Hey guys, here's chapter 2. My OC enters the scene. I hope you enjoy!
The day Mario and Luigi, the great heros known by all, returned from Bowser's castle without a princess, was the day the Mushroom Kingdom died.
Walking back to Peach's home never felt so lonely for the plumbers. Neither said anything, both trying to comprehend what just occurred.
After what seemed like months, the brothers reached the castle door. Mario and Luigi stiffed at the mere thought of what they had to do next.
"Mario, do we have to tell them?" Luigi said softly, breaking the silence, "I don't want to go in there."
"Neither do I."
The younger sibling hung his head in frustration. Revealing the gruesome fate of their beloved Queen would send the kingdom into despair, but he knew he did not have any other choice. The people needed to know.
Luigi could only let out a gloomy sigh, and nodded to his brother, who opened the door.
The castle did not change since the heros left it. Toads and Koopa alike bustled around the hallways, chattering to each other about one matter or another. Maids gossiped and giggled about the latest rumors while chefs argued about the upcoming meals.
Mario's face scrunched at the sight. Everyone was so peaceful, enjoying life to the fullest and waiting for their ruler, who would never return to them. The Italian plumber was crushed with so many emotions. He failed them. All of his people looked up to him. What would they think of him now?
As Luigi and he stood in the entrance, who should have noticed them, but Daisy, walking with a bounce in her step.
"Hi guys!" she chirped gleefully, "How did it go? Did you defeat Bowser?... Did you blow up the his fortress like last time?! Did you?!"
To her surprise, Daisy got no response. She looked upon the plumbers, her once joyfully face faded into concerned.
"What's...wrong, guys? Where's Peach..."
Daisy instantly knew. Mario's face said it all.
Like a rag-doll, Daisy slumped to the floor, wailing.
"PEACH! OH GOD WHY?!"
That's all it took. With those words, every pair of eyes in the castle turned their thoughts to the broke-down princess.
Luigi knelt down gently and held the bemoaned woman. Mario merely stood there, ready also to collapse on the floor with grief.
"Where's mommy?"
With a jolt, everyone turned their attention to the young heir to the Mushroom Throne, Princess Maria.
Unlike one would think, Maria did not have similar hair or eye color like her parents. In fact the little girl was blessed with a precocious intellect, snowy white hair and vivid amethyst eyes that showed all the innocence in her demeanor. Why she had inherited such curious qualities, no one was sure, but nevertheless, she was welcomed into the world by her parents and her people.
"Maria," the girl's father spoke softly.
Glancing cautiously at everyone in the room, Maria suddenly noticed Daisy crying and rushed over to her.
"Aunt Daisy, what's wrong? Where's my mommy?" the young princess inquired.
The lamenting woman slowly turned her gaze to her beloved niece. Deciding she would break the news to Maria, she chose her words careful and tried to speak in a comforting tone.
"Honey...your mother...is d-dead..." Daisy sniveled, almost on the verge of weeping again.
The next thing Daisy heard was as if someone had thrown cold water on her. Maria's ignorance spilled out in one question.
"What's dead mean?"
No one in the room dared to breathe. Fear and grief prickled their spines. Daisy could only look at the princess with complete shock, not even able to explain the meaning of "death".
With everyone unsure of what to say next, Mario dropped down to his daughter's eye level and looked at her, tears welling up in his own.
"It's means she is never coming back."
It suddenly dawned on Maria. Her face crumpled. Her eyes lost it's beautiful color and instead created small streams that trickled down her cheeks and dripped onto her purple dress.
The red-clad plumber scooped her up and cradled her, tears also cascading down his face.
"I know sweetie, I miss her too.
--
To the Mario family, everything had stopped. Time was nonexistent, and reality was a mere blur. Everyone in the kingdom tried their best so they could give their wonder ruler lasting afterlife and her family some comfort.
King, queens, commoners and everything else in between gathered from distant countries just to say their goodbyes to a young and beautiful woman who never came without a smile.
Even the little princess swore she saw Bowser, or "the monster" as she called him, come to bid farewell to Peach as well, but Mario doubted it. The Koopa King was far too ashamed to show his scaly face anywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom.
The day of the funeral was a miserable one. The unforgiving sky spat out heavy rain since the early morning. Even though many did not bring umbrellas, some were grateful for the soaking weather.
It hid their tears.
Because it was impossible to recover a body, a statue was erected in the middle of the Mushroom Palace Rose garden to serve as a grave. The momentum did her justice, for the beloved Queen was smiling.
Three months came and left. Letting the Mushroom Kingdom and time itself rebuild and start over.
But the real story began here where two unlikely beings crossed paths.
--
Sitting alone on a rock near the castle, the young princess, who just turned five years old, wept softly. Her only friend keeping her company, was a plush Pikachu who merely sat by her side.
While the quiet girl continued to cry, who emerged from the bushes behind her, but Bowser Jr. Upon hearing the sound of something moving, Maria quickly turned her head and stared at the prince. She was about to say hello when the small koopa rushed up, abruptly stole her stuffed pokemon and ran away.
Once again, Maria began to cry, but quickly it turned into sobbing, for her mother made that toy. It was one of the few things she had left to remember her.
The sound of her sadness halted Bowser Junior in his tracks. Guilt rapidly overshadowed the prince's mind. Blowing out a puff of frustration he turned around, and, slowly but surely, the energetic koopa shuffled his feet back to Maria and held out the plushie to her.
"Here."
The shy princess gently brought her face up, exposing her stained cheeks. A look of confusion spread across her countenance, unsure of what to do.
"I don't like dolls. I don't want it," Bowser Junior replied rudely, keeping his eyes on the ground.
Delicately, the young girl took the Pikachu and hugged it.
"...tt-thank...you.."
"Yeah. Whatever."
The koopa child began to walk away until he noticed Maria was about to shed more tears again.
"What's with you? I always see you here, bawlin' your girly eyes out. Did someone steal your cookies or something?"
"My mom died..." the princess replied with a hazy look in her eyes.
Bowser Junior was speechless, trying to make a nasty comeback, but nothing came. Empathy quickly overtook him, for the prince sat next to the depressed girl.
"I kinda know how you feel...I lost my mom too," he stated, an air of apology filled his voice.
Maria's head shot up, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Really? I'm really sorry I shouldn't ha-"
"Don't be," he interrupted, "I never knew her. She apparently passed away before I could crawl."
"Oh..."
Feeling terrible for that he had said and done, Bowser Junior pulled out a beat up bag and opened it. To Maria's surprise it was filled with fresh chocolate chip cookies.
"Want one?" he offered, "I stole them from the kids at day care."
Realizing his kindness, Maria took one and bit it. The chocolate was still gooey.
"Thank you."
--
The once bright blue sky faded into a deep red, and brought the day to an end. Bowser Junior and Maria continued to sit on the rock and talk about whatever came into their minds. As they watched the sun set, Maria realized what time it was.
"It's getting dark," she said, hopping off the rock, "I gotta go."
"Okay," he replied, following her lead, "I probably should too."
"When can we play again?"
The question struck the koopa oddly. At daycare, he never made friends because he always picked on them and stole everything from them. No one ever asked him to play.
Seeing he was unsure Maria cheerfully said, "It was fun talking with you. I want to do it again."
Embarrassed by his stupidity he merely stated, "Oh, I guess we could meet each other here...tomorrow."
"Okay!" she giggled.
She started to walk away, but realized something.
"I'm so silly. I never told you my name. It's Maria!"
"Oh! I'm Bowser Junior," he said with his chest puffed out, "But you can call me Junior."
"Ok!," Maria replied a grin spreading from ear to ear.
"Junior."
Okay! That was chapter 2! If any of you didn't understand about Daisy's relation with Maria. She IS Maria's aunt. She is married to Luigi and they do have a son who I will introduce in the next chapter. (Maybe) Well what do you think of my OC? I hope she doesn't seem like a Mary Sue. I REALLY don't want that. I'm thinking about revising upcoming chapters just to keep the story flowing. I think the next one will come out soon, but idk. Just wait and see!
Oh, btw, I hope the characters don't seem OOC. I really tried not to do that. ugh...