Chapter 24 Dark Kingdom, Sad Heart
The bugs of World 5 formed their own version of a symphony as the sun set over the region. The dusk settling over the trees made Peach yawn, and yawn profusely at that. She knew she needed to sleep. She had already made AMAZING progress, with the edge of World 5 not too far away. In fact, she could actually see it! As such, she could feel satisfied with clearing this leg of the trip, and she could reward herself by taking a break.
And that's what she did. Following some instructions in a book that she had found in her backpack, she began to set up camp. She gathered a decent amount of twigs and branches and bunched them all together. A fairly difficult task… but it was nowhere near as difficult as what she had to do next. She got some rocks and rubbed them together, hoping that she could create some sort of spark. She knew it was possible, but… why wasn't it working? Why was it taking so long? She had the stones, she was creating friction between the two of them… where was the spark?
Oh, there it was. A spark fell from the rocks and ignited a fire that consumed all the twigs. Pulling back, Peach breathed a sigh of relief as she put her hand to her chest. Good. She had done it. She was thankful that she didn't need to use any of the power-ups Tolstar had provided, as she wanted to save those for later. But even still, the desire to get out a fireflower was REALLY tempting. While she hadn't been watching the clock, she knew that the task had taken at least ten minutes. And in those ten minutes, the sun had completely disappeared. The sky was still relatively light in color, but the queen knew that wouldn't last long. Darkness would overtake everything within no time at all.
With this thought in mind, Peach sat down in front of the fire. She laid her backpack behind her, laying against it like a pillow. The flames in front of her were so… beautiful. The orange light they produced, on top of being warm, was a great source of comfort. Looking at them, Peach felt a little nostalgic. She remembered when she was a little girl, how she and Peasley would watch sunsets outside of her bedroom window. Peasley would hug her, hold her close, as they kept their eyes glued outside. The orange and yellow with the sky had stuck with Peach all those years, and she now could see it in this fire. She was happy that this sight made her go back to those better, simpler times.
She was happy to an extent, at least. Thinking back to those times, when she and her brother were within close proximity to each other, with their whole lives ahead of them… Peach sniffled, pulling her legs up to her chest as she thought about that. Sobs came out of her mouth, and the tears flowed down her face. They picked up in speed and intensity as she focused on the last time she had seen Peasley.
There… there was no way he was coming back. He had fallen off a mountain, plummeting down at breakneck speeds. If the darkness that had grabbed him didn't kill him, he would most definitely be killed by the impact when he landed. There was no way he was coming back. Peasley was gone.
Peasley was gone. Those words, that thought, didn't feel right. Peach wanted to believe that he was okay. Part of her still did; it was like there was a disconnect between what had happened in reality and the feelings she harbored in her own head. Peasley shouldn't be gone. He shouldn't be! Peasley had always been there! He had always been alive, always been around to cheer her on. Even when they weren't within eyesight of each other, Peach knew that her brother always provided her with some moral support.
Sniffling, she grasped hold of the broach. It was so strange. He had been here and present one moment, and then completely gone the next. The spark of life that rested within him had been stolen in the blink of an eye and… and…
The tears grew bigger and fell even faster still. She turned over on her belly and sobbed into the backpack, the backpack her brother had provided for her. Nothing felt right anymore. Nothing made sense anymore. Her life was completely different now, and would be forever. There was no getting Peasley back, but she had to keep going. She didn't want to keep going. She just didn't want to do it.
But she had to. Everyone was counting on her. Her, little old her. The naive, timid, nervous wreck that she was. So what if she had bested World 5? So what if she had gotten this far? So what if she had escaped her kingdom and made it to the Mushroom Kingdom? The fact didn't change that everything was different. Nothing would change the fact that she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she couldn't get rid of that weight no matter what she did.
But she would keep going. Even with that said, she would continue pushing forward. That's what Peasley would want. He would tell her to grab life by the neck and beat it to the ground. He would tell her to turn lemons into lemonade. Sure, she had a feeling any lemonade she could make right now would taste sour and/or salty, but…
Peach sighed. She might as well go to bed already; this train of thought wasn't heading anywhere good. Maybe, in the morning, she could forget about her troubles. Maybe she would forget about the Beanbean Kingdom being under the control of a wicked witch. Maybe she would forget that Peasley had died, even if just for a moment.
So, with that last thought, Peach squeezed her broach one more time and closed her eyes.
…
Cackletta loved nighttime. It suited her much better; nighttime was a time when the mischievous and wicked came out. It was the time when people could get away with so much. During the day, it was considerably harder to commit acts of villainy and callousness. People were more likely to see it happening. At night time? No. Nighttime had no light and therefore had no disadvantage. As such, Cackletta reveled in it.
Even with that said though, she still felt really frustrated. The search for Queen Peach was underway, and they hadn't found her. Which… okay, that didn't mean anything. If anything, her lack of presence in the Beanbean Kingdom probably meant that she was dead, and her corpse was probably rotting away somewhere. If Cackletta was going to choose the best place for that to happen, it would be Teehee Valley. The hot arid climate would make the rotting of her corpse much faster, which was a GREAT thought.
But despite all her hope, Cackletta did recognize one thing. Well… okay, Fawful recognized one thing and relayed it to her. Peach might not be in the Beanbean Kingdom anymore because she was somewhere else. She might be north of the border, in the Mushroom Kingdom. She could be making her way to the Mushroom Kingdom's capital city to get help from some significant authority figures, and if she was… well, Cackletta was in BIG trouble. Her magic couldn't reach past the borders of the Beanbean Kingdom, and she knew that some other nations across the border had great strength, both in terms of magic and military might. The Koopa Kingdom was the standout example. If Peach somehow got help from there…!
"Mistress Cackletta?"
Cackletta did a double take. She looked down to her left, seeing Fawful standing beside her on the magical purple disc that she had conjured. Floating in the air, her minion looked up at his master with concern and worry. This made Cackletta frown, especially when she considered how jovial and satisfied she had been when they actually managed to take over the Beanbean Kingdom. What made the frown deeper was the fact that, if Peach really was on her way to get help from other kingdoms, then the days of her and Fawful happily sitting on the throne were numbered. SEVERELY numbered.
"Don't worry so much about me, Fawful." She patted him on the head, an action she knew she hated. She mostly did it hoping she would get a reaction out of him, as that could be funny and lift the mood. But no. Fawful still looked at her with the same unease, which was so fucking delightful. Cackletta held back a growl and removed her hand from her henchman's head.
"We need to expand the search." She looked down at the darkness spread out below them. If she strained her ears, she could almost hear the collective moaning of all the zombiefied citizens. Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and hummed a low C note. She opened her eyes, and Fawful stepped back at the sight of their yellow glow.
"Attention, my loyal subjects. The former queen of the Beanbean Kingdom still hasn't been found. I don't want ANY of you to rest until you find her. You hear me? Turn over every stone. Check every nook and cranny. Don't stop until Queen Peach has been found and brought to me!"
With that, she pulled her hands apart from each other, and the yellow glow in her eyes vanished. She stood still for a few minutes before sighing and looking at Fawful. "What do you say we head toward the Mushroom Kingdom border?"
"That plan of the wickedness has the appeal of the candy."
Cackletta smiled and began steering the disc forward. As they floated over the darkness, with the light of the full moon shining overhead, Cackletta sighed and pinched her brow. "This is taking forever. How hard is it to find one member of beanish royalty?"
"Well, Fawful thinks the search presents the hardness because of the size of the Kingdom of Beanbean." He put his hand to his chin. "Maybe, if the great Cackletta had not done the spreading of the darkness, she could've shrunk the Kingdom. Shrunken it like a shriveled grape."
"Shrink the Kingdom?" Cackletta stared at Fawful for a minute before rolling her eyes. "How in the world did I end up with you as a partner?"
Fawful didn't answer (not that Cackletta would've liked him to answer), and they continued on their way toward the border. Thanks to the speed they were flying, they got to Stardust Fields within no time at all. The dusty purple place delight the witch, but not as much as the sight of a house resting down below.
"Fawful, what do you say we break into that house and see if the owner has seen the queen?"
"Fawful says go for it!" Fawful's eyes glittered when he said that, which just made the witch smirk.
"Very well."
And so, the two descended down toward the house. They dismounted their flying disc upon arriving at the doorstep, and Cackletta was pleased to say that she was mighty giggly as they stood in front of the door. It was such a pretty door to such a quaint house. It was going to be mighty fun to… destroy it!
"COME ON OUT, YOU IMBECILE!" She extended her hands, and lightning shot out of her fingertips towards the house. The abode was surrounded by flames, which just made her laugh even more. Fawful even joined in, the sound of their cackles combining with the crackle of the fire. This was so satisfying. Seriously, what in the world could possibly be more satisfying?
Cackletta immediately got the answer to that question when someone came running out of the house. A bright green creature with magenta hair, to be more precise. They ran coughing from the burning building, sounding like they were just minutes away from passing out. All of that fatigue and struggle seemed to vanish when they saw Cackletta and Fawful.
"WHAT THE HELL? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HOUSE?"
Cackletta chortled and looked down at Fawful. "What do you, dearest? Should we question this guy?"
"That idea has boatloads of the goodness! Fawful says do it!"
Cackletta smirked. She stopped with the lighting and telekientically hoisted the creature in the air. As they struggled and gasped, Cackletta and Fawful gleefully led him away.