Chapter 8: The Beginning of the End
Rosalina had tossed over in her bed for the umpteenth time, her eyes a lazy angry. She sat up with frustration, looking at the clock. It was nearly 3 AM.
"I can't sleep..." She whined, putting her hands on her cheeks and distorting her own face in annoyance. "But I felt so tired before..."
Her feet met the carpet at the bedside, and she rose to a stand. She was wearing her usual blue dress, her hair a bit messy. "I probably have insomnia. What a pain."
She migrated through the darkness, and found that there were some plain slippers in the closet located near her bedroom door. The closet was virtually empty, as she only had a pair of silver heels in there. Her wardrobe was empty, too. She desperately needed clothes, but she didn't seem too concerned about it. She slipped her feet into the complimentary slippers that looked to be more suitable for Toadsworth than for herself.
"I might as well explore the castle, since I can't sleep." Rosalina thought aloud, opening her bedroom door and stepping into the main corridor of the second floor.
Rosalina was alone in the dark hallway of the castles living quarters. She examined the names on the brown doors, knowing her friends were sleeping soundly beyond them. She walked past Mario's room. Unbeknownst to them, he was sleeping at Pauline's apartment tonight. She made her way to the first floor by opening the double brown doors which led to them.
Now, Rosalina was met with some choices. There were doors all around this room, and she had only a faint idea of what might lie beyond them. Peach had already explained the castle layout to her, but exposure was always a better teacher for her than explanations were. She decided to start with the door nearest to her, which was located up the stairs on the higher level with her. She turned left and made her way into the room.
It was a library -a massive one, at that. She only remembered now that Peach had indeed told her there was a library here. There were aisles of tall shelves filled with books, and a second floor which served as a wooden wrap-around balcony. The second floor also had bookshelves along the wall. The places had tens of aisles, with hundreds of bookshelves, and thousands of books. The place was quite clean with burgundy carpet, and a mobile steel ladder with a platform was parked in the distance. No one appeared to be here.
"So many books..." Rosalina calmly gawked, her expression lazy. "Where does one begin?"
The focal point of the room was a round wooden table which just so happened to have a booked haphazardly sprawled on its surface. Curious, Rosalina approached it. She gasped as she noticed it was not written in English, but instead in strange characters and symbols. Her eyes widened as she discovered that she actually knew how to read this.
"I-I can read this?" Rosalina gawked, her mouth remaining open in surprise. It was such a peculiar feeling, realizing that you are able to read something that at first sight appeared to be gibberish. Her heart was racing. She hesitated, but eventually proceeded to read the book:
Regarding the Legend:
"One thousand years after she is born, the Princess of the Galaxies will crash into their world, releasing the energy of the Goddess upon impact. This energy will awaken the demon that sleeps below. Their world will soon after be thrust into chaos.
It is then only a matter of time before their world is annihilated by shadow, destroyed in a great cataclysm. The day the cosmic Princess awakens, marks the beginning of a swift and cruel end for their world."
"H-Huh?" Rosalina gasped, her expression full of fear and worry. A chill ran down her spine. "A swift and cruel end? Annihilated by shadow?"
Rosalina took a moment to think, looking downward with her fist on her chin in thought. Her eyebrows were narrowed nervously as her mind raced. (This is so weird... Was I told this before? I don't remember.)
She paused for few minutes, thinking very slowly and carefully.
(And this language... I don't recognize it, but I can somehow read it...) Rosalina added, looking off to the right with a nervous sweat. Thoughts raced through her mind. (This book was left here, so someone must have been reading it recently... but who?)
Rosalina took a moment to gather herself, as her head started pounding. After a few minutes, she eventually returned to her usual calm state. She was still a bit on edge, but she had decided that it would be best to wait and discuss this with the others some other time, rather than simply dwelling on it on her own. She then left the library, and found herself greeted by a familiar face.
"GWAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAAH!" Lana T. cried, backing off a step and cowering behind her arms in terror. Lana T. was approaching the library door, and was very startled by someone opening it. "K-Koopa scum! Like, p-prepare for your death!"
"Hmm?" Rosalina softly barked, not startled at all.
"I-It's you!" Lana T. gasped, pointing a finger. She folded her arms with an angry blush. "Geez, you like, totally scared me! What are you doing up so late?"
"I can't sleep." Rosalina answered, slow to continue speaking. "So, I've just been wandering around... What are you doing up so late?"
"I'm on night shift. I was, like, patrolling outside, and I like, totally needed to use the bathroom, although I nearly did just now thanks to you!" Lana T. explained, with an angry pout. She spoke a mile a minute. "The pool area is closed, and I don't want to go downstairs, so the one in the library is like, my only option."
"Night shift?" Rosalina inquired, looking downward with a hint of sadness. "That sounds like a pain."
"It totally is." Lana T. groaned, rolling her eyes. "Usually Katan T. does it, but I like, totally need the hours. I've got credit cards to pay back."
(Was that plural? I don't envy her...) Rosalina thought, with slightly widened eyes. There was a short awkward silence before Lana T. spoke again.
"Well, I like, totally don't know where you've been, but there's a kitchen down there if you're hungry or whatever." Lana T. explained, pointing to the kitchen door down below. "Oh, and you guys are totally allowed to chill in the Royal Lounge, too. There's lots of video games and snacks and stuff. Seriously jelly!"
"Royal Lounge? Video games?" Rosalina slowly replied, looking semi skyward with a finger on her chin in dopey thought.
"Yeah!" Lana T. sang, making her way around Rosalina with a closed eyed grin. "You'll see, it's lots of fun but I have to go now, bye!"
Lana T. had entered the Library and left Rosalina all on her lonesome. From above, Rosalina examined the door that led to the Royal Lounge. She decided to go and check it out, making her way by heading down the red carpeted stairs and making a left. She entered the room without a word, and apparently would not be coming back out for many hours.
/
Early the next morning, Pauline had driven Mario right to the end of Castle Road, parking just before Peach Castle. She was wearing her usual scarlet dress as well a new matching sunhat, since Bowser had destroyed her old one.
"Sorry I have to drop you off right early like this." Pauline sighed, with a shrug. "I need to make preparations for some silly carnival that's gonna be happening in Mushroom City tomorrow."
"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Mario encouraged, with a hand.
"Ha! Hardly!" Pauline laughed, with a dismissive hand. "And then there's all that damage from Bowser that needs to be taken care of... Oh, and were going to need to invest in a new stage, since the old one has been destroyed... What a waste of tax-payers dollars!"
"Well, I better let you go!" Mario concluded, exiting the door. "Thanks for the ride!"
Mario closed the door, and Pauline waved him goodbye as he walked around the front of her vehicle with a wave, a golden hoop accessory whirling around her wrist. Then, she was off to work. With a skip and a hop, Mario made his way into the castle via the double brown doors.
Mario was happy to see two familiar faces gathered around the sun emblem in the castles main foyer. It was Princess Peach and Luigi, his brother dressed in his usual attire. Peach however, was wearing something different. She was dressed in a dark pink dress that stopped below her knees, silver heels on her feet. She wore a pink ascot and a white sunhat with a pink band. She had a white polo tuckered into her dress, with a fashionable pink belt. She looked very modern, and ready for a trip into town. They had been conversing, both of them turning to Mario with happy smiles. Exclamation marks appeared over their heads.
"Mario!" Peach exclaimed, her head tilted slightly and hands together in glee. "You're back!"
"Big bro!" Luigi exclaimed, fists clenched in excitement.
"I am so relieved to see that you are alright!" Peach sighed, a mixed expression of anguish and relief cast upon her face.
"Sorry to have worried you." Mario grinned, rubbing the back of his head.
"I just knew you'd beat Bowser, Mario!" Luigi praised, putting a friendly hand on his brothers shoulder from the side. "Hopefully this will be the last time he causes us trouble."
"Oh yeah." Mario nodded, ever so optimistic.
"I have my doubts..." Peach declined, looking downward with folded arms, a hint of sadness on her face. "That Bowser is ever so persistent..."
"So, what are you guys doing, anyway?" Mario asked, a red question mark appearing over his head. He then featured a dreamy blush, slight drool present. "Going out to get some breakfast?"
"Actually, we're waiting for Daisy and Rosalina so that we can go to the mall!" Luigi cheered, giving a thumbs up with a grin.
"Rosalina?" Mario thought aloud, looking skyward with a hand on his chin in thought. "Who's that?"
"Oh, right!" Peach awed, her face lighting up in realization. "You have not yet met Princess Rosalina."
"She's the girl that fell from the sky and smashed into the big stage yesterday." Luigi reminded, lightly smashing his fist into his palm. "You know, the one from the legend?"
"Ohhh, okay. I remember now." Mario sang. He had completely forgotten about it until now. "So she's awake now?"
"Yep. And talk about underwhelming." Luigi whispered, leaning towards Mario with a hand by his mouth. "I was expecting someone gorgeous, powerful, and awesome. But she's just like, your average lazy teenager."
"What are we talking about?" Daisy groaned, looking downward with her hands in the holes of the burgundy coloured sweater she was wearing. It featured the cover art for Mario Sports: Superstars on the front. Her unique soccer logo was located on the back. She was wearing dark grey sweatpants with a 1-Up mushroom on the right thigh, orange and yellow runners on her feet. Her eyes had dark bags under them, her hair a little messy.
"Speaking of lazy..." Luigi sniped, with a playful grin.
"I'm too tired to hit you." Daisy sighed, lacking energy and enthusiasm.
"Daisy, you look simply exhausted!" Peach gasped, a hand softly near her open mouth. "Are you sure you still want to go to the mall?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Daisy dismissed, cracking open a tall energy drink from an artistic aluminium can.
"Daisy! Now how many times do I have to tell you to stop drinking those awful things!" Peach scolded, her eyebrows narrowed and her hands on her hips. "They are full of sugar and all sorts of awful chemicals! No wonder you have troubling sleeping!"
"*glug, glug, glug*" Daisy said nothing, taking a massive chug of the drink. She eventually stopped with a satisfied expression on her face. "Ahh~..."
"*sigh*..." Peach frowned, twirling her hair with an expression of sadness as she looked off to the right. "Only when it is too late, will you ever learn."
"Heh heh. You're so motherly, Peach." Luigi grinned, his hands behind his head.
"I am merely mature for my age." Peach insisted, with a royal hand before her. "You should listen to what I have to say!"
"*Sniff, sniff*..." Mario had closed eyes, his chin lifted as he sniffed around. Mario gave an expression of disgust, covering his nose with his hands. "Ooh-ho-ho, stinky."
"Whaddya mean, stinky?" Daisy growled, her teeth clenched. "I don't stink! Are you asking to get slapped?"
"Wow, those energy drinks sure do kick in fast!" Luigi noted, with a slight expression of surprise.
"Not you, Daisy." Mario declined, shaking his head. He pointed at the Royal Lounge. "It's coming from in there."
"The Royal Lounge?" Peach inquired, her head slightly tilted. "Is someone in there?"
"I think so..." Mario confirmed, taking one last sniff. "We should check inside."
With a mix of caution and confusion, Peach, Daisy, and Luigi followed Mario into the Royal Lounge. After they had entered, they noticed Rosalina was sitting on the red couch with a Super Nintendo controller in her hand, playing what appeared to be Super Mario World on the big screen. She didn't even notice people had entered the room, as she was completely immersed into the game.
"Rosalina?" Luigi mildly barked, scratching his head. "You're in here playing video games?"
"Oh, I can totally smell it now!" Daisy whined, pinching her nose with her bare fingers as she looked at Rosalina. "Damn, is that smell comin' from you?"
"Let's see... this level is red, so there must be an alternate exit somewhere..." Rosalina thought aloud, jumping through a level with a cloudy background. "But where is it..."
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Daisy whined, seeming quite upset by it.
"Princess Rosalina, how long have you been in here playing video games?" Peach inquired, her head tilted.
Rosalina did not answer, tapping the colourful buttons violently as she weaseled her way out of a dangerous situation.
"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Rosalina!" Luigi called, hand by his face.
"Huh?" Rosalina softly barked, finally noticing people were in the room. "Oh, hey."
"Hey yourself!" Daisy growled, mildly irritated by her behaviour. "Just how long have you been in here rotting away like this?"
"Oh, umm... pretty much all night." Rosalina answered, still playing her game. "I couldn't sleep, so I found my way here and started playing these video games."
"You have been playing games all night?" Peach gasped, a hand softly near her mouth in mild surprise. "That is such unhealthy, irresponsible behaviour!"
"But I've already beaten so many games..." Rosalina calmly protested. "Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3... and now I'm almost done Super Mario World."
"Gee, you're pretty good at games." Luigi noted, rubbing his chin in thought.
"They're just so much fun, I can't stop." Rosalina admitted with closed eyed glee, actually smiling quite big. It was a rare occurrence. "And you guys have so many, I want to beat them all!"
"W-Well, there is no need to beat them all so quickly." Peach advised.
"Uh oh..." Rosalina calmly started, her face almost a pale blue.
Question marks had appeared above everyones heads.
"What? What is it?" Peach inquired.
"I just remembered I've had to go to the bathroom for the last few hours, but I ignored it so I could keep gaming..." Rosalina explained, with a mildly anxious expression. "But now I really have to go!"
"You neglected using the bathroom just so you wouldn't have to stop gaming?" Daisy roared, fists on her hips. "Are you crazy or something!"
"I REALLY have to go!" Rosalina cried, her fists clenched. Racing black lines emit from her body to animate her panic.
Everyone gave their unique cries of panic as they assembled behind the standing Rosalina and proceeded to shove her towards the bathroom located in the Royal Lounge. After some encouragement, Daisy had convinced her to also take a shower.
Several minutes later...
"That's better." Rosalina sighed, weakly pointing a finger of relief skyward, her other hand on her hip.
"Geez, next time put the controller down and take a minute to use the washroom, will ya?" Daisy lectured, with the usual sass.
"I'm sorry." Rosalina softly apologized, looking downward with a hint of sadness.
"Heh heh, it's not all bad." Luigi laughed, hands behind his head. "We all love games, especially me and Mario. We'll all play some multiplayer games together sometime."
"Really?" Rosalina awed, leaning forward with excited clenched fists, her eyes replaced by stars. "There are so many multiplayer games that I need to play!"
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Luigi agreed, with a thumbs up.
"Aww, yay!" Rosalina chimed, with glee. "You've just become my fifth favourite!"
"O-Only fifth?" Luigi gawked with a comedic sweat, his right foot backed off a step and hands up in protest.
"Oh, right! Mario and Rosalina have not yet met." Peach recalled, with a hand. Mario and Rosalina faced each other.
"Yes we have." Rosalina declined, pointing a finger of objection. "I recognize him."
"Ehh, I don't think the games count." Luigi weakly laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm not talking about the games!" Rosalina objected, surprisingly irritated for someone so calm and lazy. "I know I've seen him before!"
"Hm?" Mario barked, rubbing his chin in thought while looking semi skyward. "But I don't remember seeing you..."
"Well, it was many years ago." Rosalina clarified, with an informative finger. "I wouldn't expect you to remember."
"Many years?" Mario thought aloud, continuing to rub his chin. "Did we run into each other somewhere sometime?"
"How on earth is that even possible?" Daisy refuted, pointing a finger of reason. "She's been soaring through space, unconscious, for the last 1,000 years, remember? Meeting Mario before now would be impossible!"
"Oh yeah, true." Mario sang, looking downward while scratching the back of his head in confusion.
Then, Rosalina collapsed. The room silenced.
"P-Princess!" Peach gasped, her hands on her face in shock, eyes widened.
"W-Whoa!" Daisy gasped, her eyes widened also. "Hey, what happened? Are you okay?"
Mario and Luigi were already helping her to a stand. Everyone gasped as they saw something was glowing on the back of her right hand. As it emit golden light, it gave off heavenly tones in the otherwise silent room.
"What is that!" Peach awed while leaning slightly forward, pointing a finger in fascination.
Upon closer inspection, it was three golden triangles, positioned in such a way that they created an inverted triangle in the center. It appeared that the bottom left triangle was glowing the brightest. Rosalina emit a soft groan as her eyes opened again.
"Hey, are you okay?" Mario asked.
"What the heck is going on with your hand?" Daisy persisted, pointing a finger.
"Ungh..." Rosalina groaned, bringing a hand to her head. She could stand now. "My head..."
"Take it easy, take it easy." Luigi eased, anxious that she may over exert herself.
"Are you alright?" Peach inquired, with a soft expression.
"Dont... ask me how, but..." Rosalina started, pausing to grit her teeth from the pain. "I can sense a powerful presence approaching."
That caused everyone to gasp, exclamation marks appearing above their heads.
"W-Whoa whoa wait, what?" Luigi fret, waving his hands and shaking his head. "What are you talking about? We don't need this right now! We were gonna go to the mall!"
"Ta' hell with the mall!" Daisy cursed, lashing out on Luigi. "This could be an emergency!"
"It's okay. I'll protect everyone." Mario assured, with a noble fist over his heart. He felt even more confident now that he had his new Goddess Power. "No matter what."
(Could this be... what I read earlier?) Rosalina thought as she held her head, a nervous sweat present in her forehead. (If so, we don't stand a chance...)
"I shall ready the troops." Peach informed, with a nod. "Mario."
Mario nodded, his attention on Peach. She directed her attention to Luigi, summoning him also. "Luigi. I am counting on you both."
Luigi nodded as well, his expression serious. He had been formally counted on. He followed Mario as the two of them ran out of the Royal Lounge, making their way to the castles main entrance.
Princess Peach had somber blue eyes, which weakly glistened in thought. What exactly was going on? What was Rosalina sensing? How was she sensing? Whatever battle lies before them, they must be prepared to fight with everything they have got.