Chapter 14: A Sense of Security

It was the early hours of the following morning, after the party at Princess Peach's Castle. Link was working hard in the kitchen to prepare a big breakfast for his new friends. Everyone was still asleep, including Navi. Link was alone in the brightly lit kitchen, the windows still dark from the night.

He wasn't paying full attention to what he was doing. Stirring batter mindlessly, he was thinking hard about what had happened last night. Princess Zelda herself had reached out to him, beckoning his return. Previously, Link had so much confidence in his decision to go to the Mushroom Kingdom. However, now he was feeling conflicted.

(She must think I abandoned her...) Link thought to himself. His heart sank. He spoke to himself quietly. "If only I had the power to reach out to her, to tell her my reasons for coming here."

It was the absolute worst time for her to reach out to him, Link dismayed. Princess Peach and Princess Daisy had just been kidnapped by Bowser, and he and the others were now finally ready to go after their first Crystal Heart. For Link to leave now, when they all needed him the most, would be an unforgivable act. Link understood that more than anything.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Link sighed. "You'll just have to wait for me a little longer."

/

Mario awoke with a start. He abruptly sat up in his bed. He turned to his night table on his right in order to grab his cell phone and check the time. It was 7:11 AM, on April the 15th. He had apparently received a text message from his brother over 7 hours ago. He read the text, then started to reply.

Luigi (11:58 PM, April 14): "Hey, bro. You collapsed last night outside, which really startled all of us. Then you started snoring, so we figured you were just exhausted and so we brought you to your bedroom. Link says to tell you that he'll have breakfast ready for everyone, so come down to the dining hall once you wake up."

Mario (7:13 AM, April 15): "Mamma mia, really? Sorry about that. Be right there!"

With that, Mario got out of bed. He started to remember what happened last night with a heavy heart. After a brief visit to the restroom, he made his way downstairs to the dining room in order to join everyone for breakfast.

/

Link, Navi, Mario, Rosalina, and Luigi were all eating breakfast in the dining room. Toadsworth was still in bed, and it would be very safe to assume that it was because he was not feeling well this morning. Geno was also at the table, but of course he was not eating anything.

"It feels weird eating in here without Peach and Daisy." Rosalina commented, her expression somber as she stirred her food around mindlessly.

"We have to rescue them as fast as possible." Mario insisted, eating rather quickly.

"Yes, about that..." Link started, capturing Mario's attention. He reached low and then revealed a poster of sorts. He offered it to Mario. "You might want to have a look at this."

Mario set his utensils down, claiming the strange poster without a word. The poster had a white background with a red heart. In the heart was a happy Bowser, dressed in his white tuxedo and top hat that they had seen him in last night. He had his arms around an uneasy looking Peach, who was dressed in a lovely wedding dress and had a silver tiara on her head. Above their figures in big red words read:

BOWSER & PEACH: A ROYAL WEDDING

April 17

"What the heck?" Mario gawked, baffled by the poster. "I don't even know what to say about this."

"Look at the date, Mario." Navi encouraged, her tone rather grave.

Mario took another glance at the date. The wedding was planned for April 17th.

"April 17th..." Mario read out loud. His eyes widened with shock. "Hey, wait a sec! That's the day after tomorrow!"

"It is." Link nodded. "Which puts serious pressure on us to act."

"I saw these posters slapped all over the city on my way back from training this morning." Luigi informed. "I'm sure the media is talking non-stop about it, too."

"This means that we have less than three days to crack our first Shadow Realm." Geno informed, his arms folded.

"What a pain." Rosalina sighed, slouching in her seat hopelessly. She had barely touched her sugary breakfast. "Why couldn't we have had like, a month, or something?"

"Three days..." Mario sighed, looking downwards. He was suddenly feeling much less confident with the whole Shadow Realm business. "Are you sure we shouldn't just go and beat him up instead? That sounds a heck of a lot faster to me!"

Geno shook his head no. "We won't get a Crystal Heart that way. Besides, if we don't change his heart, he's just going to keep on attacking us over and over again." Mario had to admit that he had a point. Mario had already fought Bowser twice since the Star Festival, and apparently he was still showing no sign of letting up.

"You want to stop Grodus, don't you?" Geno continued. "Well first we need to get Bowser off of our backs!"

"Alright, alright." Mario surrendered. "But can we really do this Shadow Realm stuff in only three days?"

"It'll be a serious challenge, with absolutely no room for error..." Geno informed, his tone serious but determined. "But I have a plan that just might work!"

"What's the plan?" Link asked, eager to hear it. All eyes were on Geno as he proceeded to explain.

"The task of destroying a Shadow Realm can essentially be broken down into three phases." Geno started, holding up three wooden fingers. "The first phase is phase one: the investigation phase."

"The investigation phase..." Rosalina said out loud, finger on her chin in thought. She took a moment to begin continuing her thought. "So is that like, scouting the place?"

"Yeah! As the name suggests, this phase is about scouting and understanding the layout of the Shadow Realm." Geno informed. "Acquiring a map of the Shadow Realm is the main goal here."

"Alright, that makes sense." Mario nodded. His confidence was building. "So what's the second phase?"

Geno couldn't help but grin over how intrigued everyone was. "The second phase is phase two: the infiltration phase. It's this phase where the bulk of the work is done. The main goal of this phase is to secure a route to the Treasure."

"So first we determine the layout of what we're dealing with, and then we explore the Shadow Realm and secure a route to the Treasures location?" Link asked, hand on chin in thought.

"Exactly!" Geno exclaimed. "And then, we are finally ready for phase three: stealing the Treasure!"

"And once we do that, the Shadow Realm gets destroyed and the person has a change in heart, right?" Link inquired.

"Yeah, you remember!" Geno grinned. He raised a finger as he spoke to everyone informatively. "Stealing the Treasure, the Treasure being the root cause of the persons Spirit Realm transforming into a Shadow Realm, will therefore cause the Shadow Realm to turn back into a Spirit Realm. It is in this process that a Crystal Heart is born."

"I thought we knew that already." Rosalina frowned, scratching her head.

"But how do we steal the Treasure, exactly?" Mario questioned. "I mean, why not do it during phase two? We've already secured the route, right? So why don't we just step in and take it right on that day?"

"Wow Mario, good observation!" Geno praised, clapping for a moment excitedly. He then put his hands behind his back and proceeded to pace back and forth along the table. "You see, the Treasure isn't quite that easy to steal. It does require an additional step. However, I'm gonna save this explanation for when the time comes."

"Hmm." Mario thought for a brief moment. "Well, alright then."

"So what is your plan, exactly?" Link inquired, his arms folded. He had eaten every last bit of his breakfast. "Complete one phase each day?"

"Yeah, I think that's probably the best approach." Geno confirmed, with a nod. "Today, let's obtain a map of the Shadow Realm. That way, we'll be able to study the layout and plan our infiltration route."

"Then it's finally time, right?" Mario grinned, standing up with clenched fists. "I'm ready to finally jump into this thing!"

"Yes, I think it's time." Geno agreed, with a nod. "Link? Rosalina? Are you two ready as well?"

"Of course." Link confirmed, with a nod.

"I guess..." Rosalina sighed.

"Great! Then let's head outside, closer to Bowser's Castle. Then we'll use the Magical Map to enter Bowser's Shadow Realm!" Geno ordered, his fists clenched with determination. He turned to Luigi and Navi. "Sorry that neither of you can come. This is a mission for the chosen Three, and me, the wonderful assistant!"

"That's just fine." Luigi assured, waving a hand. "We'll keep an eye on things back here."

"Yeah! You can count on us!" Navi added, her tone brimming with confidence.

"Thanks guys." Mario acknowledged, with a nod.

"Assistant, huh?" Rosalina smirked, grinning somewhat deviously.

"Doesn't pack much punch, does it? Hmm..." Geno admitted, tapping a wooden boot in thought. He pointed skyward with widened eyes. "Oh! I know! How about: Geno, warrior aide of the Chosen Legends!"

"How about we just go already?" Mario groaned, as he, Link, and Rosalina proceeded to make their way outside.

"You can do it!" Navi encouraged, hands by her face.

"Go get em', bro!" Luigi encouraged.

"H-Hey!" Geno cried, scurrying after them. "You can't start the Shadow Realm without your trusty aide!"

/

Mario, Link, and Rosalina, the three heroes chosen by the Goddess, were standing outside of Peach's Castle and beneath Bowser's Castle on this cloudy April morning. It looked as though it might rain at any moment. Geno, who was chosen by the Goddess to aid them, was holding the magical map, an otherworldly and enigmatic object that was designed to track down Shadow Realms.

The four of them were examining the Shadow Realm nearby on the map. It without a doubt belonged to Bowser. All prepared and ready to go, they each examined each other, nodding and giving a few words of encouragement. Then, they proceeded to vanish while sparkling with uniquely coloured light. Mario sparkled with red light, Link with green light, Rosalina with blue light, and Geno with yellow light. The magical map was sparkling as well, and all of the coloured light went into the purple Shadow Realm icon that was pulsating on the map. Once they had each disappeared into the magical map, the magical map folded in on itself until it disappeared completely.

They had left this world.

/

Bowser's Shadow Realm

Time Remaining: 3 Days

Security: 0%

PHASE ONE: INSPECTION

Our Heroes spawned on a strange oasis island that was floating in the sky. This traditional elegant garden was rather peaceful, and even had a tea house which doubled as a souvenir shop. This island was in stark contrast to the rather impressive piece of architecture on the larger island floating up above. And although it looked far different than how it looked in reality, it was without a doubt that the structure on the floating island up above was Bowser's Castle. In this world, his castle is a lush, flowering traditional Japanese castle, with a concentric series of walls and baileys. Instead of the usual lava moats, these moats were filled with poisoned water. All around the surrounding skies were ominous (yet brightly glowing) clouds.

The Magical Map unfolded itself while hovering above the green earth of the oasis island. Mario was the first to spawn from the red light that sprinkled out from the paper. He looked like his usual self. Geno was next, and he too looked as he usually did. Link was next, although he was dressed in his traditional green heroes clothes again, much like how he looked during the last section of the trials Geno had put them through earlier. Finally, Rosalina had spawned. Much like in the trials earlier, she was wearing her silver Galaxy Crown as well as her four pointed star earrings. She also had a star wand, and was magically levitating above the ground.

"Oh, yes!" Rosalina cheered, clenching her fists happily. She was brimming with confidence. "I get to be in this form again! Oh, I am so ready!"

"Excellent! Glad to hear it!" Geno grinned, his arms folded. "Looks like you're a heck of a lot more powerful in Shadow Realms than you are in the real world, Princess Rosalina."

"Hehehe." Rosalina giggled, smirking deviously while twirling her Star Wand.

"I wonder why I am wearing these clothes..." Link thought to himself. Rosalina was gliding across the earth in the background, occasionally stopping and aiming her wand at imaginary enemies.

"I guess some of us just take on certain forms when we are in these worlds." Geno shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure about the reason."

"Hey guys!" Mario called, standing over at the entrance of the shop. "There's a shop over here!"

"Coming!" Rosalina chimed, gliding over with glee.

Link and Geno entered the shop after Mario and Rosalina had. They stopped at the entrance to look around. The floors were wooden planks, and there was a Goomba that was wearing a horned samurai helmet working the desk. Outside the roof was layered tile in the shape of traditional Japanese structures, and so on the inside above there were massive wooden support beams occupying the resulting cavity. A yellow parrot that was perched up there frequently enjoyed mocking the customers. Over on the right, a pink goomba wearing a lovely red sunhat leaned forward a bit in order to pour some tea from atop her head for a Koopa patron. This Koopa was sitting on a tatami mat before a low wooden table, and was also wearing a samurai helmet. There were a number of strange creatures in here that were either shopping or sitting for a cup of tea. Plastered on the left and right walls were the same posters that Mario had seen earlier. They were advertising Bowser's Royal Wedding, scheduled for April 17th. However, Peach looked much more happy in these posters than she did back in the real world.

"Welcome!" The Goomba clerk chimed.

"Er, hi." Geno awkwardly greeted. He and Link approached the counter. Mario was examining the tea menu, while Rosalina was busy being fascinated by a colourful teapot that she had found for sale. The workers and patrons kept staring at her, since she was levitating. Some were even mistaking her for Peach in silent whispers to their neighbours.

"What can I interest you in?" The Goomba clerk asked.

"Umm, I don't know. What have you got for sale?" Geno asked, raising onto his tip toes with a shrug.

"Have you got any sake?" Link pleaded, hands held together eagerly.

"Naw, none of that stuff I'm afraid." The Goomba clerk declined. "We mostly sell tea and souvenirs, here. Although, since there are a number of tourists around now, we are also selling maps of the castle for a limited time."

"How much for a map?" Geno eagerly questioned, placing his wooden hands on the table.

"50 coins will do." The Goomba ordered.

"Easy!" Geno smiled, snapping his fingers. He turned to Rosalina. "Hey! Rosalina! Poker champ!"

Rosalina shifted her attention away from the pot, and was now looking at Geno. All staring eyes immediately shifted away. Rosalina set the pot down, and made her way over to the counter.

"Yeah?" Rosalina inquired.

"How much did you win during last nights poker match?" Geno questioned, his eyes rolling from left to right once in thought. "Over 100 coins, right?"

"Yeah." Rosalina acknowledged.

"Well, this fine gentlemen is selling a map of the castle for only 50 coins." Geno winked. "Think you could lend us a hand and buy one?"

"Why would we want that?" Rosalina gawked, rather stunned by the proposal.

(Seriously?!) Geno gawked, looking at Rosalina with widened eyes. There was a pause.

"Oh! Right! Yeah!" Rosalina recalled, nodding. She revealed 50 gold coins from her pockets and offered them. "Umm, yeah. I'll take one map, please."

"Hmm, sorry." The Goomba clerk declined, shaking his head. "We don't accept that currency here. You're gonna need to get yourself some Bowser Coins if you want to be able to buy anything."

"Bowser Coins?!" Geno gawked, his hands raised in protest.

"Must be the currency in this Shadow Realm." Link said quietly to them under his breath. "I can imagine Bowser would implement his own currency once he rules the Mushroom Kingdom."

"That's our narcissist..." Geno sighed silently. He looked at the shopkeeper with pleading eyes. "Please sir, do you think you could part with that map? We really need it."

"No can do, kid." The Goomba clerk rejected, shaking his head no. "You're gonna have to come back with the coins."

"Alright. Thanks anyway." Geno waved. With that, they proceeded to exit the shop. Mario saw that they were leaving, and followed after them.

"What's up?" Mario inquired as he went down the few wooden front steps, approaching the other three gathered on the grass.

"They're selling the map we need in there." Link informed. "However, we need to acquire 50 Bowser Coins if we want to buy it."

"What a pain." Rosalina sighed.

"Well, how do we go about getting them?" Mario questioned.

"I'll bet that the fastest way would be to intimidate some enemies into giving us some money." Geno suggested, hand on his chin in thought. "If we head up to the castle there, we should be able to find some enemies. However, we need to be sneaky about this. We don't want to ramp up the security of this place."

/

Security of Shadow Realms: A Primer

The security of a Shadow Realm increases when enemy Shadows spot you. The higher the security of a Shadow Realm, the more enemy Shadows there will be patrolling the area. Stay stealthy and avoiding drawing attention to yourself as you navigate through the Shadow Realm!

/

"I'll also bet that we can head up to the castle using that telepad right over there." Geno suggested, pointing to a nearby electronic device on the ground. It certainly looked like a large telepad, and it was even big enough for the four of them to use at once.

"Worth a shot." Mario agreed.

With that, the four of them stepped onto the dim telepad. However, much to their dismay, nothing happened.

"Hey, this isn't working..." Rosalina frowned.

"You're right." Mario agreed. "I don't think it is operating. See, all of these lights surrounding it are off."

"Hahaha!" Link guffawed. "Well, I don't know much about electronics, so I'll have to take your word for it."

"No, that's not it." Geno declined, shaking his head. "It's not powered by electricity. It's powered by cognition."

"By what?" Mario gawked.

"Cognition." Geno nodded. He raised a finger proudly, building suspense. "Bowser's cognition, in fact."

"Oh, just explain it already!" Rosalina whined, with an angry pout.

"Well, simply put, we can't make our way up there to the Castle because Bowser THINKS we can't!" Geno clarified.

"Well why does he think that?" Mario challenged, tapping a boot with a fist near his chin in thought.

"Think of the real world." Geno reminded. "Bowser's Castle is floating high in the sky, much like here in the Shadow Realm. The real Bowser thinks that we have no way of reaching him up there. This Shadow Realm is a reflection of his thoughts."

"So, since he thinks that we can't reach him in the real world, he has a feeling of security... and that's what's preventing us from getting up there in his Shadow Realm?" Link surmised.

"Exactly!" Geno confirmed, excitedly.

"Well now what do we do?" Mario beckoned, shaking his head with raised hands.

"We need to prove to the real Bowser that we are able to reach him at his Castle." Geno explained, marching sternly back and forth across the grass with his wooden hands behind his back. He pointed up at the castle. "That should shatter any illusion of security he has, and this telepad should proceed to operate."

"Wow, that's quite something!" Link smiled, hands behind his head. "Let's do it!"

"Gee, what a pain... and how exactly are we supposed to reach him?" Rosalina fret. "He's so high up. It's hopeless."

"I hate to say it, but Rosalina's right." Mario sighed. "I mean, Peach might have been able to help us out somehow, but she's with Bowser now, and it probably would take us a few days to figure something else out... we simply don't have the time."

"Hmm... looks like we are in a bit of a predicament..." Link thought out loud with closed eyes, hand on chin in thought.

"Heh heh." Geno grinned, fists on his hips with pride. "Don't worry gang! I've got an idea! For now, let's head back to the real world!"