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 Thirty-Nine

You're weak

He couldn't hear it, but the words moving over the Dark King's mouth were easy to read. He knew what the old royal was saying to him and he hated it. He hated waking up like this. If it wasn't gruesome nightmares or debilitating headaches or the deep unction to vomit, it was these hallucinations. Ludwig knew it was a hallucination. He knew he had the Dark King chained in the lower levels of the palace. But that didn't make this any easier. He sat up in the bed and watched as the manifestation of one of his worst enemies still remained. The king was standing there, leaning on the wall next to the bathroom door. He wasn't bruised and dirty and weak like he was in real life; no, he was shirtless and strong and just as fearsome as he was in his glory days. And as if the sight of the powerful redhead wasn't bad enough, that girl was standing with him. Yes, that beautiful little creature with the lovely body and fierce eyes. She was nearly bare in her underthings and was tucked under the Dark King's arm. Her gaze was not on Ludwig but the king. She was standing on her toes while said king moved his hand over her bottom. Ludwig felt his blood boil when he saw a tattoo on her bare shoulder, the one not covered by her long hair: it was the Dark King's mark. That didn't infuriate him quite so much as when he saw the girl push a kiss under the older royal's jaw, making the tall king smirk in satisfaction and bring her closer.

She's mine and you'll never have her because you're weak, he taunted.

Ludwig reached for the nearest thing and threw it at the smirking king. It was a lamp, and it shattered against the opposite wall, fully dispelling any trace of the king or that girl's presence. Ludwig flew from his bed with a determined scowl.

"I can't take this shit anymore." He muttered through gritted teeth.

He bound out of his room in his sleeping clothes and practically ran down the hall. He had one destination in mind and made it there in record time. Junior was still asleep. He would be woken just as rudely as the last time Ludwig had need of him.

"Wake up!" Ludwig yelled. "Get up, now!"

He strode over to the bed and yanked back the covers but this time the child fled upon seeing who'd spoken. Junior ran right out the room and the only reason Ludwig didn't chase him was because the child was going right where he needed him to; his father. Ludwig followed at a slower pace and mulled over the fact that he hadn't seen much of the Crown Prince in the last month and a half. Nor had he really seen his brother Lemmy too often.

But that's a good thing, he thought, knowing this wasn't his finest hour.

And that's about to change, Ludwig vowed to himself. He jerked opened the door that led downstairs and hurried down the steps, his navy hair flying up around his shoulders as he did. It was uncharacteristically unkempt as of late, and there were more black streaks in it. There was more gold in his eyes as well. Ludwig shoved open the door that led to his most loathsome prisoner and sneered down at the fallen king. Junior hid behind his father's body fearfully.

"Did you get my message?" The Dark King smirked, lifting his head with some difficulty.

Ludwig grimaced. He'd recalled a time, some five or six odd weeks ago, when his baby brother had come to him bearing a strange message supposedly from the old king. He'd promptly ignored the child and forbade him from seeing either Bowser or his offspring ever again.

I suppose that's why he's made himself scarce, Ludwig mused for a moment.

He brought himself back to the present and approach the king, reached around him, and dragged Junior by the shirt to stand in front of his father.

"I didn't come to play games." Ludwig declared.

"Good. You were never good at them." Bowser said, then coughed.

Ludwig said, "I came to offer you an ultimatum."

"Oh?" Bowser grinned.

Ludwig then bent down and closed his fingers around Junior's throat. He lifted the child high off the ground and Junior started swinging his feet. Bowser lunged for Ludwig at once and murder filled his eyes.

"Take back your subconscious or I'll kill him." Ludwig spoke coldly.

"You wouldn't dare!" Bowser spat.

"I would." Ludwig told him calmly. "I already have six heirs to rule in my stead, I don't need any more."

"I'll give you a second to come to your fucking senses." Bowser growled. "Put. Him. Down."

"Come to my senses?" Ludwig scoffed, "Come to yours, you miserable old bastard! You are in chains! You and your spawn are at my mercy!"

For emphasis he squeezed the boy's throat even tighter. Bowser bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes but didn't give in. Ludwig tightened his hold still and Junior tried clawing at his hands, using the bits of fire he could summon to burn the ex-enforcer. The child was getting dizzy though and his mind was getting hazy, which thwarted his own attacks and prevented them from being of any actual threat. When his eyes rolled to the back of his head, Bowser relented.

"Fine." He spat, then snarled, "Fine!"

Ludwig released the child and Junior dropped hard on his side onto the sooty ground. Bowser glanced at him briefly but it was scorn that shown in his jade eyes. That scorn was magnified when he turned his eyes onto Ludwig.

"You'll take back your subconscious?" Ludwig tried to ask without sounding desperate.

"Yes." Bowser sneered.

"And you'll not try to take the power back, too?" Ludwig then asked.

"Yes." Bowser answered. "But on a few conditions."

Ludwig glanced at Junior. Currently he was unconscious, so the ex-enforcer knew he couldn't use him as leverage anymore without actually killing him and something told him the Dark King would call him on his bluff; the truth was, Ludwig had need of the boy and his skills and killing him would be a grand waste.

So instead of provoking the king further, he said, "Name your demands and I'll consider granting one."

Reason number five thousand seven hundred and eighty one of why I didn't understand females was happening right now in front of me. Well, let me back up. Daisy and I hadn't heard from Peasley in over a month, and since the optimist in this relationship insisted that 'no news is good news', I'd joined her in letting myself calm down for once in entire time that we'd been back home. With my head cleared, I realized it was imperative that I one; upgrade my own phone and two; get Daisy one of her own. I'd then explained to her how cell phones worked and she'd been thrilled. I was caught up in my hours by now so I took the weekend to plan a trip to get this done. It was Saturday now and I was ready to head out, just waiting for Daisy to get dressed. When she moved from the bathroom to the room and back again, I saw glimpses of her and saw that she was getting really dressed up, which brings me back to my case in point. Girls have always confounded me, but over time I thought I'd gained at least a basic comprehension of some female aspects. This was just one thing I didn't understand.

If Daisy wanted to be engaged to me so badly, why did she insist on bringing light to the fact that she was the most beautiful woman in all of New York? Did she want some billionaire who had a better career and a better body or better anything than me to come and swoop her off her feet? Because if we did happen to run into a rock star or something, there'd be no contest. And though I was joking, I really was afraid that one day Daisy would wise up and see that she was way, way out of my league.

"Alright, I'm ready." She announced.

Daisy was standing near me by the door with her hand on the wall. She needed it to help her stay balanced as she put on some very nice black sandals with what looked like a wooden wedge on them. They gave her a nice bit of height and matched her black shorts. No wait, those shorts had suspenders on them and beneath them she wore a crisp white shirt with a lace collar. She had on a thick chain-link gold necklace and simple gold hoop earrings. The lip gloss she wore made her ruby lips look glittery. Her eyes were sparkling, and for some reason her eyelashes seemed thicker and darker; eyeliner, I think. I didn't know that girl paint or accessory thing by name. That was all the makeup she wore but it suited her. So did her thick wavy curls. Daisy pulled a pin from her shorts pocket and swept a bang over her right eye, securing it with her black pin. She smiled hesitantly at me.

"Luigi, you're staring."

"You know you're beautiful."

She blushed a bit but smiled widely and kissed my cheek. Then she took my keys from the hook and dangled them in front of me. When I reached for them, she held them behind her. In those shoes, she and I were matched in height.

"I still want to learn to drive." She told me.

I said, "I know. And I'll teach you. One day."

"You promise?" She asked solemnly.

"Yes." I responded.

Daisy said, "Good, 'cause I hate riding the bus."

"I think everybody does."

King Boo had anticipated this moment but nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his wild-eyed former ward. The king was sitting in his study, looking through an old tome when his ex-enforcer had made his abrupt appearance. Startled by the noise but having no sort of fear whatsoever, he'd gone to investigate the noise and had found the inevitable: Ludwig was searching his immense library for either two things; the incantation had already vanished weeks ago, so King Boo knew it had to be the boy he was after.

"Where is my brother?" Ludwig asked predictably.

King Boo tried to grin but could muster only a tired smile as he said, "That's no way to greet your betters, Ludwig."

"I have no time for pleasantries," Ludwig clipped. "Tell me where Ignatius is."

"What makes you think he is here?" King Boo asked, leaning against the doorway.

What he was seeing saddened him. Ludwig was clearly not himself and that bothered him. He could sense that the younger sorcerer's magic was all over the place, his mind was a chaotic mess.

"Don't waste my time," Ludwig groused, "Tell me what you did with my brother."

"I don't know where young Ignatius is." King Boo answered. "He left just yesterday. And, considering the fact that I taught him to teleport on his own, he could be anywhere by now."

"You showed him how to teleport?" Ludwig asked almost in disbelief.

"Yes, among other things." King Boo recounted with a fond smile.

The truth was that King Boo had enjoyed his time with Iggy immensely. Teaching him and telling him stories had pleased the old immortal to no end. King Boo really was disappointed to see the adolescent go, but Iggy had been dead set on leaving as soon as he could to find more information about his origins. King Boo hadn't let him set off empty-handed; he'd given him a few maps and some supplies and plenty of food and water for his journey.

"Why?" Came Ludwig's agitated inquiry.

King Boo said in turn, "Why, what? Why did I take him in? Why did I tell him what he wanted to know? Why did I teach him to teleport and hide his magic signature to avoid detection?"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes and nodded.

King Boo told him, "I did the same for you when the Immortals were after your head, so why should I deny Ignatius? He obviously needed protection, just as you did."

"He didn't need protection." Ludwig scowled.

"You were persecuting the boy," King Boo accused. "Just like the Immortals were persecuting you, trying to force you to take the mark like you're trying to force Ignatius to rule on a usurped throne."

"It's not the same." Ludwig denied.

"It is!" King Boo declared, pushing himself off the wall. "You just refuse to see it."

Ludwig was silent for a pause.

King Boo took that time to say, "Do whatever you must, but leave the boy alone. He's on a quest and it wouldn't be right of you to impede him and deprive him of the knowledge he seeks."

Ludwig only held King Boo's stare for a little while longer before looking away. King Boo saw the young king war with himself before Ludwig rolled his shoulders back.

"Fine." He said. "I'll leave Ignatius to it. But once he learns the truth, he'll be back."

Even though Daisy and were holding hands and clearly together, there were still men and scrawny high school boys looking at her like they had a snowball's chance in Hell with her. It shouldn't have affected me, knowing that we were in a secure relationship and all, but it did. It made me hold her hand a little tighter, walk a little closer, and watch her back every few seconds. The girl was special to me and it was times like these that I wished I could hide her from the uglier things in this world.

"Is this the place?" Daisy asked me.

I stopped giving the evil eye to the peanut gallery near the shoe store behind us and glanced at the place ahead. It was indeed the right place, but I could have figured that. Daisy was highly intelligent and picked things up quickly.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." I sighed.

I didn't mean to squash her enthusiasm, but this wasn't my favorite thing to do. I remembered the ordeal I went through with the phone I had now and it was tedious. The only thing that made this time any better was that Daisy was with me. The girl was a pick-me-up. She made anything more bearable just by being around.

To be honest, though, the process was much shorter this time. I got my phone upgraded to a touchscreen and put us both on the same plan. We had identical models but separate bills. I told Daisy how to pay hers with her debit card and the store clerk showed us both how to work the thing; he went a little more in-depth with Daisy, showing her how to make calls and send texts and use the internet.

"This is still kind of confusing." She said once we'd been in the store for a few minutes.

"How?" I asked her.

Daisy glanced at me innocuously and said, "You can watch television on the telephone?"

"Yeah, since we have unlimited data." I told her. "Just go to this button and search up videos or anything you ever want to know more about."

"Whoa, that's...cool." Daisy blinked. "I still don't get this 'internal net' but it sounds incredible."

"It's internet," I said gently, "and yeah, it can be pretty cool. Just be careful. You never know what you might find."

A/N: Another one down, hope you all enjoy. I would love it if, since you already read this, you'd leave a review! I really like hearing what you guys think.

Until next chapter!

~DymondGold~