Author's Note
So, here's chapter three. I just finished chapter two, but I think I do better if I go on a roll, though I did just wake up an hour or so ago, so I'm not in the best mood for writing…but what the hey, here goes.
Disclaimer
Do I have to put this every time? Just wondering. Don't own Mario,
CHAPTER THREE
As the stars weep
A young toad was gazing up into the night sky, a sense of wonder washing over him, the type of wonder only a child can experience.
The stars…there were so many, and they all seemed to be magical, they all seemed to present something only found in fairy tales. The young toad's father came outside to tell him that it was time he went to sleep, but found himself, as well, gazing up at the dancing lights in the night sky.
"Dad?" The little toad boy asked after a moment, still staring up at the sky, wonder filling his face fully. The father took a moment to unglue his eyes from the stars above and look down at his son, silent for a moment.
"Yes?"
"Where do the stars come from?"
The father smiled. "Well, a lot of people say a lot of different things about the stars. Some say they come from an age where everything was good to watch over us and protect us from everything that's bad, and some say they're people, people that have passed on and, unwilling to go unforgotten, shine brightly in the night sky, like angels. I think…" The father paused.
"Well, I think that stars are none of those things."
The boy looked up at his father curiously, wondering what he thought of them, then. "What is it you think they are, then, daddy?"
"Well," The father began, smiling faintly. "I believe that the stars shine because they simply want us to stare. They want us to realize that life is more than we make of it most of the time, something to cherish, and it provides us with the moments where that revelation makes itself clear." The father answered the son in a soft voice. After that, the two remained silent, simply gazing into the night sky, together, father and son.
- - - - -
A few hours had gone by now, and as the day tittered away into night, Peach and Mario remained rooted to the spot, as they had hours before, staring into the night.
Luigi had come looking for them a moment later, worried that something might have happened while he caught up with the folks from the waffle kingdom. However, open quietly entering the room that led further down to the balcony, he saw the two were fine, more than fine, in fact, and smiled and left. He didn't want to disturb this. He felt something special in the air this night.
"Mario?" Peach asked softly, the first word spoken in a long time. Mario continued to gaze at the stars, silent, but peach knew that he was listening to her every word. She smiled softly and continued.
"I think the stars are telling us that life is precious. Cherish it." She said in a voice softer than before, and turned to gaze into Mario's eyes. He gazed back.
"I've cherished the last few hours so much…" She began, and before she could continue, she found herself trapped in a kiss with Mario.
Outside, the stars blinked happily.
- - - - -
In the center of the room, a pedestal was raised, the only source of light in the darkness shrouding the ancient place. The rustling of cloaks was heard around the object, which meant people were there, however unseen.
One stepped out of the blanket of dark and into the celestial light that surrounded the pedestal. The figure was clad in a cloak as dark as midnight, everything completely shrouded in the dark. From out of an unseen pocket in his cloak, he removed an orb of some sort, a translucent orb that seemed to be possessed of twisted power, as dark colors swirled endlessly within it, and the figure seemed to handle it with caution, as if it was a living, breathing, thing…and perhaps it was, it was hard to tell. But they all seemed to treat it as such…
The figure silently approached the pedestal, glowing with that eerie light, and put the orb in the pedestal…
TO BE CONTINUED