Author's Note: Welcome to my new story! Although this is quite short, it's only the prologue. The other chapters will be longer. This is also one of the first Mario stories I've written, so please leave a review and tell me whether it's any good.
Prologue: Nightfall
The night seemed darker than usual, despite the gleaming glow of the full moon that hung, overly large and unrealistic, above the roof of the mansion. The cobbled path that led straight to the front door was old, worn with use, grass growing up through the cracks in the stones, was flanked by twisting, dead trees on both sides. Their blackened branches extended over the path like spidery hands reaching out to grab, or the talons of some great bird closing in on its prey. Not a breath of wind stirred the air, which was as still and lifeless as the rest of the forest, as though any trace of life had been stolen from it.
From the bough of one of the tallest trees sat a pair of black ravens. They were not normal. Their crescent-shaped eyes glowed yellow. One of them, the larger, flapped its wings noisily and let out a caw that sounded more mournful than threatening, and echoed dismally before fading quickly into the silence. The smaller raven failed to respond to its partner's cry, but its eyes glowed a little brighter and it tilted its head sideways, inspecting the forest shrewdly as though waiting for something to appear.
Whether they had sensed the intruder's approach or not, they clearly did not like it. They shifted uneasily on the branch, and the larger raven made a long, low croaking noise that sounded like a warning signal. The glow of a flashlight running on very little battery power was blinding to them, having spent their lives in darkness, and they shrieked and raised their wings as though preparing to leave. But curiosity tightened its grip on the two birds, and they slowly settled down and leaned forwards to get a better look at this strange newcomer. It had been a long time since they had seen visitors to this forest. A long time. They were only birds, and they had neither the intelligence nor the memory to recall the last time humans had entered their forest. So they remained completely motionless upon the branch and waited, the glow from their crescent-shaped eyes casting a small patch of light around them.
The flashlight meandered from side to side as it appeared to shake in the owner's hand. It paused for a few moments before continuing on its way up the cobbled path towards the mansion. The larger raven, always the vocal one, cawed in a tone that seemed to say, 'What does he think he's doing?'
The smaller raven fluffed up its feathers as though it had only just noticed the bitter chill of the night, its answering cry resounding forlornly. 'Dunno. But he must be pretty brave to be wandering so close to that mansion.'
The larger bird's head moved in an inquiring tilt. 'You're right. Or maybe he's just really stupid or somethin'.' Struck by this possibility, the ravens fell silent and turned their gazes back to the cobbled path. To their surprise, the intruder had already reached the enormous, patterned front doors and was raising a gloved hand to knock. The hand was shaking as badly as the flashlight it held, but there was no reply to the knock. The mansion remained as deathly silent as always. The larger raven would have sighed in relief if such an action was possible for him to perform. 'Heh, I guess he is crazy after all. Doesn't he know that mansion's been empty since the day I hatched?'
However, the intruder was persistent in his efforts to gain a response from the uninhabited mansion, and he raised a hand to knock again. Again, he was disappointed by the lack of an answer. His trembling fingers rested on the brass doorknob, which he turned experimentally. He had obviously not expected it to be unlocked, but he was surprised. With a deafening creak, the door swung open, revealing the entrance to a room so dark that nothing could be seen of its interior. The flashlight clicked on and the intruder took a nervous step forwards, leaning his head around the side of the half-open door.
The long, low creak from the door had only just ended when the intruder's voice rang out, louder than it should have been in the silence. It shook like the hand had done, and received no more response than the knock had. 'H-hello?'