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but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this
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Chapter Forty-Five
It took nearly three days of him tirelessly searching and searching, but at last he'd found it. First he thought it would be with King Boo in his expansive library, and then he'd come running back to the palace when he was sure it would be hidden somewhere there. But it was with Boo after all, inside of a book inside of a saucepan buried within a cabinet in the old king's kitchen. It was almost as if someone had stowed it away, as if someone didn't want them finding it at all.
But I've found it, no thanks to him, Ludwig thought to himself. And now it's time to end this blight once and for all.
He was alone on a horse, taking the back route in his return to the palace. He jumped off the tall black steed even before it stopped running and strode brusquely towards the rear entrance. Several guards greeted him, but he brushed past them all. Well, all but one. One of them were persistent.
"My liege, there is someone here to see you." The Koopa informed him.
"Not now." Ludwig spoke quickly, still hurrying past the kitchens.
Near the throne room he stopped because the person who wanted to see him had clearly already been admitted in. Ludwig only spared him a glance and a moment's analysis. He garnered several things in the span of a few seconds. One, the person was donning a henge. Whoever they were, they weren't the unassuming short man they were pretending to be. No, the bald, spectacle-wearing man in too-long red robes was certainly cloaked in magic. Ludwig honestly wasn't surprised. Though he did wonder why the person had chosen such and old and unflattering form. It was a common practice among sorcerers and magicians to, when faced with the inevitable aging process, to don near-permanent henges that made them appear young and beautiful. Neither was the case in this instance.
Not only were they donning a henge, but the person was also radiating some kind of...Ludwig couldn't put his finger on it, but he wouldn't judge. When it came to the people he'd taken to seeking aid from, he'd seen much shadier.
"Escort him off the premises," Ludwig ordered shortly.
The little man dodged the oncoming Koopas and forced his small legs to propel him towards the twenty-year-old. He fought to keep up with Ludwig's brisk pace, and talked rapidly all the while.
"Slow down!" The magician pleaded, "I have very urgent news for you!"
"I've heard it all before." Ludwig dismissed.
"No, you misunderstand-"
"No, I think I understand exactly what's going on here." Ludwig interrupted. He didn't even break his stride when he sneered, "You're some cut-rate magician looking for a handsome bit of change for trying to deceive me."
"No, sir, I didn't come here to deceive you, sir," The person claimed.
Ludwig rolled his eyes and said, "I've seen scores of you lot; you're all the same."
"I bring tidings of your death!" The short person cried out.
This was the only thing that made Ludwig stop in his journey to the former Lord of the Badlands' bedroom. He gazed down at the magician with contempt. When he asked, 'what?', the person repeated themselves, leaving the young ruler to believe he'd not been mistaken after all.
"What are you on about?" Ludwig asked him disdainfully. "What new trick is this?"
"No trick, just truth," The magician piped, "My name is Fawcet Fulsom and-"
"I don't care who you are," Ludwig spoke impatiently, "What news is there of my death? Tell me!"
Never before had he been prone to losing his patience, but, as he was madly paranoid these days, the mention of his demise triggered the less sane, less rational range of his emotions.
Fawcet Fulsom stated, "Word has spread of your plight, sir, spread all over the Mushroom World. I heard of it, and thought I might help you. Us magicians have got to stick together, you know."
"Cut to the chase, old man." Ludwig snapped derisively.
He leaned over just a bit to compensate for the other man's stunted height and resisted the urge to bend his fingers in and out of a clawing motion. His nerves were nowhere near as level as they used to be.
Fawcet Fulsom said, "I know what you're about to do, and it will kill you."
"What?" Ludwig scowled, "How could you-"
"You're going to give back his subconscious mind, aren't you?" Fawcet stated knowingly and with an odd jumping of his eyebrows.
Ludwig was silent a moment.
He spoke in a much less caustic tone when he asked, "How will it kill me?"
"Details, details, who cares about the details?" Fawcet drawled with a grin.
Now that he was closer to his height, Ludwig could see that the top of the magician's robes were covering an almost maniacal, toothy grin. He didn't dwell on that. His life was on the table.
"I need to know," Ludwig insisted.
Fawcet told him, "It's unknown."
"What do you mean, unknown?"
"Unknown!" Fawcet exclaimed, "Not known; unknown!"
Ludwig glared at him, sensing vaguely that he was being mocked.
"I'm here to stop you from making a terrible mistake!" Fawcet Fulsom told him.
Ludwig glared at the magician a moment more before shaking his head in disbelief and disgust.
"Out of my way."
There was something moving against her ankle, something damp and warm. Fearfully the girl's eyes flew open and she jerked to a sitting position, only to find herself in quite a surreal situation. Here she was, having just awoken in the Dark King's closet, with the royal himself standing before her. The thing that made it surreal was that he was the one nudging her ankle with his damp foot. His foot had to be damp because he'd just finished bathing, and she only knew that because he had a towel around his hips. Barely around his hips.
I must be dreaming, Daisy thought, then she remembered what happened yesterday. No amount of convoluted imagining could ever produce this sort of experience. She was really here, still trapped in the bedroom of her tormentor. She recalled how, last night, she'd overheard dangerous information and had been locked in the same room she was in now. It had to be morning because there was light coming in from the room through the space in between the doorway and the king's body.
Why is he just standing there, the girl wondered, staring hard at him. What does he want?
He had one hand on the door frame and the other at his side. His entire physique was slick with hot water. He'd done a terrible job of drying himself. Daisy gazed at him warily and felt her body tense nervously. She steeled herself in preparation of a fight. The king didn't move.
All he said in his toneless drawl was, "Unless you'd like a show, I advise you move, little girl."
"What?" Daisy spoke in confusion.
"I need to dress." He deadpanned.
Daisy refused to let her embarrassment show. Here she was, thinking the worst, when she could clearly detect no hint of lust or motivation behind those dead jade eyes. He looked even worse than before in terms of expression and emotion. It was as if last night's encounter had drained him or something. Daisy was indeed embarrassed on the inside, though.
Well duh, he wants to dress, she thought, it's his closet after all.
But the girl would not give him the satisfaction she thought he was after in knowing how foolish she felt. Instead, she gathered her knees to her chest gracefully and stood, brushing past him on her way out. She knew she'd have to speak to him about what happened last night, but she'd rather if he at least had clothes on first.
Once she was out of the closet he didn't bother shutting the door, so she couldn't sit at her usual place at the vanity without getting an eye-ful. Daisy instead went to the bathroom to wash her face.
In the mirror she hesitated. The girl she saw had fear in her face. In her eyes there was uncertainty. That wouldn't do. Pushing it away wasn't easy, but it was necessary. She knew that it stemmed from several realizations over the course of the night. It was a wonder she'd even gotten to sleep. She knew for one, that the king was either biding his time and would rise soon, or would be hooking up with some strange woman to do the same thing. Not only was her own life at stake, but also Peasley's and the rest of the citizens of the Mushroom World.
I need to weed out as much information about the rest of that conversation as I can, she reasoned. That way I'll know which plan to act on.
Two were forming in her head. One consisted of her trying to convince the infamously stalwart and bull-headed Dark King to have mercy on Ludwig and not take back his subconscious. Not only was this plan nearly impossible, but it was also considerably fallible. Even if she were, by some great stroke of luck, able to convince the king to resist taking his subconscious back, there was no guarantee that the symptoms Ludwig was suffering from now wouldn't kill him anyway. Or that the stubborn sorcerer wouldn't try to force the king's hand. Or that the king wouldn't still conspire with that mystery woman. This all led her to her other plan.
It was simple, really: kill the Dark King. In principle, it was fool-proof. Not only would she prevent his dreaded rise, but she'd also destroy Ludwig in the process, who'd proven himself to be a wild card, unpredictable in all his ways and prone to putting himself and others in danger. To kill the king was to also kill the sorcerer who'd awoken him.
An unfortunate casualty, but sacrifices must be made, she thought grimly to herself, bringing up the sorcerer's own concept.
She didn't even know if she could actually go through with this plan, since it called for the slaying of not one but two lives, indirectly. And that was only if things went smoothly. If there were any complications, even more lives could be lost.
I could do it, but that doesn't mean I should, she thought.
Daisy knew who she was. She wasn't a murderer. If she killed, it would be for the good of countless others' lives. It wouldn't be the same as the murders that her two would-be victims would have participated in. She would be doing this as her duty as a leader in the Mushroom World.
Duty or not, it'd still be on my conscience, she knew. She'd have to go to bed every night knowing what she'd done. A part of her was horrified at the notion. Another part didn't mind.
"What do I do?" She asked her reflection, troubled.
If I do manage to kill Bowser and, by extension, Ludwig, who's to say that there won't still be peril? Whoever this lady is that was with Bowser, she's done something to Peasley and may take over his kingdom. What if she's a worse threat than the Dark King?
She had to snort, then, because even the notion was laughable. Unless she was sorely mistaken and the woman had some kind of hidden prowess that no one knew of, then there was no way that the simpering creature Daisy had seen last night could be more powerful than the tyrant getting dressed in the closet.
Daisy grabbed a small towel, wet it, wrung it out with shaking hands, and wiped her face thoroughly. She gazed at herself right in her light eyes. She took calming breaths and considered her situation once more. A new plan surfaced in her head.
She figured she'd question Bowser on his intentions. As she already estimated herself at having very little to no success, she figured she'd take both options into account. She'd try and tell Ludwig about the danger he was in, and if he listened, she would make a demand for her release from the palace. If that didn't work out and she still ended up stuck here, the girl figured she'd go through with her back-up plan and kill two birds with one stone.
Kill. The word stuck out in her mind. Once again, she knew she had the strength to do it, but she just knew she shouldn't. There had to be another way.
Okay, Daisy settled, I'll save that as a last resort.
As much as she hated to do it, she would try and appeal to Ludwig. To be honest, the girl didn't give a damn whether he lived or died. In her mind, he'd already sealed her own possible demise when he tossed her in a room with the king and locked her in.
He didn't care about me when he did that, so why should I care about him? He brought this on himself, Daisy frowned. It's not fair to even factor in his safety, he wouldn't do it for me if the tables were turned; clearly.
But she knew she'd have to be the bigger person, at least until she could get back to Brooklyn. From there she knew it was no longer a decision that was in her hands; she'd have to go back to Sarasaland. Ludwig was a menace to himself and the rest of the world and she'd need her full authority to bring him down. She'd rally the aid of Peasley, if he wasn't in too much trouble, and of course Mario and anyone else they could gather.
With these things in mind, Daisy settled her shoulders and schooled her features into a strict mask of confidence and serenity, giving off the impression that she was not only at peace with her situation, but in control. She fixed her shirt and smoothed her hair and then stepped out of the bathroom. She could put on a brave front, but inside her heart was pounding.
He can't hurt you, Daisy reminded herself, he doesn't even have his powers. He can't hurt you.
The girl went over to the vanity, but bypassed it in order to get in front of the bed. Before when she'd taken this spot, she'd not had as much courage as she did now. Very carefully she sat with her legs crossed Indian style and her hands palm-down on her thighs. Her back looked straight against the foot of the bed, but in truth she was leaning on it for support. The moment came when two things she was expecting to happen, happened.
The first was Bowser Junior's arrival with their food. By the looks of it, she'd slept through breakfast. She fought a wistful smile at the sight of the lean five-year-old carrying both plates by himself with a very pleased grin on his face.
"Here is yours," The boy announced to her.
Very carefully Junior set her plate down on the carpet next to her and set the other across from her knees. He left the room in a hurry, but returned moments later with her and the king's drinks.
"I did taste my Daddy's drink before," Junior admitted once he was finished. "It was nasty."
"Just like him." Daisy murmured to herself.
Junior didn't hear her. Or pretended not to. The second thing she'd expected to happen was the king's emergence from the closet. He was clad in all black, as was his taste, and was scratching idly at the top of his head, near his ivory-colored horn.
"Look!" Junior suddenly exclaimed. "We all match!"
It was an unfortunate truth. The standard silk shirt and pants that the king wore matched the white cotton-ish shirt and pants that Daisy wore, and little Junior had on navy blue tones of the same garb. An unfortunate truth and inaccurate intimation at some sort of bond or likeness between them all.
Bowser sat against the wall and his son sidled up next to him eagerly. Daisy brought her food into her lap but didn't speak just yet. Though the routine was the same in that she ate and the king watched her, she felt a bit smug knowing that she'd be directing the subsequent events on this day.
"Oh!" Junior suddenly said, leaping to his feet.
He rummaged with both small hands through one of his pockets, pulling out link for link a thin, gold chain. At its center there was a medallion, circular in shape, with emeralds forming one ring on its face, rubies forming a second, and sapphires forming a third. In the very middle of the jewel rings there was a clear-colored sphere a few millimeters in diameter. It was very pretty to look at and shone in the light of the candle chandelier.
"I almost forgot it!" Junior spoke, "But I didn't, I had remembered to bring it to you, Daddy."
The boy beamed proudly and handed the thing to his father, who glanced at it with a glint of appreciation in his eyes. He may have just appeared bored if you didn't look at him closely enough. Daisy, ever suspicious, wondered at this new artifact.
She asked innocently, "What's the medallion for?"
"Decoration." Bowser replied without missing a beat.
"No really," Daisy tried again.
The king glanced from the chain to her and let his eyes rove over her frame. She didn't show an ounce of fear or trepidation under his lax but at the same time critical gaze. Finally he smirked a little and shook his head.
"Such a nosy little woman," He spoke softly.
"I'm inquisitive." Daisy corrected. "Is the medallion special? What does it do?"
"Make my neck look good." The king responded.
Okay, so I won't be finding out anything more about that from him, Daisy concluded. She moved onto another subject. With her glass of water in her hand, she bent her head back a bit to meet his eyes.
"So what did you decide?" She asked forwardly.
Bowser blinked with slow deliberation and moved his head to the side, saying, "What do you mean?"
"About last night," Daisy clarified. "Are you going to team up with that-"
"It doesn't pertain to you." Bowser interjected flatly.
Here Daisy faltered. She knew what she was about to say and by doing so she'd be treading dangerous ground, but when was she not around the Dark King?
"It should." She stated pointedly.
He humored her and asked, "And why is that?"
"You told that woman I was your...that I am to be your queen." Daisy stated in a low voice.
The king cut his jade eyes her way and smirked broadly, fleetingly. He picked up his wine and gazed at her over the rim of it. His eyes were alight just that quickly, startling Daisy with their sudden intensity. Bowser threw back his head and drank the rest of his drink and when he lowered his head once more, his eyes were dead again.
He stated slowly, "I highly doubt you'll accept your place at my side but, for the sake of this conversation, I'll ask you this; if you are my queen and plan to reign with me, what is it you advise I do?"
Daisy felt a nervous thrill shoot through her stomach. She hadn't expected this. She had a feeling that the king was just toying with her again, and that he already knew what he was going to do. That was fine. At least now she had nothing to lose.
She cleared her throat and said, "It would behoove you to keep Ludwig alive until you can...fully extricate yourself from him."
"Oh?" Bowser asked, shifting so that he wasn't slouching as much.
Daisy nodded and said, "If he gets killed while your minds are linked, you might die, too."
The Dark King just stared at her mouth. He didn't seem to be paying attention to a word she was saying and he had that vaguely amused look on his face. Daisy stopped talking because she was starting to feel discouraged.
But then Bowser said, "I suppose that would make sense, if it weren't for the fact that I can't die. Not from this."
"You don't know that." Daisy challenged.
The king said, "Yes I do. And knowing how very curious you are, I bet you'd like to know why that is."
Daisy sat up onto her knees and tucked her hands into her lap. She was not liking this turn the conversation was taking; it was like it was shifting out of her control.
"Why is it?" She prompted.
Bowser told her, "I'm the host, and in these scenarios, the host cannot die. The host is what sustains the entire operation; remove the variables and the host will still remain."
Daisy thought on his words for a moment, trying to make sense of them. She started piecing things together.
"So what you're saying is," She spoke evenly, "You'll have the same outcome no matter what you choose?"
"Precisely." Bowser told her. "You should already know, little girl; I always get what I want. It's just a matter of how fast I can get it."
Without premise the bedroom door burst open and the baneful blue-haired sorcerer entered. Daisy immediately shot to her feet and approached him. She was coming so quickly that Ludwig actually flinched a bit, thinking she was going to slap him again.
Daisy told him firmly, "I need to talk to you."
He didn't say anything in response, just glanced at her and then over at the king. He wordlessly took her hand and led her out of the bedroom, then shut the doors behind them. Daisy rounded on him.
"Listen to me well, Ludwig, because I'll only say this once." She stated coldly. "I will never forget what you've done to me and I swear, once I'm away from here, I will hunt you down and see that you pay for endangering not only my life, but everyone else in this world's as well."
Ludwig was silent throughout her speech because, if he were truly being honest, he did feel some amount of guilt over what he'd put her through. But Ludwig hadn't been honest with himself in weeks. He regarded her anger coolly and folded his arms. He was still wearing the same clothes from three days ago and, compared to his usual immaculate self, he looked like garbage.
"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" He asked her dully.
Daisy closed her eyes and took a breath. She knew this wasn't over. Ludwig had really cut her deeply and she'd be feeling this pain, this betrayal for a long time. But she didn't have the luxury of being able to dwell on her emotions at this time. So she swallowed her ire and pretended she didn't want to tear him limb from limb in that very hallway.
"I came to tell you that you're in grave danger." She said evenly. "If you give back the subconscious, you'll be signing your own death warrant."
"And how would you know that?" Ludwig asked her.
"I heard him talking about it." She stated. "He's banking on you to return it because he knows that once you do, the effects of the separation will kill you and then his power will be returned to him."
Ludwig said, "That's not going to happen; that's not how this spell works."
"Forget about some stupid spell," Daisy snapped. "I heard him talking with some woman about joining forces once he's gotten you out the way!"
"What woman did you see?" Ludwig asked sharply.
Daisy opened her mouth but felt something invade her mind at once. This was sloppy, careless ransacking, not the practiced meandering of mental vectors that Ludwig had mastered over the years. He was searching her mind for this memory but all the care and meticulous precision was gone from his actions. He didn't care if he hurt her in the process, he just rifled until he'd caught a glimpse of what she was talking about.
"Stop it!" Daisy shouted, gritting her teeth against what felt like the pain of a migraine.
Ludwig did stop, but not because of her cries. He gazed at her critically and she glared back.
"What was that?" She bit out acerbically.
He said, "It's not there."
"What?"
"I didn't see anything about the bastard consorting with any other woman but you." He told her.
Daisy frowned and said, "I know what I saw! He was talking to some woman last night, they were making plans."
Daisy recalled how the woman had come out of nowhere; even though she'd been showering, she would have heard the door opening and shutting. And the woman couldn't have used the door, because that would have meant she'd bypassed all of the Koopa guards. If that was the case, Ludwig would have seen her. She had to be some kind of magician.
And if that's the case, maybe that's why he can't see the memory, Daisy realized. Maybe she did something to hide it from another magician.
"I think the woman knew magic," Daisy stated. "I think-"
"You know what I think?" Ludwig asked her shortly. "I think you're taking me for some kind of bleeding idiot. Don't you think I'd know if someone used magic on you? You're lying."
"No I'm not!" Daisy yelled, offended. "I know what I saw and what I heard!"
"And I know you'd tell me anything if you thought it'd get you out of here sooner." Ludwig retorted.
Daisy brought her hand up swiftly but Ludwig anticipated the action and caught her wrist right before it made contact with his alabaster face. She jerked her hand away from him and began to quake with anger.
"Let's get one thing straight," She hissed. "I couldn't care less if you died. In fact, I'm debating on whether I should just cut my losses and kill the king myself and say to hell with you!"
Ludwig said, "You can't kill him."
"You wanna' bet?" Daisy challenged strongly.
"I won't let you." Ludwig sneered. "I won't let you ruin everything I'm trying to do."
"Just try and stop me!" Daisy urged him. "If you want to doom yourself, then fine. But I am not going to let your stupid pride and ignorance benefit that monster. I will kill him before he even has the chance to rise again!"
Kill, kill, kill; each time she said the word, she felt more emboldened to actually do it. She was scaring herself with her steely resolve. She must have been intimidating Ludwig, too, because now he gazed at her as if she were some sort of dangerous weapon.
"I could stop you." He said quietly. "Make it so that you're too weak to even lift a finger against anyone."
"You could do that," She agreed. "But where would that leave you? Bowser's so delusional he's calling me his queen. You, though; you don't stand a chance. Do you really think you can just use me to erase what you've done? You stole from him. You took his powers, his palace, his territory, his son: his entire identity. You really think he's going to let all that slide?"
"It doesn't matter." Ludwig stated. "Once I return the subconscious-"
"You will die!" Daisy shouted exasperatedly. "Don't you hear what I'm telling you? Why would I have to lie about this?"
"Why would you care about what happens to me?" Ludwig accused. "You said it yourself, you are his queen. You're consorting with him. You're probably telling me to keep the subconscious so it'll kill me and you two can reign together."
"You stupid, pig-headed troll, don't you get it?!" Daisy shouted, ready to pull her hair out. "You're right, I don't care about you. I don't care if you live or die. But I do care about all the innocent people who'll be put in danger if you die and the power's returned to Bowser. So this is why I'm telling you; don't do this!"
Ludwig still looked at odds. Daisy could see the crazy in his eyes. He was definitely losing his mind, especially if he thought she was in cahoots with the Dark King, the same being who'd tortured her relentlessly and attempted to rape her at every turn. The thought made her stomach twist in repugnance.
Ludwig was having second thoughts. Well, considering the other voices in his head, third and fourth thoughts. There was a paranoid voice telling him that the girl was lying, that she was the Dark King's whore and was loyal only to him. Another voice told him the girl was telling the truth. This voice reminded him of the earlier magician's words.
If the two are saying the same thing about the subconscious killing you, it must be true, this voice urged. This voice told him to listen to the girl and the magician. This voice was the last of his sanity. It overpowered the irrational, panicked, desperate, and self-loathing voices and resonated inside his head. Ludwig gazed at Daisy evenly.
"You swear you are not deceiving me?" He asked her.
She shook her head and said, "Believe what you want."
"I believe you." Ludwig stated but not with any sort of real confidence.
Daisy said, "Then if you believe me, let me go. I need to go back home."
"I can't." Ludwig told her. "I need to figure all this out."
"You don't need me to do that." Daisy argued. "You don't need to keep me hostage here."
Ludwig shook his head and took her arm, intent on leading her back inside the bedroom. Instead the girl pulled away and made a mad dash for it. She ran only a few feet before Ludwig reached out his hand and shot a bit of energy out towards her. The blue light encased her body for a flash of a moment and when it vanished, the girl dropped unconscious to the ground. Sometimes there was just no arguing with magic.
Ludwig went over to the girl, conflicted as he was, and carried her back into the room. If she left, the situation would change. He would have no leverage against the king. He would have no hold on the situation. She was his safeguard against the former ruler's fury. But if she was serious about killing the king, he was in jeopardy of losing what the power and he couldn't lose the power, not now. He didn't even care that he might die were she to kill the king, the power was the only thing that mattered now. When was the last time he'd checked on his siblings?
Taken a meal?
Washed his face?
The power had consumed him and it was all he could think about. He didn't even realize the extent of which his mind had deteriorated, or if it could ever really be repaired. He didn't care. He just needed that power.
A/N: As infuriating as Ludwig is being, I hope you guys are still reading. I hope he isn't so annoying to make you stop reading anytime soon. If it's any consolation, no deed goes unpunished; not in this story. Everything has its consequences so don't think he's getting away with every injustice he's doing against Daisy or anyone else.
That being said, I'd like to know what you guys think will happen to our ill-fated ex-enforcer. Any predictions are welcome, I'm just curious to see if you're on the right track.
I guess tomorrow I'll update so we can catch up with Luigi, and also see what Daisy will do at this point. Things will take a very weird turn and I don't think you'll be able to guess what happens next.
Until then...
~DymondGold~