The land of Darkland very rarely saw rain, but when it did, it poured hard and for a very long time. This was no exception. The rain had begun around eleven o'clock pm, and, about an hour later, had escalated into a full-fledged storm, with lighting and thunder every five minutes, at least. In Koopa Kastle, the wind howled through the corridors, extinguishing the few lights that had been illuminating the stone walls and Bowser statues, forcing the castle into ever increasing darkness. Despite the cold, the dampness, and the noise, most of the servants were fast asleep, comfortable in their beds after an exhausting day of serving the royal family.
The owner of this extravagant abode, King Bowser Koopa, was snoring away himself in his room, his rumbling almost as loud as the thunder outside. In fact, if you weren't listening closely, it would be nearly impossible to tell the two apart.
Elsewhere in the castle, Bowser's oldest son, Ludwig von Koopa, lay in his royal blue bed. A single candle flickered dimly on the opposite wall, threatening to go out at any moment, though the light barely touched half of the room. Unlike nearly everyone else in the castle, he stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He usually had no trouble, even when it rained, but tonight the land of dreams seemed to evade the eldest Koopaling, and he could only stare at his roof, arms placed delicately on his ribcage, thinking to himself about his symphonies. Eventually, his thoughts drifted elsewhere, to his day, and, more prominently, to his family.
I suppose everyone eez already asleep… he grinned a bit to himself, undt here I am, lying een bed, unable to sleep, like an energetic child who ate too much sugar before going to bed! Ah vell… at least I managed to sink of a new symphony… I vonder vhat my siblings are doing anyway… eef zey are actually asleep… heh… I remember vhen vee vere little… Larry undt Lemmy vould constantly come undt ask to sleep vith me because zey could not vake up fazzur… ah, memories… kind of makes me vish zat eet vould happen again… but vhat are zee odds of zat?
"L… Ludwig?"
Ludwig froze, unable to move. The seventeen-year-old was completely baffled at what he had just heard.
No… I am hearing things… zat could not possibly be who I zink eet eez… it vas just because I vas sinking about eet…
"Ludwig… are you awake?"
The Koopa in question let out a sigh. "Vhat vould you like, Lemmy?"
The smallest Koopaling scuttled into the room, holding a yellow, starry blanket that looked exactly like his circus ball in his hands, causing it to drag onto the floor. It was one of the rare moments that he was walking instead of rolling.
"I… I had a nightmare… c-can I sleep with you?"
Ludwig blinked in surprise. Lemmy had stopped having nightmares when he had turned thirteen. Or so he thought.
"I suppose so," he sighed again, rubbing his eyes despite the fact that he was wide awake, "Vhat vas your dream about?"
"Thank you, Ludwig!" Lemmy chirped happily, running into the room and jumping onto Ludwig's extremely large bed.
"Your velcome. Now, your dream?"
"Nightmare," Lemmy corrected, curling up contently on Ludwig's right side, not unlike a cat, "Well… I was performing in a circus! I was on the high wire!" Lemmy looked into the distance dreamily, before his eyes clouded over.
"But then… just as I was doing a super awesome trick… there was this huge gust of wind and… I fell… and everything around me went black. I just kept falling and falling and falling… and everyone was laughing at me!" Lemmy began to tear up. "And… and they kept saying that… I was a failure and that… I… I couldn't do anything right… and… and… they just wouldn't stop laughing… I kept screaming for them to stop but they never stopped… and I just fell and fell… and no one came to save me! They just laughed at me! They LAUGHED!" Lemmy burst into tears, sobbing into the blanket.
"Lemmy…" Ludwig put a sympathetic hand on his head, "You are not a failure… you do many sings right. Undt you know vhat?"
"…What?"
"You know eet's just a dream because you have incredible balance undt you vould never fall because of a little vind! Eet takes more zan zat to bring down Lemmy Koopa!"
"But… I WAS taken down by some wind!"
"Lemmy. Eet vas a dream. A bad dream. Vee vould never laugh at you eef you fell. No one vould. Vell maybe Roy but zat eez besides zee point. You have nozzing to vorry about. Like I said before: You have excellent balance, undt you vould never fall anyvay. So do not vorry. Let us simply go to sleep, alvright?"
"Okay… Ludwig?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you! You're the best big brother ever!" Lemmy hugged Ludwig before curling up again.
"…I am zee only big brozzer you have," Ludwig looked at him in amusement, but the words fell on deaf ears. Lemmy was already asleep in his blanket, happily dreaming about ice cream and being the star of the show.
"Vell… I do hope zat zat eez zee last of zat." Ludwig was finally feeling a little bit tired after reassuring Lemmy. He let out a small yawn, and adjusted the yellow blanket on his slightly younger brother, before putting his head back onto the pillow.
Vell… zat helped a little bit. I know! I vill sink of von of my favourite masterpieces. Zat alvays helps me sleep…
Ludwig began to play a symphony in his head, closing his eyes as the song continued. He felt the gentle lull of sleep pull at his consciousness, and as the song neared its end, he smiled slightly, happy that he would fall asleep to a musical masterpiece.
"Ludwig?"
As if he had been playing the song out loud, the gentle notes in his head suddenly went off course and sharply hit the wrong note, and was jolted awake. He grunted, like the music had actually been real and he had been performing it, but one of his siblings had distracted him yet again.
Vait. Von of my siblings…? Ludwig turned his head, straining to see his doorway over Lemmy's blanket. A bright blue Mohawk was all he could see, but it was enough to deduce who the newcomer was.
"Vhat?"
"Are you awake?"
"Yes… but I vas almost asleep… vhat do you vant, Larry?"
The second-youngest became silent, awkwardly shuffling from one foot to another, and looking down at the ground in embarrassment.
He can't possibly be asking…
"Can… I stay with you tonight? Not like I'm scared or anything. For… Lemmy's sake!" Larry seemed slightly relieved to have an excuse to stay, so that he would seem tough to his older brother.
"Undt how could you have possibly known zat Lemmy vas here?"
"Well… um…"
"You had a scary nightmare, didn't you?"
Larry chuckled. "I wouldn't say scary… but… yeah…"
"Very vell… but do not disturb Lemmy. He just fell asleep undt I do not vant to vake him."
"Thanks big bro!" Larry grinned and quickly shuffled over, sliding onto the bed and on the other side of Lemmy. Ludwig could see that he had a cyan blue sheet wrapped around him. Even in the darkness, he could see the nervousness in Larry's eyes as Larry stared down at his folded hands in his lap.
"…vould you like to talk about eet?"
"About what?"
"Zee nightmare."
"Oh right… well… there's not really much to say… I basically come up with my master plan… the best scheme yet. Spent months perfecting it. And King Dad… shuts me down. Tells me that he came up with better plans when he was an egg. But… I decided to put it into action anyway… and… well… you guys all ended up getting pretty roughed up by Mario… because of me… well, you all blamed me, because it was my plan… then you all called me an idiot and King Dad… disowned me… he chased me down the hallway where our rooms are and before I could ask for help you slammed your bedroom doors in my face… he kicked me out of the castle… and you guys didn't even try… to get me… back…"
It was obvious that Larry was trying extremely hard not to cry. Ludwig sat up and thought about this.
"Sounds rough."
"Yeah," Larry chuckled humorlessly, "Kinda pathetic, isn't it?"
"Not really… you poured all of your heart into somezing… zen no von likes eet… undt you sink zat you end up doing more harm zan good because of eet. But, Larry…"
"…yeah?"
"Remember zat eet does not matter vhat plan you use… eet eez always Mario who does zee damage. Not you. Zat idiotic plumber alvays seems to slip zrough zee cracks of vhatever vee zrow at him. Furzermore, your plans are genius. Undt I do not use zat term lightly. Some of zee sings zat you come up vith are incredible. Pure, incomparable brilliance. Sings zat not even Iggy or I could come up vith."
"Wow… that's… really nice of you, bro. Thanks."
"Eet vas nozzing. Now go to sleep. You sound exhausted."
"I am. Freaking out takes a lot out of you." Larry made himself comfortable next to Lemmy, making sure that the smaller Koopaling wouldn't wake up, before letting out a calming breath and dozing off.
Ludwig, on the other hand, was now wide awake again. Irritably, he wondered why his siblings had to go to him instead of King Dad. Or at least Roy or Kamek. Though… perhaps those were not the best ideas. They did happen to be the most violent and cranky when they were suddenly awoken in the middle of the night. Plus, as the oldest brother, his siblings didn't seem to mind showing their weaknesses to him compared to their father. He'd always been the reassuring one, the one to go to when there was a problem.
"…Ludwig?"
And speaking of…
"Who eez eet now?" Ludwig sat back up, exasperated. He nearly jumped up when he saw who was at his door.
"Junior?! Vhat are you doing here?"
"Well…" Junior looked down at the floor, hugging a Koopa plushie that Ludwig had to admit he'd never seen before, "Larry and Lemmy were talking to me a few days ago about how you used to comfort them when they had bad dreams so… here I am!"
Ludwig groaned, but motioned for Junior to come forwards. He noticed a green blanket with Junior's orange emblem surrounded by black circles dotted all over it slung over his arm as he crawled onto the bed. Instead of picking a spot next to one of his siblings, he scuttled up to Ludwig and crawled into his lap, shivering. Ludwig was surprised by this action, but quickly accepted it and cradled the youngest, remembering that Junior was still only five years old, despite how mature he acted, or at least tried to act.
"Larry and Lemmy are here too?" Junior gawked at the two sleeping forms beside him, "Whatta bunch of wimps!"
"You're here, are you not?"
"…yeah, but… I'm only five… and… shut up!"
"Just tell me vhat you dreamed about so vee can go to sleep."
"Oh… okay…"
His reply was short and sweet. "You all hated me and kicked me out of the castle because I was papa's favourite… the really loud thunder and lightning didn't help much either…"
"Junior vee vould never do zat to you. You know zis!"
"Yeah but… why wouldn't you hate me? I took the throne away from you, and papa spends all his time with me instead of you guys!"
"Junior. Vee do not hate you. Eef anyvon eez to blame for you being zee favourite, it eet fazzur. Not you. You cannot control vhat you look like, or eef you are zee favourite. Eet eez fazzur who decides who he likes zee most, undt who gets zee zrone. Plus, you are zee youngest, so you vould obviously spend zee most time vith him. Sure, eet may become a little frustrating, but eet eez not your fault."
"…are you sure?"
"Positive."
"You're the best, Ludwig," Junior murmured, yawning widely, before falling asleep in his brother's arms.
Ludwig smiled a little at the small child in his arms. Poor Junior… how could he think that they hated him? He adjusted the pillow behind him in order that he could sleep comfortably while sitting up.
Ludwig sat there and pondered Junior's words, the smile on his face slowly fading away. He needed to find a way to reassure Junior that they didn't despise him. Perhaps a gift would do it justice? But what to get? Ludwig shook his head and continued to ponder the situation. He almost missed the voice at his doorway.
"Ludwig? Are you awake? Are you sleeping? Can we talk? Please?"
"Yes, Morton, I am avake. Vhat do you need?"
"Well… I had a bad dream that I couldn't talk or at least I could talk and you all couldn't hear me and you guys weren't paying attention to me and I screamed at you to look at me but since I couldn't talk you guys ignored me I even tapped you on your shoulders but you just walked away it was like I wasn't there and it really hurt and now I can't sleep plus the storm is really scary so can I stay here for a bit?"
It took Ludwig a moment to process all that Morton had said, but in that silence the chatty Koopaling had begun to panic.
"Oh no… you're ignoring me! Just like in my dream! Can you hear me? Ludwig? Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh–"
"Morton."
"Yes! You can hear me!"
"Morton, qviet down. I do not vant to vake zee ozzers. Plus, you already knew zat I could hear you as I acknowledged your presence. I vas just trying to take een everyzing you said."
"Oh… there are ozzers… others here?"
"Yes. Undt Morton, vee vill alvays listen to you. Eet eez qvite difficult to ignore you, you know."
"Aww… thanks bro! But… the storm's still kinda scary… and… uh…"
Ludwig let out a sigh of defeat. "Get over here, you big lout."
"Yay!" Morton scuttled over to Ludwig's bed and jumped onto it, to the left of Ludwig, forgetting that there were others there. Lemmy and Junior managed to stay unconscious, but Larry was jarred awake with a quiet yelp.
"What's going on?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
"Nozzing, little brozzer. Go back to sleep."
"'kay…" Larry yawned exhaustedly, curling up again. He quickly fell asleep again. Morton shrunk under Ludwig's glare.
"Sorry…" he whispered, embarrassed.
"Eet's fine. Just go to sleep."
Morton nodded gratefully, placing his head on his arm and letting out a deep breath. Ludwig noted that he was the only one who hadn't brought a blanket, so he gently left his bed and, cradling Junior, he slipped over to his closet, squinting into the darkness. He barely spotted a black sheet near the back of the closet, and carefully picked it up, before walking over to where Morton had chosen a spot, and, skillfully using one arm, flung the sheet up and watched it gracefully cover the large Koopaling's sleeping form.
Ludwig slipped back under the sheets, and gently placed Junior next to him. The youngest whimpered in his sleep, and latched onto Ludwig's left arm, letting out a reassured sigh.
The oldest looked down at him in surprise, before smiling and allowing himself to place his head on the pillow, adjusting again so that he could lie down once more. Four of his siblings were here, and he highly doubted that the others would show up. Iggy was always the first one asleep, plus he had Chompella to comfort him. Wendy wouldn't have anything to do with him, and would probably go to their father before him, anyway. And Roy… Roy was out of the question. The day Roy came to sleep with him was the day he ate his music sheets. He let out a small chuckle, shut his eyes, and finally fell asleep.
A loud crack shook Ludwig from his dormancy. He sat up quickly, breathing heavily. Looking around his room, his pulse slowed, realizing that it was just the thunder. He slowly exhaled as his panic left him. He suddenly felt something moving against his left arm and whipped his head around to see what it was. But it was only Junior.
Vait… vhat eez Junior doing here…?
He was completely confused until he saw the sleeping forms of Morton, Larry, and Lemmy. The memories from before he had fallen asleep came flooding back to him.
Ah… yes… zey vere upset due to zee storm…
Ludwig shook his head, almost laughing at his ridiculous panic attack. Imagine, him, of all people, being afraid of a little thunder! He breathed a sigh of relief.
And then he saw the two large, insane looking eyes staring at him from the doorway.
Ludwig nearly screamed in terror at the sight of the figure outside his room. Now, unlike most of the castle, Ludwig's turret room didn't have a door. So it was completely vulnerable during the night. Which is one of the reasons why he spent most of his nights in the music room instead of his own room. Ludwig readied a fireball, feeling heat rising to his mouth, until he spotted a splash of green due to a sudden lightning strike.
"Iggy!" Ludwig hissed as loudly as he dared. "Vhat eez zee big idea? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"I can't get to sleep…"
"Vell try harder!"
"But… I'm scared…"
Ludwig blinked in surprise. "Vhat? But… you have Chompella at your side!"
"That's the thing," Iggy snickered nervously, "I had a dream that I was stuck in one of those padded rooms… with a straight-jacket, you know? Then Chompella showed up and swallowed me whole. Eheheh…"
"Vee both know zat zat vill not happen."
"I know but… she makes me nervous now…"
"Just get over here already."
Iggy stared at him, before coming over and taking a place on the large bed next to Morton. He fiddled with the sheet for a moment, and in that moment, Ludwig caught a glance of a small, stuffed thing. It looked like an Ukiki, but he lost sight of it before he could be sure. Iggy lay down, taking off his glasses and placing them on the floor. It was the first time that Ludwig had ever seen his crazy little brother without them. Iggy's eyes were pretty much what he expected, large, like Larry's, with the same pupils that he had when he wore his glasses. But what surprised him were the intense bags under his eyes, and the orange stripe on the side of his head that was hidden by the strap on his glasses. It resembled one of Lemmy's orange stripes. Ludwig said nothing as he pulled a little bit of the sheet off of Morton and onto himself, and turned towards the door, his shell facing Morton.
The oldest Koopaling let out a moan as he looked at the bed. It was pretty full, though it could probably fit his other two siblings. Though the odds of that happening were a million to one.
Or so he thought. Apparently he needed to recalculate that.
"Hey, Ludwig?"
He turned towards the door, surprised. Wendy was there, a pink sheet around her form, and tears streaming from her face.
"Vhat are you doing here, Vendy?"
"Well… I tried to wake up Daddy but… he's harder to wake up than Roy."
"Vhy?"
"Well I think it's because he snores so loudly that you can't wake him up–"
"I meant vhy vere you trying to wake him up?"
"Oh. Well I was texting Mimi, and she told me that my boyfriend's cheating on me with my other best friend."
"…I assume zat zat eez a bad zing?" Ludwig cocked an eyebrow, smirking.
"You're so dense!" Wendy huffed indignantly, but after a few seconds she started to giggle a little bit.
"Vould you like me to torch zem for you?"
"Nah… I can handle it!" She laughed at the thought of her older, dignified brother going after the two of them in a rampage. "But… could I stay for a bit?"
"Of course," Ludwig nodded, gesturing for her to enter. Wendy went to the foot of the bed and took a place on the floor, instead of on the bed like her brothers (cuz, you know, that'd be a little awkward), and leaned against the edge of the large bed, using the mattress as her pillow.
"So… the others are here too, huh?"
"Yes. I cannot seem to catch a break tonight."
"Even Roy?"
"No, zank goodness. Zis bed eez full enough as eet eez."
"There's enough room for him."
"Come on, Vendy. Be serious. Roy Koopa. Coming to sleep in my room. Me. Ludvig Von Koopa."
"True enough," she laughed, before falling silent. Ludwig assumed that she had begun to rest. She needed it. Spending late nights texting all the time couldn't be very good for her eyes.
The eldest attempted to slumber once more. He was extremely hopeful that there wouldn't be any more interruptions. He smiled despite himself. He felt like a father. He supposed that this is what their own father had to go through when they were younger, though he couldn't remember having done this before. It felt good to be a comforting older brother to his worried siblings. As unconsciousness began to take over his mind, he allowed his mind to wander, reflecting on all of the times that he had comforted his siblings when they were younger, especially when he'd been forced to care for them because Bowser hadn't been home, due to fighting Mario and conquering lands. He'd always been the responsible one… the one who cared for his siblings even when it seemed like no one else did or would. He hadn't had much of a childhood… the majority of the time was spent either arguing with his siblings or trying to get them to stop arguing. The real chaos had begun when Wendy and Roy had entered the picture. Roy constantly did things to irritate them, and Wendy screamed when she didn't get what she wanted, when she wanted it. He and Lemmy hadn't fought much… if at all. Lemmy was usually the victim, and Ludwig the defender, until Iggy was born. Then Roy had switched targets. It had gotten worse when chatty Morton arrived. The moment that he learned to talk was the beginning of their migraines. Though Ludwig couldn't really blame the guy… he did what he loved. And that happened to be talking.
An unexpected noise jarred Ludwig from his thoughts, and from almost falling asleep.
"Hnngh?"
Ludwig sat up yet again, turning to the doorway. It was almost a reflex now. A figure stood there, leaning against the frame with arms folded, looking down at the floor, hesitant. They almost seemed to be contemplating if they should stay or leave. Choosing the latter, they slowly turned away, thinking that they had remained unseen. But Ludwig would have none of it.
"Roy?" he whispered, as hesitant as the figure before him. The figure froze, and Ludwig rubbed his eyes as they turned around at a snail's pace.
"Hey," Roy returned to his previous position, except now he was staring at the wall instead of the floor.
"What are you doing here?"
"Just… checkin' up on you guys."
It was fairly easy to see the real reason of Roy's arrival. Now, normally Ludwig would use this opportunity to tease his oh-so-tough younger brother, mocking him that he had come seeking refuge from his older brother that Roy insulted so often. But this hadn't exactly been a normal night, and Ludwig was definitely not the sadistic type, especially when his siblings needed him.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"What? No!" Roy scoffed nonchalantly, trying to hide the nervous clip in his voice. "Just… making sure you guys are alright."
"Since vhen do you care about your siblings?" Ludwig cocked an eyebrow. Roy clenched his fists, becoming infuriated, but before he could speak Ludwig spoke again. "I vill not make fun of you. Eef you vant to talk about eet zen I vill listen, and I vill not judge you."
"Yeah. Right." Roy retorted, before falling silent. Ludwig simply watched the tough Koopaling, patiently waiting until he was ready to speak, as Roy bit his lip, unsure of what to say.
The silence stretched on into the night until Roy finally burst.
"You guys were gone, okay?" he spat, frustrated, "There was an explosion in the middle of the night, and I ran to check up on you guys, but none of you were in your rooms. You had all vanished. Gone. Nowhere to be found. Then I saw this giant hole in the wall, and this huge airship was flying off, with seven cages dangling below. Most of you were either crying or calling out for help. And you… you just glared at me. You didn't do anything but glare at me. You had this look on your face like, 'You let us down. You failed us'. So I ran out of the castle and tried to catch up to you guys… to save you… but I couldn't keep up. Then I got lost in this freaky forest, and everything just kept whispering at me, going 'you've failed, you've failed', 'you've failed your siblings', 'you let them down', 'they're gone because of you', 'you're such a failure'… and stuff like that. I tried to block out the voices but they just kept getting louder and louder. Finally I screamed and woke up."
Roy took a deep, calming breath as Ludwig watched him, wide-eyed and jaw-slacked. "After I woke up, I decided to check up on you guys. But… like my dream, none of you were in your rooms. I almost lost it. Then I remembered that you've got a room up here. And here you all are."
"…wow… Roy… I had no idea… zat you actually cared so much…"
"Of course I care!" Roy scoffed, glaring at Ludwig, "Why do you think I train so hard? Why do you think I'm always pickin' on you guys? It's my way of letting you know that I'm gonna protect you no matter what happens. But… in my dream… I failed…"
"Roy. Zat dream vas not real. And eet never vill be. You vill never fail us. Zis I can promise you."
"…alright. I trust you." Roy strutted into the room and plunked onto Ludwig's bed. Upon seeing the oldest's stunned look, he sighed. "Fine. Can… I… stay… here… tonight…?"
"Of course. You are alvays velcome here."
"If the others ask I'm here because King Dad told me to be here."
"Very vell. You know, you do not have to be embarrassed. Vee all have nightmares every vonce in avhile. You can come and talk vhenever you'd like."
"Okay …and I'm not real good at this but… thanks, big bro. I owe ya one."
"Zat eez vhy I am here. Zee listening ear, I suppose. Like I said, eef you ever need anyone to talk to, I am alvays available."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Roy folded his arms behind his head and propped up one leg, letting the other dangle over the edge of the bed. He was soon fast asleep, like everyone else.
Ludwig was about to go to sleep as well, until he felt Junior shivering against his arm and muttering in his sleep. He carefully picked up the youngest of the eight and rocked him gently. His restlessness vanished almost instantly.
"Do not vorry, my siblings," Ludwig nodded determinedly, "I am alvays here for you."
There was silence for a few moments, before Ludwig spoke again.
"Please do not tell me zat you had a nightmare as vell."
A surprised, low chuckle met his question. "Nah. Plus I highly doubt I'd fit with you kids."
"You could not sleep, eizzer?"
"I was just gettin' a glass of water, actually. Then I thought I'd check on you guys, but I knew something was wrong when I couldn't here Morton or Roy snorin' away."
"In truth, Roy came a few minutes ago."
"I'm actually kinda surprised. But happy. He needs to express himself more."
"And you honestly think zat vill happen, fazzur?"
Bowser chuckled again. "I suppose not. Have a good night, Lud."
"Zank you, fazzer. You as vell."
Bowser stomped off, being surprisingly quiet. Ludwig looked around at his siblings, fatigue finally overtaking him. He gently placed Junior to his left and prepared to go to sleep, for real this time.
Though he would never admit it, he had actually had a nightmare as well before his brothers and sister had shown up. It had been the true reason why he could not get to sleep, and the reason why he had been jarred awake right before Iggy had shown up. It was actually about his siblings, and slightly similar to Larry's dream. In it, each of his siblings had defiantly approached him from behind a Plexiglas wall. He himself had been standing on a platform, elevated above a bottomless pit by seven thick chains. In front of each of his siblings was a lever, and each was connected to a single chain. There were six around the edge, and one in the center, to which Ludwig was holding onto in order to keep his balance on the wobbly stone platform. Bowser was nowhere to be seen. Lemmy had approached first.
"I'm the second oldest! I don't need you!" he had cackled, and pulled his lever. One of the chains snapped, and the platform shifted slightly. Ludwig tried to cry out, but no sound came from his throat. As the chain had snapped on both ends, it had fallen into the pit.
Roy had pulled the lever before he spoke, causing the platform to jerk violently, as the chains had been side by side. "I'm the toughest. Why would I, of all people, need someone to confide in?" he had jeered.
Iggy was next. "I'm the smartest! I don't need any help!" The lever was pulled, the chain had snapped, and the entire left side of the platform was now tilting towards the pit. Ludwig clutched onto the center chain with fear.
Wendy smirked and flipped the lever with a gleam in her eyes. "You're just in my way of getting what I want!"
Morton quickly followed. "You never listen to me!" he declared, pulling his lever. The platform was now incredibly tilted, and Ludwig was trying desperately to stay on, out of the pit, away from the blackness.
Larry approached next. Surely Larry, of all people, wouldn't pull the lever? "You just force me deeper into the shadows! I don't need you!" And another lever was pulled. The outer chains were now all gone, and the platform swung wildly. Ludwig had lost his grip on the center chain and dangled over the edge, digging his claws into the stone in a desperate attempt to stay on.
Junior was the last to come forwards, his expression neutral. Ludwig could finally speak now.
"Junior… please…" he had begged, exhaustedly climbing back onto the platform, "Surely you need me?"
Junior's neutral expression became cruel, a dark smile spreading across his face. "Nope! The throne is MINE!" he had laughed, before pulling his lever. The final chain snapped, and Ludwig had made a desperate attempt to dive for the center chain. Unlike the others, it had only snapped where it connected to the platform. Ludwig's hand grazed against the metal chain, and a glimmer of hope coursed through him. But his jump hadn't been enough, and Ludwig just missed the chain. He had tumbled down into the pit, the laughter of his siblings echoing around him.
That was when he had woken up. But the oldest knew now that the dream wasn't true. Because his siblings did need him, just as much as he needed them. That was proven by the fact that they were here now. That they had come to him to tell him there problems. Their simple arrival was all the reassurance that he had needed.
With a final exhale of relief, Ludwig rested his head on his pillow for the last time, and immediately fell asleep, a small smile on his otherwise expressionless face.