Well here it is!
The first chapter of the last story in the Luigi/Daisy trilogy! Like with the other two, you'll understand the title somewhere down the line, I promise.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to
Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving
me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!
I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,
but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this
story to make it more interesting.
I also don't own anything related to Naruto.
Chapter One
We were close to Chai.
After Daisy and I had been riding for three days and two nights, that was a welcome fact. We did as we did every night and found a clear space in the wilderness to make camp. We could've stayed at an inn, but we were traveling along the rural path that went around town and to get to one would require us resorting to the scenic route and that would just take longer. We were both tired and could both agree that, even if it meant sleeping outside, it was better to get to Sarasaland as quickly as possible.
"I can take the first watch."
I glanced behind me and saw Daisy tying her horse to a tree. I climbed off of mine and did the same, grateful for the broad width of the tree's base. It was always good to find huge trees to sleep under. I didn't say anything in response to Daisy's words. Since we had to spend the last few nights outside, we slept in turns. I'd taken watch for the last two nights and both times I 'accidentally' forgot to wake Daisy for her turn.
Can't help it, I thought, she's beautiful when she sleeps.
But then, she was always beautiful to me, even now in her rugged travel clothes. She wore a pair of red fitted corduroy jeans and a black tank top with an olive green collared jacket. The girl took the sack my brother gave us and plopped down near the tree's gnarly roots. I came and sat beside her. With our legs stretched out, her black boots nearly reached the toe of my trainers. Daisy leaned her head on my shoulder and rummaged through the supply bag.
"Here it is," She murmured, pulling out a folded fleece blanket.
She also took out the slim black flashlight, the dagger, and a canteen of water. She set these things on the ground between us and then spread the blanket over our legs. I wrapped my arm around her and winced when the rough tree bark scraped my arm; I should've worn a long-sleeved shirt or at least a jacket like her.
"You need to rest, Luigi." Daisy told me.
She looked up at me with those light eyes and I reached over to brush my fingers against her cheek. She closed her eyes and then stared straight ahead. I gazed up at our only source of light in the waning hours: the big, luminescent moon. I don't know how many minutes passed with us just sitting there and the horses making soft snorting noises behind us, but I do know I had started dozing off.
"...Luigi?"
"Mm?" I hummed, my eyes lidded.
Staying up for the past couple of days was starting to take its toll on me. I felt so weary it was like my eyelids had cement bricks on them. I forced myself to blink hard and then tilted my head down towards Daisy's. The girl was wide awake and had a conflicted look on her face.
"What's the matter?" I asked her, sort of slurring my words.
She told me, "I'm just. That is. I'm kind of worried about Alicia."
" 'Licia?" I echoed sleepily.
I used my free hand to wipe at my face and then reached between us to take a sip of the water. It gave me a tiny feeling of refreshment but I knew it would only last so long. With a bit more energy, I regarded Daisy's comment. She was worried about Alicia. That was only natural; we'd left so fast she didn't get a chance to wait around for the other girl to come back from whatever trip she was on. It's been a few days since then, so I suspected Alicia may have returned to her apartment by now.
I said, "If you want, we can go back to Brooklyn and visit her. Once we get settled at your place, that is."
Daisy smiled and scooted closer to me. She put a hand on my chest and the other on my shoulder and pushed a kiss against my jaw.
With her lips near my ear she said softly, "I'd like that. You can go back to sleep now."
And so I did.
But morning came way too fast. Daisy had done the same thing to me and let me sleep through my watch, but it wasn't enough rest to get the lead feeling out of my arms and legs. I woke with the sun in my eyes and stood, stretching. It was very early, that I could see. Daisy was on her horse before I'd even finished getting the kinks out of my neck.
"Won't be long now." She spoke, gazing at the map.
I picked up the blanket and folded it, then put it in the supply sack and slung it over my shoulder. I climbed atop the brown steed I'd borrowed from my brother and gathered the reins in my hands. I dug through the sack once more and took some food out. I took an apple and some trail mix for myself and passed the sack to Daisy. She waved a hand in refusal.
"I already ate." She told me.
I asked, "How long have you been up?"
"Bout an hour."
"And you didn't wake me up?"
"I told you," She said, sidling her horse next to mine, "You needed to rest. Come on, we've got to head this way."
Daisy led the way while I tried to eat and grapple with the reins at the same time. We rode for a few more hours with nothing but blue skies and greenery to look at. It was no wonder my mind began to wander. I thought first about the girl riding in front of me and how much I loved her.
Enough to leave behind my home and everything I knew as normal life, I thought.
While it was true there wasn't really anything special about my apartment or my car or my job, together they made up my life and what was familiar to me. And although Brooklyn wasn't exactly Sunshine, America, it was the place I grew up at. I had a ton of memories there. It was a huge thing to just pack up and leave it all behind. One more glance at Daisy let me know I'd made the right choice. If there was something important enough for her to come back to her kingdom, then I was behind her a hundred percent. She was the most important thing in my life.
Now at this point I started to reflect on how utterly dismal my life was before I met the girl. To be fair, it wasn't all bad. Things didn't get too awful until I started gaining feelings for Peach. That whole period was just one big black storm cloud of angst and depression and only now, looking back on it, did I really understand how bad off I was. I mean, the suicide attempt was seriously freaking me out the more I thought about it.
How could I have sunk so low?
From there my thoughts drifted back to Daisy and how incredibly rich I was to have a girl like her. I didn't understand how she could be so in love with me, what with her being just perfect and being at liberty to have just about any man she wanted. I wasn't the worst she could do, granted, but I still kinda felt like she was a little out of my league.
Not that I'm complaining, I smirked.
And that's when I had to bend over to my toes and pick my mind out of the gutter because I started thinking about her lovely eyes and her big, pretty smile and her cute laugh and other, less pg-rated things about her that I loved, like her curvy body and the little noises she made when I-
"What the," Daisy spoke aloud.
She stopped her horse and I came to a halt next to hers. The reason for the hold-up was standing about five feet away from us. It was about twenty or thirty men and women in navy and silver uniforms. I didn't know which was more uptight; their rigid spines or their solemn expressions. They each wore their hair in neat topknots and rode on armored black horses. They regarded us silently for a moment before one of them broke rank and positioned their horse in front of the rest. It was a man atop that horse with clear grey skin and black eyes and a fine silk ribbon in his equally shiny hair. He, too, wore a topknot so that silver-edged navy ribbon was the only splash of color on him; his uniform was plain black. He gazed at me briefly and then at Daisy with those hawkish eyes and then bowed low on his horse. After him, all the other uniformed individuals bowed to us as well and it surprised me because even the horses seemed to be lowering their heads.
What is this?
The man in black raised his head and let a very faint flicker of a smile stretch over his pale mouth. He held his head high and I saw what looked like the hilt of a dagger at his waist. He tilted his head and his eyes once again darted over to me for a second.
"Your Highest Majesty, it is an honor," He spoke reverently to Daisy.
The girl's light eyes widened a bit but she sat with just as much regale as the man in front of her. Speaking of him, he'd gone back to that rigid expression again.
"...General Zair." Daisy spoke softly. "It's nice to see you again. I didn't think you'd remember me."
Daisy was gazing at the man in black, or General Zair as she'd called him, with a look that clearly said she knew him. I felt kind of left out. When I saw these people, I figured maybe we'd be in trouble, but that couldn't be the case or else Daisy wouldn't have that wistful smile on her face. Again the man, General Zair, broke his cold mask to let a small smile show through.
He said quietly, "Oh, but how could I forget the little princess who masqueraded as a male recruit under my command?"
Daisy grinned now and asked, "How did you know we were coming?"
The General's gaze flicked to me again before he replied, "Word traveled to the palace that you'd been sighted in the area with a young man."
"So you commissioned a..." Daisy seemed to be suppressing a laugh when she said, "...welcome wagon for me?"
"It was the least we could do for our missing princess." The General spoke simply.
Daisy tilted her head and smiled gently to herself. She glanced at me and I saw her eyes were a little wet. I wondered at that. She bowed her head and let her dark hair tumbled over her shoulders, then looked at the general again.
"Does everyone know I'm back?" She asked.
He said, "No one knows but those gathered here. There were rumors, of course, and the people of Chai and the other three Kingdoms never gave up hope that you might have survived."
"...Really?" Daisy asked, quirking a brow.
Her voice sounded kind of small in that instant and the General seemed to soften for another quick second. He nodded his head almost imperceptibly. The only way I could tell was when the two locks of hair on either side of his face moved back and forth.
"We'll escort you to the palace, Princess." The General stated, only turning back to his troops when Daisy gave him a nod.
I watched as the troops on horseback flanked me and Daisy on all sides and led the way towards their home. Daisy rode very close to me; so close we could touch hands if we wanted to.
"So you know him?" I asked her.
Of course she does; why would you ask her that? They just held a whole conversation.
I winced a little because that was a pretty dumb thing to ask, in hindsight. Daisy didn't seem to mind because she smiled at me and nodded.
"He was General when I was little." She told me. "Before I had to leave with my parents, that is."
"Oh." I spoke, adjusting the reins in my lap. "So this is like, Sarasaland's army?"
Daisy laughed a bit and said, "Not hardly. Sarasaland has four kingdoms and each has their own army with various divisions. This right here is just, well, a welcoming party I guess."
I glanced around at the men and women and figured they couldn't be the entire army, but I forgot about how Sarasaland has four Kingdoms. That meant there had to be thousands of troops employed in the country's military. Another thing occurred to me, then.
"You said this was a welcoming party?" I asked her, then added, "Are you sure? Because they don't look too cheerful."
Again Daisy smiled and said, "For them, this is cheerful."
I'd hate to see how they treat an enemy, then, I thought wryly.
The troops still rode their horses at the same pace with the same diligent expressions on their faces. They all looked to be sort of middle-aged or older, but that didn't hinder their performance whatsoever. If anything, it made them appear that much more professional as they led us into the gates of Chai Kingdom.
"What have you done?"
King Boo let the question linger in the air, not because he was hesitant to answer, but because he was trying to figure out what and how much he would divulge at the moment. He'd only just repaired his dining room hours ago, to the point to where there was no evidence of it ever having been destroyed in the first place. Now he stood upstairs in one of the guest bedrooms with a small child sitting on the bed across from him. Only this wasn't just any small child.
It had taken him an minute to realize where he was. Half that time to remember what had just happened. And all of five seconds to recognize that his magic was gone. Now the navy-haired youth sat glaring up at the old immortal, to weak to do more than that at the moment.
"What did you do?" Ludwig demanded again.
King Boo sighed and dropped his arms at his sides, saying, "Ludwig, you must understand. I did what I did in order to protect you. Remember that."
"Just tell me what you did, old man." The child sneered. The expression didn't suit his babyish face at all.
King Boo frowned but gave him a condensed version of the series of events that took place after Ludwig exhausted himself mere hours ago. He told him how his twenty-year-old body was gone and that his consciousness had been transferred to that of his sentient clone's. He was sure to leave out the fact that his former body was sealed for all eternity in the immortal's gallery. Predictably, Ludwig was irate. His emerald eyes narrowed and his fists balled in an inadvertently cute display of fury.
"You really did kill me, didn't you?!" He roared, or at least he would have had his voice not been pitched up a few octaves.
King Boo said slowly, "Ludwig, I didn't kill you. As you can see, you are here, alive and well."
"In a fucking child's body!" Ludwig retorted angrily.
"Language," King Boo chided with a disapproving wince.
Ludwig opened his mouth to respond but suddenly something dawned on him. His eyes widened and his whole body tensed; he practically screamed his panic with these actions. With the sheets gripped tightly in his small hands, Ludwig gazed up at King Boo.
"The power." He stated. "Where is the power?"
"Ludwig-"
"Where is it?!" Ludwig hissed. "Tell me you didn't give it back to that bastard!"
King Boo was silent a beat before asking pensively, "Is that power all you care about?"
"YES!"
"For shame." King Boo sighed. "You've learned absolutely nothing."
"Tell me where the power is!" Ludwig shouted.
King Boo told him, "Inside voice, Ludwig. And rest assured, the power is no closer to the Dark King than it was when you were last alive."
"So you did kill me." Ludwig spat. "Whatever you've done, undo it! I know you can!"
"Actually, I can't." King Boo told him, and that was a half-truth.
King Boo didn't know a way to undo what he'd done at the moment, but with a little time and thought, the Lord of Illusions could definitely make it happen. It was all a matter of not wanting to undo it, though.
I've stood by and let him have his way, King Boo thought, now it's time I stay firm in my own actions. I've done this for his own good. No matter how much it makes him resent me.
And King Boo knew that things would never be the same between them again. He would grieve over that later, though. Right now he had to calm down the young adult-turned-child.
"Ludwig," King Boo stated placatingly. "I've put you in this form for a reason."
"Right," Ludwig scowled, "My protection."
"No," King Boo spoke patiently, "I've put wards all around the estate for your protection."
"You WHAT?!" Ludwig seemed to shriek. "So I can't leave?!"
"Not for the time being." King Boo answered calmly.
Ludwig's pale face flushed and an indignant look crossed his features. It only looked out of place and still sort of adorable on him at the current time. Ludwig tried to stand but ended up collapsing in a heap before he could take one heap. King Boo instinctively stretched forth a hand to help him but Ludwig smacked it away.
From the floor he asked coldly, "What did you do with my magic?"
"Nothing."
Before Ludwig could get even angrier, King Boo told him, "It's inside you, Ludwig. Just feel around, it's there."
Ludwig glared at him but nonetheless probed around in his body for that familiar pulse of magic. Indeed he did find it, but it was as if it had been stuffed in a box and locked deep inside him. He only caught little wisps of it. He looked stricken up at the immortal.
"What did you do?!" He asked for the third time in the span of a few minutes.
King Boo said, "Your magic is there, but the knowledge of how to use it is gone."
Ludwig did not look impressed. He narrowed his eyes into slants and trembled with barely-bridled rage.
"You sneaky old fool!" He yelled. "How dare you take my magic from me! It's not fair!"
Already his childish impulses were getting the better of him and Ludwig hated it. He glowered at the immortal and was disappointed on so many levels to see King Boo just stare passively down at him. He wanted his words to affect the older sorcerer, to make him feel what he was feeling, to make him hurt. Perhaps that was why he said what he did next in a cruel, even tone.
"I hate you."
"...I know."
We didn't reach Chai Kingdom until late in the afternoon. The sun was still in the sky but just barely. The sky was dusky orange with hints of pink and there was a warm breeze skirting through the countryside. In front of us lay the tallest pair of iron gates I'd ever seen. They had to be about twenty feet tall and were topped off with impressive spikes that were an additional three or four feet high. The poles of the gates were shiny and polished and looked brand new. Not only that, but all along the surrounding area there was a white-brick wall that stood almost as high. I turned to Daisy.
"That's one way to keep people out," I quipped.
Daisy smiled and said, "Can you believe these walls are thousands of years old? Same goes for the gate."
"Really?" I frowned, disbelieving. "It looks like it was built yesterday."
My girl shrugged and said, "It's annually refurbished."
I could see the payoff in that.
Now that we'd gotten to the gates, I saw Daisy and the troops dismounting their horses so I did the same. General Zair came to stand beside us and gave me another of his fleeting glances before gazing at Daisy. She and I reached for our luggage but before we could get our hands on it, the troops took them for us. A few of them also led the horses away to the right of the wall by the reins. I frowned. Those were my brother's horses, so I figured I should say something.
When I did, General Zair said, "Don't worry about the horses, they'll be taken care of."
Daisy nudged me and added, "He's right, Luigi. There's an underground network beneath the kingdom gates."
She told me then that there was a corral area for the horses that were permitted to leave the kingdom, as well as a number of personnel stationed to respond in the event of an intrusion or outside attack. According to her, there was a whole underground network right below the giant gates. And speaking of those, I wondered when they opened about who was doing the opening, since this was the Mushroom World and I didn't think technology had arrived, let alone automatic gates. But then the girl had explained that there was a hookup connected to the underground network as well, and that it was operated by more people down there. Interesting.
"Right this way, Majesty." General Zair spoke to Daisy.
There were fewer troops flanking us as we entered the kingdom's gates. The dwindled numbers allowed me to see all that was around us on our way to the palace. I felt Daisy slip her hand in mine as we walked and gazed around us. If there was one word I had to use to describe the kingdom, it had to be order. There was a certain neatness to everything that matched the rigidity of the soldiers and General Zair perfectly. The roads we walked on were clean and cobbled, with not so much as dirt lining the sidewalks. There were evenly-trimmed bushes and tiny trees decorating the sides of the roads like a pattern and every now and again we'd pass what looked like wooden trash cans. The buildings were all made from the same sort of white stone or from wood and there was a common theme going on as far color schemes; blue, black, and grey seemed to be the most prevalent hues in this kingdom. Even the people sported them. Women wore long white or grey dresses, men donned pants and shirts in those shades, and the young children had play clothes of the same variety.
Oh, and speaking of the people.
Everybody seemed to be busy doing something. There were people sweeping the streets in front of their shops or doing business with each other or painting buildings. Not just the adults were working, either; there were children watering the plants and picking up various bits of litter and trash that lay around. In addition to keeping clean, people were riding bicycles, sitting on benches reading books, having lunch at a table outside what looked like a restaurant, and just socializing with each other. It seemed quite peaceful and calm here.
As we continued walking, I noticed that people were beginning to stare and whisper at me and Daisy. Some seemed excited, while others seemed skeptical or wary. I didn't know what that was about. I knew they couldn't possibly remember me from my adventurous days with Mario because I sure didn't remember coming here. It wasn't anything like the Mushroom Kingdom, save for the occasional smiles from the people and the somewhat friendly atmosphere. Chai wasn't so much friendly and bubbly as it was quaint and homely. The air wasn't sweet and fragrant like the Mushroom Kingdom's, it was crisp and clean. And due to the lack of wild animals roaming around, there was a significant lack of pungent odors wafting through the streets.
This place isn't so bad, I thought. It wasn't my idea of paradise, but it could be a lot worse. I didn't think I'd have to worry about sleeping with one eye open here, at least.
When we got to the palace, I was again impressed with the sense of order there was. On each step of the white building that resembled a Japanese temple there were guards in white and silver uniforms. They each bowed to Daisy as she and I followed General Zair up to the entrance. Between us and the door, a group of distinguished men and women in white and gold-trim silk robes greeted us, if by greet you'd mean stare flatly in our direction. There were eight of them in total, most with gray or graying hair. There was a woman with her salt and pepper hair in a stringent bun that seemed to pull at her gold-colored, feline-like eyes. She had a thin red mouth that was pursed at the moment as she and the other elders bowed to Daisy as well. She was the first to speak.
"So it's true," The woman spoke tonelessly. "The wayward little princess has found her way back."
Daisy spoke quietly when she said, "It's an honor to be back home."
"I'm sure, Your Highness." The woman stated curtly.
She then gazed at Daisy up and down and clearly found something about her appearance wanting. When she flicked her cat-eyes over to me, I felt a chill run up my spine. It was like being in third grade all over again; this woman had that 'teacher' vibe, complete with the no-nonsense attitude. She gazed back at Daisy and I felt the girl's hand tighten in mine, though I hardly thought it was from fear.
"I can't imagine what curious circumstances you must've endured," The woman remarked, then looked at me and added, "to provoke you to keep such...interesting company."
Again Daisy flexed her hand in mine and I squeezed back gently. The girl kept her gaze cool as she sent the woman a brief smile. To my surprise, it was General Zair who spoke next.
"At any rate," He stated loudly, "We are all quite pleased with the return of our Crown Princess."
As if to emphasize this fact, he stepped onto the stair Daisy and I stood on and put his large hand on his shoulder. I saw her relax a bit and noticed something. Up until now, I'd thought General Zair was the stiffest, most monotonous figure in the kingdom. Now I knew I was wrong. There was someone even more uptight than him, and she was wearing a displeased frown.
"You must have had a long journey," The woman spoke unaffectedly. "Come. I'll show you to your rooms."
"That's okay," Daisy told her quickly. "I remember where everything is. I'll just pick a guest room and be out of your hair."
The woman just said, "Very well. You may take the rest of the evening to recuperate from your travels, but I should expect to see you at the seventh hour in the eastern conference room."
"Of course." Daisy spoke in answer, nodding formally.
Assuaged for the moment, the woman and the rest of the elders bowed to her and headed inside. Daisy waited until they were gone to deflate with a relieved sigh and face me. At the same time, General Zair reached into the pocket of his black uniform pants and pulled out a slim white stick.
"Jolly old bunch, aren't they?" He asked Daisy.
She smiled at him and said, "They're about the same as I remember."
I watched in mild surprise as the general made a fist, took his thumb and flicked it against his index finger's joint, and sparked a small blue flame to light the white stick. He then proceeded to shove said stick in his mouth and wipe his hands on his pants.
Wait...so they have cigarettes here? This kingdom is kind of different from the others, I thought.
Daisy turned to me and asked, "So what do you think?"
"Of what?"
"Chai."
"Oh," I muttered, then replied. "Um. It's clean."
At that General Zair cracked another faint smile. He then gazed off to the side with his blank mask back in place. The last of his troops stood behind him as he then glanced at the princess.
"I suppose my duties here have been fulfilled." He told her.
She tilted her head and said, "I suppose."
I felt like this was some kind of inside joke with them because they were both sharing a private sort of smile. It didn't last long with the general as he stepped down and walked off with his troops. He walked with a confident sort of swagger I'd only seen before with people like King Boo or Bowser. With him gone, I stared again at Daisy.
"Come on," She told me, her fingers lacing through mine. "We'd better get some rest if we're going to be meeting with the Council in the morning."
First came the anger. He yelled, screamed, shouted, and demanded answers that the old immortal had no problem dodging. He'd thrown nasty accusations and words that cut deeper than any physical laceration. That had gone on for about a solid twenty four hours.
Then came the frustration. Everything that was unfortunate enough to be in arm's reach he'd tossed, kicked, punched, shattered, broken, busted, mangled, or ruined. He'd tried in vain to access his magic to aid in his violent aims and when that backfired, he shrieked and writhed in the quintessential display of an all-out temper tantrum. For a day and a half this persisted.
After that Ludwig got quiet and King Boo used that time to go about repairing what the navy-haired youth had destroyed. He'd managed to happen upon Ludwig taking his destructive emotions out on himself to the point of trying to end his own life. King Boo would rather amount the attempt to Ludwig having been under the impression that if he escaped his tiny body he'd be free to inhabit his other one, but something in the old immortal wondered if it was really depression that spurred him to launch himself down the stairs. At any rate, Ludwig ran out of creative ideas once King Boo got a strait jacket on him only seven hours later.
Now, after four days, Ludwig was brooding. He wasn't talking, wasn't eating, wasn't acknowledging his presence at all when the immortal brought him meals or popped in to check on him. The youth hadn't left his room at all and hadn't moved from his spot in one of the bedroom's corners. He'd even fallen asleep there, curled up on his side with a scowl on his face. King Boo knew it couldn't be helped. He'd rather have his god-son alive and hating him than dead at the hands of his unforgiving father.
A/N: Hope you liked that first chapter; if so, leave a comment telling me what you think please, I'd love to hear your opinions!
We'll be seeing more of everyone else in the chapters to come! Don't worry, both General Zair and the Chai Kingdom Council are OC's and are only here to advance the plot so I won't dwell on them too long.
I will see about updating again soon, people. Until next time!
~DymondGold~