Black, like the endless expanse of darkness on every side of him, punctuated occasionally by blurred shapes and flashes of bright, painful clarity. He quickly squinted again, moving just swiftly enough to avoid ramming face-first into a tree…he was getting closer. Or, was it farther? The further away from the village they ran, the closer they came to what he could only hope was safety on the other end of…wherever. All the screaming and yelling was scrambling his orientation but he only needed to feel their hands in his, just as his mother and father had placed them.

He hoped they were alright…

He crashed into someone and he stumbled forward, catching himself before he could bring his little sisters down with him. They were gone before he could say a word, and everything lost itself to the general chaotic noise of the stampede. His apology, his voice, his vision, his parents…all ripped away in the tide of people, and though the pursuing soldiers had seen to it that he hadn't much to lose anymore, the loss of his glasses reminded him of how dangerously bare he was becoming.

"Roy-!"

"B-be careful!"

He tightened his grip and smiled because it was all he could do.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just…keep moving, okay?"

It was easier said than done. Much as he needed to focus on the present, he was thankful for the foresight of his younger self, taking little heed of his parents' incessant fussing to prove that despite his limitations, he was made of sterner stuff than they gave him credit for. They never really understood the way he moved through life, mostly through trial and error. It was difficult, feeling this lost and disoriented, but he never really felt his defective vision to be a serious hinderance until this moment; it had just been a part of him until it wasn't, at least when his lenses were on.

He only ever confided in his father on very rare occasions, when the bumps on his arms and battle scars on his legs weren't large or cool enough to boast about, when the falls tended to scrape him up worse on the inside…how embarrassing it was to find his way around in a world that wasn't built for him. Nothing would ever change; it always hurt to see without his glasses. But his parents would always tell him that everything happens for a reason; his mother would say that he was special, that his sisters looked up to him no matter what, and his father would say that he was the strongest kid he ever knew, and things would be right again because he was young and easy to please.

The worries shelved themselves, knowing there were eyes on him that he couldn't see.

But what had once comforted him now drove him onwards in an aimless panic, his glasses gone in the flood of people who hadn't been able to see them either until it was too late.

As he grew older, he figured his parents only told him there was a reason for everything because they couldn't come to terms with the senselessness of certain things. Nothing could exist without a purpose, no act without a catalyst…it was fine with him, helpful at times to find some form of tangibility in a world full of abstracts. It made things more straightforward, more dangerously comfortable, to believe in something he couldn't bump into on accident. It made him feel like more of an equal despite himself, because for once he wasn't the only one putting blind faith into something he couldn't see.

But he couldn't help but wonder bitterly as he fled, sisters trembling at his sides, that they always knew the reason was a sort of sick cosmic cruelty. That only here of all places, amidst the terror and suffering would he truly be indistinguishable from the rest because they were all just trying to make it through in one piece.

He felt a sharp tug on his left arm, and they all crashed to the ground. Someone stepped on him but he barely noticed it compared to the pain he felt when his eyes naturally widened in surprise. He hissed, but nevertheless looked over to the youngest of them, who had fallen. The outline of her clutched at her leg, and he cursed under his breath again.

"R-Roy…my…someone…it hurts…" It was all she managed before the pain and the stress caused the poor kid to finally break down. He couldn't blame her, but this really wasn't the time or the place…he didn't know what to do. Someone else shook his shoulder forcefully.

"Please, you gotta do something! Or they're gonna get us! Like they got-"

"No one is gonna get us. Mom said to stick together and that's what we're gonna do. Now pull your head on straight and bring her here, I gotta close my eyes for a sec."

If anything else was said, it was lost to another deafening roar, defined by another secondary stampede. The noises were louder-they were losing ground fast…He still felt terrible for yelling at them; his sisters were too young to fully understand the danger they were in. One was a few years younger than him, still reeling from the fact that her parents were no longer there, and the other was just barely older than a toddler, affected primarily by that early environmental empathy young children couldn't escape. He understood that he was once young too, but he had matured rather quickly in each meter he ran, like a sudden growth spurt that constricted every movement, and nothing fit right anymore.

He felt one sister pressed into his side. He grunted, one arm underneath her, and slowly stood to carry her against him. Another arm wrapped around his opposite side, holding them all up as he rose. Once he had stabilized somewhat, he plucked it away and back down into his open hand. She attempted to pull it away but he couldn't afford to let it go.

"I got her. I've got you both."

She squeezed his hand softly, and they ran in silence awhile. The air didn't rush at him as rapidly but he kept moving, letting himself be pulled by an extended arm so long as it meant they were still connected. It wasn't quiet, but there was an eerie distance to the sounds of destruction that allowed his heart to hope that maybe the worst was behind them. The area was becoming darker, and his eyes were able to open slightly more. The rustling of trees could just be heard within the mix of the dissonant chaos. Occasionally, there would be footsteps too frenzied to mistake for the imposing pulse of death, but not much else. His thoughts wandered to his parents again.

He hoped they were okay, despite probably knowing better. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to believe they had managed to make it out because the only alternative was walking straight out into uncharted territory. It was enough to be irritated with whoever it was that was in charge of all this nonsense for being so repetitive; they had played the same practical joke on him for years.

It was one thing to be an older brother. Certain things just came with the territory, vision or no. But there was no way in hell he could ever hope to provide for his sisters in the way his parents had. His sisters were looking for answers only they could give-or at the very least a more convincing lie. He had no answers himself, he barely had any questions at all, because he hadn't decided whether or not they were even worth asking. He loved his sisters, but he would probably spend the rest of his life wondering if he was ever enough for them, where previously he had no reason to doubt it…these things would come in time. They just had to get through this first-

"ROY!"

A sudden crowd threw him around again, this one more wild than all those that came before them, and the hand that anchored him through all of the chaos was ripped clean away from him. He heard her screaming, struggling as she was carried with the pull but it was partially muted nearly immediately by the rest of the pandemonium. His eyes wrenched open but she was gone, lost to the crowd that had practically swallowed her.

He mowed through it with one arm anyways, nearly falling over himself within the fearful surge. Their cries to him fell on deaf ears, but his tunnel vision was useless and he knew it. There was open wailing in his left ear, but no time to address it, his eyes were on fire, but no time to address that, and everything spiraled out of his already limited control. He hoisted the youngest to his shoulder and continued his jog, balance thrown off by the awkward weight distribution.

"Kid, listen! I need you to be my eyes, okay? Can you see her? I need you to focus, damn it! We're gonna find her! She's gonna be fine, she's-!"

She screamed. Before he could even think to scold her, he felt himself run into something stiff. Then a strike to the head, the ground beneath him.

Then nothing.

When he awoke alone to find he had been left for dead, empty hands clutching cursed eyes that only saw what he never asked to see…for the first time he truly wished it had been so.

Black, like the tangled sheets that asphyxiated him as they fought. Ultimately, there was no victor, but he tumbled out of bed and onto the cold stone floor, defeated nonetheless.

He was back there again. He had heard their voices, seen their faces…he hadn't known how far behind they had fallen, he didn't know the soldiers were upon them until it was too late-had he just been faster-had he just been STRONGER-

He shook his head, if for no other reason than to empty his head of the thoughts that constantly echoed within it on nights like these.

He never found them. Memories trickled slowly, and he remembered crawling numbly into the woods as soon as night fell to begin a fruitless search that led him nowhere but a stranger's vegetable patch…

He rubbed at his eyes, having moved beyond his initial panic, and sluggishly wondered why Morton wasn't asleep in his lap before it dawned on him that he wasn't in the forest either. He propped himself up with an arm, and once he allowed his fingers to trace over the cracks in between the stones a number of times, he was able to confirm, like so many times before, that he was no longer dreaming. He was really here, in this weird hollowed-out castle where every breath amplified off of the barren walls, but it sure as hell beat the alternatives. It had been nearly two years since he had been here, and yet he still needed to verify reality because his brain rebooted just about every time the nightmares reared their ugly heads.

Groaning, the shaky limbs he refused to acknowledge fought him as he pulled himself up until he steadied them using the nearby nightstand. He yawned, but he paid that no heed either, the thought of sleep again less palatable than the hot wings he had eaten for dinner the night before. He hesitated only a moment before grabbing his glasses from the table, reluctant to go anywhere without them, before exiting the room. They were a part of him.

But they weren't, really. Bowser had given him these to replace the pair of cheap, waterlogged sunglasses Wendy had fished out from somewhere…it was a nice gesture but they were too large at the time. He had laughed it off, saying he'd grow into them, and all seemed well, except that it had been two years, and though they fit perfectly now he never grew at all.

There were times he felt like he was finally adjusting; he'd share a laugh with Iggy at Ludwig's expense now and again, purposely lose an arm wrestling match or two with Larry if for no other reason than to see the kid's face light up with each victory, catch Lemmy on those rare occasions when he faltered, check on Morton sometimes because he struggled with sleeping for awhile too…even Bowser was okay to talk to at times when he had the sense to keep the questions to a minimum. He'd smirk at the way Wendy would shove him when he said something she didn't like but inevitably each time he began to move forward an inch he would get pulled back by those pangs of grief that etched themselves into his new memories.

He didn't deserve to rest knowing he had failed to protect his sisters. A part of him believed they were still out there somewhere waiting for him, and it was an intoxicating argument to hang back and wait for them while the others moved on without him. That if they were really dead then he would know, because at the end of the day, no matter what, he was their brother and nothing got past him. And if they weren't out there anymore then the last thing he deserved was another set of siblings to harm-

He heard a strange sound reverberating through the corridor and he hadn't even realized he was walking aimlessly in the vague direction of the holding cell. He sighed, remembering Bowser's instructions not to go anywhere near the place, and it figures that he'd come all this way only to break the rules on accident. Still, the oddity continued, and he was too curious for his own good, deciding that if he had already broken the rules, he might as well have done it for a reason.

As he walked further, the sound became more distinct, but no less strange. It was sweet, wistful, and the inner child in him was convinced his mother was on the other end of this tunnel. Singing. He knew better, it made no sense for anyone to be singing down here at a time like this for any reason, but trusted his hearing more than anything because he was accustomed to it. He wandered into it for a minute, waiting for the moment when would eventually be cut short like most things often were. But it continued, so he let himself be enveloped in it for the briefest of seconds despite himself.

It hurt him to think of her. He had promised her and his father that even if he couldn't keep them all safe that at the very least he would keep them all together until whatever came to pass, came to pass…he wasn't supposed to be alone.

Bowser, Kamek, the others…they had all tried so hard to tell him that he wasn't anymore, but as the sweet intonation soured around him, it was hard to feel as though he were ever in the right place without them. He just wanted to be happy, but it was so hard when every day felt like he were being split into two separate versions of himself, coexisting somehow despite the large gap in between them. The noise was discordant and distressed enough that there was no joy in it anymore. His mother was gone. His father was gone. His sisters…

If there was no joy anymore, anger was ever eager to fill the space.

He stormed down the rest of the narrow stone hallway. A metallic groaning noise perforated the singing, which was weird, but it only made the voice louder, more raucous, there was nothing steady in it anymore and it was overwhelmingly irritating.

"Hey!" He yelled out just beyond the cell, and immediately all of the noise stopped, replaced with a sort of hurried shuffling inside it before he finally approached.

"Hey lady, will you can it already? People are tryin' to sleep around here!"

He faced the bars, the occupant inside only glared at him, her arms folded.

"You'll forgive me for not being more considerate." She said coolly, but she shifted uncomfortably. There was something to the awkward tension that he recognized...having younger siblings gave him an edge in these particular areas...and the whole picture became much clearer once he noticed how her gloves were missing. This grown woman was hiding her rust-tinted hands like Bowser Junior would when his father would ask him who had been finger-painting on the walls again.

He couldn't suppress a smirk, leaning against the outside of the bars. Before she could protest, he rapped the old metal with the side of his arm, and as he suspected, a relatively large chunk off to the side where it was more bent than he remembered clattered to the ground, clanging loudly. He moved over to the considerable hole it had left, watching her in amusement as her expression never changed. She only wiped her hands on her dress, orangish-brown rubbing off on the already dirty pink. She was clever, he had to give her that.

"Howdy, Princess."

"Don't mock me."

"Betcha thought you were pretty slick, huh? Too bad a racket's a racket, no matter which way you slice it-"

"Who are you? And what do you want with me? What are you plotting against my kingdom?"

"Whoa, whoa. Plotting is kinda an overstatement. If he wanted people to know you were down here, he wouldn't have brought you in the dead of night, y'know. We didn't really get much of a heads up either-"

"Then it won't trouble you at all if I leave."

She started towards him, but stopped short when he didn't budge. Her stern expression melted into an exhausted flavor of exasperation.

"Please. Give me one good reason that I should stay here, and I will stay here. Believe me, I have wracked my brain for hours now of what I may have done to deserve this. I'm not afraid of you, more so for the minutes I'm currently losing. The sun will be up soon, so quickly now. Please tell me what I have done to offend your king in such a way that he has seen to it that I be punished."

The grin dropped off his face too easily for it to have been genuine, and his brow furrowed. Reason was Kamek's department. Though, the way he had yelled at Bowser you'd have thought he had filed the bars off himself…of course he couldn't ask about what they were arguing about beyond the obvious, lest he be caught eavesdropping when he was supposed to have been asleep that night she had arrived.

All he knew for sure was that Kamek wanted no part of whatever was happening, and Bowser only gathered them all up the next day for a two minute long discussion about minding their own business. It was successful enough at convincing his younger siblings to stay on his good side, so long as he was in the mood for taking prisoners. Thankfully, he never knew his older brother Ludwig to shy away from putting himself on anyone's bad side. Connecting dots was practically his domain.

They pondered, collaborated well into one evening together; Roy laying out all he had seen and whatever he could make out from her sudden appearance, and Ludwig coloring many of his observations and speculations with context. They spoke in hushed tones, and after awhile they began to move in sync like they had so often when they were younger, like they didn't know whether they were in search of the truth or afraid of it.

"So why do ya think he lugged Princess Toadstool all the way from the Mushroom Kingdom then?"

"Knowing Lord Bowser, it could be any number of reasons, honestly. The King is very rich…and also probably dead if he brought her here instead. Maybe it's a ransom? This kingdom is in dire enough straits, he probably needs it to continue to rebuild, right? We can barely afford to light a candle around here."

"Nah, he's impulsive, but not that impulsive. He wouldn't go all that way unless it was personal…I mean, I wouldn't."

"Well…the relationship between our kingdom and hers has always been…tenuous at best. Personally, it's no surprise to me they didn't intervene, at least from what I know. But Lord Bowser said he grew up in hiding; there's no way he could've known that. I think…maybe…this doesn't stem from tradition."

"Got a theory workin'?"

"It's more like Kamek's, really. Lord Bowser hasn't told him much of anything either so we don't have all the facts, but…he's still really new at this. It hurts him so much to see the people he's supposed to be helping suffer, but there's only so much he can do. And what he does do just isn't enough. He's still got a lot to prove, and we all know he doesn't play around when he means it. It seems like a ploy to show everyone he means business and all that…but if this were really all about the resources he would have just asked. He's proud, but not that proud…"

"So?"

"So, I think it's not about ransom, Roy. It's about revenge."

He had laughed it off at the time but now it weighed heavily on him. He had promised Ludwig to keep out of it because they had both agreed that their main focus was to keep their younger siblings out of trouble, they had been face-to face with it enough times as it was. But he didn't have Ludwig's patience: it was really hard for him not to act, even if he didn't know the whole truth. It really pissed him off the way she stood there completely unburdened, like the little game wasn't hers to play, that she could leave a mess behind with no remorse because at the end of the day, it wasn't hers. Besides, it wasn't as if he hadn't ever broken promises before.

"…Nothin', Princess. Nothin' at all. But if you'll humor me a sec, just because we're none of your concern don't mean nothing should concern you. Get that through your royal head and maybe one day you'll actually know what you're doing. Lord Bowser ain't perfect, but at least he gets things done."

"I…I don't understand-"

"Course you don't. You'll never understand what we went through. We were just trying to survive while you were up in your little bubble without a care in the world. We were as good as dead to you, right? It's funny how you'll only get your hands dirty if it means saving your own ass."

"First of all, I'll admit I know very little about you. But you know nothing of me either to insult me like this, and I won't stand for it. I don't know what I've done to hurt you or this kingdom, please believe me when I say that I have no idea what you're talking about! I have told your king this, but I feel as though it bears repeating. I know very little about the affairs of Darkland. I know very little about the affairs of any kingdom, including my own! It's silly to say, but it's true. I only took control of the Mushroom Kingdom a few years ago, and since then have been working tirelessly to settle the matters my father left behind so long ago, when I was still very young. The one who raised me in his absence meant well, but he is a very…cautious man, to put it mildly. Though he taught me what I know, only now do I realize how much he truly sheltered me from darker occurrences, and that what I know isn't sufficient enough to pop that bubble. But I want to help. Tell me what I can do to help so that I can go back home to the people who need me the most."

He almost moved. He almost told her to run and forget this conversation ever happened. That maybe if he helped her out in her time of need, she'd repay the favor and help them rebuild so they could put this whole thing, and himself, to bed finally. But then he saw their faces again, like he did every time he closed his eyes, and remembered that their time of need had come and gone, and so had they. If he lost the fight in him now, his parents would have died for nothing…his sisters would…

"Princess listen, and listen good. Cause I'm only gonna say this once. The king of this place before Lord Bowser was...twisted, nuts probably. It was common knowledge, and people steered clear, you don't have to lie about that. Few years ago, right around when you say you took power, he sent his army to wipe out his own people. They destroyed everything that stood in their way, levelling villages…so many were dead. The rest of our kind was driven out of the kingdom, into hiding. They still haven't returned because for them, there's nothing to return to, though Lord Bowser does his best to please everyone. Those who are still here at the castle, those who…chose to stay…they call us "The Koopalings" because they don't know what else to make of us-we're all that's left. Honestly, feels like they're startin' to use it as an insult...Point is, I'm sure your people think you're real nice, Princess. But it don't sit right with me that we were old enough to lose our families, but somehow you weren't old enough to know better. Just be honest with yourself, you didn't wanna help. But guess what: if we gotta look out the window and wonder what coulda been, so do you."

She recoiled backwards until her back hit the wall. It was odd the way she wrapped her arms around herself, she was really selling this act of oblivion.

"I didn't know-I didn't…I'm sorry. That's horrible. Had I known about…are you all children? How many of you are there?"

"I said all I got to say to you. If you wanna leave, leave. I don't want you here either. I'm going back to bed-" He turned away from the hole, leaving the chunk of metal on the floor within the cell. Strangely, she ignored it entirely, choosing to stare him down instead.

"Wait! Please wait…"

His body screamed for him to leave, but the conviction in her tone made him too curious for his own good. He couldn't help it. She had that look on her face like his mother had every time she patched him up and he was enraptured by it, stalling on the spot in a wordless permission for her to continue for as long as his eyes were dry.

"There are a lot of things I still don't understand. That I won't understand for a while, and maybe not ever. But please don't mistake this for apathy. No one deserves to suffer, least of all children. But you must know this…this will not make anything better. Keeping me here will do no one any good when there is work to be done. I hope that you can see at least that what your 'Lord Bowser' did was drastic and unwarranted. It will be awhile before I can forgive him, I hope you'll understand, but I said I would help, so I will try. However, I can't help you if he insists on being hostile. But…if there is a chance he will hear me, I…I will stay…for now. For you. For all of you."

His eyes widened, and he was thankful she couldn't see them. As far as he was concerned, she was as good as guilty, but her words sent a pang through him he couldn't identify nonetheless. He had made it this far without getting caught-it was better not to press his luck any further or else he'd be up even longer. Still, that optimistic determination in her eyes was something he missed in himself; it was kinda weird she had managed to foster it for so long when it was so easy to lose. He scoffed.

"You're a fool."

With that, he turned away and moved back down the corridor from whence he came, but her voice followed him relentlessly.

"Maybe. But someone has to set things right. It's up to Bowser now to decide if that's what he really wants."

A metallic scraping sound echoed throughout the narrow hallway, and he turned his head around only to watch her hoist the fallen section of bars, hooking the crooked ends back up into place with minimal effort. It was uneven and bent, but the rest of the cell door was so mangled-looking it nearly fit in. She held her breath until she was satisfied it would stay up, releasing a sigh of relief with a tired smile.

"Our secret, okay?"

"…Whatever, lady."

"Peach."

"Roy. Quit wakin' me up in the middle of the night or I'll bend that metal back myself."

"Good night, Roy."

He walked away as fast as he was able to conspicuously move, practically diving into bed the second he saw it. This woman was crazy. She'll be gone by morning, or she's crazy….

Maybe he was crazy. Crazy to think that someone actually cared for once, that he may actually be able to get any sleep at all, that the nightmares might finally be over…

Maybe it was better if he didn't say anything. That way he couldn't be disappointed when she inevitably left them in the dust.

He wanted so badly to believe her. An oversight of this magnitude must have been a misunderstanding, but it was so difficult to believe in the good of people when he had only seen the worst for so long. Why should now be any different? Why was he still haunted? He could try to fake it for his siblings but deep down he had known the answer for so long it manifested within him, touching every aspect of his life, tainting it with that same dark, spotty suspicion he had come to detest. He couldn't let it go because he had let enough slip out of his grasp already.

Everything happens for a reason.

Black, like the wristbands he had been in the process of slipping on until he sensed the pale ghost of his brother in his doorway behind him.

"Got something to say? Oh, who am I kidding-of course you do."

He snickered as he heard a distinct jump, and Ludwig then entered the room quite briskly for a guy who had just gotten the wind taken out of his overdramatic sails.

"I'm blind dude, not deaf. Though, you're pretty tough to miss either way."

He waited but Ludwig never let the air out of his lungs. The silence was always disconcerting, and when he turned around to look at him finally he only stared back, blinking like his thick skull had been hollowed out.

"Come on, Ludwig. Lighten up, will ya?"

"You're wearing them."

He hadn't realized he had been wringing his hands, and he consciously folded his arms in embarrassment.

"Wh-oh, the bands? Yeah, I mean…they're pretty snazzy, right? It's still pretty dorky that we all match though, I don't blame Wendy for opting out-"

"Roy…"

"Where are yours?"

Ludwig crossed his arms in kind, like he had been on the same line of thought, just traveling in the opposite direction. His words were deliberate, pre-packaged. He sighed internally, and any hope he may have had for an amicable encounter quickly vanished.

"She didn't 'opt out', Roy. She didn't want them, and neither did I. I was sure no one did until you took them-"

"Hey, I do what I want. It's not my problem the rest of y'all don't have a backbone. Seriously, have you guys gone soft or what?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Isn't it? Can't really change the world with your ass in the castle, you know."

"Change the world, Roy? Or destroy it?"

"…Ahh, quit being melodramatic. You heard Bowser, no one's getting the axe. Personally, I think a little collateral damage is the least of my concerns considering, but hey, what goes around, comes around. All's fair and all that."

"In love and in war. Must we have both?"

"Honestly? Yeah. Only difference is, this time around we actually have a say-"

"But what is it that you want to say, Roy? Lord Bowser doesn't even know…don't you find that odd? First, he says the Mushroom Kingdom is guilty of neglect, then exonerated the Princess. I thought we were finished with this, but now he says the same of the rest of the neighboring lands? I don't know…I just thought he wanted better than this…I thought we wanted better than this."

"No offense Ludwig, but I've known you long enough to remember that 'we' only means anything if you want something, so spit it out already."

He choked on his words, sputtering the beginning of some half-baked argument but lost steam before he could manage it. He sighed in an attempt to compose himself, but all Roy saw was the gears turning, working overtime to hoist up that damn brick wall Ludwig always kept between them. Still, he had a pretty good view of his brother's sheepish fumbling before it had been finally obscured by a sharpened austerity.

"Promise me you won't accept Lord Bowser's proposal. Please promise you'll help me tell our brothers to stand down-"

"No. Anything else?"

"Roy! You can't-"

"I can and I will. Quit acting like you're the boss of me."

"This isn't a game! Those bands-!"

"I'm not stupid! I know what they mean, Ludwig. We all know what it means to have everything ripped right out from under us and none of us have had a night of peace since. I just thought it'd be polite to return the favor."

"Roy, please just listen! It's true, based on what we know, that the neighboring seven kingdoms did not intervene on our behalf when our home was…torn apart. His anger is justified for their willful ignorance at best, potential moral failings at worst. But neither did the Mushroom Kingdom. So in this potential worst-case scenario, why then, would Lord Bowser choose to spare the Princess despite her guilt of the same crimes he is willing to condemn the others for? Why now does he come forward with this plan of retribution when we have worked so hard to move forward, and rebuild what has been destroyed, if he isn't just looking for an excuse to-?"

"I thought you learned this the last time. Just because they didn't destroy it themselves doesn't mean they cared when it all collapsed. You're saying that even though they were perfectly fine with watching us die, because they didn't hold the sword then they're innocent? They shouldn't be held accountable for that?"

"We don't even know if what Lord Bowser says is true, which is what worries me. He is hurt, angry, and we don't have all the facts. They should be held accountable if they are indeed guilty, I never said otherwise, but plotting a massive upheaval to remove them all from power is probably the most ridiculous short-term solution I've ever heard! I'm concerned that he isn't thinking clearly; he's been worn down to a point at which chaos of this magnitude is acceptable to him…he'll even send Larry out into battle if it means he's able to punish someone, anyone, for his father's actions-"

"Larry's lived half his life in an alleyway. Did you ever think that maybe he'd want to fight for what he lost? I'm proud of the kid, personally."

"He's six! And Lord Bowser gave him the power of a general! Are you not hearing how nonsensical that sounds?"

Ludwig sounded absolutely frayed, practically coming apart at the seams over little details that would never matter in the grand scheme of things. Of course it was ridiculous, but that look in Larry's eyes at having been given the chance to stand on his own after so long…it transcended any bloated philosophy.

"It's not supposed to make sense! Did you ever think-no, actually, did you ever not think? Did you ever feel for once? Feel those memories burned into your core? Or the voices rattling around in your head still? Feel that sharp, jagged emptiness inside like someone tore out a page of you that you'll never get back? How is it that Bowser gets that better than you? Did you not even care when your parents were gone? Or is it just the fact that you can't handle it when we actually think for ourselves, so it's gotta be some mysterious puzzle where-where you can just put us all back into our 'correct' place for you to understand?"

Ludwig stiffened, trembling like he was desperately clamping a lid on a boiling pot. But nearly immediately, a switch had been flipped somewhere and he stilled, lurching abruptly.

"You're spoiling for a fight, but I won't give you one. I just don't understand how you all still have the energy to fight this much, for so little."

It wasn't like his brother to swing first, but his words hit all the same.

"…Little, Ludwig? I guess some of us had more to lose out there than wealth, but hey, good luck taking that high road; it's been gone for years, just like everything else."

"I will have no part of this! Wear the wristbands if you wish, I'm sure it will please Lord Bowser very much, but I will not! I will not head an operation that requires me to inflict on others what we have suffered! I hope that one day all of you will see that perpetuating this very cycle is what brought us here in the first place!"

"SO WHAT? We never asked to be brought here! That's the point! I know you think you're better than us, but I'm telling you right now that no one is going to give you a damn award for protecting the people who could have saved my-"

He stopped himself too late, but it didn't stop him from trying to salvage it anyways. There was suddenly so much space between them, and what should have finally broken the dam only made him feel like he was stuck drowning in it. The flow of the conversation screeched to a halt, and he could barely hear himself as the pressure crushed him.

"…our….our families…"

Ludwig's expression softened but it only made him angrier. There was a hidden comfortable smugness in it, like he had declared himself the victor of the argument because all of his cards were still tightly clutched in his hands. What his brother failed to understand about only ever thinking four moves ahead was that he was never able to see what was right in front of him.

"…Is that what this is about?" Ludwig reached for him, but he pulled away quickly before he could make any contact.

"I know they're still out there…somewhere…I'm going to find them."

"Roy…we talked about this-"

"No, you talked about this. And talked and talked and talked-that's all you EVER do is talk! All we ever hear about is what you think and what you feel is best about literally every single thing but you never listen to us! I don't know what your deal is lately, but you've been minding everyone's business except your own, and it's gettin' on my last nerve. You honestly think you're doing anyone any good when you micro-manage the shit out of everything? Does it help make you feel better, to forget that you were one of us once? Does it make you feel needed to have everyone depend on you even though literally no one asked for you to 'fix' them? You wanna rip into me for clinging on to the past? Look in the mirror, Excellency, and leave the rest of us alone!"

Ludwig's expression rapidly darkened, and he rattled so loudly it propelled him forward a small bit before he was yanked back again just as suddenly, like he had been chained to something. Roy only stared at him, daring him to try it. They both knew how that would end. Still, his brother looked back like something was jammed up inside his head, because his posture never straightened, his furious glare still carved into his face.

"Don't ever call me that again."

"Oh what, did I hit a sore spot? Serves you right for trampling all over me. Your opinion isn't the only one that matters anymore. You don't get to lecture me about what's right when there's so much wrong out there to undo. If you ain't angry enough over it to do anything about it then you stand down. But leave Larry, Iggy, Morton, and Lemmy out of it and get outta our way."

"I lost everything Roy, more than you know! I don't know what else you all want from me! You feel I'm not angry? Every time I think about how alone and terrified we all were, I fight the urge to tear everything apart with my bare hands! But…I know what it is to have sat in the ruins of my mind before, and I tell you there is no satisfaction to be found in it. I could not forgive myself if I allowed Lord Bowser to set you all down the same path. I know he means well, I swear, I do…I want justice as badly as he does, but the one responsible is dead. If we don't move forward now, we are doomed to repeat history."

"So let it repeat. Can't be any worse the second time around if all they've got to lose is a title and a shiny hat-"

"Ugh! Get it through your head, Roy! It isn't that simple! I'm just trying to protect you-!"

"I don't want your protection dumbass, weren't you listening? I got it through my head the minute Bowser told us about this plan and gave us these bands. I've made up my mind. And last I checked, you're the one trying to make a whole 'good vs. evil' argument like it'll somehow convince me that we're the bad guys here."

"We are! Maybe unintentionally, but that doesn't change the fact that-"

"Then who are the good guys, Ludwig? The ones who watched as my sisters were taken from me?"

"No, Roy-"

"Or the ones who let them murder your parents?"

"Don't be ridiculous. They didn't know-they wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't they?"

Ludwig stalled completely, anger immediately cut off from its source and a confused variant of panic exposed him. Any argument he could have conjured died there, in that torrent whirlpool of emotion that spiraled nowhere but down. Roy nearly reached out, but he knew it was useless. Ludwig would only slap his hand away as he had done countless times before, willing to drown if it meant he got to have the last word. True to form, he watched as something seemed to harden in him, and all trace of anything more than stern disappointment sank into the black abyss.

"…Forget it. Do as you wish, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'm thankful Wendy was gifted with more sense, at least."

"Yeah, here's an idea: why don't you go bother her? I honestly have no idea why you even came in here if you were just gonna lecture me and waste your time."

"Because I thought you would understand, Roy. But I suppose that was my mistake. All I ever wanted was for everyone to be safe and happy in the lives they could make here. I came to you because you know as well as I that there is still a part of you that remembers what it was like to fail, to watch everything you love slip away from you, in the hopes that it would drive you and the others away from the edge of this cliff."

"Ludwig-"

"We talked the night we met about the weight we each bore, and we shared it willingly because I thought you understood what it meant to be the oldest. But here you are, indignant, selfish...I guess you've forgotten the sentiment."

For all their differences, the one thing he and Ludwig had in common was that they never knew when to quit. They would keep stacking, stacking forever until everything came toppling down, but this was different. He had gone too far, and as the memories flooded back he didn't care anymore what fell on him, so long as it knocked Ludwig off his damn pedestal in the process.

"GET OUT!"

It wasn't that he couldn't stop himself. The thought ever never occurred to him. He didn't even have time to register the horrified look on his brother's face before it happened, but it wouldn't have made a difference. All he knew was that he was furious, and the fire came soon afterward, propagating from him through the crooked streaks of anguish like a wild stream, and suddenly the world was too bright again. He squeezed his eyes shut.

There was a shout of surprise and pain, and for a moment he could have sworn this was all a dream. That he had only stopped for a second to catch his breath because the world only moved when his eyes were open. If he fumbled around in the darkness awhile, it would only be a matter of time before he stumbled upon what he was looking for but his hands were empty and cold, like they had always been since the day he had lost them-if he kept his eyes closed they were still there. Looking at Ludwig was like staring into the sun.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, YOU-YOU ARROGANT, PRENTENTIOUS, SHORT-SIGHTED PRICK! GET OUT!"

His words boomed and echoed off of the barren walls, Ludwig had nothing to say, and for a glorious moment he had gotten everything he wanted. But the room was dark again, and not long after that a distressed, hitched exhale wrenched his eyes back open. He was still standing there, the one arm still raised quickly flushing an angry red, strings of ugly blisters already running all along it…the side of his face contorted into a singed grimace like he had finally processed what had just happened.

He dropped to his knees, burnt arm cradled by the other. He stared numbly like his thoughts had also caught fire, and at a glimpse, the façade incinerated. His brother crumbled like the world had around them back then, and it made him wonder how it was he still couldn't understand when he was there, sifting through the wreckage with his own hands. It wasn't hard. He had to understand-Ludwig's eyes were submerged in things left unspoken. Maybe he only refused to acknowledge it because it meant he wouldn't be above them anymore.

"Roy! Ludwig! Enough of-oh…my! What is going on in here?"

Kamek burst in too quickly for it to have been a coincidence. He moved to Ludwig immediately, kneeling to examine him, though it hadn't taken him long to discern what occurred, it still felt like an eternity.

"Are you alright? What happened, Roy?"

He hummed, but it was cut short, interrupted by a frail plea that nearly disintegrated as soon as it became audible.

"…do all of you really think that…?"

Ludwig didn't look at him, but Kamek shot him an inquisitive, practically accusatory glare in his stead before deciding to bite his tongue.

"One thing at a time, remember? Here now, let me take a look at your arm." He pulled out his wand but Ludwig shrank away from its warm glow like a shock to the system.

"…don't…"

"Ludwig, please sit still. I understand you can do it yourself, but I have yet to assess the extent of the damage. It's better if you just allow me-"

His words were lost, as Ludwig had vanished into a small cloud of nothing before Kamek could reason with him.

"Regret teachin' him all your secrets yet?"

"You would do well to take this situation seriously."

"You'd do well not to try it. You know and I know that he got what he came for."

"Regardless, there was no need to burn him, Roy. You may feel the need to resort to such drastic measures, but in truth, you are already being heard. You may not like what we have to say in response, but your voice does not depend on our silence."

He bristled. Figures he would take Ludwig's side.

"So it was you then. I have you to thank for turning my sister against me-"

"Just because we disagree does not mean we are against you. Wendy is troubled, as am I, and I know you won't believe me, but Ludwig is only doing what he feels is right. He should be able to express that without punishment."

He was not about to be lectured a second time, especially considering this was a battle Kamek was too stubborn to lose.

"Yeah, whatever. If you actually knew what your golden boy was up to, you'd want nothing to do with him either. His mouth's ugly, Kamek. Just gave him an arm to match because someone had to fix him. Call it a parting gift."

He only sighed, brushing himself off as he stood.

"You have a good heart, Roy. Such a thing is difficult to hide. I just wish you'd fix it to the right place."

He whirled around to argue with the empty air. It suited him just fine, he didn't want to deal with them anymore anyways. They knew they had a losing argument on their hands, so instead of admitting defeat, they'd run off like cowards to regroup and talk about who knows what. How he was just tragically misguided. How he was just an angry and violent bully, who'd never pass up an opportunity to destroy other people's toys just for fun…

How he would never back down. He couldn't when there were people who needed him. He had paid that price before, and now it was too high for him to afford. He couldn't afford to be the victim any longer. He didn't care who understood or not.

He adjusted the bands around his wrists, and they fit comfortably. He wasn't gonna let anyone push him around anymore, not Kamek, not Ludwig, not those stupid kings…

If he was gonna go down with this ship, damn sure he was gonna go down swinging this time.

Black, like the gem that gleamed atop the wand it was fixed to. As soon as it had been acquired, he handed it off to someone else.

"We can't see from up here, the view's obstructed by all these damn clouds."

"Well…it is the Land of the Sky after all…" The crew members laughed. He didn't, and it awkwardly waned shortly thereafter.

"Take us lower." And he left for the deck without another word.

The air rushed at him as he opened the door to the outside, forcing himself to continue onwards despite the bitter cold of the altitude. He couldn't back down now. Attaching himself to the bare wooden mast, his vision rapidly became overtaken by white as they descended. He shivered regardless, telling himself it was the wind because it was less painful than the fear of what he would find when his vision cleared again.

Bowser had found him crying in his room the night before launch because he had a terrible sort of sixth sense for it and an even worse lie to cover it up. He nearly broke the lock on his door because he "misplaced a few crates of ammunition" when Roy hadn't even been responsible for loading it in the first place, and they both knew it. He didn't want to bother Lemmy because he already had his hands full with the younger kids, and much as he loathed to admit it, he missed Ludwig, who he couldn't talk to even if he wanted because he was already gone.

So he didn't make much of an effort to fight Bowser off when he scooped him up and just sat with him awhile because as far as everyone else knew, his door was still locked.

"Roy, you know you don't have to do this-"

"I want to do this. I've waited so long for this…but…"

He had glanced up at him with an expression that probably looked as pathetic as he felt, and he sniffed heavily in an attempt to contain himself.

"…what if I don't find them…? What if…?"

"If anyone can find them, it's you. What's important is that you tried, that you never gave up. You did the best you could. I can't guarantee you anything except that no matter what, we'll be right here."

"…I'm scared…it's my fault they-"

"It wasn't your fault and it will never be. No matter what you find out there, you aren't to blame. I know that sounds like an impossible thing to keep in mind, trust me-I've been there a few times in my life. But I've always seen a lot of myself in you, y'know. We both understand the importance of action. You never let anyone push you around, so why beat yourself up? You're such a strong kid…so don't put yourself out of commission before you even get started, okay?"

He supposed that for all of his recklessness, every bit of his peculiar personality, Bowser could be wise when he wanted to be. It was like he was nine again, waiting in the empty barren wasteland of what once was if it meant he would hear his father speaking to him one last time. He was too vulnerable for it to have lit a fire under him just yet, afraid those flames could consume him entirely unprepared so he just shoved his face into Bowser's shoulder to snuff them out for just a little while longer. The darkness was familiar and warm, like he had just tucked himself into a memory, and he didn't even realize his glasses were gone again.

"…pop…thank you…" He hoped his father could hear him. But for now, he turned his focus to the one who definitely did, who just held him tighter until he could see again.

The clouds parted eventually, and he could see the flat land laid out before him. A part of him knew it was ridiculous to believe he would actually be successful when there were so many factors working against him. It wasn't like he hadn't beaten the odds before…but he was truly alone again for the first time in what felt like an eternity. It was a hole that ravaged through him, whistling in the wind that still roared around him. Reminding him…

He instinctually clutched his glasses, worried they would fly off and leave him at square one all over again when he had fought so hard to be here. He had worked too hard to come back empty-handed…the havoc he had caused in the sky sufficient enough to keep them busy while he and his crew scoured every last inch of the ground…

He was going to find them. Everything…

If the world was good and just, there was no reason they should not all be reunited at last.

Age:

1) 9

2) 11

3-4) 13.5