Chapter 12 Darkness in the Mind

"She's real. She's real."

Wendy and the servants who accompanied her into the library had taken Pom Pom back to the airship. As she laid on the floor, her eyes were wide, she held onto her knees, and she shook like a leaf in the wind. Wendy frowned as her heart ached. She looked toward the servants, gauging their reaction to the whole thing. They appeared scared, worried, and concerned. Did this make Wendy nervous? Not really; it just increased the worry she had directed toward the cadet.

"Pom Pom." Wendy knew that Pom Pom needed some sort of emotional support. She got down on her knees and placed her hand on Pom Pom's shoulder. Her skin felt so cold. She thankfully managed to stop repeating the same sentence over and over, but she still looked like she had witnessed a murder. "It's okay. Just breathe. It's going to be okay."

The cadet still shook, so Wendy stroked her shoulder. As she did this, she tried to imagine what was going on in her head. How world-shattering would it be to find out that something you believed was fake was real? What kind of effect would that have on a person's psyche? There was no doubt in Wendy's mind that the word "difficult" didn't even hope to describe this. This was terrible. This was horrible, this was flabbergasting. So many words could be used to describe this, and yet the actual experience didn't fit the definition of any of them.

"Breathe in, breathe out." Wendy did the deep breathing, hoping that her example would help out Pom Pom. "Big deep breath in, big deep breath out." She patted Pom Pom again, thankful to see that she was responding well to the help. "It's all going to be okay."

Eventually, Pom Pom's wide eyes returned to normal. Without any words, she sat up. She stared off into space, appearing like she wasn't fully present. Wendy kept her hand on her shoulder, as something told her it was necessary.

"Pom Pom, are you alright?"

Five minutes of silence passed before Pom Pom let out a breath. "I'm sorry, Wendy."

"Don't be." Wendy patted her again. "You're fine. No one blames you, and no one is out to get you."

Pom Pom nodded gingerly. "I know." Her voice was weak like it was going to permanently break and render her mute.

"It's just… I know it must come as a shock." Wendy looked down at the floor. "I'm really sorry."

Pom Pom snickered, which caught Wendy off guard in the best possible way. "So I guess we're both sorry." She giggled. "And we're both apologizing when we don't need to, so…" she turned and looked at Wendy, who was dealing with an irregular heart beat. "Thank you, Wendy."

"Of course." Wendy finally pulled her hand off of Pom Pom's shoulder. "Is there anything you need?"

Pom Pom frowned. "Well… it's still all sinking in. I just…" she shook her head. "I really can't believe it." She looked Wendy in the eye. "If she's real, what does that mean? If she's real, what does that make me?"

Wendy let out a breath. "I… don't know."

"Me neither." With shaky hands, Pom Pom rose to a standing position. "I think I need some time to myself."

"That's fine. Take as much time as you need."

With one last nod, Pom Pom went back into the cabin. After taking two minutes to think about all this, Wendy rose to her feet. She went over to the edge of the deck, looking down at the city of Frostwall. The chaos was still as bad as it was when they first arrived. It made Wendy feel bad, astronomically bad about everything that was happening.

"Princess Wendy?"

Wendy turned her head and looked upon Stark the koopa troopa. He had a furrowed brow, an expression that immediately stuck out to her. "What is it, Stark?"

Stark looked down at the people for a few minutes before biting his lip. "Your Majesty, if what you had read in the library was any indication, we are all in great danger." He looked into her eyes. "That cloud that we spotted in Soda Jungle is only going to grow. It'll cover the entire Mushroom World, and will take control of everyone and everything."

Wendy felt a pang. "That is true." She started to shake, and she instinctually rubbed her arms. "Oh man…"

Stark stayed silent for about half a minute before stepping closer to Wendy. "What can we do?"

Wendy whimpered. "I really couldn't tell you, Stark."

A silence settled over the scene. It wasn't a peaceful silence, it wasn't a comfortable silence, it wasn't a positive silence. This silence was one filled with anxiety and even a sense of mourning. Everything that Wendy knew was in danger. Her world. Her home. Her family…

A tear trickled down the Koopaling's cheek. These were potentially her final moments. She could probably run away from the growing darkness, but that would just be delaying the inevitable. There was no escape from this, no way to combat this. Everyone in the Mushroom World would become hollow, empty husks, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Unless…

"Stark." Wendy turned toward her servant. "I think I might have an idea."

"An idea? You mean to fight the darkness?" When Wendy nodded, Stark did a double take. "But what in the world could possibly fight that?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure…" she turned toward the cabin. "But if this works, there might be some hope." She made her way over toward the door.

…

Pom Pom sat on the bed, thinking about everything. She thought about her life, about every single last thing that had ever happened to her. Was it… was it bad that nothing made sense anymore? Was it bad that every single last thing regarding Pom Pom's life was being thrown into question? She didn't know how to trust anymore. For the longest time, she didn't know if she could trust herself. Now? She didn't know if she could trust other people.

With a frown, she reached into her hammerspace and pulled out her pill bottle. This thing had caused her all the shame in the world, and for what? Why did she even experience that shame in the first place, because of her parents? Because her parents took all the wrong steps, steps that Pom Pom should've fought back against when she had the chance.

Gritting her teeth and gripping her hand into a fist, Pom Pom chucked the pill bottle across the cabin. When it hit the wall and rolled onto the floor, rolling all the way back over to her side of the room, tears grew in her eyes. She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging her lap. It felt as though the sky was collapsing on her. She wanted to be strong, wanted to do what was right, but how could she do that? How could she do that when she didn't even know what right was anymore?

Letting out a sob, Pom Pom put her head in her lap. She cried and cried, praying to the great King Borealis. Surely, he would make everything better, right? Maybe he could take away this pain and make it so that she had the strength to keep going. Right now, Pom Pom didn't have the strength. She had been wanting to be strong throughout her entire life, but she wasn't. She didn't even know if she could be…

"Pom Pom."

Pom Pom lifted her head. Wendy stood in the doorway, and as she closed the door, she walked over to the cadet with a serious expression. That face made Pom Pom feel strange; not scared or even nervous, but it made her wonder. What was going on here?

"What is it, Wendy?"

Wendy took a seat beside her on the bed. "I need your help."

Pom Pom raised an eyebrow. "With what?"

The serious expression wasn't even close to falling away. "I need you to tell me about Viv." Wendy adjusted her position so that she was turned toward Pom Pom. "Here's the thing; the Shadow Sirens are real. There's no denying that, the Shadow Sirens are real, and they've established themselves as a threat. That cloud we saw in Soda Jungle was caused by them, and it's going to end the world unless it's taken care of." Wendy scooted closer. "Nobody knows how to get rid of it… except for one person."

Pom Pom blinked. "You mean…?"

"Yes. Viv is one of the Shadow Sirens, so she has to have some sort of experience with Beldam and Marilyn. Now, I don't know for certain if she's trustworthy or even how she's aligned morally, but I do know that you've met her. She knows you, she's interacted with you and has more than likely told you some important things." Wendy smiled. "So, that means that she might've given you clues about her current whereabouts. If you try to remember what she told you, you might be able to lead us right to her so we can ask her for help."

Pom Pom frowned. She thought about all that Wendy had told her, tossing it around in her head, before sighing. "Wendy…" she shook her head. "I don't know about that. I've spent my whole life trying to forget about my memories with Viv. And besides…" She looked Wendy in the eye. "You were right; we don't know how she's aligned morally. For all we know, she could be just as evil as Beldam and Marilyn. She was a servant of the Shadow Queen, one of the most evil beings in existence." Pom Pom rubbed her temple. "For all I know, my friendship with her might not even been real." The irony of that statement wasn't lost on Pom Pom in the slightest. "She might've been lying to me, manipulating me." Anger filled her. "Maybe she showed up with the sole intent of ruining my life. Maybe her goal was to build up my trust only to leave me hurt and lost." Tears streamed from Pom Pom's eyes. "My whole life has revolved around the pain that she caused! And now you want me to try to find her? I can't do that Wendy!" She looked down at the pill bottle on the floor and picked it up. "I don't want to do that! I don't trust her! I can't trust her! She ruined my life!" She whimpered. "She ruined my life in a way that I can't fix. That nobody can fix." She sniffled and put her head in her lap. The tears came at a more consistent rate, yet they didn't bring her any relief. She had been trying her whole life to close a wound that was impossible to close. And now, that wound was more painful and fresher than it had ever been. She didn't know if she could move on from this. She just didn't.

"Pom Pom." Wendy placed her hand on Pom Pom's arm. "Look, I get it. I understand that you got hurt because of Viv, and I don't blame you for not wanting to find her. If I was in your position, I would probably feel the same way." Wendy paused. "But if we don't do this, then it's over. The whole Mushroom World is doomed. Everything that we know and love will be destroyed." Pom Pom lifted her head. When she looked into Wendy's eyes, she was able to see how afraid she was, how desperate she was. "Whether we like it or not, trying to find Viv is our only option. She could be evil, but she's the only one in the entire world who has the knowledge of how to defeat the other Shadow Sirens." Wendy scooted closer. "I know it's not ideal, but… this is the only hope we have."

Silence. Pom Pom considered those words, cursing in her head about how right they were. She scrutinized them so hard that it made her head hurt before eventually sighing.

"You're right." She scooted away from Wendy, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "Let me see if I can recall something." She couldn't believe she was doing this, but it had to be done.

…

Pom Pom giggled. She and Viv were sitting near the tree, and they each were weaving flowers together into flower crowns. The practice was relaxing in all the right ways, and it made Pom Pom feel good. This was especially true since she was doing it with Viv. Whenever she looked at her, the shadowy woman would be smiling and weaving the flowers together with the utmost care and joy.

"You know Viv, I've always wanted to do this." Pom Pom carefully tied the stems of a lily and an orchid together. "But the thing is, it's always more fun to do stuff like this with a friend, and... well, you know."

Viv looked sad. "I do know." She stopped and observed her handiwork. "Believe me, I do know."

Pom Pom nodded. She looked back down at her crown, pleased with the fact that it was almost done. For her first time ever having done this, she had done a surprisingly good job. Maybe she would show this crown to her parents. They would probably appreciate it.

"You know, while we're on the subject of flowers..." Viv said as she twisted the stem of a daisy. "I've always wanted to go to the Flower Kingdom."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. I've heard it's a beautiful place, especially the Petal Isles. I've only heard about it from other people, but based on what I've been told, it sounds like Heaven on Earth." Viv sighed a dreamy sigh. "If I could go anywhere, it would be there."

Pom Pom smiled. "Well... maybe you and I can go there together one day."

Viv smiled in the warmest way possible. "Yeah. Maybe."

…

Pom Pom opened her eyes. She looked over at Wendy, who gave her an expectant and hopeful look. Pom Pom put on a serious face. "She's probably in the Flower Kingdom." Wendy looked confused when she said that. "I mean, it's not a guarantee, but she told me on multiple occasions how much she wanted to go to the Flower Kingdom. If we want to find her, we should probably start there."

Wendy put on a serious face and nodded. "Right." She got up and went over to the door. "Stark!" she called out as she stepped out onto the deck. "Set a course for the Flower Kingdom!"