Chapter 13 Devouring

In Sparkling Waters, Larry chuckled as he sat in a lawn chair on the deck of his airship. He had a pair of sunglasses on and sipped away at a non-alcoholic pina colada. The sun that tropical locations loved to boast about shined down on him, making him feel quite good. There was no reason to worry, no reason to fret.

Well… okay, there was that weird occurrence from earlier, when Larry had seen those strange shadow women in his mind's eye. But… that wasn't worth worrying about, was it? It was probably some kind of hoax. If his servants saw it too, they didn't express it, just continued on with their jobs as if nothing abnormal had occurred. So, really, what reason was there to worry? This was just a normal kidnapping mission, and although Larry was going to be going back to World 1 once he had Percy fight Mario, he could enjoy the beautiful Sparkling Waters while he had the opportunity.

So, he took a long sip. "Ahh!" He heard seagulls calling out from up above. The scent of saltwater filled the air, being carried by the warm tropical breeze. Sparkling Waters was just… it was the best place in the world. It sure beat World 1; World 1 was so basic! Like what was there to appreciate about World 1? Grass? Hills? Mushrooms? Oh boy, stop the presses every one! Seriously, World 1 was the vanilla of the Mushroom World's regions. It was so banal that it made Larry sick. Getting a chance to patrol a place that was so far away from basic and boring helped bring the Koopaling's spirits up considerably.

"Prince Larry?"

Larry grinned when he heard Percy's voice. Sitting up, he took his sunglasses off and turned to look at the cadet. "Hey man. How you feeling?"

"Um…" A look of fear passed over Percy's face. "I, uh…" Larry raised an eyebrow, not sure if he was ready for the role of comforting anyone. Percy must've realized this, cause he sighed. "I'm feeling alright, Your Highness. I just… guess I don't really know what to expect from this?"

"Pfft." Larry waved his hand. "You don't have to expect anything from this! It's just a simple fight with Mario!"

"I know that, sir, but… isn't there the risk of getting seriously injured from this?"

Larry shrugged. "I mean, you might walk away with a bruise or two. But we're Koopas, Percy! If anything, bruises are badges of honor!"

Percy let out a breath. "Right, right, of course. I have nothing to be concerned about; you are correct about that, my prince."

Larry smirked. When was the last time he heard anyone say that he was right about something? He could probably count the number of occurrences on one of his hands. It brought him such a delicious type of satisfaction. Like, it was the kind of feeling he would remember and chase.

"Yep. You just gotta relax, mi amigo." Larry got back down in his lying position and took a sip of his drink. "Why don't you go have Annie in the cabin fix you a drink? We've got a lot of options there."

"I… that does sound lovely. But… well…"

"But well?" Larry blinked and sat back up. "What are you 'but welling' about? You don't think this is going to go well?"

"No no, of course I do, Prince Larry, I just…" his eyes darted back and forth before he let out an unease breath. "Okay. I know this might sound crazy, but… something happened to me when I was down in the engine room?"

Larry blinked again. "Okay…" He already had a sneaking suspicion of what Percy could be talking about, but… no, no! It couldn't be what Larry suspected; that was impossible! This was something else entirely!

At least, that's what he thought until Percy spoke. "I had this… vision. I saw two women who were made of purple shadow. They delivered this message, that everyone in the Mushroom World should beware, for our days are numbered." Sweat beads were visible on the troopa's face. "It felt so real. I thought it was just my imagination, or a dream or something. I do tend to have pretty vivid dreams." He wiped his brow. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had to tell you about it. I was scared by these images, so I just needed assurance to make sure that they weren't real. You know, peace of mind sort of thing."

Silence. Larry's blood was running cold in his veins. He put his pina colada to the side, looking at Percy in awe. His jaw even dropped.

"Oh goodness, I probably sound ridiculous…" Percy said.

"No, buddy, you don't." Larry scooted closer to the cadet. "I… saw the same thing."

Percy gasped. "You did?"

"Yeah." Larry started to shake. "There were these two old crones who delivered a message of impending doom or something…" his breath and heart rates sped up. Feeling chills running up and down his arms, Larry rose to his feet. "I saw the same thing, you saw the same thing…" his voice trailed off.

"What could this possibly mean, Prince Larry?" Percy asked. When he spoke, his voice was so low that it barely qualified as a whisper. Larry almost didn't hear it, in fact. Larry rubbed his temples, his fear spiking up. All at once, the pina colada he had been drinking didn't seem appealing anymore.

"Something fishy is clearly going on," Larry said. He looked over at Percy. "I don't know what this could possibly mean, but if you and I both saw the exact same thing… clearly we need to take this seriously. This is something potentially dangerous, and we can't just sit back and…"

"PRINCE LARRY!" Larry jumped back a little when he heard the captain calling out to him. Looking up, he saw the captain stepping away from the steering wheel and looking at his boss with wide, desperate eyes. "Prince Larry, there's something you need to see!"

His heart hammering away, Larry ran over to the other side of the airship with Percy in tow. When they got up to the Captain, he pointed toward Sparkling Water's eastern border with Soda Jungle. Larry looked over there, and when he saw what had gotten such a horrified reaction from the Captain, he gasped.

A purplish-black cloud rose out of Soda Jungle, spilling out of the rainforest into Sparkling Waters. Arms reached out at it, but they weren't regular arms. Their hands were bony, crooked, gaunt. Larry's heart stopped right in its tracks when he saw it. He couldn't move, staying frozen in his tracks. He wanted to turn away from this strange… whatever it was, but he couldn't. He might as well have turned into a statue. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think. It was only when he saw the darkness speeding up, with its wicked arms reaching toward his airship as bloodcurdling screams came from it…

"Captain, get the ship moving." Larry turned away. "We need to get the guns ready."

Not missing a beat, Larry ran over to the other side of the deck. By this point, the other people on the ship had noticed what was making Larry so concerned, and like him earlier, they were frozen in place. Larry clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Guys! Ready the cannons!" He pointed toward the darkness, which by this point the airship was flying away from. "Fire at that cloud! Give it all we've got; maybe we can push that strange… thing back!"

The soldiers and servants scrambled over their own feet as they tried to follow Larry's orders. Soldiers that had years of battlefield experience appeared to be reduced to shaking balls of anxiety, and Larry could honestly say he didn't blame them. Nothing could compare someone for a sight like this.

Thankfully, the soldiers managed to follow Larry's orders. They got the back cannons on the airship ready, and as the ship flew away, they opened fire. The cannon balls and bullet bills zoomed toward the darkness, but… they did nothing. The darkness didn't move, it wasn't pushed back; nothing happened. If anything, the shrieks coming from it grew louder. They sounded like screams of pain, of bone-cutting agony. Larry felt as though his blood had been replaced with ice water.

He only grew more terrified when the darkness got faster.

"Hold your fire!" He ran over to the steering wheel. "Captain, we need to go faster!"

"I'm trying, Prince Larry!" The Captain's teeth chattered. "This airship is going as fast as it can!"

"As fast as it can… what baloney! I know we can go faster!" He looked back toward the darkness, and he couldn't help but gasp when he saw it. It was mere FEET away from the airship, the sight of it almost making Larry collapse to the ground. "GO FASTER! DO SOMETHING, WE NEED TO…!"

He never got to finish his sentence, as the shadowy arms reaching out from the dark cloud grabbed onto the airship. They made the entire ship rock back and forth, which almost NEVER happened on an airship. These vehicles could withstand anything; earthquakes, strong winds, and turbulence. Nothing could make these ships rock back and forth, so the fact that something did…

Oh God, the darkness was spreading across the airship deck now! Letting his instinct guide him, Larry grabbed the Captain by the hand and dragged him over to the other side of the ship. The other people on board had the same idea, as they all sprinted for the airship's front. Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to go. And nothing was stopping this darkness. The hands groped around on the ground, reaching for… what exactly? A life to claim?

"AHH!" A hammer bro ran forward and jumped straight off the ship. Larry wanted to believe that was going to buy him time, but… no. Hammer bros couldn't fly, and they were way too high up for a safe landing. That hammer bro would be dead when he hit the ground.

"GUYS!" Larry ran to the front of the group, despite knowing that he was closer to the darkness that way. "TRY TO FIGHT THIS WITH HAMMERS OR FIREBALLS OR STUFF! WE CAN'T…"

It was too late. One arm reached out and grabbed Larry by the ankle. Gasping, he screamed as he got dragged into the dark cloud. He screamed and screamed, the darkness so strong that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of him. The darkness had a strong smell, like the inside of a coffin.

"AHH…" Larry's scream was silenced by a hand clasping down on top of his mouth. Without any real way to fight back, he had no choice but to resign to his fate. The last thing he thought about before everything went black was a vague hope that everyone would be okay.

…

Wendy stood on the edge of her airship's deck, shivering as she did. It wasn't cold; they had gotten out of World 3 about an hour ago. They were heading south now, toward the Beanbean Kingdom. That place was directly north of the Flower Kingdom archipelago, so they would be flying over the Beanbean lands before they could get to their final destination. It was a risky endeavor, as the Koopa Kingdom wasn't exactly friends with the Beanbean Kingdom.

Of course, that wasn't the main source of Wendy's anxiety. Shivering some more, she whimpered as she looked down at the ground. Everything… everything was…

"Are you okay, Princess Wendy?"

Wendy turned to see Stark staring at her in concern. That look made her sigh.

"I'm scared, Stark. My… my brothers are in the path of the darkness." She put her hand to her heart, banging against the side of her chest. "What if something happens to them?"

Stark looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well… something might happen to them. But we will save them in the end, right? Once we find this Viv woman, she'll be able to help us fight against the darkness and the Shadow Sirens."

Wendy considered those words before sighing again. "Right." She pulled her hand away from her heart. "I sure hope so."