(The humble cherry blossom. A symbol of beauty, but also of death. Truly makes one think. How could something be linked to two concepts that are so incompatible with one another? If you ask me, I'd say it's meant as a lesson: life is beautiful. Take the time you're granted to appreciate that gift. Because like physical beauty, life is fleeting. And one day... you'll find yourself reflecting upon how you spent it.)
Perhaps it was just their exposure to heat back on the previous floor, but the elevator had was rather chilly this time around. The doors closed, and the hypnotic glow of floor 13 was left in the dust. The buzz of the elevator was heard, as they ascended to the Master Suites. It was reserved only for the richest of guests. The kind that would make Wario faint. But it was also the home of Vinny's bedroom, as well as her parents'. But when the doors opened, they were met with the sight of a stone-brick road, leading up to a large entrance, like you'd see on an old Japanese palace. Vinny and Luigi looked around at the room before them. "Huh...? This doesn't make any sense, I thought we were on floor 16." Vinny thought aloud. "Actually, you are. My scanners tell me that's where you two happen to be. I suspect this is like what happened with Nivyn and that Meticulous Ladybird, or whatever you called it." Luigi pointed out how that must mean that Elline is here. "Yes... Mother always keeps her promises. Let's just hope we can prove to her that we can take father." Vinny stated. Luigi nodded, and they both approached the door.
(The music "Forest of Sleep" by YouTuber "Medieval World Music" plays)
Another room. But this one had a window in it. One that gazed out into the starry night sky. This was definitely an illusion, like the professor claimed. In the room, there were some stands, holding samurai armor, also known as ō-yoroi (pronounced oh-you-roy). The walls were decorated with old Japanese ink paintings, and the room was lit by lanterns. "Say, weren't you in a place like this once, Peach?" Daisy asked. "You mean Bowser's Kingdom? Yeah, I was. Though it's a shame I had a bad first impression. You know, being kidnapped and all." Gazing out the window, Vinny and Luigi saw they were on the top floor of a fancy palace. And outside on the ground was a lush garden next to a forest. And on a hill in this garden, beneath a single cherry blossom tree, was the unmistakable form of Elline. "Bingo." Vinny spoke to herself.
She turned to Luigi. "At least there's no question on where we're supposed to go. But as nice as this place is, don't forget that feudal Japan was a dangerous place. Expect traps." She explained. Luigi nodded, and they started working their way down. "How does Bowser afford all that stuff anyway?" Daisy inquired. Peach took a sip of her tea. "Coins aren't exactly hard to come across. I mean, in most places you can find them on the ground." Luigi and his partner in crime traversed the palace, finding whatever stairs downwards they could find. But it didn't take long for something to impede their progress. Luigi ended up stepping on a pressure plate disguised as a floorboard, and in response, four ghost ninjas appeared in a puff of smoke! Trying to win them some time to think of a way out of this conundrum, Vinny thought of halting their attack for a few precious seconds with an off-hand remark. "Didn't anyone tell you posers that real shinobi didn't fight in clear view?"
Thinking fast, she rolled underneath one of the ninjas, and yanked a circular shield off a nearby statue before chucking it at her opposition like a frisbee. "Heads up, Luigi!" Three of the ninjas ducked, but one of them got pinned by the projectile against the wall. Not wasting the opportunity, Luigi got a capture stream on another one, and flung him straight into a cactus plant sitting precariously by the window. But even though these chumps weren't the genuine article, they were armed with throwing stars. Vinny and Luigi started making a run for it, with Luigi trying to suck up any of the slicy shurikens whizzing through the air at them. Normally Luigi would just suck up these guys, but considering Vinny's outfit from Elline had special protective powers, it was best to assume these ninja costumes were similar in that regard. At the end of the hallway was a fork in the path, and a suspicious looking wooden door. No one ever places a door in the center of a crossroad like this. So Vinny started to tug on it.
Luigi vaulted out of the way just in time as Vinny opened the door, only for a storm of kunai exploded out of it. So it appeared the door was just another trap. But this time, they used it to their advantage. The kunai dispensers in the door shot one of the remaining ninja dead on, ripping his costume to shreds. Knowing he was now defenseless, the ghost retreated. And so that left just one. Seeing he was now outnumbered, the final ninja jumped to his last resort. He pulled out a clay bomb, and tossed it out into the middle of the room. "Get out of there, youngsters!" E. Gadd advised, as the bomb went off. Blowing everyone involved back from the shockwave. Vinny and Luigi were sent tumbling out the window, but Vinny managed to grab onto a banner, with Luigi holding on by her legs. Seeing another window below them, Vinny swung them back and forth in the hopes of getting close enough to it before she loses her grip. And just as her arms were about to give out, she was successful.
As the duo lay collapsed on the floor from the ordeal, they slowly got up. "Ugh. Let's not do that again... But atleast we're closer to the bottom." Vinny commented. And so after a minute, they resumed their exploration. As they made their way to the bottom floor, something clicked in Vinny's head. "I remember how Nivyn's illusion worked. The threat of Stormy Weather was symbolic of the pain and confusion she felt towards the uncertainty of our life... As for what all this could represent..." she paused to analyze the gloomy atmosphere of this palace. Beautiful as it may be, it was also lacking in substance. In warmth, or life. "I feel that this represents mother's feelings about father. A lone, impenetrable fortress that gifts no refuge to her. Even if she can't remember it, I think she still subconsciously hates him for his mistakes..." Luigi put a hand on her shoulder, seeing that she was letting the somber atmosphere get to her.
She sighed. "But... it changes nothing. If there's anyone who can wake her up, its me." They walked outside into the garden. Just like everything else thus far, it was very pretty, but had an unavoidable aura of loneliness. To reach the hill with the tree, they walked over a tiny bride spanning an equally tiny stream, that they could easily walk through if they didn't mind getting their shoes wet. And standing there under the tree, gazing into its trunk as the wind blew gently through her hair... was Elline. "I cannot hear any music from the floor below us. You were successful in beating Gloria, weren't you?" She spoke in a detached, dejected tone. "Mother..." Elline slowly turned around. Her expression was blank, but Vinny could tell she was internally conflicted.
(The music "1AM Dream" from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, plays)
Elline looked up at the moon, its radiant glow shimmering in the stream behind her visitors. "Lovely night... isn't it?" Her sentence tinged with a sense of longing. She took a few steps to her right, closing her eyes as she walked. "In feudal Japan, the land was ruled by lords, vying for power over one another. If you were in a respected position, you had to exercise caution, lest you be assassinated by a hitman in the night. Or poisoned by your next lunch." She opened her eyes, knelt down and picked up a fallen cherry blossom. "Your father is afraid of something. And that fear prompted him to cut himself off from all outside channels." She held the cherry blossom close to her heart. "It stung, to watch helplessly as he walked out of our lives. I tried my best to forget about the whole thing. By making friends with Hellen, and Gloria, and all that..." She then let the cherry blossom go into the wind. Watching it drift away with a look of pain in her eyes, before turning back to Vinny.
"And of course, by sharing what happy moments you and I had. You were all I had left from this..." She then stared at the ground. "But I suppose this night would come sooner or later... I alone can't fill the void in your heart that Maxill left behind. I know that first-hand." Vinny walked up to her, and held her hand. "Don't undersell yourself. There were times when I was only able to keep moving forward because you were there for me. Without you, I would've turned out exactly like Nivyn. I would've given up, surrendered all my hope to the harshness of reality. I'll never forget all you've done for me." Elline paused, before smiling a sad smile. A single tear trailing down her face. "No matter how you may change... you will always be my sweet little angel." Vinny wasn't sure if she simply didn't notice the tear, or didn't care enough to wipe it away. "But I digress..."
She walked up towards the tree once again. Leaning her head back in the wind. "It is for reasons like this that I can't let you face him until you're ready. As such, don't expect me to hold back. Like how a small fragile seed can grow into a mighty oak tree... I wish to see how much you've grown." Luigi held his poltergust at the ready, as Vinny gazed solemnly up at her mother. "Of course... Do what you need to do." Elline exhaled, as the area went silent. "I bare the form of a geisha. But now I must unleash the demon within..." ectoplasm leaked out of her skin, and soon submerged her. Vinny backed away, and put up her guard for whatever was to come. The moon in the sky turned red, as well as the cherry blossoms, as they were blown into the air like confetti.
(The music "Frozen Elegance" by YouTuber OrionMagnus plays)
As the blackness cleared, the figure standing there was a long haired woman with a red ninja scarf covering her face. Her ears were elf-like, and her skin was jet black. Standing in star contrast to her red pupil-less eyes. She wore a skin-tight black suit with a red sash, as well as knee-guards, and elbow-guards. Both red. And in her hands was a sheethed katana emanating a creepy red glow. This was Elline's repressed anger given life: Oni. She tossed Vinny a sword of her own, so as to provide a fair fight. She only had one thing to say, as she unsheathed her blade, Sol Corrupt: "Come at me." Vinny grasped the katana in her hands tight as she stared down her mother's dark side. She and Luigi charged at her, Luigi also choosing to use the hilt of the poltergust like a sword. But the volatile swordmaster darted her arm like an angry wasp as she deflected every blow thrown at her. "Hmf." She spun on her heel, and sent both her attackers tumbling backwards with a single swipe.
Oni set her sights on Luigi first, signifying that even in this state, Elline didn't want to hurt her daughter. Luigi barely blocked the assault with the poltergust in time. But his fear of being sliced like ham wasn't over yet, as Oni aggressively smashed her blade against his vacuum over and over again! Eventually, Luigi's only line of defense was blown out of his hand by her ruthless strength. But as she stood, about to land the final coup de grace, Vinny ran at her from the side, sword in hand. Oni swerved around her daughter, and her attack, and attempted to slash her from behind, but Vinny has fast reflexes, and spun around to block the attack. Backflipping an incredible distance back, Oni saw one of the trees from the nearby forest next to her. And so she cleanly sliced it in half with enough force to send it spiraling into the air before kicking it in Vinny's direction.
Luigi scrambled to get out of the way, but Vinny merely leapt forward and cut the tree with such speed and precision that she made a hole in it just big enough to duck through safely. But Oni wasn't just gonna let Vinny take the battle to her. She dashed across the water of the stream like a basilisk lizard as she raced towards her opponent. Vinny ducked under the bridge, intent to close the gap herself. And when the two swords clashed, a shockwave blasted out, shattering all the windows in the palace. "He's not as hopeless as you think." Vinny stated, as her sword wobbled against her foe's. Oni raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Father. I know it's hard to try and reconnect after all this time, but he's family." Oni did not respond, instead kicking Vinny up onto the bridge before lunging at her once again from the sky.
But Vinny rolled out of the way, watching in amazement as Oni reduced the bridge to splinters. Vinny then arched her body backwards as Oni closed the gap in an instant and nearly sliced off her nose in the process! Knowing she'd be cut down in an instant if she idles, Vinny dived backwards until she could think of a plan. However, Oni seemed to know what she was thinking, and started pouring even more energy into her vile katana. Flipping up as Oni struck the ground, the concrete spewing sparks upon contact, Vinny somersaulted behind a gong, and before Oni could react, she struck it as hard as she could! The gong slammed into Oni, sending her barreling backwards, and straight into the wall of the palace. Briefly slumping to the ground, her eyes radiated with frustration. "Weak..."
Getting back up, she started running up the walls of the palace. "Oh no, you don't!" Vinny shouted, as she chased her up the walls, leaving Luigi to nervously watch the whole thing from the ground. Noticing her pursuer was gaining on her, Oni dove her blade into the building as she ran up it. Sending chunks of stone tumbling down. Vinny wasn't gonna be deterred that easily though, and evaded the falling rubble as she sprinted up after her mother. Eventually, both of them reached the roof. The wind blowing much harder up here from the altitude. Oni held her katana low. "All this power... and yet it's still not enough?" Vinny took this moment to catch her breath. "I sympathize with how you feel. Wanting to stick with what feels safer. With what makes life more bearable. The thought of confronting something so painful is probably the last thing you wanna do, and you feel you have no control of the situation, anyway."
Oni did not respond. "But... You have to be strong. If there's any chance that you can fix what's broken, I beg of you to take it." Oni gripped her sword tight. "I've tried, Vinny... So many times. It's not worth the heartache. All I need to be satisfied is you..." Vinny walked towards her. "You may say that, but you're not even convincing yourself that's true. Things aren't gonna get better until you make it better. If anything, it's just gonna get worse over time." Vinny held out her hand. "We're all here for you. But we can only support you if you let us." Oni hesitated. The conflict in her heart now rising up to the surface. But in a split second, her face contorted back into anger, and she raised her blade once again. Vinny leapt back, ready to move any second.
Oni plunged her sword into the roof, draining every ounce of energy she had into it. The power output was so great, that the illusion itself started distorting in response! The sky turned dark red, and the world shifted in and out like a dream. A really bad dream. "Gore gazer!" She shouted, as fissures of red energy burst out of the structure, threatening to blow it all to pieces! Vinny ran towards her, but some unseen force was pushing her back. This struggle of desperately trying to inch forward, when the force of the world pushes back with all its might... it was such a sad way for someone to view living. But Vinny wasn't giving up. She pushed forth with everything she had, and managed to get close enough to Oni to try again. She reached out her hand once more, even though she felt the slightest loss of focus would send her spiraling. "Take my hand!" She pleaded.
Oni, who didn't even try to hide her agony at this point, kicked Vinny away, but in doing so, knocked something loose from Vinny's pocket. Floating peacefully in the wind was a piece of paper. But not just any piece of paper. It was the drawing Vinny found back on floor 2. A drawing she made when she was little, of her, Elline, and Maxill. Time seemed to slow down as Oni saw it fluttering in the air. And her expression, though someone shielded by her ninja scarf, was that of hundreds of emotions all fighting for dominance. After a second, Oni... let go of her sword. Her attack stopped mid-way, and she fell to her knees. Not out of exhaustion, but something that she could barely describe. And before she knew it... she was crying. The illusion stabilized once again, as Vinny got back up and carefully walked over to her mother. Retrieving the drawing, before it flew off the roof.
"What have I been doing all this time...? I'm supposed to be your mother, I'm... I'm supposed to be better than this..." she whimpered, choking back the tears. Vinny knelt down beside her. "It's okay." Oni couldn't help but feel pathetic, breaking down like this in front of her own flesh and blood. "No, it's not okay! I'm supposed to protect you, not this...!" Vinny held her mother's face, trying to get her to make eye contact. "No... I mean, it's okay to feel what you're feeling right now." Oni didn't say anything. Probably because she couldn't spit out a word like this. But this... all of this... it touched something, deep down in her. Vinny saw Oni's body start to glow with some sort of heavenly light. A light that quickly enveloped her vision, and then faded once again. The illusion faded away, and she found herself in her old bedroom. There was a poster of Ladybug on her wall, some old toys she used to play with in the corner, and her mother Elline, back in her original form, still weeping on the floor.
Luigi watched on, but politely chose not to say anything, not really knowing what was going on anyway. After a minute or two, Elline finally calmed down enough to speak. Her eyes opening to reveal her pupils had returned. Remembering what happened last time, Vinny realized that meant Elline's memory had been restored. "I remember now... I was the one who did this to your father. When he told me about the contract, I pushed him away..." she looked up at Vinny. "Oh, Vinny... Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?" Vinny offered her hand one last time. "What's in the past is in the past. Besides, it's not purely your fault. If anything, it's King Boo, for scamming us out of our freedom." And this time... Elline took it. She stood up, and wiped away her tears. "Thank you so much, sweetheart... You mean the world to me." Vinny looked around at her room. It felt nostalgic to be here again, now remembering her old life.
"So mother... Can we please go to see father?" Elline took a deep breath, and smiled. One of the real smiles she wore very rarely. "Yes. There's no doubt in my mind that you're ready for this. The man who was once your father is so long gone... but maybe... just maybe, you have what it takes to bring him back." She handed Vinny the key card, and they hugged each other. "Will you come with us to see him?" Vinny asked. Elline shook her head. "Not right now. I need to get my thoughts straight. But I promise I'll be there, as soon as I can." Vinny nodded. "Alright... Come on, Luigi. The hour is at hand." Luigi happily followed her, as they started to exit the room.
"Oh, and... One more thing, Vinny." Vinny looked back at her mother, to signify she was listening. "I want you to do what I couldn't all these years... Please... save your father." Vinny stood straight. "I will." And with that, they left. It took so many trials and tribulations. So many gauntlets, and challenges. But there was one final ghost standing between them, and rescuing not just Mario, but the Midnights as well. One ghost who needed Vinny more than anyone in the world: and that was Maxill. The final battle... was here.
(Man, that really hits you right in the feels, doesn't it? But at long last, we're here. The chapter I had envisioned ever since I started this story. The final chapter. And I assure you, I will pour all my writing prowess into closing this thing out on a high note. Maxill was there when this story began... and it's only fitting now Maxill will be there, when this story ends...)