Chapter 20

William was back beneath the covers with his head against a pillow. He found himself to be quite comfortable. It seemed everything was back on the right track again. The darkness of the room at night was all that was in front of his eyes, and pure silence was all that was in his ears. He dreamed on, worrying about nothing in the world. Then, for some reason, he awoke in the middle of the night. His eyes opened up, and a wave of consciousness swept over him. At last, he got thinking again. First he wondered where he was and what had happened. Then it occurred to him. Those Evil Clowns attacking, fleeing to the mountains, asking a mad scientist for shelter, waving goodbye to him, having a run-in with a talking music box, waiting forever for the opportunity to help it... He thought some more about it. Becoming reunited with it, seeing a brilliant statue of it, that haunting melody... It all came back to him. He even remembered unleashing a very peculiar woman named Annabyss. Queen of the Anuboos, was it? Yeah, that was it. She gave him a sword, and then she...

It was a dream, he thought, relieved. It was all a dream... He sat up in his bed and looked around. The blackness that his eyes had adjusted to revealed all. Dr. Kamenstein’s guest room looked different. The shape was different, the size was different... even the furniture was different. Tessa! Where had she gone? She was nowhere in sight. As a matter of fact, his was the only bed in the room. What had happened? Did his mother come in while he was sleeping and very quietly rearrange everything? Did the two of her and his sister leave without telling him so they could go and run some errands? No, that couldn’t have been it, even though no other guesses came to mind. Perhaps that woman over there in the corner would be able to help him out?

Wait... That certainly wasn’t his mother. She didn’t dress like that. She was at a desk that was illuminated by a lone candle. She was writing something with what looked like a big feather. He watched her in utter confusion and a little fear. A moment later, the woman put down the feather and turned around. William jolted at the sight. She wrapped her fingers around certain parts of the chair she was then in and pushed her way out. Once she was up and walking towards him, he could see her in even more detail.

Her height was average, but there was a bit of a hunch to her shoulders. She wore a billowing skirt and a hood. Both were light blue and decorated with patterns that looked like water. What was very strange was that the woman’s hood was actually part of a cloak, but she didn’t wear it to cover her body. She wore the bulk of it bunched up around her neck and her shoulders, almost like a scarf. He could see that her skin was grey and disturbingly bony. He didn’t like being able to see her ribs without an X-ray. She didn’t wear her sleeves for her arms, for that matter. She wore them trailing behind her like a pair of capes. As for her arms, they were just as unsightly as her stomach. They, too, were unusually thin. She wore metal cuffs around her wrists and her fingernails were black, and very long and pointy. Her face was also pretty frightening. It was also quite bony so William could clearly see where her cheekbones ended and where her eye sockets began. Not only that, but the skin surrounding her eyes was pitch-black, her lips were pitch-black, and her eyes were yellow. She looked very ghastly. In addition to this, for reasons unclear, she had a line of stitches going across her forehead. Beneath that hood, he could see two bolts sticking out of her neck. Dangling out of the hood were two incredibly long and thick locks of completely white hair. They curved and coiled right in front of her chest like a duo of springs. She also wore two chains for a belt and sandals on her scrawny feet. All in all, she looked very skeleton-like.

William watched this bizarre woman approach him in a scared mood. Suddenly, he found he was colder than usual. He looked beneath the covers and discovered that he was completely naked. Not wanting her to see anything, he flopped back onto his pillow, pulling the covers tighter over him, covering everything from the nose down. He kept his eyes out, not wanting to let such a person out of his sight. Once she was close enough, she stopped and stared at him with her arms hanging like dead weights.

“You awake?” she said darkly. Her gloomy facial expression didn’t change.

“Um, uh, yes,” he stammered. His fingers clasped harder onto the sheets. “Don’t come in, though!” He was feeling drops of cold sweat on his forehead.

The woman still had that look on her face. She just stared at him without blinking, appearing more bored than amused. “We found you on the shore. Your clothes were soaked. You were unconscious. We brought you in, and we hung them up to dry.” The two people continued to stare at each other. “I am Oceanus,” she said, placing a bony hand against her chest. “You’re in the Forbidden Forest. We are the Death Sickles. This is our hideout.”

”The... Death Sickles?!” William asked.

She didn’t nod. She was as stiff as a board. “Yes, the Death Sickles. We’re a secret organization. Perhaps you’ve heard of us.”

“Um... Maybe,” William said. The name only seemed vaguely familiar. William knitted his brow. “Wait a minute,” he said, “if this place is secret... how come you’re telling me all this?”

The woman was still stiff. “It’s complicated,” she said.

Something vital suddenly kicked William in the back of his head. His eyes went wide, and he pulled the upper half of his body out from beneath the covers so he could sit upright while asking this woman what he needed to know. “Tessa! Storko! Mom! The babies! Are they all right?!” he spazzed.

Whap! She quickly, but somewhat gently, slapped her left hand over his mouth and kept it there. She still looked gloomy and stiff. William still looked wide-eyed. She leaned forward. “Questions later. Sleep now,” she said. She slipped her hand away from his mouth and let it plop down in front of her so it could resume looking like an inanimate pendulum. William didn’t stop giving her creeped-out looks. She stared for a while longer, and then she turned around and started walking back to her candlelit desk. She reached her chair, grabbed it with her right hand, sat down, and picked the feather back up. She looked like she was about to continue writing, but she had to turn her head around. She could see that William was still sitting up. This time he had his head turned so he could keep his unblinking eyes on her. Oceanus stared back. “Sleep,” she ordered. Getting given the look of death, William swiftly obeyed. He plopped his head back onto the pillow, pulled the covers up, and closed his eyes. Oceanus turned around and got back to work.

He’ll round out this place for sure, she thought...

Tessa had been in better moods. She was hot, sweaty, tired, hungry, nauseous, and very, very nervous. It wasn’t easy getting out of that deep, dark place, but she managed to pull it off. She then found herself in the middle of an aisle with a bunch of seats on either side of her. All the while, she wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to be up and about, walking around in a moving airplane, but she kept feeling she had to follow her instincts on this one. They were telling her to keep moving until she made it to the big room at the end of this place. Surely there she’d be able to catch up with this so-called Annabyss person and maybe even get this whole thing straightened out somehow. She slowly tiptoed down the area between the seats, hoping to avoid a scene of any kind. However...

Ah, the night. It’s so comforting, Annabyss thought. Something caught her attention. What’s this?...

“Boys,” she asked, “what’s the matter?”

“Hinter Ihnen, Madame,” Wario and Waluigi said. They each pointed behind themselves using the thumbs of their right hands. They were referring to the intruding little girl sneaking up on them. Tessa stopped dead in her tracks, not drawing a single breath.

“Mm?” Annabyss said. She twisted around in her seat and set her rainbow eyes on the intruder. Tessa felt her heart sink. “Ah, it looks like we have ourselves a little stowaway...” Tessa started looking around frantically, not sure what to do.

“Werden wir für sie, Madame sorgen?” Wario and Waluigi said. They smushed their gloved hands into one another and cracked their knuckles.

Annabyss shook her head. She turned around and held out her palm. “That won’t be necessary, boys. You just keep flying the plane.”

Tessa was shaking in her boots. She felt anything could happen at this point. Suddenly, Annabyss got up from her seat and strode over to the little girl. She knelt down before her and looked up so she could speak to her at her level. “It’s all right, dear,” she said, extending her right hand and placing it on the girl’s left shoulder. It made her jolt. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Annabyss consoled. Tessa was hyperventilating and breaking into a sweat. Annabyss lifted her other hand and put it on the girl’s other shoulder. She started massaging them. Tessa became a little bewildered. “Just calm down, dear, I understand you’re very upset. Just calm down. Caaalm down. Everything will be all right, dear, just calm down.” The strange woman’s methods seemed to be working. Gradually, Tessa became less tense, her breathing became shorter, and her perspiration was beginning to slow down. She could relax her wide stare. Seeing this, Annabyss removed her hands from the girl’s shoulders and folded her arms. “All right, dear,” Annabyss said, “now tell me what’s the matter.”

“You...” Tessa started. She still wasn’t sure about this. She was beginning to feel a pinching feeling in her throat. She felt she couldn’t go on, but she knew she had to. She swallowed hard, and kept going. “You... came from the laboratory,” she got out.

Annabyss nodded. “I did,” she said.

Tessa continued. “You knocked out my mother, and you stole Dr. Kamenstein’s plane!” she said, making her voice jumpy with anxiety.

Annabyss nodded some more. “Go on.”

Tessa could feel her eyes beginning to sting. “The babies disappeared, William had a sword...” She trailed off. She was making her words choke. Her little fists went to her eyes, trying to stop the flow of the oncoming tears. Annabyss tilted her head, looking concerned. “Who are you?!” Tessa said through a wavering voice. “What’s going on?!” She knelt down and started sobbing.

Annabyss lowered her head. “You think me some great criminal,” she said. Tessa didn’t respond. She just kept crying. Annabyss lifted her head up, facing the girl again. “Listen,” she said, “I understand we got off to a rocky start, but I assure you I can explain everything.” Tessa still didn’t answer. Annabyss stood up. “Come, dearie. Sit down with me.” She gestured towards one of the seats they were between with her left hand. Tessa shook her head. “Please, dear,” Annabyss said. Tessa shook her head again. Annabyss bent downward. “Please, dear. You’ll get motion sickness if you stay there on the floor. I’m fearing for your health. Let me do this for you, at least.” Tessa remained there on the floor, sniffling. Finally, she looked up at the woman through drenched eyes. She looked down and got up off the floor. She solemnly walked past Annabyss, past the one seat, and got in the one next to the window. She was still moping and sniffling. Annabyss nodded. “Good girl,” she said. She glided over and sat in the one next to her. Tessa was staring her red and puffy eyes out the window, seeing the dark blue stripes of land that formed Sarasaland down below. Annabyss grabbed her attention. “Now,” she said, “allow me to explain...

“It all began approximately 300 years ago,” she said. “Something horrendous happened. It was a time of darkness. Terror reigned, havoc was wreaked, and the people’s will to live just seemed to deplete. Something had to be done. I was one of the few who chose to fight on and turn around these injustices. Alas, I was too late. One of the things I had to suffer as punishment was to be bound within a magic music box for all of eternity. My power had been stripped. Only two things could release me from such an imprisonment: Manajus and a noble heart.

“Manajus is a form of energy that can only be obtained by performing very specific tasks, tasks such as defeating monsters, hindering intolerable operations, recovering from amnesia, and the like. It can be used to perform a variety of impossible things such as planting nightmares into people’s heads and shape-shifting.” Annabyss put a hand over her chest to represent that she was capable of doing one of those things. Sitting next to her, the upset Tessa remained dreary. The woman continued her story. “Fortunately, a group of harlequins were able to find my box and get that Manajus for me. Unfortunately, to my dismay, they decided to do it by hypnotizing people through their enchanting songs, and stealing money from those people during their trances. I appreciated their want to help me, but I simply dislike stealing...”

”Then why did you steal Dr. Kamenstein’s airplane?!” Tessa yelled, looking at the woman and flinging drops of her tears off her face.

Annabyss let her breathe a few times more before answering. “Times haven’t changed, dear. That darkness still surrounds us, and it needs purifying. I am the only one who can do this. I am sorry, but sometimes, one must do a little wrong in order to a little right.”

”What are you talking about?!” Tessa argued. “What darkness?! Everything’s fine!”

Annabyss shook her head. “Poor child,” she exclaimed. “Poor, poor child. Have you truly been so deprived all these years? Are you truly so unaware of the misdemeanors that plague this world?” Tessa said nothing. Annabyss resumed the explanation. “A few years ago,” she began, “all the Manajus I needed was collected. The harlequins would have revived me, but my box was stolen...”

Again with the stealing, Tessa thought.

“It was stolen by the one who gave you shelter...”

Tessa’s eyes turned wide. “No...” she whispered.

“Yes. It was Dr. Kamenstein, the man who invented the Sky-Pop and this jet: the Kame Cruiser.”

Tessa looked very confused, upset, and even disappointed. She also had a tinge of fear in her. “Why?” she asked, sorrowfully. “Why would he do such a thing??”

“He did it for their own good. When they played their song to him, they stole something very precious to him. He decided to steal it for revenge. He also didn’t want to see me revived.”

”Why not?” Tessa asked.

The woman shook her head again. “He feared the consequences. He thought something terrible would happen.”

“But...” Tessa stuttered. “But...”

Annabyss held up the index finger of her right hand to make her quiet. Tessa lost the desire to interject. Annabyss’s gesture worked. She put it down and went on. “Much like you, dear, the doctor didn’t know enough. Over the years, he became hungry for knowledge. Knowledge and power. He became the royal vizier of the Mario royal family. Even then, he continued his research. He found himself some things concerning myself and the ones he stole me from. He found out they were weak against ice-elemental attacks. He also found out I was a powerful being with a mind of her own. He didn’t care. He only wanted ways to get back at the harlequins.

“His hunger corrupted him. The royal family kicked him out of their country, which only filled him with more selfish desires.

“He’s a man of vengeance, dear. Vengeance, greed, and pride. It’s a shame you didn’t know this when you asked him for shelter.”

Tessa’s eyelids wouldn’t budge. She stared off into space, taking in these harsh and complicated words. She slowly lowered her head, looking at her feet, barely reaching the floor.

“He didn’t just invent the Sky-Pop and the Kame Cruiser, dear,” Annabyss added, leaning to the right and looking at the girl. Tessa slowly lifted her head and looked back. “He invented that stork. That bird that took care of you. He tried to imitate the godly, dear, and he tried doing so by breaking the rules and inventing his own creatures. That is another fault, dear.” Annabyss pulled away and leaned back against her seat, but Tessa continued staring. “And what for?” Annabyss said, waving a hand. “Only to create more creatures. Like those two up there.” She leaned slightly to her left and pointed to the cockpit. Tessa tried leaning as well to get a good look, but she was too far away. She hopped out of her seat, walked past Annabyss, and into that area. Soon, she found herself between the two pilots of the jet. They looked faintly familiar. She started turning her head left and right, looking at them both in pure disbelief.

The pilots raised their right hands and gave a subtle wave to the girl. “Guten Abend kleines Mädchen,” they said.

“It... It can’t be...” Tessa said, her eyes wider than ever. Maintaining the stunned look on her face, she slowly turned around and started walking back to where Annabyss was. Annabyss was watching her. The girl stopped in front of the woman once she started talking again.

“Wario and Waluigi: the Kamenstein Bros. I rescued them from a soulless fate.”

Tessa turned around and looked Annabyss straight in the eye. “You... You made them bigger?!”

Annabyss nodded. “It was either that, or killing them. As you can see, my dear, it’s not in my blood to kill babies. Birds, on the other hand...” she trailed.

“How... How could you?!” Tessa wailed. “You’re a monster!”

“Please, dear...” Annabyss pleaded.

Tessa stamped her foot. “NO! If you’re such a nice person, like you say you are, then why don’t you turn them back, turn this plane around, and apologize to everyone?!”

”They wouldn’t understand. You, however, Tessa Abigail Ice, would, so please listen.”

Tessa froze. She took her gaze off the woman and stared off into space. “How... How do you know my name?!” she breathed.

“Three hundred years trapped in a box can be a very, very long time, dear. I didn’t spend it just sitting around, you know. If there was any perk to being trapped in such a box, it was that it allowed me to perform Astral Projection.”

”Astral Projection?!” Tessa asked.

“Yes. It allowed me to cast my spirit out and tour the world. I could see all and hear all, but no one could see or hear me, not unlike a ghost. Well... Most people couldn’t hear me...

“There’s something special about your brother, William, dear. He could hear me. He could see that I needed to be free. He could see that I needed to step out of that box and set the world right. I can see that he has great things going for him. My power had returned. So I gave him that sword...”

This made sense to Tessa. She did, after all, see William walk out of the lab with such a weapon; the lab that Annabyss came from as well. Then it hit her. She bolted her head up and looked at the woman again. “Oh my gosh! William! Storko! Mom! Where are they?!” she panicked.

Annabyss shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear, but I do not know.”

Tessa started trembling. “What?! But I thought you said you knew everything!”

Annabyss shook her head again. “I did not, dear. Through Astral Projection, I was able to learn a lot over the years. I am not lying when I say the world is filled with many problems.”

“S-so?!” Tessa freaked, making claws out of her hands and shaking them.

“Listen, dear: I know that in order to create Wario and Waluigi, Dr. Kamenstein had to steal the two new children of the king and queen of Mario Land. I know that while he had them stolen, the babies got re-stolen by Kamek, the Magikoopa of the Koopa Klan. I know that eight Yoshis had to join forces and get them back. I know that Dr. Kamenstein has finally gotten his revenge, I know that the king and queen are with their children, enjoying themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom, I know that Kamek and the rest of the Koopa Klan are plotting to kidnap those children again, I know that five of those Yoshis are back on Yoshi’s Island, I know that one of them is on Isle Delfino, another is on Lavalava Island, and another is on a quest for the Star Spirits, but I do not know where your brother, your mother, or the bird is. I’m sorry.” An uncomfortable silence drifted its way into the conversation at this point. For a while, neither of the two females said or did anything. Then two tears rolled down the face of Tessa. Annabyss took note of this. She stood up from her seat. “Listen, dearie,” she started, “things may seem desolate now, but there’s still hope! Magikoopas are on the loose, ghosts are running amok, ooze is swimming about... Even those harlequins are still up to no good. The world is in a terrible way right now, and I intend to correct it,” she stated. She shook her head. “No,” she elicited, “I WILL correct it. Yes, with the help of the once-forsaken Kamenstein Bros, I will.” She knelt down in front of the teary Tessa like she did at the beginning of the discussion, but was closer to her this time. “Tessa,” she said, “you want an escape from the monotony of your life. You want to release yourself from the binds of tyranny. You want to see the world and expand your thoughts. No...” she said, correcting herself once more. “You know you need to, Tessa.” The girl was still standing there, letting the warm droplets slide down her face. Annabyss extended an intimidating hand, placed the girl’s chin in it, and used it to gently lift her face so their eyes could be level. “Tessa, darling,” she said, “I’ve known you since the day you were born. You were always such a nice, honest little girl, Tessa. Don’t be dishonest with yourself now.” She removed her hand from the girl’s chin. The two of them continued staring at one another. “The choice is yours, dearie: This can either be the beginning of a series of fulfilling, new experiences with righteousness and no regrets, or but a continuation of your mundane life of sorrow and emptiness.” They remained gazing. Tessa didn’t respond. “What say you?”

Tessa still didn’t respond. She shifted her moist eyes downward, and commenced the deep thinking. Is it true? she thought. Have I really led the wrong life? Can I really turn it all around by going with this person?

Tessa looked into Annabyss’s pair of rainbows once more. “Can I... think about it?” she said.

Annabyss nodded again. “Take all the time you want, dearie. There’s no rush.”

”Thank you,” Tessa said. At last, she moved away from Annabyss, got back in her seat, and returned to sitting there with her eyes observing the country of Sarasaland beneath their plane.

“You’re welcome, dear,” Annabyss said, turning around and bowing to the little girl. Tessa gave her a miniscule smile in return, but that was it. She went back to watching the land roll by and thinking. Annabyss made herself face the other way and walked past her seat away from Tessa, into the aisle, back into the cockpit, and back into her seat. Wario and Waluigi were still handling things as competently as ever.

I most certainly hope she says “Yes”, Annabyss thought to herself. Arriving at Uaurpe will be easier with both brains and brawn...

Oceanus continued scribbling stuff down and William continued lying back in his bed with his eyes wide open. How could he get to sleep in a situation like this?

So it wasn’t just a dream, he thought darkly. What am I doing here? What do they want with me, anyway? he wondered. It doesn’t matter, the boy decided. They’d better spill the beans tomorrow morning, or else...

Oceanus got finished with what she was writing and decided to call it a night. She put the quill down and looked behind her. She noticed the boy’s eyes were still not closed. She rolled her own and turned back around, looking at the candle.

I hope we’re right about this, she thought. She leaned closer to the little flame dancing atop that skinny wick, puckered up, and blew it out. With that, the room became engulfed in complete darkness. Maybe now, the boy would be able to have an easier time getting some sleep...

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