"I cannot believe I let that cultist talk me into this," Prince Mario huffed as soon as he, Peach, and Bleck returned to the top of Flopside tower, the heroine carrying another Chaos Heart fragment, this one glowing a deep, dark golden color. The now trio had just gotten back from a journey through the second dimensional doorway and into a world that primarily consisted of an old mansion, which seemed to be run by a big, burly, muscular man with a fine taste in vases. The journey involved a lot of complaining from the prince's end, as he didn't have the correct footwear required for such long journeys, nor did he have the stamina.
"It wouldn't be nearly as terrible if you didn't break that vase," Bleck breathed. "Did you have to break that specific one?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Prince Mario hissed. "Next time, I'll use my psychic skills to know ahead of time which vases are his favorite so I can stay clear of them."
"How about next time we all just be careful and warn each other when we're about to stumble into potentially expensive items," Peach laughed, placing a gentle hand on Prince Mario's shoulder. "I'll watch your back so that doesn't happen again."
Peach continued giggling while Mario wore an annoyed expression on his face, feeling somewhat humiliated after what he had just gone through. Not only did he break a vase, but he was practically thrown across the room.
"Do not worry, you seem unscratched! ...For the most part," Bleck chimed.
"Unscratched? UNSCRATCHED?! HOW'S THIS FOR UNSCRATCHED!?" Prince Mario exclaimed, rolling up his sleeve and revealing a tiny bruise on his elbow. Though it was fairly small and minimal in the eyes of many, to Prince Mario it felt huge. Never before had he been attacked like this. Not even by King Boo. The worst he got from the ghost king was the occasional headache from the overwhelming smell of paint.
"Your Majesty, don't you think you're overreacting just a tiny bit?" Peach asked playfully.
"No. I am not," Mario spat, crossing his arms while Peach smiled softly at him.
The prince felt his eye twitch slightly as he looked away. He wanted to stay upset... but with her smiling like that, it was hard.
"Alright... maybe a TINY bit," he admitted after a moment. He let out a sigh and brushed himself off, nodding over at the Chaos Heart fragment Peach had. "But... it was interesting to be on the adventure for once. You know, instead of just being rescued. It was intense, but also a little thrilling. I could almost say I enjoyed it. Almost."
"See! I knew you would!" Bleck beamed, earning a brief glare from Mario. The pixl didn't seem to notice, as he was already turning away, looking forward. "Now come along. We must return the Chaos Heart fragment and open the next door! Our journey awaits us, heroes!"
Mario scoffed slightly, trying to ignore the nice ring the word had when applied to him. Prince Mario, the hero...
. . .
The countess sat alone in her large room. There was a queen-sized bed that she slept in every night, though she always felt so small in it. White sheets, white covers, white walls, everything was bright. The darkest thing that was in there was her, which was comforting. She liked being able to control everything else and keep it bright.
She sighed and sat down on the smooth silk covers, laying back and looking at the ceiling as she ran her fingertips over the smooth material when there was a sudden knock on her door.
"Countess," Dimentio's voice started.
"Permission to enter," Countess Tippi breathed without moving.
Less than a second later, the jester was in her room with a chime and a ripple in the air.
"I've been informed that O'Chunks was able to stall the heroine on her journey, though only briefly," the jester stated, folding his hands behind his back and bowing his head slightly in her presence. "The direct quote was 'Ay lad, I dun mezzed up real bad.' It was also stated that the prince who managed to slip from our grasp; the one with the mustache and delicate attitude. He has joined Pierre's ranks."
Countess Tippi kept her gaze on the ceiling. She was processing Dimentio's words, though she was doing it slowly. It almost looked like she didn't hear him at all. Dimentio was about to repeat himself when she allowed her head to fall to the side, a brief smile sweeping across her glossy lips.
"Nastasia," she breathed.
She suddenly clapped her hands together.
"Dimentio, bring Nastasia here, would you?" she asked, her voice dripping with sweetness.
Before she even finished her sentence, the jester snapped is fingers, making Nastasia appear right next to him. The girl, clearly used to being summoned this way, simply brushed herself off and adjusted her glasses.
"I see I've been summoned," she breathed.
Countess Tippi nodded at her and sat up, her smile having returned stronger than before. "I feel that we are putting your strong potential to waste by having you stay here and run counts on all the boos. It's about time you got involved in the action, Nastasia. Dispatch the heroes. I'm tired, so do not slow them anymore. Just send a message to Pierre by finishing them. He cannot hide behind books and heroes any longer" Countess Tippi commanded.
Nastasia let out a brief sigh and bowed, holding her arms out as if the countess were royalty. "As you wish," she breathed. "Will that be all?"
"Yes, you may go now," Dimentio answered, waving his hand and making her vanish with a ripple. "If we need you, I'll get you."
The jester remained still for a moment, as if he was pondering, then turned to the countess and grinned.
"She should take care of the problem. I have a few minor details to attend to, a few of the ghost king's minions who've yet to accept their place in our world, so I best be going. Ciao!"
Countess Tippi nodded as he vanished, then collapsed back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling once again. She hoped those heroes would give it their all, just to make their defeat all the more disheartening for that idiot running a city that shouldn't have belonged to him. Try as he might, no one could stop her. Not anymore.
Meanwhile, at a distant far end of the palace, a woman dressed in orange was finally starting to wake, with an intense throbbing covering her entire being.
"Ohh... oww... everything hurts," Daisy muttered, rubbing her head and slowly sitting up, her eyes fluttering open. She blinked a few times as the bright interior that surrounded her came into focus.
"What the... where am I?" she muttered.
Though her legs tingled with a slight stinging sensation, she found the strength to stand. White walls, white ceilings, long empty halls with not a single person in them...
"No people... how delightful," she muttered to herself, gritting her teeth and briefly cracking her knuckles. This wasn't one of King Boo's mansions. That much was obvious.
"Well, not quite" a small voice breathed, causing Daisy to whirl around. Surely enough, there were two small boos standing behind her. Both closed their eyes and covered their faces as soon as her eyes met theirs.
"Oh... Boos..." Daisy breathed. "Um...you don't have to hide. Are you doing alright?"
One of the boos remained still for a moment, then slowly lowered its arms and looked up at her, though it still seemed shy.
"Yeah, we're doing okay. Don't tell our king, but... we're just happy to see a familiar face."
"Right..." Daisy trailed off. She wished she could say the same, but she couldn't recall ever meeting these two specific boos before. To her, most of them looked the same. It almost made her feel a little guilty. "Have you seen Prince Mario or Peach perhaps? Or even King Boo?"
"I'm afraid we haven't," the second Boo started, lowering its small arms as well. "You're the only one we found lying around here. I... really hope our king is alright."
"Yeah, all our friends and family got captured. And that's not all. Some... strange magic made them all shift from worshipping our king to being head over heels for this countess girl. We're probably next... so we're a bit scared," the first boo timidly explained.
"Ah. Magic. Sounds... fun," Daisy muttered, brushing herself off. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but I can't help you there. I've never encountered any sort of magic like that."
"Oh, okay..." the boos both trailed off, looking down. They turned away from her and huddled together, small and terrified. "We understand. I mean... we're enemies too, so why would someone like you help ghosts like us?"
"Good question," Daisy chuckled. "Anyway, I'll see you around! I'm gonna try to find the prince."
"Wait, m-maybe we can help!" the first boo begged. "I-If we help you find your prince, then you can help us find our king! Or better yet, get us out of here! We can be a team!"
"Yeah! You were always our favorite anyway," the second boo added. "I mean, you and Peach are both scary, but... you have a cool personality. And I like orange—"
"Yeah, yeah, save it. I'm not foolish enough to fall for that kind of flattery," Daisy stated, placing her hands on her hips. "But... I'll tell you what, I'll take you two with me, and if we happen to come across an exit while I'm searching for Prince Mario, I'll let you out. As long as you don't screw anything up for me, of course. Deal?"
"Deal!" both boos chimed in unison.
Daisy nodded, then turned away from them, marching forward without another word. Both the boos looked at one another, then scrambled to follow after her, struggling to keep up with her fast pace.
She didn't have much of a plan formed yet, but most times she didn't need a plan. She and Peach thrived off of improving and seeing where their feet led them. However, this was a very big and very confusing palace. After walking through just a few hallways, she found herself hitting a dead end.
"Uh... shouldn't we look for another way out, maybe?" the first boo suggested. "Before someone finds and corners us—"
The boo suddenly froze and dropped down as if it had gotten really dizzy.
Something small and green had started to sprout atop its head as it started slowly laughing, its voice strained at first before becoming more and more natural.
"How may I help the countess," the boo asked, slowly floating up, now with the small plant atop it. Daisy jumped back, raising an eyebrow as the other boo quickly hid behind her.
The brainwashed boo them floated away, joining a large mass of ghosts that looked the same as it, each standing behind a singular clown.
"CHERI! NO!" the remaining boo cried from behind Daisy, its voice breaking slightly.
"Ah, there you are," Dimentio breathed, bringing his mismatched gaze to the woman in orange. A wide and bright grin spread across his masked face, sending chills down the heroine's spine. "I've been looking all over for you. Why did you move, my dear?"
"You..." Daisy quietly spat, cracking her knuckles again and bending her knees, bringing herself into a fighting stance. She could practically taste the violence that was to come in the air. "I recognize you. From the wedding, right?"
"Ah yes, the happy ceremony," Dimentio chuckled. "You weren't really a team player back there, were you? Oh, no, no, no, I'll have to fix that."
"Team player? It was a wedding, not a football game," Daisy snapped back, though her voice was decently calm. She could hear the boo behind her whimpering in fear, so she held an arm out to protect it. She might not have known who it was or even cared for that matter, but she was determined to protect it. That's what heroes did. Protect the terrified.
The jester stilled, then raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The boo hiding behind her suddenly cried out in pain as a green plant sprouted on its head.
"No, no, no, no," Daisy muttered, turning to the ghost as it fell to the ground, then slowly began floating once again. All the emotion and fear was gone from its eyes. It turned, then floated over to the large group of ghosts and joined its friend.
"No!" Daisy cried out, turning and narrowing her gaze at Dimentio. "You monster, it was afraid!"
"Monster? Oh, well that was mean, now wasn't it," Dimentio chuckled. "We're the good guys, my dear. We're the ones trying to save the world from the dark."
"Sure you are. And I'm the Princess of Sarasaland," Daisy hissed sarcastically.
The jester rolled his eyes, then snapped his fingers. "Hold her down while I plant this seed," he stated.
"Sir, yes, sir," all the boos replied in unison, their voices almost sounding robotic. They all approached Daisy, grabbing her and holding her down so she couldn't move.
She began to try thrashing against them in an attempt to escape. "What the–HEY! LET ME GO!"
"Hmm, quite a fighter, aren't you? You've got the spirit and the heart. I'll give you that," Dimentio noted, drawing closer. His voice was cool and chilling, though he sounded cheerful. "But you're priorities aren't straight. I can fix that..."
Despite saying he wanted to banish the darkness, the shadows he cast followed him with each step he took
"LET ME GO!" Daisy commanded as loudly and firmly as she could. She didn't get scared often, but it was hard not to be with the way he was smiling. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her gaze. "Just you wait. Peach will come for me. She'll come for me, and take you down. You and your countess."
"Goodnight," Dimentio hummed.
The jester snapped his fingers, and the world went dark, which felt strange compared to the way the world had gone white back at the alter.