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Shards of Love: REDUX!
Shard III: Alliances
With the 'Big Three' alliance within reach, Peach and the Koopas must, at all costs, stop the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasalandian forces from reaching Jewelry Land and forming an alliance with King Fret.
Chapter XVI
Leaps of Faith
In the foreign forest's clearing, Bowser turns his attention away from the south, and instead focuses on the three sleeping humans. The fire's long-gone now, replaced by a thin stream of smoke rising to the heavens, and the unconscious figures, of course lacking the fat and muscle mass koopas naturally have, feel the heat's absence. Daisy and Luigi now huddle together, while Peach lays alone, shivering every now and then.
An internal conflict builds within him as he sees the trembling princess. Should he build another fire and have that warm her up? Or should he…
Bowser feels his cheeks get hot as he thought of the second option. Surely, Peach wouldn't respect the fact that a koopa, let alone the one who kidnapped her several times, cuddled with her, even if it's to share body heat, and he can respect that. Ever since their incarceration, the Koopa King identifies more with Peach's desires, and he remains puzzled on why the sudden change of heart came.
He's about to make another fire for her when he hears a yawn, followed by Peach sitting up, stretching and rubbing her eyes. She appears delirious, but for every moment the princess is awake, she's getting more alert. She continues shivering, which still concerns Bowser.
"You okay?"
Peach nods her head before getting back up on her feet and brushing off her dress, "A-all good. S-sleep, I'm gonna w-walk around."
Bowser's about to object to the claim and instead offer to build her another fire, but sensing the rebuttal coming, Peach puts her hand out to prevent him from acting.
"I'm fine, d-don't worry. Sleep."
Defeated, Bowser collapses onto the ground, now laying on his stomach. He still hears the heavy breathing from both Daisy and Luigi, but he found the rhythmic noise and the nippy air to be soothing enough to take him to the land of dreams…
Bowser awakes on the ground by his throne, sceptre in hand and a crown on his head. He observes his red-and-black throne room before he smells the sulfur-polluted air. He's back in Dark Land, but this wasn't the same throne room he's accustomed to. Rather, it reminds him of his fathers...
Bowser looks at a mirror hanging to the throne's left and observes his smaller fangs. He's much younger, thinner and less developed than he should be. He takes off his crown and pulls his longer red hair back; only two stubbles appear where his horns should be. Is he in another time period? Was his previous life just a dream? Is this reality?
Puzzled, he stands up and tries walking around, but instead finds himself hovering in the air. He floats into the next room, where he spots a younger Kamek and Kamella—
Wait, KAMELLA?! Bowser rubs his eyes, shocked at spotting the middle-aged dark-purple-robed female magikoopa. Not paying attention to his reaction, Kamella smiles at Bowser while Kamek hovers above Bowser's head to reattach his crown.
"Prince Bowser!" Kamek called out, "Your father has been found dead, and your oldest brother's still missing."
"That means you are now the new King of Dark Land!" Kamella cheered, "You will continue to reign in the tyranny of your father! We will create an empire of evil throughout the entire planet!"
Bowser gives the two a puzzled glance before he realizes: this is neither a dream nor reality, but rather the moment he found out he will become King! These are memories, but why is he here?
Realization in mind, Bowser does a half-hearted cheer, but both magikoopas sense dread in Bowser's voice, leading them to question him.
"What's wrong, King Bowser?" Kamek questioned in his fatherly-concerned voice which Bowser grew accustomed to, "All will go well. We'll still be evil and feared!"
"I don't know…" Bowser muttered, "I don't want to be like Dad… I want to be myself."
Hearing his words, Kamek nods his head, although disappointed at Bowser's claim. Kamella, however, clenches her wand tighter in her fist; he can see the witch's wand tip glow a dark-red aura as the magikoopa fumes.
"Well, if you say so," Kamella glared at Bowser, "But read my lips. If you don't reign like your father did, you WILL regret it. YOU. WILL. RE. GRET. IT."
After her warning, Kamek and Kamella disappear and the whole scene acts as if it's being fast forwarded. Through the fast-forward scenes, he first sees the inside of the castle growing more elegant, yet dark-themed. Stone walls, obsidian chandeliers and crimson carpets define every room within the castle, while in the parlor, he sees his two younger siblings gathering with a dozen military generals developing plans to reunite Dark Land. He unleashes a slight smile as he observes his wife Clawdia offering a slab of fresh-baked chocolate cake for the assembly; other than dust devils swirling in the room's corners, the scene's ambient nature provides a peaceful feeling to Bowser.
But in a disgusting twist of fate, the scene's red-based hue turns achromatic as the earth beneath him quakes. Notwithstanding the foundation's strength, the room's walls around him start crumbling from the ground's fierce energy, crushing his stunned siblings, the confounded Clawdia and the gawked generals. The erosion occurs until Bowser's now outside, surrounded by the castle's collapsed walls; rather than spotting the woods and the faint glow of the nearest city of Caldera, the King of Dark Land only sees devastation and desolation across the horizon. Every tree in the woods burned while the houses and castle exploded as if a massive bomb detonated somewhere in the region.
"What?" Bowser exclaimed as the dismal scenes pass by him, pestering every corner of his anguished brain.
The somber scenarios drag on, only getting worse by the second. He notices the seven armored Koopalings appear around him, followed by an explosion that made all seven disappear, their presence replaced by seven different-sized crosses. Multiple bombs discharged, destroying the crosses and obliterating the already-formed ruins. Miraculously, Bowser didn't sustain one scratch, but emotionally he was dying. He lost everything he had, from his wealth and his power, to the most important thing: his family. He couldn't bear it anymore. In agony, he drops down to his knees, questioning why all these unfortunate events occurred; why him?
As he begs for the entire situation to be imaginary, Kamella's words echoed through Bowser's mind yet again, her slow words like toxins poisoning his anguished brain.
'But read my lips. If you don't reign like your father did, you WILL regret it.'
"NO!"
Daisy and Luigi jerk up at Bowser's call. Despite being in the Dark Realm, the altitude of the castle allows the Sun to shine down on them; with the daylight in full-force, Daisy thought the shout was Bowser's call to wake them all up. However, the King keeps shouting.
"NO! I WILL NOT BE LIKE HIM!"
While Daisy and Luigi exchange confused looks, Peach kneels before Bowser and pats his face. She's unsure of why the outburst came, but she also feels the need to provide comfort and offer a source of understanding.
"Wake up," Peach replies in a soothing voice, "Bowser! Wake up!"
Bowser opens his eyes, feeling drained, yet Peach senses an eternal sense of relief flooding in him. Giving him a little smile, Peach stands up and carries one of the sacks of food to Bowser, who browses through it. From his quivering hands, Peach figures Bowser's still pondering over his thoughts, and she wants him to not overthink them.
"There's some food in the bag. The apples are good, us three had those."
Without a word, yet still a look of concern, Bowser takes a bite into the apple. Still seeing the king shaken up, Peach sits by him and pats his back. She doesn't know what's up with him, but even being her common kidnapper, she still feels bad for him.
Damn Stockholm syndrome. Why did she have to have a benevolent personality?
"Ugh," Bowser coughed before showing gratitude, "Thanks."
"What's up?" Peach questioned, concerned over his behavior, "Weird dreams?"
"Nightmares," Bowser corrected, "My magikoopas showed up to me, both telling me to be like my father… Then I said no and… The kingdom… Got destroyed…"
Bowser panics again after realizing the story he told. It's such a parallel to what's going on in real life. He's away from his family, he didn't rule like his father, and Dark Land's threatened to be overtaken. What if the entire dream bears fruit, and his life crashes and burns in front of his eyes? After all, Kamek always says dreams bear an element of truth in them.
What concerns him the most is how prophetic the dream appears. In the dream, the walls crushed his younger siblings and his wife first; in real life, they were the first three to be killed by war. The dream then states that his seven Koopalings could die in a takeover. Realization in mind, his brain goes into overdrive; he doesn't want to lose more than he already did.
"What about the Koopalings? Or Kamek and Kammy?! Or the rest of my kingdom?! Do they know what's going on?! I have to save them!"
This time, Daisy, rather than Peach, calms Bowser down by mentioning the night before they all got flown to Jewelry Land.
"Calm down, man. Your son Larry already knows. I saw him spying at our meeting with Mario. Let's just say that even Larry needs to work on his initial reactions to emotions."
The king, although still worried for their safety in this time of war, settles over the thought and has enough renewed valor to continue with the journey. He hopes she's correct, but he believes Daisy; his family's safe, he just needs to do his part to save the Koopa Kingdom.
"All right," Bowser commanded after throwing the core of the apple in the woods and grabbing the two food bags, "We have a long road ahead of us. Let's get to that Dark Sea!"
"Food's on—"
"Naw, really? Are you SURE we didn't forget that?"
"Shaddap Big Mouth, this ain't no time for sarcasm! Our kingdom's in danger, and we have dozens of airships we gotta make sure are war-ready!"
"... You and Lemmy were pulling jokes yesterday, moron..."
On the field outside Bowser's Castle, Roy attempts to make and check off a mental checklist of the Dark Land Air Fleet's assets. While he's confident in Lemmy's organizational ability – perhaps one of the few traits he trusts Lemmy's proficiency in – he also wants to double check to make sure their cargo lasts the entire mission. Meanwhile, Morton mocks Roy's inspection, in which the elder koopaling chooses to ignore, preferring to instead focus on the task at hand, while Ludwig remains silent, pondering over Roy's spoken list.
"Uhh... Water, medical supplies, da troops are on. Yeah, we got dem all," Roy checked off.
"False," Ludwig countered while rubbing his chin in thought, "Zere is vun zing ve need to bring vith us, but I cannot seem to recall vhat zat item is."
"Huh..." Roy wondered.
Not long after, Larry bursts out the castle, doing a tough-guy walk; his hair's spiked more than usual, he bears his favorite 'spy shades', and he's dressed in his 'spy tux'. Ludwig rolls his eyes, knowing full well about Larry's need to dress up on spy missions, while Roy and Morton stare at him in astonishment. Larry walks towards the others, pulls his shades down and winks at them as he grins.
"Oh, right. We forgot Lawrence! Silly me," Ludwig giggled.
"Wow, lookin' sharp dere, Cheatsy," Roy complimented, "You almost rock shades better dan I do. Almost."
"There's no ice here, buddy; you can't plop down belly-first and expect to travel ten meters, let alone the Mushroom Kingdom," Morton replied, his typical sarcastic tone filling his voice.
Although the youngest koopaling typically ignores his older brother's derisive statements, Larry rolls his eyes at the comment before replying, "I'm not sliding on my stomach, idiot, and I'm not a penguin! I'm going with you guys."
Morton remains silent while Ludwig raises his hand, as if he's asking a question in a classroom.
"I never asked vhy, I don't zink, but vhy ze dress-up missions, Lawrence?"
"I always dress up!" Larry defended, "I have to look nice on spy missions! They do that all the time in spy thrillers!"
Morton facepalms at Larry's reasoning, still replying in his usual sarcastic tone, "You have to look nice. On a spy mission that requires you to hide. Do you honestly think, or is that not a strong trait of yours?"
"Now now, Master Morton, Master Lawrence knows best," Kamek, descending from the sky on his broom and landing before the Koopalings, replies before Larry's able to, "But we need to go, now. Mario's army's been spotted in the woods. Apparently, he doesn't know about the road through there; Kammy told me the Mushroom Kingdom hasn't spotted the convoy yet."
"Thanks, Kamek," Larry thanked, preparing to board onto Ludwig's doomship, "Now, you heard the magikoopa! Get on the ships!"
Without another word, Morton and Roy board their ships while Larry and Kamek tag along with Ludwig. All three command their brigade to start up their respective ships also, resulting in the earth shaking from the vibrations of dozens of whirring doomships.
"Sheesh, this forest goes on forever," Daisy remarked as she puts her hand over her face to prevent a branch from whacking her face, "We been walking for what… At least a few hours?"
Daisy knows she underestimated her time perception in a drastic measure. The Sun's prepared to slip under the horizon yet again, and she hopes they can reach the islands before nightfall. Nonetheless, considering the rough terrain they traversed through, the Sarasalandian princess expresses pride in the group's progress.
"Somewhere around that," Peach replied as she sidesteps a large anthill, "I hope this ends soon before I lose a leg to carnivorous ants."
"If you ever did, I can just carry you," Bowser replied, grinning. Peach only rolls her eyes at the comment, although her subconscious thoughts she attempts to lock away did tell her that she'd enjoy that idea. Since she found out about Mario's betrayal, Peach also gone through a metamorphosis concerning her feelings. She feels a strange emotion towards Bowser – one she never felt for Mario – and, considering her history with Bowser, Peach remains concerned about the developments.
"Yeah yeah, save it for the bedroom," Daisy scoffed, resulting in a shocked look and an unexpected gasp from Peach.
"DAISY!" the dainty princess shrieked; Daisy's teasing only makes the situation more confusing for her.
"Just sayin'."
Other than Daisy and Luigi teasing the two in hushed whispers, the group remains silent, taking in the scenery while avoiding nature's sudden death traps.
After around an hour of walking, sidestepping droppings, avoiding thorny bushes and ducking from swinging tree branches, the quartet arrive at another clearing in the forest; rather than seeing trees in the distance, only the vast ocean and its islands fill the horizon. Combined with the Sun's absence, the quartet remain skeptical of the mysterious landscape beyond them, but Peach, Daisy and Luigi still show excitement; they've gotten through one region, and although they have more to sojourn through, at least they are making progress.
Bowser, however, lowers his head and puts his hand on his forehead, as if a sudden memory or insight flooded through his mind. Noticing his expression, the others stare at the koopa king, concern welling in their eyes.
"That was the problem!" Bowser announced, "There's no sealine!"
"Which means?" Luigi questioned with anxiety. He knows what the answer is but hopes that all this wasn't reality.
Bowser walks to the edge of the land and peers over. A large, steep cliff at least a hundred meters tall greets him; only the lapping, dark blue waters of the Dark Sea lie below them. Nothing of any sort will make the descent easier; no stairs, no parachutes; nothing.
"We're on a floating island... That means there's a cliff before the Dark Sea!"
Luigi, Peach and Daisy facepalm; none remembered that the island floats. The castle and its vast forests made the landmass feel more like an entire earth-attached continent rather than a floating island.
"So…" Daisy questioned, her palm still resting on her forehead, "What now?"
Luigi and Bowser browse the surroundings, hoping to locate an object capable of assisting the group in its desired task. Meanwhile, Peach eyes the two bulging food bags.
"What happens if we use the sacks as parachutes?"
"It wouldn't be enough surface area on the sacks," Daisy replied to Peach's suggestion before becoming embarrassed at sounding smart against her tomboyish personality, "At least that's what my skydiving instructor told me when he explained parachutes to me!"
"Great. There's no stairs of any type, and there's no parachutes," Luigi sighs as he peers over the cliff with Bowser, "Jumping always works, but… Look how far of a jump that is."
Daisy and Peach make their way to the cliff's edge and look down. Sighting the tremendous height, each look at Luigi with frightened expressions.
"I may be crazy for adventure, but I ain't plain ol' crazy!" Daisy commented as she looks down at the rapids below.
"Yeah. In the Real World, people use barrels over waterfalls, which I found to be crazy—" Luigi mentioned before getting cut off by Bowser.
"That's it!"
Daisy and Peach give Bowser a confused stare while Luigi stares at Bowser as if he grew two extra heads.
"There's no way we're barreling down that!"
Bowser continues staring at the sea below, despite the protests. He then focuses his gaze at Luigi before shaking his head.
"No, we're gonna jump! Ludwig taught me how to land in lava properly whenever Mario pushes me in."
"That's even crazier than the barrels!" Luigi took a huge breath and exhaled, "Fine. How will we survive this?"
"Ludwig told me stuff about we need to run before jumping off the cliff, then afterwards, land feet-first while plugging your ears. He said to go feet first because it's something about water's surface tension at high heights will make the water feel like concrete, and he also said something about bursting eardrums, or whatever geeky stuff he always says, but who cares. It's a way down."
"Uhh…" Peach murmured, "Pretty sure that 'geeky stuff' is vital advice since we're in the middle of nowhere with no medical care…"
With Bowser's instructions and Peach's concern in mind, Daisy peers over the cliff and at the lapping waters. She's done worse; perhaps this jump won't be terrible.
"Just jump and plug your ears then?" Daisy mentioned, "Sounds easy enough. Catch you later!"
Daisy backs up before running full-speed towards the edge, plugging her ears and jumping off the cliff. Peach, Bowser and Luigi stare at the falling Daisy in horror as her screams, followed by yells of "YEEHAW!" and "CHEEHEE!" piercing the air. On the water surface below, the three notice a splash followed by a yellow dot popping up, moving towards the nearby island.
The trio exchange puzzled looks. One of them already went, manifesting the point of no return. Concerned about Daisy's health, Luigi brushes off his nervousness and backs away from the cliff before also running full-speed, plugging his ears and jumping.
"Aghhhhhhh!" Luigi initially screamed for his life before the scared screams transitions into those of excitement. Not long after, Bowser and Peach notice a second splashing.
Peach looks away from the water and retreats from the cliff, frightened at how long the jump is. She knows she must go down and she shouldn't delay the inevitable, but she… Just feels safer on this tucked-in, barren floating island, even if Mario's troops come looking for her.
Bowser focuses his attention from the ocean to Peach, now sitting with her arms crossed over her legs, her forehead on her knees. Concerned for the princess, the Koopa King approaches Peach and sits by her before questioning her.
"You okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay?" Peach snapped, "Everything's ruined. Mario wants me in jail, and now I'm escaping him. Why didn't I see this mess coming?"
"But it's not your fault," Bowser continued, "Everything started after you got kidnapped by us."
"What about my parents though? Why didn't I help them out?" she questioned, her tone towards Bowser softening. She knows he means no harm – at least for the time being – and despite her distress, she attempts to be more assertive with him.
"Because—" Bowser attempts to reason with her before Peach cuts him off, causing him to steam up.
"Ugh, it's all just a disaster—"
"Peach!" Bowser raised his voice at her as if she were one of his koopalings. Realizing his tone, Bowser sighs before calming down, "Sorry, it's just… This dream I had earlier made me realize. This journey's important, and we need to do it. We have family out there. You have your parents; I have my kids. They all will be at risk if we just sit here and mope. If you think you made a mistake—and honestly you didn't—then you can just make up for it by saving them. But sitting here crying about it is the biggest mistake you can make right now."
Bowser notices Peach turn her head towards him; with her eyes on him, he spots tears flowing down her face. Not thinking consciously, Bowser takes a claw and gently brushes them off her face. He pulls his finger away as Peach appears dazed.
"Sorry, I always did that with my late wife," Bowser sighed as Peach gives him a sad look. Snapping out of the mushy moment, Bowser stands up and offers his hand to Peach, "Let's show that cliff what we got."
Now smiling despite her tear-filled eyes, Peach grabs his hand and Bowser hoists her up. She's still nervous over the whole cliff-jumping procedure, but for every second she ponders over her parents' well-being, courage from within floods her.
"We'll jump together," Bowser instructed, still grabbing onto her hand, "Let's go!"
Both Bowser and Peach run towards the cliff and jump towards the ocean below. As they fall, Bowser lets go of Peach's hand, and in return, both plug their ears, waiting for the 'eardrum-shattering' event to approach them. Just as with Daisy and Luigi, Peach lets out panicked gasps before letting out shouts of exuberance. Having never gone skydiving, she never felt any sensation like the one she's feeling now. She has no parachute, nor safety of any kind, yet she feels… Safe. She feels secure; at peace. She couldn't figure out why, and looking at Bowser, who was gazing back at her, his facial expression seems to reveal the same manner of truth. Could she be feeling safe because she's with Bowser? Even as her archenemy, Bowser's able to capture her at any given moment, at any time of day. She always saw that as a behavior warranting a red flag, but perhaps it's a trait she needs at this period in her life. She needs someone who could save her from these frightening situations at any time and anywhere. She hates those feelings because they're irrational, but she still feels them.
Throughout their time falling, both were in too much of a daze to realize how close to the water they were. The only thing able to stop Peach's staring at Bowser is when the sudden entrance into the water almost causes her plush dress to come off her body through her head.
NOTES: And there it is... After 18 LONG years (seriously, this fanfic should be in a nursing home, eating applesauce and sucking on pretzels), this redux attempt that began in 2014, 17,000 views (since 2008), 16 loooong chapters, and 60,000 words (C'mon, I had to make sure the pacing was realistic enough!), could it finally be the start of Powser? Well, I guess we'll see for next time!
Speaking of, chapters from here on out (until at least 27-28) will be longer than previous chapters (I'm expecting consistent 4-5k+ word chapters), but despite that, I don't expect 6 updates a year like I was doing for much of 2017, or a full-blown hiatus like 2015-16. I have many more updates planned throughout 2019, and I hope to finish Shard 4 by the end of 2019. I doubt I'll finish the story before the end of 2019, but sometime in 2020 is becoming an even more realistic goal.
Thank you everyone for your reviews! Geez, I'm terrible at replying to you guys, but know that I appreciate your praises, criticisms and suggestions. Keep them coming!
Until next update!