I closed my eyes and listened to the water. Small waves gently swayed my canoe. It was so lulling, I thought I would fall asleep. Honestly, I didn’t care for boating or fishing (I still don’t). But I needed to get away from Father… and my annoying siblings! It was the only way I could work on my musical compositions in peace.
Back at the castle, I started on a musical project, an Opera called The Birth of the Swamp Goddess. It was my own way to pay homage to our water deity, Oceania Koopa. Father laughed at this idea. “Oceania Koopa?!” he said to me in a sardonic tone. “Why would you want to write an Opera about her?!”
Did I fail to mention that the Koopa clan doesn’t consider Oceania Koopa a favorable Koopa god? Most people, especially Mushroomers, are under the strange impression that our tribe is atheist. That’s not true at all. Not only do we believe in a god, we worship four gods. They are (in order of most favored) Salam Koopa, Eartha Koopa, Sylphius Koopa, and Oceania Koopa. I could describe a whole history of each one, but that would take forever, so let’s just stick to the basics.
Salam (Salamander) Koopa is the deity of fire and the most worshipped since our tribe prides itself in fighting. When Koopa athletes hope to be the strongest physically, to beat the weakest Koopas in sports, or when Troopa soldiers hope for a glorious victory over battle (preferably with bloodshed), Salam is the chosen deity.
Eartha Koopa, the deity of the earth, is in charge of providing the Koopa tribe with a bountiful harvest. She made apple trees, pumpkin patches, and all different fruits and vegetables imaginable. She is the Koopa tribe’s second favorite because all Koopas love to eat (myself included).
Sylphius Koopa, deity of wind, creates anything from gentle, playful breezes in autumn to the strong, almost deadly hurricanes and tornadoes (though these do not happen often). He mostly attracts the attention of young Koopalings, since they love to play outside during windy weather. But when Koopalings become aduls, they don’t seek him for any guidance. Some grow to the point of forgetting that Sylphius exists and that winds of any kind are just those: winds.
Which leads me to talk about Oceania Koopa, our beloved water goddess (I say this sarcastically). Oceania provides water in which all life, be it Koopa or Mushroom, is created. In fact, if it wasn’t for her, life wouldn’t exist at all. So why do Koopas favor her the least? There are many reasons, all of them stupid if you ask me. For one thing, Oceania wasn’t always a Koopa, let alone a goddess. Legends say that many eons ago, she was once a golden-haired human child who foolishly wandered away from her parents and wound up here in Dark Land. There she found a lone tree that grew black apples. Because she was hungry, she pulled one of the apples off and ate it. But the black apples possessed a power way too foreign for humans to handle. This power changed her form, to what we now know as a blue-scaled reptile with hair the color of seaweed and a sea-serpent’s tail.
Secondly, she chose no sides. One day she would use her power to flood villages to punish those who trespassed in Dark Land and whose intentions were to destroy us. Another day, she would provide rain to Mushroom villages in time of drought… Because of this, the Koopas consider her subversive.
But the number one reason the Koopa tribe dislikes her is because she was blind… literally. Her eyes are said to be nothing but two sockets of water. The legends present two sides to her blindness, either she was born blind as a human, or the black apple caused her blindness as it did her transformation. Blindness is an imperfection found only among earth creatures. Who would favor an imperfect deity, let alone an imperfect Koopa deity?
What does this have to do with my Opera? Well, it was very close to completion, but I was short on some character roles. I was especially short on a singer to play the role of Oceania. I couldn’t cast Wendy for the role, not even as a last resort! Oceania is a creature of mysterious beauty, sophistication, demureness, and wisdom. All the imperfections I adored, but other Koopas hated. Wendy on the other hand, is an air-headed, selfish, mouthy little brat, with NO class! No! The role of Oceania had to be reserved for someone special, someone whose essence embodies all the qualities befitting of our goddess!
I left Koopa Castle to begin my search. But I found no one. I retuned home, to complete humiliation! My brothers ridiculed my project (it wasn’t even finished), and Father said I had added more disgrace to our goddess than had already existed. I couldn’t take any more.
So here I was, floating on a canoe in Water Land. The canoe had not been easy to get. Some poor, delusional old Mushroom named Lawrence nearly pulled me into a game of devil’s advocate because he kept babbling about fishermen disappearing. I ended this farce by giving him two choices: either give me the boat or face suspicious Mushrooms who would want to know why he was keeping secrets. And I won.
***
The sound of water would’ve put me to sleep. Then I heard something that made me abruptly sit upright. It was so faint that I took it to be wind. But something about this wind was pulling me, begging me to follow it. I drew out my paddle and rowed forward.
I spotted something in the distance, covered by gray mist. Could it be the infamous Cave of Singing Death? I’d heard so many stories about it, mostly by old Mushroom wives. They all said it was haunted, by something other than Boo Buddies. It used to be a solitary cave, until five years ago. No one knew what happened, but a gray mist suddenly engulfed it. It began with a mysterious shortage of fish, bringing famine to the Water Land citizens. A select few of them decided to sail toward the boundaries of Water Land in search of food. Then they disappeared. So a search party was sent forth to sail toward the boundaries. They never came back. It went on for the longest time, until a jellyfish reared its head to the surface with a warning: “Beware the Cave of Singing Death.” Though no one knew what had happened, the citizens of Water Land realized it had something to do with that mist-covered island. They eventually passed a law, forbidding anyone to go there. I simply dismissed it as folklore, and for the sake of completing my Opera, I didn’t care if I broke any laws, especially Mushroom-made!
But something strange was happening. I continued to row the canoe, but this time not of my own free will. My arms were on auto-pilot while my head was filled with singing wind, ice-skating figure-eights in my psyche. Yes, that’s what it was! Singing! Now I was two yards away from the Cave of Singing Death. The sounds became clear. It was a chorus of female voices (at least 5, I guessed):
“O Lhiannan Shee! Ta mee clashtyn kinjagh…”
They were obviously singing in a foreign tongue because I didn’t understand a single word. Nevertheless, I couldn’t break free from the sound. The voices were violin bows, gently sliding upon the strings of my subconscious. They were lassos that pulled me, with no intention of letting go. It was beautiful and frightening.
“Oh Lhiannan Shee! Ta mee clahstyn kinjagh…”
My canoe touched shore; the voices grew louder. My foot touched stony ground. I was entering the Cave of Singing Death. And the voices grew louder. I continued to follow. My heart felt as if it would punch through my chest. Was this why Mushroom sailors and fishermen had disappeared? As a rational reptile, I should’ve turned around and left. But this was something beyond being rational. And still I was being pulled by the calling voices.
“Oh Lhiannan
Shee! Ta mee clashtyn kinjagh
T’ou geamagh
orrym trooid oie as laa:
Cha noddyms
cur graih nih er ben marvaanagh
She mish my
lomarcan trooid my vea…”
Deeper and deeper I ventured into the cave. Before me was a glowing green light. Now the voices were sonorous and triumphant, and the pulling stopped. Whoever the voices belonged to were just around the corner. I now had an opportunity to turn away and run. But who did those beautiful voices belong to? I was curious (the curse of a knowledge-seeking Koopa). The open path lay before me. I peeked through while keeping myself hidden. It seemed like my first guess was on target. In a room of green light sat five human women, playing with glowing spheres as they sang. They must’ve been quintuplets. They all had milky-skin, coal-toned hair, and lava-red eyes. They even shared the same tattoo on their foreheads, that of an image like a lavender rose. The only major difference was the clothes they wore and the way each one did her hair. And that’s when I found… HER!
Their leader stood on a stone pedestal in the center. But her back was to me. Her head was turned sideways, so I could barely make out the features on her face. Unlike her sisters, she wore a silver crown decked with red and green jewels. And her voice was the strongest of the five. Who was she? The answer to my question took me by surprise when she finally turned around to face me. Then all the singing stopped.
“Princess Peach?! Why are you here?! And what’s with the black dye?!”
But then the woman laughed in reply. No, it wasn’t Princess Peach! Her voice had a much deeper tone … and a funny accent. “Peach, you say?” she giggled. “Ha! I’ve been called many things, even by the title of princess. But never has anyone in my existence ever called me Peach!”
The woman began to approach me, with a creepy Cobrat’s stare. But that was nothing compared to the touch of her fingers around my chin. It was cold, more so than the waters of Ice Land! My scaly skin began to crawl. Were the rumors true? Was my life to come to a sticky end? But then she released her hold on me, taking one step back. “You’re the strangest-looking creature I’ve seen, little blue-haired turtle,” she said to me.
Blue-haired turtle?! That comment lit a mental fuse. “Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to, woman?!”
Suddenly, one of her sisters stepped forward. “Hold your tongue, boy!” she retorted. “That is no way to speak to my sister! Show some more respect to your princess!”
“She’s not my princess!” I corrected. “I am Prince Ludwig von Koopa of Dark Land!”
“Ludwig von Koopa?” the leader repeated. A surprised, yet curious expression appeared on her face. “Not partial to a Ludwig von Beethoven from Germany, are you?”
“That is not your concern!”
“Have you no manners, boy!?” the leader’s sister started again. She raised her fist in front of her face and shook it in my direction. “Maybe I should beat some sense into you!”
“It’s all right, Thelxiepeia,” the leader told her in a calm voice. “After all, he’s only a boy.” She blocked her sister with her right arm, as a sign for her to stay back. Thelxiepeia (as the leader called her) huffed irritably as she took a giant step back. The Peach look-alike turned her head to face me once again. “So you’re a prince, are you? I’ve seen some strange-looking princes before, but you’re the first turtle prince I’ve ever met.”
“I know who and what I am,” I replied, my patience running short. “What I want to know is who are you?”
“Well, no wonder you’re so rude!” the Peach look-alike responded in a joking manner. “I haven’t even given you a proper introduction yet, so I guess I should forgive you. We are the Nike Quintet, a traveling choir of sisters straight from Athens, Greece. The woman who defended me is Thelxiepeia. She designs the costumes for our performances. Aglaope does our stage makeup, including her own. Leucosia writes the lyrics and loves to wear white flowers in her hair. Ligeia plays flute and has the most cheerful-sounding voice. And I am Peisinoe, choir director, singer, actress, and anything I put my heart’s desire to. But men know me by the name of Plum… Princess Plum…”
I can SEE that, I thought. Not only did she look like Princess Peach but she wore a dress with exactly the same design and style. Only hers was purple, the color of a plum. And no wonder she had a foreign accent! She was a Real Worlder, like the Mario Brothers! But how did she end up here?!
“My sisters and I were looking for auditions,” Princess Plum continued. “We were in Paris and were on our way to get something to eat. But Ligeia stumbled forward and her flute fell down a green pipe. She insisted that she wanted to get it back, so she went in. We decided to follow her in case she got into any trouble. She can be absent-minded sometimes.” The woman called Ligeia covered her face in embarrassment. But the princess continued her story. “We went down the pipe … We had no idea that we’d end up here.”
This princess had a pretty convincing story. The pipe she was talking about was no more than a foot away from the quintet’s circle. But something bothered me. I suddenly remembered the Mushroom stories about the fisherman disappearing into a cave, the same cave that I stood in at this very moment. If these girls had only come to fetch their sister’s flute, why were they still here? And why would they be singing in a place like this?
“How long have you been here?” I asked the Princess Plum.
“Only a couple of hours,” she replied.
Ha, I knew it! I knew those stories that old fool Lawrence was spewing were just myths! I wanted to ask her more about the flute ordeal. She answered this question before I had a chance to ask it.
“Luckily, Ligeia’s flute didn’t fall too far. After we found it, we realized how secretive this place seemed. Since it’s very hard to avoid our adoring fans back at home, we decided that this was the perfect place to rehearse our songs. We went back into the pipe to Paris to find that restaurant we were originally looking for. This happened just yesterday.”
That was the end of Princess Plum’s story. I could tell because she knelt to the level of my height while staring at me. “So tell me, Prince Ludwig. Are you a musician?”
I nodded in reply; she wasn’t surprised.
“Well, you seem like a very intelligent and musically inclined child. Would you know of any plays, ballets, or Operas with roles that my sisters and I could audition for?”
Plays, ballets, Operas… My Opera! I just remembered! I was looking for someone to star in my Opera, The Birth of a Swamp Goddess! And five possibilities were staring me in the face, literally! “Well, Princess Plum,” I began, “since you’re the every woman of the quintet, can you play a goddess?”
***
Well, that didn’t take long at all! This new princess and her sisters were obedient enough to come with me to Dark Land upon my request. I returned the boat back to that silly Lawrence character, who seemed paralyzed with disbelief because I returned. It must’ve wounded his pride when I proved him to be a lousy liar (I say this with a smile). I explained to them the plot of my Opera and about Oceania, our Koopa goddess. Princess Plum became fascinated with this character. She told me that she had played the roles of goddesses before, but never had she heard of our goddess. Something deep inside told me that she would be the perfect fit for the part. But I still had to test her, just to be sure.
When we returned to my bedroom, I showed my musical script to Princess Plum. Surprisingly, the Sledge Brother guards at the drawbridge didn’t seem to take notice of my new guests (or if they did, they didn’t say anything). And Father happened to be taking a nap at the time, while my siblings remained in their separate bedrooms. What they were doing didn’t matter to me. Just as long as I had my privacy, I could train my new students in peace.
“I hope your sister designed enough costumes,” I warned the princess. “There’s nothing we have here that resembles a costume of Oceania Koopa.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary, Highness,” Princess Plum replied. “Just tell me again what she looks like. I’ll … let Thelxiepeia know.”
Won’t be necessary, she said? I assumed that meant that Thelxiepeia made more than enough costumes and that she could find something. I sat on my stool, facing the piano. “Are you ready?”
The princess stood by the right side of the piano and looked at me. It was a sign to me that she was ready. My clawed fingers drummed the keys for the first four measures. With a single nod of my head, I cued her to begin:
“Where is that
Unborn land,
Where fish
rest
On the palms
of
Human hands?
Where is that
Unborn land,
That I may
Swim, in spite
of
My cripple?
How I long
To dwell among
Waters …
And be …
Queen!”
When she was finished I remained silent for some time. It was… absolutely beautiful! Sheer perfection beyond anyone’s description! At last, I had found my star! I couldn’t wait any longer to show my Opera to my father and siblings. They just had to meet these sisters, especially Princess Plum!
“Well?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.
I smiled at her. “Congratulations; you’ve got the part.”
***
I finally finished my Opera a few days after meeting Princess Plum and her sisters. It was several more days before I felt the timing was right to present them to my family. Not surprisingly, they were all disgruntled from having their routines disrupted as they all entered the room. “This had better be good,” Father grumbled as he sat down.
At that moment Princess Plum came into the room along with her siblings. “What the?!” Father jumped from his seat and glared at me. “Is this some sort of joke?! What is Princess Peach doing here?!” He peered at her more closely. “And why is her hair dyed black?!”
“Father, this isn’t Princess Peach, but someone who just happens to look like her,” I explained, finding it somewhat amusing that his questions were similar to my own when I first met the sisters. “May I present Princess Plum and her sisters. They are performers known as the Nike Quintet.” The sisters made polite curtsies.
“Performers, huh? This ought to be interesting.” Father finally settled down, smirking. I guessed that he expected my Opera and the sisters’ singing to be awful and that he planned to tell me he had told me so and rub it in my face. Won’t he and the others be surprised, I thought, smirking inwardly.
And so, without further ado, I began my Opera.
Silence settled throughout the audience as the music started. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a couple of my siblings shift in their chairs in boredom. No doubt they thought this was a waste of their precious time. I stifled my indignation, knowing full well that they would, one way or another, regret doubting me and my talents.
And then Princess Plum started to sing. I could have sworn that the silence among my father and siblings grew stiller as they gradually became rapt in her singing. I was equally rapt when I saw her body change shape- into Oceania Koopa herself! Her siblings also changed forms, into the shapes of Oceania’s betta fish servants. It paralyzed me, nearly to the point of declining my responsibility as conductor to wave my baton. I caught myself in time to proceed to the next scene.
My family’s silence remained all the way until the end of my Opera. As soon as the last note of music faded into silence, there was a tremendous burst of applause from Father, my siblings, and everyone else present. “Brava! Brava!” I heard Father declare. “I was wrong to doubt you!” My siblings all nodded in agreement.
I flashed a grateful smile at Princess Plum. She smiled back at me. And the compliments kept on coming. But her sudden transformation to the likeness of our goddess begged questioning. After everyone took their bows, I approached Plum from behind the curtain on her left side.
“You excel in stage performance, even beyond my expectations,” I began with a compliment, before raising my suspicion. “Would you care to explain that transformation that you failed to mention before?”
Princess Plum and her sisters were wizards, like Kamek, I learned. Their special abilities were discovered by accident during childhood. Ligeia had sat in a green meadow, staring down a vixen in the eyes. She began to fantasize about being a fox. No sooner did this thought occur then Ligeia became a fox. Since then, the quintuplets had used these abilities to their advantage, especially to avoid crazed fans that wouldn’t allow them any privacy. The real reason these ladies hid in that cave was because they feared that their abilities would be discovered, causing more reason for their privacy to be sacrificed.
At least this was Princess Plum’s explanation. She apologized for not explaining this sooner. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve been angry at her for lying to me. But I was too much in a good mood from my audience’s reaction. So I pardoned her little error.
***
I allowed my audience to shake hands with and introduce themselves to the Nike Quintet. My father seemed to be Princess Plum’s biggest fan. He begged her to change her shape into the other three Koopa gods, and she humbly obliged. Out of everyone present, though, only Kamek and my youngest brother Larry looked less than convinced. If anything, they were frowning as though something troubled them.
But I didn’t think much of it. Kamek probably just didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of having other wizards around, and Real-Worlders at that. As for Larry … well, I passed it off his being jealous that I had made such a fine discovery and he hadn’t. He’ll get over it eventually, I thought, still feeling smug as at the same time another opportunity presented itself before me.
***
Birth of a Swamp Goddess wasn’t the only Opera I wrote for the Nike Quintet. Countless other pieces were written, from romantic comedies to tragic dramas. Each one turned out better than the previous, thanks to my newfound guests. After all, how many Operas and plays featured actresses who could magically change their shape to their appropriate roles? And my family’s attention to the Nike Quintet showed no signs of exhaustion. But they proved themselves more than just capable of singing and acting. Princess Plum was gracious enough to help me write my musical compositions. She did tell me in the beginning that she was an everywoman. We even had intellectual conversations ranging from the great composers to the famous Greek mathematicians. Princess Plum showed great interest in visiting the ancient ruins of Europe. Not only had I discovered the most greatest singer in all of the Real World, but the most sophisticated and intelligent. I couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous. She was even more of a genius than I was!
Aside from participating in musical plays, Plum and her sisters were also put to the test of working other jobs. Thelxiepeia, the naturally defensive one, took the role of dungeon guard. Our prisoners were so frightened of her that their dark-colored hair turned to pale white within a matter of minutes. It appeased my father’s pride, though I didn’t think it was necessary for her to disguise herself as a Boo Buddy.
Aglaope, the beautician, cooked the meals and did Wendy’s makeup. My siblings and I were astounded by our sister’s sudden change in appearance as well as her demeanor. Wendy usually bragged about how beautiful she was and insisted on doing her own makeup. But this time, Wendy looked exceptionally beautiful… and it left her speechless!
Leucosia, lover of flowers, tended the gardens and decorated the windowsills with dark-colored flowers. Generally, Father didn’t think highly of having our castle decorated with flowers (neither did I). But Leucosia managed to find these strange black flowers that were suitable to his tastes.
Bright and cheerful, yet clumsy, Ligeia took the role of court jester in times when my father was in a foul mood and needed a bit of light entertainment. Using her clumsiness to her advantage was Ligeia’s greatest strength. If she messed up or forgot a line, she was very good at hiding it.
As for Princess Plum, she was jack of all trades. She did every job handed to her with ease: guard duty, cook, seamstress, jester, gardener, cleaning lady, court dancer, strategy planner… You name it, she did it. She even managed to somehow keep my annoying siblings from bothering me during rehearsals! How did she do it? I have no idea nor do I care! My deep-seeded needs and wants were met with nothing but satisfaction! Why shouldn’t I feel good about it?!
***
I would’ve said the same thing about the rest of the Koopa family. But Kamek and Larry remained unchanged in their behavior toward our new residents. Something was bothering them, but I couldn’t figure out what or why. This became prevalent when a knock sounded on my bedroom door on a quiet Sunday morning. I opened the door, expecting Princess Plum to be on the other side. Instead it was my youngest brother, Larry. And he had an awkward expression on his face. “Ludwig, can I talk to you?”
Now I knew something was up! Out of my six young siblings, Larry was the least annoying. He was the only sibling I was able to have an intellectual conversation with, even though he didn’t share my interest in history and philosophy. Larry was the modern kid who looked up to his big brother for a sense of direction. He’s the youngest, what did you expect! !But this time, I couldn’t help but notice that Larry’s behavior had changed. He kept turning his head from side to side, as if his privacy was at stake.
I motioned for Larry to come in and sit on my bed. “Well? What is it?”
“It’s that Princess Plum gal.” His voice was barely audible tone. “You said you found her in a cave in… Water Land?”
I nodded.
“Is it that same one the Mushroomers call The Cave of Singing Death?”
Again, I nodded. But I failed to see the point Larry was trying to make.
“Did you know that some fishermen rowed there five years ago? They never came back.”
“But I did,” I corrected him. “Those are just stories. That Lawrence character made up those lies to scare people. He probably had something to do with those fishermen’s disappearance but doesn’t want to admit it!”
Larry shook his head. “The Blooper jellyfish said it first, not a Mushroomer.”
“Again, it’s a lie!” I replied, my patience running short.
Larry winced and implied that should I lower my voice by waving his palms downward. Was this really necessary? Nevertheless, Larry continued. “It was a Blooper, I tell you! He told me so this morning while I was sneaking around the moat. He said he saw the fishermen disappear for himself.”
That caught my attention. One of our Bloopers? “What are you talking about?!” I demanded.
“Just that- the Blooper jellyfish told me that he saw the fishermen disappear.”
Suddenly Princess Plum appeared. “I’m ready for rehearsal,” she announced, thus terminating my conversation with Larry, who dropped his head and turned to leave.
***
Upon the day of Black Harvest (or what the humans know as Halloween), I presented another Opera to my family. The title of this Opera was And There She Was, which was basically a musical version of how I met Princess Plum and her sisters (with names and setting changed, naturally). She played the Countess Suzu. As did my first Opera, And There She Was proved to be a great success. But soon Princess Plum would prove to be more than just a talented ingénue of Koopa Castle… We had a mission in store for her.
“Well done, well done,” I congratulated Princess Plum once we were alone again. “You have certainly proved my father and siblings wrong, and for that you have my eternal gratitude.”
Princess Plum returned the compliment with a bow. “As do my sisters and I for allowing us to remain as guests at your magnificent castle.”
“And it gets better from here,” I continued. “Now that you and your sisters have proven yourselves to be exceptionally gifted, with our help you can become world famous and with your help the Koopa tribe can reclaim the seven Mushroom kingdoms for our own!” I laughed triumphantly.
“Now, before we can let the rest of the world know more about you, we have to eliminate all obstacles, beginning with Princess Peach,” I said once I was calm again, tapping a claw against my chin as I pondered. “Everyone in the Kingdom adores her; she’s kind, honest, a fair ruler… But not for long.” I chuckled as a plan began to form in my mind. “Since you two look so much like each other, people won’t realize the truth right away, provided you’re not in the same place together at the same time. With your skills, we can make it look like she’s a traitor to her people.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“Simple,” I answered, smirking. “We’ll start with kidnapping King Cloudius of Sky Land and taking over his kingdom.”
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