Chapter 13 Unpleasant Return

Ludwig was travelling at a very brisk speed, but even then, his nerves were still acting up. It was like a ticking time bomb had been placed in his head, for every second felt torturous. He willed himself to go faster. He just knew that he had to reach the castle in time.

Thankfully, after about two hours of flying, Ludwig could see Bowser's Castle in the distance. The flags on the towers were waving like miniature beacons, telling Ludwig that his exhausting flight was just about finished. Even then, the time bomb in his head still did not deactivate. He burst through one of the windows, for he was not patient enough to make the journey all the way down to the front door. He landed on the royal red carpet, his heart rate going through the roof.

"Lemmy!" Ludwig called out. There was no answer. From anyone. The second floor hallway of the east wing was completely silent. Ludwig felt his heart rate increase as he wondered what this could mean. Did Lemmy already cause so much trouble that his other siblings had to leave the castle? Ludwig wouldn't put it past him, especially after what Lemmy did to him.

"Wendy! Morton! Iggy!"

Still, there was no answer. Ludwig rose into the air and started opening the doors to his siblings bedrooms. He found that each one of them was as dormant as the hallway. Ludwig's dread felt so strong, so nefarious, that his breathing rate was nearly impossible to calm. He flew down to the first floor hallway. His heart was pounding against the walls of his rib cage. His blood was running cold in his veins.

"Guys!" Ludwig called out when he got to the first floor hallway. "Where are you?"

Still, there was no one there to answer. With his heart in his throat and his breath as heavy as lead, he made his way toward the door that would lead away from the east wing. Just as he did, he heard something. It sounded like a TV, and it was coming from the common room.

Ludwig poked his head through the door. At first he was relieved. Larry was sitting in front of the TV on an orange beanbag chair, nonchalantly eating from a bowl of popcorn. As Ludwig approached his brother, however, he began to feel confused. Why was Larry the only other Koopaling in the castle? Just as he was thinking this, Larry turned toward him. Larry didn't even look surprised at the sight of the special.

"Oh, hey Ludwig," Larry said with a cool, laid back tone. "Glad to see you got out of jail." Larry displayed the popcorn bowl to his older brother. "Popcorn?" Ludwig's confusion was doubling by the minute.

"Larry, where is everyone?"

"They went to go stop Lemmy," Larry replied. "After Bowser got that call from you, 'The Great Detective' decided to bolt. He's been all around the Kingdom solving nonexistent murders, nonexistent kidnappings, disturbing the lives of unsuspecting individuals; you know, fun stuff like that."

Ludwig felt an even bigger dose of confusion land on him.

"How many towns has he been to?" he asked. Right at that moment, Larry got a text message. He snuck a glance at his phone before answering.

"Umm, I'd say about five?" He laid his phone down at his side. "Iggy just said that he's in Sparksville right now." Ludwig nearly did a double take.

"Five towns? But I was only gone for three hours!" Ludwig said in shock. Larry snickered.

"Yeah, I know. The guy's surprisingly efficient."

"Well, why didn't you go stop him?" Ludwig asked.

"Duh," Larry said. "I wanted to watch a basketball game." With that, Larry turned back toward the TV, where a basketball game was already underway. Ludwig's eyelids dropped in incredulity.

"You are the literal definition of useless," he said after letting out a disbelieving sigh. Larry shrugged as he reached into the popcorn bowl.

"Eh. I try," he said as he munched on his treat. Ludwig stared at his head for a second or two before exiting the room. If Larry wouldn't help his siblings, the least that Ludwig could do would be to pick up his slack. Once in the hallway, Ludwig got out his phone and called Iggy. He had to try two times before his brother picked up.

"Hey, Ludwig!" Iggy shouted into the speaker. His breathing was like a sporadic staccato. "Can't really talk now; I'm busy!"

"Busy with what?" Ludwig asked, taken aback by Iggy's tone.

"Well, Lemmy recently got the idea in his head that a little boy has been kidnapped and is being held underground, so he's going to use a bunch of bob-ombs to blow up some buildings."

"WHAT!" Ludwig shouted. Surely, Iggy was joking! Surely, Lemmy wasn't that deep in the fantasy! Unfortunately, Iggy's hyperventilation gave away the fact that he was being one hundred percent serious. Ludwig's heart sank as Iggy spoke up again.

"Yeah. He's dead set on doing this. It's kind of scary, to be honest."

Ludwig would have laughed at the irony of who was saying that if the situation weren't so grave.

"Did you stop him yet?"

"We are in the process of doing that as we speak," Iggy replied.

"Good! Continue doing that! I'll be over there in just a minute."

"Roger that," Iggy said. With that, he hung up. Ludwig let out a very shaky breath. Just as he was about to make his way over toward the door, he heard someone clearing their throat.

"Ahem."

"Huh?" Ludwig asked as he glanced behind. He saw Kamek emerging from the shadows. The King's magikoopa adviser cast the special a smile saturated with a snark.

"It seems that you have quite the predicament, my friend."

"Kamek!" Ludwig said. "Yeah, so as you can imagine, I am not exactly in a chatty mood." Ludwig tried stepping away, but stopped when he heard Kamek snicker.

"Oh, believe me, I am not in a chat mood, either. In fact, I came to tell you that I am going to follow you."

Ludwig cast Kamek a rasied eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked. Kamek pulled out his wand. The snark in his expression was replaced by a confidence that only wisdom could provide.

"I believe that I might have a solution to your problem. From my understanding. Lemonade is indulging in a fantasy that has taken him hostage. Well, I believe that a slight dose of magic could help solve the problem."

Ludwig lowered his eyebrow.

"Magic? You mean, like a purification spell?"

"Exactly," Kamek said with a nod. Ludwig instantly became a little nervous.

"Won't that hurt Lemmy?" he asked. Kamek laughed.

"No, it won't. In fact, purification spells were originally designed for such a purpose as this. I believe it could knock some sense into your brother, seeign how he isn't willing to listen to reason anymore."

Ludwig began to think about the solution Kamek was presenting. The more he did, the more he realized that it might actually work.

"That's a great idea, Kamek!" he said. Kamek smirked.

"Of course it is; it's mine!" His expression grew more serious. "Now, we have to hurry. Lead the way, Ludwig."