Hello there again! I hope this will be enough to keep you satiated for a while. I'm at one of those critical junctures in life where everything takes so long to put out, so it may be a bit until I get settled again. Hopefully posting at a decent hour will make up for that. Regardless, I hope you'll enjoy it anyways. Much love, and thank you as always for your kindness!
Green, like the oversized coat that had been placed over him at his aunt's insistence. He couldn't understand her fussing so much over something so trivial when there was still so much to do to prepare for their departure from this place. He was doing his best to help until she had rudely stolen him away, but there was a determination on her face he couldn't argue with. They had already been delayed enough, they should have left yesterday in order to stay on schedule. While his uncles blamed the foul weather, they had travelled through worse, and though he shouldn't know it, he had seen them drink themselves into a stupor for the last few nights to alleviate the embarrassment of tanking not one, but all of their shows here. His aunts would chastise them, telling them how they knew it was a terrible idea to come to Darkland, I mean, the name itself was practically a warning to them to stay away lest they suffer great financial losses.
He had to agree, the meager crowds were pretty gloomy and tough to please. But there was something about being back in the land he was born despite remembering very little of it…very little of his mother…it made him yearn to fill in the empty spaces the best he could with what little he had. Still, it made him wonder what it was about this place that spurred her to travel onward the minute the last tent pole had been pulled from the ground.
Anyone who knew her would tell him it was her free spirit, to which he would reply that her 'free spirit' would have wanted them to let him practice walking the rope, or let him get shot out of the cannon, or literally anything cooler than doing a lap around the emerald big top balancing on an exercise ball they had painted over…They'd tell him it was either that or collecting tickets because he was too young, too small to do anything else.
He didn't agree, but it was hard to argue with his arms swallowed by sleeves three times the length of them.
"Auntie, it's too big. And kinda heavy-" He whined.
"Well, pretend it's a costume."
"For what? I look like a pile of moss. What do I have to wear yours for?"
"Because I won't have you catching a cold in this weather! I want to make sure you're…well, extra warm!"
"It's barely snowing. We were in the Ice Kingdom last month and I got by just fine with my own jacket-"
"Yes, because you were running about, burning energy here and there…driving me nuts, you were…but…I need you to stay put today."
There was a crash outside like something had been knocked over, and swearing immediately followed. He giggled, the vision of one of his older uncles likely still drunkenly stumbling into things he was supposed to be loading was too amusing to be annoyed at his aunt pulling the hood of the coat firmly over his head. She gave a small smile too, satisfied.
"Because," she took a deep breath in a way that caused her chest to puff up, "Auntie has a surprise for you."
His eyes lit up, and he couldn't contain himself, jumping excitedly, sloshing around in the mass of fabric he'd been engulfed by.
"Really? Wait-it isn't the coat is it? Because now I feel bad-"
She laughed, smoothing out the wrinkles on his shoulders.
"No, no. I'm keeping my nice coat, you spoiled little prince-!"
"Prince? What Prince?" Came a lofty reply from one of his cousins from outside, and while he found it infinitely amusing that he had somehow managed to hear them through the admittedly thin walls of the trailer, his aunt did not share his levity. Instead, she paled, like she was embarrassed at having been caught, and before he could ask her what was wrong, there was a pounding at the door he hadn't even seen her lock behind her. It was then she gave him an exasperated smile, huffing in annoyance and the color returned to her face after her initial shock.
"Annoying little insects, your cousins…always up to no good…" She winked and at once her smile was gone, replaced instead with an inexorable rage that moved mountains and uncles alike.
"IS A LADY NO LONGER ENTITLED TO A BIT OF PRIVACY AROUND HERE?! MAKE YOURSELVES SCARCE BEFORE I SHOW YOU THE SAME TREATMENT YOU'VE GIVEN MY DOOR!"
It would have been hilarious, if it hadn't scared him stiff, to watch his cousins scramble away as they always did, red and breathless when they knew they were doing something they weren't supposed to be. One of his aunts had caught her son with a flask one night, and he had been woken up by the crowd that formed as she chased him about the site, one half cheering him on as he desperately attempted to swig the rest of its contents as he ran, and the other half coordinating vain efforts to intercept him before he was successful. He had been ushered back to bed before it had been resolved, but there was always this unspoken understanding between him and the older members of his family that he knew more than he let on, the price of which being that they could never actually discuss it. It was just a fun little secret that everyone knew, only he was always left wanting for context…
The knocking stopped, and the voices faded away.
"Oh, stop looking so miserable. They're just comin' to bother me because they probably forgot what they were supposed to be lookin' for."
She gripped his face and shook it playfully, like she meant to brush off his concerns, but when he caught one hand in his it softened, cupping the side of his cheek, and he smiled again.
"We should go help them." He tried to move, but she had anchored him in place.
"No, I'll go. I want you to stay here until I return, got it? No funny business. Or you'll ruin the surprise. Oh, and lock the door, I don't trust those wild hooligans not to spoil it for you if they get here first…and keep that coat on for goodness sake, I can feel the temperature dropping by the minute-!"
"Auntie, quit fussing! I'm sure whatever happens, I'll be happy. You're all going out of your way to do something nice for me when I know the last month hasn't been great for any of you either. It means a lot to me, I promise. You guys work so hard…the last thing I wanna do is mess that up!"
She sighed, letting out the breath she had been holding in, suddenly reaching over to pinch his cheek. He laughed in surprise and tried to pull away, but he was no match for her.
"My sweet boy, you've grown on me. We're all so proud of you…if your mother was here…well, first off, she'd probably be upset with you for practicing tricks behind our backs-"
"Hey, it was only some of your backs-"
"But, I know she would be very proud too-"
There was an odd rhythm to the movement outside, but the shouting, the jeering, and the general rowdiness probably meant they had already lit the bonfire without him. His gaze unconsciously fixed itself to the door until his aunt took his head in her hands again, gently pulling it back into her line of sight.
"She might even say you were ready for a show."
"Wait, do you mean-?"
"We've decided to stay here for a few more days, so your uncles can work out a proper set for you. That way, when we arrive in the next kingdom, you'll be ready to perform with us, how's that? I suppose I've gone and spoiled the surprise for them, haven't I?"
"Oh-! Oh, Auntie thank you! Thank you so much!" He buried his face in her shoulder, and in return, she probably got a mouthful of fabric but neither of them seemed to care. He had no way of knowing if they had actually been granted permission to stay, but he knew his family, they were bound to each other far more than any arbitrary rulebook that changed from place to place…
"But until the weather calms, you must stay inside, I can't have you getting sick! And if you complain about my coat again, I'll make you wear it until we cross the border, understand?"
He nodded, and they broke away from one another as she hesitantly turned to leave. He could tell she was nervous and he couldn't help himself, so he grabbed at her wrist. She looked worried, face wrinkled and furrowed by lines she couldn't simply smooth over. But he only gave her the brightest smile, hoping it would be enough to get by on.
"Auntie?"
"Yes?"
"Go let 'em have it for me. Tell them I sent you."
She snorted, running a hand through his hair before roughly pulling the hood back down over his eyes. As he struggled, she placed a kiss on his cheek and stepped away again.
"I always knew you were something special. The stars never lie, you know…now behave for me. I will return for you."
She offered no explanation for flipping the lights off, and once the door closed softly behind her, the smile on his face fell into something more determined. Rooting around in one of the drawers, he happened upon one of her old tubes of lipstick, wishing he could write more with it than just a simple heart on the mirror without getting anyone in trouble. He put it back carefully-she always hated when his cousins went through her things-waited a moment, and when he was confident his aunt was gone, he folded her coat around him as snugly as he could and left. He wasn't cold, but that wasn't the point. The stars may never lie, but he was unfortunately old enough to realize when his aunt did.
He was just sorry for her that her worst fears had been realized, that his cousins had gotten to him first. They warned him of the dangers back when they had been mere whispers that they were all accustomed to ignoring by now. But he couldn't ignore it now that they were here, looking for him. Things fell into place after that.
He ducked and wove through the chaos because to him it was like breathing. The world he had left behind only hours ago seemed to have shifted completely since his return. Various members of his family were throwing things, not really caring where they landed or whether they broke, so long as they managed to take out a soldier or two on the way down. There were way too many of them for it to have made any difference. Crates had been pushed over and stacked together, and he watched as one soldier climbed on top of the tower like he meant to address them. His cousins surged to knock it down before they were halted by a line recalled from the destruction.
"Enough!" He screamed during a lull in the noise, and it was sufficient to quiet them for the time being. "Do not resist! No one is permitted to cross this border until the area has been thoroughly searched! We are only doing as our King commands-"
"Well he ain't our king! Tell him to stick his nose into someone else's business!"
"Yeah, get lost! You're only keeping us here on your land so you can push us around, right? Just let us leave!"
"You all would do well to remember, that anyone who is native to this kingdom is subject to His Majesty's laws, orders, and decrees-"
"Yeah, so? Bless him, he can't get it through his head, can he? We've been trying to tell you that none of us are from around here-!"
"Our records point to the contrary." He was handed an official looking document, and was met with much derision from the crowd until he pulled out the crumpled copy of a program and held them both aloft like they gave him absolute authority.
"Let's not make this more difficult, shall we? We already know the fugitive is among you. He was in your company."
"Fugitive? You're mad!"
"What's he going on about now?"
"Surely, the lives you all live, you are worldly and knowledgeable. And as such, you must know there have been rumors of an illegal uprising, spearheaded by a would-be usurper…someone who claims to be the Lost Prince." He spat, and the soldiers all laughed among themselves at a joke only they understood.
"How many times do we gotta tell you bucketheads?! We don't know nothin' bout no Prince! We don't live here!"
"Yeah, thanks for the history lesson, pal! For the millionth time, what's it got to do with us? How we supposed to help someone take over your country if we ain't even in it?"
"We can barely afford to feed everyone as it is! What kinda operation do you think we're runnin' here?"
He held up his hands again until the clamoring died down.
"His Majesty does not desire your money, nor your ill-will. He simply seeks clarity he knows you will be able to provide him. You see, he knows that you've set up your tents and unloaded your resources rather…comfortably close, shall we say, to a known rebellious burg. I can only imagine the exchanges you must have had over the course of your stay here, and yet, His Highness has forgiven you. You should be thankful."
"We just went where they told us to, you, you-!"
"I am familiar with the international laws. I cannot keep you here on suspicion alone. However, at least one among you remains under our jurisdiction, so tell me. Where is the boy? His Majesty has many questions for him…"
He froze behind a pile of wooden carnage, thankful for once for his small size. He turned back to them, his family…silent but determined. The way they looked at one another like they were trying to quietly coordinate an attack on a fully-armed force of soldiers…for him…he couldn't let them-he had to do something-
He had to give himself up. He didn't want to go but he couldn't let them die for him.
He moved to expose himself, but before he could, a long, loud, anguished roar came from the direction of the trailer, and without even looking he knew it was his aunt, who had probably returned sooner than planned out of fear for his safety. Her voice was clear from this far away, and it only got worse as she neared the riot because he could more clearly hear how badly she had been shattered. He didn't mean to hurt her, he didn't want anyone else to get hurt-
"YOU IDIOTS! YOU BASTARDS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
The soldiers who laughed at her outburst soon quieted, thinking better of making her any more upset than she already was-she could have probably taken them all out herself had the thought occurred to her…though, he was sure it already had.
"Our jobs, madam. Nothing more."
"WELL YOU'RE DOING AN AWFUL JOB! I don't know what kind of fancy military budget you have here but that money is honestly better invested elsewhere if all you've come here with tonight is a program from 4 years ago!"
The tower soldier inspected the program closely, but it was clear he didn't find what he was looking for.
"You lie."
"Why would I lie about that, fool? We've told you, we have little money, even less since coming to this place. We've had to reuse the programs from the last time we were here because we can't afford to make new ones!"
"So what? You're only attempting to delay the inevitable-enough of this! Bring us the boy, and you-"
"THE BOY IS DEAD, YOU SCOUNDREL! His name is only listed there because he was alive then! He was killed in a training accident, ever since we've been so careful…and you come here to make us suffer for what?"
Mama…he thought…his aunt must have figured he was out here somewhere but he couldn't bring himself to move, even as she was risking her life to buy him time.
"We don't give a damn about your Lost Prince. We have more important things to occupy our hearts. We've lost a prince of our own."
The soldier flipped through the pages, squinting past the wrinkles and the grime until he finally settled on a date. He nodded, putting the program away, and practically threw the useless document at some random subordinate.
"…It is possible…that our records require an update."
"Yeah, you think?"
"Now leave us alone! We're already behind schedule!"
He held his arms up to silence the ridicule, and they did quiet, but only after his cousins threw a few empty cans at him for good measure.
"Very well. Seeing as how you have no further business here, you will be deported. My people no longer welcome you."
He seemed to relish a little in the panic that ensued.
"Oh, and I do hope you'll forgive me my mistake. To make it up to you, I will have my men assist you in packing the rest of your belongings, and I will personally escort you to the border myself. Just so I can be sure there are no hard feelings, yes?"
His aunt turned pale, immediately hiding it by painting over it with an angry red.
"You've done more than enough around here! LEAVE US BE!"
"I'm afraid not, madam. See, it would make sense to me that you would want to exit the kingdom as swiftly as possible, and my help would be greatly appreciated. Unless, of course, I was wrong to trust your word, and you are indeed harboring fugitives…don't make me tear your livelihood apart. I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted that for you."
"…no…"
"Very good. Now, all of you, get moving. His Majesty wants you gone before sunrise."
His aunt took a deep breath, and the crowd seemed to follow her lead, anxiously waiting to see what she would do. She tilted her head towards a group of his cousins, gesturing with it, and they nodded, but nothing happened.
"Well? Make yourselves useful!" She huffed.
The soldiers ignored her when a shout from the top of the crates rung out raucously.
"You! Start securing the perimeter-!"
It happened too quickly for him to register his fear. A group of soldiers broke away from their post around the crate stack and suddenly his aunt and cousins sprinted forward, slamming at full force into the makeshift tower, toppling it. He assumed the ensuing chaos was his cue to leave before they managed to gather themselves into a blockade. It was funny to watch the tower soldier struggle to regain his footing and his voice after the wind had been knocked out of him.
"That one was for the kid."
"How sweet. But this is your final warning. Harass my troops again, and I burn this place to the ground. Do we understand each other?"
He mentally begged them to stop, as a few of his cousins were roughly pushed, some punched back towards the crowd by passing soldiers. The only way this would end is if he left, or died. He much preferred the former.
He crept away, confident his family would hold their attention. It was what they were good at, and he had complete faith in them to perform their parts when it really mattered. He was confident in his ability to get away until he tripped over his aunt's coat, sloshing face-first into the snow. The fact hadn't changed that it was still way too big, everything seemed too big now…and much as he would have loved something to remember them by, their sacrifices would mean nothing if he were spotted.
So he wrapped it around himself as tightly as he could, giving the coat the largest hug he could muster as if she was wearing it, hoping that the love he had for them could somehow store itself somewhere so they would never forget it. His leg throbbed a bit and he realized he had landed on her change that she always kept in her pockets, for those occasions in which she was in good spirits, and would spot him some for whatever candy he was hungry for. He hoped she wouldn't be too angry with him for taking it, because technically, she only asked for her coat back.
Coins in hand, he shed the coat, folding it delicately and placing it on top of a wayward crate, like it had only ever been a costume for a show he wasn't even in. The mayhem died down behind him…now or never. He wished them all luck, scrambling into the brush because he couldn't bear to look back when he had the entire kingdom ahead of him. He left them that way as he had loved them, wildly, freely, and without a single care in the world.
Green, like the musty old décor around the room they had been ushered into before the door unceremoniously locked behind them. The mechanical click was subtle, but it was enough to send everyone into a panic, and they subsequently all proceeded to look to someone older than themselves for answers until all eyes eventually settled on Ludwig. He did nothing in return except absently clench its handle, like if he held onto it for dear life he'd survive the flood of questions he was now faced with.
"What just happened?" Wendy tried to pry Morton off of her with little success.
"They bolted the door! A-are we…prisoners now? What did you do-?" Roy started forward but stopped abruptly when Ludwig turned to look at them.
There was something haunting about the way he stood there so utterly confused, like they were lost at sea and the boat had finally capsized. He knew on the inside his brother had to be terrified, flailing around in desperation for a lifeline that just wasn't coming…they had run out of time, and it was practically written all over his face. He watched as his whole body slowly sank…it was so much harder to stay afloat in the dark.
"…I…don't know…"
"What do you mean you don't know-?"
"Are we gonna die?"
"Iggy!"
"It's not a stupid question-!"
The clamor increased, and Larry squirmed in his grip, his arms raised futilely like they'd somehow protect him better from the chaos than they did the pelting of the snow outside. It was when he started to whimper that Lemmy decided he had to end this before Larry took matters into his own hands.
"You guys! Get it together!"
Crowd control was a skill he had acquired over time. He hadn't ever really known a time when pandemonium hadn't been present; it had always been inextricably woven into the world he lived in, and he used to regard it with such fondness because there was life and jubilant energy in it. Though he had learned to make peace with the silence if for no other reason than his survival, it was not, nor would it ever be natural because it always left him feeling frozen and stuck in the moments he'd rather not dwell on.
They all stared at him, and the room became so still he could hear his own shaky breathing amidst the chorus of compressed lungs and barely concealed fright. He took a deep breath, raising a smile to his lips that had been long since worn through and he felt like that too-small little kid again, attempting to move platforms double his size if it meant that his contribution to the traveling effort would be meaningful in some way. He would try to lift up the heavy things because someone had to; his aunts and uncles always reminded him of the importance of pulling his own weight, doing his part to help. But his own weight was not that much. He didn't have the strength to do much else besides attempt to move on, as he had also been accustomed.
"Ludwig?" he asked gently. "What do we know?"
Ludwig nodded, closing his eyes and exhaling heavily like had finally managed to tape himself back together. It was difficult to watch when he was so clearly running on empty, it was the whole reason they had even come up here in the first place, worn and starving and cold. They needed help desperately, or they were going to die out there. His brother had seemed so confident then, grimly leading the charge like the end was in sight in one way or another, still reassuring them that whatever came they'd somehow slip out of it like they always had before…his eyes were swollen now like reality had struck him across the face.
"The rumors are true, at least. The usurper has taken the throne. What he intends to do with it…with us…remains unseen…I'm sorry. I never meant for-"
"Hey-hey, it's okay. We made it this far, right? Don't fall to pieces on us now, we gotta know what we're up against here." Roy gestured with his free arm over towards the back of the room, other arm having since collected Morton from Wendy, eying the door with suspicion.
There, as they migrated, they noticed one of two beds and they were drawn to it. It was dusty and stiff and a luxury they couldn't afford to fall into when they knew that nothing was permanent. But it was warm, maybe comforting to sit there, to be held in a way by such a small vestige of normalcy that allowed a dangerous amount of hope to permeate. To distract. They looked amongst themselves only briefly before gently depositing Larry and Morton on top of the aged and scratchy blankets, because despite everything, they deserved to know at least for a little bit what they had been missing out on.
Larry amused himself by bouncing, giggling softly to himself like he was endlessly fascinated by the most mundane of movements. Morton was more content to bury himself in the covers, regardless of how they must have smelled because he hated the cold more than anything, the snowstorm outside doing him no favors. Iggy tried his best to cover his curiosity with a heavy coat of forced nonchalance as he too clambered up, pretending to watch them. Lemmy held his tongue because he knew that it was probably the nicest thing he had ever laid on.
The rest of them could get by on memories for as long as it took them to weigh their options.
"I guess if the new guy wanted us dead, we would be already. But why keep us here if he wasn't planning on picking up where King Crazy left off?" Iggy asked Ludwig, who had settled on the floor with the others.
"I don't know. But I do know that there hasn't been an attack in quite some time. He must be the reason."
"Who is he, then?" Wendy anxiously fidgeted with her ribbon, attempting to retie it but it was still damp and sagging.
"…scary…" Came Morton's unexpected, muffled reply from his pocket of sheets.
"…That I also don't know. I've never seen him before, from what I remember. He must be an outsider, most of the nobility was forced out after the Prince disappeared but…that was way before we were born. I only know because my parents told me…though I suppose in hindsight, I should have been paying better attention."
He bumped Ludwig's arm with an elbow to keep him from folding in on himself.
"No need to get bogged down by the muddy details, right? You can't remember everything."
You can't have all the answers. Even his aunts with their purported clairvoyance in their fancy embellished tents would balk at the weight knowledge required anyone to bear. They moved too frequently, never stayed in one place long because that was the nature of performance, if you stuck around you'd get stale. His uncles would complain about the inane "newspaper chatter" of patrons because it tethered them to the current affairs of states they never entered to leave footprints on. For awhile he followed their example because it was all he knew, the fluidity of life rarely disrupted by 'gossip' or 'politics' as they would say. But they could only ignore the newspapers for so long before they became more than just black and white. More than just words and images on a page, but words unspoken, images tucked away in his mind for when it all slipped away again.
It was hard to pretend he wasn't only reassuring his brother in the hopes that he would be forgiven his ignorance too.
The wind roared outside now, and the window violently blew open, startling everyone back into silence. A few moments passed, and when they were all certain that the elements had not come for them here of all places, Roy stood to close it again. However, he stopped when he reached the pane and peered out of it, undeterred by the snow that relentlessly pelted him.
"Uhh, Roy?" Wendy tried, but he didn't acknowledge her. He looked to the bed with Larry and Morton, then to the other side of the room at the unoccupied bed with a fixed concentration.
"We're on the third floor. Fourth floor tops. We can use the bedsheets…and those ugly curtains-Ludwig grab the ones from over there, and Wendy n' Lemmy you tie 'em-"
"Wait, wait! Can't we talk about this? What makes you think we're all jumping out the window in the middle of a blizzard?"
"No one's jumping outta the window, circus boy. Don't get too excited."
"Listen, all I'm hearing about this guy is that he's probably friendly! We can't send Larry and Morton back out into that weather on a gamble, Roy. We have no food, no shelter-how are we going to survive out there? We'll just end up right back where we started!"
"Yeah, Lemmy's right. At least if we die here, we'll die warm. I mean…if you ever decide to close that damn window, man. It's already chilly enough in here-"
Roy glared at Iggy, silencing him. He just folded his arms and flopped back down on the bed in indignation. He then turned his attention back to him, regarding him in a tone that would have been menacing had it been louder than the wind that only amplified in volume as it echoed throughout the mostly hollow chamber.
"You always gotta see the good in everyone, don't you? I thought you'd know by now, that's a gamble too. I'm sure the last time you placed that bet, you ended up here with the rest of us fools. I'm not gonna get played again. I'm not gonna wait around for someone to decide what to do with me!"
"Roy! Just listen!"
But he was too busy directing Wendy and Iggy to heed him. Iggy whined because he wanted to stay put, Ludwig argued against the idea of going out in the storm, but was willing to file the plan away for safekeeping, to which Roy commented that they only reason they were in this mess was because 'safekeeping' was something he had failed miserably at…It was probably because he was tired and stressed and hitting a wall so he decided to hit something else back, but Ludwig was in no shape to take it any way but personally…Morton had decided that Larry's bouncing had become irritating when his knees buckled under him and he collapsed on top of him for the third time.
It felt like one of those jokes he used to watch his cousins play. As a kid he found it hilarious to mix all the cups around rapidly, chaotically, to watch the player anguish over an impossible, shot-in-the-dark choice only for it to have never mattered in the first place. The cups were lifted, only to discover that there was no ball underneath them, that no matter how careful and calculated or reckless and instinctual the decision may have been, it always led to the same result. The same kind of anger that only emerged when someone had been cheated.
He hadn't lost anyone the way that they had. He had never known what it felt like to be the player in this unwinnable game, and though he hadn't been the one to set it in motion, he couldn't help but feel a crushing sort of guilt for ever watching and laughing in the first place. It was no surprise they didn't listen to him. It wasn't like they could hear him even if they wanted to.
The window was still open, Wendy's makeshift curtain-rope, tied securely around the handle of a nearby empty dresser, dangling dangerously outside. Roy and Ludwig argued as the wind howled behind them, neither cared how the snow piled up around them because they were involved in a completely separate storm. Iggy chimed in occasionally but it was unclear probably even to him whose side he was on, the toddlers annoyed one another in the background. It was too much for him to process, too much for him to handle, he was supposed to be used to this, he was supposed to be good at this-
"Everyone! Calm down!"
There was an unfamiliar voice from the back of the room, and everything at once went from too much to nothing at all. The room itself seemed to drain, and the only sound that hadn't been sucked out the window was from the window itself, battering against the wall as if to mirror the futility of the situation.
All eyes landed on the stranger who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, but his own, despite being obscured behind rounded spectacles, seemed to stare through them. His face sunk from surprise to something more sullen as he approached the window. Roy balled his fists, likely about to make a scene until the man, without warning, pulled what looked like a stick from his robes. Those who remained there wasted no time hurriedly dashing away, and they gathered around their youngest siblings in the event that things inevitably went sour.
He pulled in the already frozen-stiff tangle of fabric, and it was suddenly embarrassing how unfinished it looked. It wasn't so much a foiled escape attempt then so much as it was an accidental rescue from certain death. As frightened as they all remained in anticipation, the stranger looked merely unimpressed and unamused.
"Quite foolish," he hummed.
When the window failed to close again, he muttered to himself his disdain for that stupid faulty latch he could never reach, that he was always finding new broken things like he hadn't just walked in on them in the middle of their madness. He wondered then if it had just been his exhaustion to have imaged a weapon not pointed in his direction for once. Rather, the man just held the window closed and pointed it towards the top, and a small burst dissipated against it as soon as it was cast. He might have also imagined that, too.
"There. That should hold for now." He turned towards them and they recoiled. Oddly, he blinked with confusion a moment before quickly depositing the rod back to where it had come. His smile was small, but apologetic all the same.
"Sorry for the door. My Lord can be a bit paranoid…he was worried you would attempt to leave in this weather. Though, I suppose he was right in the end to worry. We both underestimated you-"
"What does your 'Lord' want with us? Why did he send you here?" Roy stepped out to prevent him from coming any closer, but it didn't seem to phase the stranger in the slightest. Ludwig uncomfortably shuffled forward as well, if for no other reason than to prevent Roy from doing anything rash.
"Please, we didn't come here to cause trouble. We came seeking safe passage, and maybe to ask for any rations you had to spare. If His Majesty is more peaceable than the last, he will have no objection to our departure as soon as the weather permits-"
"Where will you go?"
Ludwig stalled, and fell silent. It was a weird sight, watching words pile up in his brain like he finally realized this wasn't something that he could simply talk his way out of, and he was truly speechless in the worst way possible. The stranger turned to address Roy.
"My Lord did not send me; he has other matters to attend to. But I wanted to apologize for frightening you, and reassure you that you are safe here…of course, so long as you aren't trying to climb out of windows on the third floor."
"Yeah, sure. I feel real welcome now-"
"Roy-"
"No, you've a right to be upset, I promise I will rectify the matter. His Rashness has been rather…shall we say shortsighted since his little one came along. Though I can't exactly blame him for being protective, what with the world we live in…but I ramble on. I know you didn't come all this way to discuss the Prince, did you?"
There was an informal fondness in the way he spoke, despite the circumstances. He had expected living in a castle, fancy or no, required a certain level of formality from its residents. Though the stranger had since quieted himself, his body language prattled on about everything like they were all old friends catching up over dinner. His arms were parted, constantly visible…he was making a nonchalant, but conscious effort not to startle them. Though he was just barely taller than most of them, he couldn't help but notice the man appear to stretch himself a little like how his cousins looked when they were gearing up to embrace him after a hard day. Like if he were a smidge taller he could convince them that he had everything under control, that he would really would be able to keep them all safe, among other things he had all heard before.
But there was something else about the stranger that struck him more than it should have, and it made him truly want to believe in him more than his promises because in it there was proof that he would make good on them. He had appeared in the room with little fanfare, and though he and Ludwig shared the same lexicon, there was a vibrancy in it that suggested more beyond the rigidity of protocol, beyond the bleakness of the situation. He appeared before them as disheveled as they felt, and on the front of his robes were splotches, food stains he must have decided weren't important enough to bother hiding.
He had always been the youngest in his family until recently. Being one of the oldest was a weird experience for him, but it was gladly undertaken if it meant making his youngest brothers as happy as they could be out there where suffering was commonplace. For all his efforts, he had spent enough time around Larry to know that kids were too picky, regardless if their survival depended on it. He'd had rejected food thrown in his direction too many times to miss the tell-tale sign of love, in whatever form it took. He'd always had a honed sense for it because, for a while, it was harder and harder to find.
"Who are you?"
A simple, and yet, incredibly complex question. He moved away from his younger siblings on the bed, stepping towards the stranger curiously. Ludwig and Roy looked up in apprehension, like he was violating a rule they never agreed upon. It didn't last long though, and both moved back to fill the empty space together, any previous hostility towards each other forgotten. It made him wonder briefly if the two ever really enjoyed bickering as much as they did hearing themselves talk.
The man regarded him with reciprocated curiosity, likely not expecting him of all of them to come forward. He really hated feeling this short, it rarely ever helped his cause when no one could speak to him without first sizing him up to determine whether they deemed him worthy of answers or not.
"I would call myself His Majesty's advisor, if ever he cared to listen to me at all. No, I am simply an old man whose fortune depends on the day." His face lifted.
"But you may call me Kamek."
He was always making friends in those days, it was just second-nature to him. This one didn't come as easily but he still had to try…but he didn't know who or what he was trying for. It might have been for security; if this Kamek were familiar with them he might actually advocate for them when the time came because he clearly had some sort of influence over the King with all this talk of "rectifying" his mistakes and sort of interesting, patronizing nicknames that went unnoticed until now. Perhaps it was because he missed the feeling and wanted to know if he had really changed all that much in the last two years. But it also could have been something in the way the rest of his siblings were looking at him, terrified like the prospect of a brief future somehow appealed to them more than that of the unknown.
He could practically see Ludwig rationing out resources in his head, Roy mentally counting the seconds while he bided his time, waiting for opportunities to come while simultaneously ignoring the biggest opportunity that laid right in front of them. That wasn't to say he had no appreciation for caution or reason, both of which had gotten them this far and he was thankful. But there was a certain feeling about this place, about Kamek, that just assuaged his fears in a way he couldn't explain. Everyone was always afraid of others until they actually met them. They wouldn't be where they are if they hadn't. He never attributed much to it because it was easy for him. Being open and moving forward as quickly as possible, living in the moment, that was just how he was raised, how he enjoyed living because it felt like a part of him was still out there traveling with his aunts, uncles, and cousins like he never left.
"I'm Lemmy."
"Nice to meet you. What may I call all of you?" Kamek directed his question to the congregation around the bed, and he sorely hoped that someone would respond and keep the conversation alive. He wasn't surprised when they only stared back blankly, as if giving him their names was the verbal equivalent of a key to their soul. Maybe it was, he just never liked to keep his locked away.
They shrank and hid like they couldn't bear to allow themselves to hope for anything better. Kamek had just asked them for a name, and they had looked at him like they believed more in their survival out in the middle of a snowstorm with no food than the chance that after years of running, they finally had a place to rest. They couldn't fathom that after so many soldiers hunting them, so many people indifferent to whether or not they lived or died there could be anyone who would ever love them again in the way that they were so desperately lacking.
It was like shouting at the television screen. He wanted them so badly to understand where he was coming from but they existed on completely different planes. They'd never hear him just as much as he'd never understand what they went through because in spite of everything, he was the lucky one. His family was alive.
"…Sorry…to make you come all this way for a window…" The emptiness was awkward, but there wasn't much else to be said. Annoyed as he was by their decision to remain silent, he respected it.
"If I knew about the window, I would have certainly made it here sooner. It is truly interesting how reckless one can be on an empty stomach, no? I shall have to fix that."
He cocked his head in confusion, but Kamek just patted him on the shoulder. He shuffled over to the door, pulling that weird rod out of his robes with one arm and beckoning him to follow with the other. Curiosity got the better of him again and he obliged.
"But first, I must fix this." He waved it slightly, pointing at the door this time, and as the burst appeared, the mechanical click once again reverberating, he was able to observe up close and finally processed what had happened.
"You…you're magic! Like really magic! Oh-oh man! I always thought my aunt was just messing with me! But even then she couldn't do stuff like that! You've got a wand and everything, you're like a real magician-! C-can you predict the future too?"
Kamek stopped as he opened the door to look upon him with a sentiment that cause him to recall his anxiety from wherever he had been storing it. He could tell there was amusement beneath the surface, how far beneath was another matter. But it was there, and it was so frustrating, fighting as hard to bring it out as much as Kamek fought to keep it submerged. There was a pain in his tone that yanked him out of his memories, and he remembered himself a little, stilling his bouncing and quelling his excitement because he still hadn't managed the time or the place to be himself yet.
"Anyone can 'predict' the future, child. But the future will do what it will, regardless of what you have to say about it. I am a wizard, made so only by the fact that I have studied too long to be called anything else, and even I could not have expected you to show your faces here, after what has been done to you…but here you are. I don't know why, and I'm not sure I care to know why because it doesn't really matter now. Although, I haven't yet made up my mind if you are exceedingly brave or alarmingly reckless."
"If you play your cards right, they become the same. I think I'm starting to see where your "Lord" gets his paranoia from…it's like my brother said, if you don't want us here, we can leave. I don't know how His Royal Highness feels, but I don't think you would have bothered with us if you didn't want us to stay."
The smile returned to Kamek's face; a look that read like he had walked in on a surprise party for himself that he had known about well in advance. He pulled a small cart through the now open door, and the smell raced in, nearly knocking them all off of their feet like a relative they hadn't seen in quite some time.
"I think I speak for 'His Royal Highness' when I say that we both would insist that you stay until you've regained your strength, at the very least."
He eyed the vat, attempting to hide how pathetic he felt, having allowed the world to grind him down to the point where he was getting emotional over a bowl of soup. Larry began fussing too, clearly hungry and fond of whatever he was smelling. Ludwig picked him up, but otherwise did not move, and neither did any of the others despite finally acquiring what they came here for.
"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you more, I know you are probably starving. But I didn't want to make you all sick-"
"No, it's nice…thank you. You didn't have to do this."
"You deserve to rest. I will do all that I can to see that you do." Resolved, he turned to leave, but he just caught him by the sleeve.
"Kamek?" He hated how small he sounded, how he couldn't stop the fear from infiltrating his voice because as eager as he was to rest, he knew he would never be able to sleep again.
Kamek's expression softened, and he grasped his arm within his. There was a strength and stability in his grip that made him long for home, wherever it was now.
"They aren't comfortable with me here. They won't eat if I stay."
He nodded, releasing his sleeve, but Kamek paused like he were waiting for him to say what was on his mind.
"You've been so kind…please promise me…please…" His voice dropped to a strained whisper.
"You are all safe. For as long as you are here, I will not allow anything to happen to you."
His words were warm, and almost enough, had he not chosen to look back on his siblings once again to justify the thoughts in his head. Ludwig had curled himself around Larry while he waited for a blow that never came. Roy clenched Wendy's hand so tightly but she was too tense to notice. Iggy had laid back down with a solemn sort of lethargy as he traced abstract pieces of art over the trembling lump in the sheets like he didn't care if it delayed the inevitable or not.
It was going to take more than a bowl of soup to keep Roy from climbing out the window.
"Please…don't forget about us…"
Kamek chuckled lightly in a way that made him feel silly for asking in the first place.
"How could I?"
He gave a slight, awkward wave to the back of the room. Only Larry waved back.
"I'll return in a few hours for that." He pointed to the cart, offering no explanation as to why in the world he would already be awake in the ungodly hours of the morning to collect something he could easily just retrieve when the sun rose. "Until then, I suppose. I will spare My Lord the trouble and leave this door unlocked, if it's all the same to you."
Another awkward wave, and a flick of the wand later he was gone, as soon as he had arrived. He moved to the door to check that it had indeed been unlocked as promised, and when he was satisfied, he closed it again, confident that the next time it would open, there would be a reason for them to desire to venture beyond it.
Roy had called him crazy, Ludwig had called him foolish, but so long as their reprimanding took place in-between mouthfuls of soup he supposed he could live with it. They knew he was right because he had an unquestionable sense for these things.
It was written all over Larry's face, starry-eyed and painted with food because it was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his short lifetime. It was audible in Ludwig's unsuccessfully stifled laughter as Larry decided he was tired of waiting, eagerly grasping at his hands around the spoon and practically shoving the entire thing in his mouth as his brother tried to feed him without making a mess. It was stained in the rug when Iggy dropped his bowl anyways on accident after only one bite, when Wendy did her best to help him clean it but only ended up scrubbing it further into its fibers. It was reflected off of the window that Roy never looked back at, as Morton sleepily settled into his lap full and warm for the first time in years.
It was evident in Kamek's return, as he promised, robe more wrinkled, blotchy, and suspiciously somehow more grubby-looking than it had been before. He was the only one still awake, insisting it was his turn on watch because someone had to thank him.
He wished he could thank his aunts, uncles, and cousins for raising him the way they did. It was childish, but he couldn't help but hope that wherever they were that they thought on him as much as he did. He wanted to believe they had to, but he knew them as well as he knew himself. They never liked to dwell on anything for too long. He would always love them, and he was sure they would never truly forget him. But there was a longing in his heart he couldn't silence, on the nights he would stare a hole through the sky itself, to be more than just an ugly scar over a beautiful memory.
Green, like the words burned into him, scrawled in hasty crayon font on the note that had been left atop the nightstand in his youngest brother's room.
The battlefield is no place for a child.
He had been sent to rouse Bowser Junior that morning when Kamek could not be found, only to find it barren, eerily neat, and he knew what had happened before he ever found the note. In retrospect, he shouldn't have been so surprised. He had been threatening to leave for quite some time, though he found it odd that he waited to follow through until Ludwig had gone, as if it had only just become a reality to him that they were serious. He yelled out something, and as the desperate scramble blurred around him he didn't even bother getting sucked in because it was pointless; he knew well the difference between lost and hidden. What he didn't know was why Kamek had seen it fit to divide them even further.
Bowser leaned over the parapet, and despite his numb expression he clutched the tiny blanket in his hands, like if he let it slip through his fingers again he would crumble to pieces up here. Lemmy only stared off into the unknown with him because there was nothing to say; all they could do was wait for the inevitable.
It came sooner than anticipated.
"M-My Lord…" A goomba approached them hesitantly, fumbling over his words when Bowser looked at him wildly, like there was a sword at his throat.
"I…I'm sorry. There's no sign of them. The search parties have all come up empty…it's likely they're no longer in the kingdom. We could cover more ground by air, but…if we use the ships, there is a great chance that your plans will be discovered prematurely…we don't know how you would like us to proceed. We await your orders-"
"Deploy them."
"No!" They were staring at him now, Bowser eying him in a way that made him want to step away from the edge of the balcony. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair like he usually did when he was nervous, and stood his ground.
"Lord Bowser, you can't. Ludwig is out there somewhere, he'll get shot out of the sky on his own-!"
"Then bring him back-"
"Don't you think we haven't tried? The communication lines have been down since he left! There's no way to reach him, don't you get it? He's gone!"
Without warning, a furious bellow flared into an uncontrolled eruption of flames, and Bowser roared out at the expanse before him in anger, in grief, in a vain, anguished attempt in the hopes that the people who simply weren't there would hear him somehow. He only quickly begged the goomba to leave them, telling him they needed more time to discuss the idea before acting on anything because he'd be damned if all his brothers' hard work and sacrifices go down the tubes now for a stage Bowser didn't even realize he was standing on.
When they were alone again, the heat had melted away the tough exterior, through some of the softer layers he had grown fond of over the years and down to his ravaged core. He leaned there against the stone rail because if he didn't he would fall to the ground. It was weird to see such a large personality make himself so tiny, but for once it was comforting to finally be able to see each other eye to eye. It was more personal, and he felt less like a construction project when they were able to silently acknowledge that some things just couldn't be salvaged. He threw his arms around him anyways, but he knew it was a temporary fix.
"…he took my son…" His voice quavered. He stared at the empty blanket in his arms like he could simply will him to be there because they went everywhere together. Like a piece of his soul was out there somewhere and the hole it left was gnawing away at him to the point where he tried to just shove the blanket there to stop the bleeding as if it would bring them closer together.
"I know…but…"
Why was this so hard for him to understand?
"…isn't Ludwig your son too?"
Bowser looked up at him, and his eyes were shiny and wounded, like he was both surprised and offended at the question. He nearly backpedaled from his initiative because maybe it was heartless of him to make him choose like that, when choice in this case was only just another illusion conjured by the spiteful wizard, trying his best to make them understand a point on a mission he could never understand himself. It didn't stop Bowser from choosing anyway.
"Ludwig…can take care of himself."
He had been sympathetic until that point. He had been good, played along, said what he was supposed to…performed his roles well despite that they were the types of parts that adults only gave children so they'd feel included even though they faded into the background to the point where they were one and the same. But there was a coldness about his statement, the way he returned his gaze to the horizon where his only child was that made him forget what warmth felt like. He was cold again, like he had been years ago, any futile attempt to pile together for heat was fruitless because they were all hollow and empty, much as they tried not to be. He remembered love, and did his best to keep them warm himself, but it was like tearing out chunks of his soul for kindling because they truly had nothing left. It wasn't sustainable, and they were slated to die for someone they had never even met.
But then they had met him, and for a while, he never wished it to have been any different. They had finally found someone, after years of searching, that hadn't seen right through them, who had reached out, not to strike them down, but to lift them up out of the pages of history that would be glossed over. He had lifted them out of the headlines of boring newspapers he would throw away and into his open arms because there was an understanding he couldn't explain between them that made him forget he was ever alone. He knew he was too young to remember but he wondered in those moments where he chased the feeling if this was what his mama felt like…but…
Were they all just toys, then? Varying degrees of broken, piled into the musty chest in his toddler's room, like they were only there out of some vague sense of nostalgia for a time only discussed in whispers? He figured it made sense for a father to want what was best for his child, but it wasn't Roy's fault he was missing pieces of him. It wasn't Iggy's fault that he had been chewed up and spit out, not Larry's fault that he had been left to rot in some dark corner…It wasn't Ludwig's fault that he had been wound up far too tightly for him to work right anymore. But that was normal for him. That was normal for all of them now.
"Yeah, I imagine we're all pretty good at that by now."
Bowser's expression widened, like he had just been woken up. He seemed to falter as the awareness of what he had said appeared to finally permeate through the fog.
"Lemmy-"
"This is exactly what he wants you to do. He waited for Ludwig to leave so you would think you have a choice to make. He's baiting you with Junior so you'll quit before we even have a chance to start. But it's only an illusion; he's banking on you not thinking clearly enough to see it for what it is. The truth is, the kid's safe no matter what you choose to do. He just knew you'd probably go ballistic and throw your whole hand on the table immediately without them. So will you?"
"What am I supposed to do? Just-just let them go?"
"You have to, for now."
"…No. Never. You're asking me to abandon-"
"Lord Bowser, I'm just asking you to listen to reason! It's a sleight of hand, a distraction. Magicians do it all the time, right? They get you to focus on something else to divert your attention so the trick'll work. And, well…what are wizards but glorified magicians? My aunts' magic may not have been real, but they always said that even the strongest illusions can be rendered powerless with a pinch of clarity. It doesn't matter that he controls the cards if you know how it works-"
"This isn't a game!"
"Then why are you playing?"
"ENOUGH! We're wasting time! I'm going after my son, whether you approve or not! It's over!"
"So you're just gonna throw away months of work, months of preparation? Why would you even ask us to do this with you if you never really meant it in the first place? Do you know how hard it's been for everyone to confront the past like that? Do you know how hard it's been for me to keep everyone from killing each other over this? Was I wrong for believing in you this whole time to deliver them justice, or the peace that I can't give them? Do you stand for us or not?"
Bowser was clearly enraged, just in a desperate sort of way that read more feral than anything else. He had to look away because it reminded him of things he'd rather forget.
"You don't understand! That's my child! He's stolen my child-he's probably scared, a-and confused, wondering why his father doesn't want him and I failed-I have no idea where he is, I can't get to him, I can't help him-you can't understand what it's like to lose-!"
He sagged against the stone as Bowser cut himself off abruptly, like someone had slapped him across the face. He was gasping for air, and they looked helplessly at one another, and Lemmy only shrugged his heavy shoulders. He was too tired to do anything else.
"I…I'm sorry, what am I saying? Of course you do, h-how could I say that to you? I'm such an idiot-"
"No…no, you're right. I don't. But you're lucky you were talking to me. Roy woulda probably pushed you over the ledge…"
"Yes, you do. I'm here trying to lecture you about loss when my son is still alive-"
"My family is too. I just…don't know where they are. So I get it, trust me. It's just that…I…I can't imagine what everyone else has gone through, what's it's like to really lose the people closest to them, to watch them die…they deserve to have some closure. Doesn't make it hurt any less though."
"They're a part of you, of course it's going to hurt."
"But it's not something I can't get back. We'll be fine, you know. We have hope. But they don't. They'll never see their families again. We have a responsibility to them to do whatever it takes to keep them going because we're all they have. I thought Kamek knew that. I never thought he would…it isn't like him to disappear like this-"
Bowser weakly snorted, and he propped himself up with a bittersweet, almost wistful smile.
"It's just like him, actually. Though, I thought he'd maybe learned a lesson or two from the last time he pulled this stunt. They didn't call me the 'Lost Prince' for nothin', you know…"
He returned to him a shaky smile of his own, remembering how excited Ludwig had sounded to have finally cracked that case, of why those words seemed to anchor them here of all places.
"Like father like son, right?"
"Well…my father couldn't stand to look at me, and I'm here worryin' that Junior's forgotten what I look like-"
"You look the same."
"Okay, bad example! But I just…I remember what it was like to be out there too, wondering why he didn't want me. A waste of energy, I know, especially when he tried to have Kamek do his dirty work for him…he always tried to hide it from me because I guess he didn't want me to grow up knowing I wasn't supposed to be alive…but there's always gonna be a part of you that won't shut up about it."
He had never met his own father either. Maybe he didn't even know he was alive too, or maybe he just thought he was better off when his mother never came back, but when she died, he couldn't help but wonder if he ever bothered looking for him. It made little difference in the long-run.
"You know Junior worships you. He loves you too much for him to forget about you. But right now, wherever he is, he's taken care of. They need you here. Ludwig needs you out there. He can take care of himself, yes, but he left here confident that he wouldn't need to because you promised him you'd be there for him. You promised us-"
"I didn't know you were so invested in this, you've never spoken up about anything-"
"That doesn't matter! Lord Bowser, I would do anything for them. They're my family now, and family doesn't bail out on those who need them the most. They stand and fight for love, no matter what the cost is. No matter who you lose, what burns, what breaks…what little I can do to help, I'll do gladly if it means the world to them because that's what family does."
Moving forward. That's what he did, what he had always done. He preferred to live that way because it reminded him that he was alive. He had made it this far despite everything, and though there wasn't anything particularly special about him he was determined to put himself to good use for the ones he loved because he owed them that much.
"…right, Dad?"
Bowser blinked at him, and his world seemed to painfully snap into place again, like setting a bone that had been broken.
"We were already siblings before. I know you didn't go through all that trouble to fill out paperwork…don't give up on us now. You're all we have left."
They said nothing to each other as Bowser bowed his head to rest on his shoulder in a silent apology because they both knew he was right. He just knew, as he usually did. He knew love when he saw it, and for that he was fortunate.
After a bit he pulled away to watch the sun begin to disappear, dragged out of the sky by some unseen hand, and he sighed.
"You really care for me that much? After everything? There's so much I couldn't give you…"
"Love's enough. It's the only thing that's permanent around here, anyways. We wouldn't have stayed if we didn't want to be here with you."
Bowser seemed stunned by the concept, and it was odd because he always assumed it was common knowledge how terrible some of them were at hiding it. That little word that sat tucked away for so long that it sounded foreign when it finally unearthed itself unexpectedly.
It hadn't really taken that long at all, because it started, as most things tended to, with a joke. Teasing Morton relentlessly for his slip of the tongue as he tried to explain what he remembered of "dad" that day they arrived all those years ago, and they hadn't been able to let it go because the word didn't sound right yet without the playful tone of mockery.
But over time it became as commonplace for some of them as one of Kamek's odd nicknames for him, reserved for when they were alone, making fun of him for something he said or did because he was supposed to have known better, given the title they had jokingly bestowed upon him. It was intoxicating almost, how forbidden it was, like a swear they shouldn't know, but they were among each other, so it didn't count if no one opened their mouth when it mattered. It didn't mean anything if no one assigned it any significance. No one actually intended to use it, even after it had been made official.
But they had settled in perhaps a little too deeply, and one of the first nights Larry had been in his own room, he actually cried out for him. And he had come without hesitation. They found them there on his bed, Larry curled into his chest heaving that word in-between breaths but it only seemed to phase him for a moment. He just wrapped him up in a nearby blanket and whispered to him softly, surely saying whatever he had to in order to calm him down. But if Larry could say it…it was like that latch had been undone again, and they were stuck at the pane wondering if they would ever have the guts themselves to take the plunge down what was surely a dangerous and slippery slope.
He was, as he always was, the lucky one. He never minded the cold as much because it never crept into him the way it did the others.
"…You know that we love you too…no matter what you are. You don't have to pretend you're comfortable. It's weird, right? I mean, I'm used to it, but the others aren't yet, you know? The ones who remember before…I know they can't help it, but it always takes them forever to make up their minds about anything. You don't have to-"
Words kept spilling out of him, and he half expected one of his aunts to click their tongue at him like they would when he had too much energy to expend, patting him on the shoulder despite barely being able to understand anything he said. Bowser didn't really appear to understand either for a minute until he decided he was too worn out to try and make sense of anything, sinking into the fondness of his words like they had put at least a few of his numerous fears to bed. He was happy then, to have finally spoken his mind on something.
But for as high as he tried to hold himself he was still too small for his father's arms. Yet another thing he would soon learn to make his peace with so long as there where bigger fish to fry.
"Whatever you need me to be." He had said, though he barely heard it, too busy being absolutely crushed into Bowser's shoulder, and he decided then that this was definitely not what Mama felt like but he settled into it anyways. Embracing the different made him who he was…though embracing the different may stand to get him killed one day if Bowser didn't realize his own strength. He was curious what sort of stuff Bowser Junior was made out of to have endured it all this time…
"I abandoned you once already…I know I'm not the best at this. But I promised I wouldn't leave you again, so I'm staying here. I…I just hope that my son will forgive me."
Lemmy tapped the outside of his arm, and he let up his hold long enough for them to lock eyes once again. There was such a light inside of them that refused to remain hidden behind the layer of fog that had rolled in again, and for a moment he was lost there, like that time when he was a kid, roaming around the unfamiliar forest that surrounded their tent aimlessly until he found home by accident.
"I mean…"
He remembered himself, and everything that came with it.
"We did."
Green, like the gem that gleamed atop the wand it was fixed to.
The crown clinked on the floor that was so overly polished it looked to have been made of ice itself. He smiled tiredly, dismounting the ball he had conjured with the curious artifact, and he nearly slid across the floor to retrieve it.
"You almost had it! But you're leaning too far forward, you'll lose your balance faster that way. You just gotta…uh…well here, just watch!"
He managed to balance the small crown on his nose for long enough to have made his point before it wobbled and fell. He caught it before it hit the ground, but he was no less embarrassed.
"Sorry. I'm pretty out of practice! But you got this! Just go for it!"
He ignored the sighs from behind him. Crowds always got restless when they were waiting, they had no understanding for how much effort actually went into these sorts of things. His ball had rolled across the room by now, so he had to stand on the throne itself this time in order to carefully position the crown on the seal's nose. He clapped his hands together in excitement when it stayed there.
"He did it! You guys, look! He's actually-wow! It's only been like, an hour! Heh, maybe I'm in the wrong profession! I should quit and join the circus or something-"
He knew his cousins weren't behind him but it felt nice to dedicate something to them while he was still awaiting further orders. The three crew members that had chosen to stay behind snickered amongst themselves; a sound so familiar he wished they were with him somehow, even though they were probably old enough by now to have grown out of their antics…but that was just another thing he could pretend had been frozen like everything else around here.
They were older than him, but still on the younger side, and while he had insisted that they return to the ship where it was warm, they had insisted equally that they couldn't leave him alone with such dangerous characters as a short, frumpy toad and a semi-dexterous seal. He had laughed, considering telling them that he had handled far worse on his own without a wand, but that was a can of worms he had welded shut and thrown in a bunker somewhere, only to be opened during emergencies. These guys probably just wanted an excuse to get out of the engine room, and he was ever eager to entertain.
The toad they guarded, by contrast, was not amused in the slightest. He was younger too, spirited, and highly distressed at present, but there was nothing he could do or say to his king that may turn the odds back in their favor. He yelled anyways, because hot air was better than no heat at all.
"Enough of your cruelty! Just leave him alone!"
He was beginning to see why Morton hated the cold so much. Moving, thinking, it was all like wading through a cement slurry compared to the high speeds he was used to. As such, a comment he would have probably just ignored slowed to a halt inside his head until it got stuck there.
"…y'know, you're not being very supportive here-"
"You turned His Majesty into an animal, you freak! What is wrong with you?"
He blanched, and he heard the crown clatter to the floor again. It had technically been his idea…Bowser needed to keep the kings out of the way without actually hurting them. He had initially been more than content to simply throw them into a room somewhere and be done with it, but as the awkward silence set in, it dawned on them that he seemed to only have one solution for problems he wasn't equipped to deal with. Ludwig had pointed out that they were spread thin enough as it was, attempting to ambush all the kingdoms at once. He looked at Bowser like they were having a separate conversation entirely. They had to come up with a way to prevent the dissemination of information without adequate guard, because even though the monarch may be deposed, they should expect a certain amount of resistance so long as he's willing to spearhead this that, and other boring, uninteresting stuff he tuned out…
He only made the suggestion, fully expecting it to get shot down because he was unsettled by how seriously invested Ludwig had suddenly become in every last detail of a plan he wasn't even a part of not too long ago. He hadn't expected it to make as much sense as it did, but despite his impeccable sense of balance, he was always stumbling backwards into these kinds of things.
He hadn't thought he was being cruel, in all honesty. But he hadn't thought much at all because the whole affair felt more like he was watching everyone finally unpack when he had never even owned a suitcase. He was more than willing to join in the fray for a cause his siblings felt so strongly for because he knew he was too old to sit on the sidelines this time. And he would fight for them the same way his aunts, his uncles, and his cousins did for him all those years ago.
But he couldn't afford to think on it, or on them, because he knew that doing anything out of love was not the same as love itself. He just thought about the way Roy held onto him as he wished him luck so he wouldn't have to wonder if this was pointless. He just tried to remember the way Iggy had grinned as he pulled off the impossible again, managing to sweet-talk the already overworked rocky wrenches into adding extra insulation to the walls of his ship so he wouldn't "freeze and die" without him. They then spent the rest of the afternoon unloading and sorting lumber so he wouldn't have to think about the damage these vessels could cause.
He was rarely successful, but he tried not to think about his aunts, uncles, or his cousins, hoping they had just forgotten about him by now so none of them had to think about what sort of a person he was becoming. Would they still have protected him, fought for him if they knew he would turn out this way? Would they have supported him? Or would they have condemned him for allowing the history they always ignored to repeat itself?
"Hey." A voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he grasped onto the lifeline before he even processed who had thrown it. He looked over at his crew somewhat ruefully, picking the crown up off the floor again, and it wasn't until the wand had re-entered his line of sight that he noticed the gloomy, emerald aura that leaked from it.
"Don't pay him no mind, kid. The losers are always bitter."
The losers. Like it was all just some game. He really wished Bowser would hurry up and tell him what to do next so he didn't have to make up the rules as he went, but he had fallen eerily silent. He really hoped the others were alright, but they didn't make it this far to bail out now.
He positioned the crown squarely on the seal-king's nose again, climbing off of the throne because he didn't feel comfortable standing on it anymore.
"Here, you hold onto this."
He then raised the wand, conjuring another ball before the glow had ceased to emanate from it. Kamek would probably object to using magic for something this trivial but it was hard enough to move around here, being back in this kingdom after years had sparked an inexplicable longing for that stupid exercise ball because it was the last show he had ever done. The last time he had been normal, the last time he would have probably accepted 'freak' as a compliment…it was stupid because this wasn't about him. He was here for his siblings, for Bowser. He was going to do whatever they wanted him to do because he loved them, they deserved justice and he wanted them to be happy. Maybe if he decided to finally quit prodding at it then the overwhelming guilt he felt would go away.
He hopped on top of the ball, attempting to disguise how miniscule he still felt as he towered over everyone. At least his irritation warmed him up a little, allowing the thoughts that piled up in his head to melt enough to slide away down his stream of consciousness again. He smiled brightly at everyone, making his way towards where his older friends stood to regard them.
"Thank you." They nodded fondly. "And you-"
He had turned his attention to the toad, and the guards parted to allow him to address him, but the toad was paying little attention to anyone, staring in absolute horror at his king on the floor before his throne. He followed his gaze to watch the seal attempt to toss the crown in the air and failing to catch it with his nose.
"You really need to lighten up, man…" The way the toad then whirled his head around to look at him sharply reminded him he was talking to someone.
"Why…? Why would you do this?"
"Just look at him. He's quite talented, isn't he? It's amazing the things we can do when we have the right motivation. When you untangle yourself from all the politics, of course. It always did have a way of muddying up the papers until you forget what you're supposed to be looking at. I don't know if you've ever been to Darkland sir, but let's just say that a picture's worth a thousand words, and it ain't a pretty one."
"What are you talking about? You're-you're crazy! You're just speaking nonsense!"
"You don't really have anything interesting to say, do you? Either put a cork in it, or enjoy the show. In any case, he makes a better seal than a king."
The toad fell silent, though he looked as though he had plenty more to shout about. His crewmembers eyed him with contempt, and it must have finally been clear to him that it was futile, he was fighting a losing battle. He sighed, and sank like he had given up, glumly watching his king from across the room like if he concentrated hard enough he may be able to reach him somehow.
But Lemmy got to him first, plucking the crown off the floor in front of him and tossing it into the air. When the seal caught it, he smiled wistfully. His cousins may not have approved of anything else, but they would have definitely gotten a kick out of this. The king was a surprisingly quick learner, and it made him wonder if there was a part of him that understood what was going on around him. He hoped that when this was all over, he'd have at least learned from his mistakes just as quickly.
"Pretty good! Now let's see if you can do it on your own…"
Watch me throw everything my English teachers taught me out of the window for fun
Age:
1) 9
2) 11
3-4) 13.5