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Scorching Sandpaper Desert. Or, if you are Huey, Scorching Sandpaper Minor. Huey, Kersti and Olivia, nicknamed “The Primary Colors”, and Mario, of course, began their search for the next streamer, which happened to be yellow. After saying goodbye to their new friend Bobby, who had given them quite the scare after he had used up one of his explosions to save their dear Olivia, they were looking forward to basking in some desert….. sun.
The crew stared in awe at the gaping hole in the sky. It was definitely daytime, as they had just saved Olivia from the rock only 15 minutes ago, and Huey was always checking the time. The paint can began to pace back and forth in front of Mario, trying to think of any logical reason why the sun could be missing. How do you even take the sun away? Olivia decided it had to do with the streamer, and that we should probably go look for that now, right guys? Kersti rolled her eyes and floated along, Huey following.
The sticker fairy leaned over to Huey’s left. “She’s so annoying. Always acting like she knows everything.” She floated forward and turned around to face Huey, making hand motions as she spoke. “My name is Olivia! I’m chasing after my brother who obviously doesn’t love me. I sure do hope he doesn’t drop a rock on me! Whoops! Time to make everyone save me instead of Princess Peach! I can’t do anything myself! Y-” Huey pulled Kersti back to his side and gave her a dirty look. “You do know she’s in earshot, right? Have some respect, Kersti.” He looked back up to the sunless sky, refusing to engage in any more of Kersti’s negative talk of their friend any longer. Kersti crossed her arms and floated along in silence.
“Look! Look! Over there!” Olivia pointed frantically at a platform with the streamer sticking out to the side, while everyone quickly followed her over. She began to happily dance around the streamer “YES! We get a freebie! Finally, I’ve been so stressed out, and now we can just break this bad boy! Take that, Olly!” She continued to dance all around the streamer while everyone stared at her. Yes, the streamer was there, but-
“You idiot! There’s no spool attached! This is a FAKE streamer, set up by your MUCH SMARTER brother. Look with your FUCKING EYES for once.” Kersti spat at the origami girl. Huey pulled her back behind him before she could say anything else harmful and began to assess the streamer. Olivia stopped dancing and froze. No one had ever spoken to her like that, not even her own brother. She floated down and sat on the ground, shutting down. Huey decided to leave her alone for the time being, reluctantly moving on to talk about the “streamer”.
“Olivia, I think you are partially correct. This is definitely a streamer, you can tell because of the texture and shimmer,” Huey circled around it, looking for some sort of clue. “I got it! See here?” He pointed to a spot in the ground where the streamer seemed to burrow into. “This could mean the streamer is underground. So, we should hunt for a way to dig this up.” Huey squinted closer. “...It looks like there is some kind of gibberish text on this thing. Must be some kind of ancient text.” Mario gave Huey a thumbs up, then picked up Olivia and put her on his shoulder. Kersti rolled her eyes, then got a deserving slap from Huey. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you even think before saying anything? I don’t care how angry you are,” Huey leaned in closer. “you don’t ever bring up someone’s family.” Kersti rubbed her shoulder where the paint can hit her and turned away with crossed arms as Huey sighed.
It was at this moment that Mario pointed at somewhere in the distance; a city illuminated by multicolored spotlights. He signed that maybe they could find help there, and then whistled for his newly rented boot car. With Mario being the only one with a license, the paper partners hitched a ride and off they drove to the flamboyant city hidden away in the desert
The drive felt like forever, although it was only 5 minutes. Olivia sneaked a look at the sticker. She didn’t understand why Kersti was so cold towards her, even after welcoming her with open arms to the crew. After all, Olivia had pulled her out from inside the wall in Overlook Tower. She remembered Mario telling her that he had worked with Kersti before. Had she always been so blunt? Olivia was full on staring at the crown now. She wondered how she managed to look so pretty so effortlessly. Even in her cut up dress she always complained about, there was something so admirable about Kersti…
“What the hell are you lookin’ at, origami freak?”
Olivia frantically looked away. She wondered if they could ever be friends.
Finally, they had arrived. Upbeat music played from every angle of the bright city. Olivia peeked out of the boot car as Mario parked it in the designated parking spot. The toad complimented his parking skills, rewarding him with a coin. "Nice parking!" The toad smiled as Mario jumped out of the car, his partners quickly following. Huey squinted at how bright the lights were, and Kersti’s shiny and reflective skirt was not helping. He groaned and decided to just deal with it as they all went exploring, looking for some sort of tool to dig the streamer. Olivia, still shaken up from the Kersti incident, tried to have some fun. She tried to discreetly dance along with the music, kicking her little legs up and down. Mario began to save crumpled toads along the way, and Huey decided to pull Olivia off to the side.
“Hey. Are you okay? I know things got a little tense back there, so I just wanna check up on you.” He placed one of his handles on her shoulder. Olivia smiled up at him. She felt like she could trust Huey with anything and everything. She began to kick her legs again. “I’m doing better I guess… I just wish I knew why she hates me so much. I’ve done nothing to make her hate me, right? Have I?” Olivia trembled. “I just wanna be her friend.” Huey nodded. “I understand, Liv. I’m sure she’ll warm up to you. You’re like a floating ball of sunshine!” Huey stretched out his handles. “Do you want a hug?”
Olivia nodded and embraced him, trying not to cry all over his perfectly sketched lines. She let go after a few seconds, and the paint can nodded. They returned to Mario talking to the same toad. Kersti stared down Huey, not even giving the origami a glance. The toad thanked Mario one last time before running off, presumably to Toad Town. The four looked ahead to see an inn. Mario signed that maybe they could find clues there, and decided to check it out. Guarded by two pink Snifits, Mario offered a little wave as they all entered. After they all made it inside, Mario decided to let the partners run off and look for clues, trying to figure out how to save the toad very obviously folded into a surfboard. Off they went into the lobby.
Huey was already making a plan. “I’ll take this hallway,” He pointed down the hallway to the left. “Kersti, take Olivia with you down the one on the right. Meet back here when you might have found something useful. We’re looking for either a shovel or someone who could help us decipher the text on the streamer platform.” Not even waiting for a response, he floated down the hall, leaving Olivia with a very pissed Kersti, “Follow me. Don’t screw anything up.” They both headed towards the right.
Olivia knocked on the first door down the hall before entering, Kersti pushing ahead of her. They began to search the room together. “Together..” Olivia hadn’t even realized she had said that out loud. “Together what?” Kersti snapped around to face Olivia, who had all of a sudden gotten all red in the face. “NOTHING! HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING?” Why was she screaming? Kersti angrily crossed her arms. “Why are you shouting at me? All I asked was a question.” She floated over to Olivia, who was frantically sifting through papers on a desk. “Hey.” Kersti tapped on Olivia’s shoulder aggressively. “I’m talking to you.” Olivia pushed her off and refused to make eye contact. “There’s nothing in here, just some weird magazines. Let's get out of here,” Olivia glanced at Kersti to see a puzzled look on her face, but ignored her. She nervously adjusted her crown-hat as they left the room.
The two floated in awkward silence to the next room. With another gentle knock, they both enter the room. Olivia observed the bed. It looked so.. warm. She wanted to crawl under the covers and hide away from all the negativity. Without even thinking, she nestled up on the bed. Kersti stopped looking through the desk drawers just to stare at Olivia, eyes closed on a pillow. Her first thought was to shake her and tell her to get back to work, but today had been hard. Trapped under a rock, almost losing her new friend... her brother. Maybe she should leave her alone. Turning back to the papers, she discovered a notebook, filled with a professor's notes. “Hey-” Kersti stopped herself. Maybe she should let her rest. “I’ll… I’ll be right back.” She floats out of the room, making her way to the lobby.
Huey impatiently tapped his handle on the wall, waiting for Kersti to come back with something, anything. Right on time, in came the sticker. “Hey, check this out.” She opens the notes and begins to show them off to Huey. Huey reads them silently. “That’s it! This professor has to know about the text. We gotta find this gu- hey, waiiiiit a second. Where the hell is Olivia? Did you lose her?” Kersti cringed. “N-No.. she’s taking a nap. In the bed. Where I found the notes. Yeah.” Huey gives her a questionable look. “...Can you go get her? I’ll go give this to Mario.” Kersti nods, embarrassed, and goes to fetch the origami girl.
“Olivia. Hey, wake up.” Kersti sits on the edge of the bed, trying to tell Olivia that they are moving on. “Olivia, come onnn…” She began to grow impatient. “Olivia!” Finally, she turned to face Kersti, still half asleep. “...Hi.” Kersti rolled her eyes. “Hi, Olivia. We are leaving the inn now, so say goodbye to the pillow, okay?” She tapped her foot. “Kersti. Wwwwhy are you so mean to… meee..” Olivia muttered, her eyes droopy. “I wish we were... friends. Or something.” Kersti winced. “...Can I carry you until you wake up? We really need to go.” Kersti shook her head in disbelief. Olivia said nothing while reaching her arms up to the sticker. She picked her up, groaned, and floated back to Huey. “Don’t ask.” Kersti eyed Huey.
Huey had already told Mario all about this professor they needed to find. They squeezed into the boot once again, searching for the toad. Olivia clung to Kersti during the entire ride. The worst part was that Olivia was a sleep talker, and she wouldn’t stop muttering about Kersti. “You have such a pretty….. dress..” Kersti was constantly shushing her, and she knew Huey had heard all of this. She wanted to die from all the embarrassment. Finally, Olivia woke up, most likely because of the bumpy car riding over Pokeys. “What.. where am I..” Her eyes widened as she felt Kersti’s arms wrapped around her. Kersti looked away. “Thank god you’re awake. You passed out, so I had to carry you out of the room. We’re looking for a professor now.” Olivia scooted away from Kersti. “...Sorry.” Olivia shyly looked away from Kersti.
Mario abruptly stopped the car to fill a not-so-bottomless hole on the side of the cliff, reaching into his confetti bag to spread confetti all over the hole. The paper crew watched the hole glow and go back to the normal cliff. As Mario began to step back into the boot, a Boo came out of nowhere, initiating a battle. The three followed him to the battlefield, where Huey was already giving tips. “Turn it there, slide that one…”
Kersti fell back, deciding not to engage in the fight, not like she ever tried to anyway. It seemed like Huey had it under control anyway. She leaned against the boot. She just wanted some time to think by herself..
..but Olivia had followed her.
Kersti sighed heavily. “What do YOU want?” she glared at Olivia, who felt smaller than ever. “Don’t you have a Mario to go help?” Olivia kicked against the car. “Huey has it under control. Besides, I wanted to talk to you.” Kersti wanted to explode. Can’t she just get a shred of alone time around here? “Hit me. What’s up?” She tapped her foot angrily… and nervously.
Olivia looked up at the hole in the sky. “Why do you hate me?” Olivia tried to make eye contact with the sticker, who kept looking away. “What did I even do? I saved you, I welcomed you, I try so hard to impress you,” She mentally kicked herself for saying that out loud. “But you never wanna talk to me, and INSULT ME instead? What’s the big deal?” Kersti slowly turned.
She stared down the origami girl. Watching as she floated around, fidgeting with her triangle hands. It wasn’t always this hard to talk to somebody, especially someone who was trying to offer her support. Olivia truly was a floating ball of sunshine. It was nearly impossible to frown around a happy Olivia, even if she had learned how to. Kersti felt a pain in her chest at the thought of hurting her any more than she had. She was deserving of love, while Kersti felt as she wasn’t. The pain grew and grew, until exploding into tears.
“It’s because of that. Because you are so nice for no reason.” She looks ahead to see Huey scolding Mario for getting the line-up wrong. “Do you know how hard it is? To constantly be held to a higher standard for no reason other than I’m a ‘growing young lady who could one day be the next queen’. I don’t wanna be queen! I just wanna be Kersti. But nobody ever wants to listen to Kersti unless something is in it for them, ‘Hey Kersti, can you help paperize the path?’ ‘Kersti, I need you to buy me a new dress, please.’ Kersti, Kersti, KERSTI!!! NOBODY CARES ABOUT ME ANYMORE. I’M ALONE. I’VE PUSHED EVERYONE WHO HAS TRIED TO HELP ME AWAY BECAUSE I FEEL UNDESERVING. I'M SO TIRED, LIVVY!” Olivia gasped at the surprise nickname and looked away. Kersti’s eyes widened. Great. Another potential friendship ruined. Tears rapidly ran down her shiny face, onto the purple desert sand.
Olivia was speechless. She had seen a whole new side of Kersti. She nervously kicked as she wrapped her arms around the sticker the best she could. Stroking her back, she let Kersti cry in her arms. “I’m here for you, Kersti. I’m so sorry you had this all bottled up.” She leaned her head on Kersti’s blocky shoulder. “After everything I’ve done, after every shitty thing I’ve said and done to you… you are comforting me.” She forced a laugh, breathing shaky.
Olivia held her even tighter. “I-I don’t want us to fight anymore. We’re both fighting for the same thing in the end.” She began to cry herself. “Even if you haven’t been the nicest towards me, I have always cared about you. You may be a little… rough around the edges, but aren't we all?” Olivia took Kersti’s square hands in her own triangular ones.”We can heal. We can do this together. You are not alone, Kersti.”
Suddenly, the day wasn’t so sunless. The two embraced for what felt like hours. Olivia cried in Kersti’s arms, whether it was joy or overwhelm, she was happy to have a new friend. Kersti broke away to look Olivia in the eyes. “Hi.” Kersti’s eyes softened. “Hi..” The two moved closer together, not breaking eye contact. Olivia panicked. She had never kissed anyone before, and definitely not a girl. She glanced at the battlefield “But Mario-”
Kersti leaned down to kiss the much smaller origami girl, who was trembling so much, she thought maybe she had creased in the process. The kiss was short and sweet, but felt like a lifetime to Olivia. At this exact moment, however, Mario had finally figured out how to fight the Boos and was coming back after winning. Huey looked exhausted, but who could blame him, he was giving Mario advice for over… how long were they talking? Huey then glanced at Kersti’s arms wrapped around Olivia’s tiny body. A smirk formed on his face at the sight, and Kersti knew she would get teased later for this. “I-It’s not what it looks like…”
uey rolled his eyes. “Get in the damn boot. We don’t have time for teen love stories right now, we have a streamer to dig!” Kersti mentally facepalmed six times as she got in the car. The two silently floated into the cramped car, Olivia trying to catch her breath after the surprise turn of events. She looked over at the sticker, maybe even her sticker, who was very obviously trying not to make eye contact. Perhaps it was for the best, the two needed to process independently what had just happened. “I hope you two had fun, because LET ME TELL YOU what THIS GUY was doing!” Huey began to rant about Mario’s inexperience with ghosts, but Kersti and Olivia weren’t listening in the slightest.
Under different circumstances, maybe this would be easier to deal with. If she had met Olivia outside of this hell of an adventure, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to talk about her feelings. Kersti looked up at the giant hole in the sky again. Even in all the cold, brisk darkness, warmth was radiating from inside her. “...Together.”