A diamond hidden within the gray line

Chapter 67: family ties and junior's turmoil.

-Narration/30 minutes later.-

Kamek has healed his arm a few minutes after max's speech and of course, the soreness had begun its temporary stay just like it did after he left the hospital. However, this time, it didn't bother max quite as much. Bowser on the other hand, found this to be the perfect time to speak to max with only kamek, mike and tyson present while the koopalings went about their own business even though the events that played earlier were still fresh within their minds. The fear. The anxiety of whether or not it will happen right at this very moment sat there in the back of their minds even though it will not ever come...for now that is.

-Max pov-

The tension in everyone's aura is still evident...it's in my own aura too, though at least my arm
Is healed...and the bruises on my neck were also healed which came as a surprise to me even though the soreness became something i expected, yet it didn't bother me quite as much. I always thought that healing of any kind took weeks, moths, or even years depending how bad the injury is...i guess when magic is involved, it's no longer a concern. With mike, it seems to me that all he has is a concussion and raw emotions that are understandable. I took a major risk going into that dark fury form of mine and i still can't believe that i casted some sort of sphere and actually caused zöhm to retreat. The raw anger...the rage. I could barely control myself. What shocked me the most is the fact that i was almost as tall as dad.

Yeah..that made me rather uncomfortable. Me being almost as tall as the koopa king or uh..dad, wasn't something i expected. But before i could dive deeper into that thought, a goomba with a custom made helmet walks up to me. "The king wants to talk with you." He says to me. Jesus, for one that's probably two and half feet tall, he has a deep voice!  "Alright. Where is he?" I ask him. "At his throne room at the end of the hall on the bottom floor." He answers. "Then that's where i'll go." I say to him before i walk downstairs. Before i encounter the deep voiced goomba, i had just exited from clawdia's favorite room. Sure, the room itself is as if time stood still but..something about this room felt...what's the word...serene? Yeah..that's the word.

-Marx pov-

Max has been rather quiet...so has mike. These two, and clearly me, stick out like a sore thumb. It's pretty obvious that max has caused quite the change in this castle, but i cannot find what i'm looking for here! The outside is too...firey. Dark. Too depressing for me. Though i do wonder what good 'ol goliath has to say to max!

-Mike pov-

It's been a half an hour and i have had a lot of time to think...why did my parents had to die? Why leave me alive? Could it be possible that i was given some sort of perverse mercy that forces me to live with the fact that i had no one else? That might've been true then, but definitely not now. I know that bowser wanted me, kamek and tyson to join him at his throne room. Judging by his aura, I think he's ready to talk with max. But..why bring me and tyson as well?

-Tyson pov-

Hm..when it comes to zöhm, i am now wondering. Wondering about a theory that i will let the rest know in due time. Max's description should not have been possible. Eldritch beings have forms that are incomprehensible to the mortal mind and yet he was able to describe it even though max couldn't really describe what sort of dragon zöhm is mixed with. What exactly are the von ghouls? They cannot possibly be mortal considering that their minds are unique.

-Narration-

It didn't take max long to find the door leading to bowser's throne room and rather than physically opening the door, he uses his von ghoul magic to make the door slowly open due to him struggling a little bit but is able to successfully pull it off. "I really do have the force." Max says jokingly while the magical aura surrounding his hand slowly dissipated before he walks in the throne room. "Uh..what was that about?" Mike wondered upon seeing max enter. "Oh, i decided to use magic to open the door. How's your head by the way? And..what brings you here?" Max asked him. "Ah, so you're learning by doing?" Kamek commented, though he wasn't exactly thrilled to know what max just didbut was glad to see that max is at least able to learn on his own. "Yeah, i uh..i might as well do that." Max answered.