Chapter 7: Commitment
Back at the castle, Mario sat at the dining table along with all the faculty and servants. It was almost dark out, the moonlight illuminating the floor near the windows.
"So if Toad hasn't come back by tonight, I'll go look for him." he proclaimed.
"Why?" a Green Toad asked, throwing his tiny hands up in the air. "What's to say you won't get captured too?"
"Well we have to do something." Mario countered. "You know how the Princess is! She's terribly melancholy when she loses her crown."
"I know, I know. But I think we can give him a couple days." The Toad assured nonchalantly.
"A couple days- she'll be back by then!"
"Oh, and another thing." the Toad continued, deferring Mario's comment. "How do we know that Toad's even trying to get the crown anyways? It could be someone else. Or no one at all." By this time everyone seated at the table turned to look at the conversation.
"I know him. He's always trying to do his best here-"
"Oh, shut it! That's a lie!" the Toad stated. "He's always complaining about, and I quote, 'how much I hate being on guard duty.'" He quoted Toad in a high-pitched voice, while some at the table laughed. "I'm serious!" he added.
"Well he still does it." Mario proclaimed, looking at the Toad. "He still does it even though he hates it. Quite frankly, that's more dedication than almost everyone here."
"Are you saying that just because we're servants, we aren't dedicated?" the Toad shot back, putting his hands on his hips.
"What I'm saying is that you guys should actually do your jobs like he does. I see, I don't know, fifty percent of you just sleeping on the job or something. It's like you guys don't care. I know you do, but you just aren't giving me the impression." Mario explained, getting up from his chair. "Maybe the reason that Peach is sad when the crown's stolen isn't because of the crown, but because of us not defending it." He inquired, gesturing to everyone in the room. "Think about that." With that, he walked upstairs to the third floor, the Toad waiting until he was out of earshot.
"We do *not* sleep on the job!" He shouted and looked around, seeing the others gaze at him knowingly. He sighed and slumped in his chair. "Alright, alright, we do... but what do we do now?" His question was met with overwhelming silence. "The Princess will be back tomorrow..." He dejectedly got up after a few seconds, absentmindedly straightening his green vest. "I guess we'll just have to tell her the bad news then. Night everyone." he addressed the group, hearing no response back. He walked up to the third floor and over to the throne room, slowly opening the door out of curiosity. Seconds later, bewilderment tainted his face.
"Wait, WHAT?"
To be continued...