Chapter 34 The Water Star

Once again, Lilac found herself pacing back and forth in Plessie's Cave. It had only been five minute since Plessie had gone out to meet Dorrie, but dang, was it a stressful five minutes. Each second that passed took a sliver off of her soul; she even bit her nails. Would the advice be enough? Oh, please let the advice be enough.

"Lilac?"

Wow. Lilac had barely been cognisant of Wendy watching her. She turned toward the princess, feeling self conscious about this whole display.

"Sorry." She slowed down, coming to a stop both with pacing and with chewing on her nails. "Sorry…"

Wendy furrowed her brow and stood up. "Hey. It'll be okay. I'm sure you gave Plessie some good advice."

Lilac sighed. "That's the hope." She shook her head. "If it isn't…well, what can we do? How are we gonna get our hands on the star? It's not like we can just pluck it out of her hands and call it a day."

Wendy made a weird face, as if she was trying to hold back a barrage of giggles. "I don't know…" she snickered. "My family hasn't been too adverse to that in the past. And hey! What better way to rescue immoral people than to do immoral actions!"

Even with the laughter that conveyed the message of Wendy being tongue and cheek, Lilac still wasn't amused. She locked her gaze onto the water, watching for a ripple in the smooth surface. How long has it been now? Had another minute passed? Probably, but with how nervous Lilac was, the minute felt like a significantly long time interval. She felt like she was becoming wrinkled up, she had a hunch that seasons were passing up above the water. She hoped that things would hurry up. Not just for her sake, but also for the sake of Wendy's brothers. They could only survive in a dank, dark dungeon that belonged to an arch enemy for so long.

"Uggghhh…"

Lilac whipped around and saw Peppy and Stormy coming back around. She smiled; it was certainly nice to see them. Sure, the fact that they were awake and alert didn't change the fact that time was intentionally going as slow as possible, but it did make her happy. She and Wendy approached the girls as the rose to a sitting position.

"Wh…what happened?" Stormy asked, her tone groggy. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, her features noticeably seizing up when she saw that she was surrounded on all sides by rock walls. "Where are we?!"

Peppy didn't even waste time asking questions. She bolted to her feet, the star around her neck glowing as her fists burst into flames. "What is this place? Is this a monster's lair? I don't want to be in a monster's lair!"

Wendy giggled a little. "We aren't in a monster's lair, Peppy. Or, at least, not entirely."

Stormy blinked. "Not entirely?"

"No," said Lilac. She explained what was happening to the two of them. They were taken aback at first, especially at the description of Plessie, the monster who had ultimately knocked them out. When the story came to an end, however, they were both visibly excited. At least, a little bit.

"Well, it's good that we know where the water star is," Stormy said.

"Tell me about it!" Peppy said. She laughed, the enthusiasm she was famous for showing through her expression and body language. "And I'm sure you gave excellent advice, Lilac!" She went up and patted her friend on the back. "There's no reason to worry!"

Lilac bit her lip. "Just because there's no reason to worry isn't going to stop me from doing it." She pulled away from Peppy, looking back at the water. Five more minutes had passed, bringing the total up to eleven. She wished she could make time go faster somehow.

"Oh…" Stormy approached. "It'll be fine, Lilac. I'm sure it will be."

Lilac nodded, not taking her eyes off of the water. What if Plessie was getting laughed at? What if the advice was so bad that not only was Dorrie not choosing to befriend her, but Plessie was also swimming away in shame? That would be a problem, and not only because of the sacred star. They needed Plessie to work her magic in order for the girls to return to the surface, and therefore return to Professor Scale (oh man, he must be worrying about them; they'd been under the water for a long time now).

Blub blub.

Lilac blinked. She moved a little closer to the edge of the pool, keeping her eyes on it as bubbles appeared on the surface.

"Please please please," she uttered. Stormy, Peppy, and Wendy went right up to her side. They all experienced the breathless anticipation, and none of them took their eyes off the pool. When Plessie resurfaced, they didn't even blink as the water splashed and soaked them.

"Whoops!" Plessie said. "Sorry; I know saltwater can sting land people's eyes."

Stormy laughed. "A monster who's concerned about a person's general comfort." She wiped some water off her forehead. "Don't see that everyday!"

"Hey!" Plessie exclaimed. "I would prefer it if I'm not referred to as a 'monster.' That term's dehumanizing!" She grinned. "Giant ferocious sea beast is much more palatable."

Lilac nodded, not knowing how exactly to respond to that. "Well, anyway…" she looked into Plessie's eyes, feeling bot interested and nervous. "H…how did it go."

Plessie let out a breath. "Well…she wasn't exactly leaning down to kiss my flippers like I thought she would. But…she said she saw I was sincere, so she was willing to give me a chance."

Lilac blinked. "Wait…" she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "So…my advice…actually helped?"

"Yeah!" Plessie exclaimed, looking like an excited puppy. "I mean…like I said, Dorrie didn't bend down to worship me. But hey, that says more about her than it does about me or you!"

Peppy jumped up and down, all while keeping her hands on Lilac's shoulders. "You did it, Lilac!"

"Nice job," Wendy said.

"Yes," said Stormy, smiling as she did. "I'm proud of you."

Lilac grinned. She didn't believe this. Was this happening? Did she fall asleep and was dreaming this whole scenario up? Was she still unconscious? Man. Man oh man oh man.

"Well, I guess I might as well fulfill my end of the bargain." Plessie held the star at arms length, giving it to Lilac with a grin. "Here's your payment."

Lilac gawked. It was hers. The water sacred star was hers, ready to be controlled and ready to be used in the great mission to rescue the Koopalings. Somehow, those facts made the sapphire blue surface even more pretty to look at. Not even realizing what she was doing, she reached out to touch it…

And a flash of light filled the room. Everyone covered their eyes except for Lilac, who in all truthfulness kind of got the wind knocked out of her. She couldn't take her eyes off the sacred star as it rose out of Plessie's hands. It shrunk down to the size of a locket, and then clasped itself around Lilac's neck via a string that it formed around itself. Said string looked and felt a lot like a stream of water.

Lilac reached up, feeling the tiny trinket around her neck that would bless her with amazing powers. She cast Plessie a smile. "Thanks, Plessie."

"Of course!" Plessie laughed like a seal. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a new friend I need to get acquainted with!" She went deeper under the water, but before she left, she stopped herself. "Wait, if I want Dorrie to worship me, does that means she expects the same thing?" She thought about this before shrugging. "Eh. I'm sure I'll figure out the gist of this whole friendship thing sooner or later."

With that, she dived. Lilac turned back to her friends. Peppy looked like she was gonna explode into a glittery, giddy mess. "Ohhh, we're one step closer to completing our quest!" She jumped up and down. "I love it, love it, love it!"

Stormy stepped forward and examined the star. "It's certainly beautiful, Lilac." She looked into her friend's eyes. "How do you feel?"

Lilac thought about this. "How do I feel?" She shrugged. "Eh. Not much different honestly. I think I'm more relieved than anything."

"That's good," Wendy said. She took a step toward the water. "Well, we'd better return to the surface before Scale decides that we've drowned."

"How are we gonna do that?" asked Peppy. "I don't think we can hold our breath for that long."

Lilac, with a burst of inspiration, grinned at them. "I think I can take care of that." She put one hand on the star, and the other she outstretched toward the pool. Somehow, instinctually, she knew exactly what to do. She willed the bubbles to appear with her mind, and they engulfed all four of the girls' heads.

"Woah," said Stormy. "That's impressive." She chuckled. "I can't wait to get a sacred star of my own."

"Well, that's good!" Peppy said. "Thanks to the process of elimination, I think you're pretty much guaranteed to get the next one."

"Yep!" Wendy agreed. She waded into the water. "Now come on, guys! We need to get going with the next part of our quest."

The girls nodded and got into the water as well. As they swam away, Lilac kept her eyes focused on Stormy. She hoped they could find the next sacred star as easily as the last two…