Princess Peach And The 12 Elemental Keys

Chapter 6: Sweet Treats, Sour Tricks

Like when Peach rescued Poisius, the other Keepers of The Elements did not appear. "Erm," Willow said, stroking her green-streaked hair. "I don't think they're going to appear." "I can see that." Peach replied. "Look, you know the drill," Willow said, walking towards Peach. "Just continue finding us all until you can return home, okay?" Peach backed away, slightly. "You're a little too close, Willow." She told the kooky Keeper. "Oh, sorry." Willow replied, backing away. "I must go now, I have to tend to the other four." Willow vanished and Peach was transported to the next area.

This time, Peach ended up in a land entirely made of sweets...except, everything was hardened like crystals, and it all looked angular. When Peach looked down she could see her reflection on the ground, which might have been made of cream, or pudding, or icing. "Huh," Peach said, bending to the ground. She tapped on it. "Hard as glass, hard as crystals even." Out of nowhere, the voice came back. "Princess Peach?" Peach jumped up. "Voice, it's you!" She exclaimed. "You've noticed that Candy Country has been crystallised." The voice asked. "Crystallised, is that what happened?" Peach asked. "I'm afraid so," The voice replied. "You can blame it on the powers of Krysta, The Keeper of Minerals." Peach walked through the crystalline landscape, silently, the only noises at that moment were the clicking of her shoes against the hard, shiny surface. "Crystallisation..." Peach thought. "What a strange phenomenon..." There was a path up ahead, coloured like a candy cane. "Wonder where that will lead." Peach wondered, setting foot on the red and white pathway. Peach also wondered if it tasted like a candy cane before it was crystallised. Nonetheless, she advanced up the path to who knows where it'll take her. A few miles later, the candy cane path led to giant mountain, and by mountain, it was a giant, five-tiered birthday cake with white icing, lots of sprinkles in varying colours and shapes, and a bunch of lit candles. All of which were crystallised. "Even the flames were crystallised." Peach said to herself. "Though come to think of it, would it burn if I touched it if it weren't crystallised?" Peach's thoughts were interrupted when she spotted someone trapped inside a bright pink crystal! It was a young woman wearing a dress resembling a chocolate cupcake with white poofy sleeves and sprinkles on the skirt, candy-cane striped tights, and brown Mary Janes. The woman had fluffy blonde hair with a brown hat that resembled chocolate icing, with a candle sticking to the top. "She must have gotten caught in the crystallisation!" Peach found a gumball the size of a tennis ball, she wondered if it would break the crystal. She threw it at the crystal and...it created a crack. The gumball had broken, but the ends of the pieces were sharp. Peach had an idea. She picked up one of the pieces and repeatedly banged it against the crystal, causing it to crack some more. With one last strike, the crystal broke and the young woman inside was freed. She breathed heavily as if she had emerged from water. "Thank you, Princess!" The woman said when she finally caught her breath. "You're welcome." Peach replied. "So, what has you out here?" The Dessertrian asked Peach. "Really, I should be asking you." Peach replied. "I was just minding my own business," The woman explained. "When all of a sudden, I got trapped inside a crystal for who knows how long. And it looks like everything else got crystallised." "And that's precisely why I'm here," Peach said. "To de-crystallise Candy Country!" The woman's eyes sparkled. "Oh, thank goodness!" She said, happily. "Candlina's my name, before I forget." She added. "And mine's Princess Peach." Peach told Candlina, bowing. "Y'know, I just want to go home now." Candlina replied. "Okay, do you know your way home?" "I do, thanks again for saving me." Candlina scampered off and Peach got to work climbing the crystalline birthday cake. It was a hard, tiring process, as climbing up such material would be. Try climbing a crystal at home, see how hard it is. At the top, Peach got a good glimpse at Candy Country. There was nothing but crystallised candy and sugary treats as far as Peach could see. "Strange..." Peach thought. "The only real problem here is the crystallisation." Unlike Balmy Tropics and Floral Woodlands, where the poison and overgrowth were affecting the lives of many, the crystallisation of Candy Country didn't seem to be having any real effect on the inhabitants, not really. Peach climbed down the cake to find another candy cane path waiting for her. The path led Peach to a chocolate river, but it was...not moving. Peach bent down and placed her fingertip in the brown water- or rather, on the brown water as...correct! It was crystallised as well! "The liquid chocolate, too?" Peach asked, surprised. "Princess!!" Someone screamed, it sounded like Candlina. "Is that...?" Peach turned and saw Candlina running towards her. "Candlina, what's wrong?" She asked the distressed Dessertrian. "My house! It's been crystallised!" Candlina exclaimed. "That's awful!" Peach replied. "Not just my house, everyone's house!" Candlina added. Déjà vu. "I see, guess it's the same thing with you and your people." Peach replied. Candlina gave Peach a funny look. "What do you mean?" She asked Peach. "You see, Candlina," Peach explained. "I'm here to find and rescue The Keepers of The Elements, and I had to deal with all sorts of element-related problems." Candlina's eyes sparkled with intrigue. "Ooh!" She breathed. "Care to continue?" Peach went on to explain the whole story, from Bowser ruining Peach's picture book to the liberation of Willow. "So I'm assuming The Keeper of Minerals, Krysta, is responsible for the crystallisation, right?" Candlina asked after the story. "For all intents and purposes, yes." Peach replied. "If that's the case, then I'd like to come with you to stop the crystallisation." Candlina said, determined. "Great!" Peach said, happily. "But, we have to walk across this crystalline chocolate river in order to do that." The two women began to walk down the river, which was very long with a lot of odd bends. After a while, the river appeared to have come to a cliff, which was actually a waterfall, or rather, a chocofall...would it still be accurate to call it a cliff? "I wonder how far down this goes." Peach wondered. She jumped off the top of the fall. "Princess! Watch out!" Candlina cried out. Peach floated to the bottom of the fall with her skirt. She looked up at the chocofall, which was about ten feet tall, and standing at the top was a very unsure Candlina. "Come on, Candlina, just jump down!" Peach said, holding out her arms. "I'll catch you!" Candlina hesitated for five seconds, then closed her eyes and jumped off the top of the chocofall. She landed in Peach's arms. "Gotcha." The latter said, triumphantly. Candlina opened one eye, then the other, she saw Peach giving her a warm smile. "Thanks, Princess." Candlina smiled, jumping out of Peach's arms. A few meters away, another candy cane path sat at the river bank. Peach stepped onto the river bank, Candlina followed. Several miles later, the two were stopped by a large wall made entirely of crystals. "Hold on." Candlina told Peach. She looked down and the candle on her head burnt the crystals away. After the crystal wall was burnt away, Peach and Candlina were greeted by a wide canyon with three small stumps spread out across the width of the canyon. In between the stumps were a bunch of broken rope bridges, the ropes looked to be made of liquorice, and the decks of gingerbread. It goes without mentioning that all of that were crystallised. "Look here!" Candlina said, drawing Peach's attention to the first bridge. "This doesn't look as bad as the other ones." Peach observed that this bridge only had two missing pieces, but it didn't make her any less cautious. She and Candlina took their first steps on the bridge, but it didn't sway. They stepped over the missing bits and to the first stump. The next bridge had some more missing pieces, and the gaps between the pieces were getting wider. This time, Candlina and Peach hopped over the gaps to the next stump. The bridge up ahead was half-destroyed, the gaps were wider than the last bridge and it looked like the two would have to actually leap across the bridge to get to the last stump. Peach went first and leapt across the bridge, gracefully. Candlina followed, but she was very close to falling into the canyon below. Nonetheless, they reached the last stump...and then they looked at the final bridge. It shouldn't have even been called a bridge, it barely even looked like one, with only four or five pieces of actual bridge barely held together by the rope. Like before, Peach went first, and she used her skirt to an advantage. "That's not fair!" Candlina exclaimed as Peach landed on a bridge piece. "You can fly! I can't even jump that far!" Peach realised she should have carried Candlina with her. "Sorry, I'll jump back over to you." Peach told Candlina, preparing to float back. "No! It's fine." Candlina grumbled. She grabbed onto the ropes and started traversing toward Peach. The latter noticed the Dessertrian looked a little shaky as she went, so she thought to encourage her. "Come on, Candlina, you're not too far from me!" Peach said, trying to motivate Candlina. "Keep going." Candlina repeated in her head. "That's it, just a little bit more!" Peach said, encouragingly. Candlina reached the part of the bridge where Peach was. "See, wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked Candlina. "I suppose not." The Dessertrian replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Look, I'm sorry for leaving you behind-" Peach tried to apologise. "No, it's fine." Candlina interrupted. The other end of the canyon was, thankfully, in jumping distance. Peach grabbed Candlina's hand and they jumped to the other side. "Wasn't that an adventure." Peach remarked. "Tell me about it." Candlina replied, dusting herself off. There was yet another candy cane path ahead of Peach and Candlina. This one seemed longer than the ones before, and Candlina eye's flashed like a candle flame. "What is it?" Peach asked. "Just follow me!" Candlina replied, energetically. Peach followed the Dessertrian down the long, winding path to a small town made of crystallised gingerbread structures, houses and all. "This used to be my childhood home!" Candlina told Peach. "And it's abandoned...?" Peach asked, seeing no activity in the town. Candlina looked upon her old hometown. "That's odd," She said. "This isn't like Gingerberg at all." The two ventured into the town, it was like absolutely no one lived there. They went deeper into Gingerburg to find a small, red, crystalline building with white accents. "The Red Velvet Theatre!" Candlina exclaimed. "Red Velvet Theatre?" Peach asked. "As in, the cake-" "The cake! Exactly!" Candlina replied. She brought Peach inside the theatre, but on the way in Peach saw a poster with another figure that looked oddly recognisable. The inside of the theatre was just as red as the outside, with crystallised red seats. The stage looked to be made of gingerbread, and it had steps going up to it on both ends. The theatre was packed with all the residents of Gingerberg, who were eagerly waiting for the show to start. There were two empty seats in the middle of the room, Candlina and Peach made their way to the seats and sat down. Five minutes later, Lemmy Koopa appeared onstage, balancing on a giant crystal ball. Everyone around Peach and Candlina applauded his arrival. "Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is I, the Lovable Lemmy!" Lemmy declared, causing the audience to cheer. Peach looked closer at Lemmy, one of his spiky bracelets had a pink orb on it. "Krysta..." She whispered. "For my first act, I will need some volunteers." Lemmy told the audience. He scanned the theatre for volunteers, predictably spotting Peach and Candlina. "You two!" He commanded. "Come to the stage!" Peach and Candlina made their way to the stage. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, comes my first act!" Lemmy told the audience. "Survival of The Fittest!" Candlina's eyes flew open. "Survival of the what?!" She asked, bewildered. Lemmy took out his wand, waved it around, and aimed it at Peach. She dodged the magic blast, and a crystal grew in the spot she was in. She and Candlina ran around Lemmy as he fired magic crystals at them, while Candlina managed to stop most of the blasts by using her candle to dissipate them. "I have to knock Lemmy off his ball to get that orb." Peach thought. "Now for my next act! The Crushing Game!" Lemmy declared. He started rolling around on his ball in an attempt to flatten either Peach, Candlina, or both. While doing that, he continued to fire blasts at both women. Peach, out of nowhere, kicked Lemmy's ball sending him falling onto the stage, unconscious. "Candlina! Hold him down!" Peach told Candlina. The Dessertrian kept Lemmy pinned to the stage while Peach bent to him. There the orb sat, on Lemmy's bracelet. Peach carefully placed her fingers on the orb and ripped it off. "Now for the final act." Peach said, getting up and holding the pink orb in the air. "O Krysta, Keeper of Minerals, awaken and undo this turmoil!" She chanted. After she chanted, everything around her decrystallised. The audience cheered and applauded, Peach and Candlina bowed. 

After the audience left the theatre, Peach and Candlina got down from the stage, which was then that Peach noticed that the pink orb turned into a key. "Thanks for the help, Princess." Candlina told Peach. "You're welcome, Candlina." She replied. Peach looked around. "Do you mind if I take just a tiny bite of the stage?" She asked, quietly. Candlina shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, no one's here, and the stage is made of gingerbread, so...yeah." Peach took off a small chunk of the stage and happily crunched on it. "Mmm." She said, wiping her mouth. "Delicious." "Princess Peach," The voice said. "Remember to lift the key and chant 'Crystal Tourmaline Key, guide me to The Temple of The Keepers'." Peach chanted and vanished in a pink light. Upon arriving at the temple, the sixth key joined the first five, completing the first row of keyholes. Behind Peach, a pink outline formed above the circle next to where Willow appeared. The outline took the form of a young woman with waist-length, hot pink hair that flipped out at the end, hot pink eyeshadow, hot pink acrylic nails, a pink, floor-length, sleeveless dress with a hot pink trim at the bottom. Krysta had been revived. She raced up to Princess Peach, grabbing her wrists while staying mere inches away from her face. "Tell me, are my hair and nails still fine?" Krysta asked Peach. "Yeah, they're still fine." She replied, slightly weirded out.