Chapter Three: Visitor

Prince Peasley's words from days earlier had put her on edge, the orange haired princess clenching her fists as she looked out the window. She suddenly felt her throat tighten. Pink had been behind her for ten minutes, looking at her, but she didn't know she was even there.

Lucinda had changed into a green dress that had a shorter skirt so she could run better.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she took deep breaths. Consistent glancing at her closet and the glass case hidden within increased the rate of these breaths, her grip on her window tightening as the stone crumbled slightly due to the strength of her grip.

"Are you okay, my lady?" Pink asked. Lucinda jumped with a slight shriek as she turned around to see Pink, who seemed just as shocked at her reaction.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked in a panicked voice, her heart rate skyrocketing.

"Ten minutes," Pink answered. "Please tell me what's going on."

"There's something terrible coming to this kingdom," Lucinda said. "Something I cannot even begin to fight according to Peasley."

"But, he's just a stupid head," Pink said. "I mean, he probably thinks it's because you're a girl."

"There has never been a more grave statement that has come out of his mouth," Lucinda said. "The end may be near if I don't do something."

"Do you think you can use… it?" Pink asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know," Lucinda said. "But, I suppose it will be time to find out when it happens. I hope that whatever it was is stayed there while I prepare."

"Prepare?" Pink asked.

"Yeah," Lucinda said. "I'm going to train. If my mother asks, I went to study."

"You know that excuse will never work," Pink said.

"It's gonna have to," Lucinda said. "I'll be back later. Hold the fort, but don't touch the things in the place. You never know how they'll react to you."

"Right," Pink nodded as Lucinda jumped out her window, landing on the grass softly. She took off running toward the woods near the castle, disappearing into the thick of them. Pink watched her, suddenly becoming aware of a whisper coming from Lucinda's closet. She opened the door and peeked in, glancing at all the items hidden within, her gaze passing over the crown. Thinking nothing of it, she closed the door and left the room, unaware of her having been noticed by two small, blinking eyes.

With Lucinda

Lucinda ran through the forest, searching for what she was looking for. She ran into a clearing cleverly disguised by a powerful magic, she walked to the clearing's center. In the center was a burnt circle with the face of a monster in the center. Lucinda sat down in the center of this circle, crossing her legs as if in meditation. She didn't know why, but this burnt circle had always felt oddly comforting.

She didn't know how it had gotten there, but one day, she had noticed it, and it had drawn her to it. She liked to sit in the center and receive calming thoughts. She felt calm wash over her like a cool wave of water. She closed her eyes, trying to get some closure. She knew she had to be focused to be able to fight properly and her panic was certainly not helping her.

She continued to try and calm herself, but it wasn't working as well as normal. She began to feel hot, as if she had a fever. Sweat pooled once again on her forehead, spilling down over her dress and soaking it. She didn't notice, her focus on whatever plagued her mind. Thoughts were rushing into her mind, thoughts that weren't her own.

She saw a burning Mushroom Kingdom with a cackling monster standing overtop of it, thin green fingers pointed upwards as lightning crashed downward onto the ground. Fire rained from her hands as the citizens were burned and electrocuted. She felt a strange presence as she saw something else. Another monster, roaring with might as fire burst forth from its mouth. It seemed… familiar somehow.

And she saw… her mother! Her mother was standing there too, a weapon that resembled a frying pan in her hand, blood covering her body as they faced this foe.

Immediately, Lucinda saw a feather fluttering down as she clenched her eyes shut. She tried to will the feather to disappear, to make her forget that threat and fear, to let her just have peaceful thoughts, but she couldn't.

She then saw a flash of light as a single word burned itself into her mind; Koopa. With a yell of terror, Lucinda's mind snapped back to reality as she saw the burning fire that surrounded her. She began to panic, thinking the clearing was on fire, but it was seemingly only around her. She was the one that was on fire.

"What?" She asked, gasping as the fire immediately disappeared as quickly as she'd noticed it. She began to panic, the idea of fire around her being a bit of a shock. She looked around, wondering if anyone had seen her. She quickly took a deep breath, pondering this predicament. She knew she couldn't go to her mother about this. She knew that something like this wasn't something she could easily explain away. Her mother would discover this field (and the fact she had lied about studying) and would forbid her from coming here again.

This was near where she had trained with Mario when she was younger. She knew where he kept old journals that talked of creatures she'd never seen before. They were in fact dismissed as myth by her mother, but the journals had too much evidence. She knew that she couldn't prove anything simply by them, but she also knew that she had a lot to prove. She had to find out what was going on that her mother wasn't telling her.

Another question popped out to her; the question of her father. Obviously she had one, but neither Mario nor her mother would say a thing about him. Her mother flat out refused to tell her, stating that her Aunt Daisy was pretty much her other parent. But, that was only a cop-out to prevent the younger her from looking into the events surrounding it. She had to figure a few things out, particularly the fire. It had happened before, she thought. It did… she assumed it could.

Before her thoughts could delve further, a crash behind her alerted her to a presence there. She turned, running over to the smoke billowing up from nearby. She rushed over to where it was, hoping to be able to find something interesting.

What she found was completely unexpected. Crashed in the middle of a crater was a small spaceship. It looked like it was damaged irreparably, the occupants inside not making any motions. Lucinda cursed herself for not thinking to bring any power-ups for fear of them being noticed.

Lucinda ran down towards it, touching it. She was surprised to be able to touch it with no problems. She could feel it was hot enough to burn her, but she was unaffected. She quickly looked for an opening, pounding on the ship to try to get an opening made. Whoever was in there couldn't last long, even if she somehow had some fire resistance. Finding what looked like an opening, she punched it further, trying to pry it open with her force. Eventually, whether by Lucinda's efforts or damage, it gave way, allowing the princess access to it. She was lucky it hadn't actually caught fire or else the occupant would be toast.

Inside the ship, it was toasty warm, the now once again sweating princess considering shedding some clothing, only to think of what would happen were she to try to explain it to her mother.

Of course, if it caught on fire, it wouldn't be so well either. Knowing that her clothes were a bit durable, being able to stand up to a little bit of tussling, Lucinda rushed forward, trying to find something as she headed for the front (or what she assumed was the front) of the ship, hoping to be able to help the people inside if they were still alive.

Looking in what looked like the cockpit she found only a mushroom that was about sixteen inches around at the widest point. It resembled her own Super Mushrooms, but this one was purple with pink spots. It looked more like a poison than a healing item. She picked it up out of curiosity, looking around for anyone, an odd compulsion to take the mushroom overwhelming her. She didn't find a single person, deciding to quickly make her exit before she was caught up in any sort of explosion.

She exited the somewhat large ship quickly, running with the purple mushroom in hand. She panted, looking back toward the ship, watching as it detonated, exploding and sending debris everywhere. Lucinda suddenly felt saddened. She couldn't explain it as she looked at the debris. She quickly ran back toward the castle.

"Lucinda!" Her mother's voice was heard as she froze in place. She turned to see her mother, fuming as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I demand an explanation for your whereabouts right now!"

"U-Uh," Lucinda quickly managed to hide the mushroom behind her back. "I was… I ditched my studying."

"That's what I thought," Her mother said, grabbing her by the arm. "You are coming with me, young lady."

Lucinda gulped as she was pulled, barely keeping hold of the mushroom. Oddly enough it looked as if her mother hadn't seen it. She had no time to comment on that as she was dragged to her room and forcefully thrown onto her bed.

"You will tell me where you went," Her mother commanded. Lucinda looked up at her, the mushroom tossed over the side of the bed. She didn't dare try to provoke her mother at this point. As powerful as she was, even with a Fire Flower, she didn't think she could take her mother on.

There was a reason she held command of the Mushroom Kingdom for so long. In addition to her kindness and grave, very few creatures could manage to thwart the various magicks she possessed, even some sorts of darker forms of magic according to some of the rumors Lucinda had heard from before she was born. It was also rumored that her mother was far older than she looked. There were some things Lucinda had witnessed in her mother's books she didn't dare think of or remember. Things written in those books were of bloody sacrifices and dark rituals of demonic origin. Lucinda was sure her mother wasn't some sort of devil worshipper, but something within her always made Lucinda uneasy. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she doubted she really wanted to.

"I… I went out into the woods," Lucinda decided to bite at least part of the bullet. "I wanted a little peace and quiet."

"Is this about Prince Peasley?" Her mother's voice softened slightly.

"…Yes," Lucinda nodded. "It is…"

"Whatever transformed him like that will pay," Her mother said. "For now, you will return to your studies."

"Uh, sure." Lucinda said, her mother turning around and walking for the door. She turned to look at Lucinda once more, crossing her arms. She sighed, walking out of the room without a second glance. Lucinda was now left alone with her own thoughts… and a giant mushroom.

She grabbed the mushroom, setting it on her bed. She was still confused as to how her mother hadn't noticed it, but she shrugged it off. Perhaps she ignored it and didn't really think it important. She had instructed Lucinda since a young age not to eat any sort of plants she didn't understand and this certainly wasn't native to the Mushroom Kingdom. She sighed, looking at it. She gave it a little knock on its top. There wasn't a soft thump like with a Super Mushroom, but there was a slight squishing sound, almost like she was knocking some slime.

She became curious, squeezing the mushroom. It gave a slight pulsing feeling, almost like she'd touched a beating heart. Lucinda stared quizzically at the strange fungus with an odd feeling in her gut. It was a feeling of danger, yet not. She knew there was something off about this mushroom. Why did it behave so? This was a question she had to get to the bottom of.

She thought about using a Fire Flower, but almost immediately decided against it. Such a thing would potentially destroy her room and her mother wouldn't like that. There was also the fact that she could sense the magic of the flower. Even if she wasn't this once powerful warrior like the rumors and myths Lucinda had heard from various sources, she could still sense when magic was used. Of course there was also the fact of the royal advisor and the royal counsellor.

While the royal advisor, Toadsworth was a bit of a stickler for rules that were older than even he was and could potentially a threat due to his consistent drivel about being a good little princess, the real threat was the royal counsellor, Kamek. He was so old he looked like a turtle, being in possession of such powerful magicks that he had wielded in his prime.

Even if Lucinda was able to get this use of such a strong magic past him, he would eventually find out. The seemingly crazed sorcerer could (according to himself) smell magic clear to the edge of the kingdom. Lucinda in fact was worried he knew her secret, but she was always careful to have some of the magic crystals in her room to drown out her own. Both of them were rarely in the castle, only called in when trouble was brewing, but Lucinda wasn't about to test that today. She did, however, want to sneak into Kamek's home to look at some more magic crystals. Those were quite interesting and gave a nice soft feeling in the room, calming her down.

She grabbed a pointed ornamental sword from her dresser, poking the mushroom with it. The mushroom pulsed oddly and Lucinda jumped back, assuming a fighting stance. She waited and watched as the mushroom made no further movements. Lucinda moved to poke it once again, but the mushroom exploded, gas exploding into the air. Lucinda held her breath, watching as the exploded mushroom reformed itself. Lucinda sighed, realizing there seemed to be more to this mushroom than she wished to see, but it was certainly something to investigate. She needed to figure out what she could do with the mushroom.

It began to glow, however, the princess getting back into her fighting stance as she narrowed her eyes in preparation for more gas to emit from it. However, it began to change form, seeming to shift to a strange form. Arms and legs began to sprout from the mushroom, the mushroom becoming like the head. At first, it looked like only arms and legs, but from it sprouted a body as well. Lucinda watched in shock and an odd fascination as the mushroom seemed to take on humanlike form.

The glow began to die down as the mushroom took on less of a purple color. It was a distinctly female form, dressed in a dress like that of Lucinda's own. She even looked like she was a similar age to Lucinda. Her face was tinted with a shade of purple, giving her the slightest look of hypothermia at first glance. Her hair was a deep royal purple, darker than any grape could ever be and, was held up on top of her head like a mushroom. Her dress was almost a similar shade, bearing a strange mushroom shaped brooch in the center. Her eyes were closed in unconsciousness, her breathing soft as she slept on. White gloves rose up to her elbows, going past them to show them off. Her hands at first looked like they had only two sharply pointed fingers, which was confusing to Lucinda. On top of her head, sat a crown not unlike her mother's, but Lucinda really wasn't concerned about it.

Lucinda couldn't help but stare in fascination. She was always drawn to the odd, but this woman seemed… otherworldly. Lucinda was definitely curious about her origins… and if she would be something she would have to defend the kingdom against…

She simply stood there, deciding to wait until the mushroom girl woke up before beginning to do anything rash or harmful. It's not like she was harming anyone. Even if the craft she came in had hurt someone, she had crashed, not attacked. Lucinda realized there might be some hard decisions she would have to make in the future, but she decided to not bother thinking about that yet. She still didn't know if this girl was hostile or not.

A sound nearby startled her to her feet as her door began to creak. She had intentionally left it like that, refusing to let anyone fix it. A simple explanation to her mother about how it would keep her on guard had made sure that worked.

She stood up, tossing covers over the girl and walking over to the door. On the other side was Pink, who glanced at the closet oddly. Lucinda noticed this, but assumed that it was something to do with her being needed. Oddly enough, her orb hadn't said anything about being needed.

"What's up?" She asked the young Toadette.

"Uh… what's going on?" Pink asked. "Your mom sent me up here to see why she could feel something coming from your room."

"Nothing's happening," Lucinda said, trying to get Pink to leave; she didn't need her involved yet until she knew this person wasn't a threat. "I was just trying something. Can you tell her it's nothing?"

"Yeah," Pink nodded. "I can do that. So, what were you trying?"

"I found something," Lucinda said. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay," Pink said, nodding. "Say… Lucinda… is there something living in your closet?"

"Technically, I guess the Fire Flower is a living thing," Lucinda said, but it stops living once picked, but keeps its power."

"Oh…" Pink said, looking down. "I see."

"What?" Lucinda asked. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," Pink stammered, glancing at the closet. "Just curious."

"Okay," Lucinda said. "Just be careful with the stuff in there, alright? It's dangerous if you're not used to it."

"R-Right," Pink said.

"So, how about you tell my mom that and we can hang out later?" Lucinda asked. "I'm not really doing anything. My mom said to study, but I could always use a break."

"If she says it's alright," Pink said. Lucinda nodded as Pink left the room. Closing her door, Lucinda walked back to her bed, throwing the covers off the strange girl. She crossed her arms, looking down at her. There was something odd about her, but she wasn't sure what was going on. Perhaps she could ask someone about it later. There were a few people she could trust with information like this, but would they be of any help?

Sighing in slight frustration, Lucinda looked down at the purple shaded girl. A thought occurred to her at that moment she was surprised hadn't earlier: was this girl even alive? She leaned down to her chest, hoping her heart was in the same place as her own so it would be easier. She got in as close as she could, hearing the faintest of thuds. It wasn't as rhythmic as a heartbeat, but it was a good indication she was alive… though, this then raised some questions about how her species worked in terms of blood flow and all that sort.

Of course, this girl did have similar anatomy to her (minus the hands and skin), judging by the outside of her body. She almost seemed like her in a way, even down to her chest size… which Lucinda was confused at. But, there was also something off about her in the inner. Lucinda didn't hear any breathing coming from her (assumed) nostrils. Any living thing would breathe… possibly. Lucinda didn't know a lot about things that seemed otherworldly, but she did know that all creatures on this planet breathed.

The princess listened closely, trying to hear it. She wondered what was happening with this girl. She couldn't be so easily dead, could she? Lucinda touched her skin to find it was quite durable feeling, despite being a bit squishy. But, she didn't worry about that. She had to worry more about making sure she could survive.

A soft stirring sound came from the girl, causing Lucinda's head to whip to her, shocked. She knew that it wasn't so miraculous that the girl be alive despite the crash, but it was quite shocking.

Ashy white eyes opened to stare into Lucinda's own, the two simply looking into each other's eyes. Both contemplated their next moves quite carefully. Lucinda knew that if this girl was a threat, she could easily overpower her if it was her species' capability. The girl sat up slowly, almost as if she'd woken up from a nap.

The white eyes shifted to a strange look, a foreign language Lucinda could neither understand nor comprehend spewing from the mouth of the girl.

"What?" Lucinda asked, confused at this speech, unable to hear any of it in coherence. "I don't understand you."

"St…ar…ch…ild," The girl said after a small pause. Lucinda's expression turned to horror at this. Was her identity exposed by someone who probably wasn't even from this planet? How?!

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Lucinda stammered, narrowing her eyes as she stepped a small step closer to her closet, ready to take on this foe if she could reach an item. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she had no choice.

"Ma…gic…" The girl said, blinking her eyes at Lucinda. Lucinda tensed, looking the girl up and down. Somehow, she didn't feel anything threatening from her. But, that didn't mean she was harmless. She had to choose her words carefully.

"Do you know how to speak more of my language?" Lucinda asked, confusion in her voice.

The girl spoke in what Lucinda assumed was her native tongue before pausing again. Suddenly, she began to speak again.

"I… can," She said. "Prefer… own… tongue."

"Your own tongue?" Lucinda asked.

"Yes…" The girl said. "My… tongue."

"Where'd you learn my language?" Lucinda asked, assuming this girl wasn't from this world.

"From… sister," The girl said.

"What's your name?" Lucinda asked.

"Shroob…" The girl said, her two-fingered hands closing and opening slowly. She pushed herself slowly to the edge of the bed. "Princess… Shroob."

"Careful," Lucinda said, holding her back. "You were in a crash."

"Must… return," Shroob said, trying to leave the bed. "Sister… angry."

"Well, you should stay until you're healed," Lucinda said, holding her back. "Also, explain the mushroom you turned into."

"Weakened… form," Shroob said softly. "When… damaged."

"I see," Lucinda said. "Well, you definitely need to wait and rest."

"Rest…" Shroob said, looking at Lucinda softly, almost as if analyzing her as she lied back down. Lucinda found it odd, but chose to ignore it. After all, she had brought her into her house and was about to poke her with a stick. She shrugged, deciding to simply return to her looking for answers about her father. There was something she didn't know, but she needed to figure it out right then and there. She sighed, tensing as she heard her door open.

"What's going on in here?" Lucinda's mother entered the room, staring her daughter down. Lucinda tensed further as her mother zeroed in on Shroob. Immediately, her mother's gaze turned to one of a beast being threatened. She leapt forward, a dark, evil looking magic in her hands as she held one up to strike Shroob, who was frozen in what Lucinda assumed to be fear.

"No!" Lucinda was surprised she made it in time to stand in between the two. Her mother stopped, the magic still in her hands as Lucinda stared her in the face. Her eyes were haunting and cold, bloody red and nearly demonic. Her orange hair was tainted with darkness. Lucinda flinched, an overwhelming presence of fear entering her.

"Get out of my way," Her mother demanded. "This isn't your concern."

"Y-You can't hurt her," Lucinda took a deep breath and stood as firm as she could. "She's hurt and I want you to leave her alone."

"This is bigger than simply being nice," The queen said. "She is a threat."

"She isn't," Lucinda said. "And what makes you think that?"

"There are things you will never understand," The queen said. "Especially about the relationship between us and them."

"What does that mean?" Lucinda asked.

"It means what it means," The queen said. "Now, get out of my way."

"If you want to hurt her, you have to hurt me," Lucinda said. "I won't go down easy, though."

The queen hesitated, the dark magic leaving her hand. Her body returned to normal and she leaned down to Lucinda.

"Don't make me regret this," She said in a soft tone. She turned around, leaving the room. "She's your responsibility."

Lucinda slumped down to the floor, panting in relief. She had managed to save this newcomer. But, it wasn't without risks.

"What was she talking about?" Lucinda asked.

"The Great Mush War," Shroob said quietly. "A war fought a long time ago. But… that power…"

"What was that power?" Lucinda asked. "But, more importantly, we need a disguise for you."

"Disguise?" Shroob asked.

"Yeah," Lucinda said. "We need something so that any other Toads don't recognize you."

"I… I can do that," Shroob said. She took a deep breath as the purple of her skin began to recede into her hair. Her hands formed three more fingers that flexed instinctively. Her hair looked less like fungus and more like actual hair, falling down around her shoulders. Her eyes turned purple, irises forming around pupils. Her once purple skin began to become a paler version of the human next to her.

"Wow," Lucinda said, impressed. "Well, let's go and—"

The princess was interrupted by a crash from outside. She quickly moved to the source ofit, Shroob trying to follow her.

When they arrived at the scene of the throne room, they saw a ghastly sight; The queen was lying face down on the floor, a Beanish creature chortling as he stood over her, a weird device attached to his head.

"Welcome to the mustard of my revenge, fink rat!" He turned to Lucinda with a grin that would put Any other to shame. "Prepare for the knife to spread it."

Well, it looks like there will be some interesting comings up next chapter. I wonder what will happen.