The chamber seemed to be exactly how he left it.

Within that assumption, Troy included the gaping hole in reality that was quickly sawed into its center. A bright corona flashed in the air brieftly before he put his fist through it. The dimensional wall broke into shards that powdered into the air as they left their near-perpetual rest. Troy calmly walked out, surveying his surroundings. Not a speck of dust remained in the foyer of Toad Town's castle and most of its surfaces gleamed in the moonlight, but the checkered floor was in the first steps of fracturing and was mildly denting inwards in several spots. The fortress had obviously gained a lot of foot traffic that both spurned the need to now clean it on a regular basis, and with great futility, keep the red carpet (and the ground beneath it) leading inwards in serviceable condition.

Troy thrust his chest out and exhaled a growl as he stretched. "I totally fell outside of the time cycle here didn't I... that's what I get for visiting a world with different lunar cycles every couple'a days..." Troy tasted the air while he rubbed his scalp. "Well, I was kinda nappy in the first place, I'll just slip into my old room and waste some time 'til everyone gets up."

Troy trudged through the castle's vacant hallways and chambers, at least halfway expecting to run into a surprised guard or retainer along the way. Strangely, neither seemed to populate the corridors. Along the way he passed through the dining room where long nights of planning were carried out with him, the Marios and Selphie offering what was, at the time, completely improper action plans.

"I wonder where those guys are." Troy sifted through the stacks and stacks of papers scattered along the table. They seemed to run the gamut of symbiote-related concerns - public relations, keyper indoctrination, defense budgeting. Of particular interest was a series of blueprints for the palace, buried under sticky notes highlighting various unintelligible attributes of one of the upstairs chambers. Troy turned the sheet about in his hands for several rotations before he placed it back where he found it. "Come to think of it, this whole room is a mess... I hope Plit's defense isn't getting too swamped."

He forced his stare away from the information long enough to leave the room and ascend one of the fanciful staircases to the third story. Like clockwork he dissected the hallways and steered himself towards the guest bedroom hallway. Hoisting another yawn into the air, he counted the doors down to his. "Just like riding a bike." He jiggled the ornate bronze doorknob. The door opened with the click of well-oiled machinery. As to be expected the door opened into pitch darkness, as the curtains were drawn. Troy grimaced as he fumbled through the darkness, eventually planting his hand down onto the poofy bed. He pried himself out of his shell, a pair of plain boxers flapping into plain view with a FOOMPH not unlike that of a parachute being deployed. He quietly slipped under the covers, adjusting himself with a series of grunts until all that remained outside of the covers was his head.

"...mmgh... mah... forgot how warm this bed was. I dunno why I didn't think one of these into Shambhala before." Troy fidgeted again. "...too warm actually."

His final attempt to roll inwards was enough to cause the blankets opposite him to shift. Troy squinted as light tore into his eyes. A hand had a firm deathgrip on the pullcord of a bedlamp. Another head finally rose from the depths of the blankets, and with a weary sigh, rolled over to face Troy.

Peach let out a shrill scream.

NSx: CHAptEr 12

ff1bovwelvsdfo36]=nkwe

DO vaSt DrEAm of SentIenT sHEep?

Random shrieking and the sound of a bedlamp exploding against a wall had been enough to attract the attention of a pair of heavily-armed mushroom guards outside. They stood with their polearms at the ready, behind a tired and mildly irritated Troy. He was seated back in the dining hall now, rubbing the throbbing, burning red hand implant on his face. Peach in her nightgown continued to pace back and forth nearby. She spun to face the three, causing them to jerk backwards and stumble to attention - more out of mortal fear than any royal etiquette.

"TROY!" Peach snarled furiously. "Where the hell have you BEEN? I vaguely remember somewhere in your mission statement of romping with Auron that you were going to be back at some point?

Troy fiddled with his fingers. "Yeah, at some point."

"It's been three and a half months since you walked out that door... do you think you can just... just..." Peach trailed off as she slumped into a seat halfway down the table. "...I'm-I'm sorry. Things are a little stressful around here these days. It's not as whimsic... that's a bad choice of word. It's just... everything in general, things aren't as simple as you and Auron make them seem..."

"That's an understatement." Troy gazed back at the swaying towers of documents.

"I shouldn't antagonize you." Peach rubbed her forehead for a moment before waving her hands at Troy again. "I mean!-that's not what I meant. I just... there's a lot of people here, both in the Mushroom and Koopa kingdoms that are concerned about your whereabouts. I'm sure you, and I, and them, and well, everyone in general would be a lot more comfortable knowing what you're doing out there. Many people still think that you are the ultimate authority as far as what's been going on since Sirius came to us, and, well, I'm sure you still are."

"Well, there's certain details that are classified but I'll try to answer as best I can."

Peach grunted as she hoisted a small lamp and placed it on the edge of the table between the two. With a motion of her now-free arm, the two guards nodded and departed silently from the hall. With Troy and Peach alone, idle chatter turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Troy spent as much time explaining the countless alien lifeforms, bizarre technologies and worldly customs that were either lightyears beyond (or behind) what Plit had to offer as he did his encounters with the Heartless and Vast. Peach leaned forward with wide, now-bloodshot eyes as a bardlike Troy excitedly waved his arms and described them all, finishing with a sweeping description of Shambhala.

"You mean..." Peach tilted her head. "You just THINK of something, and poof, it's there?"

"Pretty much," Troy sat with his crossed legs resting on the table. "I have a second buggy now. Exactly same as the first. It's just sitting there parked in my room. OH! Oh. There's one other thing I forgot." Troy righted himself and shifted himself closer to Peach. "...you'll never believe this. There's this freaky machine that I ran into on my very first mission. It is just WACK."

"Go on." Peach slurred excitedly.

"It's this big-ass hollow metal box, with a tank and pipeline that cycles this weird juice through the back. Apparently, if you keep supplying the pump system with energy, it does this wicked chemical reaction that keeps the inside cool perpetually!" Troy sat up, proudly stating the last. "Where I went they used it to store food!"

"A refrigerator." Peach said flatly.

Troy opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent. "...a what?"

"...Troy, WE have refrigerators. WE use them to store food."

An awkward silence reached out and slapped Troy across the face.

"...well okay then, you have a refrigerator."

"Yeah, yeah, okay then." Peach glanced away, putting her arms up in an attempt to quiet Troy. "...what you were saying about classified information earlier... what does that entail?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be very classified."

"I mean, what do you do in this... Shambhala? You obviously have a reason to leave and visit places across the galaxy. What does the Covenant about the Heartless and Vast?"

"I'm not at liberty to say where Auron ultimately wants to go, but as for our day to day operations... we do what he did when he came here, basically. It's our job to visit advanced or developed worlds and pass on the information gathered by both Organization XIII and the Covenant itself as far as the Heartless and Vast go, and arm them with educations about both them and the keyblades such that they can defend themselves. As some of my more annoying coworkers put it, we're diplomats first and superheroes second."

Peach smirked, stifling back a chuckle. "You sound just like Auron did."

"You think so? Then I'm doing a good job then."

"After listening to everything you've just said, I think..." Peach sighed. "You must be having some spectactular adventures out there."

Troy had already lost his attention, and was instead watching the sun rise through the banquet hall windows as he picked his nose. "I haven't done anything REALLY death-defying, beyond a battle with a space-station-devouring Heartless hive in the Cornerian system after I first joined, it's been Heartless here, Heartless there, gruntwork, information seminars, some more menial Heartless in someone's sludge plant so to speak, the occasional outright false alarm. Ultimately though, I've seen some inspirational things happen. And you know what? I'm not on an endless tour of duty or stranded at the ass-end of the universe either, I'm free to travel as I please when I'm on call. In the end, this is a job I could live with."

Peach stared wistfully into space.

"...is something wrong?"

Peach shook her head. "...no, it's just that you're here, telling me about all these fantastic voyages you've been on..." Peach slowly rose to her feet, striding towards one of the great panes of glass that separated them from the burning sun as it ate its way up through the horizon. "Ever since I was a little girl, I tore apart every book and tome in our great libraries. I wanted real adventure. Though it might sound selfish, when the Heartless and Vast started duking it out on Plit, I was genuinely excited for the first time in my life. THAT was a burning confirmation that there was life out there, that there was something out there worth exploring and it was just waiting for me to reach out and touch. Again when the Marios and Selphie came to us, and once more when I was given the Invincible. But..."

"What?"

Troy felt himself shudder as Peach stared back at him with hollow blue eyes. "Nothing changed. I folded my arms, I grunted and barked orders to those around me, in the end we contained the Heartless and we still do to this day, but personally? I haven't moved an inch. I'm just a bureaucrat, just like I was, just like I'll continue to be."

"Well hey!" Troy stood up. "Why don't you make a big 'ol death squad like Bowser did and run it yourself? That'll get you out of the palace!"

"I can't, Troy..." Peach pivoted away once more. "The Koopa Troop may be okay with putting their #1 in charge on the battlefield, but the retainerhood, and more importantly, the people of the Mushroom Kingdom, they would never let me stay out of sight for too long."

"Bah! You're not #1!... I mean, not THE number one, I... oh hell you know what I mean," Troy slammed his palms down on the table. "Do what you did before, throw on the jeans and t-shirt and be that free-spirited protector of the people that you wanted to be when you first picked up that keyblade! Hey, actually, I'll go as far as talk to Auron, I'm sure that I could put in a good word and maybe you can come on one of those fantastic voyages sometime!"

There was another eerie silence. Peach continued to gaze lifelessly at the ground. She gave an empty snicker as her shoulders bobbed involuntarily. "...that's the problem, Troy. I AM #1."

"Ha!" Troy jumped to his feet, slapping his hands together. "That's the spirit. Now, just lem-" Troy was interrupted by a low, accelerating sob. "...Peach?"

The twos' eyes met again.

"My father's dead."

It was stereotypically rainy when the funeral was actually held, three days after Troy had made his reappearance. Troy knew the jolly old man from the time that he had spent residing within the castle, bumbling around and taking care of the most menial of political tasks within the Kingdom. His oversized yellow-trimmed burgundy coat (even for his frame) would fly all over the place as he walked. It was a contrast to the ornate night-black mushroom-cap that was always strapped snugly onto his head, dotted with ametrines and topped with a ring of polished gold trim. In retrospect, it had actually been Peach that worked with Auron (for a while, Sirius) the closest. Making the necessary adjustments to the Kingdom's budget and manpower allocations as far as the whole symbiote business was concerned had been no easy task. At the same time though, the king had diligently handled everything else. It was as if he had wanted her to take apprenticeship at his side - to be his heir - and the Heartless, Vast, Heihachi and Illidan... they were merely the best inconvenience he could have asked for as far as maturing the princess.

A conglomerate of 200-strong stood a mile away from the castle in a cemetery that was regularly shielded from public eyes by a thick grove, such that even Wooster didn't know it had existed.

"The liege perished six days before your arrival," Wooster whispered to Troy. The two were sandwiched in the middle of the crowd. In Troy's case he was up to his breast in mushroom folk, but Wooster was nose-deep. "Confirmed to be cardiac-based natural causes in relation to old age. It was still quite out of the blue however."

Troy's head wavered. "Ugh... I'm not going to try to seek out Peach in this situation, she's probably at her breaking point here and I'm not quite a master of sensitive speech."

"I believed you were a master of inspiration, as apparently everyone else in the Mushroom and Koopa media touts you?"

"This is different." Troy said with a coldness that made even Wooster shrink back. "...this is different."

"I will avoid bringing that up in the future."

"Appreciate it." Troy mumbled emotionlessly.

Time came and went.

"Troy?" Troy's attention turned to the voice in the crowd. Mario, Luigi and Selphie sorted themselves out of the crowd as it began to disperse and last rites were being read. The former were in black and white dress clothes and Selphie was buried in a black gown and veil. Troy realized why he'd barely recognized the voice - Selphie's perpetually chipper attitude had been gutted and she was obviously tilting towards melancholy as she spoke. Selphie half-smiled as she fruitlessly tried to wipe moisture off her dress. "...not quite the grand welcome we were hoping for, huh?"

"I'm sorry for everyone's loss," Troy tried to avoid eye contact with the three. "I was intending on hanging around for a bit, but... it would be unbelievably awkward for you and I. I spent all last night saying things to Peach that were especially insensitive, given that I didn't know about what had happened until she poured out to me. Either way, it's good to see you all again, hopefully the next time we meet it'll be under better circumstances."

"I understand our pensiveness as far as talking about Peach," Wooster muttered under his breath. "But the fact of the matter is, we DO have more than one crisis on our hands."

The four retreated to the banquet hall, all seated near the head. The piles of papers were all stacked neatly against the windows, which was the only thing protecting them as the rain outside beat harder and harder against the panes of streak-free glass.

"Just like old times." Troy mumbled. He turned his gaze to the head chair where Peach once sat during their brainstorming sessions. It was now occupied by Wooster.

"Troy, Selphie... Luigi, Mario, as head retainer of the Toadstool family I would like to voice my concerns about the long-term impact of the king's death."

"You mean you want our help?" Troy sighed.

Wooster shook his head sadly. "I would have said so if I had any certainty that you four carried the solution. The fact of the matter is this - currently the Mushroom Kingdom in its entirety is without a monarch. The Mushroom Kingdom is - or was, depending on your outlook - a diplomatic monarchy. The government could, in theory, function indeterminately like this. At the same time however, it is mandatory that the nation have a figurehead to act as an icon of solidarity. Otherwise... the Mushroom Kingdom would eventually be perceived as weak from within. The keyper movement could likely slow down... in the worst case scenario, we'd be subject to a potential coup d'etat."

"After all this work..." Mario twirled his moustache. "It'd be a real spanner in the sewer if either the Koopa or Birabuto kingdoms turned on us."

"Are you people serious?" Troy coughed. "Are you this insecure with the Koopa and Birabuto kingdoms? What's the point of putting them at the top of the list?"

Luigi sat slumped over the table. "Troy's sorta right, bro... you, I, Auron, Nightmare, all those clowns that kept rushing us for the Chronicle. I think we oughta be more concerned about those guys accidently dismantling things. Hey, don't take this as the gospel truth, but there could even be someone plotting from within. I mean, Bowser had to deal with one of those creeps a few months ago right?"

"Who's got that kinda power?" Selphie huffed.

"Calm down, please, calm down," Wooster waved his arms about as the others quickly silenced. "It wasn't my intent to set any of you off with that comment. Perhaps I'm worrying about this too much. The fact of the matter is, well, we do have a heir to the throne. The problem is, it's his only blood connection - Peach. I envisioned Peach eventually rising to fill that tier of power, but being forced into it so early and suddenly, especially without warning from the king to her... she has far too little experience in the matter and the Kingdom's loss has left her mentally unstable for the time being. That considered, the more we try to force the responsibility upon her, the worse it will be both for her and the monarchy."

"What about Daisy?" Troy interjected.

"She's got her OWN kingdom to run, Troy." Selphie grumbled.

"Doesn't Peach have any other relatives?"

"That was the first route I examined," Wooster passed Troy another ragged parchment. "Her mother abandoned the Mushroom Kingdom several months into Princess Toadstool's childhood according to royal records. To be honest I had never even realized it until I investigated the archives myself. Beyond that, nothing on record."

Troy gingerly took the sheet from Wooster's hand. It was desecrated beyond repair, with only the bleeding ink that described her most basic of physical attributes intact above the clay royal seal of the Mushroom Kingdom. There had once been a picture inserted into several indentations in the paper, but it had smudged dry of ink and been gnawed apart by decay and vermin long ago. Troy stared distastefully at the blob that represented half of a head as he returned it to Wooster. "How long has this kingdom been going and this is the only proof of existence you have of a royal family member?"

"I've only worked here for 12 years. If you must ask it was hard work and diligence that got me to head retainer within that time frame, but that is besides the point. Do not take this as the unmarred truth obviously, but there is an old urban legend that the king was much more physically fit at one point, and a marital conflict over his appearance caused her to flee the palace with some of the most valuable items from the treasury. In addition, she removed or otherwise damaged all of her family registration and identification kept by the palace. This is the last document existing of its type. The king kept it in a small vault in his bedroom. He may or may not have done unsavory things with the photo."

"Well that doesn't do us any good," Troy threw his arms up in disgust. "As much as my interest peaked there, if she'd be the kind to dump Peach here and loot the place of all things then she'd do no good for anyone as a ruler."

"This is going nowhere." Mario said dully.

"This isn't a problem that will be solved merely by us five's presumptions and arguments," Wooster slowly rose to his feet with his hands at the table, leaning forward. "Again, Troy, I apologize again for what you had to walk into here... but while you remain here, please make yourself at home. Undoubtedly you four have a lot of catching up to do. I'll be with the other retainers caring to and cleaning up after the funeral service. Please don't hesitate to come to me if you have any concerns." Wooster nodded to the left and right, and made his way away from the table.

"Oh, one more thing," Troy blurted. "Why is Peach sleeping in my bed?"

Mario visibly choked on his saliva. Luigi gave his back several solid slaps.

"She abandoned her room a couple days after the incident. She states that she isn't alone and hears voices when she tries to sleep in her own bed."

"Mm?" Troy hummed.

Wooster shook his head. "That's all I've heard. If you wish to investigate I'll provide you the master key, but you didn't hear that from me."

After receiving confirmation that Peach had retired to her room for the night, the remaining four navigated back through the castle and ascended into the guest bedroom hall. The corridor was pitch black, pierced only by a penlight Troy held to the side of his head as he lead the queue. The group crept past what used to be Troy's room and made their way to the intersection up ahead, which turned both ways into the royal quarters.

"You sure we should be doing this?" Luigi tried to pass a murmur up the line. "I know Wooster gave us the go-ahead, but something about this doesn't seem totally right..."

"Well, yeah, that's the whole point," Troy mumbled back. "Something about this doesn't seem totally right? All the more reason to stick our snouts into it." The group slowed to a halt and pivoted to the right. A simply-built door sat on the left at the end of the T-shaped hall with a small window perpendicular to it, creating a long shaft of moonlight that lit the rest of the way. The door in front of them, on the other hand, carried no defining characteristics. Troy waited for a reaction from the other three. With a nod of approval, Troy moved forward and jammed the key into the doorknob's slot. It swiveled with a crisp click, beckoning Troy's hand to it. He planted it firmly on the bulb of brass, and with a deep breath, turned it. It jiggled lifelessly in his hand. "...eh? Is this broken? I wonder what ha-"

Troy growled to himself, realizing what was happening. He spun around, finding Ederick where his companions once stood. "I can't let you open that door, Troy."

"Oh really, never considered you to be the sensitive type," Troy sneered. "Will you stop it with your spook show here and find a synapse of mine to hide in while I take care of personal business?" Troy lurched back as Ederick leapt forward and snapped up Troy's wrist in a deathgrip. "The hell?! I said, go AWAY!!" Troy quickly wrested back control of his arm, shoving Ederick into the wall.

"You can't do that!!" Ederick bellowed, jumping back forward.

"Troy!" Selphie squeaked.

Troy shook in place for a moment. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he looked around in confusion. Ederick was gone. Selphie, Mario and Luigi were giving him concerned stares.

"You alright dude?" Mario said quizzically. "You were just sitting there shaking the doorknob for 10 seconds solid."

"Huh? I, uh-whm..." Troy blinked, giving his head one final lash. "...sorry, I've had like 5 hours of sleep since I got here."

"We didn't have to do this tonight you know." Selphie whispered.

Troy jerked the handle once more in response and it let out a dull clunk. The door swung open and the group charged through as their concern for subtlety washed away. Once more however, they all lurched to a halt as Troy and Luigi drew their keyblades in one smooth, lightning-fast motion. The princess's room had downright spartan compared to what the four expected - a traditional pillowy royal bed with its own ceiling and cloth drapes, a tall dresser, and a simple desk and chair on the opposite wall surrounded by stacks of books and tomes. That was not what caught the attention of the invaders, however. Rather, a large orb hovered in the air in front of the room's patio access, a couple of feet in diameter and pulsing with a purple light that lit the room like day. The patio door itself was wide open and a cool breeze poured in that made the curtains shift about eerily in the background.

"T-that's unreal." Troy gaped.

"What?" Mario found himself shouting back. "What is it?"

Troy's arms weakened and he found the Chronicle slumping to his sides. "...that's the most pure deposit of Vast I've laid my eyes on."

"Are you associates of Princess Toadstool?" a neutral, butler-like voice said firmly.

The gaggle jumped in surprise, immediately turning to each other to determine where the voice had come from. Seeing no other possible explanation for it, they all turned their frightened stares back to the sphere.

"Are you associates of Princess Toadstool?" the voice repeated monotonously.

Troy took a deep breath before replying. "Did you say that?"

"Are you associates of Princess Toadstool?" the hollow voice asked a third time.

"Y-yes, we are associates of Princess Toadstool."

"Very well," the voice droned. "I will believe you. You did possess the master key, so I assume you to be affiliated with this establishment. Please, lower your keyblades. I am not here to harm anyone. Would you be so kind as to introduce yourselves?"

"Troy."

"Selphie." Selphie spoke in a way that purged her sudden fear.

"Mario."

"Luigi."

"Thank you. I am afraid I do not possess a name as Nobodies and those with hearts often attribute to one another, so for future reference you may entitle me as you please. Once you establish amongst yourselves a standard of communication I will continue."

"Bob." Selphie blurted. Mario slapped his hand over top of her mouth.

"Bob. I will keep that nomenclature on file for my stay here," Bob hummed. "Now, you are all visibly confused and/or frightened at my presence, and as I am in the presence of keypers, you have likely had unsavory contact with what you would term 'primal' Vast. Again I would like to affirm you all that I am not here to inflict any harm on the Nobodies of this world, and I hope to dispel any lingering concerns by answering any questions you might have."

"Why'd you go and do that?" Mario hissed.

Selphie shrugged. "It's cute."

"I'm assuming you're that haunting voice that made Peach sleep in my bed." Troy said dully.

"Do you just like saying that Peach slept in your bed?" Mario grumbled.

"I'm taking those sheets with me when I'm done." Troy shot back. "Anyways, uh, Bob... can I ask what's making you hang out in Peach's room? She might be freaked out by your presence, but the reason we're all concerned is that we've been told that the Vast overwrites Nobodies with new hearts when they come in contact with each other. This supposedly craps all over any consciousness, memory, etc. that the Nobody had in the process of resetting them. This isn't the greatest sensation from what I understand."

"...hmm, troublesome," Bob's tone lowered. "As I mentioned earlier, this is a primitive mechanism of primal symbiotic Vast, and it is carrying out its most basic function, which is as you described, the creation and dispensing of hearts."

"I've ran into a primal Nobody before, and it was trying to assimilate me into its status as a white blob of Nobody... ness, so this is sort of the same thing?"

"That would be correct. It wished to create a hive mind with you so to speak. That is what Nobodies are - the manifestation of the mind. The Vast was attempting to do the same by adding a heart to you."

"And you're just approving this?" Troy snorted.

"No. I am a heightened evolution of Vast, just as you and the inhabitants of the worlds around you are evolved Nobodies with free will and physical bodies to call your own. I carry out my mission with prudence, in the same way that you live your lives beyond the barbaric demands of a primal Nobody. I do provide hearts, but only to augment existing Nobodies that possess the integrity and willpower to accommodate them - that is, to create hearts that integrate themselves with the existing Nobody to upgrade it to the point of being able to experience the utter extremes of emotion. That being said, I am in a better position to explain my presence here today. I believe that this Peach you speak of is on the verge of being able to comprehend true sadness and happiness. A heart is the final step in the matter. She is very likely able to be repaired."

Did Ederick not want me to hear this? Troy's mind ticked and his chest beat from within. "Why Peach?"

"This Peach has recently experienced an event that created an explosion of these borderline emotions... but not simply one; sadness, loss, regret, inner contemplation, but most importantly despair. She did not simply express an impact from it, but a chain reaction of emotions that lead me to believe that she is reflecting upon this and the impact this has on all facets of her existence. This is the path to true sadness."

Troy's keyblade flashed out. "Peach lost a loved one! So what are you trying to do, amplify all this?! If that's what having a heart is then I don't want any part of it!"

"Calm down, Troy!" Luigi jerked Troy back by his free arm.

"I understand your stance, Troy," Bob murmured. "It is the initial response of the uneducated if an instance of true sadness arises. As sentient beings we wish to enjoy our lives unimpeded, and will fight back against instances or entities that threaten it. What Peach is experiencing, however, is not a simple loss of an enjoyed facet of life. It is beginning to shake her to the core - all her personal traits, life decisions, misplaced statements... everything. She will remain unstable unless she is able to plumb the depths of true sadness and eventually place herself above it. That is what she requires a heart for. Should she overcome the true sadness, she will become a better person for it, and her spiritual resilience will increase exponentially. She will love life, and she will relish the other things surrounding her. As a heart is required to truly see despair and sorrow in things, it will also grant you this boundless joy - true happiness. The awakening can occur in the other direction of course, with an explosion of positive emotion, but both extremes are ultimately unavoidable."

Troy stumbled backwards. "...this... this is a lot to digest. I still don't understand, though... why Peach? People live and die all the time, what brought you here?"

"It is as I said," Bob replied. "Her regret is not simply losing a desired object or friend, it is affecting her perception of herself and everything she has done."

Selphie raised her hand. "I think I kinda understand."

"You do?" Troy spun around.

"Welllllll, Peach's father died, and that would be enough to make anyone sad. But he died with Peach not anywhere near proper leadership of the Kingdom. She's probably freaking out now, not only regretting her lack of connection with her dad, but also wracked with guilt that she presumably never made her dad proud in a tangible way, shape or form - which means that, like Bob says, she's grilling herself on everything she's done so far, all the choices she's made regarding her involvement in her royal lineage and whatever. This 'true sadness' is the center of the matter where she's gotta face up to herself and decide where to go and what to do about it, or otherwise find the truth."

"That is correct." Bob replied.

Troy shook his head. "How did you even get that... well, anyways, Bob. Let's say we let you have your way and and you do your business with Peach. What'll happen? Give me the straight facts."

"Her depression will either heighten drastically, or she will begin to comprehend the true gravity of the situation and rise up to combat it. I cannot provide a guarantee as to what will happen. Everything will be up to her willpower... and her friends'. That she is able to properly control and wield a keyblade, that does say something about her character."

"This isn't a decision we can make. Not without Peach's consent."

"What are we supposed to tell her though?" Mario sighed. "That we're going to give her some happy/sad drugs, and that we don't know which way it'll go? And you know the origin of this whole situation anyways, she's already scared of this thing, hanging around and whispering into her ear when she's sleeping and whatnot."

"A whole new set of ethical problems," Troy said wistfully. "I don't think we're going to solve this puzzle off the bat either. Let's all just take a step back and meet tomorrow so we can talk about this some more. I'm gonna chat with Selphie for a bit before I find somewhere to pass out, bros, can we have some privacy? We're not doing anything behind your backs regarding Peach, don't worry."

"That's probably the best thing we can do right now," Luigi yawned. "We all need to do some ruminatin'. We'll catch up with you in the morning, Troy. Don't do anything we wouldn't."

The throne room doors slowly creaked open, being propelled slowly but surely by Peach's arms. The process seemed like an eternity to her, and her arms became progressively sore as the simple action carried out. Finally the giant gate's momentum was sufficient for her to let go. The painful squeal of its unusually-decrepit hinges slow disappeared into the air long after the doors stopped moving. She increased her stride forward as the sight of her flabby father lazing about on the throne returned the vigor to her bones. "...oh, dad... it's been a while since I last saw you. Are you alright? Maybe I can mix you up one of your favorite shakes? Or maybe you wanna check in with the retainers... I can go find Wooster and get an update, set up a meeting; if it's about the Koopahari sludge shipment I can probably get a hold of Bowser, I imag-"

The king weakly shook his head. "That won't do at all."

"What will, then?" Peach beamed. "What is it that you desire? I'll be behind you one hundred percent."

A cold, calculated chuckle was the response. "That's a lie."

"Ge-hehh?!"

What Peach once envisioned as a flabby arm snapped a tall, empty glass from the armrest of the chair and hurled it at her. It was not a mere throw, rather the goblet turned into a missile that skimmed her head by mere inches. It impacted against the side of the opened chamber door, exploding into tiny shards with a resonating, migraine-inducing ring that sent Peach to her knees. She emitted several grunts of agony as she clasped her ears shut the best she could. As she writhed, she paid little attention to the stumpy figure removing itself from its seat on the far side of the room and slowly lumbering towards her. A hand shot out and clasped itself firmly around a clump of her hair, dragging her up limply onto her toes with a shriek.

Peach looked up, biting her lip as she stared into her father's eyes - a father that had inexplicably doubled in height during its transformation into a strengthened, masculine form that stared at her with a darkened, contoured face of disgust. Any examination was put on hold as she found herself being violently jolted along with his resuming speech.

The mutated king's voice slowly began to settle into a deep reverb as he spoke. "...I thought I was doing a good thing, dear. I gave you freedom in your life, I raised you, pampered you, taught you how to live to the best yet at the same time rise up to responsibility when people around you were in danger... when the keypers arrived, for a while I thought everything had fallen into place as you leapt into action. At the same time hower, you harbored a desire to abandon them all for your own selfish desires, to gallivant across the cosmos and merely explore like some deprived child at a new playground. What about your old friends? Your caretakers? Your subjects?!" the voice reached a powerful rumble that shook the whole room. "WHAT ABOUT ME?!?"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry s-s-sorry!!" Peach tried to shake herself free with little luck. Her bawling heightened in pitch, reverse of what she was getting bombarded by, until it was illegible to even herself. Finally the vice-like grip on her hair vanished and she crashed to the ground, no longer able to remain upright. The tears kept coming as the shifting beast over her continued to loom.

"YOU ARE A WASTE!!!"

"GAHHKKK-" Peach lurched upwards from a lying-down position with nearly enough force to throw herself over the footboard of the bed. She looked around frantically as her lungs sucked air and expelled it with painful force. Peach found herself back in her darkened guest bedroom, with only a faint sliver of moonlight weaving between the closed curtains letting her piece her orientation together. She clutched her heart as her breathing began to slow, and eventually collapsed back into the mattress with shivers taking over her body. Feeling the nightmare begin to subside, she rolled her head over to find Wooster kneeling down at the bedside. "...Woos-" her first slur was interrupted by a cough.

"Your usual snoring turned into yelling," Wooster said sadly. "I got in here and you were spasming. I deeply apologize for forcing myself upon you in this candid state, but-"

"...it's okay." Peach groaned. She began to relax into her pillow once more, but suddenly jerked her head back up. She lifted up the covers, making sure Wooster wasn't within eyeshot of the gap, and collapsed again in embarrassed disgust.

"You soiled yourself. Quite explosively, I might add. Are you still in your gown?"

"...yes." Peach's face glowed red as it slowly sunk under the covers.

"I'll help you over to another guest bedroom for the rest of the night. I will clean up here for tomorrow." Wooster grunted under the weight of the taller human, but eventually he propped her up and they began to waddle out of the room and down the hall.

"...Wooster."

"Yes?"

"...I'm sorry. For everything."

"Nothing you do right now is inexcusable, your highness."

Peach resumed her frown, but stabilized.

The hours ticked by, and the sun would eventually rise and pass over the Kingdom once more. Troy once more got to experience royal dining. Selphie, Mario and Luigi were already sick of it at this point. That aside, it was difficult for any of them to actually taste anything as their minds raced over both Peach and Bob's words. Wooster was filling out retainer-based documents further down the banquet table as usual.

"You said she had a nightmare?" Selphie finally coughed out.

"I arranged a medical examination for this morning," Wooster tried his hardest to maintain a monotone expression. "Peach did have a nightmare, but she also had a bout of night terror that started partway through. She's extremely shaken up... she's just fine physically, but she's in an even more reclusive state."

Troy fidgeted with his fingers.

"Hey." Mario whispered to Selphie.

"What's up?"

"I know that we've been in an uncomfortable position for a while now, but I don't think we should let Troy and Peach get eye contact with each other. I think if any of us actually saw her current state, Troy would be the first to snap and either say something awkward, or worse, get Bob to trigger this true sadness crap. We still don't know what result that would have with Peach."

"I get what you mean," Selphie sighed dejectedly. "At the same time though, what are WE doing? Peach is just in some barren room of the castle drying her eyes. We can't just leave her like that forever."

"What do you suggest?"

"If she's worried about her father's disapproval, then we just gotta..." Selphie leant in further to Mario's ear.

"...you sure about that? Could we even get away with something like that? I mean, the whole incident was-" he and Selphie quickly straightened themselves with their chairs clattering as they detected Troy's evil eye.

"Mario." Troy said flatly, maintaining a stony stare.

"...yes?"

"You gonna eat that?" Troy gestured with a fork at the pair of raspberry-adorned pancakes in front of Mario. Mario rolled his eyes and pushed the plate towards Troy, granting him a few more seconds of grace.

"He doesn't look too concerned about it." Mario muttered under his breath at Selphie.

"If he weren't feeling anything he would have just taken the pancakes." Selphie chuckled.

"True."

As Troy noisily scarfed down the remaining pancakes, the chamber doors swung limply open again. A pair of blue-dotted mushroom retainers marched to the empty front of the desk and stood at attention. Wooster set down his pen and looked to the two. "Yes?"

"Head retainer, there is a man at the front gates requesting Troy's presence immediately. He will not reveal his concerns to us."

Troy pushed himself up from the table with the clatter of cutlery. "Auron said he was going to leave me alone for a bit... I'd better step out for a bit and see what he wants. Can't he tell from looking at things that we have a situation on our hands..." Troy toppled his chair as he forced himself away from it, storming off between the two messenger retainers. With a grunt he slammed both doors behind him. More noises of disapproval would be generated on top of that he began to make his way through the sunlit hallways to the main door. He marched on through to the castle's lobby, slowing as he noticed an abnormal lack of traffic coursing through it. "...weird, the retainers are usually trying to buff and polish every square inch of this place and failing miserably. I wonder wh-"

Troy lurched to a halt as he set foot in the room proper. He shook his head, clearing a sudden congestion in his sinuses. "...whoa, that's weird... it's like this room's got a totally different air pressure than the rest of the castle. When I get outside I-" Troy's wind was suddenly knocked out of him as a shockwave blasted him from behind. The force launched him into the wall above the main entrance, deforming it with a sickening crunch before letting Troy fall back to the floor. Troy shuddered as he climbed back onto all fours, spitting out paint chips. "What... t-the HELL?!" Troy squawked again as he felt himself getting moved upwards onto his feet against his will. But he wasn't merely getting pulled around by the mysterious force - his limbs were being pushed into place and kept still with inward-pressing force. Grunting and trying to resist the phenomenon, he watched as a tall, scraggy figure moved forward from behind the left door of the inner sanctum, flashing an unearthly grin to his prey.

"WELL!" Lantz threw his arms up with a scoff. "That wasn't so hard. Belphegor tried to do things the intellectual way, but what do I see," Lantz stabbed a bony finger at Troy. "It turns out you can't even watch your back long enough to avoid getting jumped from behind an OPEN door! You're not very good at this."

"Who the hell are you?" Troy snarled. "And what the crap is a Belphegger?"

Lantz slouched back, giving his chin an exaggerated rub. His arrogant drawl turned into a sarcastic sing-song. "From what I hear it was a tourist in this parts not too long ago. Everyone gave it a friendly moniker of Sirius. Fits the thing, it's always got to overblow all its hair-brained when-in-Rome schemes. I mean, as far as getting the Chronicle it never got as far as punching you in the gut, or any of its cronies for that matter, so that's 1 me 0 Bel!" Lantz threw his head and let out a crazed guffaw. "HAHAHAHAH!! HAHA!! Wow! See, simple is good!"

"Nepenthes!!" Troy scowled.

Lantz flapped his finger at Troy. "See, there's another thing. When you take too long doing these sorts of things your concentration and planning starts to conflict with itself and things start to slip. I wish Belphegor wouldn't let its gums flap like that and say things like 'this is the secret organization I'm part of durr hurr' but what can I do about it?"

Troy grimaced. "You have a lot of guts, coming back for the Chronicle after this length of time. In minutes, if not seconds, when someone sees what's going on here, every registered keyper of the Kingdom is going to swarm down like flies onto the turd that you are."

"Well, see Troy, if I may call you that, that's not going to happen," Lantz tilted his shades. "'cause I'm Lantz the Pusher. I push around whatever the hell I see fit, whether that's your head up your ass, or the air inwards in a given radius to simulate dense physical walls, and most visible light back the way it came to simulate diffusion so no one can tell what's going on. They'll certainly not want to walk through if they value their lives any, but figuring out what's actually goin' on is beyond the scope of their wee deformed fungus heads."

"That's what happened to my head..." Troy grumbled to himself. "And why I didn't see anyone. He made an entrance for me and I walked right into it."

"Well, let's get down to business. You summon the Chronicle and drop it, say, right here. Then I won't pulverize you. Actually I'll probably pulverize you anyways but you'll have a fleeting moment where you believe mercy is coming. Whoops, spoiled it. Heh, when Belphegor got back to us all it could do was ramble on and on about how you were some kinda evolved reincarnation of some fairy-tale hero."

"Ederick." Troy spat.

Time flashed to a colorless halt. Ederick hovered in the air alongside Troy, his fists being the only part clenched still while he shook in rage. "Fairy tale?! This bastard doesn't know a fucking inkling of what the Chronicle could do! I'll carve every last drop of blood out of him before he gets the first syllable of whatever half-assed insult he-"

"Don't pull the crap you did at Giygas," Troy growled back. "You heard what he said! There could be people streaming through this room that you could be cleaving through left and right, and you wouldn't know the difference 'til the end!"

"So what's YOUR bright idea?" Ederick snapped. A bright white gap in space appeared in front of where Troy hung, dropping the Chronicle to the ground. Ederick's eyes went wide in shock as the weapon clattered to a stop on the floor and Lantz jogged over. His ragged leather boot slipped into the hilt, a jerk of his knee effortlessly flipping it into the air. He swiped it back to himself, snorting as he chuckled.

"There you go sir, no huss no fuss," Troy said calmly. "Now are you going to put me down?"

"...WHAT THE HELL?!" Ederick shrieked. ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Nice," Lantz turned the weapon about in his hands, trying to force a gleam off it. "To tell you the truth I still can't tell what the leader thinks is so great about this thing, but whatever gets me in his favor I guess. As for you... I was at least expecting some kinda fight, any little shred of trouble out of you. But you really ARE a pathetic little reptile. Just die." Lantz raised his opposite hand up, thrusting out his palm at Troy.

"Well you can tell Belphegor this." Troy smirked.

Lantz let his arm waver. "Hm-GRAAAGGHH!!!" Lantz reeled forwards as a dozen six-inch-long spikes sprung out from around the hilt of the keyblade, impaling through various regions of Lantz's closed fist and keeping it locked in place. His face twisted in rage as he bared his jagged canines at Troy. "You little BITCH!!" Lantz tried his best to shirk the burning pain as Troy dropped back down onto his feet.

"I work for a higher power now, and I've got... a tad bit more experience under my belt. Also I'm a lil' less squeamish in general and I'm not afraid to Shambhala-up contraptions with the resources I have if it means defending myself and this blade to the bitter end," Troy flicked out his wrist again, calling forth the true Chronicle from the same gap in reality. "Now get talking. Who are the Nepenthes? Who do you work for? And I wouldn't really want to try anything with that stuck through your hand either..."

"What are you ta..." Lantz looked down to the keyblade. It was emitting a resonating, low-pitched hum that seemed to shake the prop keyblade at an agonizing frequency. That was before a small flap on the center of the shaft slid up to reveal a bright red light. Before Lantz could react, the device exploded with arcing electricity that consumed him. Troy gazed on grimly, seeming to outright ignore the blinding light. As the dust settled and the room returned to a regular luminescence, Lantz could be seen breathing in rasps as he clutched his burnt, bleeding forearm. Troy looked about, feeling Lantz's field of distortion subside. All that actually occupied the lobby was a sole retainer by the front door clutching a greasy bag of take-out in one hand and a soda that he sipped from in the other. He stared at Troy with a blank expression on his face. Troy tilted his head towards the door and the visitor slowly backed back out.

"Pay attention to me you cocky little freak!!" Lantz was already back on stable feet, hurling himself at Troy in a feral charge. Troy barely evaded his outstreched palm, not paying attention to his wounded arm as it swept in underneath in a low hook. Troy yelped as he quickly vaulted up and threw his legs out to both sides. The air shrieked as the unfocused blast of energy tore a random path ahead of the two, diving down and shredding a swaying path through the floor paneling. Troy latched onto Lantz's wrists as he came down, pulling hard on them and hurling himself downwards between the brawler's legs. As Troy slid across the floor a glint of light flashed in the air, attached to Troy's fist. He gave it a yard as he stopped, and a string of metal yanked on the hilt of the fake Chronicle and slammed the already unsteady Lantz's face into the floor.

Lantz let out another bellow as he forced himself up onto a knee. He tore the hidden cord back towards him, causing it to snap at a point close to Troy. In one swift motion he spun around and whipped it back towards Troy in a flash of steel, lashing him viciously across the face. Troy fell backwards as a spray of blood leapt from the wound, and found himself slipping onto his back. Clutching the cut that pathed across his snout, close enough to his eyes to hamper his vision, he growled in pain as Lantz limped towards him. Lantz's good arm reared back and thrust forward, exploding the ground once more and sending Troy crashing into the wall again.

Lantz chuckled to himself, almost seeming to have embraced his mutilated hand. "Hey now, that was pretty good. That whole bit with the trap, no, the trap that gave me a greivous and disgustingly bloody injury to my BAD hand. You're almost as much a douchebag as me!" Lantz crouched down next to Troy, close enough to breathe on him as he spoke. "ALMOST." He cackled to himself again as he knelt down. Raising his undamaged fist in the air, a visible maelstrom of air slowly began to solidify itself into a drill shape. The weapon lancing at his face was the last thing Troy saw before his eye clamped down from the pain.