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Chapter Nine

He dreamt of an empire.

His empire. It wasn't a far-fetched fantasy, not after three months of diligent work towards that very same goal. He was born to rule, he knew this, why else would he be gifted with such apt abilities where magic and leadership were concerned? He knew what he could be and, girded with his ample ambition and cunning, he'd set about to make his goals of leading vast lands a reality. It was almost finished, his work. He'd gained control of several regions, through either agreements of peace with binding terms in the fine print, or old-fashioned invasion and conquering. His imperialistic aims were challenged at first, but once he made good use of his growing resources to cultivate his newly conquered lands and bettered both the economy and standard of living in those places, his antagonists grew fewer and fewer in number. He was a visionary. At least in his own mind. He didn't plan to enslave, he just wanted to rule, to rule the whole world if he could. But he knew he could only push his limits so far before the do-gooders would pervert his intentions and claim him to be some sort of power-hungry tyrant and oust him from power. But his arduous labor was coming to fruition, he could see that now. His palace was finished, built on a hill just a little beyond the city. It was modest in size but grand enough for someone of his worth and stature, elegant but not ostentatious. His army was flourishing and had expanded to include not only the formidable Koopas, but units of humans and other mortals; an army in each province was his policy, ones that could convene into one super-powerful force once united. His empire was taking shape, he dreamt of it and now it was coming to be. He dreamt of his empire.

But he also dreamt of her.

There, in the corner of his palatial bedroom, standing near the wall and looking at him with such vicious fury. Her light eyes were full of hatred and fire and it startled him enough to wake up. He woke up confused; never had he seen that sort of look on her, so where was this dream coming from? Why was she present in his glorious future? And why was she so angry?

No matter.

He was never one to dwell on things that served no purpose, and dreams were merely the stuff of his subconscious. Perhaps, when he had more time, he'd analyze the significance of it, but during his waking hours he had to devote himself to work. What he was about to do next was nothing less than that.

Ludwig sighed and left his bed. He knew this had to be done, regardless of how trying an experience it would be. He could send one of his Koopas to deal with the situation, but the thought of one of them harming his younger sister wasn't an idea he was at all willing to entertain. The ex-enforcer crossed his room and stood in front of his mirror with his palms flat on the vanity. This wasn't his room, not really. He was still in the palace at the edge of the Badlands, near the Black Forest. He felt inexplicably drawn to this place, but he knew he'd be leaving it soon.

My hair, he thought idly as he gazed at his reflection.

His hair had gotten much longer and it was bone-straight now. An oddity indeed, but not one he could be bothered with. Magic, especially dark magic, worked in strange ways and its effects could not be predicted. He assumed this was the cause behind his long hair and the black streaks that highlighted his blue locks. His eyes were different as well; more vividly emerald in hue and with golden flecks within them. He knew who he resembled and could very well alter his appearance so that the resemblance was no more, yet he allowed this to go unchanged. He stood up and stretched, then yawned and with the action came a view of his open mouth; his teeth were sharp in the corners, like four dull, subtle fangs. He prodded at them for a moment with his little finger and shrugged it off. His body had been going through several changes as of late. He'd gotten a little more toned and muscular and his height had increased the tiniest bit. It made for longer strides down the hall like this morning as he headed to the guest room his sister occupied.

He knocked on her door against his better nature of just barging in since he did own the place now.

"Who is it?" Wendy asked as she got up to answer.

When she swung the door open and saw Ludwig her expression dampened and her shoulders dropped a bit. As time went on, their relationship continued to become more and more strained.

"Oh. It's you." She deadpanned. "Can I help you, Your Majesty?"

He told her just as flatly, "I need to talk to you."

"So talk."

Part of the king wanted to teleport into her room to make a statement against her petty attitude, to show her that he was older and superior and deserved more respect, but the part of him that didn't care and wanted to just get this interaction over with won out.

"I want you to spend less time in town," He stated, "and more time training."

Wendy turned up her nose immediately and folded her arms. Something inside Ludwig got real exasperated because he knew that was a telling sign that an argument was coming. He could just walk away and be done with it. He'd already issued his order, he came and said what he needed to. But something about her just agitated him to no end and he couldn't. He chalked it up to the fact that he couldn't stand insubordination.

"I don't want to train." She said simply.

Their arguments always started so simply.

"I didn't ask you what you wanted." Ludwig told her.

"Well you should've," Wendy retorted hotly, "It's my body and my powers."

"Who do you think gave you those powers?" Ludwig cut in sharply.

"Not you." She replied with her mouth twisted in a puckering frown.

"Don't be so sure," Ludwig told her quietly.

"I don't even know how to train." Wendy said halfheartedly, rolling her eyes.

"Roy and Morton can help you," Ludwig said.

"I'm not working with them." Wendy stated with finality.

"This isn't up for debate." Ludwig said tiredly, "you're to go to the training room tomorrow and start working on strengthening your abilities."

Wendy scoffed and watched him leave down the hall, then slammed her door shut behind her.

"Whatever," She frowned. "If he thinks he can just barge in here and tell me what to do..."

The girl frowned tightly and balled her fists to her sides. She was growing to resent her older brother's controlling ways more and more. It was as if everything she said or did set him off. She could never live up to his expectations of her.

Wendy dressed in a pair of plain black pants that were only moderately tight and a plain red t-shirt that she'd snagged from her brother Larry. It fit her snugly, just the way she liked it. She gazed at the basketball on the front of her brother's shirt and thought of him. He was so young and energetic, he wanted to do nothing but play and have fun and yet it'd only be a matter of time before Ludwig would force him to start training as well, she predicted. That didn't sit well with her at all. If that was the case, who would be exempt? Certainly not Iggy since he was older, though she could see him doing imposing his rule on little Lemmy as well.

Why can't he just leave us alone?

At her vanity, Wendy pinned her hair sloppily behind her head and sprayed a light sheen of hair spray over it to make her blonde hair glow. She glanced down at her dresser and picked up a pair of lipstick tubes, choosing to coat her mouth with the lighter shade of the two pinks. For her wrists she grabbed her thin gold bracelets and slipped her feet into a pair of black sandals.

Probably because she was used to the route, it didn't take her long to get to that inn in the middle of the city. She kept silent and to her thoughts as she walked briskly. The girl was really peeved about what her brother had told her and thought that maybe a visit to her boyfriend would calm her down.

I mean, we kissed. That technically means we're dating, Wendy reasoned. But my idiot older brothers don't need to know that.

"Hey, Wen!" Munson called to her.

Wendy turned and saw him standing in the inn, his face nearly hidden except for a sliver because he had the door closed to a tiny crack. He peered through the slim opening in the door and beckoned her over. She frowned, confused, but made her way over to the entrance of the inn and he promptly pulled her inside. Then he shut the door behind them rapidly and kissed her on the mouth. The girl was caught unawares, but once she came to herself she shoved him away from her.

"What are you doing?" Wendy fumed.

Munson gazed at her and said smoothly, "Kissing you, Wen."

"You didn't even ask me if I wanted to be kissed!" She snapped.

He said wryly, "That would've ruined the surprise."

Wendy made a face and said, "Well you should know I don't like surprises, I like when people ask me what I want instead of just forcing something on me."

Munson looked a bit chagrined as he gazed at his fine leather boots. He pushed a hand through his dark hair and stared softly at Wendy through apologetic sea-colored eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you," He spoke quietly, "I won't do that again. Next time I'll just ask first if that's what you want."

Wendy sighed and sat down on one of the lobby couches. She did, in fact, like his little greeting now that she was considering it in retrospect. It was a light peck, that's all. The gesture was sweet and sort of romantic and made her blush a little. She was glad to see him and could see he felt the same way.

So why am I taking my frustration out on him?

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"For what?" Munson asked

"I didn't mean to fuss at you," She explained, then admitted, "I just feel kinda irritated right now. My brother's getting on my nerves."

"The crazy one or the prick?"

"Don't call them that," Wendy chided. "I'm talking about my oldest brother. You met him first."

"Ah, him." Munson hummed.

He came to sit beside Wendy on the couch and put an arm around her shoulders. She flinched at first, then relaxed under him.

"What happened?" Munson wanted to know.

"He's trying to make me train like my brothers and I don't want to." Wendy stated without thinking twice.

Munson asked, "Train like your brothers? Like how?"

"It's not important," She dismissed, "The point is, I told him I don't want to but he acts as if he's some kind of god and his word is law."

"Eh, well, he's king so it kinda' is." Munson shrugged.

He wasn't too thrilled to give that one to Ludwig but it was true. Wendy, on the other hand, didn't say much more in detail because she'd not yet told Munson of her special abilities.

"I know why he's making me do this though," Wendy announced. "He doesn't like me seeing you."

She turned to Munson and expected to see a smirk or some sign of agreement in his eyes or face, but she was met with an expression of pensive thought and rare maturity.

In a low voice, Munson said, "To be perfectly honest, I don't blame him."

"What?" Wendy frowned.

Munson laughed, a short dry and humorless laugh it was. His faux smile died soon after the noise did and he gazed at his shoes again.

"I'm really no good for you." He muttered.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"No tell me!"

Munson sighed and changed the subject, asking, "Does he know you're here?"

"No." Wendy replied with a frown.

"Then you'd better get back before he sends that brutish brother of yours to fetch you."

"So let him." Wendy shrugged.

Munson leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Please go back," He entreated, "Your brothers scare me. But don't tell them I said that."

After several months of being in Luigi's hometown, Daisy now understood how people here were so well-fed: food was the most accessible commodity in this world. It was much more affordable than clothes, shoes, or electronics. And the vendors that sold food were more prevalent, what with there being a merchant of golden arches on almost every block. The food here ranged from coarse and cheap to expensive and gourmet, much like in her own kingdom. She couldn't help but find delight in those items she probably ought not indulge in, like the famed buffalo wings she was eating at the moment. The side order of vanilla ice cream probably wasn't the most sensible choice either, but she'd never tasted a combination so delicious.

She knew she had to moderate her eating habits, however, lest she end up with a figure similar to that of her Aunt Miggory's. At that thought, she wondered about her cousins and if they were doing well. She missed them, but she knew they were more than safe and protected within the walls of the Mushroom Kingdom.

I really should be more careful about what I eat, though, the girl mused.

She sat with her bowl of ice cream and her paper plate of wings in front of the television and prepared for another long night alone. She loved her life. She loved working and meeting new and interesting people downtown. She especially loved getting to know all about the world Luigi came from. And of course she loved spending as much time as she could with him, though she wished she had more than just the weekends to have him to herself.

I guess it can't be helped; living expenses aren't cheap here, She noted.

Flipping through the stations was a thing of the past since she'd memorized her favorite station number by heart. She turned on the music channel and grinned when a song she liked was playing. Unfortunately, it was almost over. She danced a lot more often now, and she was pleased to find that she had most of the moves down from a lot of different videos. She still didn't know if she'd ever show Luigi those moves. In fact, she grinned at the thought.

He's so shy. No, no shy, just...I don't know. Clean?

She knew the dances she did and the songs she listened to were anything but and chuckled a little at the thought of him ever hearing them. She knew he'd blush at least.

Or maybe not; maybe he's already heard them and seen them before, she pondered.

If he had, he wasn't influenced by them from what she could see. He hadn't touched her at all since they'd been together in his apartment.

Well, he does kiss me and hold me, but he's so chaste with it.

She wanted him to touch her the way she saw couples did in movies and on reality television shows. Well, maybe not so much the latter, but she definitely longed for more in their relationship. But she didn't want to have to make the first move, either. She wanted him to, but she didn't know how to let him know that.

I've seen girls on tv get a guy's attention to take things to the, ah, what was it? 'Next level'? I wonder...maybe I should just do what they do.

It was on movies and television for a reason, right? It wouldn't be there if it didn't work, or at least that's what Daisy thought. She resolved that night to start taking pointers from the leading ladies of prime time tv and hopefully, Luigi would get the message.

I could just talk to him, she suddenly realized. But then she thought back to how he reacted to her whenever she dropped a bomb of a topic on him, and how his expression had gotten so anxious when she was outside of that underwear store. She shook her head to herself, knowing she couldn't approach him directly. Not with this. She wanted to try and be a bit subtle.

But not too subtle; I don't want it to go over his head, she thought.

Daisy tilted her head and looked at her bowl of ice cream contemplatively. She had an idea of where to start in her new mission, and knew that a trip to her favorite mall was in order.

His spying skills were sure coming in handy as of late. This afternoon Lemmy had taken a nap with his friend and playmate but upon waking, Junior was nowhere to be found. To a child that had a subconscious fear of having the people he loved leave and never come back, this had been a serious cause for alarm. Thus Lemmy had risen and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and set out to find his missing companion. He hadn't had to search long before he found Bowser Junior standing at the end of the hall, muttering to himself. Lemmy knew the boy was most likely speaking with his father again, though he still didn't know how that worked. He had almost made up his mind to approach the younger child and ask him what was going on, but at that moment Junior began hurrying down the hall with purpose. That's when Lemmy figured he'd better stay a shadow's distance away; Junior was a mysterious child, Lemmy had deduced so far, and the seven-year-old was quite curious about where he was going now.

Past the throne room he trailed the former Crown Prince and made sure to tread lightly so as not to be discovered. That was highly unlikely to happen since Junior was so engrossed in getting to wherever his destination was. He headed not to the training room, but to a room Lemmy had never known existed, one that was right across from the training room. Now Lemmy was especially interested. He followed Junior and slipped past the heavy door, forgoing the stairs behind the door and instead going to the right.

What is this place?

The children stopped at the door as an array of scents assaulted them. At least five or six different perfumes were wafting through the air and none of them made for a pleasant combination. The large room had no furniture besides a handful of small wooden tables with bowls of sweets in them, and a few crates with personal belongings spread out near individual corners. There was bedding all over the floor, soft silk quilts of crimson and teal and gold that sank under the little boys' bare feet. Pillows, large and fancy with red trim and gold tassels, were also everywhere. Lounging about or sleeping were young human women, dressed alike in sparse cloth underwear and a sheer material that served as a shirt, one that ended under the bust, and loose harem pants. The girls were all blonde, no more than twenty or thirty, and had light blue eyes. The pink color of their garments and makeup highlighted their softness and the gold bangles and earrings seemed wasted on an audience that hadn't been present in months.

"B-Jun?" Lemmy spoke hesitantly.

Said child faced his friend and looked surprised.

"What you doing here?" Junior asked curiously.

Lemmy shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, I was following behind you."

"Oh," Junior remarked, "I came here because I was trying to come to my Daddy."

"He's here?" Lemmy exclaimed.

"I think he is," Junior vacillated, "But I'm not all the way sure because I can't even see him nowhere."

"Oh." Lemmy said. "Maybe Ludwig knows where he is."

"Yeah, but 'cept my Daddy don't even like him much." Junior reminded him. "He don't want me to talk to him."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Lemmy nodded, "I think we need to look around to find your daddy, then we might see him."

"Kay." Junior acceded.

So the two children took hands and meandered through the mess of mauve pillows and slumbering women. Twice they tripped and righted themselves without anyone making any sort of fuss. The women who were awake were somewhat curious when they saw the children, but they couldn't bring themselves to care, really. Most of them weren't all there in the mind, not anymore.

"How come your Daddy had this room?" Lemmy frowned, "With all these grown up ladies?"

"I don't know," Junior replied. "I think he-"

"What are you doing here?"

Both boys stopped to regard the woman who'd impeded them. She stood tall, quite tall, with impossibly long red hair and a mess of light-colored freckles and dark eyes that seemed deep enough to drown in if one stared long enough. The young woman had a fine red brow arched to high heaven with her hands on her hips. She regarded the two children with a mixture of amusement and faint sadness and then apprehension. Lemmy thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Junior thought he'd seen her before.

"How did you get down here?" She asked.

Junior's father was telling him something, telling him not to speak to this girl and so the boy promptly stuck his thumb in his mouth and stood behind Lemmy. Lemmy, who was utterly entranced at this girl, who stood out amongst her blonde counterparts, spoke readily.

"We came down here because we was looking for-" Lemmy stopped.

Junior tugged his hand and was shaking his head subtly again. Lemmy knew full well what that meant and quieted.

The redhead cocked her brow even higher and said, "Junior? Little prince, is that you?"

Junior regarded her blankly from behind Lemmy's shoulder.

"I never thought I'd see you again," She admitted in a near-whisper.

"Who are you?" Lemmy wanted to know.

"It doesn't matter," She answered, "Come with me."

She led them to the door and showed them out of the harem they hadn't known they'd wandered innocuously into.

"Don't ever come back in here," She warned.

"Why?" Lemmy asked.

"Because this isn't a place for children." She said carefully.

"It's a place for very pretty grown ladies?" He surmised.

"...right." She answered reluctantly.

She honestly didn't know what to make of their impromptu appearance, and could only wonder at what it could possibly mean for her future.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is having a great week :)

I think you know who she was, that redhead, lol. Anyway, let me know what you think of this story thus far please! Your input is so precious to me, each and every review is great!

Until next chapter!

~DymondGold~