I am wondering if I should put this story into three parts instead of just two, meaning there'd be another story in the series after this; what do you guys think?
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 Fifty-Eight
This morning the weight of moving hit me again. I woke up with Daisy asleep on my arm and realized that we were leaving this place for good. Sure, there may be an instance where we'd come back for some reason or the other, but we'd never live here anymore. This was it.
I still can't say I'll miss anything in particular, I thought.
The apartment was pretty squalid, even after I'd done all I could to make it look neat and lived-in. Maybe I'd miss the fact that it was my first place on my own. I knew I wouldn't miss my job. It seriously blew, but it wasn't so bad as far as jobs go. It could have been worse.
I could have been digging ditches for a living.
And of course I'd miss my stuff, seeing as how I couldn't, and wouldn't, take it with me. The tv and other appliances wouldn't even work in Sarasaland and everything else, like the furniture, was unnecessary. We were going to a palace; none of my cut-rate belongings would fit in there. But I'd miss this place a little, if only for nostalgia's sake. I grew up in Brooklyn, it wasn't the best but it was my home.
Daisy shifted beside me and I smiled down at her. She was wild in sleep at times, last night being one of them. Her hair was all over her head and covered the lower part of her face like a mask. I moved it gently away from her parted mouth before she choked on it, then smiled privately at the image of that happening.
Good thing she's sleeping, I figured, since I seriously doubted she'd appreciate me laughing at her expense. With my thumb I stroked her cheek, just under her left eye, and then stopped bothering her before she woke up. The last thing I did before getting out of bed was kiss her on her forehead and then on the nose.
I stretched my arms over my head as soon as my feet hit the carpet and then went over to my dresser to get some clothes for the day. I didn't bother putting on my uniform, I wasn't going to work today. I couldn't spare even one day, I needed to pack and get ready to leave. In light of that, I changed my sweatpants for some plain black pants I'd gotten from my brother a while ago and dark green t-shirt. When I had my black jacket on I went into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Someone was already there.
"Oh." I blinked, "Uh, good morning."
The child just stared at me while he finished doing his business. I didn't know he knew what to do, being a clone, but I guess he'd been around for a few days now, so somebody must have taught him how to use the toilet. He flushed with some struggle, his fingers were pretty small, and then he came over to the sink. I moved over and then watched him stand on his toes, trying to wash his hands. Without a word I put my toothpaste down and picked him up by the waist. He had crust near his eyes and mouth, so after he'd washed his hands I moved to the hall closet and got a face towel for him to clean himself.
"Look," I said, "Do this."
The child watched me clean my own face and then hesitantly mimicked my actions. He then pointed to my toothbrush. I knew I had an extra one somewhere.
"Wait a second." I told him before leaving the bathroom.
I came back with a small red brush and set it up with some paste for him. I only put a little and handed it to him. He, once again, followed my cues and brushed his teeth. He did a horrible job, and the anal-retentive part of me was cringing at all the spots he'd missed. I bent down and put my hand over his.
"Like this," I told him, moving the brush up and down over each of his tiny teeth.
He soon began to get the hang of it and after about a minute of helping him out, he was done. I lifted him up so that he could wipe his mouth and rinse his toothbrush out, then let him drop it into the holder where mine and Daisy's were.
"I didn't know you'd be up this early," I admitted aloud. "But now that you are, I guess you can come with me."
The child gazed up at me blankly and scratched his ear. I reached for his hand and he glanced towards my bedroom before taking it. I walked with him over to the door and took my keys off the hook, then left and locked the door behind us. With the child in hand I descended the stairs and entered the parking lot. My car was not among those sitting idly.
Ah, that's right, I remembered, I left my car downtown near the warp pipe thing. Great.
Back upstairs I headed with the child in tow and into my apartment I returned. I went to my room and got my wallet from the top drawer. I'd need some money for a bus this morning. While I put my wallet in my pocket and linked the chain to one of my belt loops, I noticed the little clone staring at Daisy. I smiled and went over and kissed her cheek. It was only of little surprise to me when the child did the same; he'd been mocking me all morning so I really thought nothing of it.
Again we left and I locked up behind us, but this time when we got downstairs we didn't stop at the lot. We headed straight for the nearest bus stop and sat on the bench. The child scooted close to me and clasped his hands in his lap. He was quiet as he stared all around him calmly.
Man, this kid is making me go back on everything I said about children; he's pretty easy.
And that thought was coming from someone who really avoided children if they could help it. I guess being around Junior and Ludwig's siblings changed that for me. I took a few minutes then to think about them and how they were doing. The last I heard, Ludwig was shipping them off to rule different countries for him. I hoped they were okay. I knew that as much as they fought and bickered, they really loved each other and didn't do well when separated. And then there was Bowser Junior, who was only five and still so impressionable; I knew that being around me and Daisy and Lemmy had been good for him, but now he was probably with his dad again or, even worse, with Ludwig. I didn't want him to get confused about right and wrong or to start ending up like his father.
Bowser may have a strong hold over his son, but even Junior can tell he's not right, Or at least I hoped that was still the case.
There was a tug on my hand and it came from the clone.
It's not right for me to keep calling him that, I noted, but what was I supposed to call him? He wasn't quite Ludwig even though he looked like him. I didn't have time to think about this right now because the bus was here. That's why the kid was tugging on my hand. He and I stood and locked hands and I fished around my wallet for exact change. I was pretty sure the kid was under 44 inches, he wasn't much taller than Junior or Lemmy from what I could remember. Sure enough, when we stepped onto the bus, the driver took my fare with a nod and a smile for the kid.
I searched for an empty spot and luckily found two. I took the one near the front and turned to the child.
"You wanna' sit near the window?" I asked him.
He nodded and I sat next to him. After about four more stops, the bus grew packed and I had to take the boy into my lap in order to let an older woman sit down. The boy wasn't heavy at all and was content to just sit across my legs and continue to stare out at all the people around him.
Something tells me he hadn't got out much since being alive, I deduced when his eyes widened every now and again when more people got on and off. I noticed that, during our ride, more people was starting to stare at us. Not in a bad way, per say. No, some folks would smile and others would wave at the child in my lap. He just blinked at them at first, but then he started to wave back a little unsurely and then bow his head and let his long hair cover his face.
But this was New York, so some people would shake their heads at us and mutter things like, 'weird' or 'freak' under their breath. I even caught a bit of someone's conversation about us, saying something about how much of a 'lowdown shame' it was for me to, 'go and dye the poor kid's hair like that', and how, 'it's always something' here in Brooklyn.
Finally our stop came up and I headed down a few blocks with the child's hand in mine. We came upon the old abandoned warehouse where I'd parked my car and I figured, before we left, I'd check our 'mail'. Inside the old building it was as musty and dark as ever, so I had to keep the child at close range so as not to lose track of him. I could just hear Peasley now, lamenting over the fact that I'd been careless enough to let a piece of the warehouse ceiling come down over the clone-who-must-not-be-harmed.
"Hm. Lots of mail," I hummed aloud.
There was a few letters from my brother and some from Daisy's cousins, as well as one old one from Peasley. I slipped the mail under my arm and led the child back outside to my car. I didn't have a booster seat for him, but I didn't think it would matter. I was just going to run some errands, I wasn't going on a race with Mario Andretti himself or anything. I buckled the boy in the middle of the right side of the backseat and then got in on the driver's side.
"I'm sorry, but you might get a little bored." I told the kid.
He gazed at me blankly.
Out of curiosity I asked, "Do you know how old you are?"
The boy predictably shook his head 'no'. I nodded. Why would he know; he'd just been born a few days ago, I think. Or had Ludwig had him all along for about five years and was hiding him all this time? I doubted it, but couldn't really be sure.
My first stop was my job. I drove downtown to the parlor and parked curbside, then came and got the child out. I thought about leaving him in, but changed my mind. We came into the pizza place and I was suddenly glad that Terry had been fired. It wouldn't do to have the child's first interactions in life be spoiled by...never mind. I wouldn't even waste the brain juice on coming up with a term or phrase that would fit him properly. I led my pint-sized companion straight to the back where I knew my boss would be. It was too early for there to be anyone else around, thank goodness. The less people I had to deal with today, the better.
I knocked on my boss' office door and waited.
"It's open!" I heard him cry from inside.
I stepped in and he glanced up, then glanced again at the child and his eyebrows shot up.
"That kid yours?" He asked.
"No, actually he's um. My...nephew?"
I didn't mean for that to sound like a question but it came out lilting at the end and my boss gave me a sketchy glance, then shook his head. I remembered his policy of not delving too deeply into his employees' lives and knew he wouldn't press the issue.
"You're always surprisin' me, kid." He spoke, his eyes back down on his paperwork.
I stood in front of his desk and said, "I need to talk to you about my job."
"You leaving me or something?" My boss quipped.
"Yeah," I answered. "I'm not coming in today. I'm moving."
Now my boss glanced up and frowned. "You really are leaving?"
"Yeah." I replied.
He scratched his head and asked, "You ain't in any trouble are you?"
"Um. Not exactly." I responded.
On the one hand I was, seeing as how I had Ludwig and Bowser as enemies and they were both at large, but on the other hand that wasn't the kind of trouble my boss was referring to.
"I'll be gone in a few days," I told him, "So if you could just cut my last check, I'd appreciate it."
My boss stood and nodded absently. "You're busting outta' town, you got some kid with you, and you need me to cut you your check right now?"
I nodded. "If it's not too much trouble."
The child stepped behind my leg when my boss crossed his desk over to me. He leaned down a bit and gazed at me funny.
"...You ain't got the mob after you, eh kid?" He asked conspiratorially. "I mean, not that it's any'a my business or nothin'."
"No..." I replied slowly.
"The fuzz hot on your trail?" He then asked.
"No."
My boss stared at me a moment and then visibly relaxed. He moved back around to his desk and started going through his drawers.
"See I don't like getting in my worker's personal lives," He explained.
So you say, I thought to myself.
"But I had to ask," My boss continued. "Don't want any trouble around this joint, you know?"
"Sure." I said because I thought it'd help me get my check sooner.
It did, and less than a minute later I was back in my car with the kid in the backseat, heading towards my second errand. I needed to get my check check cashed. While I was at it, I could clear out my and Daisy's accounts.
On second thought, maybe I should leave that cash. I might need it later on for God only knows what, I figured. My life had a habit of taking unexpected turns.
I got to the bank and parked in the back lot and then entered with the kid beside me. The couple leaving while we walked in gave the kid a smile and held the door open for us. I walked over to the waiting area and helped the child into a chair. There was a tv and a coffee machine and a water tank.
"I'll be right over there," I said, "Don't talk to anybody and don't move, got it?"
The boy nodded and then pointed to the water. I fixed him a paper cup and he needed both hands to hold it as he drank. I was kind of nervous about leaving him alone over there but this was a bank; what could happen? It was so silent in the whole building that you could hear pin drop, and these floors were carpeted.
I walked up to the teller and gave her my check. We went through the usual song and dance of handing her my I.D and verifying my account and whatnot, and then she handed me the money.
"Can you just put that into my savings?" I asked her.
"Sure thing," She smiled, "Is that your little girl over there?"
She pointed at the clone, who was sipping at the paper cup. All you could see were those big emerald eyes and a part of his little nose, framed by that long navy and black-streaked hair. It was no surprise the teller thought he was a girl. He wasn't old enough to be distinctly male yet, either.
"Actually that's my nephew," I lied, because why not.
The woman flushed a slight red color and pushed a lock of her short, wavy black hair behind her ear. I noticed her name tag read, "Belinda" and she sort of reminded me of Jennifer Lopez with her tawny skin and dark eyes.
"I'm sorry," The woman smiled, embarrassed. "He's very cute."
"Thanks," I spoke. "Is that all?"
"Yes." Belinda nodded. "Your money's been deposited into your account. Is that all you wanted to do?"
"Yup." I told her, then thanked her and headed to collect the child waiting for me.
I took his hand and went back to the car, then buckled him in and headed onto the next order of business. I went about the city, cancelling my phone contract and closing the accounts for my water and electric bills. I had to get a little gas and then noticed that the day was starting to get away from me. It was when we were pulling into a Shell station that I heard a rumbling sound coming from inside the car.
Please don't tell me this piece of shit car is about to break down right before I leave.
No, the sound was actually coming from the backseat, or more specifically from the child's stomach that he was gripping with small fingers. He first glanced at his stomach and then at me with an expression of want.
"Hungry?" I smiled faintly.
The boy nodded and I told him, "We'll get something to eat after this, alright?"
Again the child nodded.
He wasn't hard to be around. I thought his silence and lack of emotion would make being with him awkward but that wasn't the case. He was a good kid and good company.
As promised, I took him to a relatively cheap restaurant and got him a kids meal. I was hungry, too, but I didn't really feel like eating. I had a lot on my mind. It all had to do with the move; the more I prepared for it, the more it was starting to stress me out. Not the leaving part, I could handle that. I just didn't know about the moving in to Sarasaland's palace part.
The child guided me by the hand over to where some spinning chairs was. I helped him up onto the high chair and sat across from him. Like any other child, he spun from side to side and played with his food. I got him some potato fries, chicken tenders, and a cup of fruit punch. He seemed to be enjoying himself, because he gazed up at me and for once didn't seem so aloof, just quiet.
Some people with a kid of their own walked by. The child had an ice cream cone that was stacked a mile high. I watched the navy-haired boy follow that cone right out the door with his emerald eyes.
"You want ice cream?" I asked him.
He nodded.
I shrugged. He'd been so well-behaved in a situation that was just as anti-kid as they come. When I was his age, I hated riding along with my parents while the ran errands. It was a torturous, never-ending cycle of dullness and backseat boredom. The kid deserved a treat.
Working was something Daisy had grown accustomed to doing. She liked interacting with different types of people and pleasing customers and being helpful. She liked to work. But she wouldn't be able to do that anymore because duty was calling her back to a four-kingdom throne. She would work in Sarasaland, of course; there were many things that needed to be done and as ruler, spearheading those tasks would fall on her shoulders. But she'd not work in the way she did in Brooklyn and in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore and that made her pretty sad.
I know what I'll miss the most, the girl thought as she rode a window seat on the bus.
Alicia. She would definitely miss her best friend. The two had shared secrets and had sleepovers and spent countless hours making employment so much more than just a regular 9 to 5. She would remember the girl as a confidant and guide in a confusing world. They'd roamed the mall together and saw a bunch of movies that they probably shouldn't have, read the same books together at one time and worked through problems together. Daisy could only call two females to mind when she thought of a true friend, and that was Alicia and Pepita.
At least I was able to do something for Pepita, She remembered. That is, if Ludwig listened to me.
Something told her the sorcerer did, having not thought much about the request. What was a harem girl and few supplies to him? Daisy got off at her stop and stepped from the bus to the shoe department store. She'd sighed before walking into her job and doing what she set about to this morning.
Ah, this morning, Daisy mused. She woke alone, which made her heart hurt a little because she really didn't want to ever be apart from Luigi ever again. On the other hand, she was glad he took the clone with him because the child still unnerved her and she couldn't help but draw some sinister conclusions the more she thought about the situation.
Daisy met with her boss and explained her reason for leaving. He was surprisingly cool with her decision and told her he'd drop her next check later on the same day. She had a direct deposit set up so each check went straight to her checking account and, thus, to her debit card. She knew that she wouldn't be needing the money anymore, though. While she was in Mr. Lestrange's office, Daisy brought up something that bothered her.
"Have you seen Alicia today?" The girl asked.
Mr. Lestrange said, "As a matter of fact, she's taken off for a couple of weeks. She said something about a 'family emergency'."
"Ah," Daisy murmured.
She'd lost her phone somewhere along down the line after she'd been kidnapped, so she'd been using Luigi's to call her friend to no avail. All she got was the answering machine.
At least that way I get to hear her voice, Daisy smiled to herself weakly.
Daisy resolved to keep trying the girl's cell for a couple days. She knew Alicia was bound to pick up sometime.
"Time to pick up Daisy," I announced.
In the rear view mirror I watched the boy's emerald eyes perk. I quirked a brow at that and smiled.
"You like her, don't you?" I asked the child.
He was still working on his ice cream cone but he heard my question and nodded enthusiastically in turn. His eyes gained some life in them and he seemed eager. This was the first time all day that he'd gotten excited over anything. It was odd that he chose Daisy as his impetus for expressing emotion but I couldn't blame him. Daisy was amazing, who wouldn't like her?
From the department store I picked her up and I could tell when she got into the car that something was bothering her. She had my cell phone up to her ear and wore a troubled expression. The girl opened the passenger door and climbed in adeptly, leaning over without a word and kissing my cheek. I smirked because it was like her mind was millions of miles away but she remembered to give me that kiss like she'd done every other time I picked her up from work.
I drove towards my apartment and studied her. There was a lot of traffic, which gave me plenty of time to stare at her. I wasn't the only one; in the rear view mirror the child gazed at her with what looked like adoration. It was the same way I caught Junior looking at his father sometimes. Like hero worship or something. I couldn't even begin to understand why that was.
Well how did Ludwig feel about her? I mused, Maybe his feelings are the same in the clone.
It was my only explanation for the phenomenon, seeing as how the kid hadn't had the time to even get close enough to Daisy to develop those sort of feelings for her. But that didn't add up because if Ludwig had hero-worship or adoration towards Daisy, he wouldn't have done what he did and sold her out to the Dark King. Which confused me and landed me back at square one of trying to explain this. I gave up.
"Hey, Alicia," Daisy spoke into the phone, "I heard you were on leave from work and I just wanted to check in with you. I'm sorry I've been kinda' MIA lately but I swear I can explain, just please call me when you get this message."
"How are you gonna' explain all this to her?" I asked Daisy.
She dropped my phone into the cup holder between us and rubbed her hands over her face. The girl said something but it got smothered against her palms. I reached over and tugged on her charm bracelet, something she'd come home with after shopping with the friend she was trying to get in touch with. Daisy glanced at me and I quirked a brow.
"I said I don't know." Daisy sighed. "I'll tell her something."
"How 'bout the truth?" I suggested, leaning back in my seat because it looked like that red light wasn't changing anytime soon.
Daisy blinked and shook her head slowly. "She'll never believe me."
I thought about Tanya and shrugged.
"She might." I told Daisy. "You never know."
My girlfriend mulled over that and said softly, "I guess so."
She then turned and stared at the child. Her light eyes widened a little and I heard her take in a subtle inhalation through her nose. She was surprised.
"What's that on his eye?" She asked, alarmed.
I glanced in the rear view mirror yet again and saw that the boy had finished his ice cream. It was strawberry flavored and pink, and some kind of way he'd gotten the stuff on his face, near the corner of his eye. It looked like he was slightly diseased if I didn't know it was just a smudge of ice cream. Daisy looked thoroughly freaked out.
"It's just ice cream," I told her.
I reached back and wiped it away from his face. He blinked and rubbed the area after I'd moved my hand. Daisy continued to stare at the child hard, as if she was trying to figure something out. I focused on driving home and left her to her thoughts. She didn't say anything more the whole way back. I pulled into the apartments complex parking lot and killed the engine, then went over and unbuckled the child and led him and Daisy to my landlord's apartment. I only glanced at Daisy once before knocking.
And knocking.
I had to knock until my knuckles started to sting before the door swung open and my landlord came barreling through the door in a blue mechanic's uniform and a wrench in his hand. He saw me and his brow-line hiked up a little higher.
"Well, look who it is!" He exclaimed with a dry smile. "I was wondering where you'd disappeared to."
I started to say something but he saw Daisy and winked at her, then he saw the child wedged between my leg and hers. He hid behind Daisy and peeked an emerald eye out at the taller, boisterous male.
"WHOA ho ho!" My landlord chuckled, "So this is what you've been up to, eh?"
I think I felt my eye twitch and I definitely saw Daisy smile faintly and blush a little. The child was hiding totally behind her now. the only thing visible was his hands as they wrapped around her waist.
"It's not like that," I said stiffly.
Besides, a child this age between me and Daisy would be physically impossible
My landlord laughed a little and said, "Ah, I know kid. I was just messin' with ya."
"Right." I stated. "So I came to let you know I'm moving."
"Yeah, Tany told me." My landlord spoke more somberly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
I glanced at Daisy. She smiled and kissed my cheek and then, reluctantly, took the child's hand.
"We'll go wait upstairs," She told me.
I nodded and watched my landlord's good humor wash away with one burly hand that he used to rub over his face. He gazed at me with an expression that was altogether worried and relieved and exasperated and uncertain.
He asked me, "You sure you're alright, son?"
"Yeah," I repeated.
Both my boss and he asked me the same thing. I knew I had a bit of a history for being a downer...okay so that was massively understating the bout of suicidal depression I'd been through, but still. Did it really warrant both their solicitations?
Apparently so, I thought when the concern never wavered in my landlord's face. He didn't seem convinced of my answer.
"When you left like that, out the blue, I didn't know what to think." He stated gruffly. "I didn't see your little lady around, either. I was worried I'd see you on the news or something like that. Don't do that to me, boy, I'm an old man, I can't take that kind of stress!"
He was smiling again now, albeit kind of in a strained way, and he'd lightly cuffed my shoulder to emphasize his words. I had no idea he cared so much. Like last time I talked to him, he showed genuine concern for me. I just didn't know he cared.
"So where you moving to?" He asked me.
"Sarasaland," I answered honestly.
He frowned and said, "Never heard of it."
"It's a different country." I explained.
"Ah," My landlord nodded. "Is it nice out there?"
"Yeah." I answered, fearing this was about to take a turn for the awkward.
Any moment now a silence was about to stretch on.
"My girlfriend is from there," I informed him, just to have something to say.
"Oh yeah?" My landlord said. "Well...I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know your lease is up, but I could hold your room for a while, just in case you decide to come back."
"You don't have to do that," I spoke quickly.
"Nah, it's no problem." He said, "I'll hold it for about a year, then I'll have to make a pretty penny selling all your stuff!" he joked.
I really couldn't care less what he did with my stuff at this point. There wasn't anything holding me here. But I didn't protest his offer, it was a good idea. Like I said, my life had a habit of taking odd turns. It would be convenient if I had a place to crash in an emergency.
"I gotta' pack." I stated as I backed away from his door.
He nodded again and said, "Alright. Take care, kid. And keep that girl around; she's good for you."
A/N: Another chapter underway. I warned you it would be mainly Luigi and Daisy, but don't worry, in the next chapter we'll hear from everyone else, so thanks for being patient and reading this.
Oh, yeah, the errands part was boring, I know. I hate running errands and I couldn't really find a way to spice that up.
Ah, well. I guess I'll see you guys next time. I hope to hear your thoughts so far in a review or comment. Thanks for sticking with me!
Until next chapter...
~DymondGold~