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 Forty-Six

Was it strange that the magician from earlier still lingered in the throne room? Was it strange that he seemed to be perpetually grinning? Was it strange that he seemed to know a little too much about the situation at hand? The more important question was, did Ludwig even care enough to be suspicious of any of this? No, he didn't. His suspicion only arose when it came to his enemy and that girl. Only minutes ago, Ludwig had laid her to rest in the Dark King's bed. As for the old royal, he'd had not a word for him. Ludwig had then came back to find the magician conveniently waiting for him.

"What must I do?" He asked the diminutive man.

The being grinned and tittered, "I'm glad you asked, so glad! The answer is simple."

"Then get to it!" Ludwig snapped tersely.

"You must make a clone of the original host." Fawcet Fulsom instructed.

Ludwig paused and crossed his arms, saying, "A clone? What good would a clone do?"

"The only reason you're suffering is because the host is resisting you." Fawcet stated with a faint chuckle. "If you clone him, you can transfer his subconscious and active mind to a more manageable form."

Ludwig pondered this. Magically cloning the Dark King wouldn't change his personality or motives or thinking, but it would put him in a more vulnerable position. As far as Ludwig knew, and he did know a lot when it came to sorcery, clones didn't retain the full scope of their previous abilities. The potential would still be there, but it would take years for the Dark King to regain use of his skills simply because he'd be reduced to the size of a child.

"And what about the host?" Ludwig asked warily.

At the moment, the details of the magical cloning process were somehow escaping him. Between his growing obsession with power and his waning sanity, it was no wonder.

Fawcet eagerly told him, "The host will be an empty shell of a creature and you'll be free to do whatever you wish with him."

"Interesting." Ludwig murmured.

In his addle-minded state, this plan seemed solid, golden, fool-proof. Ludwig latched onto it and began mulling over what he'd do to Bowser once he'd moved his consciousness out of his body. Now that he knew the sole reason behind his suffering was from the king making it hard on him, his heart grew even harder and he planned on doing his absolute worst to the king, in child form or not.

"What do I do first?" Ludwig wanted to know.

Fawcet replied, "First you must go with me to gather the necessary ingredients for this operation. Once we've gotten those, we'll need a vial of blood from the host and a large place to be doing the incantation."

"What are the ingredients?" Ludwig pressed. "Where can I find them?"

"I have them on this list, see?" Fawcet answered, procuring a long spread of parchment from his draping red robes.

Ludwig snatched the list and scowled. Not only were there a million things scrawled all over the paper, but some of the items were available closer to town, and some of them would be located near the ends of the Badlands. They weren't organized by distance, just jumbled altogether in a messy fashion like one big paragraph. Ludwig knew it'd take several hours to get all the items.

I'll do it in two, he limited himself.

"What will you require in terms of payment?" He asked the snickering man.

Fawcet Fulsom said, "Just a minimal fee of five thousand silver pieces."

That wasn't much, especially since Ludwig had the Dark King's treasury at his disposal. He declared it done and set out with the short man at his side immediately.

A/N: I don't know if I'll be finishing this story, that's why this is so short and that's why it's been a while since I've updated. I have to think about this.

I'm sorry for anyone I've let down or anyone who would like to read about it more, but I just don't know if I'll be finishing this. I have it plotted out, I just don't think I'll write any more.

It's probably confusing to you, but I just want to thank each and every reader and reviewer, I genuinely appreciate you for taking the time to stick with me in this journey.

~DymondGold~