Princess Peach And The 12 Elemental Keys

Chapter 7: The Flooding Caverns

Krysta looked at the door, the second row of keyholes had yet to be filled. She looked back at Peach. "You're halfway done," she told the princess. "But don't just, like, stand there, you have to find the other six Keepers." "Okay, Krysta, I'll keep looking." Peach replied, before she got teleported out of the temple. But this time, instead of being teleported on land, Peach was sent underwater! She held her breath and shut her eyes, tightly. "I have to make it to the surface, somehow!" It was too dark to see what was at the bottom of the water, so Peach swam upwards. It felt like the swim was longer than it really was, but Peach reached the surface of the water, and climbed up onto a small, rocky island. Standing up, Peach realised she was in a cave, a rather dark one. "Princess Peach, are you okay?" The voice asked, concerned. "Oh," Peach replied. "Yes, it was just a shock being teleported underwater." "In any case, welcome to Echo Caverns." The voice continued. "Normally, it isn't supposed to be this flooded, but after Aqua, The Keeper of Water was taken, the water levels inside the cave rose dramatically."

Since the water levels were so high, Peach realised that swimming was an essential. She jumped back into the water and started swimming further into the cave. Peach didn't have a real destination in mind, she just knew she had to find Aqua. Because of how dark the cave was, navigation would prove to be a challenge. Not only was it dark, but Peach had to be careful, there were stalagmites poking out of the water, and stalactites hanging dangerously close to the surface. Swimming around such hazards was an unforgiving job, and Peach felt extremely tired. "I'd much prefer having a banging headache than be forced to swim so much." She panted. At that point, Peach would have loved to find a dry piece of land to rest on. "Hold on," Peach thought. "What if I try floating on the water..." She quickly shot that idea down, preferring to stick to her original idea. Thus, Peach continued to swim, feeling weaker by the minute. Then, Peach came to what looked like a dead end. "Hold on..." She said, suspiciously. Peach dipped her head into the water, hoping to find a way out. Despite how dark it was under the water, Peach could see a hole in the cave wall. It was rather far away from her, however. Peach took a deep breath, and dove into the water and started swimming like a mermaid towards the hole. The hole was actually a dark, tight tunnel, which was wide enough for Peach to swim through. Not only that, but the tunnel was like a rollercoaster, going up, then down, and from side to side. Peach was only halfway through the tunnel, when she started to feel lightheaded. "I have to find somewhere to get more oxygen" Peach thought. "I could die here otherwise!" Peach swam upwards through the tunnel, quickly, and she kept on swimming, and suddenly, she found herself an air pocket. Peach was so relieved she accidentally banged her head against the ceiling of the tunnel, forgetting that it was too tight to move her body around too much. "Ow..." She groaned. Peach stayed in the air pocket for a while, but before she went back into the water, she took another deep breath. After going in, Peach swam a little faster than she did previously, since she wasn't entirely sure if there were other air pockets in the tunnel. Thankfully, since she was swimming at the speed she was, she didn't have to stay so long in the tunnel. After a long, tiring, swim, Peach made it out of the tunnel and resurfaced in a chamber with loads of solid pieces of land to stand on. Peach dragged herself onto the nearest piece of land and laid down on her back, panting from exhaustion. "I never thought I'd get out of there." Peach said through her pants. She passed out again. "...ello? Hello?" A distant voice asked Peach. She opened her eyes, slowly. Around Peach were seven, concerned miners, all carrying pickaxes. The miners all wore the same outfit, just different coloured shirts. Peach pulled herself up. "Who are you?" She asked the miners. "A bunch of piddly old miners." The lead miner (or at least the one Peach thought was the leader) replied. "And let me guess, the flood confined you to this chamber, correct?" Peach asked the seven. They all nodded in agreement. "Can't do much work in 'ere." One of them added. Peach stood up. "There has to be a way out of here." She said to herself. She noticed the empty, four mine carts. "Now, I know none of you will like this," Peach told the miners, walking over to the mine carts. "But we can't stay in this chamber forever." Peach started to disassemble the carts as best she could. "What are you doing?" One miner asked her. "Building a raft, it'll help us get across the water." The miners looked at each other, hesitantly. "Look, we might get in trouble with the company," The lead miner told the other six. "But the princess is right, we can't stay here forever." The miners helped Peach disassemble the carts, using the wooden parts to turn them into a raft. Still, they needed something to keep the raft together. "Does anyone have rope?" Peach asked the miners. "I have some." Another miner said, pulling out two, long pieces of rope from his pockets. The miners are Peach tied the raft together, completing it. Peach was quick to notice that the raft was too small to hold herself and all seven miners. "Stop!" She told the seven before they jumped onto the raft. "This raft is only able to carry two of us." Peach stepped onto the raft. "Now, who wants to join me?" She asked the miners. The miners looked at each other. "I'll go." The lead miner said, stepping toward the raft. "What about us, Miner Primer?" One of the other miners asked him. "You're going to have to stay here, but I promise I'll be back." Miner Primer stepped onto the raft. Peach checked to see if she had her parasol on her, which was thankfully with her. Peach started guiding the raft through the cave, using her parasol as an oar. Miner Primer looked behind him, watching his six colleagues get smaller in the distance. The two companions were silent, with the only noise in the cave at that point being water droplets falling into the water. "I'd be careful around here if I were you." Miner Primer said to Peach, breaking the silence. "Why?" Peach asked him. "There are large, sharp stalagmites around here." Peach wasn't concerned, she had dealt with these earlier. But as she sailed the raft forward, Peach's confidence waned. The stalagmites were the size of small houses, and they were very close together. "Okay, let's not panic." Peach told herself. "Just sail around them as best as you can." Peach sailed towards the tunnel, only for the raft to be stopped by the stalagmites. "Hold on." Miner Primer piped up. He pulled out his pickaxe and started hacking away at the stalagmites. "Now we can progress." He confidently told Peach, dusting off his pickaxe. Peach continued to sail through the tunnel as Miner Primer hacked away the stalagmites. Halfway through, they were met with low stalactites, that were also close together, much more so than the stalagmites. Thankfully, Miner Primer hacked away at them. At the end of the tunnel, the two faced a wall of stalagmites and stalactites that was blocked them from going through. Peach lifted her parasol. "C'mon, let's break this down." She said to Miner Primer. The two hacked and smashed the wall until it was wide enough to allow them to go through. Up ahead was another piece of land, which was much larger than the ones Miner Primer and his six coworkers were on. He and Peach got off the raft and started to explore the piece of land. As the two walked through the dark, they could hear laughter. "Is there someone else in here?" Peach asked, glancing around the place. Up ahead in the darkest corner of the chamber, a pair of small eyes flashed. Peach backed away, slightly, a suspicious look on her face. The eyes moved towards her. Appearing from the dark was Ludwig, sporting a belt with a blue orb on the buckle. "Ludwig...!" Peach breathed. "Princess Peach, I thought you'd never arrive." Ludwig replied, smugly. "Who is this person?" Miner Primer asked Peach. "The one who undoubtedly caused the flood." She replied, not taking her eyes off Ludwig. "True, and it appears I have some unfinished business to take care of." Ludwig said, not taking the smug smile off his face. He pulled out his wand, and instead of firing something at Peach, he turned his wand into a large, blue straw. "And I'm really thirsty, too." He remarked, patting his belly. He placed the straw into the water and started drinking it. Ludwig drank and drank and drank, his body was beginning to fatten and round out. Peach and Miner Primer looked at the sight with looks that said 'what the actual eff is going on?'. Ludwig took the straw out of his mouth when he had finished drinking, and it turned back into a wand. Ludwig's body was now a giant water balloon, as if it needs to be mentioned. "Blimey! How was he able to drink that much water!?" Miner Primer asked, surprised. "Aqua's powers." Peach said in her head. Suddenly, Ludwig poked his sloshing, water-filled belly with his wand multiple times, causing his cheeks to inflate. "What's happening now?" Miner Primer asked, still bewildered, Peach pulled out her parasol. Right as she did, Ludwig blasted all the water he drank from his mouth towards Peach and Miner Primer. Peach quickly opened her parasol, using it as a shield against Ludwig's water blast. Ludwig's body had returned to normal, and he wiped his mouth. "It's time for Movement 2." He remarked. He turned his wand back into a straw, put it back in the water, and drank it until his body was round again. But Peach and Miner Primer knew what was coming, and they charged straight at Ludwig. Miner Primer launched his pickaxe at Ludwig's wand, denting it, slightly. "My wand!" He tried to pick up his wand, but his body was too big and he couldn't reach. Unbeknownst to him, Peach tipped his rounded body with her parasol. He fell on his back and Peach jumped onto his belly. As she did, the water inside Ludwig's body sprayed out of his mouth. Ludwig grabbed his wand, pulled himself up, and glared at Peach and Miner Primer. "Just give up, Ludwig." Peach told him, crossing her arms. "Give up? I've only just reached the big finale!" He replied. He turned his wand into a straw once more and started drinking. But this time, Ludwig didn't stop drinking, and his body didn't stop growing. Eventually, after a few minutes, Ludwig took the straw out of his mouth, and let out a loud burp as his straw turned back into a wand. Peach and Primer Miner stood there, mouths wide open, staring up at Ludwig, who was now so tall his face was concealed in the darkness of the cave. "Now, how do you like that?" He asked Peach and Miner Primer, boastfully. Peach stared at Ludwig's gigantic belly and charged straight into him. She had him pinned to a wall, causing him to eject the gallons of water he had drunk from his mouth. Peach also took this opportunity to rip the blue orb off his belt. Once Ludwig was back to normal size and weight, Peach lifted the orb in the air and chanted. "O Aqua, Keeper of Water! Awaken and undo this turmoil!" At that moment, the water inside the chamber drained from it as if it were a bathtub, and Ludwig felt lightheaded.

"Take that, Ludwig!" Peach said, confidently. "Now to get back to my coworkers, if I even can get to them." Miner Primer chimed in. Peach saw the blue key in her hand. "Lift the key and chant 'Aquatic Sapphire Key, guide me to The Temple of The Keepers!" Peach chanted this phrase and vanished in a flash of blue light. The seventh key inserted itself into the first keyhole of the second door, and behind Peach, a blue outline appeared above the circle next to Krysta's. The outline took the form of Aqua, The Keeper of Water. Aqua's hair was wavy and blue and textured like flowing water, she wore a pale blue two-piece dress with a strapless top and a flowing skirt. "Thank you, Princess Peach." Aqua told Peach, smiling gently.