Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mario leaned over the ship’s railing, letting his mustache ruffle in the salty spray. Star Spirits, did he need this.

“I’m glad Peach invited us to this vacation,” Luigi chirped, fanning himself with his hat. “We need this after the last incident.”

“We really, really do. Especially you.”

Luigi simply stared into the waves, muttering to himself. Mario let his gaze linger for a moment before turning back to the view in front of them. The shoreline was rapidly coming into view now.

“Luigi, we’re almost there!”

“Alright! Lemme check that brochure Peach sent…”

“She sent a brochure?”

“You didn’t read it?” Mario shook his head, and Luigi rolled his eyes. “I swear, you’d be lost without me, bro… We’re heading to the Pearl Kingdom. Apparently, they have this incredible control over the elements because of some funky magical pearls.”

“Gee, I wonder where the kingdom’s name came from…”

Luigi snickered, which eventually burst into a full, gasping-for-air laughing fit. He buried his face in the brochure in a failed attempt to stifle it as the ship pulled into port.

This was going to be a great vacation.

One hour-long bus ride later, the bros were greeted with Facetlight, the bustling capital of the Pearl Kingdom. The buildings were tall, tightly packed with winding footpaths between them. Every single one was painted in neon colors, bright yellows and magentas and cyans that hurt Mario’s head to look at.

So instead, he opted to focus his attention on the wildly-waving Peach, smiling warmly at him from the shadow of a massive white spire. He briefly glanced up at it, only for the glare of the sunlight off the top of the building to nearly blind him. He decided Peach was the safest thing in the area to look at after that.

“Mario, Luigi! I’m so glad you two could make it!” She had, apparently, decided to don sunglasses, and had the foresight to offer each of the brothers a pair. “We really needed this after… y’know.”

“We really did,” Luigi agreed, stretching. “And thanks for the sunglasses, the paint was kind of hurting my eyes.”

“It’s no trouble. I’ve got a full day of sightseeing planned! Don’t worry, the shops are a bit less… eye-straining, haha…”

True to her word, she led the boys all throughout the luminescent city. Apparently, she’d made plans to visit the other major cities of the Pearl Kingdom later in the week. The townsfolk were predominantly bipeds with floating hands, although there were quite a few Toads and Koopas and other folk. Mario stuck close to the party for most of the trip, until Peach suggested they split up and Luigi agreed.

He idly milled about the streets, listening to the chatter of townsfolk. This was nice, just sort of existing and admiring the area. As much as he could, of course, with the blindingly neon colors. He knew he’d bore of this eventually, and want to do something a bit more exciting, but it was nice to take a bit of time to cool down once in a while.

Stars above, he could probably enjoy this city all day though…

Until, of course, he nearly tripped over a Goomba. Both them and him squawked, earning a few looks of concern. Mario picked himself off the ground, and then helped the Goomba to their feet as well. They had bright purple eyes and a matching scarf, and their brows were knitted in concern.

“Ah—I, uh, sorry sir—”

 The Goomba squeaked when they finally processed who had nearly tripped over them, muttering out a tiny “Oh stars.”

“Sorry, that was my fault,” Mario apologized, holding up his hands. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s—it’s no trouble, really, I… S–say, are you… Y’know, Mario? From the Mushroom Kingdom?”

Mario wasn’t sure he liked the hopeful look in this Goomba’s eyes as he spoke. That was most certainly an I’m-about-to-rope-you-into-another-world-saving-adventure look. But, hey, someone had to do it, and this guy looked so genuine. Mario would hate to let him down, especially if people did end up in danger like what tended to happen. “Yeah, that’s me?”

“Oh thank the Star Spirits, you gotta help me! L-listen, I wouldn’t normally ask you for help, you kind of terrify me, but it’s my best friend, Canopus. I-I think they’re gonna do something really bad and really stupid and I haven’t been able to talk them out of it. Could you maybe, just, I dunno… Scare some sense into them?”

Mario raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’ve tried everything and they’re implying they’re gonna do something really drastic,” the Goomba explained, looking rather like he was about to cry. “I don’t want them to get themselves hurt or anything. I’m sorry for having to ask this of you but I don’t know what else will get through to them!”

“Okay, okay,” Mario held up his hands as he spoke, “I’ll help, alright? Where’s your friend, uh…?”

“R-Regulus, my name is Regulus. C’mon, they’ve been hanging around in this one back alley since this morning—”

Regulus led Mario back to the main plaza, and then glanced down an alley near the central spire. “They’ve been hanging around here.”

Mario peeked down the alley, but saw nothing. He helplessly shrugged at Regulus, who looked distressed. “Um… Okay, maybe that’s a good sign? Maybe they gave up on their harebrained scheme?” He added a nervous chuckle, as if trying to convince himself.

Mario happened to glance over at the massive spire in the plaza, just in time to spot a tufted tail disappearing into its door. A Goomba was holding the door open for the tail, before their green eyes settled on Mario. They looked startled for a moment, before their expression shifted to one of disgust. 

They turned to head inside, and Mario was already darting after them. Regulus squawked in alarm, scrambling after him. “Hey, no, that’s the Iridescent Spire! You’re not supposed to go in there—...Where are the guards?”

“Something’s wrong,” Mario confirmed. “What’d you say your friend looks like?”

“Oh, they don’t bother with any accessories or anything, but they have these really pretty blue and gold eyes.”

Mario hummed uncertainly, glancing around to see if anyone was looking at him, before silently slipping into the building. Regulus, despite his complaints, followed after him. He still kept muttering to himself, first about his friend and then about how they weren’t supposed to be in here.

They walked up a long, well-lit staircase. The stairs themselves seemed to glow with an ethereal light. Every couple of feet, there was a door faintly outlined in the pale pink wall, although Mario didn’t really bother trying any. It definitely felt as sacred as Regulus was claiming. At least, it did, up until Mario heard banging behind one of the doors, one barricaded by a ribbon of some kind over it.

“Someone, please, let me out!” shrieked a voice behind it, and he quickly ripped the ribbon off. One of the bipedal townsfolk, a pale yellow fellow with short horns and a sky-blue cloak, stumbled out. He gasped for air, muttering profuse thank yous, and Regulus looked like he was gonna be sick.

“I…” The caped figure coughed into their hand a few times. “Apologies, sir, and thank you for letting me out. It was… quite claustrophobic in there.”

“Are you one of the Pearls’ attendants?” Regulus nervously muttered, eyes wide.

“Ah, yes. My name is Dawnbreak. I… assume you’re not with the ruffians that stuffed me in there?”

Mario shook his head. “We saw someone going in here and I don’t think they’re supposed to.”

“Don’t th—oh, wait a moment…” Dawnbreak leaned in closer, scrutinizing Mario. “Ah! You’re that hero from the Mushroom Kingdom, yes? Forgive me, I’m afraid I don’t remember your name… I don’t keep up with all of that drama.”

“It’s Mario. What’s going on?”

“Some ruffians made it inside the temple! I don’t know where the guards were, but one of them knocked me out with some kind of sleeping spell and must’ve bound me in that closet.”

“They must be after the Sacred Pearls!” declared Regulus. “Oh Star Spirits, if we lose the Pearls—”

“Hey, calm down, that’s not gonna happen!” Mario said. “And if it does, we’ll get them back, okay? Dawnbreak, can you lead the way?”

“I don’t plan on putting myself in danger if those fellows are still around dealing with the security…” He shook his head. “Just keep going up the stairs. The Pearls are kept near the tip of the spire. The guardians up top have probably got the situation handled, but it’d be nice to have a backup line of defense…”

“Don’t worry, sir, I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Mario lied. Moments later, there was a loud crashing sound from above.

Stars why couldn’t he just have a vacation.

“Oh no. Oh, nonono!” whimpered Dawnbreak unhelpfully, wringing his hands.

“We need to check on the Pearls!” shouted Regulus, racing up the stairs. Mario was honestly impressed that a Goomba could take stairs that quickly. Still, this didn’t stop him from scrambling past a concerning amount of barricaded doorways after him.

He began to pull down the trapdoor at the apex of the staircase, only for someone to kick it open before he could. Whoever it was used his face as a springboard before he could get a clear look, leaping off him to scurry back down the stairs. Mario whipped around, as if to chase them down, but paused.

Regulus was staring after the retreating form, jaw hanging open in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if trying to form a response, but couldn’t find the words. Mario let his hand hover over Regulus’s back for a moment, before thinking better of it and clambering up the trapdoor.

The room at the peak of the spire might’ve been called gorgeous, once. But now the place was utterly ransacked, delicate equipment thrown to the floor in a mad scramble to get away. The shattered remains of stained glass windows coated the floor, and Mario was glad he had thick boots. 

Despite his bare feet, the second Dawnbreak followed Mario up the ladder he threw caution to the wind. He made an incoherent noise of either pain or distress as he practically collapsed over the pedestal in the center of the room. “Ohhhh no. Oh nononononono!”

He whipped around, grabbing Mario by the overalls with surprising force. “The Sacred Pearls are missing! Those ruffians stole them! Oh, stars above, what are we going to do?! Star Spirits only know what those fools intend to use the pearls’ magic for!”

Mario placed his hands over Dawnbreak’s, awkwardly patting one. “What we’re going to do is get them back. I’ve got experience with this kind of thing. I’ll track down the thieves and bring back the pearls, alright?”

“I—you would?” Dawnbreak released his grip on Mario, instead returning to anxiously wringing his hands. 

“Of course.”

“You’re not even from here…”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not the sort of person who can just sit back and watch. Do you have any kind of way to track the pearls?”

“Oh! Um, yes, I believe so.” He scurried off, opening a few drawers before finally withdrawing an elaborate, iridescent compass. “This is the Iridescent Compass. It’s sort of an emergency measure for this exact kind of situation, although if anything everyone probably assumed it’d only be necessary for a corrupt guardian…” He paused for a moment, contemplating. “Wait. Where are the guardians???”

“It looked like they all got locked in their rooms, same as you,” Mario admitted with a shrug. “It doesn’t look too hard to rip those ribbon things off from outside.”

“Right, right, I um. I’ll let them out while you go retrieve the pearls. Which you should probably get on while the trail’s still hot. Do you have a map?” Mario shook his head as Dawnbreak pressed the compass into his hands. The metal was cool, and the needle glowed a deep blue as it pointed… somewhere.

“Okay, the tourist centers should have some. It looked like the thieves split in all directions with the pearls, so you’ll probably have to visit all the corners of the Pearl Kingdom… Sun and stars, I am so sorry about this.”

“Eh, it’s no trouble. I’m kind of used to this…”

“Wait!” Regulus piped up, hopping up and down. “Can I come, please? I-I know I’m not much, but this is my fault for not stopping Canopus—”

“It’s not your fault someone broke into the tower,” Mario insisted, folding his arms. “Not unless you’re some kind of secret villainous mastermind leading the thieves.”

Regulus laughed, petering out into a nervous whimper. “Please. Please, maybe I can still talk some sense into Canopus and they can get these people to return the pearls. I need to come. I can even help you out! I know the Pearl Kingdom better than you do, I can help you find hidden switches and stuff!”

Mario sighed. “Alright, you can come. Just try to be careful, and don’t jump into danger without me, okay?”

Regulus nodded with a shaky grin and determined eyes.

Regulus joined Mario’s party!

“Alright, let’s see how that fancy compass—”

“I think I should probably tell the princess and my brother where I’m going,” Mario interrupted, holding up one hand. “And maybe get a map. I mean, you probably know your way around, but it doesn’t hurt to have a bit of insurance in case we get separated or something.”

“Oh, yeah, good point. Let’s go.”

“I’ll come down with you,” Dawnbreak offered. “Just to clear things up with the authorities so they don’t go assuming you did all of this.”

“Thanks.” With that, they descended back to ground level. There was a massive commotion in the plaza, now. True to his word, Dawnbreak vouched that Mario and Regulus had attempted to stop the theft. While he spoke with the police, the two wandered over to the edge of the crowd. Peach and Luigi were lingering there, looking concerned.

Peach clasped her hands in front of her mouth, before lowering them in a gesture of worried frustration as she spoke. “Mario.”

“Peach.”

“We can’t just have one vacation… Let me guess, you’re getting involved in all this?”

“You know me, Princess. I can’t just sit back and watch while the kingdom’s in disarray.”

She sighed, dragging a hand down her face. “I know, I know, I just… Be careful, okay? I’d never forgive myself if you got hurt on a trip I suggested.”

“Ah, don’t worry, Princess,” Luigi chimed in, “this is Mario we’re talking about! He always comes out fine! I believe in you, bro.”

“Thanks, Luigi,” Mario said, giving him a hug. “We’ll have those magic pearls back in no-time. I’m sorry your vacation got ruined, though… Speaking of which, Luigi, do you still have that brochure with the map?”

“It’s not your fault,” Peach muttered, shaking her head. “We’ll stay around town until the pearls are back and you’ve beaten up whatever the monster of the month is. It might not be safe to go sightseeing and I don’t need to give you any more anxiety.”

“Besides,” agreed Luigi as he forked over the map, “they’ve got some great cafes around here. I don’t mind spending a week or so just in town.”

Mario nodded. “Again, so sorry about this, guys—”

Peach cut him off with a smooch on the forehead. “Just don’t die.”

Mario awkwardly backed away, waving as he did so. He was blushing brightly as he turned back to an equally-mortified Regulus. “I feel like I just intruded on something.”

“No, you really didn’t. C’mon, let’s see where this compass leads us.”

The two followed the faintly glowing compass’s trail to the bus stop at the southern part of town. Mario recognized it from earlier, when he’d arrived. The bus now looked a fair bit more beat-up, though, and the tourists leaving it looked rather frazzled. The driver stumbled out, leaning on the door with an exhausted sigh.

“If y’all want to go by Seafoam Port,” hissed the driver, “find another bus. I’m not going that way again today.”

“What happened? ” Mario asked.

“I wish I knew! I was just driving the normal route here when some reckless weirdo came charging through and nearly threw me off the road! Stars above!”

The driver kept grousing and griping as Mario and Regulus shared a knowing glance.

“Sure sounds like someone trying to get away from town as fast as possible.”

“And the compass is pointing this way…”

Mario nodded before turning to the bus driver. “Are there any other buses coming soon?”

“Should be ‘bout half an hour. There’s a trail if you’re in a rush, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Looked like a nasty storm was brewin’.”

Mario and Regulus approached the gate, staring up at the aforementioned storm. 

“So.”

“So.”

Regulus clicked his tongue. “We can’t wait for this mess to blow over before we leave, can we?”

“No guarantee it even will.”

He sighed. “Hoo… Okay. For Canopus…”

With that vow muttered, the pair trekked forwards into adventure.

Chapter Text

The sky rumbled ominously overhead as Mario and Regulus trekked down the trail. Every divot in the path was filled with a puddle, and they kept getting sidetracked by birds and less-than-friendly Goombas. Mario was, admittedly, a bit surprised that Regulus didn’t know the enemies around here. Instead, he mostly cheered Mario on, and helped finish off weaker opponents.

“Sorry I’m not much help,” he meekly admitted after Mario sent another unfortunate bird flying into the woods. 

“You’re making all of this go a lot faster,” Mario reassured as they came to a violently rushing river. Across its depths, he could see the entrance to a forest.

“Thanks—oh, Star Spirits, I’ve never seen the river like that. ” Regulus looked uncertainly over the chasm, before shaking himself out and wandering off. Mario was about to ask where he was going when there was a sudden clunk. Slowly, a bridge unfurled over the raging rapids.

“I told you I knew this place,” Regulus said with a sheepish grin. Mario shot him a cheerful thumbs-up and they continued on. They were entering the edge of the rainstorm now, drops pattering down onto the trees overhead. Enemies were farther between, here, as they wandered between the winding trunks.

The rain was picking up the further they went. Mario was rather glad his boots were waterproof, because the puddles were becoming more frequent as well. Regulus looked a bit nervous, and as the water grew higher eventually accepted Mario’s offer to carry him.

“...Don’t the Sacred Pearls control the elements?” Mario eventually asked as the water reached his knees.

“...You think one of the thieves is doing this?”

Mario simply made an uncertain noise. As they rounded a bend, he started at the sound of abrupt yelling. He put on a burst of speed, to Regulus’ distress, splashing noisily through the flood. There, perched upon a small hill, was a greenhouse.

And standing at the entrance of that greenhouse, cursing the bloodlines of encroaching vines, was a Toad.

They had a blue cap and wore overalls, and they were presently smacking several vines away with a garden hoe. Mario quickly set Regulus down on drier land, and leapt into the fray himself. He bounced on several of the vines, sending them skittering back and nearly earning him a whack in the face for his troubles.

“Wh—ah, thanks for the help, overalls!” said the Toad, recoiling from where she’d nearly struck him. “Stupid things have been harassing us all month. As if the downpour isn’t bad enough…”

“What’s up with that, anyway?” Mario asked. “It was perfectly clear just a couple hours ago.”

The Toad barked out a sharp, harsh laugh. “You think I know? It never rains around here. The guardian folks are too focused on tourism or whatever, they always keep it clear and sunny around these parts. They normally wouldn’t allow this kind of downpour on the path to Seafoam.”

“The Sacred Pearls were stolen,” Regulus explained.

The Toad tapped the handle of her hoe on the ground, putting her free hand to her chin. “Tall claim.”

“It’s true!” he insisted. “You said it yourself, the guardians wouldn’t allow a downpour like this! Someone must be using the Oceanic Pearl to cause the rain to stop us!”

“Who said it was about you, scarf?” muttered the Toad, rolling her eyes. “Maybe whoever did this took the pearl ‘cause they needed it to rain and the guardians wouldn’t let it.”

“Something that powerful would be hard to control…” Mario murmured, rubbing his chin in thought. “They might’ve overdone it.”

The Toad shook her head. “Y’all have fun with that.” She turned to re-enter the greenhouse.

“Wait, you’re not coming with us?” Regulus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ve got better things to worry about than your fool’s errand,” said the Toad. “Have fun with it, though.”

“It’s not a—”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Mario interrupted. “C’mon, Regulus, we don’t have all day.”

“Okay, bye?” he called over his nonexistent shoulder as the pair continued down the trail. This section was higher up, so Regulus could walk on his own two feet.

“If she’s meant to come with us, she will, sooner or later,” Mario explained with a casual shrug. “That’s usually how these things shake out.”

Another scream from farther ahead grabbed his attention, and he broke into a sprint. Regulus spluttered, scrambling after him. There was an unfortunate mail carrier Parakoopa being harassed by more of those same vines. Mario leapt into the fray to protect the poor soul.

“H—oh, thank the stars ,” muttered the unlucky Parakoopa, clutching a tied-up bundle of flowers like their life depended on it. “Thanks, sir!”

“No problem! Stay safe, though. This is a really nasty storm.”

“Y-yeah, but the mail must be delivered! …Still dunno why a greenhouse would be ordering a bouquet, though.”

Mario raised an eyebrow. “You’re delivering that to the greenhouse? Do you want us to escort you? We just came from there, it’s not far.”

“I’m f—” A crack of thunder sounded somewhere above them. “...OkayyesactuallyIwouldlovethatplease.”

Mario and Regulus led the chattering Parakoopa back to the greenhouse and followed them inside. The inside of the greenhouse was pleasantly warm and dry compared to the downpour outside, lit by hanging lanterns and fairy lights. Every corner of the place was filled with lush greenery, occasionally interrupted by research desks.

“Overalls, scarf, what are you two doing back?” asked the gardener Toad from before. “Did the rain get too bad?”

“Nah, we caught those vines from before giving the mailkoopa trouble. Why’s a greenhouse even ordering a bouquet?” 

“I didn’t order this,” the Toad muttered, before lifting her voice. “Oi, guys, anyone order a bouquet? It’s addressed solely to… the… greenhouse…” Her face twisted from confusion into annoyance when she read the note. “From Skipper. Of course.”

Mario raised an eyebrow at the frustration leaking into her words, and the quiet groans going up amongst the greenhouse denizens. She inspected the bouquet closer, muttering to herself. 

“What’d he put in this one?” asked a Lakitu gardener, leaning lazily on their cloud. “Mulberry again?”

“Tansy, this time,” the Toad said, shaking her head. “And a bit of lobelia, of all things.”

“Ohhhh my stars,” another Toad muttered, walking away with their head in their hands.

“Dude, that’s so edgy,” added one of the other gardeners. “What else? Cloud Flowers, hydrangeas, wolfsbane? Maybe columbine this time?”

“Twenty coins there’s foxglove.”

The first Toad went quiet, inspecting the bouquet. “...Queen of the night, coltsfoot, and…diphylleia?”

There was a small pause, before the gardeners burst into laughter. Mario really wasn’t sure what they found so funny—some kind of flower joke he didn’t get, he supposed. The Toad who had the bouquet, however, looked rather uncertain about it. Mario stepped a little closer, staring at the innocuous-looking bouquet.

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you explain what’s going on?” he asked.

“...There’s this fellow called Skipper,” the Toad explained. “He’s sort of a rival of ours. We’ve sorta been back-and-forthing bouquets for a while.” On Mario’s look of confusion, she elaborated, “Flower language. Every flower has a message, if you know how to interpret it.”

“What does this bouquet mean?” Regulus asked, finally peeping up from where he’d been speaking with the mailkoopa. 

The Toad sighed, staring into the flowers. “It’s… This is a declaration of revenge.”

“...Oh.”

She shook her head. “It’s probably just another empty threat. Like that time he sent a bunch of foxglove and Fire Flowers. Normally I wouldn’t think about it, but with what you said about the pearls getting stolen… Mmm, don’t tell anyone I said this, but I heard Skipper was breeding some kind of hydroponic Piranha Plant.”

Mario blinked. “You don’t think..?”

“I can’t prove anything, but… Y’all are looking into the theft, right? Mind comin’ with me to Skipper’s place to ask about this?”

Regulus shot Mario a dubious look, earning a slightly smug smile in response. “It’s no trouble, miss…”

“Edelweiss. It’s Edelweiss.”

Edelweiss joined Mario’s party!

Chapter Text

“Alright. Gimme a sec to go grab my encyclopedia. It’s got details on all kind of pests ‘round these parts.” She plucked two bright yellow flowers out of the revenge bouquet before handing it off to the Lakitu gardener. She disappeared into the leaves, leaving Mario and Regulus alone with their thoughts.

“Told you,” Mario said with a shrug. “I’ve kind of been at this a while. Best to just let people join in on their own terms.”

“How’d you know she was going to come, though?”

Mario shrugged. “I’ve sort of got a sense for these things.”

Regulus hummed uncertainly until Edelweiss returned with a large pack slung over her shoulder. “C’mon, we don’t have all day.”

Mario and Regulus made for the door, but Edelweiss paused a moment before joining them. “Oi! Guys! Y’all can handle my section for the day while we sort this out, yeah?”

“Go on, have fun!” the Lakitu called. “We’ll cover for you for a bit. You owe us, though!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take the fertilizer duty for a week when I’m back.” With that, Edelweiss rejoined the boys, and the trio set out.

“Skipper’s greenhouse is out near the outskirts of Seafoam,” she explained as they walked, smacking a stray bird with her hoe. “The trail leads out that way.”

The trail was still, unfortunately for Regulus, very flooded. The rain had in no way let up, and if Mario wasn’t mistaken it was actually picking up. He put on a small boost of speed, earning a yelp from Regulus. Edelweiss was proving herself useful, giving details from her books on the bird enemies—apparently, they were called Shacrows. 

There was some kind of Cheep Cheep variant around, too, appropriately called a Storm Cheep. Mario sent them flying with a swing of his hammer. Apparently, they usually only surfaced during storms at sea—Regulus theorized that the downpour had drawn them inland.

The trail exited the forest, leaving the Shacrows behind, and opened into a winding field of hills. The area was rather thoroughly flooded, leaving Mario sloshing through the waters. Regulus, too short to walk safely, had resorted to awkwardly balancing on the top of Mario’s head and acting as a lookout for Storm Cheeps. Edelweiss wasn’t having a fantastic time either, but she was too tall to simply take a ride.

Eventually, as they trekked through the storm and fended off enemies, they finally reached a fork in the trail. There was a sign proudly proclaiming directions to Skipper’s greenhouse. Mario and Edelweiss silently looked at each other and nodded, nearly sending Regulus tumbling into the waters below, before trekking down the path.

Edelweiss rounded a tree on a relatively dry hill, before letting out a small gasp. Mario approached more slowly, although even he put his hand to his mouth in shock at the sight. Regulus audibly whimpered as well when he saw Skipper’s greenhouse, covered in thick, winding vines and snapping Piranha heads.

“Stars above,” Mario whispered. 

“What did that idiot do? ” Edelweiss murmured, shaking her head. “C’mon, overalls.”

She hopped into the hollow, which was astonishingly puddle-free compared to the flooding outside it. Regulus jumped off Mario’s head, stumbling upon landing on a thick root. That explained why the hollow was comparatively dry… Someone was crying out from behind the vines around the greenhouse, but the largest Piranha head moved to block the party’s path.

Mario, naturally, responded by giving it a good whack on the head with his hammer. Regulus shouted encouragement, hopping up and down as he ducked around vine slams. Edelweiss contributed as well, hacking away at the offending limbs with her hoe and a trowel. 

The Piranha eventually went down, leaving several vines to fall away from the door with its death. A fretful Wiggler face poked out, with a small yellow bloom perched atop their head. “Oh, thank the—”

“Can it, Skipper,” hissed Edelweiss. “I saw the bouquet you sent our greenhouse. What did you do?! ”

“Look, I promise, I didn’t mean for it to get this bad,” Skipper whimpered, shifting to poke through a lower hole in the vines. “I just meant to… Y’know, help my Hydroponic Piranhas along a little! But, uh, I kinda…”

“Did you steal the Oceanic Pearl?” Mario asked.

Skipper guiltily stared at the ground for a long moment before nodding. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. But when that Goomba offered me a chance to get back at everyone for always mocking me… Well, I couldn’t resist!”

“We didn’t—” Edelweiss awkwardly cut herself off, guiltily glancing away. “...I’ll talk with the others after we’ve dealt with this. What’d you do to those Piranhas?”

“I was trying to use the pearl to give them a bit of a power boost, y’know, so they’d grow more effectively in water? But, uh… Turns out that thing’s harder to control than I thought, haha…”

Edelweiss shook her head. “Well, I sure as heck don’t know how to deal with this magical stuff. We’ll have to get help from the guardians once you give that pearl back.”

“Um…” Skipper was, once again, avoiding eye contact. Mario sighed and dragged a hand down his face.

“...You don’t have it, do you,” Regulus sighed, hanging his head.

Skipper shook his head. “One of the Piranhas ate it and started going nuts. It was heading for Seafoam.”

A collective look of horror dawned across all of the party’s faces. Edelweiss murmured a swear under her breath, clasping her hands in front of her face. Slowly, she let out a breath, before taking out the yellow flower she’d taken from the bouquet. She slipped it through the hole in the vines to Skipper, and then turned to Mario.

“We have to stop Skipper’s Piranhas.”

He nodded. “Can I count on you, Edelweiss?”

“The Pearl Kingdom’s my home, overalls,” she said with a shake of her head. “I can’t just let the place drown. Especially not because of some overgrown pet project.”

“Let’s go take down those Piranhas!” Regulus chirped. He took off running… only to trip face-first into a puddle. Mario winced sympathetically.

Still, despite that, the group trekked on. It wasn’t long until they made their way to the town Mario and Luigi had originally arrived in, albeit the waters were now obscuring most of the smaller buildings. Mario glanced over just in time to see Luigi, standing on a small boat he’d gotten from stars-knew-where. He had several townsfolk piled on it, staring around at the carnage.

“Mario!” Luigi cried, waving. “Oh, thank the stars you’re here.”

“Luigi? What are you doing here?”

“Ehhhhhhh…” Luigi made a so-so gesture with one hand. “You’re not the only one who can get dragged into world-saving adventures, remember? Don’t worry, I’m just dealing with a Bowser situation. No more uh… dimension-hopping incidents.”

The townsfolk and Mario’s partners all shot Luigi very confused looks. Mario completely ignored them. “Just stay safe, bro. Have you seen any giant Piranha Plants around?”

“Oh, yeah, there’s apparently an infestation making its way down the east side of the city. My new pal, Booberry, has been keeping an eye on it while they track down Bowser. Some of the townsfolk tried to fight them off, but it’s like this rain healed them.”

“Makes sense,” Edelweiss muttered. “Those were already bred to thrive in water. Couple that with pearl magic?” She shook her head. “We don’t stand a chance.”

“What if we lure them into a building?” Regulus suggested. “Or at least the one that has the pearl.”

“That’s not gonna work,” Edelweiss said, rolling her eyes. “None of the buildings are big enough.”

“What about the travel center? It’s got two stories, and windows we could lure them in through.”

Edelweiss scoffed.

“Do you have a better idea?” Mario said, taking off his cap to shake excess water from it. 

“...No. But if I die doing this, I’m haunting you both.”

“Oh, that was already a given,” Regulus chirped, in a concerningly chipper voice. 

“Nobody’s going to die,” Mario reassured with a roll of his eyes. “Luigi, you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Relax, bro, this is gonna be fine. You focus on saving the world, alright?”

Mario nodded, and the trio were off. They briefly made contact with Booberry, who gave directions. Mario was still, quite frankly, mildly startled Luigi was voluntarily working with a Boo. Life was full of surprises, he supposed, and Booberry seemed pleasant enough. 

As the group progressed further towards the beach, the signs of the invasion became readily evident. Smaller Piranha heads rose from the waters below, soggy and hissing. Thankfully, the excess of water soaked through the plants lowered their defenses. It was easy for Mario and Edelweiss to make short work of them, especially with Regulus’ encouragement.

They continued traveling through the flooded streets. Mario could’ve sworn the water level was dropping, but he couldn’t be sure. Vines were blocking their path more frequently, but just as often poked out of the waterline to provide relatively dry land to stand on. The group rounded a bend, poking around the corner of a roof, and—

“Mamma mia,” Mario murmured. “That’s…”

“Just…”

“ Wrong, ” Edelweiss hissed, looking as horrified as Mario felt. “Stars above…”

The three Piranhas were easily among the biggest Mario had ever seen in his life, towering above the group even from this distance. Their large leaves were tinged with red along the edges, and drooped with the weight of the rain. There were no spots on the Piranhas’ heads, but their teeth were a horrible, woody green. A clear liquid dribbled from their mouths into the waves below, but Mario couldn’t tell if it was drool or water.

“...How, exactly, do you plan to get that indoors?” Edelweiss hissed.

“...I have no idea,” Regulus sheepishly admitted. Edelweiss dragged her hands down her face with a frustrated noise.

A loud frustrated noise.

Despite himself, Mario squeaked as the smallest of the Piranha heads slowly turned to face the party. It snarled, licking its lips menacingly as raindrops trickled down its head. Regulus and Edelweiss cut off their hissed bickering with their own squeaks. The Hydroponic Piranha drew nearer, giving Mario a disturbingly close view of its teeth.

And then, strangely, it backed away, hissing. None of the party dared breathe as it backed off, rejoining the other two massive Piranha heads. For a moment, they all stared in horrified awe as the three plants continued on their path of destruction. Then they all released a collective breath of relief.

“Sssssssstars,” hissed Edelweiss, slumping forwards and burying her head in her hands. “I don’t think I’m going to raise another Piranha as long as I live. ”

“That was terrifying,” Regulus whimpered in agreement. “I was sure I was about to see the Underwhere, haha… ha.”

“Meh, it’s not that bad,” Mario murmured, prompting both his partners to raise eyebrows in alarm. “Anyway! Why didn’t it attack us? Could it not reach from this far?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Edelweiss muttered, using a leaf to shield her encyclopedia as she flicked through it. “I—oh, wait, actually. According to this, some really big wild Piranhas will have a central head that the smaller ones will obey. Y’think that’s what happened with these?”

“That makes sense,” Mario nodded. “So we just need to lure the leader into the travel center?”

Edelweiss and Regulus looked at each other and nodded. With that plan affirmed, the trio set out again. At least the Piranhas weren’t hard to find with their size. The trio ducked and wove their way across the vines, approaching the massive plants.

“Now, how do we get them to the travel center?” Regulus muttered. Mario blinked at him, ran out onto a vine ahead of the plants, and proceeded to begin kicking up a massive racket. He very nearly drowned out the sound of Edelweiss’s palm colliding with her face again.

The central Piranha’s head snapped in his direction, letting out a low, burbly hiss. It had a deep blue orb in its head, and staring at it too long was going to give Mario a headache. The Piranha’s mouth opened, revealing a similarly vibrant azure glow and a liquid bubbling inside like a cauldron. 

Mario leapt away, taking off like a rocket just in time to dodge the massive spray of what he hoped was water. Somewhere behind him, Regulus shrieked, and Mario paused long enough to scoop him up and ensure Edelweiss was safe too. The vines were horribly slick underfoot, but she seemed to be holding her own.

Regulus shouted directions from his perch, leading the others through the flooded area to the travel center. Mario grabbed Regulus off his head and leapt back-first through the window, shielding his companion from the worst of the glass. Edelweiss reached through the frame, managing to work the window open to more safely join the boys.

“Are you crazy? ” she hissed.

“If it works, it works?” Mario said with an awkward shrug. She shot him a thoroughly unamused expression. A thud rang out through the building, and everyone stepped away from the wall. And just as well, too, as it wasn’t long before the wall broke open, letting the Piranha heads through.

“Ohhhh stars,” muttered Regulus.

“Hey, this is what we wanted, isn’t it?” Mario pointed out. “We’re on more equal footing here than outside.”

The central Monsoon Piranha snarled, spitting onto the floor, and the others added their own growls to the mix. 

Mario hefted his hammer, and Regulus and Edelweiss took up their own battle stances behind him.

“Here we go!”

Mario led with a hammer swing directly to the lead Piranha’s teeth as Edelweiss began flicking through her book. “The Monsoon Piranhas! …How’s this got a section on ‘em anyway… Oh, who cares! HP 20, Attack 3! They’re not venomous, but they can flood the battlefield with the Oceanic Pearl’s magic!”

Mario nodded. “Thanks, Edelweiss. You two keep the lesser heads off me, and I’ll take down the main one!”

“I believe in you, Mario!” Regulus shouted, before bodily throwing himself into a headbonk on one of the smaller Piranhas. Edelweiss rolled her eyes at the reckless display, before twirling her hoe and approaching the other Piranha head. This left Mario staring down the horribly glaring central head, which was still uncontrollably drooling on the floor.

It growled, baring its teeth again, and rushed forward to snap its jaws around him. He leapt to dodge it, putting himself in the perfect position to grind his heels into the massive pearl on its head. It screamed in pain, a horribly distorted shriek that Mario was sure would join his nightmares.

He hopped away, and the snarling Piranha lunged forwards again. This time, he stepped back just enough to dodge the teeth, and then slammed his hammer into them. The impact sent a shock reverberating up his arms, although it seemed to dent the Piranha’s health too. 

He hopped into the air again, using the wall behind him as a springboard to land another stomp on the lead Monsoon Piranha. The shiny substance on its head cracked loudly with the impact, sending another pained yowl echoing through the room. Mario wrenched his boot out from the dubiously-stone, glancing around at his teammates. 

Regulus was… Not having the best time, to put it lightly. He was hollering encouragement to Edelweiss, who was currently hacking away at her own opponent with her hoe. Regulus himself, however, was too distracted with that to fight back against his own foe. It was all he could do to duck and hop around its snapping jaws while cheering Edelweiss on.

“Regulus, focus on your own fight, not Edelweiss’s!” Mario advised. Regulus looked sheepish, but threw himself into a headbonk attack. Mario soon found himself forced to take his own advice as the lead Piranha thrashed about, flinging him into the wall. He winced, unable to free himself from the drywall in time as the Piranha’s drool began bubbling again.

With a screech, it threw its jaw open, sending foamy water spraying across the floor in a tidal wave. Mario was above the worst of it, with his back stuck in the wall, but his partners weren’t so lucky. Regulus and Edelweiss wailed as the wave pitched them backwards. 

Edelweiss hissed curses under her breath when she hit the wall, and Regulus squeaked in pain. The Monsoon Piranhas shook themselves out, growling menacingly. Mario finally pried himself free of the wall, shaking off stray dust and adjusting his cap. 

The lead Piranha snarled, throwing its head forwards with its jaws open. Mario leapt into action again himself, slamming into the weak point on its head and throwing his full weight into the strike. The monster let out an ear-piercing scream, and Mario nearly lost his balance as his foot fell into the stone.

The vicious plant reared back, and Mario crouched to grip its nearest leaf. His leg was still lodged between shards of the glassy substance, the broken edges threatening to carve holes in his overalls. The monster thrashed violently, and it was all he could do to cling desperately to its head as it slammed itself into the floor and ceiling to shake him free.

Thankfully, its wild movements had tired itself as well. By the time Mario’s grip went slack and he thudded onto the floor, the Piranha’s energy was spent. While he’d been distracted, apparently his partners had been hammering away at the other heads as well. The one Edelweiss had been fighting was unconscious on the floor, covered in sap-leaking cuts, and the one Regulus had taken was struggling to remain upright.

The monstrous Piranha growled, water building and bubbling in its jaw for another tidal wave, but Mario rushed forward to slam his hammer into its face. As soon as he stepped back from the attack, Edelweiss was stepping in, bringing the sharp end of her hoe down hard on the Monsoon Piranha.

It wailed in pain one final time, and then slumped unconscious to the floor. The remains of the shimmery glass on its head glowed an eerie azure, and then shattered. A small, cobalt blue orb rolled out of the remains, and the lights overhead reflected off its shiny surface.

“Is… Is that..?” Regulus’s voice was a faint, reverent whisper.

Mario silently stepped up and took the pearl in his hands. It was faintly cool and wet in his palms. It glowed faintly with an ethereal light, not unlike the Crystal Stars or Pure Hearts. It felt… powerful. It was no wonder Skipper had gotten so carried away with it…

“Yeah. We need to bring this back to the Spire.”

Mario and Co. got a Sacred Pearl!

Mario can now use Wash Away in battle!

Chapter Text

The trio made their way out of the travel center and to where Luigi and Booberry were still aiding townsfolk. The skies were already clearing without the Piranhas’ influence, and Mario even offered to try to use the pearl to empty the waters. That was unanimously vetoed, however—nobody wanted him to fall victim to the same power madness that Skipper had.

…Mario didn’t entirely blame them. The pearl was practically burning a hole in his back pocket with every step. The townsfolk suggested he just bring it back and let the guardians handle it, which he wasn’t opposed to in this case. He didn’t know what he was doing with this thing.

He hoped the town did end up recovering, though.

~~~

Peach stirred her smoothie with a straw, sighing faintly. Every single time they tried to have a nice vacation… Sure, she wasn’t kidnapped, but she may as well have been for what good she could do from here. And Luigi had left her soon after, too, having gotten roped into his own adventure.

…She hoped the boys were okay. 

She got up and took her smoothie to go, leaving a generous tip of course. The folks at the cafe had all been really kind to her. She paused for a moment outside, staring at her smoothie, before making up her mind. She marched towards the Iridescent Spire, intent on finding some way to help Mario.

As she approached, however, she nearly tripped over an unfortunate passerby who’d been pacing the square. He stammered awkward apologies, blue eyes locking with Peach’s as he anxiously backed away from her. Peach simply smiled warmly at the poor guy in response. “No, really, I should be the one apologizing. I wasn’t looking where I was going, sir.”

“It’s quite alright… You’re the Mushroom Kingdom princess, right? Uhh… Aaaaaapricot?” Peach let out a rather undignified snort, and the poor guy started awkwardly stumbling over his words again. 

“Sorry. It’s quite alright, really,” she said. “I just… Didn’t expect that.”

“I apologize, truly, I don’t keep up very much with other kingdoms that much. I’m far too absorbed in my work a lot of the time.”

“I understand. It’s a bit refreshing, to be honest! You can simply call me Peach.”

“A-ah, Princess, I wouldn’t dare—”

“I insist. And your name?”

“Uh… D-Dawnbreak. I’m a humble servant of the Order of the Pearlescent Guardians.”

“Oh! That means you work with the Sacred Pearls, right?”

Dawnbreak laughed. “Good heavens, no! They wouldn’t dare let a lowly servant anywhere near them. The closest I come is polishing the equipment sometimes.”

“Ah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume.”

“It’s quite alright, Miss Pri—er, Peach. I truly am sorry you visited our kingdom at such an unfortunate time…”

“I’m kind of used to it at this point… But hey, don’t worry. Mario’s probably got this under control.”

“I—well, speak of Bonechill!”

~~~

When Mario and his merry band re-entered the Facetlight Plaza, they were greeted by a delighted Dawnbreak and Peach. Peach seemed relieved that Mario was okay, and had even made a new friend. Edelweiss brushed off all of Peach’s compliments and answered her questions smoothly, although Mario did note the blush creeping up her cheeks.

“So? Did you do it?” Dawnbreak asked, hands shaking as if he wasn’t sure whether to hope or not.

Mario finally removed the cobalt pearl from his back pocket, and Dawnbreak practically snatched it out of his grip. “Oh, thank the sun and stars, the Oceanic Pearl is safe!”

Edelweiss nodded. “A self-proclaimed ‘rival’ of mine was tryna power up his Piranhas with it.”

Dawnbreak shook his head. “Oh dear… I don’t even think this is the pearl I’d use for something like that myself. Either way, he should’ve simply trusted in the sunlight to do the work instead of rushing it with this… I’ll make sure this finds its way to the guardians, don’t worry.”

“Good luck with that,” Edelweiss said, nodding, before turning to Mario. “Listen. I know I acted like I was only gonna help with the Monsoon Piranhas and all, but… If that’s what one Sacred Pearl could do to the environment? I don’t think I could just… Go back to the greenhouse and stick my head in the sand while everything’s getting wrecked like this. Mind if I tag along a little longer?”

“Yeah, you can come along, no problem! C’mon, let’s check the compass for where we’re heading next—”

As soon as Mario pulled out the compass, a tiny spark of light lifted off the Oceanic Pearl. Dawnbreak yelped, scrambling to regain his hold on the pearl. The spark drifted over to the compass, embedding itself in the side. When Mario lifted the compass, he now saw a tiny cobalt jewel set into the side of the compass.

“Huh.”

“I… Suppose that’s the pearl’s way of aiding you???” Dawnbreak looked nervous. “I’ve never seen anything like this, but I’ve also never seen the pearls being taken before… I’ll have to consult with the guardians…”

With that, he anxiously bowed and shuffled away. Peach watched him go, looking nervous. “How bad was it?”

“You shouldn’t worry about it, Peach,” Mario reassured, interrupted by her hand on his shoulder.

“Mario.”

“...The Piranhas stole the pearl and flooded the town.”

She let out a tiny gasp, but nodded, expression firm. “Did you…?”

Mario shook his head. “Sorry, princess, but that thing was just too strong. I didn’t trust myself with it. Those guardian folks can probably handle it…”

“I hope so… I’m glad you got it back, though.”

“Me too! And speaking of which, we really should get to work on getting the others back, too. If that’s what just one was capable of in less than a day…” Mario shook his head. “So sorry we can’t stay.”

Peach sighed. “I’m used to it.” She pecked him on the cheek. “At risk of sounding like a broken record… Stay safe, Mario. I mean it.”

“Same to you, Princess.” With that, Mario turned away, following the glowing red compass needle. Regulus and Edelweiss tailed behind him, ready to plunge into the next leg of the journey. With that, they began winding through the streets of Facetlight, following the needle’s glow to the next pearl.

Chapter Text

The compass kept insistently pointing west, and when Mario failed to find any clear exits from town that way he had to consult his map. On the westernmost edge of the Pearl Kingdom was the sea border, with a beachfront full of popular resorts. The party agreed that was the most likely place to begin their search, and quickly hopped on the next bus ride.

“So, you know the Mushroom Kingdom princess, yeah?” Edelweiss asked, making herself comfortable on the seat behind Mario’s. “You from there, overalls?”

He turned around, leaning over the back to make eye contact with her. “Oh, yeah, I am.”

Edelweiss nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got a cousin out there. Works at some swanky place called Shogun Studios, says he runs a shuriken game or something. Tell him hi if ya see him, alright? And that he still owes me money for that one bouquet.”

Mario raised an eyebrow, and Edelweiss grinned. “Said it was for a coworker of his. I can only imagine what that guy was saying to earn a nightshade and foxglove bouquet.” She turned to Regulus beside her. “Anyway, what’s your story, scarf?”

“Oh, um, I’m actually from the Mushroom Kingdom too! I-I live in the fortress near Hither Thither Hill?” Edelweiss shot him a confused look, and he stared at the floor. “It’s. Um. Southeast of Decalburg. It’s nice, the lodgings are pretty good and we don’t have Bowser breathing down our necks all the time.”

“Hmm. So what got you tagging along with overalls here? You don’t seem that inclined to worry ‘bout the local flora.”

“Oh, um… Well… I actually came here with my friend Canopus. They were born here. I-I got kinda nervous, they were acting really off, a-and I figured Mario could scare them straight, maybe, but it was… It was too late.”

Regulus cut himself off with a whimper, pointedly avoiding eye contact, and Edelweiss decided not to pry. Mario stared at Regulus for a long moment before returning to his normal sitting position. He idly chattered away for the rest of the ride, and Regulus eventually rejoined the conversation. 

Not long after the discussion had picked up again, the bus finally pulled in to the beachfront city of Sunsink. The place was beautiful, the overhead sun glittering off the sand and surf. Mario once again pulled out his sunglasses to avoid blinding himself, although Regulus and Edelweiss were less lucky.

“Star Spirits it’s bright around here,” Edelweiss muttered. “So. Sunsink. This is where the next pearl is?”

“Seems to be,” Mario said, pulling out the Iridescent Compass. “...Er…”

“What is it?” asked Regulus, standing on his tiptoes in an attempt to look. 

“...It’s pointing at the sea.”

There was a stunned pause. 

“What.”

“How did the pearl end up in the sea??? ”

“You don’t think someone… left with it, do you?”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause as the unfortunate possibility set in. Mario shook himself out, taking charge of the situation before anyone could panic. “Let’s ask around first. Remember how Seafoam got flooded so fast? Maybe whoever took the pearl is already misusing it…” He shook his head. “I’d really rather if they didn’t, obviously, but it’s the biggest lead we might have.”

With that, they set out along the beachfront. Numerous folks were sunning themselves, playing on the beach, or just casually relaxing with a book. It wasn’t as populated as some beaches Mario had been to, but he wasn’t sure if that was an indicator of anything or if it was simply late. 

After a couple minutes of walking, the trio finally ran across a commotion. A crowd of onlookers was clamoring, staring out into the waves. Mario glanced at his partners for confirmation—maybe this was the lead they’d been looking for! They both nodded in turn and the group joined the edge of the crowd, watching the spectacle.

From a distance, Mario had only heard shouts of encouragement, but now that he was closer he heard noises of dismay as well. He squinted into the frothy waters, finally catching sight of why everyone was so noisy. Riding a massive wave was a surfer, a small teal dot against the raging water, and doing an impressive job of it from what little Mario knew of surfing.

Regulus looked around, looking anxious, and quietly shook his head. Mario looked at him for a long moment, but he never spoke. Edelweiss seemed to notice too, nudging him with her elbow. “Hey. You see something?”

“It’s probably nothing, but… That surfer’s the only one in the water.”

“...That’s kind of weird for a beach,” Mario noted suspiciously, eyes flicking back over to the crowd. He idly tapped a nearby cheering koopa on the shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Oh, our bro Seashell’s out there catchin’ some mad air, bro!” they cheerfully remarked. “Ae’s the only one brave enough to go out there right now.”

“...Ae?”

“We welcome all genders and pronouns on the Sunsink beachfront, my guy.”

“Oh. I’ve just never heard that one. Neat. Anyway, what do you mean Seashell’s the only one brave enough to go out right now?”

“Ah, dude, some gnarly pirates showed up a few days ago. Threatened folks that went too close to the ship. They nicked a poor paragoomba yesterday when he was goin’ for a fly and everyone got spooked. Not Seashell, though. Said ae wasn’t gonna let some big fat bullies scare aer away from the waves.”

“...Oh no.”

“Eh, the pirates haven’t done anything about it. Seashell’s just gonna prove they’re all bark, no bite.”

“...Didn’t you say they shot at someone?” Regulus whimpered fearfully.

The koopa dismissively waved their hand. “Ae’s gonna be fine. ”

The trio turned anxiously back over to where Seashell was shredding waves. Mario could still hear the crowd screaming for aer to come back, but ae either mistook it for praise or just ignored it. Mario could definitely understand the concern for aer health at this point, especially as the pirate ship made itself visible around a cresting wave.

The crowd’s cheers and concerns quickly picked up in intensity, and Mario noticed Edelweiss putting herself between Regulus and the crowd. His attention was quickly wrenched back, however, by the imposing ship. The sea was unusually rough around it, and it fired a cannon at the unfortunate Seashell. Thankfully, ae maneuvered around it.

That seemed to be what it took to get aer to back down, despite the koopa’s earlier grandstanding. After easily dodging the shot, Seashell turned the board, gliding down the wave despite several protests from the crowd. The pirate ship made chase, but the smaller surfboard could navigate much more easily in the shallower water.

As Seashell came near, Mario could finally figure out that ae was a Spike. Ae was teal, and had apparently coughed up a silver spiked bar to row to shore instead of paddling. Aer vibrant red hair, colored a pale blue at the roots, matched aer eyes. Ae paddled to the sand, being greeted by the cheering crowd as it parted to let aer through.

“What was up out there, dude?” asked one of the townsfolk. “Like, you never back down like that!”

“Yeah, and what’s with the spike bar? You’re not exactly afraid to get wet.”

“Chill, guys,” said Seashell, dismissively waving aer free hand. “Looked like the pirates were messin’ with something out there. Didn’t know if it was safe to paddle.”

A hushed murmur went up through the crowd at this admission. Several folks turned uncertainly towards the ominous pirate ship. Thankfully, nobody bothered to argue with Seashell about it. Mario and his party shared a glance.

“We need to ask aer what ae saw out there,” Regulus murmured. Mario nodded in agreement.

“We can’t just follow aer, we’ll look like weirdos,” Edelweiss pointed out.

“Yo, dudes, if you wanna meet Seashell, I can hook you up,” said the koopa from before. “Aer and I hang out at the smoothie bar down the beach. Ae’ll probably be hanging around there to relax after that mad showing. I can lead y’all there.”

Mario nodded. “Thank you so much.”

“S’ no problem. You don’t seem like bad dudes, y’know?”

“We’ll try to deal with the pirate ship situation, too.”

“For real?” When Mario nodded, the koopa clapped him firmly on the back. “Ayyy, thanks a bunch, man! Give those guys a real talkin’-to. We can share the beach if they’d just stop bein’ all possessive of it, y’know? Sea belongs to everyone, man.”

Edelweiss nodded sagely at the last statement as the koopa led them to a small building a ways down the beachfront. Sure enough, Seashell was heading inside. The koopa led the group inside shortly after. The place had a decidedly homey, calm atmosphere, and Mario could see why Seashell liked it.

Speaking of Seashell, ae was currently sipping at an indeterminate orange smoothie. Mario opted not to sit right next to aer—it’d probably be really intimidating, especially since the bar was already alighting with chatter about aer daring feat. He did take a seat farther down the bar, though, listening in to idle gossip.

“Can you believe Seashell did that? I was sure ae was a goner. ”

“Those stupid pirates have been stinking up our waters way too long and bullying everyone. Good on aer for giving ‘em what for!”

“Please. What kind of display was that? Ae backed down the second a weapon got pointed at aer.”

“What, you wouldn’t be scared of a cannon too?”

“Pfah! It’s one thing to be frightened, it’s another entirely after vowing to ‘show those pirates they can’t scare us’ as ae claimed!”

Mario shot a hopefully-subtle glance over at Seashell, who seemed completely oblivious to the jabs. Ae just kept casually sipping aer smoothie like nothing was wrong. The server, still blending various fruits, anxiously glanced around the bar. Seashell was still completely ignoring all the mockery, mostly from one loudmouthed goomba, and Mario eventually couldn’t take it.

“Hey, I’m sure… ae, right? That’s the right way to use that here?” Seashell finally glanced up at him, giving a disinterested “hmm?” but nodding. “I’m sure ae had a perfectly good reason not to pick a fight.”

The goomba scoffed. “Stay outta this, mustache. Can’t ae fight aer own battles?”

Seashell finally sighed, turning to shoot them a tired look. “I’m not gonna entertain some guy harshing the mellow ‘cause they can’t mind their own business. Don't feed the trolls 'n all. If you’re gonna gossip about me, don’t ruin everyone else’s vibe doing it.”

The goomba spluttered indignantly before finally turning back to their drink and friends in a huff. Seashell turned back to aer own smoothie as if nothing had happened. Mario glanced back over, before finally deciding to sit a little closer to aer. “Hey, are you alright?”

“S’fine. I just didn’t wanna give that guy the satisfaction of a reaction, y’know? Thanks for trying to defend me, though. Pretty cool of you.”

Mario shrugged. “I just don’t like to see someone getting picked on like that.”

“You’re a pretty chill dude. Tourist, right?”

“Uh, yeah, kinda. Can you tell me more about the whole pirate situation?”

“Not much to tell. They just showed up a couple days ago and started harassing folks. Clipped Keet pretty good, poor guy. I’d had enough and decided to just go out there instead of letting them boss us around, y’know?”

“That was brave of you.”

“Kinda stupid, but brave,” Edelweiss confirmed, sitting next to Mario and swirling around a glass of some kind of yellow smoothie. 

“Nah, it was nothing,” said Seashell, dismissively gesturing with the tiny parasol in aer drink. “Honestly, it was like any normal surfing day until that ship showed. Captain was swearing up and down the deck at me for ‘defiling their waters’ or whatever.” Ae scoffed. “I tried to tell them that the waters are everyone’s, but…”

Ae trailed off, sipping aer drink and staring elsewhere. Mario opted not to pry, having seen the aftermath himself. “Did you happen to notice anything… off about the ship or the pirates?”

“Why are you asking, anyway?” ae asked, shooting Mario a disinterested look.

“We’re looking for something, something important, and I’m trying to figure out if they took it. Did you see any of the pirates coming by this way from Facetlight earlier?”

“Facetlight? Yeah, I saw one of them flying here from that direction. I wasn’t paying it much attention at the time, I was busy chatting with folks and planning my stunt, but…”

“That means one of them might’ve taken one of the—” Edelweiss clapped a hand over Regulus’s mouth before he could finish, hissing.

“Hey. No need to blab that to the entire bar,” she muttered. Mario glanced over at Seashell, who was smiling over at the exchange.

“Hey, listen. None of the boats have been running since the pirates started threatening people, either. And we both want to go talk to them…”

“Do you want to come with?” Mario offered.

“You can’t just invite every rando who compliments you!” Edelweiss protested. 

“Chillax, lady,” said Seashell. “I don’t gotta stick around if you don’t trust me. I just wanna go over to the ship, chat with the folks a bit about this whole situation. Couple of ‘em didn’t look so chill with the captain screamin’ at me. You guys can negotiate whatever it is you’re looking for on your own.”

Edelweiss grumbled something about Mario trusting too easily, which he brushed off. He trusted his instincts, and his instincts deemed Seashell a perfectly fine individual to potentially join the quest. “Edelweiss, don’t be rude. Seashell, we’d love to have you if you want to tag along!”

Seashell joined Mario’s party!

Chapter Text

“Alright. Let’s finish hanging around here for a little while, take a minute to relax. You look tired.”

Mario was about to protest, but then glanced over at the nervous Regulus and frustrated Edelweiss, and then relented. They lingered for around an hour, before they finally decided it was time to set out. By now the sun was quite close to the horizon, but this hardly deterred Seashell from setting out aer board.

“Are we all traveling on that?” Regulus whimpered. “It’s pretty big for a surfboard, but… How are we all gonna fit?”

“...I didn’t think on that.”

“I mean, you could ride on my head like in the woods?” Mario weakly offered.

“And what about me?” Edelweiss snapped. “You just gonna carry me?”

Several minutes later, Seashell was once again using a spiked bar to row the party over to the ship. Edelweiss had most likely intended that remark as sarcasm, but nobody had a better idea. At least ae was surprisingly fast, making record time in zipping over to the ship and even flinging away the occasional overly-bold Cheep Cheep with aer paddle.

Soon enough, the party came to the ship. It’d laid anchor near a small islet, and while a few pirates were present gathering coconuts, they didn’t seem to notice the group. The pirates, as it turned out, resembled humanoid seabirds in striped tank tops and loose pants. Most of them had bandanas tied around their heads.

“Hey, boss, y’think this is enough?” called one of them, tossing more coconuts to the growing pile in the sand.

“Captain Syren said to get all the coconuts on the island. Keep picking, matey.”

The first pirate groaned, dramatically flopping back onto the tree. The leader of the group shook his head, folding his arms. “Aye, I know it’s hard work—”

“You’re not doing any of it!”

“I’m on supervision duty today! Next time, you can boss me around all you like. But we need these coconuts if we can’t get supplies at the mainland.”

“Maybe,” muttered a bitter-looking pirate, “that’s because our captain keeps terrorizing the beachgoers.”

“Ye want to repeat that?” asked the leader, stepping closer. Mario didn’t hear the rest of the argument, carefully helping his party sneak past the bickering pirates. Nobody seemed to notice them, thankfully, leaving them free to arrive on the deck.

“Right,” whispered Mario, “let’s find the pirate who stole that pearl.”

Regulus murmured something under his breath, but ignored the curious glance Mario shot him. The trio slipped into the bowels of the ship, a well-oiled machine of a thing. The place was pristine, with clean floors and walls, and seemed well-organized. Unfortunately, apparently it was so well-organized they didn’t see the need to label any of the doors.

“Seriously, why does one ship need so many coconuts and fruits?” Mario complained after the third door that opened into a food storeroom.

“They have a pretty big crew?” Regulus ventured. “I mean, everyone needs to eat. Unless you’re like, a Boo or something undead.”

“And we all heard them talking on the islet. They can’t get supplies on the mainland,” Seashell added. “They might’ve stashed some of that fruit too long though.”

“Yeah that definitely looks overripe,” muttered Edelweiss. “C’mon, let’s—”

“Hey!” spat a voice, and the party whipped around to see a trio of pirates staring them down from the hall. They were forced to defend themselves from the three birds, who threw themselves at the intruders. Mario found himself flailing his arms to fend off vicious claws and beaks, and could only assume the others were in a similar situation. 

He managed to get his hammer out to fling the bird off him, and then leapt on their head for good measure. They seemed to get the hint, backing down the hall. The other birds, assailed by the party, agreed. They gathered in the far end, talking in hushed tones before bolting down the left turn.

“Great, now the whole ship’s gonna know we’re here,” Edelweiss complained. 

“What were you gonna—”

“Knock them out so they couldn’t raise the alarm,” she answered simply, earning a few raised eyebrows. “...What? It’s just common sense.”

Despite Edelweiss’s concerns, the group tailed after the pirates. Mario didn’t hear any commotions going on, and no pirates were filtering out of the doors, but it was still tense. He occasionally peeked into one of the rooms, and on a few openings had to fend off an assailing pirate, but they at least knew when to back down. 

None of them would help direct the group to the hold, which was frustrating but understandable. Seashell, at least, seemed to approve of their displays of “pirate’s loyalty.” More concerningly, Mario was beginning to lose track of their position in the ship… He hoped they’d be able to navigate their way out.

Eventually, they opened the door into a small flock of avian pirates, and Mario was now less concerned about navigation.

“Wh—I told you guys there were intruders in the ship!” insisted one of the smaller birds, nursing a bruise on her shoulder. 

“Okay, I owe you fifty coins,” admitted another. “After we beat them senseless, I mean.”

Mario tensed as several pirates began to gather themselves for a brawl, only for a sudden bang to ring out. All of their heads turned to a tall, imposing bird in the back, with long wing-arms. Tattoos crisscrossed their bare chest, and Mario idly wondered how you tattooed feathers. 

The bang had seemingly been a bottle they’d slammed on the table, and they slowly got to their taloned feet and stretched. “Hey. No need to cause a massive brawl about it. ‘Specially not if they’ve gotten this far down…”

“But, but, Quinn—”

“Ye.” The tattooed bird pointed at Mario. “Yer the leader of this little band, aren’t ye?” Mario nodded. “Ye’ve got moxie about ye. Why’d ye come onboard?”

“One of you guys took something really important to us,” he explained. “We need it back. Preferably without a fight. And we kind of hoped to speak with the captain…”

“...Alright, how’s about a deal, then?” said Quinn, folding his long arms. “Ye help out with a few chores around the ship, ‘n we’ll check the hold for whatever it is ye lost an’ see if the captain’s up for a little chat. Sound fair?”

Several dismayed protests went up from the avian crowd, and Quinn lifted a wing to silence them. “Ey! Every chore these folks do is one less for the rest o’ ye! An’ I’d rather avoid any more fights.”

Mario turned to the rest of his party, who shrugged. “What kind of chores?”

“...Movin’ barrels. Cleanin’ cannons. Fixin’ rigging.”

“Tossing out the old, rotten fruit?” one young-sounding pirate hopefully suggested.

“Not wi’out the Captain’s say-so, Shrike.”

The pirate loudly groaned and flopped over to rest their head on a table. “There’s no way that some of that is edible…”

“I think we can handle that,” Seashell chimed in, and Mario nodded.

“We’ll do it!”

Chapter Text

Quinn nodded approvingly and began barking orders to a few of the crew. They ushered the party out of the room, and began scurrying off, presumably to share the order with the others. Mario silently hoped Quinn didn’t take back his offer when he heard about the earlier… encounters.

He noted one of the smaller pirates, the one who’d been nursing a bruise that Mario guiltily flinched at, was staring at him. “Um…”

He gestured for her to go on, and she breathed a shaky sigh. “How’d ye. Get onto the ship? Ye didn’t… Ye know, beat up the mateys outside, right?”

“No, we just snuck past while they were distracted,” Mario clarified. “We didn’t hurt any friends of yours out there.”

The bird breathed a shaky sigh. “Sorry. ‘S just… My girlfriend’s out there.”

“No, yeah, I completely get it. Sorry about, uh… Beating you up.”

“Ye defend yers, and I defend mine,” she said with a shrug. “Good luck with… Whatever it is yer after.”

Quinn waved the party over, but Regulus chirped out a “Good luck with your girlfriend!” over his metaphorical shoulder. Quinn led the group over to a big room full of barrels and crates. 

“Organize these ‘gainst that back wall,” he commanded. “If ye need specifics, ask Featherfall back there.” Featherfall, it seemed, was a bored-looking pirate engrossed in some kind of horror novel, at least going off the cover. Quinn turned on his heel and left, leaving the party alone with the barrels.

“...He could’ve at least specified how he wanted these organized,” Regulus sighed. “It’s… Okay, this is for Canopus.”

“...And the pearl,” Edelweiss said, raising an eyebrow. “And the beachgoers.”

“And! That! Those are! Also important!”

Seashell stared at Regulus for a long moment before approaching Featherfall. “Ey.”

They looked up from their book with an eyebrow raised dubiously. “Yeah?”

“How do you need these organized?”

“Uh…” They pointed at one back wall with a few barrels already lined up against it. “Perishables ‘gainst that wall by date.” And then another. “Other stuff ‘gainst that one alphabetically.”

“Thanks. Enjoy your book.”

“Oh believe you me I will. No idea how this funky little science man is gonna survive this one…”

“Right, let’s get to it,” Mario said, stretching himself out before taking to the barrel-shoving. Regulus ended up mostly helping direct the group, although he clearly hated being asked to help from the back. He even abandoned his perch at a few points to help Seashell with barrels—Mario was outright carrying them, and Edelweiss had shot him a sharp warning glare when he tried to help her. 

“I’m a gardener, I carry heavy stuff all the time,” she’d said, and that was that. 

Seashell was doing a pretty good job at keeping the group entertained with idle chatter, and even managed to get Featherfall to chime in now and again. Mario wound up idly bringing up some of his prior misadventures, and Seashell proceeded to talk him into regaling the group with the story of the Star Sprite incident. It was easily the tale he felt most comfortable retelling.

“—and then, you’ll never believe this—” Mario blinked in the middle of his tale, glancing around at the room. “...Wait, we’re already done?”

“Huh. Ye work fast,” Featherfall idly noted. “Thanks for the storytellin’, though. I’ll let ol’ Quinn know ye mateys did good work an’ all.” When the group lingered a moment, she sighed. “What’s a girl got to do to get some time to catch up on her book?!”

That got the party to skedaddle pretty quickly. They wound up wandering through the ship for several minutes before they wound up locating Quinn again. He had apparently been absorbed in a rather tense-looking game of Uno for some time, and Mario desperately stifled a snicker at the sheer amount of cards in the poor man’s hands.

“Oh, aye there,” Quinn said, acting like he didn’t currently have half the deck in his hands. “Did ye finish with the barrels?”

“Yeah, we did.”

Quinn nodded, abandoning his rather disastrous Uno game. “Aye. Ye can go clean the cannons with the twins next. I’ll go ask Featherfall how ye did with the barrels.”

He indeed strode off, leaving his Uno competitors snickering in his wake. The party once again set off through the bowels of the boat, occasionally fending off glowing Embers and some kind of living kelp enemy. It took at least half an hour of wandering in circles to find themselves back at the Uno table, where they were given very curt and simple instructions to reach the cannons.

That was not Mario’s proudest moment, if he was being honest. When they entered the cannon room, two bored-looking pirates were idly chattering. One of the pair, the one with a pink bandana, was lazing on one of the cannons. The other, a blue-striped bandana tied around their neck, was idly scribbling something in a notebook.

The pink bandana pirate abruptly shot up, whipping around to face the party. “Hi, hey, ahoy, you’re the guys who are supposed to help clean the cannons, yeah?”

Mario nodded, as the pirate with the blue-stripe bandana squinted at Seashell behind him. “Hey, Wake?”

“Yeah, Crest?”

“Doesn’t this Spike look a little familiar?”

Mario tensed, but ae shrugged. “I was on the waves earlier.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re that surfer we had to shoot at earlier!” Wake cheerfully chirped as if they’d merely met at the store and that Seashell’s life hadn’t been endangered. “Sorry ‘bout that. Captain’s orders and all.”

“Water under the bridge, my guy,” Seashell said. “So…”

“Oh, yeah, the cannons.” Wake quickly hopped off and demonstrated how to properly clean out and polish them to the party, while Crest dug out a set of multicolored rags. She tossed one to each of the party members—and seemed to make a particular point of matching the colors to their outfits. Aside from Seashell, of course, who instead got a deeper red matching aer hair. 

The group promptly took to their task, and once again Seashell kicked up idle conversation. “What’s your captain’s problem, anyway?”

“There’s no problem!” Crest instantly protested. “She’s a great captain, she’s just… under a lot of stress, is all.”

Mario raised an eyebrow, and Wave elaborated. “She’s been taking really late nights recently. She apparently got some kind of tip about a magical artifact… Said we’ll never want for anything ever again.”

Mario briefly fumbled his rag. If the captain truly knew what that pearl the crew had taken was… 

“She’s amazing,” Crest gushed. “She takes in folks with nowhere to go and fights to keep us safe. Sure, it means we gotta put up with chores, but it’s a small price to pay for food and board and companionship.”

“...Nice sentiment, but doesn’t really jive with the whole tryna declare the sea hers thing,” Seashell clarified. “Y’can’t… own the sea. It belongs to everyone. We’re willing to share if she’d just stop threatening folks.”

“Really?” Wake asked, eyes glittering hopefully. “That’s great news! Maybe we could ask Quinn to talk to her, try to get her to stand down. He’s the first mate, she’s always trusted his judgment! If you guys are really willing to give us safe harbor…”

“Until now,” Crest murmured under her breath, and Mario shot her a concerned glance. She either didn’t see it or ignored him entirely, and he returned to cleaning the barrel of the cannon. 

“Well… Okay, yeah, she’s been kinda snappy and bossy lately, but I think it’s just all the long nights,” Wake admitted. “I’m kinda worried about her.”

Mario made an uncertain noise and continued scrubbing at one particularly stubborn spot along one of the cannons. Somewhere beside him, Regulus yelped, and he glanced over to see him frantically hopping away from a Fuzzy. Thankfully, before it could do anything, Crest slammed a heavy book on its head.

“Stupid Fuzzies. I don’t even know where they’re coming from,” she muttered. “Anywho. Looks like you’re done, yeah?”

“Aside from this one spot,” Mario muttered, already moving to go finish the job. But were there really that few cannons? Or did his party just work faster than he thought? Crest put one feathery hand on his, gently taking the rag from his fingers. 

“It’s no problem, I can get it,” she said. “Go tell Quinn. And… If you happen to see the captain, uh…”

“Let her know she can count on us, yeah?” Wake offered. Mario nodded, and then the party set off through the ship again. At least the winding corridors were easier to navigate on the third pass. A helpful crewmate they saved from being harassed by an Ember directed them above deck.

“Ahoy!” Quinn called from where he was leaping from a mast, dragging a thick rope behind him. “Ye already finished with the cannons?” Mario nodded, and Quinn gracefully landed on the deck. “Heh, the twins prolly didn’t let ye polish all o’ em… They’re real protective of their work. But if they trusted ye to help at all, it’s a point in your favor. Anyway.”

“You don’t intend us to go all the way up there, do you?” Regulus whimpered, staring up the masts. Quinn opened his beak to speak, and Mario cut him off.

“I can handle it.”

“Mario!” shouted Edelweiss, but he waved a hand.

“I’ve been higher. I can handle this, what do you need me to do?”

Quinn looked dubious, but eventually sighed. “Fine. Ye can go help up there, and the rest o’ your merry band can help detangle the ropes down here, aye?”

Mario saluted, and then proceeded to start leaping up the ropes and rigging in an elaborate acrobatic display. Sure, he was showing off a little, but it was no more dangerous than his usual antics. He quickly made his way up to the top sail, prompting several startled squawks and one pirate fell off the bar. They were fine, of course, managing to right themself and take to the air, but Mario still winced sympathetically.

Oh, there was the issue. On one side of the… Mario didn’t know the proper term, but the bar of wood that the sail was attached to. One side of that bar had a nasty-looking knot of rope wrapped around it. Well, this would probably be fairly simple. He knelt carefully on the bar, working at the complex knot.

Mario wasn’t necessarily good with knots, but he was decent enough at pulling this monstrosity apart. Slowly, he worked and worried at the ropes, and managed to free two or three. The avian pirates took those, flying around to loop them into the rest of the rigging. The knot was almost free, if he could just—

“Mario, look out!” 

Seashell’s warning was faint, and Mario wasn’t fully sure he heard it right. Thankfully, he did leap in time to avoid the bolt of fire lancing through the spot where he’d once been. He planted his feet on the wood, and darted over to stomp out a stray spark. Really, who or what would shoot fire on a wooden ship?

…Besides the Embers, of course. Maybe one of them had gotten out. Mario briefly eyed the ropes criss-crossing the mast, then yanked on the tangle one final time. As soon as it was free, he leapt, clutching the end of the rope to slide his way down to the deck. His party waited there, and he didn’t miss the sigh of relief that swept across them.

He turned to see Quinn talking with what had to be the captain, going off her red coat and tricorn hat. Her eyes, narrowed in annoyance as she spoke, were a vibrant red that seemed to glow faintly. Her feathers were white, but as she gestured with one hand Mario could see the outermost ones were edged in maroon.

“That’s enough of this tomfoolery,” she hissed, swatting Quinn away. “Get these intruders off me ship, or I’ll do it for ye.”

“Syren—”

“It’s Captain Fyren to ye, now. Now!” She lifted one hand, exposing a glittering, ruby-red pearl. “If ye don’t get off me ship in the next five minutes, ye won’t have long to regret it.”

“That’s the pearl we’re looking for!” Regulus shouted. 

“Give it back!” added Edelweiss. “It’s not yours, and you don’t know what you’re doing with it.”

Fyren laughed—a dark chuckle that erupted into a fit of deranged howling. “Ye think I dunno how to use this thing? Why don’t we test that theory?!”

With those sharp words, she swiped her hand across the air, sending bolts of fire careening across the ship. The party all ducked, scrambling away. The pirates watching the exchange squawked, descending into a cacophony of shrieks and wingbeats. 

“Dude, I have a lot of questions!” Seashell shouted.

“Ask them later!” Mario declared, before running up to Fyren and throwing himself into a vicious stomp. “We’ve got a battle on our hands!”

Fyren once again sent fire spiraling across the battlefield, and Edelweiss rushed to stomp out embers before she sent the boat up in flames. This left Regulus to cheer on Mario and Seashell as they took on Fyren. Seashell had left aer board in a relatively safe place while ae worked, leaving aer hands free to swing around a massive spiked bar.

Mario had to hand it to the captain, she was agile. She leapt back and over Seashell’s swipes with ease. But she wasn’t the only agile one—whenever ae gave him an opening, Mario was there, stomping or swinging his hammer. She stepped back, snarling, and swatted him to the ground with her wing.

He was beginning to get exhausted with the raging battle. Fyren lifted the pearl with presumably lethal intent, but a spiked ball cut off her assault. She whipped around to growl at Seashell, who nonchalantly hefted another. “Leave him. I’m the one you’ve got beef with, right?”

Fyren answered by once again spewing flames from the pearl in her hand. Seashell was forced on the defensive, using aer spike bar to block strings of fire as aer opponent screamed in blind fury. Mario glanced around at the battlefield—Edelweiss was continuing to save the ship from the fire, while Regulus kept hollering his hopes for Seashell.

…Which was not enough to keep Fyren from landing a lucky hit, sending aer skidding back towards Mario. He winced at the sight of the ugly burn on aer chest. Fyren was slumped over, catching her breath with the pearl clutched tightly in her hand. Mario glanced anxiously between her and Seashell, who was trying to get to aer feet despite the pained look on aer face.

He took out the Iridescent Compass, which was pointing at Fyren with a red glow so bright it hurt to look at. He tapped the blue spot on its side, turned it so the spot was pointed at her, and shut his eyes. Yet surprisingly, no blast of pressure rocketed him backwards.

He opened his eyes. A thin stream of water was rushing from the blue gem on the compass, washing over him and Seashell. His prior exhaustion seemed swept away by the cooling streams, and when he glanced over it seemed to be cleaning the dark burns off aer skin as well. 

“Are you alright?” Mario asked, and ae sat up, opening and closing aer fists. 

Ae nodded. “Never better. Let’s finish this.”

“Do you two fools really think ye can—”

Fyren’s threat was promptly cut off by Regulus headbonking her in the dead center of her tricorn hat. She screamed indignantly, whipping around to grab him with her free hand. The action inadvertently left herself completely open for Mario to drive his own boots into her head. He sprung off her, flipping into the air to watch as a thundering blow from Seashell flung her backwards into the mast.

The ruby-red pearl tumbled from her fingers, where Edelweiss carefully scooped it up. “Thank Grambi this thing didn’t roll into the sea… Can you imagine what fire magic in a cove like this would do to the environment?”

“I think Fyren was trying to find out,” Regulus murmured. 

Edelweiss shook her head and offered the pearl to Mario. “You hung onto the last one just fine. Mind ferrying this one back?”

“...If you have pockets, maybe keep it in those until we’re back on shore,” Mario suggested. “Less time any one of us spends with those things in hand, the better.”

Mario and Co. got a Sacred Pearl!

Mario can now use Firecracker in battle!

Chapter Text

“...You guys sure are a weird bunch,” Seashell muttered, shaking aer head. With that observation, ae turned to Fyren. At some point, Quinn had returned, leaning over her and glancing nervously at the party.

“Syren… She never wanted any o’ this. She was talkin’ about some… Some tip she got, that there was some kind o’ magical treasure around these parts. Said if we had magic on our side, we’d never have to worry ‘bout anythin’ ever again. Said we could have all we ever wanted or needed an’ then some…” He turned away, sighing.

“This so-called magic was more trouble than it was worth. I’ll talk to ‘er when she comes ‘round, try’n… Set her straight. Ye beach folk won’t have to worry ‘bout us anymore.”

“Dude, the Sunsink beach belongs to everyone,” Seashell said. “Look… Crest and Wake, down with the cannons. They said she like… She takes in folks with nowhere else to go?”

“Aye.”

“If you guys apologize for what you did, maybe do something nice for the folks just so the harsher types don’t give you trouble, then… We could find a place for you, y’know? No man or crew is an island, and I bet there are folks who’d kill to hear about your… pirate. Stuff. I dunno what pirates do man.”

“...Ye mean it?”

“Aye-aye.” Seashell even offered a two-fingered salute. 

“Um… I hate to interrupt,” Regulus murmured. “But… You wouldn’t happen to know who supposedly told Captain Fy—Syren about the pearl, would you?”

“‘Fraid not. Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Regulus chirped, although he still looked troubled. “We should probably get back soon, though. It’s getting late…”

Quinn stood, raising his voice to the crew lingering in the air around the ship. “Ye heard the Goomba! Hoist the mainsail, we’re makin’ for Sunsink!”

“Aye aye, first mate!”

~~~

“We’re live at Seafoam Port at the southern edge of the Pearl Kingdom, folks, and it’s a doozy out there.”

“It’s really a shame,” Dawnbreak said, shaking his head at the TV displaying the news. “Well, I’m sure the floodwaters will evaporate soon enough.”

Peach sighed. “Perhaps, but we should do something to help those folks in the meantime. Perhaps with that water-controlling—”

“Good heavens, no, Princess!” Dawnbreak insisted. “Perish the thought. It’s already in capable hands, those of someone trained to handle its power without losing their mind. And quite frankly, that’s what caused this whole fiasco…”

“Then why is the town still flooded?”

Dawnbreak desperately shrugged. “You’d think that they’d be scrambling to help a major tourism center. Perhaps the guardians are not as competent as we thought… Though, forgive me, Princess, I don’t think you’d fare much better.”

“...Fair enough, I suppose. I just hate not being able to do anything…”

“You could go aid in cleanup in the morning, perhaps, or bring them some kind of care package?”

“...That’s a good idea, actually. Helping with cleanup.”

“In the morning, though.”

“Oh, of course, it’d probably be better to wait for daylight. Are any of the buses still even running?”

“It’s not that late. But traveling under the cover of night is never a good idea and nobody will be working by moonlight.”

“...Dawnbreak, it’s seven PM,” Peach half-laughed. 

“The sun is setting though, sadly.”

“Fair point.” Peach idly stirred her drink. “I wonder how Mario’s quest is coming…”

Dawnbreak hissed an expletive under his breath. “Mario, right, I forgot. Thank you for the reminder, I’d hate to leave him hanging—”

With that, Dawnbreak rushed out of the place, leaving Peach alone with her drink and her thoughts.

~~~

“Oh, it’s… Way later than I thought.”

“You didn’t see the sun going down when we were on the deck?” Regulus asked.

“I kind of had other priorities,” Mario admitted, avoiding eye contact. “Man, this is gonna make looking for the n—”

“You cannot be serious,” Edelweiss hissed. “No. We’re resting. We’re staying at an inn for the night or something, I don’t know.”

“She’s got a point,” chimed in Seashell, and Regulus and Edelweiss both yelped.

“When did you get here?!” Regulus shrieked. 

“...Did you guys not see me on the bus?” Seashell asked, raising an eyebrow.

“ Why are you here?!” snapped Edelweiss. “We dealt with your problem, we saved your beach, leave us alone—”

“Edelweiss!” Mario hissed. She huffed, folding her arms.

“You did help, yeah,” said Seashell, “but I get the feeling this is bigger than what you’re telling me.”

Edelweiss shot Regulus a pointed look, and he whimpered. 

“...Yes,” Mario admitted, nodding to Seashell. “The Sacred Pearls have been stolen.”

Ae sucked a breath of air through aer teeth. “That’s… Is that what that pearl is?”

Edelweiss nodded, taking it out of her pocket. “You’d think a Sacred Pearl would be more… sacred feeling, though. This thing just creeps me out.”

And like the Oceanic Pearl before it, when Mario took out the Iridescent Compass, a speck of light lifted off the pearl and embedded itself into the side of the compass. He nodded as he tucked it back into his impossibly deep pockets. “Then I’ll hold it for now, until we can find D—”

“Mario! Oh, you’re back!” Mario turned to see Dawnbreak rushing over, clapping his hands. “Did you—”

“That we did,” Mario said, forking over the ruby pearl. Dawnbreak’s eyes sparkled as he took it.

“Thank the stars… That’s two out of seven already! You’re making wonderful time.”

“...Who’s this guy?” Seashell asked under aer breath.

“Dawnbreak, he works under the guardians,” Mario quietly explained. “He’s been bringing the pearls back once we get them.”

Seashell nodded as Dawnbreak scurried off. When he was out of earshot, ae turned to the party. “So.”

“So.”

“...I’m coming. If people are suffering and I can help stop it… Besides, if I don’t, it’s only a matter of time before it starts affecting Sunsink too.”
“Ae’s got a point,” Regulus agreed.

“Yeah, you can come along. More the merrier, right?” Mario grinned.

“You’re the guy paying for the inn, I suppose…” Edelweiss muttered, still seeming annoyed about the situation.

“Oh. Yeah I forgot about that.”

It took about twenty minutes to find an inn that wasn’t fully booked and get rooms for the night. It took another two minutes at least for Mario to reassure his party that he was fine with the rate. Really, twenty coins a night was hardly the worst he’d dealt with. 

“Hey, Mario?” Regulus whispered as Edelweiss and Seashell began absentmindedly chattering about something-or-other.

“Yeah?”

“...Thanks again for all your help. I’m sorry this had to go so wrong…”

“I’m kind of used to it. Besides, this isn’t your fault.”

Regulus was silent for the rest of the night.