Ninth Age: 8 Geline, Anno Nono
Relief poured over Regina as she and Solum escaped the last line of thick jungle. The journey proved much easier with Solum's knowledge at her side, but Regina hoped that she'd never have to enter that overgrown hellscape again.
They were still a ways from the Ouranian Desert—about a week's trip via an ostro-pulled carriage—but that would give her more than enough time to draw out the group's next plans.
She knew Solum would be a perfect fit for protecting the Wand of the Elements, but she let the other six mystics choose who they thought would be fits for the Wands of Light, Spirit, and the Cosmos. Afterwards, they will all bring their picks to their hometown, Ourania.
"Why Ourania, specifically?" Solum asked.
His question snapped Regina from her thoughts. She didn't know why either, but her magikoopa teacher, Karmen, insisted that they bring the new picks there. In response, she only shrugged.
"I suppose it makes sense. It's a metaphorical meetup area," Solum acknowledged, "But other than that, what's next?"
"What Karmen assumed was there are two main components to the Celestial Wand: power and authority," Regina said, "She spent much of her life studying the power systems of the Sixth and Seventh Ages. Throughout that research, she found that magic power seemed to just appear, disappear, and reappear, seemingly from thin air. That's why her hypothesis states that authority brings power, and it can also take power away. She doesn't believe that magic simply appears and disappears on its own."
"And was she right?"
Regina shrugged. "I hope so. The Star Spirits had great intentions, but they also refused to recognize that they should guide mortals, not dictate their lives. Abusing power in good intent only leaves the back door open for an evil person to abuse power for terrible intent. The goal is to decentralize as much of the power as we can, which depends on Karmen being correct."
"Well, guess we'll see."
The ostro wagon continued that week, stopping only for sleep or a quick bite to eat. Regina and Solum spent that time either talking with each other (as catching up between their two dramatically different lives proved quite time-consuming), or thought cautiously optimistic thoughts about the new world order they're to set up.
They approached Ourania's gates by the end of the week, and the townspeople welcomed the duo in. Regina smiled at their enthusiasm—an alien trait to them during the Eighth Age.
Amid the townspeople, Karmen's contrast to the otherwise-bright crowd caught Regina's attention. Her black robes mirrored her serious demeanor, and her height—about half of Regina's—couldn't dampen her all-in-charge attitude.
"You're back," she said, her voice a near-scold, "And you're late. The leader shouldn't ever be late."
"I know, I know," Regina sighed, "I'm sorry, Master. The jungle's a horrid place to walk through."
A slight smile broke Karmen's facade. "No worries, the others are resting now." She turned her attention from Regina to Solum. "And are you her pick?"
Solum nodded. "I'm Solum, apparently the new Sage of the Elements."
Karmen's grin grew. "Regina always picked the good ones."
Solum blushed, but Regina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Master. You mentioned something about a quartet?"
Karmen's serious demeanor reappeared, and she clasped her hands together. "The Quartet is the state of ultimate balance; a state where the holder doesn't overpower the Wand, nor where the Wand overpowers the holder. It's the closest thing we can get to the Celestial Wand, without us risking the Celestial Wand's power concentrated to only one person. Obviously, the Quartet never happened, at least in recorded history, but that is the hypothesis I stand by."
"Surely, the Star Spirits counted, no?"
"Ehh," Karmen shrugged, "I suppose they were the Septet. The difference was they didn't have the Wand of Authority keeping them in check. But now, the idea is to better balance power and authority among a dozen different people, rather than just one, or just four."
"And how would this process work?" Regina continued.
"That's where you, the six others, and all your picks come into play."
"And why's that?"
Karmen smiled. "Because of the Seven Mystics…"
"… Only the Seven Mystics can give the Wands their full authority, and those Wands must be held by those picked by the Mystics. In other words, the Mystics still act like the authority force behind the Quartet, adjacent to the Sages' forces of power. The idea was to bring the Sages back down to earth if they ever use their power for evil," Kammy said. The Wand of Light dimmed as the vision ended, and the sacrificial stone seemed to sparkle in affirmation.
Luigi recognized the stone as the same one behind Lemmy's office. He remembered the flowers beside it, and its chaotic powerup abilities that nearly beheaded Lemmy. What did this stone have to do with anything, and do both the flowers and this process relate?
"And through my research with the Wand of Light, and the research that the traitor Kamek did on Luigi when he was a baby…" Kammy said. Luigi winced at the comment, but the magikoopa continued on, "The Seven Mystics are nothing more than what we considered to be the Seven Star Children."
Luigi's heart skipped a beat. If only he knew this earlier, he and the six others could've ended this madness long ago. Even then, what's Kammy's plan for them?
He looked at the six other Star Children: Mario's demeanor resembled valor more than defeat; Peach and Yoshi stood still, their half-open mouths showing that, just like with him, that news came from left field; DK and Wario seemed rather bored, as if they either didn't understand the situation, or they just didn't care.
But the most interesting reaction came from Bowser. He came to the shelter only days ago—most likely forced by the Sages. He stood, his eyes closed and his arms crossed, as if nothing in life mattered and he had no relevance here.
"But how did fragments of the Wand of Authority translate into having some sort of spiritual connection to authority? That, even the Wand of Light don't know," Kammy continued.
Morton raised a brow but remained silent, while Larry and Roy both stared at the altar in anticipation.
"Let's do this," Larry's impatience rang in his voice, "How does this work?"
Kammy grabbed a carton of salt and poured the salt into a heptagon around the altar. She took a pinch of the remaining salt and threw it at the altar.
"The way Karmen initiated the ritual: each Mystic would stand on a corner of the heptagon. In the middle, the four Sages would kneel at each side of the altar, and they held their wands in a way where the orb meets the three others'. Then, the seven Mystics would stand at each corner, close their eyes, raise their right hand, and rest their left hand on the Star Child's right shoulder next to them. Only then can Power and Authority unite..."
The farther she went from Plit, the closer she felt to its horrific events.
Chaos, in all its forms, pelted Rosalina. The Yoshnors, the dethronings, and the riots all overwhelmed the cosmic princess. Their negative spirits threatened to sap her of all power and turn her into a mere obedient husk.
But she can't fall for that. She vowed to help save the planet when it needed her the most. And, while Morton's severing the Cosmic connection between her and the world would make the job more difficult, she realized that it's not yet impossible. Especially if she diverted from Cosmic magic, and instead focused on the aspects of Spirit magic she learned throughout the years.
She closed her eyes and imagined every possible hero she could think of. All of them, save for Ludwig and the archaeologists, were in the same area of Ourania. Her Spirit magic side would've been okay with that gathering—and would assume they were gathered for a typical shelter presentation—but the Cosmic Oracle within her suspected fishiness.
Rosalina turned her focus to the archaeologists. Goombella, Kooper, Professor Frankly, and Kolorado were all within the same area, and she also sensed Mona there. But no Ludwig.
'Mona,' Rosalina opened a connection to her. She sensed the human girl's flinch before she responded.
'Rosalina,' she replied, 'This thing you do is still creepy.'
Rosalina tended to agree, but she brushed off the criticism. 'Where's Ludwig? Does he have a plan?'
'He's researching the manuscripts more,' Mona replied, 'He told us to hold off on anything until he's back. How's everything looking from above?'
Rosalina exhaled. 'Not good, I'm afraid. The Sages and the Star Children are all at the Ourania Altar.'
Silence fell between the two as Rosalina assumed Mona considered the information, whether in contemplation or agitation.
'What does that mean?' Mona asked without emotion—as if she suppressed her reactions.
'I'm assuming they're wanting to reform the Quartet. I remember the Sages meeting to reform it when Pyrydor replaced the last Sage of the Elements.'
'What can we do to stop it?' Panic broke through Mona's voice.
As much as Rosalina wanted to give Mona good news, she couldn't find any loopholes within the Sages' current plan, especially with all four there alongside the seven Star Children.
'I don't know, but check with Ludwig about what he knows once he's back. I'll check in on one of the Star Children.'
Rosalina disconnected from Mona's mind, and focused back to the Ourania Altar. She entered the mind of Mario, whom she believed would have the most answers and the most drive to defeat this conspiracy.
'Mario,' she said, 'They're doing the Quartet ritual, aren't they?'
'I'm afraid so,' he replied, his tone more depressed than shocked—a complete outrage compared to his stoicism just moments ago.
'Mario, I understand that this isn't what you want to do,' Rosalina continued, 'But it's either you do it willingly, or they'll control you to do it.'
'And what difference does it make?' his resigned voice questioned.
'I want you to be enthusiastic about doing this. It'll be hard to pull off, but it's better for you to not be brainwashed right now.'
Rosalina felt Mario's sigh. 'Fine.'
She sank deeper into Mario's mind, just enough to witness the scene from his own eyes. She could even hear Kammy hash out her command to the Star Children to stand at one end of the heptagon.
"We need to do this, guys!" Mario shouted, "We need to form the Quartet!"
Five of the six Star Children gave Mario a confused glare (Bowser only offered a smirk, as if he had blackmail on someone and was one blabber away from unleashing it), while Kammy and the Koopalings smirked at him.
"Your leader's correct," she said, "Now, get to your corners, or I'll force you all to."
Mario and Bowser lept from their seats and rushed to the two furthest corners, while the five others dragged their feet toward their spots. Kammy, Roy, Morton, and Larry all knelt on each side of the altar, and they touched the four wands' orbs to each other. The Star Children closed their eyes, raised their right hand, and put their left hand on the right shoulder of the Star Child next to them.
They remained in the position for about a minute, and through Mario's eyes, Rosalina saw Kammy's smile dissipate. She broke from the other Sages and glared at the altar.
"It didn't work! All of you are the seven Star Children, yet I only felt the presence of six Star Children!" she growled, "That means one of you lost your status. But how?! Only someone who actually studied the Star Children's power would know how to do that!"
In a near instant, the confusion on Kammy's face turned to rage.
"KAMEK!"
NOTES: A short, but important chapter that I didn't want to bog down with other happenings.
This chapter and the next two are actually interesting. They were supposed to be another story (A Book 1.5, of sorts), but it related too well with the previous Book 2 chapters for it to make sense as its own book. So, Chapters 11, 12, and 13 may seem off or unrelated compared to the first 10, and the next two will follow a character that we haven't focused on for quite a bit.
Hope you enjoyed!