The trip to the Twisted Manors was not a grand affair. It was only a short trip, a week at most. Bowser agreed to wait at the manors while Ludwig went to Rhapsody. Iggy had overheard the excursion and decided to tag along to keep Ludwig company. The warp to the haunted forest was quick enough as Bowser had constructed a direct line between his realm and King Boo's, to keep his undead citizens in contact with their kin. They parted ways once they arrived, Ludwig and Iggy headed towards the platform for the Spectral Express while Bowser headed towards the cluster of ancient mansions that made up the Twisted Manors. He had to remind himself that they were adults; he didn't need to see them off from the station like they were children.
The mansions in question were beautifully elaborate examples of different architectural styles. Walking down the main street felt like wandering through a myriad of time periods. The undead, no matter what form, that lived here had come from all parts of history so it was expected that each would be catered to somehow. There were no formal gardens, only graveyards and crypts framed by an encroaching twisted forest. Bowser had heard rumours that the crypts plunged further and deeper underground to form a maze like city of catacombs, yet he had no desire to explore them. It felt like he would be crossing the threshold to a domain he was not ready to join. Even the middle of the day felt gloomy as the canopy of shadowy trees made the sky overcast and grey. The wind also howled here no matter how strong it was.
The only real way to decipher time here was to look for the undead in the main street. As undead were mostly nocturnal, they emerged from their homes and burial sites at night. Bowser wandered the street alone, heading to the largest manor at the end of the path.
King Boo squinted and critically studied the painting he was working on. It was a simple landscape with a lone tree on a rolling hill where a tiny grave stone at the base of the tree served as its only distinguishing feature. His art studio took up most of the attic, lined with all manner of paints and tools to apply them. There was a small area set up for him to craft his own colours and stretch his canvases. Older paintings lined the walls, each depicting different styles masterfully applied to the canvas. King Boo heard the door creak open behind him and the familiar heavy thuds.
King Boo smirked, not turning from his work as he kept painting "To what do I owe the pleasure, Bowser."
Bowser stopped and marvelled some of the paintings "I just wanted to hang out while Ludwig headed over to Rhapsody." He then asked "What are you painting? Seems a little basic for you… and too normal, why the ordinary colour scheme?"
"Because this hill is very special to this area. I wanted to convey the softness and the sadness through the faded light."
"Wait…" Bowser eyed the painting closer as he headed to King Boo's side "Is that Starsorrow Hill?"
"Yes, the same hill that's only a short walk from here."
"Why is it called Starsorrow Hill?"
"Because a long time ago, a Star Spirit who had taken the form of a human woman took her own life there. She hung herself from the branches of that tree."
"What!? Why?"
"Because a jealous king stole her from her happy life for his own lust and greed. She was happy, she had a loving husband, a kind daughter and son, even a loyal dog. Then the jealous king murdered her family, even the dog, and took her as his bride. Then he ripped her soul to pieces to gain her powers as a Star Spirit… A Star Spirit without magic is a hollow shell of agony… what remained of her wandered to that hill where she ended her torment."
"That's horrible…" Bowser rolled his eyes as he sarcastically remarked "Trust you to know all the feel good stories."
"Most undead show up here because they weren't treated fairly. But there is a slightly happy ending to this story, I arrived in time to save the daughter but her memory would never return fully… I took her to the only safe place I knew, the Arcane Archives. They had a habit of adopting orphans and caring for them… it was also there that I met the love of my life, Astrapi."
Bowser sighed, he then understood "Then the jealous king was Lentinellus?"
"Yes, and the Star Spirit was Queen Stellara."
"Then who was the husband?"
"Funnily enough, it was a fellow named Remus. That Luigi fool is a spitting image of him, Mario even looks like Romulus, Remus' twin. It's eerie how it's all turned out…"
Bowser growled "Fascinating… but I really don't care. I think I preferred you without the complicated backstory." He smirked a little to lighten the mood then stomped his foot "Now can we please leave here, I don't like hanging around a suicide landscape…"
The ghost sniggered "Very well." King Boo obliged to his wishes and led him out of the attic.
Bowser walked while King Boo floated down another long, winding corridor. These manors often felt like labyrinths that Bowser wondered if some magic was at place to toy with the laws of space. The air tended to be dizzying if you stayed still for too long and the placements of certain doors made little sense without some kind of spell in play. Bowser found himself walking up a wall at some point to reach a door on the ceiling. The halls were like miniature art galleries, proudly displaying King Boo's artistic endeavours over the ages. Eventually they came to a double door that led to King Boo's private study. The study was lined with all manner of tomes, pamphlets and texts. The walls were masked by shelves stretching all the way to the ceiling. The only spaces visible amidst the sea of literature were the windows, bright eyes for the outside world to look through. A large fireplace kept the room illuminated with shades of neon green, blue and violet. Books fluttered between the shelves like butterflies as they took on minds of their own.
Awaiting them was a Boo wearing a postman's cap with a heavy bad slung around its form. He tipped his cap to his king "Hey boss! Another letter from that Hellen Gravely bird!"
King Boo received the letter in question, raking his mind "Hellen Gravely? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. When is she going to stop sending me fanmail and just pop over and say hi?" He gestured Bowser to take a seat on a couch opposite him.
"You knew her when she was living?"
"No, but I know of her through a mutual colleague, it was during the golden age of gangsters in early New Donk City, when Diabella was known as Madame Cog. There was a black widow named Hellen Gravely who was very much the go to woman for gangster support."
"Like a spider? Are you telling me this lady was a freaking spider?"
"No, she married rich but every one of her husbands met a gruesome end on the honeymoon. She then inherited their fortunes. But she was smart, she used the money to open luxurious hotels with prices so high she could keep her lavish lifestyle and earn heaps more. She also had everything from speak easies, smuggling rings, forged papers and safe houses for gangsters to hide out from the cops. Yeah, she made her name and fortune during that era, lived an amazing life… so I wonder what unfinished business she could still have?"
"So I'm guessing she's a ghost, not a Boo?" Bowser remarked, fully aware of the differences thanks to his undead citizens. He knew that ghosts were a natural phenomenon of undeath, they always had unfinished business and looked more like their living selves depending on how important it is. Unfortunately, a ghost could never quite remember their business until they did it and was instantly warped back to the other side to enjoy their afterlife. All other undead creatures… were artificial, birthed from spells, rituals and mysterious relics so they could stay among the living for eternity if they chose to.
"I had no hand in restoring her, I also doubt the Shadow Queen, Queen Jaydes or King Grambi would want to see her around."
By then the postman Boo had left to tend to his duties and remaining deliveries. The two monarchs quietly settled in for a respite. King Boo casually began tending to the order of his books while Bowser breathed in the scent of ancient paper. It was rather calming, much like the libraries back in the Koopa Kingdom. Another Boo in a maid outfit appeared from the ether, offering a large goblet of wine to him. Bowser accepted the drink as the undead tended to keep the best spirits and wines; only a fool would reject their offer.
King Boo noticed a gap in a shelf "Now where did-" He then remembered "That's right, I gave a book to your nephews."
"A book? Oh, you must mean Lemmy, Iggy or Ludwig." Bowser took a sip from his goblet "They tend to like books… well, Iggy and Ludwig like reading them, Lemmy likes making forts with them. What kind of book did you give them?"
"Just a collection of tales from the Era of Ire. Like a storybook for kids that was written by some of the surviving undead from that era."
Bowser then felt that now was the best time to finally ask "What… what happened in the Era of Ire anyway? What did Queen Jaydes do?"
"Sadly, we were all played as fools but a heartless, cruel soul named Lentinellus." King Boo sighed to himself "Even I was blackmailed into his servitude after he poisoned a town's water source and blamed my apothecary research for it… keep in mind, I've only found this out now that I'm undead, you see, Lentinellus got his first break by striking a deal with Queen Jaydes, he promised her countless souls for the Underwhere in return for power… but once he monopolised on the power of star spirits, he joined them and left Jaydes. She's been rather bitter about it ever since, so in denial she won't even admit it happened."
"But why would Queen Jaydes need souls? Isn't she just an overseer of game overs?"
"Yes and no, in order for Queen Jaydes to get the job, so to speak. She basically ripped her personality into pieces using magic. You see, from what I can tell, people didn't want her in charge because they deemed her irrational and emotional so… she did the logical thing and tore away her emotions using the same spell that rips magic out of people, she actually designed the whole thing and passed the notes over to Lentinellus. Whether casting and designing such a spell was right or wrong… I can't say. There are too many unknowns to make an informed judgement on the matter. No one who was present then is around to ask… even who Jaydes was before the ritual doesn't technically exists anymore… Things went well until she realised her ripped away pieces of magic had become another entity, the Shadow Queen." King Boo grimly foretold "Now there's this theory or prophecy that one day, the two queens will fight an apocalyptic battle to end everything. So they're in the process of building their armies for that day… but it's not as simple as saying one is good and one is evil, both queens are capable of horrific cruelty and tremendous kindness."
Bowser solemnly finished "So it always comes down to who strike the best deal by the one they want to recruit."
"Yes, when Astrapi had her soul torn asunder and her storm magic removed by her sister, Shalazia. Her domain had branded her a traitor to be culled like a feral dog, her brother and sister had been murdered and she was betrayed by her only remaining family, so she turned to the most unlikely ally to survive." King Boo smirked "The Shadow Queen was imprisoned in the Prism Star around that time and hidden in the Arcane Archives. Astrapi broke open her prison and won her favour, becoming her Herald."
"Only because she had no choice…" Bowser then prompted "Who do you belong to? I mean… you're undead so which queen do you follow?"
"Luckily my undeath is my own doing so I have choices in the matter. I will only follow one queen, and I and my kingdom of ghosts will follow her into oblivion if she asks us." King Boo eerily remarked, eyes glinting with neon light "The Lightning Queen. Love is a crazy thing and I will keep loving her in my own way as she loves me in hers." He then laughed "Of course, this is something that will happen far, far away into the future probably after you're all dead so don't worry, the Twisted Manors still hold an amicable alliance with the Koopa Kingdom."
Bowser recalled his own failed love life "You sure she won't change her mind about that? People can be fickle… love can be fleeting…"
"Well… that's the thing about love, Bowser." King Boo cackled to himself "It doesn't matter how much either of you change, your adoration for each other does not. We may not be formally announced as girlfriend and boyfriend or even as a married couple… but, that doesn't matter to us. Astrapi and I have changed a lot, to the point where we're practically different people in every way… yet… we'll always love each other on some level. Love isn't always about romance and fornication, there are so many different kinds of love out there."
Bowser reluctantly informed "I'm sorry to have to tell you… but I don't think she's coming back this time. The fight on the Star Road was pretty brutal."
"Funny thing about her, she always finds a way to respawn and I doubt the Shadow Queen would let her disappear completely from the game."
"So… no crazy problems from the Era of Ire are going to come back to bite us?"
"No, we're not interested. What's done is done, we just want to move on and live relatively peacefully until we're called to battle once more." King Boo then sighed "Unless… well, depends on what happened to Lentinellus."
"You really think there's a threat from him?"
"He's a crafty one so I'd say be on your guard." King Boo's usual cheerful demeanour returned with a loud cackle "Anyway, the comedy club down in the crypts will be opening soon."
Bowser finished his wine and placed the goblet on a nearby table "What's on tonight?"
"Another round of 'Stupid Deaths' where people talk about the silly ways they died. It's rather therapeutic to get them to talk about it and laugh."
"Sounds good, lead the way!" Bowser rose from his seat "I can't tell which way I'm going in the crypts."
King Boo barred the doorway "Ah, before you do. Aren't you forgetting something?" Bowser then remembered with a gasp, he laughed sheepishly then snapped his talons. Instantly his fleshy form danced with fire to reveal his Dry Bones form. King Boo nodded approvingly "Much better, you know the rules, only the undead can hang out in the crypts."