Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to
Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving
me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!
I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,
but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this
story to make it more interesting.
I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that, too.
Chapter Nineteen
This seemed like such a good idea last night but, understandably, last night I was comfortably settled in bed with a full stomach and wandering mind. It'd been easy to just lay there and work out my ingenious plan but now that it was in full throttle, I started to wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I mean, the main thing I'd worried about last night was what I'd say once I caught up with Daisy, but as I rounded yet another corner in this huge palace, I realized the real hard part would be actually finding her first.
Come on, I thought frenetically, poking my head into another empty room, where is she?
I severely underestimated the vastness of this castle. There were about a thousand rooms and none of them seemed to harbor my princess. There was only so far I could walk, no, jog without an ounce of food in my belly.
Dummy, should have eaten this morning, I chided myself, but I'd been so ready to put my plan into action that I'd forgone stopping by the dining hall. Nope, none of that. It was wake up, shower and dress, and take to the halls in search of a sight of brunette here or there. I should have eaten.
"Da-" My mouth closed prematurely over her name and I groaned instead, having been disappointed again.
I thought that was Daisy there, in front of me, walking with a group of young women, but no it wasn't her. It was another brunette, one who eyed me funny as she passed with her other well-dressed companions. I stopped in the middle of the hall and ran a hand through my choppy black hair, frustrated.
This castle has way too many empty rooms and brown-haired females, I irrationally complained.
I glanced to the left; another hall. I was sick of halls. I glanced to the right; a short hall that led to a dead-end. In front of me was the ballroom with its giant carved doors agape.
How did I end up here?
"Yes, and Your Majesty, if you would take a look over these as well? They're of utmost importance, you see..."
At the first few words I swiveled my head around and saw them, the Council, walking past with my lady in question squeezed between them. Their path was all the way at the other end, several yards back, perpendicular to the hall I was in. I stifled another groan and just bit the bullet and ran to catch up with them.
Wow, this plan sure is cracking up to be an enormous success...
Well, at least I'd found her. I never knew the task of hunting down the single-most important person in this castle would prove to be so daunting. I was out of breath by the time I reached the gaggle of elders and kept up a brusque pace with them, for they were still walking as if they hadn't noticed me. No, they noticed me: I saw the stern woman's golden eyes dart over to me disapprovingly and I rejected the urge to apologize. What had I even done wrong?
"Sorry to interrupt," I said instead, jogging and panting a little. "Daisy?"
I was sweating, unfortunately, and attributed that to being the cause of several members of the Council turning their nose up at me. I ignored them and kept power-walking and searching furtively for eye-contact with my girlfriend. She seemed to pry herself away from them for a second as she sped up in her gait and looked over at me.
Giving me a tired smile, she said, "Good morning, Sweetie. What is it?"
"Uh, good morning." I began, getting nervous all of a sudden.
Here was the second part of my idea and it was making me sweat for a whole other reason. I didn't want to mess this up. I rehearsed what I would say in my head last night, not that I couldn't have spoken it aloud for I was alone in our shared bedroom. She didn't come to bed last night at all. But anyway, that gave me plenty of time to practice what to say, which meant there was no excuse for my fumbling right now.
"Is there something you needed?" Daisy asked me, still hurrying along.
"No. I mean yeah. I mean," I stammered, "where are you going?"
"The Princess has pressing matters to attend to." The tall, grey-haired woman informed me curtly.
She was one of four Council members that blocked my immediate view of Daisy. It was those four between us and four more on her other side. They moved pretty fast for a group of old people and seemed determined to impede me because that gold-eyed woman shoved some papers in Daisy's face.
"As I was saying, Your Majesty..." the woman droned on.
I frowned because now all I could see were their gold-trimmed white robes and aged faces as they herded themselves down the hall. I tapped the closest Council member on the shoulder and got him to turn his head to the side just enough for me to lock eyes with that beautiful twenty-three year old in the middle.
"Hey."
"Hey," She smiled back, wryly. "What is it?"
The stern, gold-eyed woman seemed none too pleased at having been interrupted again. I shot her an apologetic look and then faced Daisy. She pushed a bit of her hair out of her face and glanced alternately at me and the path in front of her.
I said, "I wanted to um, talk to you."
"Well can we walk and talk because I've kinda' got to get to-"
"A meeting, yeah I know." I finished for her, "But this is really serious, too."
The head Councilwoman interjected with a slightly condescending, "I'm sure, but as you can see, Her Majesty is quite busy now."
Well duh, lady, I mentally rolled my eyes.
"Yes, I can see that," I acknowledged as respectfully as I could, "But if I could just get one minute to talk to her? I haven't seen her for more than an hour at a time in weeks!"
Okay, maybe that was exaggerated, I admittedly thought, but I was getting irritated. I looked past the Councilwoman, who'd drawn herself up even taller, and fixed Daisy with an imploring stare.
"Can we just stop and talk?"
The Councilwoman, at the same time, asked pointedly, "I should hope your young man's presence isn't going to be a further hindrance, Majesty?"
"Yes," Daisy spoke, but that was in answer to my question. Quickly she turned to the woman and said, "No! I...Luigi, can this wait?"
I stopped walking and let my shoulders drop a bit, defeated, and drew my eyebrows together in consternation. The elders all kept walking and the head Councilwoman saw me stop and gave me a tight little nod, as if I'd done the right thing. I saw Daisy glance back at me with a conflicted, helpless expression.
This isn't working, I could see, but I didn't know what to do. I prepared a sort of speech and now I couldn't even get it out, and I didn't want to wait because I was deep-down tired of being pushed to the back-burner. I could understand Daisy having to run a country and I knew that these elders were esteemed individuals, but that hardly made me chopped liver by comparison.
I almost broke out in a run as I rushed towards the group and stood right in front of them, blocking their way and effectively surprising the lot of them. Daisy, a splash of color among them in her blue dress, was surprised, too, and was tipping her head cutely. I had eyes for only her.
"Daisy. Please. Just one...two minutes. That's it." I entreated, leveling her with a steady gaze.
I saw the girl hesitate, saw her take the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth and I couldn't resist a small smile then because I knew that was it, she was about to cave.
The head Councilwoman cleared her throat.
And that was all it took for Daisy to wince at me and give a little tiny shrug before passing me by. But that wasn't all. No, as the Council members passed, the head woman gave me this insufferable little better-than-thou look with the raising of the eyebrow and the 'hmph' noise to go along with it. That was the last straw.
"I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore."
As soon as the words were out, ringing louder than expected in the wide, high-ceiling hall, I regretted them, thinking maybe I'd gone too far. My fears weren't in the slightest bit allayed at seeing the Council and other castle personnel in the area give me shocked stares. I ignored them, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, and started walking towards where Daisy had stopped. It seemed to be taking forever to get to her and each of my steps resounded awkwardly in the quiet corridor. This whole situation, the turn it'd taken, was awkward.
Not that that's out of the ordinary for me...
When I did get to Daisy, my insides froze at the hurt and bewildered expression on her face.
"I'm sorry," I said at once, "But I had to get your attention."
The Council had the good sense to step back as I approached Daisy and took her two hands in mine. She still looked confused, uncertain.
"So...you didn't mean that?"
"No, I did." I assured her.
She drew a sharp breath and took her hands back and oh shit there were tears in her eyes now!
"Wait!" I blurted, taking her hands again.
I rubbed my thumbs over the backs of her wrists and got down on both knees because I was pretty sure the situation called for a little extra, then kissed her knuckles.
I told her as gently as I could, "I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore, Daisy; I wanna' be your man."
The girl took in another breath and her features smoothed out to a picture of what I deciphered to be a mix of relief and exasperation and amusement and affection.
I explained, "I wanted to wait until I had a ring but-"
I saw a tear slide down Daisy's cheek before she nearly knocked me over with the force of her embrace. She'd shaken her head and gave a short, breathless laugh before sinking to her knees and wrapping her arms around my neck. I held her in turn and remembered what it felt like to just hold her. That almost made distracted me from the fact that we were both on our knees, hugging intimately in front of, like, everyone.
Please tell me my face isn't as red as it is hot, I begged the powers that be.
Daisy pulled back and shook her head again.
"Luigi, you... You're so..." She ended up just smiling and a couple more tears dropped before she put her hands on either side of my face and kissed me, in front of the castle workers and in front of the oh-so-important Council.
Maybe they were coughing in discomfort, maybe some people were murmuring eagerly around us, I couldn't tell. It only took a second for me to get lost in that kiss. It was for me what an ice-cold glass of water would be to a man dying of thirst; much needed and so long withheld that it almost hurt the way it hit the spot, that spot right there in my heart where I'd been missing this girl.
"Luigi," Daisy whispered, laying her forehead against mine, "I'm sorry about...all this. Today it's just you and me, okay?"
"Cool," I understated my approval, then asked, "So does this mean you'll marry me?"
"Yes, of course, Luigi! Why are you even asking me that?" Daisy's question was mixed with soft laughter. "You know I love you."
"I know, I love you, too, but it's tradition to do this." I replied. "It's called proposing."
"Proposing what?" She smirked. "And you mean to tell me it's tradition to nearly give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "It would've made sense with a ring."
"No it wouldn't have. Forget the ring." Daisy kissed the bridge of my nose and said, "You're more than enough for me. But we should probably get up now."
I nodded and stood, helping her up along the way. I kissed her again and figured, as far as failed plans go, this one wasn't so bad.
What in the world am I supposed to do with this…thing?
The girl was at a loss, having no more idea of what it was in front of her than she had of how to eat it. She'd seen something like it before back in the country Ludwig had dumped her in, for the land was comprised mostly of shallow waters and beach-front landscapes. It was almost serene really, that place. She remembered spending a short time there, walking along the peaceful shores in her bare feet and pretty sundresses. She'd had so many of them, courtesy of the people of that kingdom. They liked her there, thought she was young and beautiful and mysterious. Wendy hadn't really paid attention to what the people thought of her. She'd been so lonely then. That is, until Munson showed up and whisked her away.
And now I hardly ever see him, she thought with a small frown.
Now was an exception to that, of course, but still; he was dividing his attention between her and…some people at the front of the restaurant. She was sitting at the table he'd gotten for them alone, waiting for him to return. It'd been a long wait in her opinion and she'd exhausted her sources of things to look at. First there was the oddity of a meal in front of her, then there was the ocean to the left; that had reminded her of her former temporary home in that watery kingdom. She'd stared as subtly as she could at the various people around her, sitting on the wooden stage-like area outside of the restaurant like she was. They were interesting, the people here, but they only held her attention so long. She then looked over the railing of a gate that separated the raised seating area she was in from the sidewalk on the ground below. That let her know how high up she was. The tall, lit poles along the street were burning dimly now as evening approached, and Wendy blew out another sigh.
What is he doing?
She turned and glanced for the hundredth time behind her at the front of the restaurant and saw Munson near the glass doors that stood between the indoors of the 'Crab Shack' and the patio. He was still standing there in his long black jacket, arms crossed, shifting from foot to foot as he listened to the unnamed man and woman talk. Wendy couldn't say she knew who they were, but Munson seemed to talk to a lot of people. Strange people sometimes, though these two were dressed unsuspiciously in the same jeans and long-sleeved shirts that others around her were wearing. She tried to get Munson to look at her and, to her surprise, he did. He gave her a strained smile and a little wave.
Wendy waved back, her hand only slightly raised and then turned back around in her seat. It was getting chilly as the natural light waned, and she was glad for Munson buying her warmer clothes.
Well, I wouldn't say buy… she amended.
Looking over at one of four green metal chairs at her table where a white shopping bag rested, she thought on the incident. Her old clothes were in there, and by that she meant the clothes she'd been previously wearing. It was Munson who'd told her they didn't need to pack anything, didn't need to hoard any supplies, told her he'd get everything they'd need along the way. Well he hadn't lied about that, though it was rare if Wendy ever saw him actually pay for anything.
But I don't think he steals, she reasoned. He's always talking to people. Maybe he's just very persuasive.
But then, he'd had to have persuaded his way into affording the boots, jeans, sweater, and jacket for her, and had to have persuaded his way into not paying a standard fare for the taxi they rode to get to this restaurant, and persuaded his way into getting her a meal of…again, Wendy had trouble identifying what it was sitting on a plate in front of her.
She poked with her fork at the hard red outer shell of the curved, seemingly severed dish. Next to her plate was a miniature ceramic bowl with yellowish butter sauce. She was utterly confused.
How do I even…?
Wendy took her fingers and pinched the plates of red armor her food seemed to have, trying to get it to come off.
Munson did say his father owned and inn in the Badlands, which meant he was pretty well-off, she thought offhandedly, so maybe his mom has a lot of money too and all these people he talks to know that.
Wendy couldn't do anything with her food and thus gave up a few seconds later, opting to sit back in her chair and cross one leg over the other. She looked down at her side and fiddled with the pink bear hooked onto her belt loop. She was just contemplating whether or not to pull the music machine from her jacket pocket when Munson came sliding into his seat across from her. She immediately sat up and he smiled.
"Sorry about that." He said softly.
She asked him, "Who were those people?"
"Some friends of my parents." He answered, looking down at his lap.
Wendy then asked, "Do they know where your mom is?"
"No." He replied slowly, but added a bit more enthusiastically, "But it doesn't matter. I think I've finally found her. For real this time."
"Ah." Wendy said, because she didn't want to remind him of the other times he'd claimed to know where she was and had been wrong.
At least he takes me with him to look for her, Wendy allowed, preferring the times where he let her wander around a book store or coffee shop while he went looking than the times where he made her stay cooped up in the hotel.
"So where is she?" Wendy then asked.
"Not far from here," Was Munson's vague reply.
Wendy realized she didn't know much about this boy in front of her. She didn't know who he talked to or where he went during the day or why he insisted on giving her all these half-answers and ambiguous replies.
Why does he keep so many secrets?
"How come you're not eating?" He suddenly asked. "Your food'll get cold."
He didn't have any food in front of him, which she now found odd, but her embarrassment trumped her curiosity in this case. She reached for the tall glass of light brown liquid and ice and took a sip. It was tea.
Munson asked, "Are you not hungry?"
"No, I just um." She set her glass back on the table and looked down. "I don't know what this is."
Or how to eat it, she mentally added.
Munson's face was paler in the cold, windy weather and his sea-colored eyes stood out all the more as he spread his mouth in a warm, understanding smile and rose from his chair. He dragged it next to Wendy and sat down, shrugging out of his long black jacket. He let it rest on the back of his seat and crossed one arm around Wendy's shoulder. Moving his head near hers so that their cheeks were nearly touching, he began to show her how to dig in to her food.
"This is lobster tail," He told her in his smooth, quiet voice. "All you have to do is peel the shell back, like this. And you should take out this vein here, see?"
No, she didn't see at all, but she nodded anyway, and he continued in his demonstration. She was staring at his profile the entire time. He had a sort of delicate edge to his handsome looks. He suddenly turned to her and she blushed at having been caught.
"What is it?" He questioned.
Wendy shook her head, too nervous to speak. Her stomach felt all light and it wasn't because she was hungry.
"What's that for?" She asked as if to prove she'd been listening.
She pointed to the yellow butter sauce and Munson smiled. He moved his arm from around her and wiped his hands on a napkin, then pushed up the sleeves his white shirt to his forearms. He put his arm back around her and picked up her knife and fork and cut a piece of the lobster's white flesh, then dipped it in the sauce.
"See?" he glanced back down at her.
Wendy hadn't done it before, but she felt inclined to now. With him so close, and with his arm around her, she just had the urge and acted on it: she leaned over and kissed him. She wasn't well versed in the art but didn't have to be for the boy to appreciate the gesture.
The only thing to tear them apart was the loud clattering of that fork hitting the table. They both glanced at where it'd slipped from the older teenager's fingers before Munson moved them to rest under Wendy's chin. He wanted to kiss her again but decided against it.
"Tomorrow," He spoke above a whisper, "I'll take you to meet my mother. I know she'll love you as much as I do."
Wendy nodded, very much disappointed when he stood and went back over to the other side of the table.
Could I help it if I was starving? I knew I should've eaten this morning but since I hadn't, that was the first thing I had to take care of, which meant Daisy and I had to part ways. She'd had the good sense to have breakfast this morning and told me she'd shower while I ate.
Maybe if you'd eaten earlier you could've joined her, my brain tried to tell me, but it stopped nagging me once I started going through plate after plate of eggs and biscuits and fruit and a ton of other good stuff. I didn't have my brother's appetite but I could put away if I was hungry enough.
Having sated my stomach, I'd gone back to the room Daisy and I shared and found a note on the bed. She wanted me to meet her somewhere and, bless her heart, she'd left me a map. I was still kind of sweaty myself from running around so I took a shower like her and then used the map to get to where she was.
That wasn't so bad.
It didn't take me long to get to the designated room. It was in the western wing of the palace, up a couple flights of stairs, and was the only room on the entire floor. But just to be sure I was at the right spot, I knocked on the double doors first. They were large and while waiting for someone to answer, I took a closer look at the carvings above and around the two crystal doorknobs: there were flowers everywhere.
"Luigi!"
The way she stood there grinning you'd think she hadn't just seen me about forty-five minutes ago. Nonetheless, her smile made me smile and I held up the papers in my hand.
"I got your note."
Well that's obvious.
"I see that," Daisy remarked wryly. "Did the map help?"
"Loads." I answered, then looked around.
This room wasn't one I was expecting when I got her note. I thought she'd want to talk in a study or something, but this was a bedroom, judging by the huge bed I could see behind her.
"Come in," She invited, moving aside so that I could do so.
I did and set the papers down on the first thing I could, which was a long dresser that came up to my hip and extended along the entire wall. There was only a break in the middle where a vanity with three mirrors and an embroidered chair was. A couch at the foot of the bed and another on the wall adjacent to the door were embroidered just like it in red and gold fabric against dark cherry wood. This room wasn't like the guest room in that it was much bigger and an enormous red and gold rug covered the floor and there were fancy torchlights along the walls and that bed. The bed could fit at least a dozen people in it easily.
"Do you like it?" Daisy asked, coming to stand beside me.
She'd gotten comfortable in a pair of shorts and a light blue t-shirt that wasn't mine for once and had her hair down.
"Whose room is this?" I asked.
"Ours," She replied simply. "You didn't think we'd stay in that guest room forever, did you?"
It'd started feeling like we would, but I kept that to myself.
"Come and see this!" She eagerly demanded.
She took me by the hand and led me to what I thought was a window over on the opposite wall, shrouded behind thick burgundy drapes. But she pushed them apart at the middle and revealed sliding glass doors that led to a stone balcony. The ledge was as high as my chest and overlooked the palace's rural backyard.
"Isn't it great?" Daisy asked, propping herself up on the ledge.
I stood in front of her and looked out at the trees and grass and bright, shining sun. The day was still young.
"Yeah, it's great." I answered, then helped her down from the ledge. "So this is our room?"
"Yes, it was being renovated while we were in the other one." Daisy told me as we went back inside.
She shut the glass doors and stepped in front of me, putting her hands in my pockets and tilting her head back to meet my eyes.
"So, fiancé," She smirked coyly, "What do you wanna' do today?"
My hands found her waist and I brought her closer to me. I didn't have an answer for her. I didn't care what we did, I was just glad to be around her again. Daisy's eyes sparked and she reached for my hand again.
"Oh! Come here, I gotta' show you something!" She spoke excitedly.
I didn't have a choice but to follow as she led me over to the bed before diving atop it herself. Her mood seemed to have improved ten-fold now that she was away from the Council. She bounced on her knees and gestured for me to come closer to where she sat with her back to the slew of pillows at the headboard. I took off my trainers and moved to the middle of the bed but that wasn't good enough for her because she was telling me to lay on my back.
"Just please lay down," Daisy begged me with her hands on my chest.
I couldn't argue with her, and it would seem I made the right choice because as soon as I was stretched out on the expanse of gold and red bedding, she settled herself on top of my lap. I reached for her but she laid her hands over my shoulders forcefully.
"Daisy?" I lifted a brow and asked jokingly, "Should I be worried?"
"No," She said around a laugh, "I just need to show you something. Wait."
I trusted her and wasn't really worried. Nah, I was kinda' turned on to be honest. She looked at me and smirked deviously before bowing her head and sliding her hands from my shoulders down my chest. Her long wavy hair tickled my forearm and my lower body tightened beneath hers. She pulled down the collar of my t-shirt and revealed a mark I'd almost forgotten about, the mark from when her shell-thing smashed into pieces when she hugged me the other day.
"What is it?" I asked her, my voice low to my own ears.
Daisy didn't answer me but let her fingers brush over the scratch marks. They hadn't healed all the way and, although it didn't hurt, my body definitely reacted to her touch. She reacted as well in the form of her eyes narrowing.
"Can you feel that?" She whispered.
"Feel what?"
"The burning?"
"You're burning?" I frowned, sitting up a little. "Do you need to go to the-"
Daisy pushed me back down and said, "Here, you feel."
She then took one of my hands and laced her fingers through mine. I didn't question her when she guided my palm under her shirt, over her warm stomach and across what felt like the edges of her bra.
Oh there was something burning now but it wasn't that scar on my chest.
Oh wait, yes it was.
I looked down from where Daisy had my fingertips pressed against the scar on her own chest and stared at the one on mine. It was glowing a faint pink color and was burning, tingling. Not to the point of pain, but just in a weird way.
"Is that….normal?"
I had a feeling it wasn't. Daisy shrugged and released my hand. I was reluctant in even moving it away from her body at all, but eventually brought it back to my side and sat up on my elbows. Then I had to convince the rest of my body that the main issue was not the girl in my lap but the strange mark we both shared.
Daisy shifted on top of me.
So much for that, I thought after a stab of desire accompanied her movement.
She was oblivious for the moment if her expression of concentration said anything. She buried her hands under my shirt and rested them on my stomach, then looked at me as if she hadn't just sent a whole new storm to brew inside my body.
"I think whenever I touch mine, you feel the burning, and vice versa." She surmised, then pressed her fingers against her scar.
Her hypothesis proved to be correct both ways after she moved her hands up, still under my shirt, to press against my scar. She then let her slim fingers continue in their previous ministrations.
"But that still doesn't explain why our scars our burning and glowing." She continued on.
Is she doing this on purpose?
I tried to keep up the conversation, asking, "Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know." She admitted. "It must have something to do with the shell the mermaids gave me. It's got to be some kind of magical artifact, and the magic may have embedded traces of itself within us when it broke."
She was gazing off to the side and was totally unaware of how hard it was for me to pay attention to what she was saying when she insisted on rubbing her thumbs in small circles over my skin like that. I closed my hands over her wrist gently but she just laced her fingers through mine and kept talking.
"I'll have to go to the library later on and find out more about this." She committed.
I said, "I'll come with you."
"You sure?" She blinked, looking down at me. "It might be pretty boring, just reading through books and stuff."
I shrugged and said, "I don't mind."
In truth, I didn't want to be apart from her and would read a thousand books if I could do it with her at my side. She gazed down at me with another clever smile and shifted once more. But this time she leaned down and kissed my jaw.
"You still didn't answer me," She reminded me silkily. "What do you wanna' do today?"
"I really don't know." I told her after swallowing hard.
She climbed off my lap and laid beside me with her leg hooked between my own and her hand on my chest. Another kiss she laid against my cheek and I turned on my side to face her fully.
On second thought, I did know what I want to do. This. This right here, all day. All night.
I draped a hand over her hip and took her bottom lip between my teeth and felt it slide away from me as she smiled broadly. I didn't have to say a word for her to get the idea of what my answer was and, without speaking, she seemed to agree with me wholeheartedly.
A/N: That does it for now. Hope you liked that, I wanted to detract from the tension of the last chapter a little before getting back to the old nasty git of a dark king and the events surrounding arid city's champion.
See you next chapter :)
~DymondGold~