Teardrop:

Daisy thought little of her bizarre dream from earlier that morning, but it lingered in her mind. As she lay out in the grass that afternoon under the shade of a tree in the spacious courtyard backyard of Peach's Castle with Ramona, Daisy felt restless. But she smiled when Ramona knelt by her and stuck a flower in her hair.

"A daisy for Daisy," Ramona said, sitting and leaning up against the tree trunk.

"Nice!" said Daisy. "We barely ever got to see any of these with the places we've been to in the past couple weeks."

"Well, based on what the others can negotiate, a good portion of MAE's mechanization should get reversed."

"I hope so. The next adventure we have, I hope it has nothing to do with robots or technological powerhouses. I'm very confident...that it won't. I also got a feeling we're gonna have a busy autumn ahead of us."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because autumn's just better to say. When you say 'fall,' someone can easily get confused and think you're talking about someone falling."

Ramona giggled. "No, I mean, why do you say this autumn will be busy?"

Daisy sat up, her expression turning less relaxed and more solemn. "Because from now until whenever we find him, which will mean the rest of the summer on through into autumn, most likely, we're focusing on finding Andrew."

Ramona nodded. "Right. We need to. And who knows how long that'll take..."

"Partially depends on you," Daisy said.

"Me? Why me? Oh, because of my Motomeru, right? If we can get it programmed similarly to how it worked in the future-"

"Actually, I was thinking of something else aside from that."

"Oh...like what?"

"You remember what Warra had asked you yesterday, don't you?"

"I...maybe..."

"Ramona, I hate to have to pry... But I need you to tell me if you know something about Andrew that you haven't been telling us."

Ramona felt worry and concern well up in her. With a muted murmur, she looked down at the grass. Daisy could sense the uncertainty coming from the light wielder next to her.

"If somebody's got it out for him, we need to know," said Daisy. "Even if you don't think it could be them. At this point, anyone could be a possible suspect. Especially someone who has something against him."

"Well, not against him," said Ramona. "Er, maybe, not solely him. But, mainly against me..."

"What?" Daisy asked. "I don't get how that could make any sense...unless..."

Before either Kruna said anything more, Bowser trotted up to them. Ramona looked up and saw their fire teammate approach, the Koopa King in a pleasant mood but not overtly overjoyed. His expression seemed as contemplative as Daisy's.

"Hi, Bowser," Ramona said as Daisy popped to her feet.

"Hey, big guy, what's up?" Daisy said, raising a fist.

Bowser smiled for a moment and bumped her fist with his, noticing black arm bands and then black ankle bands as well where her wrist and ankle weights used to be. "Peach told me you were hanging out over here when I asked for you. Listen, Daisy... I've been meaning to tell you this: the next chance you get whenever Rosalina's finished with whatever she and Mario and Luigi have been doing, you should go up there. To the observatory."

Daisy nodded, clutching her Alkemei Vranzer. "Right, I should. She could know what to do with the Vranzer, and have some insight on how or where to find Andrew."

Bowser gave Daisy a focused stare. "Perhaps, but I more meant that you should go for a different reason. I think you should ask her about Nova Form."
Daisy stared back, perplexed. "Hmm? Why? What else is there to know about it?"

"There was something that the Mother Computer had said," Bowser replied. "I don't remember exactly what it was, but it made me think that there might be something more to it that you don't know."

"Alright, sounds fair," said Daisy. She turned to face Ramona. "And I want you to come with me."

"Really?" Ramona said.

"Totally," replied Daisy. "That's cool with you, right?"

Ramona gave Daisy a delicate smile. "Yeah...of course."

On the far north outskirts of the rough and tumble city of Rogueport, two of the mightiest elemental wielders in all of the lands living today marched across the fields with a special, divine companion known to reside in the stars above. A train station entering their sights across the long, open fields, the three beings of exceptional power and the dozens of star-like creatures accompanying them stopped. The cosmic entity accompanying the two hammer-carrying, mustached men shook each of their hands in turn and bowed, to which both the fire wielder and air wielder bowed in return.

"Thank you greatly for your help in this monumental task," Rosalina said to Mario and Luigi. "Now that we've removed it from this world, no one can get to it. It is in another realm, on another plane, where everything that doesn't fit into our reality goes. This is a substantial preventative measure that should ensure that there will be no meddling with the crypt. We apologize that the process drained you so much, but we specifically required your presence."

Mario gave Rosalina a thumbs up. "Not a problem, Grand Elder. We're glad we expended ourselves for something of this kind of magnitude."

Polari nodded. "It seems as though Rogueport is stable without it, so the extraction has been a success."

"The life force you donated throughout the process should replenish in due time," said Rosalina. "It will be a slow process, so rest as much as you can. Now, even if someone does somehow find it, no elemental wielders can get through to undo any seals; unless they go through you. You're the only ones in this world that know where. This is a heavy responsibility you both now hold; I can not stress this enough."

"It's fine," said Luigi. "We're kinda used to it at this point. Right, bro?"

"Right," said Mario.

"I dunno," said Lubba. "Maybe literally having the weight of the world on your shoulders might be easier than this."

"Nobody will find it, no one will get through," said Mario. "And there's a tomb keeper? I'm not worried at all."

"Being proactive has its merits," said Luigi.

Rosalina smiled. "Indeed it does. It's time for my Lumas and I to depart. Are you sure you don't want a direct transport back home?"

"Nah, we're gonna make a couple stops on the way back," said Mario. "It's cool."

"Then godspeed to you, Mario and Luigi," said Rosalina. "Remember, you two. You are not to share or discuss what you have seen or experienced with anyone else. Not even with yourselves. This is the last we speak of any of it. It may be even more beneficial for us all if you simply forget all of it. No one of our world, of this world, must know of its existence."

"We understand," said Mario, Luigi giving a nod.

With that, Rosalina and the many Lumas with her warped in a great blue shine of cosmic light and disappeared. That left Mario and Luigi by themselves to resume their walk to the train station ahead. A top-secret affair had left them drained, and they looked forward to catching a train and getting off of their feet for a little while. However, a sudden change just inside of a kilometer to go from the station raised alarm. Both Mario and Luigi sensed an energy signature that reeked of sinister vibes.

"We're done with that place, right..." murmured Luigi. "Why are we still sensing something super bad?"

Mario pointed ahead. "Similar sense, different source..."

In front of and to the left by the base of a hill, a demonic figure of vampiric appearance in clothing colors that combined did not conform to any established elemental wielder code sat atop a boulder. The wicked smile he gave the Mario Bros came into focus as they neared him, as well as the pendant he wore on his neck and the large, cylindrical item slung around his back. Neither brother went much further before stopping their forward progression, both soon becoming aware that the fiend had interest in them. The pendant he wore flashing the glare the faint sunlight beamed on it, Kokoro stood up from the boulder and advanced a few steps towards the Mario Bros.

"Mario," murmured Luigi. "Look...that creepy guy again..."

"Why, hello there," said Kokoro, his tone ominously low and harsh. "I believe we've already met, so we can skip the introductions."

"Someone as ugly as you – yeah, there's no forgetting that," said Mario.

Kokoro's eyes narrowed, but he did not stop smiling. "You humans are no lookers yourselves either, especially you, with your clownish mustaches; but I digress. There are more important matters to attend to than aesthetics."

"Like what?" asked Luigi.

"So much more than you could ever hope to realize," said Kokoro. "Now that that star fairy with gigantism is out of the picture, there's some business I would like to negotiate with you."

Mario raised an eyebrow. "Have you been waiting here for us?"

"Waiting, watching, observing, spectating, stalking; whatever you would prefer to call it," replied Kokoro. "That was quite a job there that you got through. Certainly no plumbing assignment that would befit those pedestrian overalls, hmm?" He chuckled as Luigi felt a nervous sweat break out on his face, while Mario gained a slight, uneasy scowl. "Yes, I do believe moving something of that magnitude was no easy task, regardless of the assistance you may have had... You both seem so weary; it must've taken a considerable amount of time, effort, and power to transport that palace. Certainly wasn't a one-day job...and I imagine you couldn't just transport that anywhere."

The pendant around Kokoro's neck, now in clear focus as the Alkemei Ankh, flashed in tandem with a deepening of Kokoro's grin. "Unfortunately for you, I have to fulfill the terms of a special bargain – a covenant, if you will – so I will need to know for later use just where exactly you relocated that palace."

Luigi focused his stare on the Alkemei Ankh. "Hey, isn't that one of those pendants that Daisy and her friends all wear? Did you steal that from one of them?"

Kokoro's grin darkened into an amused, perverted sneer. "Me? Steal from them? No, you have it backwards. They stole it from me. Or, at least, they tried to. But, with perhaps some of the most incalculable luck, this little gem had found its way back to me..." He grasped the Ankh's gemstone. "And I assure you, this nifty piece of jewelry is leagues above whatever trinkets any of them sport. But we're not talking about that right now. It is to my understanding that you wiped the palace in question off of this plane of existence. You are to enlighten me of its new whereabouts."

"Sorry, we can't do that," said Mario. "And don't give it any second thought. It's somewhere you can't get to."

Kokoro gave a lower chuckle. "Perhaps you misheard. That was not a request. If you cooperate, I will spare you from the eternal damnation I will enact on this wretched world."

"You can't force us to tell you anything," said Luigi.

"Oh, but I can," said Kokoro, marching closer to the brothers. "It's up to you how much pain you wish to endure. I can relate with how some may derive pleasure from it." Light sparkles flickered off of both his natural claws and the claws of his mechanical prosthetic arm. When he stopped his steps, he began fiddling with the object he carried on his back. "I understand you are a pair of formidable elemental wielders. The best fire wielder and air wielder that this world has to offer? Well, I am a more than competent light wielder myself. I also am proficient with magic. In fact, I've decided that I should alter my approach and incorporate more of the mystical side of things along with nature; for maybe I've focused too much on power, and not enough on effect as of late. It can make for a deadly combination, when used correctly."

Kokoro unraveled the object he had on his back, revealing it to be a sizable scroll as he knelt and laid it on the grass. "I propose a challenge. Let's play a game."

"What kind of game?" Mario asked, suspicious of the proposition.

"Do you feel lucky?" asked Kokoro, executing a series of hand signs. "For what I have in mind involves power, skill, wit, and luck altogether."

"I don't like this, Mario," Luigi mumbled.

"Surely you're not thinking of backing down," said Kokoro. "Two wielders as prestigious and highly-ranked as yourselves should have no problem accepting this contest...right?"

Kokoro's hands glowed with both golden light power and sparkling magic power. The energies spread to his scroll and raised it overhead of all three wielders. The next thing Mario and Luigi knew, an octagonal light barrier arose around them and Kokoro, enclosing them in a bright, glass-like prison of yellow. Though they had plenty of space to move around inside, there looked to be no way out. Neither Mario nor Luigi could jump beyond the upper limit of Kokoro's light barrier.

"What have you done?!" snapped Mario. "Is trapping us all inside of this a part of your game?"

Kokoro folded his arms, nodding. "I wouldn't recommend touching it. That is, unless you like burns."

Luigi sighed with a shiver. "Mamma mia; it's one of those types of games..."

"Well we're not playing it!" Mario declared. "Let us out!"

"You're not in any real position to decline," said Kokoro, standing from his kneeling position. "Now then, the rules are simple. This octagonal light barrier will alternate between expansion and constriction as it randomly rotates. Last one standing wins. Whether it's through concession or dead bodies matters not to me."

"Did you really have to trap us in light just to fight?" asked Mario.

"Not really, but it will prevent you from fleeing," said Kokoro. "It also makes things more interesting; after all, what good's a fight without some agony. And what's a game without a little wager..." He pointed skyward at his scroll, which now floated near the top of the light barrier and had some symbols written on its paper already. "Your souls. That's what's at stake, for this is no mere party game."

"Our souls?" said Luigi. "Wh-what do you want with our souls?!"

"I am in need of pieces for a new collection," said Kokoro. "And I only accept the highest quality of additions. And since your actions earlier have made it more difficult for me to complete my end of a deal in play, I shall start with your spirits. That is, after I pry from you the information I need. I am certain your souls will make fine offerings."

"Hold on – if we win, what do we get?" asked Mario.

"You get to walk out of here alive," Kokoro harshly replied through his grin. "How does that sound? If I were in your position, I'd be more than content with that prize."

Mario smiled. "Fine by us. Two against one doesn't bode well for you. I don't get why you're so confident."

"Yeah," said Luigi. "We've faced worse than you before!"

Kokoro laughed as the Alkemei Ankh flashed several glaring shines from its gem. "You poor, naive fools. The worthless fodder you've conquered on your résumé means nothing here. You know not the forces you are now dealing with. Even despite your recent job, your minds still remain helplessly in the dark... And now, the light will deliver your bodies and souls into oblivion."

In a grand, outdoor hallway-patio a part of a castle above the clouds, a pale, black-haired woman of slight build and ample youth stood up from the table she sat at and drank the last of her tea from her cup. Her Gothic-reminiscent getup of a black, long-sleeved blouse and white skirt over striped black and purple leggings and vintage black shoes seemed disconnected with the modern times; but considering her remote location and lack of either company or roommates, she did not seem so out of place. With one final look at the sunrise before its completion, the girl took a deep breath and stretched. The hime cut bangs of her hair brushed up against her delicate, smiling face when the wind blew.

"Sunrise again," she murmured. "Once again. Such lovely peace."

The girl left the patio and entered her enormous, fluffy castle, a building better scaled to suit people four times her size. In contrast with her dark and shadowy appearance, the castle interior boasted a rainbow of bright, deep, saturated colors. Copious amounts of toys, action figures, dolls, and stuffed animals sat all throughout the castle, some sized small and others made large. Her bulbous, almond-shaped brown eyes shifted across every room and hallway she went through, a smile full of admiration enlivening her already cheery attitude.

Eventually, she made it to a master bedroom with massive windows taking up more than half of the available wall space. An ornamental, elliptical metal frame nearly seven feet in height hung on the stretch of wall opposite where the bed sat and with a sizable, active Power Vase sitting beside it. With its glass cover, the frame acted as a display case. It was this tall, wide wall mount display that the girl entered the room to look at. More specifically, she gazed at the unconscious shadow wielder in all-purple bound and chained within.

"Perhaps...it might be time, soon," the girl said. "But for now, rest easy. You will reawaken when you're ready. I still need you to produce more power for me, Love. I promise you, I'll make everything right for us. Just like I promised before... You're right where you belong, my dear, beautiful boy... We'll be able to play all day, every day real soon; and she won't get in the way..."

She left the room, the sight of the shadow wielder making her happier than before. And yet, she could feel her expression twisting and contorting as annoyance and frustration tried to bubble over to the surface. As she continued through the halls, the image of a certain light wielder lingered in her mind. A six-foot-tall toy soldier in medieval-styled black and gray armor marched up to her and took her empty cup away. At a wave of the girl's hand, the soldier walked down the halls to take the cup to the kitchen. Her now empty palms started twitching, shadows mixed with magic power sparking around her fingers as she mulled over the light wielder still in her thoughts.

"Ramona," the girl said with a sigh. In direct contrast to her predominantly pleasant attitude, her eyes constricted and turned fiercely angular. Tension increased in her face and her body, and her dainty smile morphed into a smirk. Veins protruded all over her skin, and her soft and beauteous hair turned stiff and jagged as a shining golden silhouette of a four-pronged crown appeared as a mark on her forehead. It was as if something had catalyzed a trigger inside her that had, at least for the moment, changed her into an entirely different person altogether. Her voice shifted as well, keeping its smoothness but transitioning from a lighthearted, elegant tone to a deeper, distorted timber. "Was that truly you? Really now, what were you doing in Mushroom Kingdom?... It has been so long...so, so long... You should hope you don't see me again..."

At a wave of her right hand, a sketchbook materialized in her palm. A specialized eight-color pen also warped into the space above her sketchbook, charged with shadow and magic in each of the color selections it had. As she tapped her pen on her sketchbook, she spoke with the same foreboding voice and expression. "In fact, you're not allowed here. This is a magical place, and a place where dreams come true, and fantasies become reality. This isn't a place for jealous dream crushers like you. Those who crush dreams get crushed themselves... So when you do inevitably find your way here; like I know you will, foolishly thinking you can somehow take him back when his soul now belongs to me; be ready to lose everything. I should punish you both for what you two did to me; but I know whose fault it truly was to begin with."

With a confused grimace, the girl clutched at her head and groaned. Her face, hair, voice, body, and demeanor all gradually relaxed and released the exorbitant tension that had rushed through and altered her. She now appeared as she had before the angered thoughts of the Kruna Yura of Light, Ramona, stormed into her mind. As if aware but unsure of something off that had happened to her, the girl's expression held some concern as she continued on through her castle corridors and drew on a page in her sketchbook. Once she finished her creation, her sketchbook glowed with mystic power expanding upwards in a funnel.

"Prepare to experience a fairy tale unlike no other, Miss Maggie-Lynn," the girl declared, grinning up at her rampant energy. "I'll be sure to give your final chapter the climax it deserves..."

A void. No planet. No land. Only floating islands. Gravity, but no central mass. Former pieces to something that once was. Now, only suspended in a sky of purple, gold, black, and red. There was no day. There was no night. There was only twilight.

Far away from all else in this realm, a chain of landmasses held a fearsome, ancient structure on their surfaces. Elemental darkness breathed life into the building; but hatred, vanity, intimidation, hunger, and wrath hid deep within. Not a single entity existed on this island chain, aside from two. Only one – a divine being hooded and cloaked entirely in black, purple, and gold, yet not of darkness – floated outside, in front of the central, most significant of the collection of structures. The other, though present, did not have the ability to exit; and as far as the former had a say, the latter would never get out.

A ghoulish roar escaped however, one that the cloaked being did not turn his full attention to. So long as no one appeared near their location, the man in the cloak did not need to pay much mind to the entity within the palace he watched over. He had his main focus directed toward thoughts outside the plane of existence he currently resided in.

"The Alkemei Ankh," he said. "The Master Pendant. The Pendant of Life."

A wispy noise reverberated out of the palace next, though significantly quieter. It was not hard to hear any sounds; for other than the hovering being and whatever went on inside the palace, sound came from nothing but the low ambient hum of distance.

"The ultimate Pendant of Power," the cloaked man said. "For without life, what is there?"

No noise came from inside the palace this time. Though the cloaked man was alone outside and stared out into the vast expanse ahead, he seemed engaged in conversation.

"The Ankh multiplies the user's energy reserves tenfold," he said. "In addition, the user's life force will never deplete, as long as they wear it. They can restore life force and heal others, live or dead, if their body and soul both remain intact. They can donate their own energy and life force to create new, sentient souls. They may also draw power and matter from the stars and any of the elements to create new bodies... Combined, anyone who dons this Alkemei has the power to create life."

From out of the palace, a moan vibrated alongside a faint purple pulse. The man still did not turn around, but he would have briefly seen a gradient of purple glows through the palace doors and windows. "The Ankh has been regarded as an Alkemei only to be used in emergency situations. Specifically, it was to be used in one of two main scenarios. Whenever a threat arose that affected or had the potential to affect more than just Earth, a worthy soul would wear the Ankh and eradicate the danger. In the second, far more unfavorable scenario, if a calamity struck that brought widespread obliteration and devastation on a colossal scale, the Ankh could be used to help rebuild. At the very least, it could restore or give birth to new life where life used to be."

Again, purple pulsed within the palace, along with what sounded like disgruntled breaths. "In its current state, the impure Ankh's abilities are tainted and corrupted," the man said. "The presence of Osiris, the False Angel and the Shadow Queen's Demon God, within the Ankh blocks its true powers. So long as Osiris is sealed away inside the Ankh, its powers over life are limited. It can not perform as an emergency solution in its current condition. Regardless of its state, it must be returned to Greater Rule. Blinded by vengeance, I had stolen it for my own uses. But it has not been recovered since then."

He still did not turn to face the palace. "All of this, you will not have. You can not have. The Ankh was made for what you had eventually caused. No other Alkemei has the power that the Ankh possesses."

A loud, ghost-like, almost taunting sound reminiscent of a distorted noise from a tunnel then eased out from the palace behind the man. The purple glow within the palace rose and decayed with the noise.

"The Orianthi came close..." the cloaked man said. "But even its reanimation ability pales in comparison... However, one other Alkemei could rival it. One kept hidden as the final safety net. It may not equal the Ankh, but it shouldn't. It works through different means and has abilities in an entirely incomparable class."

All the animation and noise from within the palace stopped.

"The Alkemei Vranzer, the Pendant of Fate..." the cloaked man said. "In the right hands, it will right your wrongs."

As if displeased, a guttural, demonic rumble rippled out of the palace. The cloaked man maintained his hover, unfazed.

"I hope to see its owner soon, with my own eyes," he said. "I believe fate will make that an actuality."

Rather aggressively, a purple glow reemerged from within the palace and pulsed out in ebbs and flows. The most ghastly, yet most organic, of the noises produced within the palace then breached the structure's doors and windows, as if trying to claw its way out and then storm unhindered into the open. Finally, the cloaked man turned and faced the palace behind him. He sensed impatience. He also sensed someone else.

A brown Shy Guy with a cracked gunmetal gray mask and yellow-accented gunmetal armor marched out of the palace's front doors. The Mirror Shield attached to his right arm and the staffed, pickax-jackhammer tool known as the Povado Thumper strapped around his back gave glossy shines, despite the lack of sunlight in their surreal world. The Shy Guy gazed up at the floating cloaked man and gestured to the palace behind them.

"You're probably aware of how restless she's getting," the Shy Guy said. "I'm sure she's just itching for one of her fail-safes to pull through and free her."

The cloaked man gave a nod. "When did you get here, Arka? I thought you were busy."

"I was," Arka Knight replied. "But I had to return to see what they had accomplished. It seems to me like this is just a desperate bid for time, ironically in a timeless dimension."

"That's all that can be done," the cloaked man said. "Delay the inevitable, until the time is right. Despite our efforts, Osiris will eventually find his way here, and the Vranzer's owner will follow. They'll come to the Chaos Realm, looking for her... But, not right away, however... It looks like the owner will have to rescue her friend first. I sense a dangerous, unstable soul fueled with jealousy, lust, wrath, and vengeance...and yet, it seems...disguised, somehow... The owner of the Vranzer must be extremely wary of this entity when they cross paths..."

"I have full belief that she will use the Vranzer to its fullest capabilities," said Arka Knight.

"You should. You're the one that risked breaking the laws of order and the universe to even select her, never mind your meddling across timelines."

"It will be worth it. If the Great Beings and the rulers that be are mad with me for bending a handful of regulations to prevent the destructive spread of chaos and discord, then so be it. We don't need other realms erased or turning into this one. Besides, I see I'm not the only one cheating time right now. There's another rogue out there they should be concerned with instead of me."

"That water wielder..."

"Yes, he has quite the infamous reputation in the world many millennia beyond the present time. I have already jumped ahead and seen what this temporal warrior of chaos is capable of. At least he only seems focused on one target, but that could be enough to ruin everything."

The cloaked man paused for a moment. "Will you aid them?"

Arka Knight made a dismissive laugh. "I'm not their babysitter. If my chosen wielder uses the Vranzer properly, then I should not even need to show up at all. I've pulled enough strings as it is. The rest is up to her and her friends."

The End.

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