Chapter 43: Friend


While she admired Yikk, Starlow had some trepidation about Bowser letting himself be the ghost's guinea pig, but like the Koopa, she knew they didn't have much choice. She braced herself anyway, prepared to stave off or absorb whatever energy was about to strike her host, but when the machine turned on, to her surprise, nothing happened. The energy passed straight through Bowser, and while she did feel it and could sense it interacting with both his physical form, it wasn't actually changing anything.

Starlow had to agree when Bowser likened the beam to a 'spotlight' for his gut. Granted, it wasn't really part if your average electromagnetic spectrum, but as far as its effects went, the energy was, in essence, just a light. Although as she looked at the wall through Bowser's eyes, she felt that it wasn't so much a 'spotlight' as an overhead projector for his gut. His anatomy was rendered on the wall in shimmering blue; a mess of overlapping organs and bones nothing like the illusions Starlow had been creating for the Mario Bros. Before she was able to get a good look at the map, however, Bowser turned away to face Yikk, but Starlow's disappointment about her visuals being cut off so prematurely was short lived.

"A curios child heaves a sigh."

If Starlow had a physical form at that moment, she knew her eyes would have opened wide as the familiar voice filled her head. "Chakron?!"

"It is I, who is he."

"What are you doing here? I mean, how are you talking to me? There's no Chakroad here, is there?"

"I do not NEED a Chakroad to communicate. My mind can use the waves of the cosmos to travel far and wide."

"Oh, great."

"Greatness comes with enlightenment," replied Chakron wryly, but Starlow was too angry to take the hint and realize she really ought not to be making bitter, sarcastic remarks at her elder's expense.

"Oh, I see. So tell me, oh enlightened one, where exactly was your surfing mind when Fawful snatched the Dark Star?! Why couldn't it hang-ten over this way, like, ten minutes ago when Bowser was dying and I needed help?! Why didn't DURMITE step in until I nearly died!? I mean, I'm trying to save the world from the DARK STAR – why am I doing it alone!?"

Chakron was silent for a moment, long enough to make Starlow worry she had cut loose a bit too much and he wasn't even going to bother putting up with her. But before too long, his voice echoed in her metaphysical head once more. "You are not alone."

"Yeah, well you guys have a funny way of showing solidarity!"

"I see you have not taken my first lesson to heart… As I told you before, I did not have contact with the others for generations."

"Fine, then both you AND all the other Stars have a funny way of showing your support for the girl who's trying her darned best to stop the Dark Star for ya!"

"The last time the Dark Star was awakened, it was not the Star World, the Star Road or the Star Haven that stopped it. It was three Star Sages, barely more than Sprites. Untested. Still unenlightened. And alone."

"Yeah, and it cost them everything! But I'm not a Sage, and there is only ONE of me!"

"But you are on a quest for the powers held by three Sages."

"Three Sages which are not cooperating at all! Durmite's been here ALL ALONG, and yet it took some crazy Toad doctor to let me know she was a Star!"

"That's because you're-"

"-'Unenlightened', yeah, yeah, I know, I know – ENOUGH! Maybe YOU should get better at listening too, because as I told YOU last time, this is a BAD setting for a field course! At the very least, I shouldn't have to waste time chasing some stuck-up Sage around my own illusions because she's too good to even TALK to me!"

More silence. Starlow realized she'd done it that time. Maybe she had been with Bowser too long – his fiery temper was rubbing off on her… Oh, who was she kidding? She's always been hot-headed. Wisdurm was always telling her to be respectful, and yet here she was, screaming at a Star Sage. And his next words made it clear he was not impressed. "And yet YOU can waste your time chasing curiosities?"

Starlow winced. "I know! I'm sorry. It was stupid of me, and I won't let it happen again. I'll keep my eyes on the big picture – but you guys have to as well!"

"Is that what you regret? The time? Once you have lived a thousand years, watching tyrants fall and kingdoms unite, your mind spread across the cosmos… THEN, you will understand time. But right now, you cannot even tell the difference between ten minutes and half an hour. You are still so unenlightened, still not seeing what is important here."

"Maybe if you tell me what I'm doing wrong…"

"I cannot tell you how to feel. That is a lesson you MUST learn for yourself. But I fear others have schooled you in this matter already…"

"What are you talking about NOW?" Starlow cringed inwardly again: there goes that lip of hers. But Chakron didn't seem fazed this time as he airily continued.

"It matters not. Not at this time. What matters is this: I will not give you the answers, but I WILL help you. The Sage you are up against is too zealous with her challenge, and using the spectrum of the spectral inventor's machine, I have been able to link with the Dragon-Koopa's energy almost as strongly as I could were he within a Chakroad. You cannot control the Sage's illusions, but my mind is stronger. With practice, you too would have been able to break through her fences. Someday. But today is not a day of practice. Make sure our temperamental friend stays within the beam, and I will help you advance in your challenge."

It took a moment for Chakron's words to sink in, and Starlow could barely believe it when it finally did register. "Wh- what!? You're offering to help me!?"

"I am not offering anything: I am choosing to act. It is not your choice to accept or decline. Return to the illusion the Sage has taken from you: the barriers will lower and you will continue."

"Well, whatever you say. But… thank you. It means a lot to me that I finally have a friend in this."

"You have had friends for some time."

"Oh, right, of course! How could I forget – Mario and Luigi! And I suppose that Broque guy helped too, and Wisdurm, though not lately..."

"Perhaps… Perhaps not."

"Huh?"

Chakron smiled to himself: Starlow was in for a surprise, and he wasn't going to spoil it. "It matters not. This conversation has passed in the blink of an eye for Bowser, but soon Yikk will stop speaking."

"Don't worry – I'll make sure Bowser stays put. You can count on me!"

Far away on his mountain, Chakron sighed. He had been relying on Starlow for quite a while already. The world was, but she wasn't ready. She wouldn't pass the test at this rate: Bowser's last close-call and Starlow's moment of despair had been enough to convince Chakron that the girl was not ready to be a Sage. If she gave up then, she would give up against the Dark Star, and no one would be able to rescue her when that happened. It frustrated Chakron that he could not force the Star Spirits above to reconsider and use something less dire as a test. But they were never ones to listen, much like their students.

So Chakron would do the next best thing: he'd speed the test along as much as he could to ensure that Bowser got to Mushroom Castle on time, before the Dark Star awoke. The Stars wanted to destroy the Dark Star, but Chakron was done playing roulette with the world: their young upstart was in over her head, and the name of the game was prevention now. He knew Wisdurm and the other Stars above still had faith in their pupil and would continue to push her, hoping to prepare Starlow for a final confrontation no matter how much time the challenges burned through. Chakron had tried to get them to reconsider, to realize that the Dark Star was too dangerous, but Wisdurm hadn't been there, and the Spirits in their Haven had forgotten. So now Chakron was taking matters into his own hands: he couldn't reason with the younger Sage or the higher authority she followed, but with the light as a conduit for his thoughts and energy, he could fight her. With his mind.