"You ready, Luigi?" Solance called.
"Yes, I'm ready, and when I go solar, its Brightsun!" Luigi called back up.
Luigi was inside the ravine, on Sunfire, who was hovering under the ruptured pipe. Solance and Wario were up on the lip, right hands glowing, preparing to pull the other side of the ravine closer to their side. Geno, McKonic, and Mallow stayed with the still frightened chain chomps.
"lets do this, then!" Wario called.
He and Solance focused on the far side of the ravine, and Luigi set his left hand on fire. Inch by slow inch, the ravine began to close up. Luigi went from ruptured pipe to ruptured pipe, melting them back together. He rejoined them once his task was done. The Ravine held perfectly.
"We prevented a major disaster." Solance said, "Now, lets move on."
They camped out in the plains on the other side of the Ravine. For the next three days, they pushed westward, moving closer to the distant mountains.
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Daisy had always believed that nothing could harm the gentle star spirits. She was currently sharing a cell with Misstar and Mamar. They were still knocked out cold.
"If Waluigi plans to bring back Dark Utopia, He wouldn't need Daisy, Peach, Rose, and Violet, Sire." Kalmar said, sharing his cell with Skolar and a silent Peach.
"I know, Kalmar. I've been trying to figure that out myself." Eldstar said. He had Klevar, and Muskular with him. Rose and Violet had their own cell.
"Oh shroot! How could we have been so stupid? Its not Dark Utopia he is after! Shroot!" Kalmar cried out, as realization hit him.
"Kalmar, watch the language! What did you figure out?" Eldstars voice rose in a panic.
"He is after the ninth star spirit!" Kalmar cried.
"Ninth star sprit?" Daisy asked.
"no, not the ninth! We can't go through that, again!" Eldstar cried, hyperventilating, now.
"Who is the ninth?" Peach spoke up.
"Eldstar, breathe! Calm down! Peach, the ninth is no one you need to know about!" Kalmar shouted.
"Oww!" Daisy cried out, her eyes closed. A vision flashed before her closed eyes. She saw what looked like Peach, Rose, and Violet battling it out with a dark star spirit. She saw them fall, and screamed.
"Daisy, what is it?" Rose screamed.
"I just saw your past selves die fighting the ninth." Daisy answered.
"Eldstar, talk. Who and what is the ninth spirit?" Violet asked, completely calm.
"Zarthose, guardian of the ancient rule book, watches over the ninth. Long ago, there was nine of us, but the ninth turned evil. It took the ultimate sacrifice of the Starborn Hero to damage him badly enough so we remaining eight could fight him. It was Zarthoses seal that trapped him, and the star rod being powered by an entire world wishing the ninth gone before we finally locked him away. Zarthose left us a while later to go live inside the Earth. He is the one who must perform an ancient spell each Lunar Cycle to keep his seal strong." Eldstar explained. He still looked terrified.
"What is the Starborn Hero?" Rose asked.
"He is a hero born of the stars, with solar and lunar blood running through him. The last one was Twilus, who died the day the Daybreaker stole his body." Kalmar explained.
"Who would be the next Starborn Hero?" this time, it was Violet.
"If it is not Brighton, it would be Luigi." Misstar said, awake now.
"Hold it! Brighton is a sun, and he has the blood of a sun and a moon in him, and Luigi is the same way! Nether of them have star blood in them!" Eldstar pointed out.
"Eldstar, their star blood comes from you! Remember you daughter, Solarita? She and Twilus had Solaris and Solan, and Solaris is Brighton's father, and Brighton is Luigi's father!" Misstar pointed out.
Eldstar opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it. At that moment, Waluigi entered the hold, being flanked by Darksun, Darkmoon, and Darkstar. He wordlessly rounded up the four human women, and marched them out of the room. The cats stayed behind, eyeing the star spirits warily. Waluigi took the women into a dark room.
"The time has come, ladies. You are the ones I have been searching for. Your blood is my key in reviving the Hellhound! I have bigger fish to fry, and I need the Hellhound to do it!" Waluigi lifted his right hand, index finger and middle finger out, and tilted his hand in an upward motion. The Guardian and the Princesses wound up with their backs against the wall, unable to move. Waluigi slit their wrists, forcing them to bleed over a dark colored stone. Then their wrists healed, but they were still stuck to the wall.
The stone glowed darkly, and began to spin. Above it, a dark purple cloud formed. A shadow seeped into the room, and rose, forming the traditional shape of a sun. This sun was black, with two silver horns where the third, and fifteenth spike would have been. His eyes were red, and he had a third, red snakelike eye above his two normal eyes. Waluigi bowed.
"Welcome back, Master." the Daybreaker said.
"Daybreaker, its good to be back. How goes the plan to free Sinistar, the Ninth Star Spirit?" the Hellhound asked.
"I have the seven Star spirits, but I have had no luck in locating the shadow star spirit, Zarthose." Waluigi responded.
"Relock up the women, Daybreaker." the Hellhound snarled, "and make sure they don't escape."
"Yes, Master." Waluigi flicked his wrist, forcing the women to follow him back to their cells. He flicked his left index finger, sending them flying into their cages. Violet climbed to her feet, and went to the bars of her cell.
"Waluigi! Fight back! I know you are in there, my Wally. Please, fight back for your body! You are the one in control, not the Daybreaker!" Violet screamed, "We are your friends, remember?"
"Violet, you do not understand. The Waluigi you new is gone, and will never come back. I am Waluigi now." the Daybreaker responded, taking a step toward Violet.
"The Waluigi I know would be fighting desperately to get his body back! He's fed you lies, Waluigi! You are not the Daybreaker! He died at the hand of your father, Brighton! Fight back, Waluigi!" Violet cried, sensing she may be getting through to the one she loved.
"Enough of this, Violet! The Waluigi you knew saw the truth of who he really is! He and I are one, and the same!" Waluigi answered coolly. He walked away from them.
"Sorry, guys, I tried." Violet whispered, shrinking back from the bars of her cell.
"Its okay, Vi. Waluigi just needs a good ole wack in the head from Wario to bring him back to his senses." Peach said.
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'Is what Violet said true? Have I let the Daybreaker feed me lies?' Waluigi thought.
He realized he was standing in the same desert scene from before. The soothing warm light was back, but it was very weak.
"That light was brighter before. What happened to it?" Waluigi looked down to see his body slowly turning gray, "What is happening to me?"
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Brighton jerked suddenly, causing pain to surge through his chest. His left hand went up to his chest, as his eyes opened wide, as he sensed Waluigi's turmoil. His spikes stood on end, and his breathing came in harsh gasps. Twila sat up from the pullout couch on the other side of the room. She was using the pullout while Brighton recovered from his injuries.
"Brighton? You okay?" She called out tiredly.
"Waluigi... He is losing his fight!" Brighton cried.
Twila got up, and went to her husband. By now, Brighton was sitting up all the way, and his eyes were glowing crimson, showing that he was in distress. Twila gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and eased him back down onto the bed.
"Brighton, calm down. You are going to rip out your stitches if you keep moving around so much!" Twila said, noticing the spots of blood on the soft cream colored bed sheets. She peeled the sheets back to see Brightons left hand covering a slowly growing bloodstain on his yellow pajama top. She undid the buttons, and carefully peeled back the left side of the shirt to reveal the Brighton's stitches had been ripped out.
"Oh dear! Brighton, you've managed to rip out your stitches!" Twila reached over to the wall, and hit the intercom, "Shalom, go wake Dr. Katrina, and tell her to step on it! Brighton has managed to rip out his stitches!"
"I'm on it, Milady." Shalom responded, slipping quickly into his butler uniform, and leaving his room. He headed down the hallway toward the stairway, and ran down to the first floor. He went over to the phone room, and knocked. A sleepy eyed toad in a twilight blue security uniform with an imprint of a pale yellow crescent on his back showing he was part of the night shift, and that he was a resident of Skyland, rolled down his window.
"Get a hold of Dr. Katrina! The Great Lord has ripped his stitches!" Shalom ordered.
"Yes, sir!" The toad replied, dialing a number on the phone. Shalom walked toward the huge double doors, and waited. Dr. Katrina entered the castle, and greeted Shalom with a quick nod. Katrina was a dragon winged Nokis, and was one of the last of her kind. She wore a doctors uniform over her usual periwinkle blue shell with the marking of a sun on it. She was in her middle ages, and had been the one who delivered Waluigi, Wario, Mario, and Luigi. She went straight to the bedroom.
"Milady, I need you to step back so I can work. Lets see, Brighton, I'm going to give you a shot that will take away your pain, okay?" Dr. Katrina asked.
"I can deal with the pain!" Brighton cried.
"Okay, then hold still." Dr. Katrina dipped a sterile cleaning pad into a bowlful of Hydrogen Peroxide, and used it to clean up the incision site. Brighton bit his lip to keep from screaming, and waking half the castle.
"Your incision has been reopened, and it is infected. I'm going to put in a drain, and reclose it. You sure you don't want the painkiller?" Katrina asked, arching an eyebrow. She already knew what the answer would be.
"I'm fine." Brighton replied.
Katrina finished up with the last two stitches, making sure the drain stayed in place. She cleaned up the blood, and closed her medical bag with a snap, and turned to Twila.
"Make sure he stays quiet, and I'm prescribing a topical antibiotic for the infection. It is a cream, use it three times daily. Call me in seven days to come back and check the drain. For the drain, pat it gently with a washcloth every four hours." Katrina said, leaving.
Twila had everything written down on what she must do now.
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Luigi looked down at the ground below him from the edge of the Silent Bluffs. In the distance, he knew, was the Ghostly Forest, inside the Remina Fault. Beyond that, he knew, was Star Peak, and the key to defeat the Daybreaker for good. He turned back to Eerie Oasis, and rejoined his friends.
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Queen Sunstar: Sorry I'm so late! I had trouble uploading a chapter of my other story, and it wouldn't let me post for five days in a row. This will account for this week, and Monday of next weeks post.
Twila: Don't forget to review, now!
