Princess Peach And The 12 Elemental Keys

Chapter 8: Scaling The Windy Mountains

Again, none of the other six Keepers had shown up, and Aqua looked concerned. "Where is everyone?..." She asked, stepping forward. "No clue." Peach chimed in. Aqua turned around. "Please, Princess Peach," She told Peach. "Do not stay any longer, please return to your quest." Peach vanished again, and was teleported to a place in the mountains, which was quite breezy. Peach didn't think much of it, it would normally be windy this high up in altitude. "Princess Peach," The voice said. "What's the situation now?" Peach asked the voice. "I'm not sure you're aware of this," The voice replied. "But Highrise Mountains is experiencing a nasty meteorological event." Peach thought it might have something to do with the wind, so to turn the screw a little tighter, she asked. "Is it the wind?" "Affirmative," The voice replied. "Ventus, The Keeper of Wind, is being held here, and as such wind speeds are unnaturally high and there seem to be cyclonic formations around here." Cyclonic formations, Peach should definitely keep that in mind.

Peach decided to climb the mountain ahead of her. But as she made her way up, the wind started to pick up, becoming harder to ignore. Peach was barely halfway up, and the wind was outrageously fast, her feet were dangling in the wind and her hair flying like a flag. "I must keep going!" Peach grunted, holding onto her crown. She continued climbing in spite of how fast the wind was blowing. When she least expected it, Peach's hand reached the top of the mountain, and she dragged herself up and stood up. Peach was surrounded by swirling white clouds, accompanied by a fast wind. "So that's up, now down." Peach thought. She hoped she would be able to slip through the swirling clouds without being caught in the wind. As soon as Peach entered the clouds she was immediately swept off her feet and she started circling the top of the mountain like she was a planet. The wind was dragging Peach in a clockwise motion, and even if she tried to, Peach could not resist the speed of the wind. "Hold on!" Peach thought, aloud. "What if I go up?" The wind started pushing Peach upwards, thankfully, but once Peach reached the top, the wind catapulted her into the mountains. Peach grabbed her dress, and tried to use it to land safely, but the wind had other plans. Instead of gracefully floating, Peach tumbled in the air, and when she closed her skirt, she was sent falling toward another mountain. Peach made an X-shape with her arms and shielded her face with them, curled her legs up against her chest, and prepared for the inevitable impact. After ten seconds of falling, Peach landed and skidded on a mountaintop. Peach's arm was really sore, like it had been torn open. As was her side, lying on it made it more painful. She rolled over, looking up at the sky, adding to her breathlessness. She could hear footsteps around her, they were quick and panicked. A group of people encircled Peach's weak body. "Is she okay?" One of them asked. "Her eyes are open, that's a good sign." Another one said. "Check her pulse!" Said another. One of them bent down on Peach and put two fingers on her wrist. When the woman touched Peach's wrist, it felt like her arm was on fire. "Let go!" Peach screamed in pain. The crowd backed away. "We must take her to the hospital!" Someone in the crowd declared. In minutes, Peach was hoisted up on a stretcher and was taken off to a small hospital that looked more like a cabin. Everything after that was a blur. Peach then woke up, her arm felt a thousand times better than it did after she landed on the mountain. Peach looked at her arm, her glove was gone, and some ointment was applied to her reddened arm. "You're awake." A doctor said, entering the room. "What is this place?" Peach asked the doctor. "In a hospital." The doctor replied, waggling his eyebrows. Peach didn't laugh. "No, but in all seriousness," The doctor began. "You're in Highrise Resort, the largest community in Highrise Mountains. You're actually our first visitor in a while, even if you arrived in the most unconventional way." Peach was interested, and pressed the doctor for more details. "Ever since the tempest began, there have been fewer people coming to Highrise Resort." The doctor continued. "Most of our economic activity has been stopped to a halt, and our main attractions have been closed, all thanks to the wind." Peach suddenly stood up. "Please, get back onto the bed, your wound hasn't healed yet." The doctor said, a mild urgency in his voice. "And when will this heal?" Peach asked him, gesturing to her arm. "It'll take a few hours, I'm afraid." The doctor replied. Peach sat on that hospital bed and looked out the window. The wind was still strong, and Peach could see a few people struggling to even walk. Peach was getting progressively more disgusted with Bowser, and the fact that he and his family could do such things to a community and to a picture book was just messed up. Peach stayed in the hospital for a few more hours as her arm healed. Around this time, another patient was brought to Peach's room. This patient was caught in the wind and had broken her leg, her husband was with her. The doctor came to Peach's bed. "Alright, Princess Peach," He told Peach. "You are now free to go." Before Peach left the room, the doctor gave Peach a bottle of the ointment that was applied to her arm. Peach walked out of the hospital, braving the wind as she did so. "Now, how to get out of here, that's what I need to know." She thought. Peach pressed against the wind to a gate at the end of Highrise Resort. "Halt!" An army officer commanded. "Can you let me pass, please?" Peach asked. "Not happening," The officer replied. "You are not allowed past this gate until the wind dies down." "Then you'll be waiting forever." Peach told the officer. "Hey!" He said, raising his voice. "Don't get smart with me!" "Look," Peach explained. "I'm here to find Ventus - The Keeper of Wind - he's the reason for this windstorm." The officer's face changed, a look of confusion and shock. "If that's the case," he said. "Then I'll allow you to pass." The officer opened the gate, allowing Peach to continue. Right as Peach went through the gate to the rest of Highrise Mountains, the officer spoke up. "And!" Peach stopped and looked at him. "I'll come along and protect you." Peach decided to let him come along to find Ventus. "Sure, I'd appreciate some company." After getting a replacement, the officer joined Peach to find Ventus. Peach learned that the army officer was named Private Tank. Right after she and Tank left town, Tank got in front of Peach. "Uh, I'm the one leading the operation?" She told Private Tank, an eyebrow raised. "My job is to protect people," Tank replied. "You're no exception." While this behaviour would be annoying and quite condescending, since Peach was dealing with an army member, she shrugged it off. The wind was getting stronger as Peach and Tank continued through Highrise Mountains. Up ahead were the four tallest mountains, all of which had cyclonic formations encircling the peaks. "I'll go first." Private Tank said, climbing up the first mountain. "Be careful, though," Peach warned. "I've climbed up one of these mountains, the wind gets worse the higher you get." She followed Tank as they climbed up the mountain, and just as Peach predicted, the wind was intensifying. They eventually made it to the top, and were surrounded by the cyclonic formation. "What's the plan, Princess?" Tank asked Peach. "Watch this." She replied, jumping off the ground. She was swept up by the wind and went tumbling inside the cyclone. "Princess!" Tank exclaimed, running into the cyclone. He, too, was now flying. The wind ejected Tank and Peach all the way to the bottom of the second mountain, which was taller than the first. Peach and Private Tank landed at the foot of the mountain. "Hard fall." Peach remarked, getting up on her feet. Tank used his gun to get himself up. "Hike!" He said to Peach as though she were a soldier. "Okay, easy." She said, preparing to climb up the mountain. As Peach climbed up the mountain, Private Tank followed her. The wind was becoming stronger the higher the two climbed. Peach and Private Tank held onto the mountain as they climbed. They reached the summit and jumped into the cyclone. It tossed them to third mountain, taller than the two before it. At this point, the wind was at its worst, it kept Peach and Tank from putting their feet on the mountain. The climb up was like rock-climbing in a slowed-down pocket of reality. By sheer luck, the two had reached the top of the mountain, and used the cyclone to propel themselves to the tallest mountain in all of Highrise Mountains. "This is it." Peach thought, getting up from the ground. As expected, this was the longest time Peach had to climb. However, it wasn't as windy as the previous mountains, it felt more like a simple breeze than anything. "Weird, I thought it would be impossible to climb up." Peach remarked to Private Tank. "Keep moving." He replied, blunt as usual. The wind didn't get any faster, but the climb was far from over. A group of thick, white clouds slowly circled the summit. Peach and Private Tank walked through the clouds. Strange, it was so serene watching the clouds slowly orbiting the top of the mountain. Sitting a few inches away was a ring of boulders, and when the two entered the ring, the clouds faded away. Private Tank jumped in front of Peach again. "Look, you don't have to keep jumping in front of me." Peach told the army officer, crossing her arms. "Be warned, Princess, I know what happens when clouds suddenly disappear." He replied. "And what could that be?" Peach asked - or rather, she would have asked if not for being interrupted by a loud, high laughter. "Something bad is about to happen." Tank exclaimed, loading his gun. Falling from the sky was a small girl with blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She landed in the middle of the ring. When she stood up straight, Peach instantly recognised her. It was Piccolo, and on her ankle she wore a teal anklet with a mint green orb attached to it. "Salutations." She said, cheerfully. "Let me guess, Piccolo, the wind is your doing?" Peach asked. "Why, yes!" Piccolo replied, standing on her tippy-toes. Peach picked up on this. "And what's with you standing on your toes?" She asked Piccolo, suspiciously. In response, Piccolo pulled out her wand, waving around as though it were a baton. "Because it's time for my ballet recital!" Piccolo replied, happily. She started waving her wand around, and when that happened, clouds started forming and began spinning clockwise around the mountain. Piccolo also started twirling in the opposite direction of the clouds, kicking her legs up and down while twirling her wand around, and while she was dancing, an intense-sounding music score started playing. Wind started blowing in the opposite direction of Piccolo. Peach wasn't sure how to catch Piccolo, she knew she had to find some way to get the orb off of her ankle. Piccolo started jumping to the music, and each time she jumped, the wind started getting faster. When Piccolo stopped jumping, she started spinning faster. The wind was now fast enough to drag Peach and Private Tank around the ring. It was also impossible to run against the wind so catching Piccolo was a challenge. Piccolo started jumping again, and the wind got progressively stronger, now Peach was flying. As for Tank, he knelt, one knee on the ground, he, too, was being dragged by the wind. "Tank, what are you doing?!" Peach asked over the wind and music. "This is army procedure." He replied. Piccolo was spinning out of control, and the clouds were, too. Piccolo jumped to the music once again, and Peach was now completely unable to reach the ground. Ahead of her, Peach could see a giant boulder. When she reached it, Peach hugged the boulder as the fast wind whipped around her. Tank was swept off his feet by Piccolo's wind gusts. "Little girl!" He commanded. "Cease this nonsense this instant!" Piccolo didn't cease this nonsense that instant. Tank began to shoot at Piccolo, only for the bullets to miss her. By the time the music (and wind) was reaching its climax, Piccolo was now a blur. Peach realised that if she didn't do something she could be hugging this boulder forever. She took the crown off of her head. Peach then had an idea. "Hope this works." She thought. She tossed her crown into the wind, which landed in Piccolo's path. She accidentally slipped on the crown and was sent tumbling into the wind. Peach couldn't grab her the first time she circled the cyclone, but the second time Piccolo went around, Peach grabbed her by her ankle. "Let go, Pinky!" Piccolo screamed. Peach removed the mint green orb from Piccolo's ankle and raised her closed hand into the air, the music tensing up. "O Ventus, Keeper of Wind, awaken and undo this turmoil!" Peach chanted. And as she did, the wind died down, the clouds slowed down and fizzled out of existence, and the music ended with a tutti cord.

Peach dropped Piccolo on the ground, and climbed off the boulder. "I'll detain this little brat." Private Tank told Peach, grabbing Piccolo's ankle. "Please do." Peach replied. She opened her hand and saw a mint green key. "Are you okay, Princess Peach?" The voice asked her. "I am, thank you, voice." Peach replied. "That sure was some battle," the voice commented. "Anyway, lift the key and chant 'Hurricane Peridot Key! Guide me to The Temple of The Keepers!'." When Peach chanted, she got transported to the Temple of The Keepers in a flash of mint green light. The eighth key joined the one under it. Right next to the circle where Aqua was revived, a light teal outline formed. It took the form of The Keeper of Wind, Ventus. He was a young man with pale skin, and long, windswept, pale teal hair. He wore an oversized, greyish-teal jacket, a light teal top, dark teal shaggy pants, and dark mint green shoes. His light teal eyes had a very cool, yet intense look to them.