Thankfully, Lemmy was fairly predictable in his habits. If he wanted to be alone, he'd go to the one place where he would rarely ever be found under normal circumstances: His room.

Ludwig's knock yielded no response, but he was not deterred as he had received confirmation from a nearby Goomba that the smallest Koopaling had, in fact, retreated to his chambers. Why the Goomba had simply been wandering the halls instead of training was left to guesswork, but just this once, he would give the small minion a pass.

Ludwig looked up at the bright orange door with a yellow star painted on it, sticking out like a sore thumb against the bland stone walls and dark atmosphere. While the 'Bedroom Hall', as it had come to be called, had doors that matched the colours of their shells, only Lemmy's was decorated so simply. The others either had no decoration or were loaded with a plethora of detail – Junior's being a fine example of that. At the very least, it left out any need for memorization or guesswork.

Wendy would have a fit if they accidentally mistook her door for theirs on a regular basis.

With just a moment's hesitation to steel himself, Ludwig turned the handle and opened the door.

Instead of bright lights and colours that assaulted the eyes and a mess that made Ludwig cringe every time he so much as thought about it, the normally happy and cheerful bedroom was dark, almost foreboding, and seemed surprisingly… empty. Given how neat everything was, the eldest assumed that Lemmy had spent the day tidying up so as to avoid any social interactions. The lights were off, and the starry yellow wallpaper and orange carpet were doing nothing to brighten things up for once. His normally spilling over closet was shut tight, white doors covered in cheery pictures that either he himself or Junior had made. Lemmy's toys, circus gear, and bombs were put away neatly on shelves or on his yellow, blue, and orange dresser, and his collection of circus balls were stacked like apples in a corner.

…how he had managed to accomplish such a feat, Ludwig would never know.

Unlike the rest of the bedrooms – minus Wendy's – Lemmy's room wasn't lit up with torches. Instead, a set of three miniature spotlights hung from the centre of the room and normally served to light the place up, or act as spotlights if positioned correctly. There was also an ice blue lamp on a darker blue side table that sat next to his orange and yellow bed, which currently had a small lump under the covers. The side table had been a hand-me-down from when he himself was younger, and the second oldest had kept it ever since, despite the fact that it greatly juxtaposed the room's bright colours.

The lamp that sat atop it had always been the one feature of this room that had intrigued Ludwig. Not that he paid much attention, but he had never once heard the orange-shelled Koopaling ask for a lightbulb to replace it. It seemed to be made of ice, with small diamond-like glass rimming the shade and an intricate icicle design serving as the stand and the base. It didn't have a cord, either, which led Ludwig to believe that it must've been battery powered, but one would think that it wouldn't have lasted as long as it supposedly has. Lemmy had never told anyone when or where he had gotten it. One day, it was simply there, with no explanation given to any of them.

The bed lump shifted a bit and a tired voice spoke out. "Dad, I said I wanted to be left alone…"

"Vell, Koopa siblings aren't exactly good listeners, now are zhey?"

The lump shifted in surprise, and Lemmy popped his head out from under the blankets, blinking at him blearily. "…Ludwig? What are you doing here?"

There were many ways to go about this, but the oldest decided to simply be direct. No offence to him, but Lemmy didn't always understand subtle implications.

"I'm concerned for you, brozzer," he sighed, shutting the door behind him, "You haven't been your normal self today. Not zhat zhat isn't expected, given ze circumstances, but you're usually qvick to bounce back from negative zoughts." Dark eyes met light ones as Lemmy moved to sit up, idly fiddling with the corner of his blanket. "I had certainly expected you undt Iggy to stick close togezzer as you usually do in stressful situations, but today you two could not have been more distance."

The blankets shifted in a shrug and Lemmy rested his head back on the pillow, obscuring himself from view once more.

"I just… wanted to be alone today. And honestly?" He sighed. "…I think he wanted to be alone, too."

"Mm… yes, I got zhat vibe from him as vell… He did not even bring Chompella vith him to dinner as he usually does." Lemmy said nothing, so he took that as an invitation to stick around, sitting down on the edge of the bed and glancing at his old side table.

"…you know, I'm surprised you kept zhat old zhing. Ze drawer alvays sqveaked undt ze legs became uneven after a misaimed fireball… it's not like you even reqvired it in ze first place. We're not exactly struggling financially."

"I know, it's just…" The lump under the blankets didn't move as he spoke, but Ludwig could detect a faint trace of fondness in his immediate younger brother's voice, though a bit muffled from the covers. "Dad was always talking about how you'd be so busy once you took over. I mean, before Junior came along. And even with all your studies, you'd still take the time to talk to us if we came up to your room." Lemmy's hand went out and pressed against the old oak. "If you were working and one of us wanted to sit and watch, you'd pull up the side table and a chair and let us sit next to you. You always put down a white rag so we wouldn't get it dirty or scratched or coloured on. And we'd talk to you and you'd listen and give us advice. Sometimes if one of us got hurt and we were too scared or stubborn to go to King Dad or one of the medics, you'd sit us on the side table and patch us up – after you yelled at us for being so dumb, of course. It's where you kept your bandages, your biggest plans, your first conductor's baton…" A slight pause. "And it's where you kept all the pictures we made for you."

His sombre attitude was as much of a shock as his memory's skillful recollection. I had forgotten about zhat…

But Lemmy wasn't done yet. "Back then… well… we thought we wouldn't have much time to play with you because you were always so busy. I wanted it because I knew that even if we all separated when we were older, I'd still have the memories and something to remember you all by." His hand dropped, as if his arm didn't have the strength to keep it up anymore. "It's… scary, you know? We've been together, the eight of us, for so long… I dunno what would happen if any one of us took off."

It was a side of him that was so rare. This sad maturity that had suddenly presented itself reminded Ludwig that Lemmy was, in fact, just a year younger than he himself, that he was almost fully developed mentally and that he was more complicated than he ever let on to anyone, except maybe Iggy. "Zhat's… very deep, Lemmy. Zhank you for sharing zhis vith me. I had no idea it meant so much to you."

Lemmy let out an amused hum. "Yeah… and I know I'm not usually this… serious, but… it helps get my mind off of… you know…"

Vell, now or never.

Still, he allowed a brief silence to pass between the two of them. It wasn't often that any of the Koopalings were relaxed enough to express themselves so seriously. But he couldn't put off the nature of his visit forever. So, his tone gentle, he glanced over at the lump and spoke up again. "Perhaps zhis is ze last zhing you vant me to ask, but… vhat happened?"

There wasn't an answer at first, and Ludwig didn't know whether or not he should've been surprised. After all, Lemmy wasn't exactly his happy-go-lucky self at the moment. He was probably bracing himself to speak, seeing as he wasn't one to hide emotional burdens. Idly, Ludwig smiled to himself. He hadn't realized he'd had such a positive impact on his siblings to the point where one of them would want to keep an old piece of his furniture as memorabilia.

"You… you said you'd come back..."

He jumped, caught off guard. "I'm… sorry?"

Lemmy's voice cracked as he repeated his words, loud and tense, almost shouting but not quite as he sat up and stared at Ludwig with tears in his eyes. "You said you'd come back but you never did!"

B-but… he saw…!? How?!

For a moment, the oldest was convinced that Lemmy was speaking of his simulation and guilt and panic struck him like lightning until logic began to override his worries.

Nein… zhat's impossible… ze data vas deleted… Lemmy left as soon as possible… undt zhere vas no vay for him to see vhat vas actually going on… I promised I vould not let go, nozzing about coming back…

Refusing to allow his face to show undue concern, Ludwig tilted his head in what he hoped looked like confusion. "…Vhat do you mean, Lemmy?"

Lemmy took a deep breath to calm himself, though it didn't stop a few tears from dripping onto the sheets below.

"I-I think… it'd be easier if I just started from the beginning."

"Lemmy, it's too dangerous. We'll come back, we promise."

"Are you sure, Iggy?"

"Promise."

"Ludwig? Y-you will, r-right?"

"I promise."

So I huddled there, scared, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I don't know why you left. I don't know what the threat was. I didn't know how bad things were going to get. All I knew was that I had to stay behind.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out. I needed to find you, make sure you were all okay.

But I couldn't get out. I was trapped in that little stone safe room, locked in, and I couldn't escape. I yelled for someone, anyone to come, but no one ever did.

All I could do was wait for you to come back.

Wait for you to keep a promise that was already broken.

"…and no matter where I went, no matter where I looked… there was no way out. No way to get in. All I had with me was a little radio on a desk… it played music for a little bit, and then switched to the news… news that kept telling me how you had all moved on with your lives… while I had been…" He hiccupped. "…L-left behind. You never even mentioned me. Whenever they asked about me… you would pause and go… who?" He looked down at his hands at let out a shaky breath, trying to fight a second round of tears. "It… really hurt me."

After taking a moment to digest the surprisingly short account – although to be fair, the simulations hadn't even gone on for ten minutes, and his had been multiple things in rapid succession as opposed to a single scene, so who knows how long he had sat there waiting – Ludwig went over and put a hand on his brother's shoulder to comfort him. He watched a smile flicker for the briefest of moments in thanks, but then it was right back to the misery.

But zhat doesn't add up… Lemmy has confidence in us, at times, more zhan ve do in ourselves. This train of thought then reached a rather strange conclusion and voiced his musings to the orange-shelled Koopaling.

"Eet's strange… I considered Larry to be the one that would fear being forgotten."

Lemmy regarded him with confusion, his dejected attitude momentarily fading. "Being forgotten? Don't you mean being left behind?"

"Not exactly. If you had been purposely left behind, ve vould have acknowledged your presence. Certaintly Ignatius vould not purposely leave you behind, none of us vould. Ve vould stop at nozzing to reach you. Besides, if you had been left behind due to injury, ve vould have made sure a medic vas at hand. You are a capable Koopaling." Ludwig gestured back to the side table. "It's as you yourself said: you do not know vhat vould happen if any one of us took off. In essence, if any von of us forgot about ze ozzers."

"So… Being forgotten."

"Mm."

"…I dunno if that's better or worse." He let out a small chuckle despite himself. Talking through his fear seemed to have calmed him down, at least. "I think I'm pretty hard to forget, but it does make sense… I mean, compared to you guys, what have I really done?"

"Zhat's not vhat I meant."

"Well, yeah, but think about it." Lemmy rested his head on his knees, folding his arms in front of his muzzle and tiredly looking off to the side as he listed everyone's accomplishments. "You've got dozens of songs, Roy's got strength, Iggy's got all his inventions, Wendy has her designs, Morton has his books, Junior's got his art, even Larry's got that game he's made, and what have I done?" Lemmy waved his hand in disdain. "Made a little circus act that no one's gonna remember anyway." He sighed. "And I mean, you guys could go big with your talents and take off… and where does that leave me? No one visits the circus anymore… If you all did leave, would you even think about me?"

"I… am unsure," Ludwig admitted, "But vhat I am sure of is zhat even if ve may become busy, ve vill never forget about you. Undt zhat is vhy I'm here – to assist you undt prove zhat to be true."

That got his attention, head rising slightly as he asked what was only natural: "How are you gonna do that?"

"I have an idea in mind, should it receive your consensus. It may seem intimidating, but it should prove to assist in overcoming at least some of ze fear."

Lemmy's face lit up like a bulb fruit, and he was finally starting to look like his old self. "I think we should do it."

"Very vell." Ludwig stood up and made to leave. "Meet me in ze secondary gym by ze entrance tomorrow morning."

"Ok. And… Luddy?"

Just this once, he'd let the nickname slide. "Yes?"

His little brother's smile was the best reassurance he could've gotten that he was going to be okay now. "Thanks. I mean it."

"No problem at all. It's vhat I'm here for."

With that, he left to begin his plan.

So as you can see, the format for this series will be that each character's confrontation will be divided into two parts. The actual confrontation and reassurance, and then Ludwig acting to help his siblings overcome their fears. Some of these parts will overlap with others, and some will span multiple days.

I get that Lemmy's recount of the simulation came off very short. It would be much longer if you were viewing it from his personal perspective, as you'd be getting his personal thoughts and more specific details on the scene. It's also important to remember that the simulations didn't even last ten minutes. Some are going to be shorter because nothing is happening until a certain point.

Honestly though? I feel as though the development leading up to the recount is better than the recount itself! XD I really like the whole 'side table' thing. I also feel like Lemmy is much smarter than he lets on and has incredible confidence in his siblings despite how much they may insult him. While he may act childish and have a few quirks, he's in no hurry to grow up, but can be serious when it's required of him, though it's rare for him to be this sombre. I hope he didn't come off too out of character because of that... he'll be 'back to normal' in the next scene. ^^

Though... you won't really see much of him... you'll see what I mean! 3 hope you enjoyed it!