Chapter 23
William had fallen asleep. His mind and body were both in a state of pure peacefulness. His pleasant dreams dragged on until he felt a bony hand rubbing his right shoulder. His somber moment shattered and he was back in a dark room beneath the covers.

"Come on," Oceanus said. "We have to go see the minister."

"Don't I get to eat breakfast first?" William protested.

"Food's an entirely different matter. Now get up," she insisted. William turned to his right. The woman removed her hand, and he could wince at her disturbingly thin body once more.

"Don't I need to get dressed first?" he asked. Oceanus reached behind her back and pulled out a small stack of some familiar clothes. William saw them and gasped. "My pajamas!!" he said. Without hesitating for a single moment, he snatched them out of her grasp.

"Meet me outside," the woman instructed. After saying so, she left the room, leaving the boy to do what he had to do. She waited beside her door in a sanctum not within the premises of her personal sanctuary, patiently letting the boy take his time. Finally, he opened it up and found her right where she said she would be. He also noticed that where he just was was one of many rooms on the second floor of a mostly wooden building. Each of the doors were along a wall and together seemed to all be a part of a larger room that was shaped like a square. He could see the first floor through the bars of a railing separating the rectangular hallway they were then in from the pit that showed it. One side of this railing had stairs leading down to it. He may have caught a few glimpses of one or two hooded figures that vaguely bore resemblances to the woman he was with. The entire place was visible only thanks to some light coming from unknown sources, probably including the sun. At some point, Oceanus pulled out a very familiar object, being mostly composed of black and green. William gasped again.

"My sword!!" he said. He tried grabbing it like he did with the clothes, but Oceanus pulled it away from him, causing him to stumble and have his arms catch nothing but air. He staggered back and said, "Hey, what's the big idea?! Gimme back my sword!!"

She returned her perpetual dead look. She kept her right hand resting on the sword, letting its tip balance against the wooden floor so she could lift the index finger of her left hand against her lips in a gesture to invoke silence. William shut up, but continued glaring. She put her hand down and said to him, "You will get nothing if you act that way."

He remained glaring at her for a few seconds more. Oceanus looked back with solemn eyes. "Fine," he said. "I'll behave. Now can I have my sword back?" Oceanus didn't respond. "Please?" he added through gritted teeth. She looked at him for a second, then shifted the sword his way with a movement of her right hand. He snatched the handle with his right hand and wobbled uncomfortably while trying to get it to point upward. Adding his left hand to his grip only helped a little. Finally, he got it in the position he wanted. He scanned its strange blade, taking in its unusual appearance again.

"You don't know how to use it," Oceanus stated.

William looked at her once more, bearing an angry face again. "What do you mean, I don't know how to use it?! What's to know? You just kill stuff with it," he argued.

Oceanus stared some more at him. Then she turned around, and began walking while using her right hand's pointing finger to make a certain movement in order to signal that he should follow. William scowled a while longer, then started holding his weapon with both hands, making it point downward, and began to carry out the unspoken order.

Together, they walked past a few more doors, took a left, went down the stairs, turned around, and started walking towards another doorway. As they were passing by, William got a few looks from two people that looked unquestionably like fellow organization members to the female that was guiding him. They pretty much wore the exact same cloak as her, but they wore it differently. The few seconds William had to look at these guys back informed him that they also seemed to have the same grey skin, white hair, yellow eyes, neck bolts, stitches, and black fingernails, etc. He could also tell that, unlike Oceanus, one of them, partially thanks to his platform shoes, was really tall and muscular, and appeared to have an almost block-like head. Other attributes of his guise kind of portrayed that not all of his limbs were in the correct shape or proportion, almost as though some of them didn't belong to him. The other guy was way shorter, but had a very ugly, misshapen face, horrible teeth, and a dome-like back that stuck up way farther than his head did, making it look as though his neck and shoulders were actually sticking out of his stomach. These few observations caused William to quickly reach the conclusion that it was probably a good idea to stick closer to the hooded person he actually came close to knowing. Their walking carried on.

They found themselves in another room first, then going up another flight of stairs. The group of two passed another second floor of rooms, but continued up more stairs. The third floor didn't appear to be as large as the others. Beyond, they could see a lone door in a wall a ways in front of where they were. Oceanus lead the boy to that door and stopped. He stopped, too, and they started looking into each other’s eyes again.

"Behind this door is the esteemed Minister Zelm," she exclaimed, maintaining an unblinking gaze all the while. "Be respectful." William didn't say anything. She raised the bony fist of her right hand and knocked three times.

"Come in," they heard a voice say. William's eyes widened by the sound of it. Carrying out requests, Oceanus turned the door's knob, and pushed the portal inward. They were in an office. At the end of the room, there was a desk with two chairs in front of it and an old man behind it. The elderly person was sitting down and sliding a drawer back into its place. As another apparent member of the group, he looked very much like Oceanus and the other two guys William saw, except that he could barely make out any of his facial features. He could tell this man's cloak covered his somewhat wide body and a good portion of anything above his eyes. They were droopy and yellow and his nose was incredulously big and long, but a large, bushy white beard that seemed to cover his entire chest obscured what other components his mug might have consisted of. To William, there was not a single cheekbone, mouth, or chin. There weren't even any eyebrows. He just saw hood, eyes, nose, beard. The aged individual folded his hands, and placed them before him on his desk. "Ah, Oceanus," he said. William couldn't believe his voice. It was very deep and authoritative, like a god's. Whenever he spoke using such a thing, his enormous nose would scrunch up back and forth. "Is this the boy?"

"Yes, my lord," she replied. William's fingers squirmed around the sword's hilt, unconfidently.

"Very good," the minister said. He lifted one hand and slid it through the air to his left, gesturing to the chairs. "Have a seat." His two guests obeyed. Once they got themselves in their respective sitting positions, Zelm put his hands in their original placement and got the conversation going. "So, boy," he said, looking at the youngest person in the room without blinking, "you are wondering who and what we are, and what you are doing here, correct?"

William looked back, feeling less anger than he did before and more anxiety. His sword was laying across his lap. He strummed it, nervously. "Um, yeah," he said.

Zelm cleared his throat. "Indeed," he elicited. "We are the Death Sickles," he started, "people of the Forbidden Forest, masters of many arts, elitists of elimination." William's eyebrows rose at the sound of Zelm's introduction. The respected man continued. "For ages, it has been our sworn duty to train by all means necessary for the day of the return of the Twelve Gods of Chaos: beings of mercilessness and mayhem, horror and sin, unforgivable atrocities." William's eyes were just as unblinking as those of the other two people. He listened with interest while Oceanus listened with no emotions. "Such monsters can only be stopped by people with courage, people with strength, people with wisdom. People who know honor from deceit, bravery from cowardice," Zelm listed on. "Life from death." Now the boy was more confused than interested. This man was creating questions rather than answering them.

Then why do you need me? William thought to himself. Zelm's lecture went forward.

"Therefore, dear boy, the Death Sickles is not a group that will allow in any commoners from off the streets. No," Zelm explained, shaking his head. "In fact: they do not join willingly. They are chosen." William started looking quizzical. "They are people with minds that are clouded by false ambitions. Dreams and aspirations breathe lies to them. They are shrouded in darkness. We give them light. They are blind. We give them sight. They are deaf. We give them ears." The elderly minister leaned forward, coming closer to William. "You, dear boy," he said, "are one of them."

William suddenly bore an angry look. "What are you saying?! I'm not stupid! I know what I'm doing!!" he protested. Oceanus slowly turned her head to her right to glare at the kid. He didn't notice.

Zelm closed his eyes and shook his head once more. "No, you do not," he stated. He opened his eyes. "You think yourself an individual with all the correct ideas in mind, with all his priorities in order, with his head on straight." William scowled but Zelm remained calm. "Wrong," Zelm said. William furled his brow even further. The old man continued. "We know what you don't, boy. We know that there is something you seek. Something that rages deep within you that your mind has not discovered nor will admit, like lava beneath the planet's surface." The young listener gradually drifted his head away from the geezer's face, tilting his own with a gaze as though this bearded person had gone insane. "Boy," he started again, "you have a sword for a reason. The river carried you here for a reason." The young one blinked at the minister in wonder and confusion. "Fate," he said. "Fate brought you here. Fate will make you master that blade. Fate will make you defeat the Gods of Chaos." The lectured one's eyes widened at the sound of these words. "Fate," Zelm continued, "will make you a Death Sickle."

William blinked hard and became maddened. "Why?! Why do I have to become a Death Sickle?! What if I don't want to, huh? What then, huh?!"

"Not wanting to does not change the fact that you have to, boy," Zelm retorted. "Do you think anyone here is a Death Sickle because they wanted to be? Do you think Oceanus, here, wanted to be a Death Sickle?" He gestured to the woman with his right hand. "Do you think I wanted to be a Death Sickle?!" He slapped a hand against his chest, but his beard was in the way. William grimaced at the old man foully. Zelm slowly leaned further back into his seat. "Let this be your first lesson, boy," he said. "No-one in this world truly knows what he desires. In order to truly become a Death Sickle, you must first clear your mind of all wants, all frivolous needs." He tilted his head slightly forward. "Let them all go, boy," he said, "and accept your fate."

"I can't accept my fate," William argued. "I can't do it!!"

"By saying that you 'can't', do you mean that you are incapable of doing so, or that you refuse to do so?" William didn't answer. Zelm went on. "Either way," the minister exclaimed, "it is unavoidable. You will join us. You have no say in this..."

Zelm's words were heavy. William felt as though there was a wall of steel blocking his path that he had to break through, but just couldn't. So he sat in that chair with that sword on his lap, looking at his feet, scowling all the while. The other two people in the room looked at him without moving or closing their eyes, even for a second. The vicinity was overwhelmingly silent. Then the moment was broken. William clenched his eyebrows down even further, grabbed a tight hold of his sword, and leapt into a standing position atop his seat. He looked ready to cut the old one down, but no-one seemed alarmed. Oceanus looked grumpier than usual, and Zelm remained calm. "RRRAAAWWWGGHH!!" William screamed. He leapt through the air with his arms twisting to his right, having his sword behind him in a position so he'd be ready to swing downward. Zelm simply lifted his left arm and pointed its palm at the boy. BBAAAMM!! An explosion suddenly erupted right in front of William. His sword flew from his grasp as he was slammed backwards through the air. "AAUUGGH-UMPH!!" William stopped soaring as soon as he hit the door. He plopped to the ground, and started lying there, curled up in agony with his eyes shut and his throat groaning.

Oceanus had her head turned so she could see the downed boy behind her. Her facial expression was bored again. Zelm watched in a similar manner. Finally, he got out of his seat, and walked towards the one he had just fallen. He stood before William's aching body with his robed arms folded. "We will not kill you," he said, "but we will make sure your mistakes will be things you won't ever forget." William began struggling to get back onto his feet. He looked up at the man in pure hatred. Zelm looked down at him back. "And that, my boy," he voiced, "is a punishment far worse than dying." William glared back at the man, eyes ablaze in fury. He slowly looked down, letting his fists clench and his blood become lit on fire. He closed his eyes and let his loathing run its course. Zelm spoke up. "Now arise," he ordered. "Accept your fate..." Hearing those words, William finally forced himself to get off the wooden floor and back onto his feet. He looked down, not wanting to make any more eye-contact with someone he so abhorred. "Tonight at midnight," Zelm said, "the ceremony will begin. You will be there. You WILL become a Death Sickle." Once again, William remained silent. Zelm finished up his instructions. "Be prepared."

William wasn't sure if he was going to be. He felt like he was being given his last few hours of life before his execution. He wondered what exactly Zelm meant by, "The ceremony." He wondered if his desires were really false all along and if it were evenly remotely possible to just throw them all away and accept the fact that he was no longer going to get to be the person he always thought he was. With his head hung low and his spirits sinking, he rolled it over in his confused head. Why me? he thought. Why can't I just go home and not have to worry about any of this? Why do I have to go and kill twelve god things, anyway? The boy had been in cheerier moods. I don't like the look of this, he mentally spoke to himself. I don't like it... at all...

♠♣♥♦

 Tessa stared out the window. The strips of land that were far below the Kame Cruiser were in brighter colors this time as the sun was finally out. Since that discussion she had with Annabyss, she had been getting a lot of thinking done. She had thoughts that were happy, sad, and angry. Some of them revolved around the past while others revolved around her current situation and what could eventually happen. More specifically, she thought about how she had always lived under the roof of her parents. She thought about how until Annabyss had come along, she was stuck beneath the dome of some mad scientist with a bird that probably should not even exist. She thought about what the shape shifting woman had told her about the Madscikoopa. She thought about his greedy and vengeful personality traits. It even occurred to her that the man was probably trying to pass off his want to kill those evil clowns as a favor rather than a way to fulfill some of his own selfish ambitions.

That would have been the same thing as lying. Lying was most definitely something Annabyss disliked in addition to stealing. She probably disliked a lot of things, all of which were things she knew very well. Tessa also took into consideration that this woman she was with was undoubtedly someone older, wiser, and more experienced than her, and maybe also even her own two parents who had watched over her since her birth. Then again, so had Annabyss. It was possible she had watched over thousands of other people as well since she was supposedly somewhere over 300 years old.

That was something else for the girl to ponder over. She and her family had never really been that religious. Perhaps that was part of the reason why "skeptical" eventually became a word that could describe her. Whenever anything new and seemingly impossible would come along, she would find quite a lot of trouble coming to believe it. She also thought about how there were most likely people out there that were more in touch with their spiritual sides than the Ices had ever been, and, as a result, felt less as though there were some kind of void in their life worth filling up. She figured she had one of those, and maybe it was time she cast aside her disbelieving ways and move on in order to solve such a problem. She figured this silhouette-like woman could help her do it.

In addition to that, she thought this woman might as well be that person to assist her in such a time of need. She reached this conclusion judging by her shape shifting powers and whatever other abilities she may have possessed that would have allowed her to say, without being contradicted, that she was the one individual in the world that could release it from its darkness.

At first, she was not really aware that the world was suffering many problems like Annabyss said. She thought about what the woman had told her. About the Magikoopas, the ghosts, the ooze, and then some. What the older person didn't have to tell her was something she came to realize on her own during her mental discussion. She discovered that she, without a doubt, was not lying. This was made true by the fact that on occasion Tessa would hear things about war going on in between other nations, starvation occurring in some countries, and various criminals that are always giving the law something to chase down. Such things never really got to Tessa, but then again she had never really been given a reason to just sit down and think things over so thoroughly. It came to her that perhaps the world in actuality was nowhere near as blissful as it may have once been. Annabyss probably had a story up her sleeve about a time of peace just as she had one of war.

That, and she thought that she might have also become a bit too selfish herself as well as too skeptical. One other thing about her was how she never exactly knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing that seemed to give her any clue was this vague vision she'd occasionally have of herself as a lonely housewife caring for one or two children, not unlike her own mother. Her mother's mother was like that, too, as was her mother's mother's mother, and so on, if she recalled correctly. She reasoned that if everyone became lonely housewives, then everyone would die and cause their races to go extinct. That most certainly would have been something else Annabyss would not have wanted. She figured if she would have decided to go along with this woman's plans, she would not only help herself and the rest of the world, she would also bring honor to her family. Mom would be proud, dad would be proud, Will would be proud... As a matter of fact, practically all of Gana Village would be proud. Maybe they wouldn't be the only village that would be proud.

Not only that, but she would also get to see the world. She also considered how the only bit of it she had ever really seen consisted of that village she had been confined to her whole life, that dome, and whatever she got to see in between the two places. She figured along the way, she'd expand her thoughts and become a stronger person like Annabyss said. Like her, she'd probably also become wiser and more experienced. She figured she'd even be able to do some favors for lots of other people as well.

She thought about how the woman had not lied to her even once. She thought about how she seemed to have some kind of keen understanding of right and wrong even though she had rather odd methods of showing it. She thought about what she did for the Kamenstein Bros.. She remembered hearing that, like the stork, they, too, were products of genetic engineering. She remembered hearing that that was a bad thing. Her reasoning allowed her to think that maybe transforming them into something that wasn't created by a mad scientist really was doing for them a favor. She figured they'd probably be able to find paradise that way rather than some place where soulless creatures wind up. They seemed happier this way, anyway.

She also felt she had to study this Annabyss. She had to follow her around and learn more about her ways. Saying some of the things she says and doing some of the things she does, she felt would help her accomplish such a task. She felt as though even by thinking about Annabyss she was becoming more enlightened. In reality, she felt like she would be getting a lot of things done by going with Annabyss and the Kamenstein Bros. on this big mission, and multi-tasking has always been one of her favorite things to do. Besides: living by the unfair rules of her parents and the annoying tendencies of her little brother were starting to get to her, anyway. Even if they weren't, one way or another, life with them would only improve once she returned.

But weren't they worried about her? Weren't they wondering where she was, what she was doing, and whether or not she was okay? Should she turn back and check up on them? These were the things she was contemplating at that moment, sitting in a seat of the Kame Cruiser, looking out the window at a landscape lit by the morning light. Her complicated mental activity continued. That is, it did until Annabyss got up from her seat, walked out of the cockpit and into the room with Tessa in it. She glided to the front of the seat next to her. Tessa took note of her presence. She turned her head away from the window and gave her a subtle smile for about only a second. Annabyss bowed her head with her hands folded in front of her.

"Good morning, dearie," she said to the girl. "Did you sleep well?"

"No, I didn't," Tessa replied, lifting her left hand and using its little fingers to smush out any unpleasant feelings in her left eye. "I was too busy thinking."

"Thinking about whether or not you wish to go with me?" Annabyss asked.

"Yes," Tessa answered.

Annabyss shook her head. "You don't have to lose sleep over it, dear. Sleep is important," she said, caringly.

Tessa nodded with her eyes pointed below. Then she shifted them upward so she could look Annabyss in the eye. "What about you?" she asked.

"I don't sleep. Ever."

Tessa's eyes widened in shock. She was being skeptical again. "You're kidding! Don't you get tired?"

"No, dear, I do not," the woman responded.

"But..." Tessa started. "But... how can you do that? That's impossible!"

"It's not if you're an Anuboo," the shape shifter said. "And I am the Queen of the Anuboos, after all," she added, placing a hand over her chest again.

"Oh," Tessa said. She got a flash of déjà vu, remembering how her brother was able to summarize this new woman using something along those words. Tessa was wondering something else. "Um, question," she said.

"Yes, dear?"

"How are you the Queen of the Anuboos? I mean, aren't you supposed to have, like, a bunch of servants that all look a little like you, or something? What happened to them?"

Well," Annabyss said. She lowered her head. She picked it back up again. "I used to have many servants, dear, but they're all gone. They all went down during the war 300 years ago."

"Oh," the girl said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I will bring them back," Annabyss exclaimed.

Tessa bore a confused look. "Wait, you're gonna make zombies out of them??"

Annabyss shook her head. "No, no, dear, not like that at all. Anuboos can be born only once people have had their hearts reached. I shall do that for them," she clarified.

Tessa's head slowly drifted to her right, almost wanting to have another look out the window. She turned it back quickly to look at the older person again. "Wait," she said. "Where exactly are we going, anyway?"

Annabyss turned around and strode over to the opposite window to the one Tessa had. The Anuboo came between the seats on the other side of the plane and the wall in front of it. She looked through the window with her hands folded. "We are going to Uaurpe," she said.

"Uaurpe?" Tessa said.

The woman of royalty nodded. "Yes, dear, Uaurpe. It is a continent to the north," she explained. She turned her head around so she could look at the younger person. "You know of Isle Delfino and its Shine Sprites, correct?" she stated.

This seemed somewhat familiar to Tessa. "Yes," she nodded.

"Isle Delfino is maintained by those magical little things, but they are not the only ones of their kind," Annabyss went on. "While Isle Delfino has Shine Sprites, Uaurpe has Super Sparkles. They can be seen floating around on seldom occasions. They can be used for peace and harmony..."

"I see," Tessa said.

"However..." Annabyss added.

"What?" the girl asked.

"They can also be used for lying, cheating, and stealing," the other conversationalist explained. "Such actions are punishable and are currently being performed by seven different felons over there. That is unacceptable. The people there are under serious amounts of oppression. Wishing for their own demise, some of them are even beginning to commit suicide."

Tessa looked puzzled. "What's that?" she asked.

Annabyss turned her entire body around, facing away from the window. "They're so desperate to escape their problems, they kill themselves."

The youthful one's eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth in shock. "That's terrible!!"

Annabyss nodded, gloomily. "Indeed," she said. The woman waltzed closer to the girl like before. "Power can be a very dangerous thing, Tessa, but it can also be very beautiful. If I can overthrow those seven criminals and get back the Super Sparkles..."

Tessa took a wild stab. "Then you'll be able to return peace to the world?"

Annabyss nodded. "Yes, and my people will return as well."

"Well," Tessa started, "I guess I can see what we'll be doing, then."

"I suppose," Annabyss responded. She had to say something else. "Does this mean you'll be coming with us?" she inquired. Tessa was making little circular movements with her head. She didn't know how to answer that. "Still thinking?" Annabyss guessed.

"Yeah," Tessa said. Her hands suddenly found themselves clutching at her groaning stomach. "I'm hungry, though."

Annabyss nodded. "Of course, dear." She turned around and glided into the doorway of the cockpit. "Wario, Waluigi," she called out, "it's time for a break."

"Ja, Madame," they said. They saw a place to rest and started swooping down to it. Annabyss returned to the area with the seats.

"Don't worry, dear," she said to the little girl, "you'll be fed soon enough..."

Tessa nodded. The place that the Kamenstein Bros. were headed for was a set of buildings constructed in the middle of a big, floating piece of rectangular wood that was colored blue. Although, eating was probably going to be but one of the things Tessa was going to do there...

♠♣♥♦

 "Oh, that does it, you conniving son-of-a-"

"KAMEK!! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT PICKING ON BOWSER?!"

"Now, dear, he has to toughen up! GO GET 'IM, SON!"

"Don't tell him that! He still has to heal up!"

"No, he doesn't! I'm telling you, Helga, I'm-"

"Man, scwew you guys. I'm outta here!!"

For the most part, all was peaceful in a certain mansion filled with paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. Such peacefulness was being enjoyed somewhat immensely by one particular Koopa Troopa with a green shell. In a somber tone, he slept on one of the couches in a large room where masterpieces could be made. The couch was covered by a white cloth and it was in the same area where an odd discussion took place earlier, but still he snoozed away without a care in the world. Odd murmurings escaped his lips.

"You sure like Maple Syrups, huh?" he mumbled to himself. "They say you could win one really nice prize..."

"What could I win?" This new voice that the Terra Pin heard had nothing to do with his unconscious situation. With the moment ruined, he blinked his eyes a little, rolled onto his right side, and saw a green face with a big snout and beady little eyes staring back.

"Oh," uttered the shelled servant, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "How goes it, Master Bowser? You been being a good boy?"

"Yup!" Bowser responded. "But what could I win?"

The waking one shifted his way up into a seating position rather than a lying one and looked into Bowser's eyes while squinting. "Pardon?" he asked.

"You were sayin' some stuff about Maple Syrups and dat I could win somefin'," Bowser explained. "What is it?"

"Oh," said the servant. "Well," he began, holding his chin with his right hand, "the company that makes Maple Syrups has made one particular bottle of the stuff with a note in it saying you've won. If that happens, you get a really nice, fancy type of item, or something, delivered to you. Probably has magic powers. Probably worth a lot of money."

"Dat's pretty cool, I guess," Bowser said.

"Yeah," said the other conversationalist. "So, how are you feeling? Are you ready to take on those Marios?" asked the lesser turtle.

"Yeah, I guess. Papa thinks I am, but mama doesn't. It's confusing!" said the young descendant of royalty.

"Yes, parents can be like that sometimes," his sympathizer exclaimed.

"Yeah," Bowser said, bearing an unenthused facial expression. Suddenly, a voice called from beyond the door leading to the massive room.

"BOWSER!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! IT'S TIME FOR ROUND TWO!!"

Bowser turned his head around to yell back. "COMING, PAPA!!" he replied. He returned his face to that of his fellow visitor of the mansion and said, "I gotta go. See ya!"

The little troublemaker was about to run off, but he was stopped. "Wait! What's going on? What's this all about?" asked the uninformed guy.

"I'm showin' Kamek who's da boss. Bye now!" Bowser said that and wasted not another moment. He scurried off and left the other person in the room by himself. He then started hearing yelling, screaming, and other sounds that only seemed to faintly ring a bell. He shrugged it off, got back on his left side, and closed his eyes...

♠♣♥♦

 "Hm, I see," Annabyss said. "That's quite fascinating, boys."

"Ja, Madame," said the Kamenstein Bros. The four of them and little Tessa were in a restaurant in the sky. In one booth, the two of the twins were sitting side-by-side from across Annabyss and Tessa. The younger one got the window seat. While the boys were in the middle of consuming a couple of plates of the steamed garlic platter, Annabyss was eating nothing and Tessa was just having some waffles. The boys were eating in perfect synchronization while the girl was just barely nibbling away at her meal. She hardly ever looked up from her helpings. Annabyss got to say something to her.

"Tessa, dear, you've been awfully quiet. Anything on your mind?"

"Well," Tessa elicited. She let the one-syllable word drag out and hang in the air. She hovered her fork above her morsels in contemplation. "I've just been thinking," she said, "about how boring and unfair my life's been."

"Yes?" Annabyss responded.

"My parents and my brother... They can be annoying sometimes, and I know they love me deep down, but I think they'd understand if I just went away for a while to do some really good things for lots of people. Everyone would be proud of me, and I'd become a better person," she explained. Annabyss listened intently. The Kamenstein Bros. only started eating slower and exchanging glances from time to time. The girl's speaking carried on. "Plus, I'd get to do some of the things I've always wanted to do, like see the world and all that stuff."

"Yes," the older woman agreed. Tessa elaborated further.

"And I think I know what you mean when you say that sometimes you just have to do a few bad things if you want to do some good things," she clarified. "Like this one time my brother accidentally broke a vase. It was about the billionth bad thing he did in a row, and he did it anyway even though he knew mom and dad were going to kill him if he did anything like that ever again. When they found out, I took the blame, and they went easy on me. My brother thanked me."

Annabyss nodded. "See, dear? That's what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," Tessa nodded back. "And besides," she added, taking on a subtle smile and some pink beginning to fade into her cheeks, "if you've got all these magic powers and you've known me since the day I was born... that makes you kind of like my guardian angel, doesn't it?"

Annabyss laughed. "That's an interesting way to put it, darling," she said. Tessa kept smiling and blushing. "So is this it? You've made up your mind?"

Tessa nodded. "I'll go with you," she declared. "I don't think they'd mind."

The woman closed her rainbow eyes and nodded once more. She opened them up and said, "You've made the right choice, Tessa dear." Tessa smiled and blushed some more.

"And, um," the girl added, "I'm... sorry I got mad at you earlier, Miss... Annabyss... ma'am."

The older one nodded again. She said, "Apology accepted, dear." The little one remained red with pleasure and embarrassment. "Just one thing," the strange silhouette spoke, "call me Annie, will you, dearie?" She gave a wink to the girl after saying that sentence.

Tessa giggled. "Alright... Annie," she concurred. The woman lifted one black-and-white arm and used it to pat the little girl on the head a few times. Tessa seemed pleased by this as well. Wario and Waluigi saw this, looked at each other, grinned, and gave each other the thumbs-up. Then they continued eating.

"Now finish your breakfast, dear," Annabyss said. "Uaurpe won't get to itself, you know..." Tessa laughed at her remark and did as the woman said. She simultaneously got back to work on her consumption and her waiting for the big departure...

 

♠♣♥♦

 

 William and Oceanus returned to their room. William went first and commenced standing in the middle of it with his sword in his right hand and his eyes looking downward. Oceanus went second. She closed the door behind them and strut up to a location his back was facing. She took note of his soft-spoken and unmoving mannerisms. "Questions?" she asked.

William didn't respond right away. For a few seconds, he continued staring at the floor. Then he turned his head around so he could get another dead glare from the female Death Sickle. He turned it back around so he could resume performing a similar gaze to what he had before. "What Zelm said..." he started.

"MINISTER Zelm," Oceanus corrected.

William stalled again. "What Minister Zelm said," he tried once more. Oceanus said nothing. "Is it true... that no-one here is a Death Sickle because they wanted to be?"

Oceanus stared and said, "The new people always ask that question."

"Well, is it?!" the boy said, turning around and facing her, head on.

"It's true," Oceanus replied. "No-one is here because they want to be. It's because they have to be," she explained. "Such is the way of fate."

"Fate, fate," William grumbled, rolling his eyes. "What's the deal with fate, anyway?"

"Fate will only allow the best and brightest to battle the Twelve Gods of Chaos," Oceanus responded. "You're one of them. You should be flattered."

"Tch," William spat, giving the floor a kick. "Were YOU flattered?" he asked.

Oceanus maintained her unsettling gaze, complete with her eyelids not budging one bit. "Yes," she said.

William gave her an angry stare. She wasn't affected by it. He turned to the his left and started using his right arm and its hand to make swinging movements with his nice, new blade. It made a few whooshing sounds, and then he stopped. He turned to face Oceanus again. He noticed she was sulking over to her desk again. She let her bony fingers grab a hold of the chair and she set herself in it again. She picked up a quill and a parchment and got back to work on something as she did the night before. "Oceanus," he said. Her quill stopped moving. "These twelve god things... One of them isn't named Annabyss, is it?"

Oceanus did nothing for a moment, then her quill started scribbling again. "Not one," she said. "No."

William held out his arms exasperatedly with one of them still clutching the weapons at its handle. "Then who is she?!" he demanded.

"You tell me," Oceanus answered.

William put his arms down. "She gave me this sword," he exclaimed, holding up said gift and examining it like before. "She told me to use it to... vanquish evil..."

"Then why all the resisting?" Oceanus asked. She desisted the writing and turned around. Giving the boy one more dead look, she spoke another few words. "You knew all along why you had that sword. No God of Chaos would ever give such a thing to you. Now stop whining and ACCEPT your FATE." William acknowledged her statements with no verbal comment. Instead, he glared back at her, boiling with anger as usual. She stared back for a while, until she finally turned back around and returned to her work. William continued his fixed gaze on the woman before making his feet rotate himself. He started meandering over in the direction away from the Death Sickle and to the bed from before. He dropped his sword, let it clang against the wooden floor, heaved himself onto the covers, and buried his face into his folded arms, lying flat against the cushy surface. Oceanus stopped her writing once more to turn around and check up on the boy. She interpreted his position as a gesture of anger, frustration, confusion, and despair. She spun back around so she could continue her work.

Baby, she thought, coldly. Getting done with another page, she moved what she had completed aside and got started on a fresh parchment, letting the tip of her quill have a dip in its inkwell first. The new ones are always like this, she pointed out. Always...