The Bookish Father

Chapter Two

Chauncey was a naughty baby, the mere reflection of being born dead, where he didn't knew any boundaries about respect for life or death. As soon Luigi stepped inside the manor, he threw the chandelier over his head, but it was the specter of a Toad that died earlier that saved Luigi's from his untimely death.

Little Chauncey had a tantrum and went back to his room, where he cried and cried and nobody paid attention to his wounds. Lydia was a bitch, a little bit narcissistic, but after cheating on his husband to Biff Atlas and having his twins, she died not feeling pretty.

Orville and Neville, where trying to visit their granny, but as soon they saw Luigi's on the foyer, they decided to go back to their room and postpone the visit for later.

Neville was a soul in pain, it was because of him that his family died in the most awful way; but not only his family died, every single individual who visited the mansion got killed thanks to him.

"Little by little the collection of spirits rose to 23, but it wasn't only Neville's fault, The Dark King of the Other World needed 23 icons in order to arise as the prophecies foretold."

"The family that was once six, turned into five; the other poor souls had no choice but to join them in the afterlife." Luigi finished reading the diary of the flesh that he found on Neville's room after suction him. The Bookish Father didn't fought, he looked tired, as he was screaming in pain.

Maybe death was a painful process,? Luigi was thinking as he was living the studio and going to the next room.

Many years ago, there was a family of six, actually they were seven. They experienced many sorrows but at the end it was death that unified them. Neville couldn't understood the reason why sorrow was always behind him; everywhere he went, death followed him.

He was a merchant, a trader and an entrepreneur, he loved to write and wrote about his journeys on different journals. Everywhere country he traveled he bought a book as a souvenir, he tried to translate the books in order to gain a new language.

Many people said Neville was smart, but he never felt confident enough to talk about it. His last travel was on October 24th of 1969, he went to negotiate a contract with a diamond mine near the Congo River's summit. Within the blood of the workers, and yet the beginning of another inner war, the gate of the other world opened.

The King of the Ghosts opened a portal to the world that wasn't his; it wasn't the Kingdom and it wasn't any of the surrounding lands. It was a world, where there was no magic but a technological advance, it was a world named Earth. The King of the Boo's found Neville to be the perfect blood sacrifice, as he was in the need to find someone to fulfill the role of the Torn Prince.

King Boo was planning to use an old ritual, it was a ritual that transcended dimensions, the ocularis infitum inferum, the same ritual that was used to give a second chance in life to Cackletta when she fused with Bowser more than a century ago.

Neville's poor soul was the best catalyst; and King Boo saw his chance to conquer it, but he knew it would take him fifty years from the time of the world he was in order to bring his precious Zodiac of the Shadows to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Almost a century later; his Zodiac was complete; and Neville was sitting on his rocking chair at his studio; he was there sitting reading King Lear by Shakespeare. He was happy to have some peace, as he knew his wife and children where in their respective rooms. He was happy with the afterlife, not knowing that his scenario of the afterlife was a mere lie, and how he was responsible of his family demise.

Out of nowhere, a man in green appeared and he interrupted his reading. Neville was angry, but he was tired. He telekinetically started to command the books around him and threw them to the man in green. It wasn't a fair fight, Neville wasn't strong, he was a spirit who didn't died in rage, he died out of confusion and pain, a quick pain that eased quickly as he was possessed by the King.

He didn't even remembered how he died, except he woke up in the afterlife; his family always held some grudge against him, because according to them he was the responsible of their demise.

As soon Neville was trapped, Luigi went back to the lab to give the ghost to the professor. He found amazing that the vacuum he used, turned Neville into a portrait. The portrait look like him. A tall man, with brown hair, long face as a hawk, a big mustache and his night robe.

Luigi started to wonder how death was,? if it was painful,? or maybe it was painless.? He was imagining too much, but overall he was worried about his brother and how he was the last tool on the ritual sacrifice of the souls in order to bring Bowser back.

Many years ago, there was a family of six, they all died by horrible circumstances. It was the thorn prince of the family, who bring their demise. The soul that was suffering and that hid in between the pages of book to avoid reality and knowing he wanted to be far away from the people he called family.