We back, boys and girls! And —
Siph: And this time it hasn't been a whole year since the last chapter! Only 7 months instead!
Hush, you.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, Bowser Jr. wouldn't be in that blasted Clown Car in Mario Tennis and Super Smash Bros.
Chapter 42: Underserved Punishment
Lemmy stared at the ground, not speaking to or acknowledging anyone. Morton sat on the ground in front of him, looking at the smallest Koopaling with anticipation. Iggy glanced back and forth between them uneasily. The party glanced between the princes and each other, unsure who would or even should break the increasingly uncomfortable silence.
Iggy finally broke the silence. "Lemmy —" he began.
"Don't." Lemmy interrupted, squeezing his eyes shut.
Nobody ever promised this would be easy.
Koopley cleared his throat. "Perhaps it would be easier if we weren't in the middle of Petalburg."
"Good idea." Koopie Koo nodded. "We could go back to the bridge just outside of town." She pointed east.
Morton stood and wrapped his large arms around Lemmy, picking him up and holding him close, much to the latter's protests. "Lead the way."
*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*
Flurrie breathed in the floral scent on the breeze above the river. "I do hope this is the more private venue we needed."
"That's not really up to us," Goombella replied from her perch on the bridge railing.
The Great Gonzales Jr. took the time skipping rocks up the river while the group waited for the Koopalings to begin their much-needed talk.
"Lemmy," Morton began, still holding him from behind, "how many times do we need to go over this? We don't blame you for what happened to Iggy. We never have, and we never will. We have no reason to blame you or hate you."
Lemmy scoffed, "You must be talking about something different that happened to Iggy, because I remember being told that I was the one who suggested breaking his mind."
"That wasn't you, Lemmy!" Iggy suddenly shouted. He put his hands on Lemmy's shoulders. "Someone else or something else was using you. I just know it!" He clutched the side of his head. "I can't…" He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. "Ever since then, whenever I try to think about it or work on it again, my head gets fuzzy and hurts."
Gonzales stopped skipping rocks. "Working on what?" he asked.
Lemmy's eyes widened and both his eyes aligned to look Iggy in the eye. "You mean, what you were working on before Cackletta broke in?"
Iggy nodded, still suffering a headache.
"You mean that thing with King Dad and the weird voice Iggy kept hearing?" Morton asked.
Iggy nodded again, sweat dripping profusely from his head as veins bulged out.
Bobbery approached them. "Are you boys suggesting the two might be connected somehow?"
Iggy suddenly screeched and collapsed on the ground, gripping the sides of his head. He continued screaming and writhing there as his shadow started shuddering and rippling.
"IGGY!" Lemmy and Morton cried as they knelt beside him.
Everyone rushed to them.
Ms. Mowz immediately dumped the contents of their bag of healing items and attempted to give Iggy a Super Shroom. "Here, try this!"
Iggy struggled to stop screaming in pain long enough to take the offered item. His muscles slowly relaxed, his veins faded back beneath his skin, and his perspiration slowed. His headache remained, but only as a dull annoyance. Iggy breathed heavily, still lying on the ground.
Lemmy lifted one of Iggy's arms around his shoulders. "Iggy, are you okay?!"
"I… I think so…" Iggy panted.
"D-did you see his shadow moving?" Goombella stammered. "That was so totally freaky! What was that?!"
"I don't mean to sound paranoid," Flurrie began, "but I can't help but worry that something or someone doesn't want poor Iggy — or anyone, for that matter — looking into this… voice."
"It's not paranoia at all. Vivian, I think your theory is getting more likely by the minute."
The group turned back towards the bridge to see all three Shadow Sirens.
"Beldam? What are you doing here?" Goombella asked.
Vivian approached her friends. "We think we know what's going on."
Beldam nodded. "It's an old tale," she began, "but everything you've said and just now witnessed lines up with the mythical Umbra and Penumbra."
She reminds me of Aunt Kammy, Lemmy thought.
Morton and Goombella both grew curious at the idea of a myth.
"Umbra? Penumbra?" Morton repeated.
Beldam continued, "Umbra are mythical entities that live within a person's soul. An Umbra is born into the world on a person's darkest day, in the lowest, darkest moment of the host's life. This could be abandonment, the loss of a loved one, et cetera. Umbra usually awaken the moment they are born, but some can incubate for an indeterminate amount of time. After awakening, an Umbra is able to see and hear through the eyes and ears of its host, as well as hearing its host's thoughts. Most Umbra stay hidden from their host and the rest of the world, but once awake they can still be detected by characters or artifacts that can detect evil.
"An Umbra's personality is somewhat influenced by the nature of the dark moment that heralded its birth. Similarly, an Umbra will give itself a name related to that moment or to its personality. For example, an umbra born in an abusive family," Beldam looked at Vivian with a pang of guilt, "might name itself Unfavorite. Umbra might not be material, but they are perfectly formed to fit the hole in their host's heart.
"An Umbra passively feeds off of, and accumulates HP, Attack, and Defense from, the negative emotions of its host. Umbra subtly push their hosts to perform acts that would produce more of these emotions, and bring up negative thoughts and memories in their hosts' mind, all without revealing themselves. If an Umbra consumes enough negative emotions, it can feed off the emotions of those around the host, and the radius increases the more power it gets. After even more feeding, an Umbra can plant a portion of itself, called a Penumbra, in another sub-host. This Penumbra allows the Umbra to see and hear through the sub-host's eyes and ears as well as the host's, and feeds the Umbra from even more sources of negative energy. The Umbra can also influence a sub-host's thoughts and actions the same way it can influence a host's. The Penumbra, unlike the Umbra, is invisible to Detect Evil. The more power an Umbra has, the more sub-hosts it can infiltrate with Penumbra.
"However, even weak Umbra can plant a Penumbra in its host's sex cells, which would then produce a Penumbra inside the host's child." Beldam tipped her hat up and looked at the three Koopalings with her rarely seen icy eyes. "And an Umbra knows where its Penumbra are at all times, no matter where the Penumbra are throughout the dimensions. And with enough power, it was said an Umbra can take full control of its and its Penumbra's bodily hosts." She paused here, waiting for her massive information dump to settle in.
And settle in, it did.
"Wait…" Iggy began, ignoring the weakened throbbing in his temples, "Are you suggesting King Dad has an Umbra that was pulling the strings? And that we," he gulped, "we all have his Penumbra inside us?" Iggy hissed and winced as the throbbing intensified.
Gonzales Jr. reached into the sack and pulled out a Slow Shroom to give Iggy continuous relief from the persistent headache.
Beldam nodded. "Indeed. And it seems your father's Umbra wants to remain secretive, if those headaches and your unstable shadow are any indication."
Morton gasped. "I get it! So when Iggy was getting really close to figuring it out five years ago, King Dad's Umbra used Cackletta's takeover as an opportunity to take just enough control of us to change Iggy's Penumbra so that it attacks him whenever he tries to research it again! He attacked Iggy through Cackletta's magic! He… Lemmy, he spoke through your Penumbra — he spoke using your mouth!" Morton turned to the smallest Koopaling.
Only to find his brother on his knees, sobbing into his hands.
Morton knelt down and put his big hands on Lemmy's much smaller shoulders. "Lemmy, what's wrong?"
Lemmy looked up, and to everyone's surprise, he was smiling. Despite the tears shimmering in his eyes, it was obvious this smile was genuine. The first real smile Lemmy had worn in a very long time. "It's not my fault!" He hugged Morton. "I can't believe it! I… I hated myself. I punished myself so much because I thought I deserved this. All these years… Stars…" Lemmy dragged Morton to Iggy for a Koopaling group hug. "It's not my fault!"
Lemmy was free. And by the Stars did freedom feel good. His relief was contagious, and there were a few misty eyes among the Crystal Star holders.
But based on how violently the three brothers' shadows were shuddering, not everybody was pleased with this fortunate turn of events.
Surprise heartwarming! This is a big, big, BIG leap in Lemmy's story arc. Honestly, all that's left for him to fully heal is to discuss this with Ludwig and Roy.
Siph: Who knew character development came in so many words?
Nah, character development takes longer than that. But sometimes all it takes is the realization that the event you based your whole life's outlook on wasn't what it seemed.
Siph: He didn't have all the information. Heck, no one did! Well, Iggy almost did.
Speaking of, oh my gosh, we're FINALLY getting some information on our mysterious force from 5 years ago. Possibly.
Siph: And the mysterious jerk from Chapter 19 who was taunting Bowser. Dun dun DUH!
Any thoughts? Questions, comments, critiques, concerns, or snide remarks?
Siph: The review section is right down there for you to use at your ledger!
Leisure.
Siph: Whatever.