2004
3:53 PM
The giant group of what used to be sinister and threatening people split up into groups of three or four. Vivian counted about ten groups before she arrived at the conclusion of 'There's a lot' and stopped counting. The goomba who had called out Beldam was walking with Vivian and Goombella.
"That's to make sure you don't look suspicious travelling in a huge group, right?" Vivian asked the goomba. "Yep." He replied. "But, you're also comfortable enough with talking about your super secret gang in broad daylight" Vivian continued. "... Yep. We aren't that secret or hidden. It's just... We don't often do things that harm others. But when we do, we make sure it's hard to trace to this group in particular. Also, like, people stop and stare when there are 30-ish people walking around." He explained.
The group of Vivian, Goombella, and the helpful Goomba (who had introduced himself as Point) had been walking for about a minute, which they had used to introduce themselves to each other.
"So, who's the leader of your, like, group?" Goombella asked.
"Uh, there isn't really a defined leader the way you would normally think about it. There are no rankings or roles, so it's basically anarchy." Point explained, ready to explain how that works for the thousandth time.
"I guess you guys have been successful enough for a while, so it has to work. But don't problems arise when there are disagreements?" Vivian asked.
"Well, disagreements don't spiral out of control because we won't let people in if they're prone to that. If we do... It's messy, but we have to come to a conclusion at some point, and everybody involved knows that, so we focus less on getting angry and more on actually solving the problem." Point said, kind of releived that they understood a little.
"Oh, and, you guys are a special case for joining, 'cause normally you have to be super trustworthy to join, but since you have something vital to our common goal, we've made an exception." Point added.
"Hm. It's an interesting way to handle a group, to say the least." Vivian said, making the conversation fade out.
"Hey, so, you have a boyfriend?" Point asked, with his head tilting and facing Goombella. This sent Goombella and Vivian into a little bit of a panic, since they had just met Point and weren't exactly fine with explaining their relationship to a stranger that had the ability to screw them over pretty badly, and end their quest. But, they didn't really have a way of communicating this without giving it away.
"I'm taken." Goombella said. It wasn't a lie, but it obscured enough information to hide the important parts.
"Uh, can I meet him?" Point continued.
"That's a strange thing to request." Vivian said, kind of quickly so Goombella wouldn't say anything. Goombella interpreted this signal as "Do not out us"
"Who asked you?" Point asked, looking kind of annoyed.
"Huh? Who cares, she's part of the conversation, so she should get to give input." Goombella said, kind of sharply.
"Alright, fine. But I do want to know as many details about your boyfriend as possible" Point said. Vivian wondered if some external force was trying to make this conversation as stressful as possible.
"Oh come on." Goombella groaned.
"Listen, I think this is stupid too, but people in this group want to know if you have people close to you that could find out that you're involved with us. Usually, relationship partners and spouses are the ones who are super nosy and find out." Point explained.
"Oh, you won't have to worry about that. I don't have anyone that's super nosy and Vivian is about the same. Half her family is that old lady from earlier." Goombella explained, getting releived they were leaving the topic of her relationship.
"Damn, she's your family? Must have sucked growing up." Point observed. Vivian suddenly had a series memories quickly resurface, of Marilyn slowly losing herself and giving in to Beldam's poisonous aura, of hundreds of unnecessary deadnames and misgenders from Beldam, which both Vivan and Beldam knew were on purpose but neither had ever spoken a word about it. She remembered feeling out of place as a sister, and hundreds of sleepless, tearful nights.
"Yeah, she sucked" Vivian sighed. Goombella looked worried about Vivian. Point didn't seem to notice. There was a short silence.
"Why'd you join?" Said Vivian.
"Huh?" Point said, looking a little caught off-gaurd.
"Like, you found and joined a gang, there's gotta be a reason, right?" Vivian continued.
"Well, I was trying to get away from someone." Point said.
"Sounds like an interesting story." Vivian said
"Heh, it is. Wanna hear it?" Point offered.
"Yeah, sure" Vivian accepted.
"So, uh, two years ago or something, I got into a BIG fight. When I say that, I don't mean super high tension between two people. I mean, like, FIFTY people going at it. The fight started 'cause at our university, there was rumours of treasure hidden somewhere. So there are two groups trying to find it, and use the gains for very different reasons. I was part of one of the groups. Now, this treasure has pretty great potential if you use it right, both good and bad. The other group was planning to basically make themselves super powerful and screw over everyone else. Our group just wanted them to not have it, to be honest." Point explained.
"So, who found it?" Goombella asked.
"They did. But the people in out group were really against letting them get away with screwing everyone else over... So when all 25-ish of us from each group were together, it was pretty tense. So, y'know what I did?" Point said.
"Stole it?" Goombella guessed. Point laughed.
"Yeah! I snatched it right from their hands. Pretty stupid of them to flaunt it around, but those guys had an ego so big they couldn't resist. So yeah, taking it really pissed them off, and a HUGE fight broke out. I think, like, 20 people ended up in the hospital. I was mostly fine, cause I was trying to secure the scroll. But once I snuck off to hide it, I came back to help my guys." Point continued.
"So after that, I went back, got the treasure and booked it, cause those guys knew where I lived and all that. One of 'em took a picture of me, so my face was in the paper under 'University ruffian steals treasure'. So people were after me, but that's when the Hinatura came to me. They said they would protect me if I joined, so I did." Point said, with a clear satisfaction of finishing written on his face.
"Wait, what was the treasure anyways?" Vivian asked.
"Oh, yeah! It was the scroll. Imagine my surprise when it turns out I had to find two more to actually use it." Point explained.
"It- Wait, are you serious?" Goombella exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know. The Hinatura really wanted that scroll, so when they saw I had stolen it, they jumped right to it." Point said.
"Anyway, we're about here. We just gotta get through some stuff." Point said. Vivian and Goombella followed Point through an alley, down a ladder, and into a trapdoor. They walked down some stairs that were very poorly lit, until they reached a door. Point unlocked it with a combination, and showed the girls inside.
The hideout looked like a mix between a warehouse and an office. Vivian and Gooombella entered the main room, which was tall and wide, with many extension cords and outlets sprawling all over the walls and floor. The center of the room was full of tables with computer setups, with nametags on most of them. To the side were bookshelves, shipping containers, and doors. At the end of a long ramp was a very large garage door. On the opposite side of the entrance, an elevated platform stood, with a staircase to the platform on the side.
"Interesting place." Vivian observed, still looking around at the room.
"Yeah, I think it's pretty cool. Anyway, let's go to where we have the other scroll." Point said.
The three walked towards one of the doors. Point asked a tough-looking dry bones to open a safe. After Point talked with the dry bones for a little, the dry bones walked towards Vivian and Goombella.
"Show me the other scroll and I will let you see ours." He explained. Goombella took out the scroll and handed it to him.
"Ok. You follow me. Not you, purple girl." the dry bones said.
"Don't worry about it, he just cares a lot about security." Point reassured Vivian.
Goombella and the dry bones entered another room. It had an unwelcoming aura, but other than that it seemed like a normal office archive room. They walked to the edge of the room and got to a safe labeled "Katuko scroll" written in pen, on a peice of scotch tape attached to the front of the safe. The dry bones opened it, and handed the scroll to Goombella.
"Do you mind if I write the contents on the scroll in my notebook?" Goombella asked.
"Mmm... Why?" Asked the dry bones.
"Well, I want to show the purple girl from before what's on it, and I'm an archaeologist and want this archived, because it's an old thing that we don't know about." Goombella explained.
"Mmm... Researching old things sounds like what archaeologists do... You can archive it." The dry bones said. Goombella startes to write in her notebook about the scroll, and it's contents.
"Hey, can I see the scroll that you have?" The dry bones asked.
"Sure, be gentle with it." Goombella said, handing over the scroll.
"Oh, and are you done copying?" He asked.
"Yep, you can have it back." Goombella said. The dry bones placed both scrolls face down on the table, fully unraveled. He moved the scrolls closer and closer together, until they were touching. Suddenly, a map began to appear across both scrolls backsides.
"That's..." Goombella started, but stopped because copying the map down was more important than being amazed to her.
After a few minutes, Goombella picked her scroll back up, and the map disappeared. She put away her scroll and went outside with her notebook to show Vivian. Vivian began to read the contents of the second scroll.
Katuko is a most sacred battleground, only a select few can enter without resentment from one of the great beings.
To enter, one must be balanced between the forces of good and evil, or else the great beings will deem you too much on their enemies side, and forbid entry.
Katuko will be located in the area shown by placing this scroll and the first together, as it is an area not fit for all to enter.
To get into the area in which the sacred battleground is located, one must have a heart that has experienced a most pure form of love, else they will not appreciate the battleground.
Inside Katuko, the innermost depth of the battleground contains the two great being in their eternal stalemate.
If they are disturbed, existence may become irreversibally unbalanced.
Vivian handed the notebook back to Goombella.
"So where is that map of? It doesn't look familiar to me." Vivian asked.
"Well, this map is probably geographically outdated. If we can figure out roughly how old these scrolls are we could probably find out where this map is supposed to be.
"Uh, how do we find that out?" Vivian wondered.
"Analysing old stuff is my job, Vivian. I'll figure it out." Goombella reassured.
Goombella and members of the Hinatura spent the next few hours trying to figure out where the map was supposed to be. Vivian was impressed how well they worked together, despite having just met Goombella. They worked efficiently and carefully, and eventually there was only one possibility for where Katuko was located.
"Heh, I'm surprised you guys have such a diverse range of professions. The moment I heard the word "gang" I just assumed you guys were just a bunch of brawny guys. Seems like that's not the case, though." Goombella said, with a heavy taste of satisfaction in her voice.
Trying to find out Katukos location, Goombella had received help from linguists, historians, and many people from geographical studies. Goombella decided to take the enormous stack of empty cup noodles to the trash. She asked Vivian to come along with her.
"So, I talked with lots of people in the group. Most of them seem to be very laid back. I couldn't find a way to get their opinions on, y'know, trans and lesbian stuff without forcing it. But I doubt they would hurt us if they found out." Vivian explained.
"Hmm... The best bet is still to keep it a secret, but... That gets exhausting quickly." Goombella said.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Especially when you have to hide it from people like Beldam." Vivian said.
"Ah, yeah.. Hey, why'd you forgive her anyways?" Goombella asked.
"H-Huh?" Vivian said.
"Like, sorry if this seems intrusive, but why did you forgive Beldam? After we defeated the Shadow Queen? We all knew she had barely changed, that we were just hoping she had given up on being evil. But you forgave her and rejoined her for a few months. Then you moved in with me, I know how things go from there." Goombella elaborated.
Vivian sighed. "Yeah, I knew she hadn't changed. But, at the time... I wanted to give her another chance, to see if she had finally learned to accept me. She hadn't really. She had learned to tolerate me, but nothing more. She knew she couldn't hurt me, that much was different. She had to take a different approach to manipulating me, and she did. I had spent those few months with her walking on social tightropes to avoid her control, and I was tired. I wanted to get away, so, I came to your place."
"Hm. I guess those types of people rely on forgiveness to manipulate people, huh." Goombella said.
"Yes, but... Some people deserve forgiveness, don't they?" Vivian said.
"Yep. Not all of them though." Goombella said, chucking the big stack of empty cup noodles into a trash bin. Goombella noticed Point was near, so she talked with him.
"So, me and Vivian will probably go back soon, before it gets too dark." Goombella said.
"Ah, c'mon, you're basically a member of this gang, why not stay here? You two could stay up and have drinks and get closer with members. You might as well, right?" Point proposed.
"Yes, but if we stayed we would still have to go home when it's dark." Vivian said.
"Oh, no, there are bedrooms here. You two don't mind sharing a room with each other, right? 'Cause there's only one vacant right now." Point said.
"No, we're very okay with it." Vivian said, with a hint of secretive smugness in her voice.
"Alright, cool. So that means you're staying, right?" Point asked. Vivian and Goombella nodded at each other.
"Yeah, we'll stay." Goombella confirmed.
After about an hour, a corner of the giant, main room went from a nearly unoccupied set of four couches around a table to a very lively and messy spot. Vivian, Goombella, Point, and many other members of the Hinatura were gathered around the table in the center, and settled deep into the couches. Everyone had a considerably large amount of alcohol, except Vivian. She instead had lots of soft drinks and a little water. The cups and cans were all over the table, with each of them being anywhere from empty to halfway empty.
"How'd you two meet? The, uhh, purple one and the girl goomba." Point asked. His sentences were straying further and further from comprehension the longer the night went on.
"Because of Mario! Like, the red guy. Mario was going on an adventure and we both joined him." Goombella answered, with a sentence that was pretty close to normal.
"What!? You two met Mario? He's like, famous and crap!" A koopa exclaimed, spilling his drink while gesturing.
"Wait, when was this?" Asked a shy guy, whose mask was barely hanging on to his face.
"This was when the shadow queen tried to destroy the world. Remember that?" Goombella said.
"Ohhh, yeah. Hey, Vivian, you look like a small version of the shadow queen. Are you related or something?" The koopa asked.
"Didn't the shadow queen create two daughters and a son?" A boo asked, partially covering up her face.
"Uh... No, she had three daughters." Vivian said, getting a little worried.
"Huhh? I used to live in the creepy steeple, though. There was, like... I can barely remember, but it was a really mean lady, a really dumb lady, and a really timid boy." The boo said, questioning her memory.
"No, no. It was three girls!" Goombella said, noticeably distressed.
"Hmmm... OH! I remember now. There was a doctor in the town near the creepy steeple, and one time I followed the boy there. He asked the doctor to give him some pills or something that would make him more like a girl. The doctor gave it to him, but the doctor looked really concerned about the kid..." The boo said to a terrified Vivian. The boo was correct, Vivian got hormones from a Twilight Town doctor when she was younger. All she could do was hope nobody made the connection between the trans girl in the Boo's memory to the girl sitting in front of them.
"They all wore different hats... The mean one had blue stripes... The dumb one had yellow stripes... The last one was like... Purple? No..." The boo thought aloud.
"Can we talk about something else?" Vivian said, with sweat running down her back.
"It was you, wasn't it? Yeah, it totally was! Purple creature, pink hair... The hat had red stripes, I remember now." The boo said, in a tone as relaxed and indifferent to Vivians terror as an unoccupied pool on a calm day.
"It- I... Might... Have, uh been?" Vivian said, with a voice as shaky as a ship in a storm. There was a short silence that took forever to break.
"Ha ha! You were the timid one! Honestly, your transformation is impressive as hell. Honestly, you're the same as any girl at this point." The boo said, taking another sip of her drink. Everyone else seemed to be impressed, rather than angry. Goombella had been ready to fight to defend Vivian for the duration of the conversation, but it seemed that wasn't necessary.
"So she's a girl, right?" The koopa said. Vivian prayed this didn't take the only bad turn possible.
"Yes, right." Vivian said.
"Oh. Okay... Wait, don't we have someone in the Hinatura who used to be a girl and then turned into a boy?" The koopa asked.
"Yeah, he was kicked out of his own home for it, too! I don't know what would've happened if we didn't take him in. Don't people try to hurt you for swappin' genders and stuff?" Point asked.
"Yes, that's why I try to avoid it at all costs... But here I got kinda unlucky since you remembered me before I transitioned. At least nobody is trying to hurt me here, though. " Vivian said.
"Heh, here you don't have to worry. We've taken in so many people abandoned by their families 'cause of who they liked or what they wanted to be... Kinda messed up how people can turn so nasty once they find out you're just a little different." Point said, downing the rest of his drink.
"Wait, did your friend Goombella know about that?" The boo asked.
"Well, um, yes. She-" Said Vivian before she was interrupted by Goombella herself.
"Yeah! Of course I knew! 'Cause I'm her girlfriend!" Goombella said cheerily. The table seemed pleased with this turn of events. Point laughed a little.
"Ohhh, so THAT'S why you got so nervous when I asked you about your boyfriend!" Point said. Laughter could be heard from around the table, from all except a few. Those who weren't laughing were still smiling heartily, and their faces red from alcohol.
"Oh my god, Point, you asked them about their relationship?" The boo said.
"Screw off, you were pushing for that to be the standard!" Point said, his voice a mix of annoyed and playful.
Vivian and Goombella sat closer to eachother, knowing that they were safe to be themselves in this small pocket of the world. The lively chatter and high spirits remained until an unreasonable hour of the night. The glasses slowly went from half full to completely empty. Once it was outrageously late and it was decided that it was time to sleep, Vivian tried her best to make sure everyone got back to their room safely, trying to herd the incredibly drunk group.
Vivian and Goombella got back to their room, with Goombella almost completely passed out.
"Vivian..." Goombella said, having trouble with every syllable.
"Yes?" Vivian said, ready to be incredibly patient for her hardly functioning Girlfriend.
"I'm so glad that, uh... They respect you... Being transgender. You're safe in here... I love you, Vivian! I'm so happy we don't have to worry!" Goombella said, hugging Vivian tight. Her speech was kind of a mess, but Vivian understood completely.
"I'm happy too, Goombella. Let's get some sleep before morning, okay?" Vivian said, smiling.
Goombella fell asleep the second she touched the matress, while Vivian had a little bit of time to get into a comfortable cuddle with Goombella before Vivian succumbed to a peaceful sleep. Vivian and Goombella didn't often get to sleep without any worries, but a lucky turn of events allowed them to rest with nothing wheighing them down.
The last train of thought Vivian had before she fell asleep went something like this:
"Goombellas hair is so soft... I'm glad I don't have to worry about hiding this. I don't know what tomorrow will hold. Maybe things will go terribly. But, maybe means there's a chance it won't. I really should stop worrying about things I have no control over. People say to appreciate the moment, right? I guess I'll appreciate my amazing, drunk, and beautiful girlfriend in my arms. Gosh, she really is amazing..."