angrypidgeon

Epilogue: Peach washed her hands in the water that flowed out of the small recess in the wall.  Returning from that place she'd found herself with Mario, outside her castle…  In her return she had somehow retained the gown that she had worn upon entry.  No, she had managed to convince Mario to return the power stars before the party.  Could it have been from the nature of the place within the walls?  Even now her head spun, as if returning to her own world was simply overwhelming her mind and body.  Some things seamed to flow in and out of consciousness, the toads mentioned that she spent a lot of time looking carefully at the paintings

Chapter 11 "All that is needed is me! I need nothing else… If Mario will come to save me, I have everything I want.  Deep in here, within this beast… I will dwell forever." The voice's sugar-like softness had begun to fade; the voice itself was melting away into a snarl. Peach could see the reflection in the mirror across from her bed begun to shake and warp, fading from the beautiful pink evening gown that she wore into the torn dress she'd borne while fleeing through the chaos of this realm. "I, however… will not." Princess Toadstool grabbed one of the parasols near her bed and swung with against the mirror. A c

Chapter 10 Passages… Stank, pitch black passages… It took Elnar what felt like hours to find his way back through the tunnel to the castle.  Of course it didn't help that he didn't have the rabbit to follow this time. Thankfully someone seemed to have drained the moat, allowing him to be able to traverse the tunnels without the constant fear that the water might trap and drown him.  Feeling his way through, the toad made it back to the main foyer of the castle; Elnar found that something… something was different... odd in his surroundings. It was a slight difference, but the castle seemed to be slightly askew... Almost as if c

Chapter 9 Howls and screeches from just beyond the soot-black snowfall hadn't reached her consciousness until she was already deep within the darkness. Peach had reasoned that if the Obsidian Ocean was a part of everything else that was here... then it might hold the key to her escape.  It was funny, if Mario were here he'd tell her she was insane for trying something like this…  but there really was nothing else to try if Demwi couldn't find a way out for centuries. It was odd… Was it something in the color?  Pulsating black material around her brought out memories in Princess Toadstool… Memorie

Chapter 8 "So... You mean that you used to live in the Mushroom Kingdom as well? King Portabel... That was over 200 years ago! How... how old are you? What was my ancestor like?" Peach leaned forward to take a closer look at Demwi. He looked... old, gray hair and beard... almost colorless gray eyes... Yet, there wasn't anything that would've implied he'd even been over one hundred years old. While the princess had heard the tale of the origin of the castle from her father, there was never any mention of paintings that lead to other worlds. Demwi chuckled softly at her question, walking over to the table where she sat and pouring some soup in

Chapter 7 Peach was looking down at her two feet as they took slow deliberate steps. Not too far ahead of her, Demwi was keeping a faster pace than she could remember from their time in the cavern. Meyril...  Her chest felt like a vice was inside, crushing everything within. The small toad had melted away right in front of her eyes.  Right after that thing had burst out of the ground… She couldn't even tell whether to cry or scream at this point. "He wasn't real." The old man repeated the words again with without pauses for breath, something that had shocked Peach when he had pulled her away from Meyril's body.   Words still stung, aft

Chapter 6 The rampant hopping of the strange rabbit covered with fur that shined like gold was the only way Elnar had of following the creature as it disappeared into an unlit lower section of the castle. What a strange creature, he thought, to produce such a squeaking sound with its very movement. It wasn't that Elnar wasn't grateful, as the echoing sounds of the wall allowed him to have a decent idea of where to go. He was dripping wet by now, drops of water fell from the ceiling in quick intervals. Were they below the moat? Stone tiled walls that had long since given way to uneven edges of stone, varying from rough to smooth as the toad c

Chapter 5 He'd first noticed it out of the corner of his eye.  If Elnar hadn't been walking through the lower art gallery he might have missed the sudden movement on the surface of the painting.  The effect was somewhat akin to that of a ripple in a pond, a sudden radiance of motion on what was supposed to be an inanimate object.  Footfalls were slow as Elnar's curiosity overcame him, pulling him to investigate the rather unsettling painting of a ghastly face carved into a column of flame.  As another ripple emanated from the center of the visage it seemed almost as if the expression changed to one of a smile. A wave formed along its surfac

Chapter 4 The door had a large keyhole-shaped emblem on its front, one that Elnar could have sworn he had never seen before. Somehow placed in the dead center of the double doors, the strange marking prevented the door from being opened. Just like the strange doors with shining star emblems, it wouldn't budge no matter how hard Elnar tried. Access to the tower where Elnar had last seen Princess Toadstool proved to be impossible.  The room where she had met with the captain of the guard was blocked, despite his worries; he couldn't even manage to get inside to check up on her.   Elnar was completely alone in the strange, deserted castle. El

Chapter 3 *huff* *huff* Elnar gasped for air as he ran through the castle corridor. Everyone was gone. Mario had left before him, jumping to action as soon as he had heard that Princess Toadstool was in danger. Toads were slower though, Elnar found himself unable to keep up with the plumber's steady speed. When he'd finally emerged into the castle courtyard through the Warp Pipe, Mario had already vanished within the castle. Now, however... Now it looked completely abandoned, there wasn't a trace that either toads had lived here or that the Koopa Troopa had invaded. Locked, locked, everything was locked! Every door that he tried on the sec