"Wow, would you look at that!" Perry exclaimed.
Peach's necklace of glowing hearts was slipping over her head, rising above both of them. As the hearts seemed to blast with light, Peach began to hear voices in her head:
Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, welcome. Peach froze. She couldn't believe this was happening. The necklace was...talking! We are the creators of Vibe Island, the four emotions that created chaos and, with the help of a few fine heroes, was reduced to the land under your feet.
Destiny has brought you here, princess. An evil hand grips the scepter as we speak. The fate of the island now rests in your hands as we fall into your possession.
"Peach?" Perry asked, looking worried as Peach continually stared up at the floating, glowing necklace. He obviously wasn't hearing the voices that Peach was hearing.
We have always been the bane of the Scepter, the necklace continued. We can only be used for good, which was why the island revealed the cave to you when you put your palm upon the handprint. Take us and use us on your journey to save the island and your friends. But be mindful of our powers: you have not yet bore witness to the power of emotions. The hearts blasted Peach with a ray of blinding light. Take us Princess! Rage, Joy, Gloom, and Calm! The light changed colors as the emotions were shouted in Peach's head - red, then yellow, then blue, then green. The green glow hovered in the air for a moment before flying over to Peach's wounded arm and soaking into her skin.
Peach gasped as warmth gripped her arm. All at once it ceased, and the necklace floated over and wrapped around her neck again. When the light finally faded, she collapsed onto the floor.
"Princess!" Perry rushed over and hooked his handle under the hem of her dress, helping her sit up. "Are you all right?! What happened? You were hypnotized and then..."
"I'm fine, Perry." Surprising herself, she sat up on her bad arm and scrambled into a sitting position. It didn't hurt at all! "Perry! I think...I think I'm healed!"
"What?" Perry watched in shock as Peach ripped out of her cast and waved her arm around. "Wow! You are! But...how?"
"I think I know." Peach looked down at her necklace. The green heart in the middle was still glowing faintly. "I think this Vibe stone healed me. The..." She remembered the voices in her head. "The Calm Stone."
"That must have been that green light that hit you in your arm," Perry said. "Okay, so what happened while you were hypnotized?"
"There were these voices in my head," Peach remembered. "They...I think they were personifications of Happiness, Sadness, Anger, and Peace."
"The emotions that supposedly created Vibe Island?" Perry exclaimed. "So the legends are true...!"
"Yes," Peach replied, hardly believing it herself. "They told me that they could only be used for good, and that someone evil has possession of the Scepter, and that I was to use them to defeat him."
"The Scepter...Bowser," Perry growled.
"It must be him," Peach agreed.
"That's great!" Perry said, perking up. "So now, all we have to do is get to wherever Bowser's hiding and get back Mario."
"Actually, we can't do that just yet," Peach said.
"Huh?" Perry's face fell. "We can't? Why not?"
"The voices, they...they said something about saving my friends," Peach said.
"Right: Mario, Luigi, and - "
"I don't think they were talking about those friends," Peach said.
Understanding dawned on Perry's face. "You mean Toadsworth and your other toads! So now you think they survived?"
"Why else would the...Necklace mention them?" Peach asked. Even as she spoke, her heart was swelling with hope. "Maybe they were trying to tell me that they really are alive. In that case, I have to rescue them."
Perry's mouth dropped open. "But, Princess!" he cried. "What about Mario?"
"I have full faith that Mario can deal with Bowser," Peach replied. "Besides, Luigi and Toad are with him, aren't they? Together, they could defeat Bowser's entire army. While I have to chance, I need to find the people of my kingdom." She wasn't going to pretend that the toads of the plane crash weren't as important as Mario. In fact, this was what Toadsworth would want her to do. She was certain of it.
"But who knows where they landed?" Perry asked. "It could take weeks to scour this entire island for them - "
"So be it," Peach said determinedly.
Perry was still frowning, and was spinning on his handle anxiously. "But Bowser could be gaining power as we speak," Perry argued.
"That may be so, but I've made up my mind," Peach said firmly, clenching her fist. "Bowser can become as powerful as he likes. I'm still going to defeat him in the end!!"
Perry seemed surprised by her confidence and strength. There was no way he could argue. "Whatever you say, Princess."
*************************************************
Peach and Perry left the inner cave and the rock rolled back over, sealing its existence off from the world.
They returned to the shelf area and, having no fire and no food, settled down onto the cold, wet stone to sleep. Perry fluffed open to keep the wind off of Peach, and Peach curled up into a ball to try and fend off the cold. She fell asleep to the sound of the crashing ocean. She dreamed of Vibe Island, the Vibe Necklace, and the Vibe Scepter, all circling around her and floating out of her grasp...again.
Peach awoke to the calls of sea birds and the quiet sloshing of the sea. Peach sat up and stretched, and Perry jumped up. "Whoa! You scared me there! I was having such a nice dream..."
Peach yawned and broke off when her stomach grumbled. When was the last time she'd eaten? Two days ago, with those nasty C-rations? It seemed like such a long time ago...
"I see you're hungry," Perry observed. "Well, if you want to eat something, we'd best be on our way to go find a town or something. Personally, I'm really hungry too. I want some more of those crackers."
"You mean hardtack?"
"Yeah. Let's go and see if we can find a town that sells hardtack."
Peach couldn't see why anyone in their right mind would intentionally want to eat hardtack. "But where can we go?" she asked. They were blocked off on all sides by towering cliffs. "Do you really want to float around all day, searching for a beach?"
"If that's our only option," Perry said. "I mean, we can't stay here in this cave if we're going to save Mario, are we?" He turned towards the narrow edge lining the shelf. "Let's head on that way."
Peach followed Perry along the narrow ledge, careful not to slip on the slippery rock. Below them, ocean waves crashed against the side of the cave, spewing up sea spray that left Peach sputtering. Luckily, the wind wasn't blowing too hard, so Peach didn't freeze. After a couple more feet, the ocean came into view. The ledge twisted around the entrance to the cave and came out and rimmed the cliffs. Then, about fifty feet away, the ledge fell away to churning sea.
"Drat," Peach said, panting slightly. "We're stuck. Maybe we should head back."
"Hold on. Look up at that." Perry nodded upward and Peach looked with him. Hugging the entrance to the cave was a jagged cliff wall. Rocks and stones jutted out from the wall like the spikes of a dragon. Peach considered using them as footstools, but the first protrusion was about two feet above Peach's head. How could she possibly reach that?
"We still can't reach the top this way," she pointed out, motioning towards the first jutting rock.
"True, but we don't have to - all we have to do is use the necklace." Perry nodded towards Peach's neck.
"Eh? The necklace? How?"
"I'm not quite sure of why I know this but...use the yellow stone. I think it gives you powers over air. It can carry us up there."
"The Joyful Stone?" Peach pulled up the yellow stone, glinting in the light. She didn't question Perry's strange knowledge of the Necklace.
"Yeah. Use it." At Peach's doubtful glance, he said, "We'll never know if we don't try. You want to try facing Bowser without knowing how to use your powers?"
"True, true." Peach glanced down at the Joyful Stone. She wasn't sure of how to make it work. Did she call out a command? Did she hold it up in the air? She didn't know. But she was willing to try something. Silently, she squeezed the stone in her hand, praying, Please. Let this work. We have to get to Toadsworth, and then Mario!
The stone in her hand began to heat up and then glow. A spark of light flashed in between her fingers, and the Joyful Stone shifted until it hovered in the center of her chest, above brooch of her dress was. As it centered into place, the wind began to whip hard, blowing Peach's long blonde hair around.
"Whoa! What's happening?" Perry shouted over the gale. Peach didn't answer, but grabbed his handle, closed him, and pulled him close. The two soon found themselves in the middle of a whirling cyclone of air that almost seemed to glow gold in the sun. Peach and Perry were unaffected by the wind, and Peach felt herself beginning to lift off the ground. Acting on impulse, she leapt into the air.
And she flew!
The feeling was indescribable. Perry tucked safely under one arm, she rose higher and higher into the air. As she did, her cyclone seemed to dissipate, but the Joyful Stone glowed brightly in the middle of her chest, elevating her higher with its power.
"Wow!" Perry cried. "This is amazing, Princess!"
They passed the face of the cliff. Peach carefully moved herself left and right to avoid the jagged rocks. They then passed the last of the cliff wall and flew up to level ground. As Peach touched the ground, her cyclone of air appeared again, tossing her hair around. But suddenly, just as she was wondering how to cancel the stone's magic, the wind ceased, as if it had heard her command. The Joyful Stone's glow reduced to its normal sparkle, going dormant.
"Wow!" Perry popped open, almost sending Peach back over the cliff. "Well done, Princess! That was amazing!!"
"Thank you!" Peach said, dusting herself off. She felt thrilled and pumped full of adrenaline. She'd just flown like a bird! If obstacles would be this easy to get past...She looked around. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure." Perry gazed over the small slope they were standing on. Farther out, the land maintained it flatness, coasting over light green plains and dark meadows full of blooming flowers. These were the bluffs Peach had seen from the ocean. Farther along, Peach could see tiny brown spots dotting the landscape. They were moving. Were those creatures out there?
Perry spotted a sign jutting out of a patch of flowers nearby. "Hey! Take a look at this Princess!"
Peach trotted over and examined the sign. In raggedy, messy handwriting were the words Welcome to Ladida Plains! The word "Ladida" had been marked out with red paint, and written in was the word "Petey".
Welcome to Petey Plains!
Peach was sure that couldn't mean anything good.