Chapter 22-Plit's Darkness
It took a while for Soshi's brain to wrap around what Koujin had said. However, it became clearer as the Ice Lord twirled the Sentient Sapphire in front of Soshi's face, letting the light reflect off its facets and into Soshi's eyes. He never stood a chance. All the time searching had gone to waste. Koujin held the third piece of the treasure all along. Soshi tried to grab it from Koujin, but a sharp pain shot up his arm, through his shoulder and to his throat. Soshi choked off a groan, a side effect of the paralysis.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Koujin said, mocking remorse. "Is this what you want?" he taunted. "I'm sorry, Sky Yoshi, but I'm afraid I need this." He patted the Sapphire. "And you know something? While I'm at it, I will take these off your hands as well." Koujin held out his hand, which glowed a brilliant white. Soshi knew what he was doing, but the paralysis hadn't worn off yet, so all he could do was watch in horror as the Ice Lord magically pulled the Radiant Ruby and the Essence Emerald away from his hands. As Koujin grasped the two magical instruments, he chuckled maniacally. "At last. At last I possess the three pieces of the Legendary Treasure!" Koujin took Sgt. Strobel from her unmoving position on the ground, "If you want to see her again, you will surely try and stop me on the roof!" He created a black portal above him and floated up through the ceiling, laughing all the while, leaving Soshi unhurt, but unable to move.
Soshi's head turned toward the window. It was still raining sheets outside, only now there were flashes of purple-tinted lightning. That wasn't natural, Soshi thought. The moat around the castle was splashing against the window, though not strongly enough to break it. Yet. Soshi knew he had to stop Koujin now. This was his last chance. As the clouds gathered in a huge mass outside, Soshi blocked out all noise and just focused on himself. He closed his eyes, so he'd see nothing, hear nothing, and hopefully feel nothing. Soshi's hope was that this extreme state of relaxation could counter the paralysis. Just as the dragon was beginning to feel calm, a particularly big flash of lightning crackled across ch the sky followed by a thunderous roar. Soshi jumped the slightest bit, which caused a jolt of pain in his entire body.
"Calm yourself down." He told himself. "This is important. Deep breaths. In and out. In…and out…" Soshi began his meditation of sorts again. Normally he'd feel very silly, but now he felt no emotion. None at all. Not even pain. Soshi slowly began to regain the feel in his body, without the jolt of pain. First his neck, then his arms, followed by his wings. The feeling creeped back in him, as his legs and lastly, his claws became familiar to him once again.
When he was positive everything was in working order, Soshi opened his eyes. He felt a lot better. He flexed his muscles just to be sure. No pain. Soshi happily rejoiced for a second before he knew it was time to get serious. Soshi threw open the double doors on the second floor, and flew up the long spiral staircase to the roof. The closer he got, the heavier the air around him seemed to get. The dank air he knew was Koujin's doing, and didn't seem to care much. He only wanted to see Sgt. Strobel again and stop Koujin. Upon reaching the roof, Soshe arrived just in time to see the Ice Lord throw the high-ranking Koopa into the moat, which had overflowed and now completely surrounded Peach's Castle and its outlying lands. When Soshi flew over the edge into the open air, he could see the current was dragging her away, out to sea. The blue Sky Yoshi also noticed a second figure floating, clad in a full length pink dress.
"Peach!" Soshi yelled and immediately dove forward. A gut-wrenching pain in his stomach caught him dead in his tracks, however, and he was subsequently pulled back towards the castle, tumbling backwards on the ground as he landed.
"Ah ah ah…" Koujin scolded. "We mustn't go headfirst into something we know nothing of, should we?" Koujin's three weapons magically floated out of his cloak, and flew a few tens of feet above the pair. There, they hovered in a large triangle, before beaming down electric bolts that served as barriers to prevent anything from getting in or out. The weapons sealed up the opening at the top with electricity as well. Soshi, seeing this, turned all his attention toward Koujin, half-enraged, half-dumbfounded. "It is a new skill I have recently acquired. The three treasures make me all powerful, as I have told you, have I not?" the villain grinned under his cloak. "Looks like the only way you will be able to rescue the princess and that foolish Koopa is if you can get through me." Koujin's cloak began to glow and it emitted an aura of three colors, red, green and blue, one for each piece of the Legendary Treasure. Soshi blanched. The creep had somehow absorbed the powers of the treasures.
Koujin laughed darkly. "And believe me, Sky Dragon. That is by no means an easy task."