Chapter Twenty-Eight
The red gem in Kamek's wand almost seemed to glow with excitement as he lifted it into the air and shook it.
*Poof!*
"Heeeeehehehe!" Twenty or thirty blue-robed Kameks filled the air. Kamella scowled and took a quick glance at the state of her own wand. It glowed just like Kamek's but not nearly as bright. She had used up a lot of her magic during her fight with Bowser.
"Kamek! You know I have just as many reasons to kick your wrinkled ass as I do hers!" Kamella shouted. Swung her wand in a quick circular motion and set a shower of green sparks after him. When the sparks hit a few of the fake Kameks, they disappeared with a cloudy puff. The real Kamek, however, flew with great agility, dodging most of the sparks and sending a few blasts of rainbow shapes after her.
Kamella dodged his attacks as well but not with the same show of agility as Kamek. The hem of her purple robes smoked, having been snagged by one of Kamek's attacks. She grabbed her robes and patted them briskly to make sure they didn't catch fire. With a grunt, she looked back up at all of the fake Kameks and shot spark after spark at them, slowly depleting Kamek's fake doubles. SHe thought she was making some headway until she realized they had surrounded her. Adrenaline began to pump in her veins as the fake Kameks began to shake their wands in an identical fashion. Kamella stopped casting sparks and flew higher into the sky, but it was too late. A rainbow beam shot out from the real Kamek's wand and attached to a fake Kamek's wand. The beam then began to bounce from one fake Kamek to the next, creating a web of bright rainbow magic.
"AAAACK!" Kamella, flew into one of the rainbow beams and shook as if lightning had struck her. She shook her head dizzily and then snapped back into action.
The hem of her robed smoked more but she ignored it and waved her wand in a wide circle. A large trampoline materialized underneath her and then red sparks shot out of her wand like large lava balls. They didn't fly very far, instead, they fell towards the trampoline and then bounced back into the air with great speed. The number of rainbow beams ceased almost immediately. The fake Kameks, not fast enough to avoid the attack, were quickly puffed away and the real Kamek's elbow got clipped by one of the massive balls of lava.
"Do you think killing the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom will improve the judgment that was passed by the Supreme Judge of Magical Law?" Kamek yelled at her from the opposite end of the trampoline. He straightened his round classes and watched her with a with a definite frown. "Leave them be. You have done more than enough damage to them and their Kingdoms."
"I did everything FOR our Kingdom! The Dark Lands need a strong King who strikes fear and respect into those around him! Bowser had everything he needed to conquer the world! He was bold, ominous, powerful, and reckless!" Kamella yelled with a triumphant smile on her face. Then her smile fell and she lowered her eyes "... until he set his eyes on Peach. The most kind, virtuous, giving, and least feared ruler on the planet. Kamek, you saw him change. You can't tell me that you agree with his ideas to break the traditions of our past rulers!"
"Well, I most certainly don't agree with you, asshat," Kamek chuckled. Kamella snarled at him and began waving her wand furiously in circled. She sent a flurry of sparks shot at Kamek who quickly deflected her attempts to hit Bowser and the Princess. He then shot his own flurry of spells at Kamella.
As the Magikoopas fought, a shadow of a figure snuck carefully through the trees in the directions of Bowser and Peach's bodies. When he had successfully snuck around both of Magikoopas and made it to the princess, Toadsworth ran Peach's side and gave a heavy sigh of relief. Her body was unharmed.
"Peach ole gall! I'm so happy that crazy old witch didn't hit you. I thought I had lost you for good when Kamella sent that blasted spell," Toadsworth said anxiously as he put his hand on her back and shook her reassuringly.
"Princess?" The blonde haired woman gave no response. A cold sense of dread washed over Toadsworth when he realized she wasn't moving or saying anything. With shaky hands, he searched for a pulse but there was none and she wasn't breathing.
"Kamek!" Toadsworth screamed in a panic. There was no one else here who could help him. Kamella had been the one that had attacked Peach and Bowser was dead. Despite his plea for help, both of the Magikoopas continued to fight, ignoring the old Toad.
Kamek shook his wand again and all of Kamella's lava balls bouncing on the trampoline transformed into flip-flops. Kamella glared at him with slight confusion. Out of all of the things he could have transformed them into, he chose flip-flops? Kamek chuckled to himself, caught one of the larger flip-flops in his claw, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"That's it? No flying book bats or poisonous bubbles? Flip-flops?" Kamella asked angrily.
"One can never overestimate the power of great wardrobe improvements," Kamek answered simply.
"You're mocking me!" Kamella screamed.
"NoPe." He popped the P at the end of the word childishly.
"GAH!" Kamella flew forward with fury in her eyes. She made a circular motion with her wand and sent another shower of sparks at Kamek.
Toadsworth stood from Peach's side and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Kamek! PEACH ISN'T BREATHING!"
Kamella hesitated momentarily in confusion.
Kamek's glasses glinted dangerously and he smirked, not taking his eyes off of Kamella. With a great burst of speed, Kamek zoomed through a gap in her sparks and came to a halt right next to Kamella.
"Don't underestimate..." Kamek said in an uncharacteristically low and serious voice. "...the flip-flop." With a swift motion of his hand, he pulled the floppy shoe from his pocket, lifted it over his head and...
*smack!*
*Smack!*
*Smacksmacksmacksmacksmack*
*SSSSSSSSMAAAACCCCCCKKKKK*
Kamella's flattened face howled in pain and she fell from her broom, landing harshly on the ground. Before she could recover herself, Kamek muttered a spell and pointed his wand at her. Ropes tied themselves around Kamella and a large, dirty old sock stuffed itself into her mouth.
"Let me take a look," Kamek stated, rushing to the other side of the forest clearing and pushing Toadsworth out of the way. He poked and prodded the bodies of Peach and Bowser, then hummed thoughtfully to himself. From what he could tell, both of them were dead but he couldn't make out a cause of death for either of them. Bowser's shell was cracked and stained with blood but his skin was clear. He had no wounds. Peach, on the other hand, had scrapes, bruises, and possibly a couple of broken ribs but nothing that would kill her. Kamek then took a strand of hair from Peach and examined it.
"There is something missing," Kamek stated.
"What is it? What is missing?" Toadsworth asked worriedly.
"When someone dies, the magic in their bodies lingers until it slowly fades away. Peach's body has no magic at all and Bowser's has more than normal," Kamek said thoughtfully. "She tried to bring him back…"
"What does that mean? For Stars' sake, tell me what is going on!" Toadsworth yelled.
"It means Peach tried to use her magic to pull Bowser's soul back to his body! But if his soul was too far, he would end up pulling her with him. It's much like trying to pull someone out of a waterfall. If the rescuer doesn't have enough weight or strength to anchor themselves down then both the victim and the rescuer end up taken away by the current," Kamek explained.
"Can she be saved? Isn't there anything you can do?" Toadsworth asked with panic.
"Yes… Yes, there just might be," Kamek stated with hope rising in his voice.
"MRRRMMPH!" Kamella grumbled loudly from the other side of the clearing. She knew exactly what he was thinking and she didn't like it at all. Despite this, Kamek stood up and walked in her direction with a devious smile.
"Mmmmmmmmphrrrr..." Kamella grumbled again as he took hold of her and began dragging her closer to Bowser and Peach. She shook her head fanatically, but Kamek set her down next to Toadsworth who flinched away from her in fear.
"Mrrrphrr…" she grumbled, still looking at Kamek fervently. He, in turn, stared back at her until she defiantly twisted her head in another direction. Her eyes settled on Bowser and Peach who were lying lifelessly together.
"Kamella, we can still save them," Kamek said, pulling the gag out of her mouth.
"And end up dying with them? Their bodies may be intact, but there is nothing left within them. We don't know how long both of them have been gone from their bodies," Kamella argued, tearing her eyes away from the bodies, forcing herself to glare at the ground.
"Kamella, don't you owe them this much after taking everything from them?" Kamek asked quietly.
"But I only did it to…" Kamella began.
"I know why you did it..."
"The hell you do! I did it so our Kingdom wouldn't make the same mistake again, you heartless old bastard!" she raged at him. Spitting at him with disgust.
"What happened back then was unfortunate. You lost your son during a failed attempt to make peace with a neighboring Kingdom. It was one of the greatest losses our Kingdom has had. He was the brightest Magikoopa we have had in centuries... But Kamella, the people of that neighboring kingdom ambushed our people during the signing of the peace treaty because they feared us. They didn't think we had any intention of keeping our side of the bargain," Kamek explained, pleading for her to listen to his words.
"No! We should never have bothered with the treaty!" Kamella snarled. "Fear is what kept them at bay in the first place!"
"And fear is what kept their armies at our borders," Kamek stated plainly. Kamella went silent and ground her teeth. "'Peace between kingdoms is the ultimate form of respect.' Remember that? Those were Kameron's words."
"How dare you speak his name?!" Kamella shrieked. "How dare you speak his words!? He's dead because of you and the stupid ideas that you planted in his head!"
"Kameron was my student, my responsibility, but I could not save him. I'll regret not going to that Peace Conference for the rest of my life, but I could not stop him from going. You, of all people, should know I couldn't stop him. He worked so hard for that Treaty. Not even the stars could keep him from going. Even though the chances of peace were slim, Kameron went anyhow. I understand...You wanted to rectify a past mistake but you have made the past repeat itself because of your own personal fear." Kamek said with a deep frown on his face. Kamella tried to wiggle and unbind herself angrily.
"Kamella, do you love your son?" Kamek questioned her with a serious expression. She stopped wiggling and gave him a scathing glare.
"More than a son of a bitch like you will ever understand," Kamella growled at him.
"Then don't they deserve a chance to have what you lost?" Kamek asked, motioning towards Bowser and Peach.
Kamella fought against the ropes harder, desperately trying to get free but soon gave up with an exasperated sigh. "…Fine. But if I die, I will make sure to bring you with me," Kamella growled. Kamek took a hold of her ropes and pulled her closer to the lifeless bodies.
"Toadsworth, we will need your help. It is risky and we may not make it back but…" Kamek asked.
"My duty is to protect the throne. What do I have to do?" Toadsworth answered with pride.
"Kamella and I are going to attach to your soul like a lifeline. Your job will be to search for Bowser and Peach. Once you find them, grab onto them with all your strength and we will pull you back. Kamella, Toadsworth, are you ready?" Kamek asked seriously. Both of them nodded and the three of them sat in a triangle around the bodies. As soon as Toadsworth closed his eyes, he felt himself falling.
Everything was crystal.