I wanted to thanks everyone who took the time to share their opinion on the story but also for all these very positive feedbacks ^^ I did not expect it, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Chapter 9 - Complicity

Two Koopas guards dragged her down the gangway until she stood at the feet of Bowser himself. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Cinder didn't dare look up at him, but she could feel his evil presence surrounding her. Now kneeling before the King, the human was abruptly pulled back by the guards to force her to look the giant Koopa straight in the eye. She yelped in surprise but was suddenly trapped by his calculating gaze as a slow smile stretched the corners of his muzzle. The malevolent expression froze her. His big red eyebrows furrowed as he studied her in silence, Bowser raised a claw to place it under Cinder's chin to force her to stay in that position as he spoke again. His deep, threatening voice vibrated in every part of her.

"You really thought you could escape me?" He declared with an alarming calmness while pressing his claw under the throat of the terrorized girl nevertheless perfectly still to support her glance in his. He had to admit that she had guts to face him. He laughed softly as he looked at the ground with a shake of his head. Then he raised his red eyes to stare back at her with that same iconic evil look.

"You'll never leave this place..." Bowser raised his eyebrows after a chuckle before suddenly losing all trace of amusement to become very serious, the change frightening. The breath from his nostrils moved her red hair as he leaned towards her to growl low; "Cinder."

And with a howl, he raised his other clawed hand in the air to then bring it down on the human who closed her eyes tightly waiting for the blow to come.

"You got lost in thought again..."

Cinder blinked rapidly as she came back to the present thanks to the annoyed little voice of young Koopa who brought her out of her reverie. She was sitting cross-legged behind Junior facing the mirror on the floor, the comb halfway down her little red puff. Staring at herself in disbelief in the mirror's reflection, it took her a few seconds to remember where she was and what she was doing. This morning she had offered to do Junior's hair again after he had tangled it up. She had placed a pillow between his spiny carapace and her belly so she wouldn't risk getting inadvertently hurt by one of his little spikes. But her dream of last night kept haunting her... She kept thinking about it and replaying it in her mind until she didn't know what she was doing anymore, which had obviously alerted the grumpy little Koopa.

"Did you have a bad dream? I heard you screaming last night." He revealed as he watched Cinder's trapped face via the large mirror.

"A horrible nightmare." Affirmed the girl with a chuckle as she ran the comb through Bowser Jr's little hair again, her eyebrows furrowing at the pressure in her chest that wouldn't go away.

"How horrible? I often have the same nightmare. I dream that Toads are chasing me to force me to eat their disgusting mushrooms... Sometimes they grab me and throw me in a pot full of mushrooms! They all start laughing while putting salt and pepper on my head... And then I turn into a leek! I manage to escape most of the time, but then daddy doesn't recognize me anymore and chases me out of the kingdom because I'm a naughty leek..." Sadly explained the little turtle with the drooping chin, traumatized by this mushroom story.

"That's really awful... I don't know what Toads are, but they look very very mean. But I'm sure that even if you turned into a leek, your daddy wouldn't push you away. You mean too much to him." Tried to reassure Cinder with a small smile at Junior in the mirror, stopping her brushing for a moment when the Koopa looked at her in amazement.

"Pwah! Don't you know what a Toad is? They're all colorful and cute and happy all the time. It makes me want to throw up!" He groaned, sticking his tongue out in disgust, which made the human behind his back laugh. However he quickly picked up to finish his sentence with a grunt; "and dad hates leeks."

"Oh..." Pinching her lips so as not to start laughing again, Cinder quickly returned to her hairdo before offending the young prince. There was no need to laugh, because it was not funny for him at all! A nightmare remained frightening for the one who endured it, whatever the subject of this last one then there was no judgment to be made.

Even though he was learning some pretty funny things from this innocent conversation. Bowser Jr. didn't like mushrooms, and his adult version hated leeks. Who knew?

However, her smile faltered slightly when images of her nightmare came back to torment her, relentlessly, since her awakening. What frightened her was not so much the nature of the dream, but rather the likelihood of it coming true. But since she had not tried to escape at the moment or even thought of doing so, Cinder could take comfort in this way and hope that she would never face Bowser's wrath again. Briefly, she remembered what she had dared to do a few nights ago ... to give a hand to the King of the Koopas. No doubt that little adventure had worked on her to the point that her mind was not recreating a dangerous situation that she could easily find herself in. She felt sorry to have woken up Bowser Junior with her stupid nightmare, on the other hand she was also surprised that he had not reproached her.

"So, what was that terrible nightmare of yours?" Junior suddenly asked when he saw Cinder's concerned frown. He was curious to know what had gotten her into such a state!

"If I told you, you'd have even more nightmares! And they'd be a lot worse than that whole demon Toads and talking leek thing." Teased the girl behind his back while digging her fingers into young Koopa's ribs to make him giggle. He pawed and then pounced, getting indignant when she tugged a little on the knot of the bandana he'd been wearing ever since he'd finished it. Day or night. Obviously, it was a distraction because she didn't want to tell him that her nightmare was about Bowser... She'd rather he didn't know.

"Nightmares don't scare me! But sometimes they make me sad..." He admitted as Cinder finished combing his hair, putting on his black elastic to redo his traditional puff. Satisfied, she put her hands on her folded knees before leaning on the right side to look at the small saddened mine of her young friend incredibly calm this morning contrary to the other times.

"They make me sad too." She confessed in turn, her green eyes getting lost on the big red carpet. However, she had an idea to cheer them up.

"What do you say we practice making fireballs? We could go on that big platform outside, so we don't risk hurting anyone or doing any damage. Wouldn't that be a good idea?" Cinder offered with an encouraging smile, but the little Koopa shrugged, not showing too much enthusiasm.

"Uh that is... I don't think that's a very good idea. Dad might get mad at me if I go up on the platform without him. He's always telling me it's dangerous because it's empty and I might fall and hurt myself." Junior said with a dejected sigh. It hurt him to know that his dad didn't trust him, although he was right to worry about his safety when you live in a flying castle all the time.

"Is there somewhere else we could go? Maybe a training room or maybe an unused room?" Then asked the human behind his back. This immediately lit up Bowser Junior's face as he snapped two of his fingers.

"I may have an idea! Follow me!" Now excited to practice, the young spiny Koopa hopped to his feet as he rushed to the door of his room to smash it open. Narrowly missing knocking over the two guards holding the entrance in his wake.

He didn't wait for Cinder to put on her red shoes to go down the grand staircase at the speed of light and then reach one of the walkways leading to a part outside the castle. Laughing wildly when he heard the girl's hurried footsteps behind him, he quickly opened a gate to reach the spiral staircase of one of the side guard towers to the east. Making big gestures to hurry up Cinder who was doing her best to follow him, the little Koopa reached the top of this famous tower which offered a spectacular view of the whole evil castle. Arrived first, Bowser Jr crossed his arms with a small proud smile while waiting for the human to finally point the end of her nose, exhausted after this race however happy to have finally reached the objective.

"Where are we?" She questioned but her voice was lost as she was taken in by the beauty of the landscape.

Slowly and with some hesitation, she straightened up to look around at the fabulous view that this tower offered her, almost as high as the central platform. The wind, blowing in small irregular gusts, scattered her beautiful glowing hair behind her back as she took note of every detail of this fascinating world around her. They were high up, the dark clouds and lightning preventing her from seeing beyond the castle grounds. Being very cautious, Cinder approached the edge of the tower to place her hands on the stone ledge so she could lean over to look down, her breath catching at the dizzying height. She was at a loss for words.

Molten lava and fire as far as the eye could see... Deep craters crisscrossed the land, carving out this hellish landscape where huge pointed stones rose from the ground as if to guard the castle from intruders. On her right, she could see a single passage leading to the metal drawbridges. Geysers of lava erupted from time to time among the glowing waterfalls that made the landscape chaotic and dangerous, repelling anyone who dared to approach the flying castle. Higher up above the main entrance was a frightening head that spewed lava from its mouth directly onto the passageway leading to the doors. Cinder held her breath as a hot gust from below blew into her face and then her hair flew up, causing her young companion behind her to laugh.

"So, deadly right? This is the most beautiful castle in the world! It's big, monstrous, intimidating and too cool, just like me and Dad! No one rivals it." Snickered Junior, who raised an eyebrow as the human turned to him with wide shocked eyes.

"To be deadly, he is... How do you keep from falling into the lava?" She wondered while running her fingers through her hair, shaking with adrenaline.

"Oh, it's simple. You watch where you step." Naturally replied the little Koopa with another lazy shrug. A most logical answer... All you had to do was watch your step, there was no secret.

"Obviously." Cinder looked up.

"Where do we start? Come on, I want to practice! Tell me what I have to do! Say, say! Do I have to roar like daddy? Does fire only come with anger? I want to make giant fireballs! The biggest and most powerful!" Junior impatiently exclaimed as he stomped around, eager to impress his father with a new ability. And this way maybe he'll take it with him the next time he goes into battle? At the thought alone, he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"I don't know how it works, but I think you have to feel an emotion to animate your inner fire. It has to come from the gut, you have to feel it in your belly." Cinder explained while patting her hands on the fabric of her belly to try to convey what she meant. At the skeptical look of the child, she continued.

"Have you ever seen how your daddy did it? Did you ever practice together? Did he...feel anger?" She hesitated as she leaned toward him to put her hand on his shoulder so he would straighten his muzzle toward her. He sighed.

"Just once. But he never has time anyway. He's always busy looking for a way to get Mama Peach to change her mind about marrying him. I think it's ridiculous! It's better to fight a war than to chase after princesses!" Bowser Jr annoyed after stamping his little foot on the ground in frustration. Cinder winced then raised her other hand to calm the turtle before he threw a nasty tantrum.

"I see... Well that's okay, we'll learn together. Then you can show him your progress! It will probably please him a lot, what do you think?" Advanced the latter who forced a smile to her face, suddenly having a fear at the idea of upsetting the King. It was true that she had not thought about it ... And if he wanted to teach him?

"I'm ready!" Inevitably, it was too late to back out.

"Take a deep breath. You inflate your torso and then release your inner fire in a big roar!" Cinder applied her advice as she stated it, first taking a deep breath with her chest bulging before imitating a roar. Which was rather comical considering she had no idea how to do it. But it made Junior laugh a lot and he hurried to do the same after throwing his toothed bandana behind his back. He didn't want to risk damaging it, of course!

"Like this?" Imitating the gestures identically, he took a deep breath before opening his mouth and roaring with all his might. Unfortunately, not a single flame came out.

"It's not a big deal. It will come in time! I promise you it will. You just have to persevere and believe in yourself!" Reassured immediately Cinder who smiled gently at him with a friendly pat on the red tuft on his head. She was however surprised when the little Koopa started again without flinching, wanting to prove that he was capable of it.

With his chest bulging and his arms back, Bowser Junior's cheeks rounded as he focused on his inner fire to finally wake up. It was imperative that he succeed in impressing Cinder! He wanted to show her that he didn't back down easily and that he could make fireballs as big as his father! Small drops of sweat formed on his forehead as he squinted furiously. Holding his breath for a long time, to the point of worrying the human next to him, he suddenly released all the tension accumulated in his stomach. Leaning forward with his tongue out, Junior let out a huge, disgusting burp that echoed all around them and even went down the staircase opening to make a series of echoes inside the castle. Motionless with wide eyes, the two remained in stunned silence before sinking into a fit of laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Did you hear that? I shook the walls! That was so funny!" Junior laughed as he pointed a claw in the direction of the stairs, his little chuckle intensifying Cinder's.

"That was very rude, Your Highness! How could such a sound come from such a small Koopa? Besides, I thought the tower was going to collapse under our feet!" She was surprised, but her smile betrayed her. Junior suddenly stopped laughing and crossed his arms with an annoyed little pout.

"I'm not little!" He squeaked.

"Small, but powerful." She corrected herself with a mischievous wink, which motivated the young prince to get back to work to prove to her that indeed, he was not small.

For long hours, Cinder trained the little Bowser to become stronger. At the top of this vertiginous tower overhanging the territory devastated by fire, she encouraged him to trust himself, she incited him to surpass himself for a goal and not to look at the failures. Because he will know a lot of failures in his life... And she did not want him to stop on such a good way because he was not strong enough. She wanted to prove wrong the Koopalings who spent most of their time putting him down as a baby, calling him an incompetent who only relied on his father to defend him. This was not true. Junior had all the abilities to become like his father for whom he had a deep respect, always looking for his admiration no matter what the situation. As long he was getting all the praise, Junior couldn't be happier.

It was admirable.

"We can take a break if you want. It's okay if we don't make it today. How about we go get you a snack? Then we can go play." Cinder gently offered in hopes that he would agree when she noticed that he was literally wearing himself out at the task. Concerned, she approached Bowser Jr. when he dropped to his knees with an exhausted little whimper. Taking quick breaths, he finally shook off her hand to stand up on his legs, clenching his fists with conviction, ready to try again. He will not give up the business!

"You can do it..." Whispered Cinder while clasping her hands together in front of her as he took a deep breath, his little cheeks puffing out with air.

Junior put absolutely all his strength and heart into this umpteenth attempt. He had to succeed! He had to, he was determined. Leaning his whole body forward with a little war cry, he felt a strange heat form in his throat and before he knew what was happening a tiny fireball bounced off the stone floor in front of him. It bounced three times before evaporating in the air under the stunned eyes of Koopa and the human. There was silence for several seconds as the two witnesses to this feat stared dumbly at the ground where a small black trail now lay. The trace of Bowser Junior's first fireball... He couldn't believe it. He had succeeded... He had succeeded in throwing his very first fireball! With a howl of joy, the little turtle jumped into the air before throwing himself into the welcoming arms of Cinder who was laughing with happiness.

"I knew you could do it! I never doubted it." She congratulated after dropping to the floor to hug the young prince all tingled by his achievement.

"I am the strongest! I'm the strongest! I can't wait to tell Daddy and show him that I can make huge fireballs! Did you see how big it was? Huh, did you see?" Junior marveled against the human's chest while tightening his arms around her, joy written all over his round face.

"Yes I saw it. You were wonderful..." Cinder stopped laughing to smile adoringly at the child against her, gently running her hand over his head as he went back into endless ramblings about all the things he was going to do now that he had found a whole new purpose for himself.

This most touching scene was captured live in a cloud of pink smoke created by Kamek for Bowser. The Magikoopa was slowly twirling his wand to show the King what the red-haired maid was doing with his son, his large glasses turned towards the fierce Koopa who didn't say a word as he stared at the scene unfolding on top of the tower. First, he had felt intense anger at the nerve of this human and then sadness after seeing his son's first fireball without being physically present with him. It was something he would have liked to experience with him, but the happiness on Junior's face was priceless and swept away all negative emotions in an instant.

His priceless smile, his little laughing eyes... He had to admit that he looked very attached to her. This image made his heart tighten in his chest because it had been a long time since he had seen his son so happy, whether it was with him or someone else. Laughing with this human named Cinder who seemed to give him love and support, gave him a strange feeling that he couldn't describe but that somehow calmed him. So instead of feeling anger or some form of jealousy, Bowser was instead relieved by what he saw in that pink cloud, feeling how fulfilled Junior was with her. This emotion was quite new to him, and it was very unsettling.

"I've been watching them for a while. She always stays by his side. She watches that he eats properly, that he doesn't stay up too late, that he has fun with a whole bunch of new activities..." Spoke Kamek while leveraging his hand to change the scene and go back a few days to see a completely different moment.

Bowser arched a red eyebrow as the scenery changed and he found himself in the royal kitchen with Koopa the cook serving Junior and Cinder a glass of juice. The two of them were sitting side by side, enjoying a breakfast that included waffles, tasty apples, oatmeal, fried bacon slices and a small chocolate bar for his son. Chocolate? Usually, Koopa didn't appreciate Junior's presence in his kitchen because he had a tendency to spill dishes, so to see him offer chocolate... He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Divided between amazement and incomprehension, Bowser crossed his arms while his suspicious look was on Cinder who had just received a piece of waffle from Junior, the latter sharing his breakfast with her.

"He's learning to share and make behavioral efforts. It's remarkable." Kamek straightened his glasses on his muzzle, absorbed in the scene that was playing in his cloud. He even dared to say the following; "if I may say so, it's been a long time since I've seen him this happy."

"She's softening him up!" Bowser grumbled after huffing in exasperation.

"No, I would say she is channeling his energy. At least thanks to her, we can be sure that he doesn't do anything stupid or that he doesn't bother the guards. Or that he doesn't put himself in a dangerous situation. But don't worry, he's still the son of his Majesty! He's still the same arrogant, mischievous, deceitful, sore loser little Koopa we all know. Just like you, your Highness! You can be proud of him." Complimented Kamek with a big nod followed by a smile hoping his Master wasn't offended to see his son acting like this. For everyone liked the new Junior.

Bowser's eyes, however, remained fixed on the human pictured in the cloud beside his son. She was laughing out loud, her apple-green eyes and smile stirring something deep inside him that he tried to clear with a clearing of his throat. Did her contagious happiness infect him? With an offended grunt, King Koopa swept the cloud away with his hand, then turned and walked thoughtfully toward the stairs.

To be continued ...

Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of it!

VP