised when they saw a sudden increase in Shadow Creatures, along with types they'd never seen before.
"We should find somewhere safe," Samuel called out after the two had defeated the closest attacking Creatures, "Something has gone terribly wrong..." Jowee shook his head, wanting to go to Village Hall.
"What about Mari...?" he'd replied with, only to be pulled away from the building in question by Samuel, who was telekinetically dragging him toward Turtlerock.
"The Shadow Creatures appear to be coming out of Village Hall, Jowee," he said sternly as he lead the way, "If there are more, there is no chance of us being able to get inside-" Jowee roughly pulled back in resistance, even though Samuel's Telekinesis was keeping him from escaping the invisible grip.
"No!" he yelled out in vain, "I will NOT risk Mari's safety like this! What if she's in danger? What if Sly's here? WHAT IF I JUST WANT TO-"
"Stop, Jowee...!" Samuel rose his voice in irritation, "There is nothing we can do as of now- Aah!" he broke off here when he was pulled on the ground by his front, as Jowee somehow freed himself from his grip. Jowee didn't stop there, running off into the distance, straight to Village Hall. Samuel quickly got up and chased after Jowee, yelling out this time "Come back, Jowee! You don't know what lies inside!" His words were unheard as Jowee opened the door to Village Hall, his eyes opening wide from the interior.
Just as Samuel got close enough to pull him back, Jowee was pulled inside by a Shadow Goo fist, the door slamming shut afterwards. Samuel reached the door, wasting no time in trying to open it, only to find it locked. Instead, he pulled out his length of pipe, hitting it against the door and knob repeatedly, but the door wouldn't open anymore. From the racket he had made, Samuel had no time to rest as he noticed several more Creatures deciding to target him.
"Please be safe, Jowee..." he pleaded in a low voice, looking back one last time before forcing himself to flee, hiding inside the closest possible place available; Creation Hall.
From inside what used to be Village Hall, Jowee was still trapped in the grip of a Shadow Gooed hand. Try all his might, he couldn't break free from the prison as he was swiftly led through twists, turns and halls. His surprise quickly became fear as he let out a scream. Eventually the trip ended when a large set of double doors opened wide, revealing what appeared to be a rather unusual throne room. There sat a Shadow Raposa, fitted with Shadow wings and tiara. In her Shadowed paws, she thumbed idly through pages of a large book before noticing the newcomer. She pulled the arm of the hand back towards her, bringing Jowee along in the process, and looked him over without a single word.
Jowee could only stare into her glowing white eyes while shaking uncontrollably. He let out a gulp before mustering the courage to speak. "W-Who are you, and what've y-you done to Mari?"
"The young Mayor?" the Shadow Raposa spoke at last in a question, her voice a tainted Mari's. "Why, her subconsciousness has told me all about her. So frail and weak. She clearly didn't know what she was doing as a leader. But as of now, I rule this pathetic place you call a Village. Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just execute you for unlawful entrance of my home." To her surprise, Jowee was able to make a comeback near instantly, realizing that Mari had been corrupted by this Shadow Being.
"Because you're WRONG!" he spat, his fear erasing into fury and he began to struggle wildly, "Mari, I know you're in there, and you have to fight ba- OWW!" He was silenced when the Shadow Raposa smacked him in the face.
"The welp doesn't even struggle," she replied in a no-nonsense sort of way, "So you're just wasting your time, Jowee."
"You know my n-name..." Jowee said once more once he recovered from having his face smacked, "Just who are YOU?"
"Queen Marium," she introduced proudly, putting a paw over her heart, "The first Queen of this sad dump. ... But I'll make it work, somehow."
"Not another king and queen thing again..." Jowee huffed bitterly as he remembered the time in the past when Mayor Miney was a King, as well as having to fend off the King and Queen ships of the old URSF; only being responded to with another smack to the face. He let out another yelp from the contact.
"Is whining all you're known for, Jowee?" Marium asked genuinely, before an idea came to mind. "If so, then no wonder Mari is so turned off by you."
"W-What?" A blush formed on Jowee's face after hearing those words, "What do you mean? I mean, uh... I don't..."
"Stop acting like you're not in love with little Mari," A giggle of sadistic mirth as Marium paused, then continued in stride, "You should just give up on her. As far as subconscious goes, she's only interested in real men, not little boys. I can't say I blame her, though; you seem to be someone she's had to fret over nearly all her life; giving her so much stress as both a Rapo child and a failing Village Mayor." One of her eyes twitched slightly, but went unnoticed by Jowee. As she talked, a few picture frames faded into existence, each displaying segments of Mari's memories while the frames containing each floated around the two.
"You're l-lying!" Jowee stuttered, not wanting to believe whatever he was being told, "Mari is- I mean- She's my best friend, and we've been friends for so long, and... And I... And she..." He did all he could to construct an argument, but to no avail. The more he thought about what Marium had told him, things did start to make sense, but only a little. He couldn't help but then eye the frames, watching the memories flash by, most of them representing the times where he would seem more interested in himself than Mari, and times where it implied that Mari herself was trying to send him hints, but he didn't understand them.
There were even memories playing that took place while Wilfre was trying to put the Village in darkness, so long ago...
"How dare you call yourself her 'best friend'," Marium snarled, slamming the book shut in her lap, anger in her eyes. "Jowee, you're such a twit." She paused as she lifted the book in her arm as she rose to her back paws, then holding out a paw where a ball of Shadow Goo formed. "You're apparently almost eighteen, but you don't act much older than twelve. Just face the facts; she'll never feel for you in anything more than mere friendship, if that's what you both really call it."
Jowee looked away for several moments, trying to comprehend the words. Until now, he hadn't fully realized just how he had treated Mari. Through all she'd done for him and all those times where she would worry for him; only to find that in return, he acted ignorant to her feelings and not even respond properly. Even recently, there were times when she would claw his face for things he would do and say. It made him sick to think that through it all, he almost expected Mari to feel the same for him even after what he'd been doing; it just wasn't deserved in his eyes.
She doesn't deserve me... Jowee finally thought to himself in shame, hardly noticing the ball of Shadow Goo approaching his forehead. If I'd been more grown up, maybe I would've had a chance, but... There's no way. There's no point in wishing for courage. There's no point... His thoughts trailed off when he'd felt the cold blob of Shadow Goo reach his forehead, causing him to instinctively struggle a bit with a third yelp of fright. However, both of these things stopped quickly as Jowee accepted his fate.
There's no point... In anything anymore.
Once he had come out from the fake wall, Drew thought to himself as to where Wilfre would be by now, and he hoped that he wasn't on the verge of breaking down again, especially since Wilfre was on his own for a while now. He quickly padded off in search for him, remembering how to traverse through the vast mansion. A thought occurred to him while he was running; if his memories were correct, Wilfre was not going to find his journal here, but in Creation Hall, where it was stored for safe keeping.
But I can't just blurt that out, he thought to himself as he passed another hall, Sly could be easedropping at any time, and we don't even know if he can listen from afar somehow... I must be very, very careful with what I do and say. He stopped in front of one of the Hero statues, looking upon it with more confidence. Wilfre needs to know it's me, but in a way where Sly won't find out. To everyone else, I'm just Drew. To Wilfre... I'm Sparky. With a sigh, he started off again, this time to a certain destination.
Here, there was a long hall with a line of stained glass windows like before, one or two of them being shattered. Drew slowed his pace to a walk, soon enough reaching the lone door at the end of the hall. On the other side was Wilfre, who was sitting cross-legged, an open book in his paws, reading. As Drew approached him, his ears perked and looked over at him.
"Where'd you run off to, Drew?" he asked curiously, an eyebrow raised as he got onto his back paws, shutting the book. "Don't tell me you got lost or something..."
It's time, Drew thought to himself again as he took a deep breath.
"I didn't get lost," he replied, approaching him further until he was face-to-face with Wilfre. "To tell the truth, I did get a little lost before... But not this time." Wilfre was confused by his words, wondering where this change came from.
"You... Were here before?" he asked again, scratching his head a bit. Drew nodded, thinking about what to say next.
"Don't you remember?" he looked around the room as he continued on, "After all, you almost... Won." Wilfre was starting to worry, his mind frantically searching for answers.
"Err..." was all he could say, worry creeping over him even moreso than before.
"Let's just say that everything makes sense now..." Drew started, then embracing Wilfre lightly, whom became surprised from the gesture. Drew then added in a whisper, "And... I forgive you. For everything."
Wilfre was completely speechless at this point, a feeling of deja vu overcoming him once again, but this time he tried to remember why. Eventually, he recalled a dream he had a long while ago, and a moment where the Hero had held him. This embrace felt the exact same, unlike the last time when Drew had almost suffocated him from his excitement. It was odd, being able to distinguish something like this, but from the affection and the choices of words, it began to dawn on Wilfre that...
"You... You are..." Wilfre would've finished the sentence of Drew hadn't shhhed him, in an urgent matter.
"Don't say anything, please," he warned gently, pulling away from Wilfre at this point, "No one can know, just us. I don't want... Him... To know. Pretend you don't, while I stay as 'Drew'. At least, until everything's over." Wilfre nodded in understanding, before bringing out the paper from before.
"I get it," he said in assurance, unfolding the paper and holding his paw out for Drew. "I found my journal, so let's go back to the Village. From there, we'll be able to investigate further." When Drew noticed the book, he was surprised to see that it had been here all along. He thought about why this was until he seemed to understand.
That's right, Mike and Heather weren't around in this t-
"Drew?" Wilfre called again, which snapped Drew out of his thoughts. "Did you hear me? We need to go back to the Village." Drew let out a nervous laugh, taking Wilfre's outstretched paw into his own.
"Sorry, I was just nervous about the teleporting thing, that's all," he replied afterward. Wilfre shrugged a bit with a small smile of his own, using the paper to bring them back to the old Shadow Lair. This time, Drew didn't fall over which made Wilfre feel more relieved.
The two trekked down the safe path like before, the only noises being made being the light padding of paws that echoed through the tunnel. While they walked onward, Wilfre was thinking about something for a while, before he couldn't help but speak.
"I don't think Sly can hear us down here," he began casually, "In fact, I think he's forgotten all about this secret passage. I'm actually surprised that my journal was around at all; I wonder why he didn't just keep it from us..."
"Are you sure it's the real one, Wilfre?" Drew replied in his own question, "I mean, Sly could have it, and that book you have could be a fake..." Wilfre let out a small chuckle, holding the book up again so he could see it.
"I've thought about that, too," he flipped through a few pages after saying this, "But I can assure you that this is my original journal. I remember writing those words, the days that occurred, and all the little notes inside. Nothing's out of place. Plus, you know what?" he paused in his words and walking, closing the book again and showing him the cover, "You were right. It has my name on it, in my handwriting, with ink used years ago. It's even faded in a few places. I'm certain this isn't a fake version."
Drew couldn't help but be cautious, even if what Wilfre was saying made sense to him. "I know, but... Are there, like, special marks or something that proves it? Maybe I could see for myself... I've had to hold onto it before."
Wilfre couldn't speak for a few moments. "You didn't read in it, did you?"
"No!" Drew immediately jumped into defense, "Well, I didn't... I respected your privacy well enough. It was Mari, Jowee and Circi that snooped in it! They thought you'd come back, and-"
"Circi...?" Wilfre asked in confusion. "Who was Circi? The name sounds familiar, but... Oh Creator, I could swear I've heard it before..." Drew quickly stopped in his words, facepawing a little in his stupidity.
That's because she didn't exist here EITHER! he thought to himself, before he spoke out loud. "Err, slip of the tongue. It was just Mari and Jowee. And you wouldn't have known about this because, well... You didn't actually come back yet..."
"Of course," Wilfre replied, though wasn't sure if he really believed the story. Soon afterward, they approached the exit. "Almost home- I mean, there." As quickly as he tried to cover up the word, Wilfre was certain that Drew heard it, this feeling being confirmed when Drew replied to it.
"You miss living in the village too, don't you?"
"Shut it, mannequin," Despite snapping back at Drew in an out of habit manner, Drew only took it as a joke, which Wilfre partially intended. He let out a small laugh while Wilfre opened the exit, then the both of them climbing out, and went straight toward the Gate door nearby.
"A little late for that, Wilfre..." he muttered softly while they opened the Gate door together, then being greeted with a sight so terrible that it immediately wiped Drew's grin off his face. Shadow Creatures everywhere the eye could see, corrupted Book of Life creations littering around, and the village itself seemed to appear even more grayscale than it did before, if that was even possible.
"Oh..." Drew started again, Wilfre too awestruck to say anything, "Oh my Creator..."