Enjoy :)

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!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling, but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this story to make it more interesting :)

Chapter Seventeen

Down the hall

Turn right

Come down the stairs

He didn't think, he just obeyed. Never before had he felt his father's presence so strongly in his mind like this. He was a bit frightened but his love for his father, his desire to see him again outweighed his fear. He had his friend by the hand and was running as fast as he could, blindly seeking the destination that would reunite him with his sire. Lemmy, who was being half-dragged, was frightened as well. He'd never seen the youngest royal so frantic before.

"B-Jun, where are we going?" He asked.

The older child had been violently roused from slumber by the prince. Bowser Junior had come with wide eyes and white skin, claiming his father was calling to him again. Naturally Lemmy had obliged him when Junior asked him to come along. Now they were stealing through the castle like tiny madmen, headed towards the dungeons. Lemmy's heart raced.

"Where are we going?" Lemmy asked again, scared.

"I don't know, but my Daddy," Bowser Junior replied breathlessly, "My Daddy is telling me where to go right now in my head!"

Neither made any effort to keep quiet. They were too busy being afraid. Both of them feared the dungeons, but Junior cast that fear away as well and started descending the sooty steps, heading straight into darkness. Lemmy started to tremble.

Not here

Junior heard his father's voice instructing him just as clearly as if he were speaking aloud to him. The boy turned back up the stairs, with no small amount of relief, and Lemmy followed. Their joined hands had accumulated a great amount of nervous sweat between themselves. The children headed past the throne room, then doubled back when Junior had gotten the directions wrong yet again. They hurried to the area they'd last visited, the area where the pretty women were, but instead of going to the right like they did last time, Junior was told to go down the steps to the left.

"B-Jun..." Lemmy trailed, his voice quaking.

It was early, before the light of dawn, and the castle was still ominous in the cloaking shade of night. Lemmy was curious, yes, but he was far more apprehensive to go roaming around, opening strange doors. Bowser glanced back at his friend and mirrored in his jade eyes was that very same emotion. Then those eyes hardened with determination and he gave Lemmy's hand a squeeze.

"My Daddy says don't be afraid." He whispered.

That hardly comforted Lemmy, who'd never met the late king but had heard awful stories about him. However, the seven year old was torn, as he did have childish faith in the prince's judgement.

If B-Jun is not scared all the way, then I won't be either, he rationalized.

The boys both gripped the handle of the unmarked wooden door at the bottom of the stairs and set to pull it open. They both jumped and cried out in alarm when the door at the top of the stairs shut of its own accord. They were both quivering uncontrollably and holding each other.

"We have to do this fast 'cause I'm starting to be scared a lot," Junior stammered honestly.

Lemmy nodded rapidly but couldn't find his voice for a moment. They both gripped the door with shaking little hands.

Open it!

They tugged at it.

Open it now!

They pulled with all their might, grunting loudly from their intense effort.

Open the fucking door, Junior!

They opened the door. It gave a mighty groan as it creaked on its hinges. Both boys panted from exertion and stood close to each other, sharing a wary glance. Before them was darkness. They could see a room, what looked like a bedroom; there was a bed against the left wall, a nightstand near it, and a lamp on top of that. They shared another glance before joining hands again and taking baby steps inside.

"B-Jun," Lemmy whispered, "I wanna' get out of here."

"Me too," Bowser Junior admitted, "but I have to see if my Daddy is down here."

And so they crept across the carpet, one step at a time, fingers laced together between their hips. Suddenly they stopped, because they caught sight of something, something chained to the wall, unmoving, and badly battered. Lemmy's breath caught in his throat and Junior's eyes grew wet with tears. Through them, he managed a weak, watery smile.

"...Daddy?"

Having spent the entire rest of the day on her feet, Daisy felt it safe to say she was all 'shopped' out. She knew her friend to be generous, but Alicia had outdone herself. As Daisy sat in the passenger seat of her friend's car, she thought over their spoils. Of course, Alicia had picked up some things for herself, but the majority of the bags in the backseat were for Daisy. Not one or two but three dresses Alicia had bought for her, as well as two pairs heels, some earrings, yet another pair of risque underwear, and a tube of gloss for her mouth. The items were few but finding them had taken hours.

I'm so tired,Daisy thought wearily, I just want to go home and shower and get in the bed and cuddle up with Luigi. He's so warm and he's such a good man.

"Alicia," Daisy said slowly, "you missed the turn to Luigi's apartment."

"I know." Alicia said with a secretive smile. "We're not going to Luigi's place, you're spending the night with me."

"I don't understand." Daisy frowned.

Alicia said, "This is what your boyfriend wanted, so don't be alarmed. He wanted me to stage a sleepover so that the dinner would be a surprise."

"Good job, Alicia." Daisy quipped with a mocking congratulatory tone.

"I'm doing you a favor, girl." Alicia shot back, "you need to be on your game tomorrow."

"I do?"

"Absolutely," Alicia nodded curtly. "But uh, I can see you're tired, so I'll hold off on all that."

The young women traveled in silence to Alicia's home. When they reached the brick building, Daisy grabbed up the bags on her side of the car and left the rest for her friend.

"My apartment isn't all that big, but me and Dean make it work," Alicia said with a shrug.

Daisy was about to remark on how that hardly mattered to her, but her friend's words suddenly made her still. A slightly nervous look crossed her face and for a minute she pondered asking Alicia to take her back home.

"Are you alright?"

Daisy blinked and inhaled slowly through her nose. She nodded and said something in the affirmative, but her friend was hardly convinced. Alicia spent the time it took to make it to her front steps and find her key and open her door thinking about what was bothering Daisy. The answer manifested itself as soon as she swung open said door.

"Yo."

Tall, dark, and handsome never rung so true until this very moment, Daisy thought to herself as she took in the appearance of Alicia's boyfriend. She watched the couple share a peck on the lips and blushed a little.

"Dean, this is my best friend Daisy," Alicia introduced, "Daisy, this is my boyfriend Dean."

Daisy smiled politely and Dean nodded at her. As he did, his dreaded hair careened over the front of his shoulders. He was handsome and seemingly charming, what with his shy smile, but Daisy knew painfully well how deceiving looks could be. She could feel herself beginning to sweat.

I really need to calm down,she thought, this isn't the Badlands. This isn'thim. I'm not in any danger. This man won't hurt me.

None of this was helping. Daisy stepped over the threshold and followed Alicia into the apartment home. Alicia was giving her a brief tour of sorts, but Daisy wasn't paying attention. She was carefully keeping her eye on the young man in the khaki cargo pants and white t-shirt who trailed them. She felt her heart pounding and her head swimming with irrational thoughts. Daisy was growing increasingly uncomfortable as time wore on. Alicia, being ever observant, was bound to notice her behavior sometime soon.

"We can share the bed," Alicia was saying, "Just let me put some fresh sheets on it first."

As the young women set their bags down in Alicia's bedroom, Dean walked into the room in his long black socks and Nike sandals. He sat on the bed and Daisy's heart gave a little leap. She started feeling sick, a special kind of sick where it felt like her heart was struggling to pump in a pool of her liquefied organs: anxiety.

"What are you doing?" Alicia chided her boyfriend, "You know I just said I need to change the sheets; up, up, up. Get off of it. Go and get me some sheets please sir."

He was amazingly patient with his bossy girlfriend, moving at once to do as she said. Daisy felt some relief at having him gone, but she knew he'd be back so she couldn't totally relax.

"The shower's in there if you wanna' do that while I'm changing the sheets," Alicia said, "I can let you sleep in some of my clothes."

"Okay," Daisy said quietly and with no real amount of enthusiasm.

She didn't relish the thought of getting naked in the bathroom with another man in the vicinity. She didn't say anything, though. There were two dressers. Alicia went to the one that had a vanity and began pulling clothes from it: a pair of underwear, a t-shirt, and some pink shorts that had 'bootylicious' emblazoned in sparkling gold letters on them.

"Classy," Daisy spoke with a soft smile.

Alicia smirked and said, "Well you are, so."

"No I'm not." Daisy denied.

Alicia gazed critically at her friend and amended teasingly, "You're right. You're more of the 'booby-licious type."

"Alicia!" Daisy said over an easy laugh.

She really was starting to calm down, but then Dean came back in the room. In his arms was a stack of folded bedding. When he came to sit them down atop the bed, Daisy could smell how clean they were. She also smelled the musky scent that all males seemed to innately possess. It made her insides stiffen. He bumped his arm against hers accidentally.

"I'm sorry," Dean said in his gentle voice, looking sincere enough.

Daisy nodded her acceptance of his apology but her mind was twisting the situation, trying to convince her of his duplicity and pushing forth unwarranted feelings of paranoia and alarm. She stifled them under a sweet smile.

"Thank you very much," Alicia called to her boyfriend. "Come on D, let me show you how to work the shower."

"Alright." Daisy murmured.

On their way out, Daisy brushed past Dean's shoulder and flinched noticeably. Once she and Alicia were in the bathroom and the door was shut, Alicia folded her arms and leveled Daisy with a no-nonsense expression.

"What is going on, Daisy?" She asked, remarkably more softly than her expression would have predicted. She then added, "And don't tell me 'nothing'."

Daisy sighed. She knew exactly what was wrong. She felt all panicky and scared around Dean. It wasn't his fault, and she knew that he was probably a great person, but the psychological damage she'd sustained from her time in captivity was causing her to negate this.

If it were daytime, I'd be fine around him, Daisy knew. Her trauma did work in strange ways. All day she encountered men, some of whom were far more unsavory than poor Dean. However, now she was in a domestic setting and was feeling more vulnerable. She didn't want to tell Alicia because she didn't want to come between her and her boyfriend. Alicia's quick mind was already working through the issue on its own, though.

"You were fine all day," She mused, twirling a thick curl around her finger idly. "But once we got to my place, you started acting all touchy."

"I'm not touchy."

"You are, too."

Alicia's light-skinned face lit up in realization. She gazed down at Daisy with regret.

"I am so. So sorry." She spoke gravely, "I was not thinking at all. I know what you said about the abuse, hell I went through it myself, I can't believe I was so blind and insensitive."

Daisy frowned in confusion, thinking, how could she have figured it out so quickly? Wait, did she say she went through abuse herself?

"Do you want me to make him leave?" Alicia asked solemnly.

Daisy didn't speak, she was still imagining someone as confident and beautiful and strong as Alicia going through the kind of abuse she went through. Alicia folded her arms even tighter and beat herself up.

"After I got um, hurt." Alicia explained, "I was extremely uncomfortable around men. If they were older than 12, I got all nervous and I am just so sorry, Daisy. I should've thought about this earlier. Dean would never, ever hurt anyone but I know that doesn't mean anything to you; it wouldn't to me if I were in your situation."

"Alicia," Daisy tried to cut in. "It's okay. Really."

"I'm sending him away." Alicia said resolutely.

"You don't have to do that." Daisy stated, only half-way meaning it.

"Yes. I do." Alicia stated, then called, "Dean!"

There was a hesitant tap on the bathroom door before Alicia opened it. She faced her boyfriend and poked him in the chest with her next command.

"You. Cory's house. Pronto."

Dean quirked a brow, asking quietly, "Is something wrong?"

"This is girl time." Alicia subverted. "We need our space."

"Okay." Dean acceded. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Go, go!" Alicia shooed him, but she gave him a quick kiss before he left.

In less than three minutes, he was gone from the apartment completely. Daisy felt a bit guilty but Alicia shook her head.

"Don't feel bad," She said, "Cory is his cousin, they hang out all the time."

"He won't be mad?" Daisy asked unsurely.

"No, and if he is, he'll get over it." Alicia shrugged. "You're my friend, Daisy, I want you to feel safe in my house; if that means giving my boyfriend the boot, then so be it."

Daisy smiled tentatively and the girls shared a hug.

"Thank you," She whispered gratefully.

"No problem." Alicia replied. "Now hurry and get cleaned up. We've got a big date tomorrow."

"We?"

"I will be experiencing this vicariously through you." Alicia smirked. "What? I've never been to La Comandante."

Daisy smiled tiredly. "Then I'll have to tell you all about it."

When Ludwig saw his younger brother running through the halls, barefoot and alone, his first thought had been in regards to the prince; he was nowhere to be found. Usually the two of them were inseparable. Ludwig hardly spared this thought any time, though. He was agitated and focused on keeping his errant impulses to tear into something at bay. He was still being plagued by those explicit nightmares and they were turning him into a more unpleasant person than usual. As Lemmy was running past him, he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and crouched to his level.

"You're up early." he remarked. "Where have you been?"

"I..."

Lemmy shut his mouth quickly. He was shaken up from his experience only moments ago, but he and Bowser Junior had been sworn to secrecy, meaning he couldn't give his older brother the answer he sought from him. Lemmy was shaking and panting, but Ludwig was preoccupied. That was highly unlike him. He was usually incredibly perceptive and apt to question abnormalities in his siblings and situations. Now, though, he simply rolled his eyes at his brother's silence and stood.

"Come. Let's train." He ordered.

Lemmy didn't protest. For once he took comfort in the way Ludwig guided him by the scruff of his collar out to the courtyard. On their way, Ludwig gathered his other siblings. He stopped for a second at Wendy's door, then sighed. He wasn't up to it. Not today. The girl was nerve-racking.

Ludwig didn't bother knocking on the door to Larry and Iggy's bedroom, he just walked right in and stepped over to their bunk beds. Iggy was sitting on his bed at the bottom, tying his shoelaces. He was fully dressed and wide awake, prepared to train. He didn't like training any more than Wendy did, but he'd resigned himself to do as his brother told him. Iggy met Ludwig's eyes but didn't speak. There was a lot on his mind, but he held his peace shut for now.

"Is he awake?" Ludwig asked Iggy in reference to Larry.

"Does he look awake?" Iggy countered coolly.

They met eyes and Iggy stood, quiet challenge in his entire countenance. He shrugged on his lightweight sky blue jacket and sauntered past his eldest brother nonchalantly.

"Go get dressed," Ludwig told Lemmy, his eyes still on Iggy.

As Lemmy left, Ludwig made his way over to his slumbering brother. Larry's hair was messy and his mouth wide open. The sheets were tangled up in his lanky legs and his arms were spread akimbo, one hanging out the bed. He suddenly smiled goofily in his sleep. Ludwig shook him by the shoulder roughly. That smile disappeared and Larry smacked his lips. Ludwig shook him again.

"Mmm...wutzit?" He croaked, blinking groggily.

"Get up." Ludwig clipped.

"Unnn...it's so early." Larry whined.

He turned and cocooned himself in his comforter. Ludwig sighed. He stepped back, grabbed the ends of the thick blanket, and gave it a yank. With the spread removed completely, Larry shivered and curled up in a ball. Ludwig then dropped the spread and took his brother by the ankles and dragged him out of bed, holding him upside down.

"Ah! Ludwig what gives?!" He cried, flailing about.

Ludwig righted his brother and set him on the floor, then turned to leave.

Over his shoulder he called, "Get dressed. It's time to train."

"But my session with you isn't 'til the afternoon!" Larry protested plaintively.

"That's changed." Ludwig said before shutting the door.

Down the hall he went to Roy and Morton Junior's room. As he already knew, they were also up and dressed and ready. He turned to Roy and spoke to him.

"Go get your sister up."

"No way, yo." Roy refused. "I ain't goin' near her."

"That's an order, Roy." Ludwig emphasized.

Roy groaned and said, "Why me? Can't you get her yourself?"

Ludwig said, "I'm asking you."

"Why?" Roy persisted, then sneered, "It's 'cause you're too much of a-"

"Finish that sentence and it'll be your last." Ludwig interjected icily.

Roy narrowed his eyes but nonetheless shut his mouth. Ludwig left them. Once he was gone, Roy saw Larry pass, headed to the bathroom with crust in his eyes and a scowl on his mouth.

"Go wake Wendy up." He commanded.

"No." Larry yawned. "I don't wanna'. She'll yell at me."

"And that's my problem?" Roy countered.

"Why can't you do it?" Larry argued.

" 'Cause I'm asking you." Roy insisted. "Now go get her up before I beat the snot outta' ya."

Larry groaned loudly and grumbled something about a 'big ugly brutish bully'. Roy frowned, his temper easily ignited, and lunged for his little brother. Larry took off. Being smaller and faster and having had a head start, he made it to Wendy's room first. He pounded on the door while Roy tore down the hall.

"Wendy!" Larry called, then pleaded, "Wendy open the door!"

"Wait 'til I get my hands on you, you little twerp!" Roy threatened loudly.

If the girl wasn't awake before, she definitely was by that point. Groggily she rose from her bed and headed to her door to see what all the commotion was. She hadn't been woken so early since she'd started her lessons with Roy and MJ in the afternoons. She yanked her door open and glanced down at her little brother.

"What is it?" She mumbled.

"Roy is trying to hurt me!" He told her, vying for her protection.

As usual, Wendy saw Roy coming and put Larry behind her. From his place behind her waist, Larry grinned widely.

"Lemme' at him, Wen." Roy growled. "Twerp's had it coming."

"Leave him alone," Wendy snapped grumpily. "Why are you fighting with him so early?"

"Ludwig's got us all up." Roy told her, glaring at Larry. "He's gonna' train us all together I guess. Wants us to be in the courtyard."

"Now?" Wendy frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know, Wen, he just..." Roy stopped speaking.

He'd finally taken a look at his sister and he wasn't pleased at what he saw: her tank top wasn't large enough for his tastes, it showed too much of her chest, and her shorts were far too tiny. He scowled.

"What, did you get lost in Lemmy's closet or something?" He said disapprovingly.

"What?" She responded irritably.

"Those clothes are-"

"No!" Wendy cut him off. "I'm not listening to that, not from you. I swear, you're starting to act more and more like Ludwig every day."

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm starting to see how right he is about you," Roy shot back. "You shouldn't-"

"Don't you dare tell me anything about what I should and shouldn't do." Wendy yelled, her voice rising. "Ludwig might be king but you're still just my brother."

"I know I'm your brother," Roy argued, "that's why I care. That's why I'm telling you 'bout yourself."

"Well let me tell you about yourself." Wendy then huffed, putting her hands on her hip.

In doing so, she almost knocked Larry in the head. He stood off to the side, taking in his siblings' spat with much amusement. From the other room MJ came, wondering what all the fuss was. Iggy only shook his head and took Lemmy away from the noise, out to the courtyard.

"You're like some brainwashed little puppy, always doing whatever Ludwig tells you," Wendy accused.

"You know that ain't true," Roy frowned. "I don't know why you're always so difficult, but it's gettin' stale."

And before he could say something he regretted, Roy turned and walked off with MJ in tow. Larry looked up at his sister but didn't say anything. Wendy knew her refusal to cooperate would no doubt lead to a personal visit from the king himself, so she blew out a sigh and got dressed. Soon, all the siblings stood in the courtyard with varying degrees of anger and annoyance playing on their unenthusiastic faces. Not even Roy and MJ were glad to be training: Roy looked mad and MJ was confused.

"Took you all long enough." Ludwig remarked harshly from the center of the stone square.

Wendy muttered, "Lucky I showed up."

"No attitude please, Wendy, I can't stomach it. Not today." Ludwig said brusquely.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Can we just get this over with?"

Of all the three dresses, Daisy preferred the white one the most. That was the one she'd settled on. The other two were pretty as well, but the white one was her absolute favorite. It fit her like a glove, showing off her entire frame without cutting any corners. The front of it was made like a plain mini-dress with two thick straps around her neck, but in the back those straps criss-crossed to form an 'x' over her shoulder blades. There was a huge gap below the 'x' that continued all the way down to the very tail of her spine. The fabric below her stomach was cinched along the sides, giving the illusion that it was a longer dress that had just been hiked up an inch or two. It was daring and showed much more of her skin than any dress she'd ever worn, but there was a reckless side of her that liked that.

"You know your boyfriend's gonna lose his mind when he sees you, right?" Alicia smirked.

She was standing in the bedroom behind Daisy, appraising her friend with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Daisy stood in the vanity mirror with her hair done in a bunch of curls. Alicia claimed curls were ideal for her, and was going to pin it up for her later. On her wrists were three slim gold bracelets and she had a tiered faux-diamond choker around her neck. Her cherry-red lips shone in the reflection portrayed before her, as did her light eyes.

"I'm so nervous," Daisy admitted. "I'm excited and I can't wait to be with Luigi, but I'm so nervous about. Um. Well, afterwards."

Alicia tilted her head and her long brown curls tipped over her shoulder.

"Oh?" She smirked. "Why is that?"

Daisy turned and shot her a playful look, saying, "You can drop the act, I know you know what I mean."

"I know," Alicia laughed, "I was just playing with you. As far as the rest of the night goes, well, that's up to you. Stop your boyfriend if he goes too far. He'll understand."

"Right." Daisy nodded. "I'm still just so nervous."

"Thirsty?"

"I'm not talking to you."

"Of course."

Roy took the proffered cup of water he held out for Wendy and downed it. He thought he saw a sliver of regret pass over Wendy's face out the corner of his eye. He knew she wanted a drink. They were all sweaty and parched from their training session with Ludwig. Since the previous day, he'd taken to working them all together in the mornings for basic training, and then taking time aside for each of them throughout the day as per his normal routine. No one trained alone anymore, though; they trained in groups of three, and Wendy was so fortunate as to be stuck with Roy and MJ.

For his part, Roy felt bad about the fight that had been ongoing since the other day and was trying to make amends with his sister but she insisted on being so petty. He didn't have time to play nice for long, though. He turned his back to her and walked with MJ down to the training room. Wendy went instead to her own room. It was late in the afternoon and she was done with all contact with her brothers for the day. She wouldn't come out of her room until dinner.

At the same time, Ludwig was near the Black Forest with his youngest three brothers, training their group. He had Larry practicing his accuracy, Lemmy working on his stealth and stamina, and Iggy working on a new invention. While he watched over Iggy's progress and supervised Larry's lack thereof, Lemmy was somewhere in the woods, terrified.

Ludwig had sent him in there to retrieve an unknown item from the middle of the forest. The item was guarded by seven Koopas who wouldn't hesitate to attack him. Part of his assignment lay in navigating through the woods and successfully retrieving the item. The other part lay in him leaving in one piece.

"You're not trying hard enough," Ludwig chastened his brother Larry.

Larry was at war with himself. His exercise consisted of him throwing daggers at moving targets from varying distances; it was a lesson in accuracy indeed. The thing that made Larry so unproductive was that those targets were living, breathing creatures; Koopas to be exact. He couldn't bear to do what his brother had ordered of him, to impale the creatures in the head or chest. Every time the blades he'd throw would hit their mark in one of the Koopa's legs or arms, they'd grimace horribly. Larry was taught by his sister not to hurt another person but he was also told by Ludwig that one, these creatures didn't count as people, and two, this was a part of making him stronger, better, more efficient.

"Larry." Ludwig said sharply. "I know you can do better than this."

Larry glanced at his brother and said lamely, "My hand's cramping."

It was a lie, but Larry left his brother with that and went to collect the daggers. As he walked, Ludwig kept the pace with his lanky, athletic brother. Larry ran a shaky hand through his blue hair. He was upset, and the sight of the Koopas tearing the daggers from their bodies wasn't doing a thing for his nerves.

"Larry." Ludwig stated, "Remember what I told you. These Koopas aren't natural creatures. They were biologically manufactured for this very purpose, to be used in training warriors like you. They don't hurt like you do, don't feel like you feel."

Larry glanced over at Ludwig, disconcerted.

Ludwig said, "You may feel remorse for them, but they don't think, they don't have or express the same emotions as you do. And you're not really hurting them. They heal at exponential rates."

Larry trusted his brother. Ludwig had provided for them all in the bunker, had kept them clothed and fed and safe. He trusted his brother, mulled over his words, and felt that cognitive dissonance begin to diminish.

"This is training." Ludwig stated.

They'd reached the Koopas and Ludwig bent, picking up a stray dagger from the ground. Without hesitating, he threw the dagger with deadly precision and it lodged itself square in the Koopa's forehead. Other than a deep wince that curled the reptilian's thin mouth, the Koopa didn't react. There was minimal blood, only an oozing trace of it when the Koopa pulled the blade out. Before Larry's eyes, the wound began to heal. The boy's mind absorbed this information and Ludwig could see Larry would need no further provocation.

"Now show me what you can really do." Ludwig commanded.

He left Larry to collect the rest of his daggers. By the time he teleported himself towards the outer parameters of the forest, Iggy was hailing him. Ludwig went over to where the adolescent was sat cross-legged in the grass with a tube of glass and metal in his lap. His tools were spread about him, as were an array of different chemical ingredients.

"I'm finished." Iggy spoke tonelessly.

It was hard for Ludwig to read Iggy. Of all his siblings, Iggy was the one he felt most out of touch with. Roy and Wendy were very open and candid about their opinions of him, and MJ did whatever Roy did. Lemmy was too young to really feel a certain way about the matter, and Larry was back and forth in his emotions. Iggy, though, Ludwig just couldn't decipher. Even now, though Ludwig could clearly tell Iggy was against training, he didn't know what was on the boy's mind. He just sat there with his green eyes placid and his face blank. Ludwig took the contraption from him and surveyed it.

"Tell me how it works." Ludwig ordered.

Iggy sighed, but explained clinically. "There is a white liquid substance within a glass syringe, the one you ordered me to concoct; you can't see it now because of the thin metal plating around it. The slats in the metal sheath are connected to this right here."

Iggy indicated to the long extension coming out of one end of the tube. It stuck out like an antenna.

"When the extension is pushed down, a needle attached to it extends out to the opposite end of the contraption where the hole in the metal is," Iggy stated, "and at the same time, these metal slats separate and lodge themselves into the surface in which the needle has been planted."

"I see." Ludwig remarked.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Iggy drawled.

There was a coat of malicious sarcasm over Iggy's words. Iggy knew his brother didn't fully understand him, and was thus belittling Ludwig's intelligence in suggesting that a visual example was the only way he would comprehend Iggy's work. This was not lost on Ludwig at all, hence his bitter tone when he next spoke.

"By all means."

At his invitation that Iggy knew was a veiled demand, Iggy stepped towards one of the Koopas in the near vicinity. At Ludwig's command, the Koopa knelt to accommodate Iggy's height. Iggy swallowed the makings of shame and disgust and kept a clear expression as he carried on his subsequent actions. With the Koopa, Iggy made brief eye contact.

I'm sorry, he tried to mentally implore, I don't want to do this. Please forgive me.

Iggy's face remained neutral as he grasped the contraption that he created. He fingered the metal plated thing that resembled a pushable ink pen, then jammed it in the side of the Koopa's neck. The hollow tip of the contraption was sharp enough to break the surface of the Koopa's thick skin and made the creature grimace. With unsteady fingers, Iggy tightened his grip on the metal tube and pressed down on the antenna-like extension. The needle broke through the glass vial within the metal sheath and once Iggy's thumb was level with the syringe, he let go of the top of the extension. At the same time, the metal slats came apart with a tinging sound, then lodged themselves like five claws deep inside the Koopa's skin on all sides of the syringe. The purpose was to ensure that the vial would not be removed until all its contents were within the victim's body. Having performed this deed, Iggy faced his unwitting victim with eyes peaked with moisture.

I'm sorry, he still tried to telepathically convey.

The Koopa's face contorted into an expression of pain, then agony as it fell onto its side and lay writhing on the ground. There were cries pouring from its slytherin* mouth, disturbing noises being wrenched from its throat. Iggy felt a resentment building within him. He was at fault for this. He alone. His brother had ordered him to do this, but it was up to him to go through with it. Iggy had a choice and had made the wrong one, and now this creature was suffering.

This creature is suffering because I was too afraid to fully disobey my brother, Iggy thought with anger and shame.

After a few minutes had passed, the Koopa stopped moving. The effects of the substance had worked its way through the Koopa's system and now the creature was panting and shaking. Ludwig was reading the sheets of parchment near Iggy's tools. Those were Iggy's notes on his inventions. Those were private.

"You changed the formula." Ludwig stated quietly.

Iggy swallowed, spared a glance at the recovering Koopa, and then faced his brother. He lifted his chin and straightened his back.

"I did." He confessed.

"Why?" Ludwig wanted to know.

Iggy said evenly, "You wanted me to brew a substance whose molecules would attach themselves to a body's hemoglobin."

"I know what I asked of you." Ludwig spoke coldly.

"If the hemoglobin molecules were already bonded, there wouldn't be room for oxygen molecules to attach themselves to them and be transported to the brain." Iggy continued.

"I know this." Ludwig stated, getting impatient.

"Then you know that substance was lethal to any creature that respires," Iggy said just as sharply. "You know that it would kill a person."

"That," Ludwig said, pointing to the Koopa, "that is not a person."

"It's a living creature." Iggy shot back, trying to keep calm.

"As are trees," Ludwig mocked, "Will you take up a crusade for them as well?"

Iggy felt his anger mounting. His eyes grew flinty.

"Koopas can speak. Comprehend words. Follow out commands. They feel things, they feel pain, they feel agony." Iggy felt his voice rising.

"And yet they must endure it." Ludwig intoned.

"Why?" Iggy said in a hiss, "Because you said so?"

"Because that's why they were created." Ludwig corrected.

Iggy inhaled to slow his racing heart because he didn't want to let his anger overcome him.

In a level tone he said, "I don't know what's happened to you, but the brother that I used to know would never condone demeaning and tormenting another being for whatever purpose he saw fit."

"Think not of me as your brother, but as your king." Ludwig said callously.

"Then hark, O Majesty," Iggy spoke with derision, "I am not like Roy or MJ; I'm not your pawn. And you can't just feed me a line of pig spittle to justify yourself like you did with Larry. I'm not a child like Lemmy, incapable of making my own decisions, and I'll save you the trouble of drawing this out with useless dramatics like Wendy would: I'm leaving."

Now he had Ludwig's full attention.

The blue-haired magician dropped Iggy's notes and approached his younger brother. There wasn't an ounce of respect or fear in Iggy's five and a half foot frame.

"You're leaving." Ludwig deadpanned.

"I'm leaving." Iggy affirmed. "I'm not doing this anymore. I want to make inventions, not weapons. Inventions that will help people of all races and species. I'm not going to help you find new ways to torment and torture people."

"A passionate speech," Ludwig feigned praise. "But you seem to forget that you are still under my command; what with me being your king and all."

Iggy was actively fighting the rage within himself. He struggled to keep his voice in check when he spoke again.

"I want no part of this life, of your aims for my future, or of these powers that I've been 'blessed' with," Iggy stated. "I am leaving, and if you intend to stop me, your Majesty, you'llhave to kill me."

"And here I thought you were above your sister's dramatics." Ludwig remarked condescendingly. "Killing you won't be necessary, Ignatius."

Ludwig then gripped his brother by the side of his neck and pinched a chunk of skin there. With the action he expelled some of his own magic into Iggy and then released him with a shove that was only made worse when Iggy jerked away at the same time. The result left Iggy fighting for his balance and trembling all over. He wasn't a physically confrontational person and he'd never had an altercation, verbal or otherwise, with any of his siblings. This experience weighed heavily on his perception of his brother.

"What did you do to me?" Iggy coughed.

Ludwig said, "If you were as brilliant as you like to presume yourself to be, you'd know that I merely transferred a bit of my own power into your system."

"Get it out!" Iggy spat, losing control over his tone and temper for the first time.

"No." Ludwig denied him. "I can manipulate my magic in whatever way I need to, and since some of it's within you now..."

"You're going to manipulate me now?" Iggy's mouth curled in repugnance.

"I'm going to make sure you don't do anything foolish," Ludwig amended. "For your own sake and mine."

"You. Sicken me." Iggy enunciated, meaning every word.

Ludwig looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I know. But not for long."

Iggy gazed at him, confused.

"Obliviate."

Seconds.

Minutes.

Hours?

I'm not sure I could tell you how long I stood staring at her. All the planning and stress culminated into this one event. I didn't think anything of it, this dinner. It was just something nice I wanted to do to make up for everything I'd put Daisy through since she got here; the incident at the club, her having the misfortune of meeting Terry, my late nights working instead of spending time with her. It was an apology date. But this was turning out to be...well...something other than that. I realized that not when I was booking the restaurant or getting my clothes or even driving up to the place with the promise that Daisy was on the way. The realization came when I saw her, when I saw those slender legs stepping out of the passenger's side of her friend's car, when I saw that sinful white dress she wore, when I saw everything that it didn't cover. This wasn't an apology date. This wasn't even a date.

It was a test.

A test of how long I'd be able to sit in this restaurant and pretend the desire to tear out of this parking lot and take her straight to bed so that I could do unspeakable things to and with her body wasn't eating me alive as the seconds wore on.

A test.

"Luigi?"

She'd spoken to me, words had come out of that pretty mouth, but what was she saying? I'd only heard my name. I swallowed, heart thudding and my head still caught up on her body, her curves, her lips, that ass.

God if I never ask for anything more, just please let me get through this night without any of what's on my mind coming out of my mouth.

"I hope this is appropriate," Daisy was saying nervously.

She glanced back at her friend, who said something I didn't catch before driving off. Daisy was wringing her hands over her stomach and looking so apprehensive that it snapped me out of whatever daze I was in: dinner. Daisy. Outside. Cold.

"I'm sorry," I spoke in a breath, "I don't um. Are you cold?"

"A little bit," She admitted.

I gave her my jacket and watched in dismay as she put it on, covering everything between the bottom of her dress and the necklace at her throat. She shivered a bit and I blinked, inhaling deeply.

"We should go inside," I said, leading the way.

I had my hand on the small of Daisy's bare back. Her skin was smooth and soft and she smelled like vanilla. She walked very close to me so I also got a whiff of her curly hair; it smelled like soap and strawberries. The girl was stunning and, from the visual and olfactory onslaught, I was reeling. I could barely speak to the attendant to tell him who we were.

"I'm sorry," The man said after a moment, "I'm afraid you aren't in our books."

I knew that would happen.

I said, "I know. The owner of this place is the one who booked us, he said we wouldn't be in the books but that we'd have a table. He guaranteed it himself."

The attendant looked like he'd heard one too many b.s. stories. He tilted his head with an unimpressed expression.

"Oh?" He said, suddenly impolite, "And how exactly dos that work? Getting a table without a reservation?"

"Can I just talk to the owner?" I sighed.

"No, but you can leave before I have to call security." The man replied.

I dug in the pocket of my black pants for my phone and, after I retrieved it, I dialed the owner's number. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hola." Came his thickly accented voice.

I said, "Hey, Mr. Salvatore, I know I said last time I wouldn't bother you anymore, but I need your help."

"You are not a bother, Luigi!" The man exclaimed, "What do you need?"

"Your attendant won't let us in." I told him, to the point.

Said attendant rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh no!" Mr. Salvatore exclaimed, "I'll be right down!"

He hung up. The restaurant had an upper floor, that's where Mr. Salvatore's office and the storage areas were. I knew it wouldn't be long before he came and sorted this all out. I glanced at Daisy.

Why do they even make dresses like this? Fabric temptation, at its finest, I called it.

Daisy looked worried, so I stopped thinking about what I wanted to do to her and tried to console her. I put my hands on her shoulders and she looked up at me, worried.

"It's okay," I told her, "there's just been a misunderstanding."

"Okay." Daisy nodded, then asked, "You think this dress is too informal?"

I didn't know what was running through her mind at the moment, but there was no way she should feel any insecurities or lack of self-confidence at all. Not with the way she was looking.

"The dress is fine." I told her assuredly, then amended, "It's great. Beautiful. Sexy."

Stay in the mind, not out the mouth, I reminded myself before I could get carried away.

Daisy was blushing but smiled shyly and said, "Thank you. You look very nice, Luigi."

Again, I was doing it again; trying to take in all the loveliness and wonderfulness that was Daisy and thus, missing what she'd said completely. Her hair had a clip in it, a diamond-encrusted clip that held her curls at the top of her head. There was a bang, swept to the side, that nearly covered her left eye. Her eyes were amazing in the beige light of the restaurant. I still couldn't see anything more because my coat was in the way, and I was sure that if I peered down at her legs she'd get embarrassed or offended because I wasn't listening. I wasn't listening.

"Yeah," I said, and hoped it was the right way to respond.

Daisy gave me a bemused smile, then leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. Her lips were warm and sleek from the makeup she had on them. I seriously doubted she had even the tiniest clue of how beautiful she was, or how she had everyone in this place casting glances or even outright staring at her.

"Luigi?"

The voice came from the incredibly short man coming towards the entrance. He had a head full of thick, wavy black hair, a curled mustache, thick brows, and twinkling brown eyes. He was dressed in a tailored red 3-piece suit with a gold chain-link pocket watch in one hand and a couple of planks of wood in the other. When he reached us, the attendant looked duly ashamed.

"Mr. Salvatore-" the man began.

"Bububuh!" Mr. Salvatore spluttered, holding his hand up to silence the attendant.

It was then that I saw the planks of wood weren't exactly just wood; Mr. Salvatore took a moment to carefully erect a three-step ladder before our eyes. He stood atop it and gained almost a foot in height, a plus for his four and a half-foot stature. I wondered idly if he carried that everywhere. By the exasperated look in the attendant's face, I assumed this was the case.

"Luigi is a guest," Mr. Salvatore explained severely, "Here is his dinner order. Show him to the seat in the back this instant!"

The attendant sighed but looked chagrined. He took the paper Mr. Salvatore had procured from his coat and then stepped from around the front desk.

"Right this way." He said, "and I apologize for the misunderstanding."

Before Mr. Salvatore could descend from his perch, I touched his arm.

"Thank you," I told him, "this means a lot to me."

Mr. Salvatore placed his hand atop mine for a moment and gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you!" He insisted, "When my pipes collapsed and the restaurant flooded, I thought, 'A dios mio!', Scapelli was supposed to have fixed that. Serves me right for not coming to you and your hermano in the first place, eh?"

I shrugged. "We were just glad to help, sir."

Mr. Salvatore said, "You're a good boy, Luigi. Enjoy your evening with your lovely muchacha; ella es muy bonita, eh?" He winked.

I shook my head but thanked him again. Daisy and I were then led to our seats. I again put my hand on her back but the my jacket was in the way of me being able to touch her skin again. I suddenly hated that jacket.

"Right here." The attendant said. "I'll have your order out shortly."

"Thank you," I told him.

I pulled Daisy's chair out for her and then took a seat in mine. The table was in the back, like Mr. Salvatore said, and it seemed to be extra private. That was all I'd told him when he'd asked me if I preferred a particular area to sit in. Our table was in a corner with nothing but empty seats as far as I could see. I think we'd gotten lucky. Either that or Mr. Salvatore was a little too obliging with my request.

"Not many people come here?" Daisy spoke once the attendant was gone.

"Not many people can afford to come here," I told her wryly.

"You can." She observed.

"Just for tonight," I said, then explained, "I asked for an advance on my paycheck and my boss gave it to me."

"Ah." Daisy noted.

The table was plain wood with a clean white tablecloth, set with polished silverware. There were three decorative candles in the middle, also white, burning softly. The chairs were wood as well but they were glossy and ornately carved. The floors were waxy hardwood. There were crystal chandeliers suspended from the high ceilings. The lighting was dim and there were mirrors along the far wall. Pretty soon I got tired of looking at the restaurant and stared at something better.

"Luigi, you've been looking at me for the longest," Daisy spoke quietly. "What is it? What's on your mind?"

You don't wanna know, I thought honestly.

"I just think uh," I started, "it's times like this that I remember you're a princess."

Daisy's eyes softened as she said,

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing, it's." She began, but the attendant came back.

"Your meal." The man said, placing two hot plates in front of us.

He had a rolling cart, and from it he also took two glasses and set them down. He poured the champagne into our glasses and left the bottle. I didn't like the stricken look that came over Daisy's face all of a sudden, so when we were alone again I asked her about this.

"It's the king," She told me after a moment. "Every morning he'd have steak and wine. I used to make it for him."

"Oh." I said.

Oh? That's all? No comforting words of wisdom on the matter? Nothing? How lame.

"It doesn't bother me much," Daisy said, "It just kinda' caught me off guard."

"You did that to me," I said automatically.

She quirked a brow, so I knew I had to go through with it.

I explained, "When I first saw you, I was, um, floored. You're so beautiful Daisy, and you're so strong, too. It's still hard to conceive that you choose to be with me, in my shitty apartment in Brooklyn when you could be with some Prince Charming, ruling an entire nation."

"Luigi," Daisy said quietly, seriously, "are you depressed or something? Because you're selling yourself way short."

I smiled at her and laughed a little, and she laughed, too.

I said, "I'm not depressed, I just know I'm really lucky."

"I think we both are," Daisy shrugged. "You're a good person, Luigi, and that's not easy to be when you go through the things we did."

"You're good, too, Daisy." I told her solemnly. "Don't think, for one minute, that what he said about you was true. He was just-"

"-messing with my head, I know." Daisy finished with consternation. "But that doesn't change the fact that I stabbed him or that I beat him with a frying pan or-"

"Daisy."

I had to say something because the girl was starting to raise her voice. I was concerned; this was clearly something she'd given much thought to. And when she'd told me about her experiences, she'd looked so desperately afraid at the thought of the late king's words about her being true.

"I'm sorry," Daisy murmured. "That really isn't dinner conversation."

"It is if it's bothering you." I told her.

She looked up at me and said, "You really want to talk about it now?"

"Absolutely." I answered, "If it makes you feel better."

Daisy picked up her utensils and shook her head, saying, "No. Let's just enjoy the night."

"...If that's what you want," I shrugged.

And so we ate. The food was good, but I couldn't dwell on it. I wanted to set Daisy at ease about her trauma. I wanted her to let it go.

A bit hypocritical, eh?

That was true. I was still hung up on it as well. I abandoned my food, only a third of the way through it, and started drinking. And drinking. And drinking some more. I stopped when I heard Daisy laugh.

"I know this is your world," She giggled, "But I think Champagne is meant to be sipped, not downed like water."

There's that beautiful smile, I rejoiced.

The alcohol wasn't that bad, it must have been diluted but there were effects nonetheless. I smiled easily at her.

"Do you even know how amazing your smile is?" I asked her gently, "You should do it more often."

Daisy smiled again, but there was red in her face. "You're sweet, Luigi. I love you."

"I love you, too, Daisy." I told her in turn. "I love you, I'll always love you, I wanna make love to you."

Shit.

"What?"

Daisy at first looked surprised, mildly shocked, but then her face split in this incredible grin and she laughed again.

"I think you're drunk," She said.

"No I'm not." I told her. "Maybe a little tipsy, but not drunk."

I knew when I was drunk. Now was not it. I didn't want to get drunk tonight because, like I said, I was the only one of us who could drive and I didn't have money for a cab.

Daisy sipped at her drink and I sighed. She lifted a brow, in want of an explanation as to the cause of my forced exhalation.

"I just really wish I was that glass right now." I told her honestly.

"Why's that?"

"Cause it's in your mouth."

Daisy had a similar reaction: surprise, shock, smile. She laughed even more loudly and I relished in the sound. Once she sobered, mirth sparkling in her eyes, she put her glass down and appraised me.

"You're serious." She noticed.

I shrugged.

So coy was her smirk when she then said, "Well you don't have to wish, Luigi. You can kiss me anytime you want, you know that."

"Even now?" I challenged.

I knew it was the alcohol, lowering my inhibitions, but I didn't care. The way I saw it, the desires and impulses were already there, alcohol or not, and if acting on them gained a positive response from Daisy, why not give in to the effects?

Daisy looked at me and laughed softly, then shook her head. She picked at her food and I watched her eat. The girl made an art of it. She took her time and made sure she stared dead at me as she slid that fork into her mouth each time after she'd speared a piece of steak.

"Okay," Daisy said, putting down her fork, "I've never seen you act this way before."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" I asked her carefully.

"No, not really." She replied.

"I'm being weird?"

"Very weird." She nodded. "But it's not that bad. I think you're just being a bit candid."

"Your lips look like candy." I murmured.

"I said candid."

"I'm sorry."

Daisy laughed again. Three times in ten minutes? This was turning out to be a great night.

"You're fun when you're tipsy." She said, "but I like it best when you're yourself."

"I'm not myself?" I frowned.

"Not totally." She said slowly. "You're very flirty."

"You want me to stop?"

"Not at all."

"Good, 'cause I don't wanna." I admitted. "I really love you Daisy."

"So you've said." She grinned in amusement.

"I am so attracted to you." I told her. "Your eyes, your hair, your body."

"I'm attracted to you, too," Daisy smirked. "You have very pretty eyes, they're clear and blue. Like the lake we went to."

"I remember that lake." I smiled wistfully.

"Your hair is long and I like running my fingers through it." Daisy said, "And your body is really fit, from what I've seen."

"You could see it all, if you want."

Okay, now that one just slipped out.

Daisy stood. I glanced up at her in slight alarm, thinking I'd gone too far, but she was coming towards me not running away. She took three steps and stood before me. I gazed up at her and she finally took my jacket off.

"I want to kiss you." She announced.

I smiled, amused, and turned in my chair so that I was facing her. I got set to stand but the girl surprise me this time by sitting down over my knee. I grabbed her waist to steady her, that was my first thought, then I used my hands to pull her fully into my lap. She looked down on me with an expression that couldn't be anything but dirty and then kissed me. She may have started it, but I took over.

Her mouth was impossibly soft and her tongue tasted like liquor. I knew she shouldn't be in my lap, though, because the girl was turning me on and it was only a matter of time before that would become quite obvious to her, painfully so on my part. I didn't want to stop kissing her and holding her but my heart was racing and it was getting hard to think of why we should in the first place.

"Not here," I said once I pulled away from her. "We need to leave."

Daisy must not have heard me because she had her mouth on my neck and damn it, it was time to get out before we got kicked out.

A/N: I read some HP fanfiction lately and that's why I incorporate things from that universe into this story. The word slytherin, for instance; I used it as an adjective to mean snake-like. That's not the definition but who cares; it's a fanfiction for crying out loud x) Same with the curses/spells that Ludwig uses.

Anywho

I'll have the next chapter up soon. Review if you love me. Until then...

~DymondGold~