Shades of the Past, Shades of the Future

Morton's POV:

Another morning had arrived, the next after the one that greeted him while being chased by Nightmare Creatures after escaping the Pillager Outpost. Morton tossed clumps of the coarse soil beneath his padded feet onto his campfire, extinguishing it. He took some roasted berries bundled in charred grass from his shell—a meal he'd made with his fire and the berry bushes that grew seemingly everywhere in this evergreen wonderland—and chowed down, wiping his muzzle clean afterward and rubbing his belly.

He'd evaded insanity and zombies ever since the incident with the Outpost, but his murder of the Raid Captain still haunted him, and we wanted the Koopatrols to be safe and to get the yellow gem back from Vincent. He was also concerned at however many Illager patrols had been sent to find him, but he had seen no sign of them throughout this time and the worry was beginning to depart.

Morton kicked some leaves that had dropped from a small spruce tree (that had somehow been growing nearby) over the remaining ashes and broken logs of the fire, then took a swig from the grass cup he'd made, which had been filled with muddy water still remaining from the rain before clearing the gunk with a strainer and boiling the water clean of disease over the fire. He pulled a clay cap that he'd made over his cup, securing it tight with some mud as if it were glue before putting it in his shell. He took a deep breath and looked around, fascinated with all of his work: the cup, the campfire, his survival.

He was determined to find this "King Bowser Koopa," these "Koopalings;" to find out what "the Prophecy" was, what it entailed…

The road he had been following had long since ended abruptly, for there was a large hole in the ground at the road at one point, and there wasn't much of it afterward. Morton had thought about it the whole day as he kept going in the direction the road had been, and came to the conclusion that one of those four-legged, leafy creatures with the depressed faces that exploded had something to do with it. He'd only seen two of those walking bombs since the Outpost, hiding in the dappled shadows of the evergreens and inside large bushes, and so he had kept his distance the best he could, remembering what happened at the grassland with the zombies.

It was an explosion.

He was thinking about the kamikaze creatures again as he went forth before he came to a large downward slant in the terrain. He followed it, and it turned into a wide dell (a secluded hollow, typically of a smaller size) bordered by mossy cobblestone and gravel and covered with old brown shrubs and scrub, and mossy boulders. Lots and lots of mossy boulders.

Some were just small, insignificant pebbles, or ones even more degraded that they were now just dirt and dust. But a majority were almost as big shopping carts, some even as big as cars. The stone they were made of was varied, some being a light-ish blueish-gray, while some were more yellowed and browner, like the pages of books new and old. They were flat and round, smooth and bumpy, but for the latter every rock was somewhat bumpy, and more were all bumpy than all smooth.

Dark brown, mustard-yellow, and green brambles and moss coursed through cracks and holes in the boulder clumps, and the boulders themselves, like a liquid. The other vegetation merged seamlessly with the podzol, grass and dirt, as if they were a single organism throughout the entire forest!

Perhaps the strangest part of all was the ring of berry bushes in the very center of the dell. The bushes grew no berries and around them was a ring of boulders. The bushes and boulders both looked like they were placed and then angled very specifically; all the boulders had a sharp edge that pointed to the bushes, and all the bushes looked identical…

Morton looked around before slowly edging towards the center. Curiosity tugged at his mind, wondering what it could be. What it might do.

It could be a trap, he thought to himself. Or it could not. It might be dangerous. Or it could not. It doesn't look very natural…but then again, how would I know? This entire world outside the mesa—Redpepper Mesa—makes almost no sense.

What could happen if I got to the center? Would I die? Would it break and I would fall? Would something climb out of it? Would I be pulled into it?

He stopped, just outside the ring of boulders around the bushes. This is such a bad, stupid idea. I want to know, though! But what if…

It doesn't look like a trap. I mean, actually, it does. Also, though….not really?

Morton backed away, his claws sheathing and unsheathing in worry. He took some deep breaths, then put a claw to his lips and tipped his head down, eyes closed. His thinking pose.

I need to investigate. Yes, he decided. He smiled to himself, but then it vanished when more bad thoughts came to him. He tried to ignore them, but they still remained even after a hard bout of trying. If, at least, a little.

Morton found some crevices in the nearest boulder and climbed up it. It was one of the big-as-a-car ones, so it took him a bit, but eventually, he got to the top and strode to the sharp edge. From there, he could see over the berry bushes to the center, and…

…there was nothing. Just more podzol inside.

Morton barked a laugh. It was nothing!

Except…what if there's something underneath? Do I have to dig it up? I don't have a shovel or pickaxe or anything…

I DON'T HAVE THE TIME, myself! I have to find King Bowser Koopa and see what The Prophecy is all about!

Morton froze the image of that area in the back of his mind, then left the dell and kept going the way he had gone before. He passed a little stream that bubbled through a crack in the ground, which he used for a fresh water refill. He also went by a patch of green mushrooms in some shade made by an evergreen, which looked just like the cooked ones that gave a boost to one's sanity! Morton wanted to swipe them and roast them, but he was afraid there was some special procedure for that he didn't have the knowledge of, so he forced himself to leave them alone.

After not even an hour had passed, Morton arrived at a wall of boulders that were the ground for an entire new area of the evergreen forest. He looked to his left and right, and sure enough, the raised area ran to the edges of his vision on both sides. Deciding wherever he was going was ahead, he climbed up it and started forth.

There were ridges and clumps and hills of dirt mixed with boulders like that of the dell. Large bushes dotted the area, some bearing berries, or some with barely any leaves, but besides some occasional shrubs and short grass there wasn't any small vegetation. In fact, only some small evergreens were on the raised area, letting the sunlight shine everywhere, making the podzol glow. The berries on the buses glinted in the sun like rubies, too, and little birds flew around from tree to tree. Morton spotted a chunky zombie hiding under one of the trees but left it alone—it was smart enough to not go after him, because otherwise it would burn to a crisp.

Morton stopped to pick some berries off the bushes, tossing them into his mouth ambiently after the sharp pain from the bushes' leaves subsided. They tasted sweeter than the ones he'd bundled up in his shell, so he ate some more, then bundled them up again. Maybe they would lose their tastiness, but at least they would stay around longer.

He continued on. Midday. Several times he felt the need to take shelter from the sun under trees until he cooled down enough, and once he had to urinate—an act all Koopas do through little slits in their tails that close once the process finishes. It was getting really hot out, and even though Koopas are pretty sturdy standing against the elements, and that Morton had lived his whole life out in the mesa, he had been a lot cooler lately, and his body was still trying to get back used to the heat of summer.

Morton came across some ash and rotted chunks of a zombie caught in the sun. He kicked some leaves over it as he had done with his extinguished campfire, and then went on, bored. Bored bored bored. He still had that "Nightmare Fuel," but he hadn't really fidgeted with it as much as he used to pass the time. The terrain was just too uneven, and he kept on needing to climb over or crawl under boulders, boulders, rocks, boulders, a fallen tree, maybe some more rocks, boulders, rocks, and BOULDERS!

He was beginning to wonder why all the boulders were everywhere, but then he found something even more strange. Armor. It was made of copper, bronze, iron, steel, even a bit of gold. All the pieces were beat up and broken, but all were slightly different. Some were hollow half-circles helmets for Goombas, some with a spike or two on them. Most of them, though, appeared to be built for Illagers…or Koopas.

Koopatrols.

Morton wandered over to one of the armor pieces. A chestplate with the frame of strong wood, and the rest, a mess of copper and bronze. One of its shoulders was dented, and the second, connecting piece of the chestplate was on the ground a little bit away. Morton brought it over to the chestplate: it was a sheet of bronze molded to fit over a Koopa shell. There were spikes on it, and they were hollow, so a Koopa with spikes could fit it, but also if they didn't, the shell-cover would provide them.

Morton took off his belt with its scabbard and put it aside. Next, he used the leather straps coming out from inside the chestplate and shell-cover to bind them together once he slid it down over him, before buckling the straps near the waist of the chestplate. Finally, he put his belt back on, over the chestplate this time.

The chestplate and shell-cover were both a little tight, so Morton kept loosening and unloosening the buckles and jogging around until it didn't fall off but still was a somewhat comfortable fit. It made him feel a lot safer now, knowing he wouldn't damage his shell so much if he had to retreat into it again, and his soft underbelly was finally covered by more than grass. The only problem is, his armor wasn't made for smooth sliding and was a little heavy, so even if he could fit in his shell—the chestplate's shoulders and his too-small-for-his-head-helmet couldn't fit through his arm-holes and head-hole very well—he couldn't spin to safety.

Mobility lost, protection gained. Morton didn't know which he valued more, but when he spotted more armor and equipment up ahead, he figured it out.

There were some chainmail leggings up ahead, on a boulder, hanging over the side of it. Morton picked them up and tried to fit them on, but they were too big. Even if he pulled them all the way up and stuck the top of it under his belt, they just didn't fit! Morton figured it was because of how small his legs were compared to the rest of his body.

Morton set the chainmail leggings aside before spotting something else; golden boots, each fitted with a ruby. They shone like undying embers in the sunlight, especially with the rubies, which looked like the center of the flame. Morton picked them up gingerly, poking his hands inside them. The bottom was made of leather; the inside, cushioned with rabbit hide softened in a liquid for comfort and easily slipping them on and off. He turned them over and shook them. A few droplets of purple gel dripped out slowly, then some water. Still being cautious, Morton ripped up some grass and scrubbed both boots dry, before tossing the grass between some boulders and slipping on the boots. They fit okay, but the corners were a little big, and wider than any Koopa.

They used to be an Illager's boots.

Morton sat on a rock. I wonder…I wonder what happened here. Why is there so much random stuff? It is all…broken. Or worn. Was it the slime rain? A big Koopa on Illager battle? Or something else?

Morton licked his lips, putting his hands, claws sheathed, in his lap. He stretched, allowing the sunlight to wrap around his form, one that blended into the landscape, if not for his white head, which stood out like a big fat forehead zit that needed a headband to cover. He felt warm and soothed, his armor trapping that heat for him. He smiled, and, seeing a dead bush popping out from the ground, broke off a chunk of it. A perfect-sized stick was now in his hands, and remembering his life from not too long ago, began to swing it around, imagining he was cutting down horde after horde of zombies, skeletons; those leaf bombs, those floating eyes; a fleet of Nightmare Creatures. He jumped and twirled, eventually dropping the stick and laughing as he ran around the rocks, feeling free again. It was like his lisfe in the mesa. He was naive then, bur happier, too, and that was what he wanted. No trees in the clearing hid nasty monsters. No darkness entangled him, terrifying him. Insanity was a world away. Nothing could harm—

"OW!"

Morton tripped over a stone, slicing his big knee on something poking out from some dead moss. He landed in some dirt, which turned to dust clouds that made Morton wheeze. He turned over, using the spikes on the shell-cover to prop himself into a sitting position. He thumped his chest and blinked rapidly until the dust was gone, then turning and spitting to the side.

Even here, something could harm him. This world was always a dangerous place, no matter what.

Morton just hadn't grasped that quite yet.

"WHAT THE DRAGONFLY?" Morton asked everyone, no one. The name Thaddeus gave the big green flying bug beast had stuck, and was cycling through his head a lot lately, along with everything else.

A sharp piece of metal caught the sun, attracting Morton like a fly to sugar. He crawled over to it, knocking some dirt clumps aside before wrapping his claws around it. He yanked the object out from the rocks and moss, and stood up, examining it. It was an iron ring with a chain hanging off it; a shackle! Morton slipped it onto his right arm, his dominant one, wearily.

Maybe it could provide some defense? Or a weapon, if I lost my knife again...

A quick berry snack preceded Morton's continued journey through the thicket. He felt like he was getting close to…something, at least. But he didn't know what.

The evergreens were all very condensed together at this point, and Morton felt dizzy as he swerved through them. After a half-hour of treading along, the trees spaced out to a reasonable distance once again, and Morton could feel sunlight and safety from a possible thing around each corner.

With the space returned the boulders. There was something different about them this time, though. All seemed at least somewhat deliberately placed, and most were round, like half-circles. Morton was a little weirded out, but not as much anymore. He passed by them, but soon it turned into a field of the deliberate boulders, and the evergreens had been purposely cleared so that they encircled, not disrupted, the boulders.

Feeling chills down his spine, Morton took out his knife and moved towards them. As he did, he saw that what he thought were dead bushes were actually crosses fashioned from two measly sticks tied together with grass and planted in a slab of stone, which in turn was stuck in the ground. They were clustered with the boulders, some broken and covered with moss, others old and worn. But as Morton looked closer, running his hands and claws over them, he felt, then saw, indentions in the markers. Not just any indentions. They were words. Words in the Koopa Commontongue, words almost every Koopa understood, and words Morton would understand, if he had learned how to read! Morton then began to see that the boulders had swords, crosses, and other runes carved into them, too. Bits of gear hid in the gray grass around the structures, too; Morton, though, didn't dare touch them, for slowly, it began to sink in what this place was.

It was a graveyard. These were tombstones. Headstones. Gravestones. Or gravewoods, with some being sticks? But under them were all bodies of dead Koopas, or Illagers, or both, or others, or all of the others and the Koopas and the Illagers nonetheless. No matter who or what, people were buried here.

And even though Morton never came to the conclusion, the gear he'd found had been at the battlefield where these deaths took place; some of those stranger boulders there were graves, too.

Morton felt a tear bead up in his eye, and then felt it roll down his cheek, and tasted it in his mouth. He was thinking about all the deaths that must've happened. There were at least a hundred, if not more, grave markers in this area alone. The battle, or battles, must've been massive, brutal, and bloody. Morton couldn't bear accidentally killing that Raid Captain. Yet that was one death. THIS was…however many.

Morton dropped his knife into the scabbard and rattled off a breath. He slumped down, gripped one of the wooden crosses as he began to cry. He started to think of Kevin and Claudie's grave back at one of the shacks in Redpepper Mesa, and it just made him cry harder. He thought about Sr. He cried even harder. He curled up into his shell the best he could, shutting his eyes, just letting himself cry, to get the overwhelming emotion out of him.

He tried to tell himself he'd be okay, but it didn't do anything. Not anything at all.

The best thought he came up with was: At least I'm not dead myself.

Thaddeus's POV:

"Keep going, now," growled Thaddeus, cracking his whip across the Ravager. The big, gray beast huffed and went a little faster. It was like a triceratops that needed a diet, with four tree-trunk-like legs on its sides that stood straight like pillars, and were attached to its side, instead of under it. Each step was a stomp, creating several-inch-deep, squarish holes in the green grass beneath it effortlessly, holes that grew dark under the cover of this particularly cloudless night.

The beast had two thin but long light-gray horns over its tiny ears that reached above its head, which pointed diagonally forwards. The bottom of the horns still had some of the Ravager's normal skin, which was the same color throughout its entire body: a wood-brown complexion with subtle gray hues. Its skin looked like massive cobblestones, too, and was tougher than that material on its own. The beast had two emerald-green reptilian eyes that closed horizontally, with a thick black unibrow connecting them, just like any other Illager or Villager. It had a long nose so gray it was almost black, with an emerald ring through one of its nostrils. It had a crooked mouth on the bottom of its head that actually WAS the bottom of its head, like the tick Nightmare Creatures, one that opened like a trapdoor as it breathed, brushing the grass as it did.

A platinum shoulder-plate was tied on to the top of each of the Ravager's legs, with the back two having platinum chains hanging from them that were very dark, but got lighter in color the farther they got from the shoulder-plates, which were two connecting pieces in the front, or just one big piece in the back. Each leg also had a shining platinum band halfway down, and just below that, an even larger band with a strange line that went up, and down, and up, and down, a pattern that kept going without a stop or end on the band.

Most easy to see of the Ravager, though, was its great orange leather saddle that rested on its back, one bound to the Ravager with platinum chains as well. And atop that saddle sat Thaddeus, his banner moving like a royal cape in the warm wind.

Ravagers were the only creature that was bred, raised, and domesticated by Illagers, and served as methods of transportation for Illagers of higher regard, or to be set loose into a battlefield to tear through the enemy with its speed, strength, and other…special attributes.

Finally, Thaddeus and his Ravager arrived at the Woodland Mansion. It was located in the massive Dark Forest, which was a part of the thicket the Pillager Outpost was at, and where Thaddeus had met Morton. The thicket as a whole, in fact, was called The Thicket of War, due to all of the fights of Illagers against Koopas that took place there.

Anyway, the trees of the Dark Forest were very dark oaks, and while looking like big oak trees, were four times their size, with lush green grass and leaves, leaves that blotted out almost all light, be it from the sun, moon, or something else entirely. All kinds of mushrooms grew here in the darkness, each granting special effects of some kind, and monsters a plenty roamed the Dark Forest, but Thaddeus's Butterfly Crossbow and Jester's Arrows, along with his Ravager, had made quick work of them when the time arose.

Thaddeus hopped off his Ravager and picked up a chain that was bound to a stone brick post just off the massive cobblestone walls surrounding the dark oak plank Mansion, which was three stories high, even though the top one was smaller than the rest, and light blared from each majestic, immaculate glass window, making the place feel, at the very least, inviting.

Thaddeus threw the chain around his Ravager and tossed him some rotten chunks from his belt pouches that he'd collected from a group of Undead. The Ravager snorted in delight, and Thaddeus put his whip at his belt and walked up to the stone wall. He had to feel around a bit, running his rough hands along the stone, before finding a mossy button hidden between two stones. He pressed it, and there was a grinding noise that rumbled underneath him, and to his left. He moved to the sound to watch a section of the wall sink into the ground by an ancient mechanism, leaving enough space for a Ravager to go through, but nothing larger. He walked through, just as the wall came up again, sealing Thaddeus within the courtyard of the Woodland Mansion.

Taking a reassuring breath, Thaddeus plodded along the beaten grass path, through the gardens of peonies, roses, poppies, cornflowers, dandelions, and more, along with some more magical plants, which were blocked off with iron fences. All eerily reflected the light of the moon as they silently swished in the wind.

Thaddeus made it to the great double doors of the Woodland Mansion, which had gold knockers on each that also served as doorknobs. In front stood a Pillager and a Vindicator. The Pillager looked like all others of his status, but was a bit bigger and stronger, with bits of diamond armor, including an obsidian helmet with lines of nicely cut diamonds running through it, and holding a loaded heavy crossbow. The Vindicator had the same gray skin, nose, unibrow, and head of an Illager, but had eyes blue like lapis-lazuli, a dark button-down coat with diamonds for buttons, the same obsidian helmet as the Pillager next to him, and brandished a double-sided battle axe. Normal Vindicators just had one-sided iron axes and no helmets most of the time. These two Illagers were both higher up in the hierarchy than the rest, so that's why they had all of this extra equipment and grandeur.

"Greetings, Thaddeus," said the two guards in unison, sheathing their weapons momentarily for the knuckle-crack, head dip Illager greeting.

Like always, Thaddeus grinned and returned the greeting.

"What is your business here, Raid Captain?" asked the Vindicator.

"I must speak with the master," said Thaddeus. He tried to say it calmly, but there was a hint of worry and unconcern in his voice. The guards noticed but didn't care; all Illagers seeing the master were usually scared, and rightfully so. It was almost never for a good reason.

The guards nodded and opened the double doors. Soothing light washed over Thaddeus as he stepped inside, but the noise of the double doors closing behind him, echoing throughout the grand foyer, reminded him of his duty here.

Thaddeus gulped as he walked along the red wool carpet that was outlined with white wool, and outlining that, gold lacing. Thaddeus arrived at the cobblestone staircase at the back of the foyer. He took a look around, at the hallways branching from the grand foyer, the portraits depicting elegant Illagers from times past, frames and mannequins containing magical items…pots of plants in every corner, lanterns hanging above them on chains…

Slowly, Thaddeus walked behind the staircase, to a shadowy area composed of smooth stone. There was a little niche in the wall, and in it, a tiny candle with a stone base, sickly yellow wax, and a pure black flame in the center, with the outside of the flame tinged with gray. It seemed to produce darkness as it flickered, pulling light into it, and producing nothing but more darkness.

Thaddeus picked up the Shadow Candle. The black flame was dying, and so he opened one of his pouches and yanked out a strand of pulsing Nightmare Fuel. The dark essence made a soft scream as it was pulled apart like slime, and it emitted another chilling sound as Thaddeus let it seep into the Shadow Candle. The black flame grew once again, and the light in the grand foyer dimmed ever so slightly.

There was a groan of stone against stone, just like the wall opening outside, and Thaddeus looked behind him to see the wall split apart and be pulled into the walls around it, revealing a brick staircase that seemed to go on forever, into a void of darkness. Gripping the Shadow Candle tightly, Thaddeus slowly made his way down the stairs, taking one last look at the light behind him, which was partly obscured by the staircase he was behind, before plunging into the darkness ahead.

Thaddeus had lost track of time. Each step was identical. No crack or moss of any kind grew on any brick, and it looked the same no matter where he looked, or where he was. The Shadow Candle made it darker than it already was down here, which was pitch-black to begin with, and the only thing Thaddeus could perceive through sight was the faint light gray that encircled the black flame of the Shadow Candle. It illuminated maybe a centimeter around him, but not with actual light. Just…something to see. Something that could be perceived. That was what kept the monster of the darkness, or just The Darkness from him.

Anything could fall victim to the monster of the darkness, as it had been called, as long as nothing could be seen around it. Even for the blind, be it Koopa or human or any other creature, if there was something there they could see if they had sight, they would be protected. That was the weakness of the monster of the darkness; if something could perceive them—more likely, it—they would be fine. That's why no one's ever seen the monster. They can't. Besides, it usually took about a slash or two form the monster to eviscerate one's life, so there rarely were any survivors of an attack from the monster.

That was one of the most intriguing aspects of Morton, in Thaddeus's opinion. He was a Koopaling, for sure, but from what he knew about attacks from the monster, it seems Morton really had been hurt by it. And he had almost been killed, but it had…stopped. At least, that was what the Koopa had said.

Thaddeus believed him. It was proof that he was the Koopaling of the Darkness. The monster must've known, too. Usually, it would've kept attacking, at least until the moonlight came back, which Morton said happened, but only after a while of the monster not relentlessly slashing! Besides, Morton's appearance and quirks surely sold that he was THE Koopaling, monster attacking or no monster attacking.

All of this thought about Morton had distracted Thaddeus, and he tripped on one of the stairs. Quickly, he let himself fall backwards, and he landed on his behind on one of the stairs, severely hurting his butt-bone in the process.

"Whoa whoa there," he told himself, cradling the Shadow Candle close to his chest. Shakily, he stood up and looked around. Still darkness. A thought caught his mind that, perhaps, he had just been walking in place this whole time? It wouldn't make sense, but…

Thaddeus began to walk back up the stairs, but eventually stopped.

This is stupid of myself, he thought, I've been here before. There is a bottom. There are walls. There is a ceiling. Just to check, though, Thaddeus bumped into the walls to his left and right, feeling them, and then standing tip-toed in his boots, allowing the top of his banner to scrape the ceiling, which was always only a bit above the stairs.

Thaddeus sighed before retracing his steps, then continuing downwards.

I should've grabbed a Potion of Night Vision. In fact, I should always have one on me! No, wait, I used mine during the Dark Forest trek, to spot the zombies…I should've at least brought a lantern—wait, no, I can't. I tried it the one time, and the Shadow Hands put it out. At least they don't put this out. He clutched the Shadow Candle more tightly. Is there anything…wait. Wait just one moment.

Thaddeus set the Shadow Candle down and pulled out his Butterfly Crossbow. Next, he grabbed two Jester's Arrows, and loaded them, making the loudest sound he'd heard since coming down here. The Jester's Arrows illuminated his face with a ghostly white glow as they lit up, little rainbow specks floating from them to the ground, which then dissolved.

YES!

Thaddeus held the crossbow in one arm, holding it under his elbow and with his right hand, and with his left hand he held the Shadow Candle. He could actually see it as a whole now, and for some reason the Shadow Candle wasn't producing more shadows with the Jester's Arrows lit up near it. Neither were the Shadow Hands trying to put out the Jester's Arrows, ones which Thaddeus was just now seeing, and Thaddeus knew why. The Jester's Arrows were produced with some kind of Lunar material, and thus the white light and piercing ability mainly came from the Lunar magic within. He couldn't remember exactly who made them, though—he thought it was an Illusioner, one of the most talented kinds of Illager sorcerers.

Thaddeus continued, stopping every once in a while to consume another cooked green cap, which was to restore his ever-deplenishing sanity. Finally, after another hour of walking in the ceaseless void, anxiety cutting deeper into him, he reached the bottom. He didn't want to think of how many tons of stone sat above him, but of course he did, and that made it even more frightening.

He was in a room made of the same stone brick as the stairwell, walls, and ceiling, but there were cracks in the ground, too. All of them were filled in with Nightmare Fuel combined with some kind of glowing red energy, though, which provided the faintest amount of extra light. At the end of the room sat a black pedestal, and on it, a skull. Not an Illager one, no, and not a Koopa one either.

It was a human skull.

Thaddeus slung the Butterfly Crossbow over his shoulder, ate a green cap from one of his pouches, and then placed the Shadow Candle in a hole in the skull, letting black fire pour from the cavities in the skull like a lit jack-o'-lantern. A final sound of groaning stone reached his ears, and the wall behind the pedestal and the skull retracted upwards, showing off a hallway lit with torches of a sickly wood, and glowing with a violet flame.

Thaddeus flexed his hands, then stepped through the hall, under the corrupted torches' gaze. The dirt floor made his attire as unpresentable than ever, but Thaddeus pushed this concern away from his head. Finally, he reached a bridge of old, crumbling stone that started at the end of the hall and ended at a floating stone dais cloaked eternally in darkness. On either side, the bridge gave way to nothing but a pit of darkness, and not just below—left, right, up and everywhere. Charily, Thaddeus walked across the bridge, stopping right before the cloud of darkness around the dais.

Thaddeus opened his mouth to speak, but his master beat him to it.

"Welcome, Thaddeus," hissed his master from the dark cloud. Thaddeus heard a metallic scraping noise as his master curled up into a more comfortable shape. He hoped it was just his master's claws that made that sound.

Thaddeus performed the Illager greeting, but this time, he also bowed. "Hail ye, King."

Even though it wasn't his real name, the Illagers called the King that, and the King did not mind at all.

"So…Private Ironhide says you…request me?" asked Thaddeus. It was hard to push past his fear of the King, unlike his fear of other measly things.

"Why, yes," said the King in a laid-back tone, though there was still some ice to it. He smirked, even though Thaddeus couldn't see. He couldn't see his master at all in that dark cloud of his, even though he wasn't the monster of the darkness. "I sense…fear in your voice. You need not fear me. Unless you have done something disappointing?" He was so to-point and accurate, it made Thaddeus shiver again, and his vision paled slightly from insanity.

"Well, my King, you see, I…I may have." He tugged at his robes. "We…we killed a King Slime, my King, and protected our closest Pillager Outpost from a slime rain. We also…found a K-Koopatrol…patrol. We captured them, and I shot one who had digested slime. But, you see, this patrol…had a Koopa with them. Not just any Koopa, though, I assure you. He was a Koopaling. Definitely. A-and I think he was…the one, if you know what I mean."

"Of course I do," snorted the King. "I assume you lost him, then?"

He knows. He always knows. "Y-yes, my King. He proved to have…extraordinary strength, and was quite flexible and vehement, too…he didn't appear very smart, and has dark skin and a strange voice, but I think it's just a ploy. I think he really knows a lot. Also…apparently, the monster of the darkness assaulted him, but after the first attack, it stopped, even before midnight's moonlight came back to him. More proof he is the one."

The King's slitted crimson eyes flashed in the darkness, peering into Thaddeus's soul. The King reached out a single long, white claw, and flicked it towards the cloud, beckoning Thaddeus closer.

"Tell me more," said the King.

"There…t-there isn't much more, my King…" stuttered Thaddeus. He backed away instead. "His name was Morton Koopa Jr. He grew up in Redpepper Mesa with his father, Morton Koopa Sr., who is now presumably dead after helping his son escape a Dragonfly, in different shacks across the area. He says the rest of his family is dead, too. Claudie was the name of his m-m-mother. Yes." A deep breath put a stop in his speech for a moment, and the King waited for him to restore his breath.

"He seems conflicted about magic, too, and doesn't want to join us. As such, well…um…" Thaddeus took a pause, looking around the room. He felt insanity creeping through him again, and the faint forms of Nightmare Creatures began to reveal themselves, clinging on and under the bridge, and pouring from the cloud, falling into the bottomless pit and merging with it, creating more…just…darkness.

Thaddeus shook his head and continued. "He says he doesn't really know any magic, either, and possessed some significant items, like Nightmare Fuel and a yellow gem. He took the Fuel back in his escape, along with some supplies and equipment, my King, but Vincent still has the yellow gem. You do know who—"

"I know Vincent," said the King. "I know each and every one of you." As he said this, he dragged his extended claw along the ground, back into the cloud. Sparks flew from it as it did, and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "...Well? Anything else?"

"I think he is searching for K…Bowser Koopa." Thaddeus almost made the grave mistake of saying King Bowser Koopa. The King surely would've torched him to cremains and then knocked him over the edge into the mouths of a million Terrorbeaks, no doubt, and not felt anything wrong about it. "I think he…wants to find the Koopalings. He knows of The Prophecy and The Midsummer Carnival, t-too, m-my King."

A plume of purple fire blasted out of the cloud, one that eventually dissipated into darkness as well. It was accompanied by a viscous roar, and there was another metallic scraping noise. Thaddeus locked gazes with the crimson eyes that now, once again, peered from the cloud.

"You must find him. Bring him to me. From there, I can bring him to MY…master." Another plume of fire. This one, Thaddeus had to sidestep to not become charcoal. "If he really is the Koopaling…he will turn the tides of this war. If he isn't…we kill him, and the war ends. Both end in our favor."

"Only the war against the non-siders, right?" said Thaddeus. "The war against the Lunar will still be amiss."

"But we'll have an advantage, at least," the King spoke with certainty. "If they're smart. Which, frankly, they must be, to survive this long without taking any particular side. If they're smart, though, they would surrender, we convert or kill them, they choose, and then we have Bowser's Castle. Koopa Castle, as it is called no matter the current Koopa King. From there…who knows what powerful things we could find to decimate the Lunar. I know that Koopa Castle is the most diverse place in the known world, if we are talking in terms of unique magical items. We win the world…just as long as Morton gets to my master. You got that, Thaddeus? Your new assignment may cost the war, which would bring you to an unfortunate end should you misstep. Can I trust you?"

Thaddeus wanted to say no, but he knew better. He'd try. He'd work for it, just like any Illager. And if he worked hard enough, his dream of winning the war would become true. Like Vincent had said to Morton about dreams when he was interrogating the Koopaling of the darkness.

"Yes, my King." I said it. My fate is sealed. I've got to do this, for my own sake.

"I thought so." More scraping, and then a snort. "You may go, Thaddeus. Do whatever you must. Rally the army. Just get Morton Koopa Jr. …if he really is the Koopaling we seek."

"He is, my King. I will get him. Just you watch." Thaddeus felt a burst of confidence and pride from the words "Rally the army." The King did trust him; and he would prove that trust.

"I shall." And watch he would.

Thaddeus turned to leave, but the King let out a sharp hiss that stopped him in his tracks. Slowly, the Raid Captain turned back to the cloud. "Y-yes, my King? Is there something else?"

"What is that in your crossbow?" questioned the King.

Shakily, Thaddeus held his crossbow out. The Jester's Arrows lit up white with Lunar magic, and Thaddeus's new confidence was lost.

"That's…that's Lunar oriented, isn't it?" said the King threateningly, as if he'd just been slapped.

"I was given to them by Edward the Illusioner, my-my King!" Thaddeus practically pleaded. "It is very useful, I must a-admit, the Jester's Arrows can pierce—"

"You know better," snapped the King. "Dispose of all of them, and give Edward the Illusioner a talking-to. With force."

"He was just—"

A mighty, frosty roar echoed throughout the seemingly endless chamber. The bridge shook, and several cobblestones broke away, tumbling end over end into nothingness. Thaddeus almost fell down himself!

Quickly, Thaddeus yanked the Jester's Arrows from the Butterfly Crossbow and dropped them, before kicking them off the bridge with a grunt. Next, he slung the Butterfly Crossbow over his shoulder and removed all the Jester's Arrows from his quiver, dropping them one by one into the void. The King's eyes followed each one as it lit up, then blinked out as it fell, the sheer darkness crushing its Light, its Lunar, magic.

"Remain as competent as you have been before, Thaddeus, or Morton will never be ours," said the King once Thaddeus finished. He waited for Thaddeus to nod. "Now you may go."

Just to be safe, Thaddeus bowed and cracked his knuckles, then got up and ran out of the chamber, out of the hall, and grabbed the Shadow Candle. The hallway was sealed once more, and Thaddeus fed the Shadow Candle some more Nightmare Fuel before starting back up the staircase, leaving the cracks in the stone floor of the bottom room to pulse red with the rage of the King.

New references to games in this chapter:

96. Cooking berries in Don't Starve makes them "Roasted," which is why they are described as such when Morton eats them; Morton hiding under trees to go against the heat of summer is also an aspect of Don't Starve

97. The "coarse soil" is Coarse Dirt from Minecraft; same with the generation of Berry Bushes and Mossy Cobblestone boulders throughout the thicket, which is now a Mega Taiga biome; the Dark Forest and its Dark Oak trees are also from Minecraft, and so are all the flowers in the "gardens of peonies, roses, poppies, cornflowers, dandelions, and more..."

98. The armor pieces and other gear Morton found are from Minecraft, Minecraft: Dungeons, and Terraria; the Shackle is from Terraria, specifically, and provides 1 point of Defense, likewise to how Morton thinks it could be used as protection

99. The "little birds" are the little birds seen in Mario games, and also the ones from Terraria

100. The grave maker variants are all from Terraria, though some of the stone ones are from Don't Starve

101. Ravagers, the Woodland Mansion, and the mechanisms for opening/closing the doors Thaddeus used (Redstone contraptions) are from Minecraft; the portraits throughout the Woodland Mansion "depicting elegant Illagers from times past" are some of the paintings that could be seen in Minecraft: Dungeons's Highblock Halls level, or in that game's Ancient Hunt version of the Woodland Mansion, as the Woodland Mansion is a combination of the vanilla Minecraft AND Minecraft: Dungeons iteration of it

102. The Shadow Candle and Corrupted Torches are both from Terraria

103. The red-and-black energy in the cracks of the stones Thaddeus saw are Ancient Brickwork (Turf) from Don't Starve

104. The King is a certain someone from the Mario games...