Chapter Four: The Morning After The Night Before
Mario stirred, it was early morning, the last sunrise he would see for a while. He had no idea what to expect after his departure from this Kingdom. As he lifted his head off the pillow he saw a flock of green and red birds fly past his window. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he rubbed his eyes; he'd fallen asleep in his evening suit.
Standing he walked across to the bathroom and sprayed cold water on his face. It felt good to feel the fresh water against his skin; boy he was going to miss it.
Picking up the bag he packed some clothes into it and dropped it down across the room on a red clad chair. Taking a look out of the window a moment, he gazed out over the Mushroom Kingdom. It was so beautiful, when he returned he wondered what was to become of him, should he go and live out there somewhere, or stay close to the castle, to the princesses… To Luigi?
Putting his hands in his pockets he looked at the sun dial down in the castle grounds, it was early morning and he doubted anyone else would be up. He was secretly glad of it; he needed time to think about the early hours of tomorrow.
Putting his hands in his pockets he made his way out of the room, stopping to close the door slowly behind him. Walking down the hall silently he made his way down the steps.
"Master Mario!" Toadsworth said as he entered the foyer seeing him coming down, still dressed in his evening attire. "I wasn't expecting you to be up for another couple of hours yet! If you're hungry I can get Mrs. Toadsworth to cook you something special up for breakfast?"
Mario smiled a little and shook his head tapping the Toads shoulder as he walked past him. "No thank you." He said softly, his voice still croaky. Toadsworth furrowed his brow confused and watched the elder of the Mario brothers walk towards the lounge. Thinking nothing of it, Toadsworth carried on with what he was doing and made his way upstairs.
As he walked into the Lounge, Mario went over and unlocked the patio doors, stepping out on to the concrete. Closing the door behind him, he turned and breathed in the fresh morning air. Closing his eyes for a moment he listened…
It was calming and relaxing to just stand and think, but also a habit for Mario. Whenever he had something on his mind a quiet moment of thought was really all he needed. But Peach was a different matter, had he lost her in all of his over powering stupid-ness?
Mario was a kind warm man, but he had to be strong. Giving into the gift of pleasure was something maybe he could never see himself doing. There could never be a life outside of protecting Mushroom Kingdom. He was their hero and a hero always had to keep his guard up.
Walking down the few steps to the grass, Mario started walking slowly, every thought playing on his mind. He was so upset that Peach would marry another, yet even worse she had agreed, not fought against her father. How times had changed.
As he drew closer to a lake he stopped walking up the steps of a bandstand and sitting on the wooden swing that sat inside of it. Sitting down, he spread his arms out on the backrest and began to swing slowly, watching the ripples of the early morning sun glisten the lake.
Stirring now, Luigi moved and stretched his arms up above his head. Taking his cap off the side he placed it on his head and sat up slowly so as not to wake the sleeping woman beside him. Walking across the room he caught a glimpse out the window of Mario walking across the field.
'You're up early' he thought to himself, normally they had to shake Mario several times just to wake him up. He was still dressed in his evening suit and Luigi shook his head, now it was all silent and the two princesses were still in bed; he thought it a perfect time to go and speak with Mario.
"Luigi?" A tender voice called softly from behind him. Luigi turned and smiled walking over to his wife and sitting on the bed kissing her forehead gently and brushing the strands of brown hair from her eyes, to gently behind her ears.
"I'm going downstairs for a little, its still early go back to sleep if you wish." Luigi asked resting a hand on her arm. But she was already gone. Laughing softly he stood and shoved his everyday 'plumbers' outfit on, exiting the room quietly and making his way out of the castle and down to where he knew Mario would be.
The water was calming, Mario closed his eyes and swung slowly, how could anyone ever want to take over this place and turn it into dark evil dead life? He thought silently. Though his silence was soon disturbed, turning his head he watched Luigi walk up the steps and over to the rails in front of him, looking out over the lake.
Mario watched him silently for a moment, Luigi never turned, never said a word; he didn't know how. Mario stood slowly and walked over to stand next to him, resting his hands on the wood before him Mario began.
"Whilst you were away on Isle Delfino with Daisy I was visited by a man who Peach revealed to me as a masked crusader from another Kingdom. A very spiritual and powerful guide who her father had come across before. He told me of a place that I have to be early tomorrow morning. If I'm not there all the Kingdoms will suffer eternal darkness and become ruled by Bowser and his minions. I'm to go on a journey to… Who knows where and save a bunch of people I've never met. Peach read from a book that described this exact situation happening, she didn't… Doesn't believe the guy in the book is me, but somehow; somewhere deep inside me I know that it is…" Mario paused allowing Luigi to take in the information.
"And?" Was all Luigi was capable of saying for now. Mario turned and crossed his arms across his chest leaning back against the wooden frame. "And I'm going… Peach read in the book that the mythical character sacrificed him self to save the 6 Kingdoms, she's worried that I'll have to make the same choice." Mario finished walking back over to the swing and sitting down placing his face in his hands to rub his tired eyes.
Luigi paused not turning to Mario but simply saying "Mario why did you keep this from me? I thought we were a team? We're brothers and you're keeping stuff like this from me?" He said deadly serious, he couldn't believe how Mario could keep something like that from him.
"I knew if you knew you wouldn't let me go, you'd do anything to stop me, break my leg even…" He was cut off by Luigi turning round swiftly. "Damn right I would! You're my brother, how do you know this isn't one of Bowser's tricks to lure you away so he can take over the Mushroom Kingdom? After all once you're gone there's just me and he can walk right over me!"
"Don't say that Luigi, you've defeated him once before! You can do it again. I didn't bring you up to think like this." Mario cut in on him; Luigi sighed and walked over to Mario sitting down beside him.
"You brought me up to believe I was fighter, but I'm not like you Mario!"
"You're exactly like me Luigi! We're almost twins! Look at us, we make the perfect team and…" he this time was cut off by Luigi
"And if I loose you it's like I'm loosing an arm or a leg… Mario I can't let you do this alone."
"Luigi you can't come with me you need to stay here, protect the Kingdom from Bowser." Mario said leaning back. Luigi shook his head; he was so disappointed in Mario for not feeling the confidence to be able to confide in him.
"Your not getting it Mario, I-I may not be strong like you, but we're still a team and you can't have one Mario brother without the other! I have a plan and tomorrow morning I'm going with you, whether you like it or not…"
"Luigi no!" Mario stood cutting in and throwing his hands into the air. But before he had a chance to say anything else Luigi stood too.
"You've hidden enough from me Mario, I can't trust you like I used to! So if I can't trust you to make the right choice when the time comes I'm just going to have to be with you when that time comes. So whether you like it or not this time I'm going too and you're not going to stop me." Luigi finished walking down the steps and away from Mario.
Stopping he turned back, he looked at Mario for a little longer than he normally would; Mario stared back. "Meet me in the study when you get dressed properly and get your act together, I have a call to make." Luigi finished and walked away, Mario sat back down into the swing and sighed heavily.