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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 Sixty
Some things just go without saying. Like, if you see someone you care about that's one step away from tearing their hair out with worry, you should do something to alleviate the stress that's eating them alive. In my experience, that could mean anything from a hug or a kiss to a kind word or gesture. I had an idea of why Daisy was worrying so badly, which helped me decide my next course of action. I didn't say anything to her as we finished bringing our suitcases downstairs to the car, nor did I touch her. I just carried the bags while she held the child's hand and stepped out of the apartment. As I locked the door, I realized this was the last time I'd see this place for a while.
It really wasn't so bad, I thought, then twisted the key in the lock. I turned to Daisy, who was staring at her feet with a troubled expression, and then started heading downstairs. She followed with the child, but she was just going through the motions of putting one foot in front of the other, of opening the car door and buckling the little boy in the backseat and then strapping herself in the passenger's side.
I was gonna' teach her to drive, I recounted. Oh well. Maybe at some other time we could come back. I doubted it.
I started the engine and headed downtown. The silence that prevailed for the duration of the ride was broken when about ten minutes had passed.
"Luigi," Came Daisy's hesitant question, "Where are we going?"
"Alicia's place." I answered.
There was a pause before I heard, "Oh. I didn't...how did you know?"
I shrugged and relied on memory to guide me to the curb-front property that was Alicia's apartment. She drove some kind of car, I just couldn't remember which; I did know that it wasn't in the vicinity. Maybe this was a blank trip. I killed the engine and glanced in the rear view mirror.
"Stay here," I told the child, then thought better of it.
From the back door I helped him out and took his hand. Daisy was already out the car and coming over to me. She kissed my cheek and took my other hand.
"Thank you," She told me. "I didn't know if you wanted to make any stops today. It's already late."
"It's still the afternoon," I told her. "And besides, what's the rush?"
The Mushroom Kingdom wasn't going anywhere; Bowser didn't have any hope of getting his power so long as the child was with us and I was pretty sure Ludwig wouldn't get himself killed anytime soon.
We walked up to the door with me and the child hanging back as Daisy knocked. She didn't get a response after a few seconds, so she knocked again.
And again.
A very disheveled young man in black pajama pants and a white t-shirt came to the door. His hair was flat against his cheeks in long, neat dreads and his eyes were dark and a bit bewildered. He opened the door wide and stood rubbing his arm, the one that had a tattoo extending from under his shirt sleeve.
"Um, hey." He spoke in a quiet voice.
Daisy told him, "Sorry to wake you up. Is Alicia here?"
"No..." The guy said slowly, as if he were struggling with his words.
Daisy folded her arms. "She's not here?"
"No."
"Can you tell me where she is?" Daisy asked, "Maybe I can meet her."
"...I can't." The young man said difficultly. "She's..."
"Is she in trouble?" Daisy pressed. "She's not hurt or anything, is she?"
"No," The guy answered reluctantly, then said, "She um. She went to check on her sister's...nephew."
Her sister's nephew? Doesn't that make them Alicia's kid?
The young dark-skinned man averted his eyes and glanced at his feet. He rubbed his arm again and practically shouted his nervousness from the hilltops. Daisy glanced at me and then back at the other male.
"Dean," She spoke softly, "Alicia was right. You're horrible at lying."
The dread-head blinked at her and appeared startled. She gave him a disarming, yet knowing smile.
"You don't have to give me the details," Daisy stated, "Just please let me know that she's okay. She hasn't been answering her phone and I'm worried."
Dean dropped his arms and seemed torn. He opened his mouth, then closed it a moment later and stared at his feet. He wasn't even wearing shoes. When he gazed back up at Daisy again, there was a sense of weary relent in his features.
"She left." He admitted. "She took off for a couple weeks and went to Maine."
"Maine?" Daisy echoed.
"She's helping out her niece and nephew." Dean murmured. "She hasn't been taking calls from anyone but me. She didn't want me telling anyone."
"Oh." Daisy spoke. "Do you know when she'll be back?"
"Probably in a few more days." Dean replied. "You could come back this weekend, if you want to see her."
"No that's okay." Daisy frowned, then smiled a strained smile and asked, "Can you take a message?"
Dean nodded.
"Can you tell her that I love her and I'll miss her?" Daisy said softly. "And to call me when she gets back?"
I didn't know if she'd get through to Alicia by then because, as far as I knew, there wasn't cell phone reception in the Mushroom World.
"I'll tell her," Dean nodded, his gaze sincerely compassionate. "I promise."
Daisy smiled and said, "Thanks."
Dean nodded at us and we got back in the car. That's when I reached over and brushed my knuckles against Daisy's face, then guided her chin in my direction.
"We can stay a few more days." I suggested. "Just until the weekend."
"You would do that?" She asked me.
"I'd do anything for you."
Daisy gazed at me like that surprised her and then smiled. She kissed me and put on her seat belt.
Softly she said, "Let's just go."
Long dark hair flew wildly and hips swayed as a giggling, slightly inebriated twenty-three year old danced her heart out without a care.
"Why aren't you dancing?" She asked aloud, her voice bursting with mirth.
"Cause there's no music," came the reply of the only other soul present.
"There is in my head!" The brunette declared with a shout and a grin.
Alicia couldn't see the rest of the video for the well of tears that blotted her vision. She sniffed softly and blinked, which only made them drop onto the face of her cell phone. She'd been at this for an hour.
For the past few weeks she hadn't heard from her best friend and that had worried her, but she couldn't give that as much thought as she wanted because there was a bigger problem on her hands. It came in the form of a fair-skinned eighteen year old and his teenage companion.
Alicia rubbed her eyes. That had really caught her off guard, seeing Munson in her bathroom. It wasn't just him, it was the fact that her old life had found a way into her new one. The fact that it was only Munson did ease the shock but nonetheless it scared her. She thought she'd gotten away from her past but that clearly wasn't true.
Because if Munson could find me and he's only a kid, who else can?
She didn't dare think about that. Instead she recounted how much work she'd done in so little time. Once she talked with Munson and verified that he was indeed coming to her alone, she agreed to help him out. He wanted a favor from her; he wanted her to take himself and his 'friend' to Maine so that he could find his mother and, to quote the teen, 'go from there'. Alicia had her doubts about the vague plan, but she agreed to help because she figured she owed him at least that.
Back when he was only a child at fourteen and she wasn't much older at nineteen, they were caught in similar circumstances. She was a doomed bride and the only way out of her hellish situation came through the ingenious machinations of the pubescent immortal. By his design she was able to escape with her life and start fresh one in America. Of course, there'd been trouble. She'd been pursued by the demons of her past, and time and time again she'd had to 'cut her hair and change her name'. Almost every three months or so she'd have to go into hiding in some other remote town, hoping to evade her past yet again. She'd started over so many times that she almost forgot who she really was.
I know who I am, Alicia thought, then amended, I mean, I know who I was.
It was after about two and a half years that she finally managed to settle down in New York.
"The state of anonymity," She whispered to herself fondly.
If there was ever a place one could go to fade into the background, it was New York. She had the least amount of problems laying low. Months passed without anyone finding her and after a while, she grew brave enough to stop stealing and hustling from day to day and actually get a job. Of course that took some work, what with forging legal documents and fabricating a back-story for herself and her latest identity, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She was...more than normal, after all. Pretty soon, other things fell into line like a bank account and a car and an apartment and then, after over three years, a boyfriend.
Alicia sniffed and swiped at more tears.
Dean was everything her vengeful ex-husband wasn't. Where the other hellion was arrogant, abusive, and an all-around asshole, Dean was amazingly sweet, humble, and kind. What she found in him was nothing short of the love and healing she needed after enduring such a traumatizing series of events. She'd let herself get comfortable and told herself that this would last, that she'd finally gotten the break in life that she deserved. That sense of security had shattered the moment the dark-haired immortal teenager had come back into her life. She sighed.
I can't even blame him, she knew, he's just trying to do the same thing I am. I just wish this could have happened at another time, not when Daisy's leaving.
Yes, she'd gotten a very detailed set of text messages and voice mails from her brunette friend filling her in on what happened in the last few weeks up until now. Apparently Daisy and Luigi had a crisis with the girl's family back in her home country and now the two were moving to deal with the problem. Daisy had told her the same thing Dean had when he'd called earlier in the evening; the girl was leaving and she wanted to see her.
I wanted to see you, too, Alicia lamented inside. She hated to think that the last time she'd get to see her best friend was already in the past. The worst part was that she could hardly remember her last encounter with Daisy. It stung. It really did suck. Alicia hadn't opened herself up to anyone as much as she had with Dean and Daisy. Daisy wasn't her first best friend but she was the only one she'd had since she turned twelve. It wasn't fair to her that she'd not gotten to see the plucky girl off, after all they'd been through in their short time of knowing one another.
Now all I have are these, Alicia sniffed, glancing through her stores of pictures and videos. There was the highly incriminating video she'd just replayed, the one of Daisy parading around in Alicia's apartment in a pair of too-short shorts and a t-shirt; both garments were borrowed from the latter girl's wardrobe. She remembered taking the video during one of their few sleepovers, this one involving alcohol. They hadn't drunk themselves to pieces, of course, but apparently Daisy had imbibed just enough to turn her into the sashaying, giggling, inhibition-free girl in the video. She'd viewed the video herself when sober and begged Alicia to delete it. In the spirit of compromise, Alicia had promised never to show it to anyone else.
"So adorable," Alicia spoke aloud fondly as she stared at the next image.
The phone glowed even brighter, it seemed, with the next picture. It was of Daisy in her work uniform, sitting at her station with a paper fan she'd made on the job. It was a product of boredom and was gripped between slender fingers, poised in front of the girl's nose so that only her pretty eyes could be seen. The next picture was of the two of them in the mall in the food court, sitting side by side at a table with their arms around each other's shoulders. They sported huge smiles and in front of Daisy there was a decadent banana split. As soon as Alicia had snapped that picture, the two girls had torn into it without mercy. More tears surged forward with the memory. Countless more pictures were flipped through. Pictures of herself, pictures of the two girls at the movies and the club and the park, and pictures of Dean in various compromising positions; sleeping, brushing his teeth, eating, and the like.
If I'd known Daisy was leaving, I would have taken tons more, Alicia thought dismally.
She was watching a video of herself singing a Mariah Carey song and Daisy singing along-badly-when the waterworks started up again. To hear the girl's voice and see them both laughing and having fun only made the pain of knowing her friend was gone that much stronger.
"You okay?"
Alicia flinched a bit when a warm hand weighed down on her shoulder. She glanced up and right into a pair of attractive sea-green eyes. Munson seemed genuinely concerned as he peered down at her. He also seemed tired.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Alicia told him, putting her phone away on the nightstand behind her.
There was a nightstand between two full-sized beds with white sheets and big fluffy pillows. The floor was carpeted and light blue, the same shade as the thick periwinkle drapes that hid a sliding window that led to a balcony. There was a desk and chair set near the window and a television set in the middle of the wall opposite the beds. A sink and coffee area was to the right, near the door and along the same wall as the beds while the bathroom was opposite it. It was a decent room and that was hard to find on short notice in Maine, but she'd found this one. Not a moment too soon, either; the second the trio got their room keys, Wendy took a shower and hit the bed and hadn't moved since. All Alicia could see now was her thick, lovely gold hair and her arm that was hanging out of the bed.
Her early retirement left the task of unpacking Alicia's car to said female and Munson. Before they left New York, Alicia had taken a couple of days to stock up on food and clothes and personal items for the teenagers. Those things had to be packed into bags and put in the trunk, and once in Maine they had to be unloaded. It didn't take long, and now all their things were sitting on the desk table. Munson had rummaged through them once to get something to eat and again to get some clothes for a shower. Now he was clad in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt. His markings were showing on his biceps down to his elbows.
"Why are you still awake?" He asked, sitting at the foot of the bed where Wendy slept.
Alicia shrugged and said, "Why are you?"
"Touche." Munson smirked. He then grew somber and said, "You know, I appreciate you doing this, Alicia."
Said young woman just shrugged.
"For what it's worth," Munson continued softly, "I'm sorry."
Alicia was gazing into her lap, picking at her nails. She narrowed her eyes at that and felt anger bubble within her chest. With ease a sardonic smile spread across her lips.
"You're sorry?" She spoke slowly. "You didn't do anything, Munson. None of...that was your fault."
Munson dropped his arms and clasped his hands, then moved his thumbs one over the other. It was a nervous habit of his. He gazed at them as if they were the most engrossing thing in the room when he next spoke.
"No one's coming for us."
"I know." Alicia spoke, but didn't quite believe.
A silence filled the already-quiet room and it unnerved them both, though neither let on. Munson ran a hand through his chestnut hair and went back to messing with his thumbs. He finally glanced over at Alicia and gave her a tiny smile.
"So how have you been?" He solicited.
Alicia released a breath and said, "At peace. You?"
"Same." He told her. "I've been laying low in the Badlands ever since I broke away from my father."
"And when was that?" Alicia inquired.
"About a week after I got you out."
And that was why she really didn't mind doing this. Alicia knew that it wasn't something to be taken lightly, what Munson did for her. He risked his life helping her and so it was only fair that she aid him in any way that she could. She didn't know the details of this operation, but she didn't press him for them. All he'd told her was that he needed help getting to Maine because he had to meet up with his biological mother. Alicia glanced at the sleeping girl.
Wendy. During the impromptu road trip, Munson had told her that the girl's name was Wendy, she was fifteen years old, and that he cared for her a great deal. Alicia could clearly tell that something was going on between the two and that whatever it was, it was of a romantic nature. That worried her. She did trust Munson to a degree, but the girl was so young.
I was only a few years older when I got tangled up in Munson's patriarch, she recalled. I'd hate for this girl to get hurt. I hope she knows what she's gotten herself into.
Sensing the conversation was over, Munson climbed into bed with Wendy, leaving a decent gap in between their bodies. Alicia continued to muse on the situation. The brown-skinned girl pushed her long curly hair behind her ear before the strands popped back up again. She sighed, frustrated, and took her hair out of her rubber band, gathered the unruly masses, and put it in a new, tighter ponytail. When she was satisfied, her phone vibrated on the nightstand. The sound was quite loud and made Wendy stir in the other bed. Alicia grabbed it and was not surprised to see yet another text from Daisy. She'd been ignoring her friend for some time now and it killed her but what could she do? She couldn't tell the girl the truth; Daisy wouldn't believe her.
Why would she? Who in their right mind would believe what I've been through? Alicia pursed her lips and stared down at her phone. She'd been through a lot with the girl and they'd shared certain secrets with each other. From what Alicia had garnered, Daisy, too, suffered some abuse in the past at the hands of a predator and Luigi was her Dean. But though Alicia knew they had a lot in common, she wasn't sure she could get her best friend to understand this part of her life.
What am supposed to say?
She couldn't bring herself to lie, Daisy didn't deserve that. But she didn't know how to tell the girl what was going on.
Yo, D, sorry I've been dodging you, just had to up and skip town to take the nephew of my insane ex-husband to Maine to meet up with his estranged mother who may or may not be alive, meaning I could have just dropped off two teenage runaways in the middle of a dangerous city. Oh yeah, and did I mention the girl he's with is most definitely underage and I might be an accomplice to petty kidnapping?
Yeah. It was better to just keep silent for now.
Out of nowhere, it started pouring. It just happened sometime after we left Alicia's apartment. Naturally, the temperature dropped and even inside the car it was kind of chilly. In the rear-view mirror, I saw the child shivering with his knees up to his chest.
"We'd better get him a raincoat," Daisy suggested.
I said, "I guess so."
There was an umbrella in the back but the boy was so small, he'd need all the protection he could get. I was pretty sure that if he caught a cold that could upset the balance of nature in the Mushroom World or something; Peasley hadn't told me the details of how the clone's relationship with Ludwig and the Dark King worked so it was up to my convoluted imagination to fill in the gaps.
Against the rain and constant swipes of the windshield wipers I squinted, looking for the best way to get to the store. I knew there had to be one close by. It took me about five seconds to find the route and five minutes to get there. Parking was a pain and we ended up about a mile from the front doors of the store.
Okay, maybe not that far, but it's pouring; that makes the distance twice as daunting.
"Should I get him or you?" Daisy asked me.
I said, "You. I'll get the umbrella and come around to your side."
Daisy reached for the child, who had no qualms about stepping across the car from the backseat to the passenger's side. I grabbed the umbrella from my seat's back pocket and stepped out, then opened it and went over to Daisy. We walked as close as humanly possible while Daisy carried the child in front of her. He clearly didn't like the rain. He had his ankles crossed at her back and had his skinny arms wound round her neck. His face was buried in the crook of her neck and he was shivering. Judging from the tiny prickly goosebumps on his pale flesh, I'd say the cold was more to blame than fear. I didn't know if Daisy realized it, but as we power-walked, she kept rubbing the child's back and even kissed the top of his head. It seemed to soothe him.
When we got inside, I wiped my feet on the giant rug and closed the umbrella. Daisy walked over to the right and grabbed a plastic bag for me so that I could put the wet thing in it. We both grabbed one of the child's hands and headed into the other part of the store.
"I think the boys' section is straight to the back," I stated.
Daisy let me guide and we soon came to the area with jackets and coats. That's when the brunette took over. She stepped back and eyed all the racks with one hand on her hip and her head tilted. She sorted through the hanging jackets and pulled a red windbreaker free. The girl went over to the child and held it up to his back. She frowned, pulled another red jacket of a different size out and repeated the process. She nodded once to herself as if in affirmation.
The child and I shared a look and let her work.
Daisy went about to the other shelves and pulled out some more selections. There was a slick white jacket with a hood, a black one that looked more like a poncho, and a few others. She brought them over to the child and crouched to his height.
"Hey sweetie," She spoke softly, "which one do you like best?"
The boy blinked and reached for one of the jackets. She let him take it and he tried to pull it on. Of course he needed a bit of help.
"Here, let me get that." Daisy spoke gently.
She guided the child through every last one of the jackets. He tried them on and then saw himself in one of the child-sized mirrors hanging around this section. It was the white one he ended up picking, and I thought that was the end of it but as Daisy helped him shrug out of it, a frown crossed her face. She sniffed at the boy's shirt and glanced at me.
"He hasn't changed clothes in days." She told me. "Might as well get him a new set, while we're here, don't you think?"
I shrugged and said, "Sure, Daisy."
So that meant we had to go through the ordeal of having to wander around the boys' section some more. I didn't really mind. Daisy did most of the work anyway. I just held onto the white jacket and umbrella while she helped the boy pick out an outfit of his choice. That's the thing about kids, though; they tend to choose the weirdest stuff. What the child settled on was a pair of blue pajama bottoms with little monkeys and bananas all over them and a bright green shirt with a frog face on it.
"That's it?" I asked once that was done.
Daisy glanced down and asked me, "Did you not see that he wasn't wearing any shoes?"
Oh yeah. I vaguely remembered noticing that but it was while I was out running errands so I forgot to do anything about that. The boy's pants were so long that it often disguised the fact, which didn't help matters. Now we had to go about finding him a pair of shoes. Once again, Daisy let him pick them out and he chose a pair that lit up with each step. Something about it seemed to fascinate the boy, what with how wide his emerald eyes grew once Daisy gave him a demonstration.
"So we ready?" I asked, trying not to sound impatient.
Shopping wasn't my strong suit, unless it was for food. Daisy gazed at the boy, idly ran her fingers through his hair, and nodded.
"I guess so." She said.
We started walking to the front with the outfit and jacket and shoes in hand when something caught the child's eye. He saw another child, a little girl, riding in a cart with something loud and brightly colored and obnoxious in her hands. I think people call them toys. The child between me and Daisy stared at the thing, transfixed. Daisy noticed this and smiled wistfully.
"You want a toy?" she asked him, then pointed at the girl's toy for emphasis.
The boy nodded and so we made yet another detour. To the back of the store we headed and Daisy swung the boy's hand in hers playfully. He gazed at her confused at first, but then caught on and started swinging his other one in mine. I let him and balanced the clothes and umbrella hook over my arm and the shoes in my free hand. When we reached the toy department, the child's eyes narrowed yet again, belying his puzzlement. He needed no prompting to go exploring the aisles, though, touching and prodding and poking his head around. Daisy and I followed him with languid steps.
I glanced at her and saw her eyes take on that look, that look, that same look she had whenever she was thinking about plus-ones. I knocked my hand against hers and she blinked over at me.
"What's on your mind?" I asked her knowingly.
She smiled a little and said, "I was just thinking about what it would be like to have child of our own to take care of."
Her answer didn't surprise me. I glanced at the little cloned child and saw him pick up a toy dinosaur. His nimble fingers probed the green piece of plastic until they glossed over a button on its stomach. After pushing his navy hair out his eyes, the boy pressed down on the button and the toy's sound box roared noisily. Startled, the child's emerald eyes flew open and he dropped the thing, then took two cautious steps backwards as the fallen toy continued to roar. After it stopped a moment later, the child nudged it experimentally with his foot. I had to smile; he was kind of cute to say he looked so much like someone I couldn't stand.
"I wonder what's going to happen to him." Daisy spoke softly to me.
I said, "I don't know. I hope nothing bad."
It would be a real shame if the kid was hurt for Ludwig's sake. I knew how vindictive Bowser could be and hurting a child was certainly not beneath him. Maybe Bowser wouldn't take the easy way out and kill him; maybe he'd see how intelligent the kid is and find some use for him.
Not sure that would be better, actually, I realized once I gave that notion some thought.
The little boy came over to me and Daisy with a toy in his hands. This one was shaped like a rubik's cube but each of the square tiles were buttons that could light up. Also there was sound, because toy companies just love giving kids things to make noise with.
"Is this what you want?" Daisy asked the child.
The boy nodded and I took it watched him tinker with it. You basically had to click on the tiles as they lit up in turn, and the longer you played this game the faster the lights moved. It was kind of addicting and kind of complex for a kid but I guess I was underestimating the child. He seemed to enjoy it. In fact, he played with the thing all the way to the front of the store. When we got to a register with no line, I paid for the stuff and handed Daisy the umbrella.
"I'll help him change clothes." I told her.
By the hand I then led the boy to the bathroom. It was empty, thank goodness. I much rathered that. I made short work of sitting the bag on the shockingly clean floor and getting the child out of his dirty and slightly wet clothes. He stood bare before me, his eyes hooded as if bored but still with a hint of curiosity in them. I pulled the new clothes over his head and up his legs and was careful to leave the tags on just in case they didn't fit.
They did.
"Better?" I asked him.
He just blinked at me.
I let him hold onto my shoulders as I helped him into his new shoes and marveled at Daisy's observation skills. She'd picked out everything just right. Immediately after I snapped the velcro fasteners, the child started stomping his feet, then surprised me when a clumsy, babyish grin splayed over his pale lips. He then gazed straight at me.
"...T...Th...Tha-nk Yew," He told me, surprising me again.
His voice was soft and sort of raspy, like he was hoarse or something. My first thought was, 'so he can talk', then a million other emotions started clouding my brain. I couldn't put a name to them but it gave me the same feeling as nostalgia did; I felt my heart start to swell and feel fluttery my eyes prickled. It was uncomfortable and odd and I couldn't fathom why I was feeling this way. I just felt weird. Not a bad weird, just. I don't know. I didn't expect the kid to grow on me in a matter of a few days but he has. In a way. Not like with Junior of Ludwig's siblings, in a different way. I didn't know how I felt about this child but I knew I felt something. I put his dirty clothes in the bag and stood and picked him up.
"You're very welcome." I told him at last. "Now come on before Daisy decides you need something else out of here."
A/N: I warned you this would be late in coming, didn't I? Well, here it is. I hope you guys didn't get too confused with the part about Munson and Alicia; I was vague on purpose because I don't plan on getting into that in this story: I'll save that for the next story in this series. Yes, there will be a trilogy because if I add it on to this story there will just be too many chapters for my liking.
This will conclude Luigi and Daisy's adventures with the clone, I think. Next we'll see what's going on with Ludwig and Mario/Peach, and also we'll check in with Peasley and King Boo. Stay tuned and don't forget to leave your thoughts and comments and opinions in a review!
Until next time...
~DymondGold~