Happy Mardi Gras/Carnival to those who celebrate it!

Enjoy this Mardi Gras-less installment :)

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!

Chapter Fifteen

Dinner was a quiet affair. It would seem no one was in the mood for talking, although it was rare that all the siblings were in one place at one time. Lemmy was the only exception, for he was taking his meal in the kitchen with little Bowser Junior. Larry and Iggy and Morton Junior were present and eating well, as was Ludwig. Wendy, however, picked at her food and Roy just sat there glaring at it.

"Where's Lemmy?" Larry suddenly blurted.

"In the kitchen with the prince." Iggy answered quietly.

He had the smallest portion of meatloaf and gravy and mashed potatoes, but he was taking the longest to eat, save for Roy and Wendy. He had his hair in a high ponytail because his green locks had only gotten longer. While he sat at the head of one end of the table, Ludwig sat at the other with his own navy hair down beside his cheeks. He noted his brother's words and wondered why the two youngest denizens of the castle were spending so much time together. Then he realized he truly didn't care.

To the right of Iggy was Larry, who scratched his blue mohawk and then went right back to eating. Normally he would have expected to hear his sister telling him how disgusting a habit that was. When no such reproach came, he glanced at her strangely.

"Are you alright?" He asked her innocently.

Wendy said tightly without looking up, "I'm fine."

Roy lifted his head and glanced at her, asking with true concern, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Roy." She said with a twinge of annoyance. "It's been two days. I'm fine now."

She really did love her brother, but ever since she'd sprained her ankle he'd been smothering her with pity and care. It was getting on her nerves. She knew she wasn't as physically adept as the two of them, him and MJ, but his level of coddling was reaching ridiculous heights.

"Two days since what?" Larry piped, curious as ever.

Iggy gazed from Wendy to Roy, trying to gauge what the matter was. When he couldn't, he just shook his head and picked over his food once more. To his left was Roy and beside Roy was Morton Junior. Wendy, who sat next to Larry, answered his question testily.

"Don't worry about it."

Ludwig glanced up from his meal and looked at Wendy, but didn't remark upon her foul mood. Roy looked about ready to snap something in half. MJ, ever oblivious, was still shoveling potatoes in his mouth. Larry was too curious to let the matter slide and instead spoke to Roy.

"What happened in two days? I mean two days ago?" He begged to know.

Roy glanced at the boy and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, twerp."

"Hey!" Larry pouted, but he got the message.

While he grumbled to himself and poked at his food, Iggy stared over the rim of his glasses at his older siblings yet again. He was silent still. Roy, who could hold his frustration in no longer, slammed his palms down on the table and startled everyone but Ludwig, who'd seen this coming. For his part, he leaned back in his chair and tilted his head, waiting for his brother to explode.

"Why?" Roy uttered.

Ludwig arched a brow. "Why what?"

Larry's eyes widened; it would seem his curiosity would be sated after all. He sat at the edge of his seat while Iggy pretended not to be interested, though he was just as intrigued as his blue-haired younger brother.

"Why did you push Wendy so hard this week?" Roy said, raising his voice.

"Roy." Wendy said in a sigh, pushing her plate away from her.

Ludwig said calmly, "Roy, what I do with your sister does not concern you."

"The hell it doesn't!" Roy shouted, "Did you know she was in the woods the other day with a twisted ankle? Did you know she was crying out in pain?"

"I'm sure I and the people two towns over heard her shrieking." Ludwig remarked coolly.

This only incensed Roy further.

"So you heard her scream and you didn't come see what was wrong?!" Roy accused, "What kind of sick fuck leaves his baby sister out in the woods while she's hurt?"

"The same kind of sick fuck that wants to see her excel." Ludwig said bitingly. "And if you had any respect for your darling sister, you'd stop babying her and let her fend for herself."

"Fend for herself?" Roy sneered. "She was exhausted! You need to lay off her!"

"I need to?" Ludwig asked, his tone of voice dropping monumentally.

"Roy," Wendy interjected, peeved.

Roy ignored her and asked Ludwig coldly, "Were you even gonna' come and see about her that day? Or were you gonna' leave her for dead?"

"Roy, stop." Wendy cut in. "Ludwig's right. I'm not a teeny little girl; I can fend for myself."

She then turned to her eldest brother and said, "That's why I'm making my own choice now: I'm not training anymore."

"Yes you are." Ludwig immediately dismissed.

She narrowed her blue eyes and said, "No I'm not. I won't train and you can't force me. And if you threaten me with Munson then I'll...I'll run away with him to a place you'll never find us!"

"Now who's trying their hand at threats," Ludwig murmured, rolling his eyes.

Roy's brows flew up as a shudder wracked through him at the thought.

In a placating tone he said, "Hey, uh, calm down there, Wen. No one said you had to go and do a crazy thing like that, yo."

"Both of you are being sensational," Ludwig told them. "No one's running away and no one's issuing demands here."

He gave both Wendy and Roy sharp looks respectively. Ludwig put a napkin over his empty plate and stood.

"Look," He spoke to Wendy, "You speak so fondly of this boy, but what use will he have for you? He'll marry you and lay with you and you'll spring him a spawn or two or three and then what? The rest of your days would consist of you living in servitude to some insipid mortal."

As an afterthought, Ludwig added, "If you're fortunate, that is; if not, he'll get what he wants and then toss you aside like garbage."

Wendy's eyes widened. She said in a scandalized whisper, "You! You don't know that! You don't anything about Munson or what he wants-"

"Oh, but I do." Ludwig clipped. "Make your choice wisely, sister. Would you give yourself over to a life of domestication or would you invest in your future by honing the skills you've been gifted with so that you may be of actual use to someone?"

"Of use? You mean so that I'll be a tool? For you?" She spat. "I don't think so!"

She then stood rather abruptly and fled angrily to her room. Everyone heard the door slam behind her and consequently Iggy flinched. Larry had a wide grin on his face. He found the whole tense situation highly entertaining. MJ, who had a mouthful of food, shared in this sentiment. Roy narrowed his eyes at Ludwig after Wendy's departure.

"Great going, you dick." He jeered.

Ludwig approached him with an icy expression. "Listen, you. I don't know why you've become so melodramatic like your sister, but come off it; it really doesn't suit you."

"And I don't know why you're being a heartless dick," Roy countered, "It doesn't suit you either."

Ludwig said nothing for a moment. Larry could hardly believe what was going down this night. He had never heard his brothers and sisters fight this badly before.

"Since you're so concerned with Wendy," Ludwig began in an even tone, "you'll be taking over her physical training sessions."

"Fine by me." Roy shrugged.

Ludwig turned to Morton Junior and said, "You'll be teaching her combat."

"Why me?" MJ whined, his brow furrowed.

"Because I said so." Ludwig replied.

He then turned and left, not bothering to say another word. Roy shook his head in disgust. He turned to Morton Junior but when he spoke, it was more to himself than anyone.

"Ludwig's changin', yo." He murmured with crossed arms. "He's always been a controlling son of a bitch, but now he's like a...sadistic controlling son of a bitch."

"Such eloquence," Iggy muttered.

Roy shot him a contemptible look and said, "Was I talking to you, Brainiac? Anyway. He's coming down way too hard on Wen. And you wanna' know why he's making me do physical training and you do combat with her?"

"Yeah," MJ swallowed, "Why?

"Well he knows that my area of expertise is strength, since I can lift way more than you. And your forte is force, since you can pack a lethal punch." Roy explained.

"Ooh, big words," Iggy smirked faintly to himself, "Good job."

"Shut up!" Roy barked at him, then said, "I know you sometimes don't know your own strength, so I'm gonna' train her in combat while you take over in physical conditioning."

"But you said it yourself," Morton Junior stated, "I can't lift as much as you."

"It doesn't matter, neither can she." Roy shrugged.

"Ah, right." MJ nodded, then pointed out, "Wait, Ludwig is gonna' be pissed that we're disobeying him."

Roy smirked. "Am I supposed to give a damn?"

They shared a laugh. Then Roy glanced at his two younger siblings and leveled them with an intimidating gaze.

"If any of this gets back to Lu, I'll pound your rotten faces in, got it?" He warned.

Iggy and Larry exchanged a glance. Iggy looked thoroughly unimpressed, but Larry seemed a bit defiant and a bit afraid in equal shares. They both nodded, though. Then Iggy went to put away his dishes, intent on working on some more designs for his latest inventions. Larry had a ball and a net to get to. They could only count themselves lucky because, while Ludwig had been preoccupied with Wendy for the past week, he'd left them alone for the most part. Now that he was relinquishing control to Roy and MJ, the two younger brothers knew their free time would significantly diminish.

"You don't look so good."

"Don't feel good, either."

There was a dimness in Daisy's eyes, a low set to her dark brows that was highly indicative of her disconsolate mood. She was at odds within; part of her felt dismayed and a bit betrayed at the series of events that had occurred over the course of last night. She was naturally dismayed at the fact that Luigi basically ditched her at the club and thus, she couldn't show him all the moves she'd been practicing just for him. The betrayal came into play when considering she found him chatting it up with some girl he claimed not to have a relationship with beyond the point of being platonic. To add insult to injury, he'd not said a word in explanation for his behavior thus far. She was at odds, though, because she knew Luigi was so very good to her and wouldn't be doing all that without a reason. She also felt partly to blame because she had, of course, burdened him with the load of her torment in captivity. That pretty much shoved all her jealousy and victimized emotions in a cold dark, guilt-ridden closet.

"Why's that?" Alicia asked her openly.

They could speak freely here, back in the storage area where they had no one but themselves and a plethora of shoes to fill the space in between the massive four walls. Daisy had a box with a pair of cheetah print heels in her hands. She gazed at them before answering.

"I'm just starting to wish I had never told Luigi all that stuff that happened to me," She replied.

Alicia took the shoe box from her and pushed it onto one of the racks of the many metal shelves. She put her hands on her hips and cocked a brow firmly.

"You did the right thing," her friend insisted. "Secrets kill relationships."

"If that's the case, then why does it seem like we've taken a step backwards?" Daisy frowned.

The other girl shrugged.

"He's gonna' need a little while to process what you told him," She explained again, "don't rush it. Just let him work this out himself."

She hoped, quite selfishly she could admit, that he got over this soon. She couldn't stand the tension.

Atfer her confrontation with her eldest brother, Wendy didn't know what to do. She'd stormed to her room and locked her door, not that it would ward off her magician of a brother. Still, it helped release some feelings, slamming that door and locking it did. She'd thrown herself on the bed and cried for who knows how long, and now she was just waking up with a dull headache itchy eyes. She knew it wasn't good to do but she rubbed at them anyway and groaned softly. Back onto her pillow she flopped, feeling drowsy and worn out and hungry. She'd hardly eaten dinner again, mainly because of how upset she'd been, and was starving. The girl rolled onto her side and that's when something caught her eye.

A rose? How did that get here? She wondered.

Her first thought upon seeing the rose on her nightstand was that it clearly wasn't normal. The petals were a soft, baby blue color with hints of silver sprinkled over them like dust particles. She thought on how beautiful it looked, especially with the light of the moon shining down into the room and casting a gentle light over it. But then she wondered where it came from again and that's when things went sour. That kind of flower could only be produced by magic, and there weren't many magicians that she knew of, and even fewer who had access to her room. She knew it had to have been Ludwig, and scowled at the gesture.

If this is him trying to apologize, he can shove it, she thought fiercely.

This pretty rose may have sufficed on different occasions where the two of them had engaged in a verbal row, but not this time. This time, he'd said some awful things that had hit her right in the core of her soul. His harsh accusations, coupled with his intolerant coercion for her to train this week, culminated into one large and possibly unforgivable trespass. She would at least need a vocal apology to be on good terms with him again.

"Most likely more than that," She thought with a deeper frown.

She couldn't get his nasty claims out of her head. With that same frown marring her features, she extricated her limbs from her bed sheets and stepped over to the nightstand. She picked up the rose angrily, intent on tearing it to pieces from spite.

"Ow!"

As she picked it up, a thorn had pushed past the delicate skin on the pad of her pinkie fingertip. She hissed sharply and immediately dropped the flower in favor of sucking on her wounded appendage. As she assuaged the diminutive prickling pain, her gaze dropped to the fallen flower and then to her nightstand. There was an envelope. Had that always been there?

Of course not, she realized, it must be a pitiful excuse for an apology note from Ludwig.

This time she wasn't so hasty in rushing to tear the thing to shreds, lest she sustain a paper cut or some other miscellaneous injury. Wendy picked up the shimmery gold envelope and turned it over in her hands. It had her name written elegantly on it. She couldn't appreciate the decorative quality of it at the moment, however. She tore gently at the waxed edges along the back and lifted the flap. Inside it was a single sheet of beige stationary with a few words written across the top line:

Meet me in the courtyard as soon as you read this

~M.C.~

Wendy wracked her brain but for a second in order to find out who this 'MC' person was; Munson Chauvin, her boyfriend. The realization only brought with it a wealth of questions, like how did he get this note to her? Did he come to her room? Did Ludwig let him in? Did he send it through one of her brothers? As she got dressed quickly in a pair of black pants and a white blouse, she thought on these things.

She knew there was no way anyone was allowed inside the palace without Ludwig's consent, so the first and obvious entry was out. Her brothers would never do anything for him, especially if they thought it would encourage a relationship between the two of them.

Wait a minute

She paused in the middle of lacing up Roy's black trainers onto her feet.

Roy and MJ aren't the only brothers I've got, she reasoned, there's still Iggy; no, he's always cooped up in his room working on inventions. And little Lemmy is always with Bowser Junior. But Larry, maybe Larry would help. He isn't too keen on Munson, but he'd do anything if it were the opposite of what Roy and MJ would want, he's rebellious that way.

With this in mind, Wendy vowed to thank her brother the next time she saw his fluffy blue mohawk-wearing self around the castle. Right now, though, she focused on running a brush through her mussed hair and then hurrying to her door. She tried to make as little noise as possible as she skulked down the empty darkened corridor. She had the rose in one hand and the note in the other, but the farther she walked, the more her heart raced; she put the note between her hip and the waistband of her pants, then wrapped her arms around herself. The journey from her room to the courtyard never seemed so far until tonight, when she had to be extra quiet and careful. She was just past the throne room when she heard a noise; the clicking of someone's heels hitting the stone floor and the rapid pace could only mean one thing: Ludwig was coming. She hurried to the kitchen, hoping to avoid him, but ran right into another problem.

Roy.

He was leaning on the counter, eating a banana that he'd snagged from who knows where. There were all kinds of fruit imported to the Badlands at the request of the late Dark King; he just had to have a taste of everything, even things that weren't native to his own lands.

Why am I thinking of that now, she frowned.

She gazed at her brother in mild alarm and he, in turn, chewed his snack with raised pink brows. She couldn't hear Ludwig's footfalls, but she knew he was on the prowl for some reason and her odds weren't that fantastic; he could arrive at any minute, or worse, catch her in the courtyard. She needed to call in a favor. Roy must have seen the desperation in her eyes, because he rolled his and folded his arms.

"What do you want?" He deadpanned over a mouthful of banana.

"Can you keep him occupied for, like, five minutes?" She entreated. "Or maybe ten?"

"Are those my shoes?" Roy asked instead.

"Roy!" She snapped, then in a lower voice asked, "Can you please do this?"

"For what?" He asked frankly.

She hesitated in search of an answer that wouldn't give away the truth, but when Roy caught sight of the rose in her hand, she was done for. First his face alighted with the dawn of truth, then his features grew cloudy.

"Roy, wait-"

"No."

"Roy!"

"No, Wendy," He persisted in his refusal. "I'm not covering for you so you can go hook up with that little creep!"

"Shh!" She hissed violently. "For your information, he's not a creep-"

"Says you." Roy muttered.

"And," She continued to stage-whisper. "I'm not going into town, I'm going right to the courtyard. I'll go out, see him, and come right back inside in like, ten minutes, I swear."

Roy's anger seemed to fade a bit as he deliberated over the situation. Wendy felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins. She held her breath and bit down on her bottom lip as she anticipated his final answer.

"Roy," She implored in a voice that shamelessly bordered on pleading.

He seemed to break at that. He sighed and jerked his head to the side, where there was a set of double doors that led to a hall that, in turn, led to the courtyard. She released a relieved breath and came walked past him, but not before throwing her arms around him and giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you thank you, thank you," She murmured gratefully.

He hugged her back halfheartedly and mumbled, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't do any of that touchy-feely, hanky panky shit."

"Roy!" Wendy frowned, blushing at once.

"I'm serious, Wen. I don't-"

There was a noise, like footsteps, getting louder outside the kitchen doors. Wendy looked panicked but Roy nudged her along.

"Go," he said, "I'll stall him. But you owe me."

"Whatever." was the last thing she said before darting out the other doors of the kitchen and bolting down the hall.

She arrived at the courtyard shortly after, and what she saw made her heart race even more than it already was due to her sudden sprinting. There was Munson in the courtyard, standing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets and his head lowered. He had on a pair of black boots, pants, and a strange garment over his torso that covered him like a vest and had a long hood; the result had his arms and chest and stomach exposed but his entire face hidden. She had to gasp because there were markings all over his chest, deep inky blue symbols that she assumed was some kind of elaborate tattoo.

"Munson?" She spoke with some doubt.

Said boy lifted his head and let the cowl of his hood drop backwards, revealing familiar thick dark hair. He approached her with a wide smile and a gait full of deliberate intention. When he got to her, he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. She felt the air leave her lungs in under a second. When her boyfriend pulled away, his smile was still there.

"You got my note," He spoke in a hushed voice.

She nodded and pulled the paper from her hip and nodded. Munson stepped closer to her and took the rose from her fingers, then plucked a petal and ran it across his thumb. He gazed at her and took her heart with his winning smile.

"I got this for you because it was the same color as your beautiful eyes." He mentioned.

"Thank you," Wendy said, her face filling with color at the compliment.

She asked, "How did you get it in my room?"

His smile slowly died and gave way to a more grim expression. She felt her stomach drop for a moment. He returned the rose and brushed her hair back behind her ears on either side of her head and put his forehead against hers.

"That's what I came to talk to you about." He admitted. "I wanted to tell you a while back, but we got interrupted. And then I didn't see you for over a week; are you okay, by the way?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Wendy replied, "My neurotic older brother's been making me train to use my, um, to be in his armies."

The last part came out as an unconvincing lie, as she'd almost forgotten not to mention her powers.

"He's making you fight in his armies?" Munson asked, a bit confused.

"Not really," She told him, "He really just wants to keep us apart."

Again Munson grew solemn. There was a whole lot more brewing behind his sea-colored eyes. He dropped his hands down to her waist and she felt a flurry of emotion stir inside her heart and flutter in her stomach.

"That might be best." He said cryptically.

Wendy frowned. "What do you mean?"

He glanced off to the side and Wendy admired his profile. There was something troubling him. She ventured a shy hand up to his shoulder and he faced her immediately, compelled by her touch to peck at her mouth once more.

Against her mouth he murmured, "I'm not...I'm different than regular people."

She lifted her eyebrow and asked, "Different, how?"

"You see these marks?" He asked.

Munson took her hand in his and ran their entwined fingers down the length of his chest and torso, gliding over the dark blue tattoos. She shivered at the contact but managed to nod her head in understanding.

"These are a reminder of who I really am," He said softly. "And as much as I like to pretend to be normal when I'm with you, I think it's time I be honest with you."

He stopped here. He was incredibly nervous. Wendy was getting nervous as well. Her mind was whirring furiously, trying to come up with an explanation for his odd behavior. She recalled the times that he warned her of himself, seeming to agree with her brothers like he was now, and coupled that with the tattoos. She didn't like the resulting conclusion.

"Are you in some kind of cult?" She asked with some amount of trepidation.

He didn't answer right away.

"Not exactly." He said.

While she searched his face for any trace of subterfuge, he stepped back a bit and shut his cloak or vest or whatever he was wearing. He turned around as if expecting someone to be spying, and in that time Wendy could see a crest of some sort on his back. She frowned.

"Munson," She spoke warily.

"Wendy I don't know how to explain this." He struggled. "I...I can do things no one else can."

She was about to ask him more on the matter when she saw a stricken look cross Munson's face. Wendy frowned, then glanced behind her. It was only Roy. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't look at me like that," Roy drawled, "I held him off for as long as I could but he said he wanted to check on you. I think he might actually feel guilty."

"Would be a shock," Wendy bit out tersely.

Munson started backing away.

"I want to see you again," Wendy said before he could leave.

He smiled weakly and said, "I'll make it happen."

"When?"

"Sometime soon." He promised.

Then, not caring that her brother was watching, and partly because not seeing her boyfriend in over a week had affected her more than she knew until now, Wendy rushed up and kissed Munson chastely on the mouth. She came back down from off the balls of her feet and they shared a private, content smile, if only for that moment in time. Then Munson hurried off, turning back only once to give her another, somewhat strained smile.

"Ahem."

Wendy glanced back at her brother but couldn't be mad at him. She really did owe him. So as they walked back into the palace side by side, she elbowed him softly in the ribs.

"Thanks. Again."

"Whatever."

"I mean it." She insisted, "you didn't have to do that."

"Don't get used to it," Roy said. "Like I said, you owe me little sister. And as for tonight, I'd be careful. Ludwig's on the prowl."

"What did you tell him?" Wendy asked nervously.

"Nothing." Roy said. "He's just neurotic that way. So watch it."

The two had reached the wing with their bedrooms and thus had to part ways. Roy shut his door behind himself and Wendy ducked into hers. But she wasn't alone.

"What is this?"

She felt her entire body start at the sound of her eldest brother's voice. She turned in her doorway and saw him sitting on her bed. There was a knife in his hands, a knife that had been in the top drawer of her nightstand, a knife she'd gotten from Munson.

"You went through my things?" She accused.

"Don't avoid the question." Ludwig ordered, rising.

She used her anger to fuel her duplicity.

"Don't tell me what to do," She argued, "You don't have any respect for me and yet you expect me to listen to you."

Ludwig gazed from her to the knife. He turned it over in his hands and only then did Wendy notice the handle wasn't plain wood like she'd initially thought. There was a set of markings on the wood, faint carvings that were oddly similar to the tattoos on Munson's chest and stomach. Wendy's own gut tightened.

Whatever is going on with Munson is for me to find out, she thought to herself. If Ludwig realizes my boyfriend's been acting sketchy, he'll only feel vindicated in all he's said about him.

"Where did you get this?" Ludwig asked her in his recent tone; cold and detached.

"None of your business." She sniffed.

"I'm guessing the same place you got that?" Ludwig spoke evenly in reference to the rose in her hand.

Wendy could have kicked herself. She knew the rose would be a dead giveaway because there was no one else who'd give her something like that. Although in lieu of his recent actions and attitude, Roy may have. She was still unused to him being this way for this long; it was going on three days and he still hadn't reverted back to his annoying, rough exterior like he usually did. Wendy looked down at her rose and lifted her chin. She wasn't backing down.

"You told me I couldn't leave the palace." She reminded him, "So I didn't. I stayed here."

"How clever of you, little sister, to twist my words after your own fashion." He said with a hint of emotion in the form of a fleeting smirk.

"I'm not twisting anything." She claimed. "My boyfriend, who clearly was concerned about me, came to visit me and was kind enough to bring me gifts."

"Gifts?" Ludwig echoed.

He gazed down at the knife in his hands once more and then strode over to the door. On his way out, he dropped the blade into his sister's hands. But that wasn't all he had to say on the matter.

He told her, "There's more to your little boyfriend than you think, Wendy. I advise you get to know him before you go defending his 'honor'."

A/N: I promise there will be some intense Daisy and Luigi action next chapter. I'll leave it up to your curious minds to figure out what that entails :)

I hope this chapter didn't bore you like it did me, lol. I think I'm just tired. And headachy. Yuck.

Anyway, I'll see you guys next time!

~DymondGold~