Serenade of
Darkness is a four-part fan fiction series featuring my fanfic character,
Princess Plum. A mysterious Princess Peach look-alike, Plum appears to
be a new “cactus in the flower pot”, in the words of Mario. But is she
a cactus… or a weed about to spread across the garden?
Prologue
King Cloudius of Sky Land was sitting comfortably in his throne when two tall, lanky Mushroom men came in. They were his servants. They informed their king that a foreign visitor wanted to greet him. He rubbed his bearded chin with interest. Cloudius ordered his servants to fetch this foreigner. He failed to notice, however, that his servants’ eyes were sockets of lava.
BAM! WHOOOOOOOOSH!!!
The doors swung open with a thunderous crash. An average-height body (about 5’4”) cloaked in dark violet slowly approached Cloudius with cat-like footsteps.
“Your Majesty…” the foreigner greeted with a humble bow. Its voice was a bell, deep and sonorous, with an unfamiliar accent. Although its face was hidden by the hood’s shadow, two long locks of coal-toned curls rested over the rise in its chest. Cloudius realized that this foreigner was a human female.
“Who are you?” Cloudius spoke.
The woman did not respond, but crept closer until she was nose to nose with the skeptical king. Frustrated with impatience by her silence, Cloudius opened his mouth to demand the intention of her presence… then a soft sound enslaved his ears:
“Aaaaaaah, haaaaahaaaa… Aaaaahaaaa…”
King Cloudius
heard nothing except a beautiful resonance. He spoke not a word, but went
limp and fell at the steps of his throne like a marionette. The cloaked
woman rested a gloved hand on the Sky monarch’s neck. “As I wanted. The
King sleeps.” She turned her head upward. Slowly lifting up her hood, a
pair of sinister, lava-red eyes were revealed.
Part I: A New Rival
Fishing season opened in Water Land, to the delight of the Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi. They were the first guests to rent a boat at 8:00 AM. They rowed near the islands where most of the fish gathered. Mario cast the line into the water while Luigi sat contently with a book called The Odysseyon his lap, it being his most favorite sea-story and—in his mind—most appropriate for the occasion. He was thumbing through the pages, when a particular passage caught his eye:
“First you
will raise the island of the Sirens,
Those creatures
who spellbind any man alive,
Whoever comes
their way, Whoever draws too close,
No sailing
home for him, no wife rising to meet him,
No happy children
beaming up at their father’s face.
The high,
thrilling song of the Sirens will transfix him,
Lolling there
in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses
Rotting away,
rags of skin shriveling on their bones…”
Suddenly Luigi felt a shake underneath him that nearly made him drop his book in the water. “Luigi, help me!” cried Mario. “I got a BIG one!”
Putting his book aside, Luigi grabbed his brother’s waist. The unseen fish jerked the fishing rod forward, forcing the two Brothers to collide with the water. Mario and Luigi breathed air again when they lifted up their faces. Mario still held the rod, but the line was broken. They swam to the boat and climbed back on board. To Luigi’s relief, the boat didn’t topple over; his book standing in the same place. But it was dressed in water.
“Aw, my book’s all wet!” Luigi complained.
“I told you not to bring it on the boat,” Mario replied nonchalantly. “You know how upset you get when one of your valuables gets lost, or ruined!”
“I can’t help it!” Luigi reacted. “I like to read whenever I’m outdoors, and this one rocks!”
Mario wrung his cap dry. “Do you see that fish anywhere?”
Luigi looked in the same direction as his elder brother. He couldn’t spot the fish either. The two plumbers looked at each other in befuddlement. “What could’ve pulled us in?” asked Luigi.
“I don’t know,” Mario shrugged. “I doubt it’s the same thing that the villagers were afraid of.”
“What do you mean?”
Mario began to row the boat back. “Today is the first day in five years they’ve opened the waters to tourists. Rumor has it that some fisherman disappeared while rowing toward that island cave, the one on the border between Water Land and Giant Land.”
Luigi scratched his head curiously. “How do you know?”
“From Lawrence, the Mushroom who loaned us the boat,” Mario replied. “Unfortunately, he refused to tell me more when I asked him. Other people have been asking him too. It must’ve been something very horrible, because he’s pretty shaken.”
“Then why did they open this place back up?”
“Emperor Aquarius ordered it. The last person who rowed there did come back, and since then, there have been no more disappearances. Aquarius claims that the problem is no more. Lawrence, however, is not convinced. He has taken it upon himself to write down every name of every Mushroom and man that comes here, even if it’s just to sun oneself on the beach. And he makes sure that everyone files through a line at his booth when they leave, so that he rests assured everyone is present.”
Fortunately for the villagers and the Mario Brothers, no one had met this terrible fate that Lawrence feared. But it was a case that remained unsolved and unsettled. And Lawrence was not the only villager to create strict rules for the Fishing Season. Mario saw a few mothers with notebooks in their hands and realized they were creating a structured schedule of activities for their children, including playing with children that only the mothers approved of. It was obviously not to the children’s liking either. It bothered Mario to the point that he hoped he and his brother could solve this mystery somehow. Then Lawrence and the tourists could enjoy Fishing Season without having to follow too many rules.
“HELP!!!”
Not long after the boat reached the docks, the Mario Brothers encountered a terrified Toad. His small hands held a rope attached to a wooden wagon. Inside it was an injured woman. Once Mario realized who it was, he was overcome with shock.
“Princess Peach!” exclaimed Mario. “What happened?!”
“I don’t know!” replied Toad. “I couldn’t find her in the castle for a whole week! Then I found her, just when she said she was going to Sky Land…” Toad’s voice trailed off to a strained whisper. “They think she’s guilty!”
“Guilty?! exclaimed Luigi. “Of what?!”
Toad shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Tears began to drizzle down his cheeks.
“Hey, it’s that traitor!” cried one of the Mushroom mothers. Mario turned around in surprise. Traitor? What did she mean? Then he realized that she was pointing in Princess Peach’s direction. And she looked enraged. “You!” the lady cried. “It’s because of you that all those children in Sky Land are suffering!”
Toad tugged on Mario’s sleeve. “We need to take her to Dr. Albertson’s, in Grass Land! It’s the only place where she’ll be safe!”
The Mario Brothers and Toad rushed with Peach to the nearest warp pipe to avoid the angry crowd. The crowd was suddenly stopped by the cry of Lawrence’s voice. “That’s enough! We’re closing up for the day!” Disgruntled that their activities were cut short, the crowd gathered in a line by Lawrence’s booth. After Lawrence and the crowd departed, a head with tousled blue hair rose from the water. The creature swam to shore where the Mario Brothers had stood, removing a pair of goggles and a breathing tube. A maniacal chuckle escaped his throat.
“My new pupil learns fast.” Ludwig von Koopa triumphantly shook his fist, which held a long piece of string. “Soon, the kingdom of Sky Land will be under Father’sdomain. We shall claim what is OURS!”
The Koopa Prince lay flat on his stomach and contemplated. Locks of wet, blue hair covered his eyes; Ludwig smoothed it back with his hand. “But I shall consult with my student. She fails to realize her own strength sometimes.”
Without a second
to lose, Ludwig jumped into the opposite warp pipe.
The Mario Brothers and Toad lay Princess Peach awake in bed. Her body was covered in purple and blue, and her left arm was broken. Dr. Albertson bound the fallen monarch’s arm in a cast and dressed her bruises in ointment. Peach’s head feebly lolled on its side, facing the Brothers’ direction.
“What happened, Highness?” asked Luigi.
Peach was only able to utter in a feeble tone: “Sky Land… King Cloudius, missing…”
“Missing?!” gasped Mario.
Peach nodded.
“A woman sits in his throne… The Sky Land citizens… pelted
me with stones…”
“What?!” Mario gasped. “Why would they do that?!”
Dr. Albertson
motioned her to keep silent. The doctor was a tall, thin, and dark-skinned
Mushroom lady dressed in earth-toned robes, similar to a Shoshone Indian.
“The princess is suspected of treason,” she explained. “Everyone believes
that she has
overthrown Sky
Land and the Mushroom Kingdom.”
Mario and Luigi exchanged appalled glances. They immediately inquired for a further explanation.
“A terrible disaster has befallen Sky Land,” Dr. Albertson began. “King Cloudius has been missing for some time. Strangely, the clouds have turned black since his disappearance. Even the royal guards of the castle have been acting strangely. And suffice it to say, some mysterious Peach impersonator now sits on his throne.”
“A Peach impersonator?” Mario repeated. “Sounds like Wendy O. Koopa in disguise, most likely by use of King Cloudius’s wand.”
But Dr. Albertson shook her head. “It’s not Wendy.” The Brothers looked at the doctor in awe. Not Wendy, they wondered? “Princess Peach was terribly frightened,” she continued. “She never showed this kind of fear toward King Bowser, let alone his Koopalings.”
“But who else could it be?” asked a confused Luigi.
“I don’t know,” replied Dr. Albertson. “But some stranger has entered our world.”
Mario nearly fell off his chair. “Stranger?! Who?!”
“Her Highness said someone entered her room,” said Dr. Albertson. “She was combing her hair and some lady in a purple cloak appeared. When she asked who it was, the woman sang something in her ear. Strangely, Her Highness fainted and woke up in Dark Land.”
“I ran into her in Ice Land near a warp pipe,” added Toad. “That’s when she told me that she overheard some Mushroomers talking about a catastrophe in Sky Land. When she came within view, they called her ‘traitor’ and threw stones at her. She then told me she was going to meet with King Cloudius of Sky Land to get to the bottom of this.”
Dr. Albertson nodded. “That’s where I heard Toad cry for help; the princess laying unconscious at his feet. I told him to find you two straight off to warn you.”
For a moment, both Mario and Luigi paused in silence. Peach’s strange mishap was beyond their knowledge, especially with the idea that a stranger had arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom. “Do you know anything about this stranger, Dr. Albertson?” Luigi asked.
“Not yet,” Dr. Albertson replied. “But I intend to find out. In the meantime, I suggest you three visit Sky Land and put a stop to this madness. Princess Peach will stay with me.”
“We’d better pack
some necessary power tools,” Mario suggested to his brother and Toad. “Sounds
like we have a new cactus in the flower pot.”
The sky drummed a rhythm of thunder outside the castle window. But a different rhythm played inside King Cloudius’s throne room. A quintet of fingers plucked the strings of a lyre, commanded by a small, slender hand. It belonged to a slender arm, owned by a pale-skinned woman whose locks of golden curls dangled over her left shoulder. When her mouth opened, a timbre as deep as a church bell spoke in lyrical phrases:
“Bathe in my
bitter tears,
Dance to the
splitting cracks
Of my fractured
heart
As I drown
you inside
My sea of
clouds
And dreamless
sleep
That once
was
A paradise…”
A sudden knock broke her from her melodic trance. “Enter!” she commanded.
When the door opened, a blue-haired reptile half her height entered the room. It was the Koopa Prince, Ludwig.
“Your Highness, to what to I owe this pleasure?” The woman’s tone was cordial, but her expression held a hint of annoyance from being interrupted. Ludwig was looking rather smug, but there was something else in his expression that she couldn’t place right away.
“You’re doing well, my student,” he announced before suddenly growing serious. “But you still have a lot to learn. The princess may be out of the way but you still need to be careful. Anybody could get suspicious.”
“Yes, yes, I know; don’t do anything that’ll give myself away and all that,” she replied impatiently. Just because she was new to this world, that didn’t mean she was ignorant. Not to mention, prince or not, she wasn’t about to let some kid order her about.
Ludwig’s eyes narrowed. “There’s also the Mario Brothers. They cannot be underestimated. So we must find a way of getting rid of them before they learn of our plans.”
The woman immediately smiled confidently. “There’s no need to worry. No one can resist my power even if they try,” she said reassuringly. “They’ll be out of our way before they even realize it.”
That’s not
the only thing that’s bothering me, Ludwig thought, but didn’t say
out loud. She was indeed powerful, and he was aware that, whether or not
she was fully aware of the extent of her power, she could use it for her
own agenda. He knew he would have to keep a constant eye on her.
Mario, Luigi, and Toad made their way through the land without incident, which was some comfort in itself, as each had been lost in his own thoughts for the most part.
Luigi, for his part, had been contemplating the circumstances surrounding King Cloudius’s disappearance and the encounter between Princess Peach and the strange woman. For some odd reason his thoughts kept straying to that one particular passage from The Odyssey and he couldn’t help but think that it was somehow connected to what was going on right now. Of course, he kept dismissing it as pure speculation, but at the same time something in the back of his mind insisted that it may hold the key to solving the whole mystery.
“Well, here we are,” Mario declared as they finally approached the warp pipe to Sky Land, breaking off Luigi’s train of thought.
Toad gulped nervously. “I don’t like this,” he said worriedly.
“Neither do I,” Mario admitted. “But we have to do this, not just for the princess or King Cloudius, but for everyone.”
Toad mutely nodded, then braced himself as they jumped through the warp pipe one at a time.
One way or another,
they were going to get to the bottom of it all before further disaster
struck.
The Peach imposter sat comfortably on the throne, but her slender hands squeezed the ends of the throne’s arms. Her eyes were closed, listening to the sound of distant voices in her head. She was not going crazy; Prince Ludwig was one floor below, conducting a choir that sang a capella. “The Prince has a natural talent for music,” she whispered to herself. “He is so willing and determined for a boy of his age.” She then rose from her seat to gaze out the window. The sky continued to thunder. Sky Land’s villagers were still under the spell of song. “Still, the Koopa child underestimates me.” The Peach imposter chuckled. “I have a lot to learn, he tells me. I think not, Prince von Koopa.”
“Woah… I never saw Sky Land this way before.”
What’s this? The Peach imposter heard voices that she did not recognize. Then she spotted through her window one Mushroomer that was not under the spell of song. And he was accompanied by two mustached men in blue overalls and plumber caps. They were conversing with each other while heading toward King Cloudius’s castle. Nevertheless, this didn’t bother the foreign lady one bit.
“Ah, so those
are
the famous Mario Brothers?” the Peach imposter uttered with a wry smile.
“If these are the people Prince von Koopa warned me about, then
I wouldn’t worry. But for the sake of pacifying his personal fantasy,
I will have the Piranha Plants and Chain Chomps take care of them.”
“Even at its worst, Sky Land has never looked this bad,” Luigi whispered. “These villagers don’t even look human, er, Mushroom…”
Mario nodded in agreement. “And her Highness never had it this bad either. King Bowser’s kidnappings are starting to look like child’s play.”
“Even Dr. Albertson doesn’t believe that King Bowser can summon up this much power,” Toad added. “Did you two see the expression on her face? Dr. Albertson always knows when something is wrong.”
Mario sighed as he allowed the thoughts of his brother and Toad to sink in. Who could this new person be, he wondered? His thoughts were interrupted when he was greeted by a pair of smiling white lips. “WATCH OUT!”
Two Piranha Plants stood before the drawbridge of King Cloudius’s castle. Mario motioned for Luigi to grab a Fire Flower, then he did the same. The Piranha Plants fired first. The Mario Brothers and Toad jumped to opposite sides to avoid the fire. Luigi aimed at the left Piranha Plant and fired. The creature disintegrated on the spot. Mario fired at the remaining Piranha Plant, which burned to ash as well.
“We need to hurry.” Mario beckoned to his brother and companion. “And be on the lookout. I have a feeling those Piranha Plants aren’t the worst of our troubles.”
Mario was right. Not long after the two plumbers and Toad crossed the drawbridge, a Chain Chomp the height of the entryway confronted them, growling as he smacked his wet lips. A Fire Flower wouldn’t halt this creature that easily. The three of them walked sideways, hoping to squeeze through the narrow space in between; the Chain Chomp’s face blocked their way.
“How will we ever get past this?” asked Toad.
“I don’t know,” replied Mario. “But we need to think of something.”
A sudden noise interrupted his thoughts. The three of them looked behind them… and realized that the drawbridge was being lifted.
“We need to think of something fast!” Luigi blurted frantically.
Mario grabbed
his brother’s wrist and motioned for Luigi to grab Toad’s. He had an idea
that might be just crazy enough to work. He watched as the Chain Chomp
readily opened its jaws to invite three tasty morsels into the oblivion
of its gullet. Aiming at his target, Mario squeezed his eyes shut and fired
inside the Chain Chomp’s mouth. The plumber opened his eyes. It worked!
The Chain Chomp was no more. The three were overcome with relief as they
allowed themselves to slide to the ground as the drawbridge closed behind
them.
“My little diversion didn’t work!” Ludwig complained, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “The Mario Brothers destroyed our Chain Chomp and Piranha Plants!”
The Peach imposter sighed heavily in an annoyed manner. The Koopa Prince was so high-strung, she thought!
Ludwig and she were spying on the three adventurers through Kamek’s crystal ball. The Mario Brothers and Toad were now past the main hall and approaching the stairs to the second floor.
“You needn’t worry, Highness,” she reassured him. “There is yet another diversion waiting for them.”
“And that is?” Ludwig began, suspiciously drumming his fingers on crossed arms.
The woman glanced at him with a smile. “Exactly what they came here for.” She picked up her lyre and headed for the double-door. Ludwig rushed over and grabbed her arm, causing her to halt.
“And where do you think you’re going?” The Koopa Prince demanded.
The Peach imposter turned to face him. “My Lord Prince, what’s the matter?”
“For a pupil, you seem to be three steps ahead of me,” Ludwig answered. “And I don’t like it, especially without my knowledge of what you’re doing.”
“Highness, did you forget that I have an irresistible singing voice?” she replied calmly. “You saw that for yourself upon capturing King Cloudius. I need to be there for the next diversion to work. Surely you trust me… don’t you?”
Ludwig wanted to answer, but refrained himself instead. He couldn’t understand why, but he didn’t like the idea of a pupil possessing more knowledge than her teacher. Sure, she was older, wiser, and perhaps more cunning than he would ever be. That was why he had chosen her. But Ludwig was still her prince, under his command! Nevertheless, this Peach look-alike hadn’t committed a single act of disobedience. Not yet, at least.
Ludwig heaved a sigh of finality. “Do as you must,” he told her in a soft voice. “Just promise me this. If our plans fail, you are to return, with me, to our castle in Dark Land. And any future plans will be brought to me first, for my consent.”
The Peach imposter
gently placed her slender hand on his right shoulder. “My dear Prince von
Koopa, I wouldn’t dream of anything else.”
“It’s so unusually quiet, for a castle,” Toad whispered. “There’s not a single guard in sight.”
The three brave travelers had reached the second floor. Toad was right: so far, neither guard nor servant had been spotted since they made it past the Chain Chomp and the Piranha Plants. Only silence… and the cold.
“This Peach look-alike must be a very powerful woman,” Luigi added. “Did you see the look on the villagers’ faces before we reached the castle? I can only imagine what King Cloudius must look like.”
Toad suddenly gasped as his eyes spotted something. “Look!” His finger pointed to something hanging from the ceiling. An elder man with a golden, curly beard dangled lifelessly by rope near double-doors. His hands were bound behind his back, his moon-green eyes blankly staring at the three uninvited guests. The pure white robes and crown indicated that it was none other than Cloudius, King of Sky Land.
“Is he… dead?” Luigi gulped at the sight of the lifeless king.
“No, only asleep.”
A foreign voice made Luigi and the rest of the gang freeze. One of the doors opened. A lady dressed in a dark violet cloak approached the Mario Brothers and Toad. Under her left arm was a golden lyre.
“Who are you?!” Mario demanded. “Show yourself!”
The cloaked being obliged by lifting her hood to show her face. All three adventurers gasped when the face of this newcomer was revealed. “Highness?!” Luigi blurted. “What’re you doing here!? You should be in bed, safe in Gr-!”
Toad pulled on Luigi’s sleeve to demand his attention. “No, Luigi!” he warned. “That’s not the Princess! Look!”
The beautiful, golden-haired woman was the spitting image of Princess Peach, but there was something else that appeared to be different. An imprint of a lavender rose stood in the center of her forehead, a tattoo of some sort. Furthermore, her skin was much more pale than the real princess’. Her hair was much longer and her eyes, though lovely, were cat-shaped with irises as red as fire.
“Very observant of you, my dear Toad,” the Peach imposter replied with a chuckle. She stripped herself of the violet robe, revealing the same pink dress that the real Peach always wore. “And as a matter of fact, you’re right.”
Mario pointed his Fire Flower at the Peach imposter. “I repeat, who are you?!”
The Peach imposter said nothing, but dropped her lyre upon her violet cloak. She lifted both hands above her head, and shouted only one word: “REVEAL!”
The Mario Brothers and Toad backed away in terrified awe as the imposter’s entire figure turned black. It wasn’t long before another human shape appeared. The new form still looked like Peach, only this Peach look-alike had coal black hair and wore a silver crown and a deep purple dress. Only her rose tattoo, her eyes, and her skin-tone remained the same.
“Surprised, aren’t you?” the woman cackled. “You may call me Plum! Princess Plum!”
“Princess Plum?!” Luigi repeated in bewilderment.
“What have you done with King Cloudius?!” Mario demanded.
“As I just said, he’s asleep!” Princess Plum retorted. “He simply couldn’t resist our music.”
Mario gazed at Plum suspiciously. Our music? What did she mean? Then the answer to his question came from the opened door and stood by her side, an answer in the form of a turtle-dragon hybrid with messy blue hair and a buck-toothed fang.
“Ludwig von Koopa!?” Mario blurted in befuddlement. “You’re part of this madness?!”
“I see you’ve met my student,” the Koopa Prince replied with a wry smile. “Amazing, isn’t she? She has the doubtless gift of song, different from any chorus girl I’ve ever known. Still, you must forgive her lack of discipline. She doesn’t realize her own strength sometimes.”
“His Highness flatters me,” the princess replied nonchalantly, though she was secretly annoyed by Ludwig’s remark about her lack of discipline. Gazing up at the dormant king, she snapped her fingers. Cloudius began to wake… but his eyes changed to dark red sockets. Princess Plum pulled a chakram from her pocket. With one swift motion, she cut the rope, allowing the changed king to descend on his feet.
“Seize them!” Princess Plum commanded.
The spell-stricken monarch pulled out his magic wand and struck its magic in the Mario Brothers’ direction. A thin fume of black smoke encircled the three travelers before enclosing around them and turning into rope that started pulling them forward. As the Mario Brothers and Toad struggled to break loose, Princess Plum advised Ludwig to cover his ears. She pulled out her lyre and played as she sang:
“Aaaaaaah, haaaaahaaaa… Aaaaahaaaa…”
Suddenly, Luigi began to shake his head violently. “That… voice … So soothing,” he uttered in a trembling voice. Although he uttered words of pleasure, they betrayed his own instincts. “So beautiful … I must go to it!” He wasn’t the only one behaving strangely. Mario and Toad also struggled to free themselves from the luring rope, and not for the sake of running away.
“Forget all
your troubles
Forget all
your fears
Sail away
on my cloudy seas
… Of silence…”
“I… want to sail away!” Toad pled, feeling as if he was going to explode out of his head. “Let me sail, please!”
“Come to my
table
Feast on the
fruit
Of dreams
…
And drink
from the wine
… Of solitude…”
“Feast… Wine?” spoke a befuddled Mario. “I must drink the wine!”
In all his agony to resist the pleasure of her voice, Luigi forced his right hand to reach for the Fire Flower in his pocket. Through one open eye, he fixed his gaze on Princess Plum’s lyre. Luckily, she had her eyes closed as she sang her song. “I hope… this works,” he whispered through gritted teeth. Angling the Flower to his aim, Luigi fired in the center of the princess’ lyre.
The dark-haired monarch jerked her hand back as the strings caught fire. “What the…?”
It worked! Luigi’s mind was free again, and so were the adventurers’ bonds. After setting Plum’s lyre-strings on fire, he used the Fire Flower to knock the wand out of King Cloudius’s hand (much to the monarch’s displeasure of getting his hand burnt). “Cover your ears!” Luigi shouted. “Now!”
Mario did as his brother commanded. Toad was the first to spot the fallen wand. He lunged forward to grab it, lucky to avoid Cloudius’s angry grasp. “Wake up, Your Majesty!” Toad pointed the wand in the direction of the spell-struck monarch.
The lava red glow from his eyes vanished. He blinked in a confused manner, totally unaware of his surroundings. Then the monarch realized that he was not in his throne room. “Mario Brothers?” he spoke. “What’s going on?”
“No, it can’t be!” Princess Plum gasped.
“King Cloudius!” Luigi shouted. “Use your wand! Silence that woman!”
Toad tossed the wand to King Cloudius. The monarch was still confused and demanded that either Toad or one of the Mario Brothers give an explanation. But Luigi insisted, “You have no time, Majesty! Silence that princess with your wand! Do it quickly, before she starts singing again!”
“You’ve ruined my lyre!” Princess Plum retorted. “And for that, you will all p-!”
The dark-haired princess was interrupted by something covering her mouth. Suddenly she couldn’t speak, let alone sing. A silver metal plate had nailed her mouth shut. She attempted to pry the metal piece off, but all her efforts were in vain. “Bound this woman!” she heard King Cloudius say, just before she felt a force pull her hands behind her back. A pair of shackles had appeared on her wrists, leaving Princess Plum helpless.
“What the devil is going on?!” came a voice from behind the double doors. It was Ludwig von Koopa, unaware of what had become of his pupil.
“He’s part of this too!” Toad pointed. “Princess Plum is his student!”
King Cloudius aimed his wand at the Koopa Prince. It wasn’t long before a pair of shackles bound Ludwig’s wrist as well. Surprised by what had befallen him, Ludwig spotted his imprisoned pupil. “You failed, haven’t you?”
“Wrong, Prince
von Koopa,” Mario corrected him. “You failed.”
The next day brought light and life back to the darkened Sky Land. The citizens no longer wandered the clouded grounds with glowing red eyes. King Cloudius sat in his throne once again. However, there was still the matter of clearing Princess Peach’s name of the treason accusations. Likewise, a suitable punishment had to be decided for the two prisoners, Ludwig von Koopa and Princess Plum, who lay in front of Mario and Luigi. And King Cloudius was still oblivious as to what had happened during his absence. The Mario Brothers and Toad explained to him the incident that had befallen Princess Peach and his people.
“It’s all very strange,” said King Cloudius. “The last thing I remember, two of my guards said that some foreigner wanted to give me a message. A woman covered in a purple cloak approached me to whisper something in my ear. I heard this frightful, yet beautiful sound. Then the next thing I knew, I was in the hallway of the second floor, with the three of you there.”
“No stranger than what happened to us, Majesty,” replied Mario. “We still don’t know where this Peach look-alike came from.”
King Cloudius fixed his gaze on the prisoners. “What is your purpose here on Sky Land, Prince von Koopa?!”
“To claim what rightfully belongs to my clan!” the Koopa Prince retorted. “And I will, no matter what it takes! You humans and Mushrooms have treated my people like outcasts too long!”
“You’ve made yourselves outcasts!” King Cloudius spat out. “But you’re lucky that I’m a merciful king. Therefore, I will allow you and your friend to go back to Dark Land, where you belong!”
Luigi winced at the sound of the monarch’s decision. “Your Majesty, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
But King Cloudius didn’t pay any attention. He pointed his wand to Ludwig and Plum and the the shackles disappeared along with Plum’s metal mouthpiece. “Come on, Princess,” Ludwig called to her in a surrendered manner. “Grab your lyre and come back with me.”
Princess Plum did not take this favorably. “You’re quitting that easily, Highness?!” she complained. “Just because we were both caught off-guard by two plumbers and a puny fungus, doesn’t mean we have to dumb down our standards!”
“Grab your lyre and come with me,” Ludwig repeated, this time in an annoyed tone of voice.
“Sire, this is only a hiccup, not indigestion!”
“DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ENGLISH?” Ludwig shouted, close to losing his temper. “I’m your prince! GRAB your lyre and COME with ME!”
Princess Plum wanted to say something, but held her tongue. After all, she was old enough to know better than to debase herself on account of a direct order - much older than she was willing to admit. She heaved a sigh of defeat. “As your Highness wishes.”
“Thank you,” Ludwig replied with a shake of his head afterwards.
He walked to the opened double-doors and Princess Plum followed, but not before stopping midway to say one last thing to her enemies (Ludwig was on the other side). “You may have won this time, Mario Brothers,” she began, her tone reduced to an audible whisper, “but know and understand this. You’ve been fed only a teaspoon of my power, and only that. You have not seen nor can you imagine the extent of my true power. But you will learn… soon enough …” Then she fixed her gaze on King Cloudius. “That was the message I wanted to give Your Majesty. Darkness will blanket the eight kingdoms. No one will be able to save you… not even the Mario Brothers.”
Princess Plum
pulled her hood over her head and rushed to catch up with the Koopa Prince.
“Mario… Luigi… You’ve saved Sky Land… I’m grateful...”
The injured princess propped herself up against her pillow. Dr. Albertson returned with an ice pack and placed it on her good hand. Peach held the pack to her head. Although she was still weak, she was able to talk. “I’m sure King Cloudius… was grateful to you too…”
Mario nodded. “He’s working on getting your name cleared, Highness. In the meantime, we suggest that you remain here in bed.”
Peach nodded with a heavy sigh. “Did you ever find out who the imposter was?”
“Her name is Princess Plum,” Mario replied. “And she’s happens to be Ludwig von Koopa’s new music student.”
“Ludwig?” said a confused Peach. “In charge of that… that thing…”
“I’m afraid so. Dr. Albertson was wrong about Bowser Koopa being a part of this.”
Dr. Albertson overheard the pudgy plumber’s comment and responded, “No Mario, I’m not wrong. I only wish I were.”
Mario shot a quick glance at the doctor. As if to read his mind, Dr. Albertson nodded. “Doctor, I saw his eldest son,” Mario insisted. “Prince von Koopa was there, and he said that Princess Plum was his student.”
Dr. Albertson shook her head. “Prince von Koopa was there, yes. But he is not behind this, nor is his father.” She heaved a sigh and held her upper torso with crossed hands, as if afraid that she would explode out of her body. “In fact, I fear that the Koopa Prince is nothing more than a puppet in a dangerous game. But he doesn’t know it.”
Mario and Toad shot puzzled glances at each other. Ludwig von Koopa, a puppet? How? Luigi, however, wasn’t surprised. He remembered almost being driven to madness by that woman’s voice. He was the first to break the silence. “I think the doctor has a point, you guys.”
“What do you mean, Brother?” asked Mario. He was giving his taller, younger brother a suspicious look.
“Did you forget already, Mario?!” Luigi replied in a frustrated tone. “That Princess Plum lady sang, and I thought I was losing my mind! King Cloudius decided to let her and Ludwig go home… but something about her bothers me! Doesn’t it bother you guys too?!”
Mario and Toad exchanged glances with each other again. They both remembered being close to losing their minds. They also remembered that it was Luigi’s idea to have King Cloudius silence her before she could open her mouth to sing again. “Come to think of it,” Toad began, “how did you know to stop her from singing?”
Luigi scratched the back of his head nervously. I just know was what he wanted to say. But he knew his brother and Toad enough to realize they wanted more details. “Well I, uh… have this thought,” he stammered. “Mario, you remember that book I brought with us? When we went fishing?”
“Yeah, what about?”
Luigi walked over to the mini-bureau next to Peach’s bed. He remembered that he placed his book in the drawer prior to their Sky Land adventure. He pulled out The Odyssey and opened to the page he last left off. Handing it to his brother, Luigi pointed at the passage:
“First you
will raise the island of the Sirens,
Those creatures
who spellbind any man alive,
Whoever comes
their way, Whoever draws too close,
No sailing
home for him, no wife rising to meet him,
No happy children
beaming up at their father’s face.
The high,
thrilling song of the Sirens will transfix him,
Lolling there
in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses
Rotting away,
rags of skin shriveling on their bones…”
“What’s this supposed to mean, Luigi?” Mario asked, handing the book back to his brother.
Luigi had an embarrassed expression on his face. “I’m not sure… but I think Princess Plum has something to do with this.”
Mario chuckled as he slapped his brother on the shoulder. “Luigi, this is fiction. It doesn’t mean anything. Princess Plum is… well, some kind of wizard! Like Kamek.”
Luigi nodded, but he still was uncomfortable. “I thought so too. That’s why I didn’t say anything. But there are other things.”
“Like what?” asked Toad.
Luigi heaved a sigh. Where to begin, he wondered? “That story that Lawrence told Mario, that the fishermen disappeared in that cave, for one. Sky Land turns into a Thunder Land. Princess Plum having this strange accent that I cannot place with any of the seven Mushroom Kingdoms. That lyre she had in her hands. And on top of all that, the warning she gave us!”
The warning… How could Luigi forget her warning? You’ve been fed only a teaspoon of my power, and only that. You have not seen nor can imagine the extent of my true power. But you will learn… SOON enough…
“Mario, she said darkness will blanket the eight kingdoms!” Luigi warned him. “I think she meant it.”
Dr. Albertson approached Luigi. With an inquisitive expression on her face, she held out her slender hand. “Let me see that book, Luigi.” The plumber obliged her request without hesitation. Dr. Albertson pulled out her reading glasses to survey the script. She closed the book and returned it to its owner. “I would take Luigi’s advice, you two,” she addressed Mario and Toad. “This book may be fiction, but it has confirmed my suspicions that neither King Bowser nor his children have any idea what’s going on. And Prince von Koopa is most likely a victim…”
Mario clasped his hands on his head in disbelief. His little-big brother ways always the one coming up with the strangest ideas. Most of the time, it was just Luigi’s nervous disposition. After all, he was such a worrywart. Still, there were special occasions when those strange ideas proved to be a method to Luigi’s madness. Mario foresaw no warning that this would be one of them.
“What are you suggesting, Doctor?” Toad asked nervously.
“I’m suggesting that you get in the habit of wearing earplugs,” Dr. Albertson replied. “In the meantime, you keep a close watch on Princess Peach. I’m going straight to the library. I need to do some… research…”
Author’s Note: Princess Plum is NOT to be confused with Plum from Mario Golf 64. Princess Plum is a COMPLETELY different character entirely; any similarities, implied or actual, are purely coincidental.
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