Chapter 2 Another Morning, Nothing Else

Two Weeks Later

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"

The relaxing euphoria that one only experienced during sleep vanished when Lemmy thrust the curtains open. The shift in mood could be compared to whiplash, as the sun beat down on Ludwig's face so strongly that it was like being slapped. Ludwig put the pillow over his face, for he was not interested in waking up. Sleeping Beauty had the right idea; sleeping for one hundred years was the right way to go and was exactly what Ludwig planned on doing.

Unfortunately, the bubbly and sparkly energy Lemmy had in the morning wasn't something that allowed Ludwig to live that dream (no pun intended). Even though he had his eyes closed and his pillow smothering his face (the only thing missing was chloroform; another tool Ludwig could use to reach his hundred year goal), Lemmy's smile was bright. Super bright, arguably brighter than the sunlight. Ludwig could see it even with his eyes shut, he could feel it as the energy and warmth it produced surrounded him on every side. Ludwig groaned; could there be just one day; one damn day where Lemmy didn't rock the world with his glee?

"Go away," Ludwig gurgled. To further enforce his point, he gripped the sides of the pillow, making it practically smush his face. Sure, he had trouble breathing because of this, but that was a small price to pay for pleasure.

"Ludwig, it's morning!" Lemmy squeed, his tone of voice just as upbeat as his smile. "Morning isn't something that you should sleep all the way through! You've got get up as early as possible and seize the day!"

"Noooo!" Ludwig groaned. "I don't wanna!" He turned over onto his belly, pulling his comforter up over himself. Now he was in darkness. Peaceful darkness, perfect darkness…

"Get…." Lemmy grabbed hold of the blanket and yanked it off the bed. "UP!"

Ludwig hissed, his body already shivering due to the warmth completely disappearing. Despite every bone of his body telling him that they would rather do anything but, Ludwig sat up and opened his eyes. He glared at the short rainbow haired nuisance who would dare do this to him.

"Lemmy, please! Can't I just have one…one…one day where…?" He blinked. He stared into Lemmy's face before snickering and falling into a laughing fit.

"What's so funny?" Lemmy asked as he tilted his head slightly to the right.

Ludwig laughed before wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh, I can't stay mad when you make that face!" He looked at Lemmy's smile, which he now realized was extremely infectious now that he was actually seeing it.

Lemmy joined right in on the giggling. "Well. It seems that I've found my secret weapon." He bounced onto Ludwig's bed, sticking his face so close to Ludwig's that he could feel his breathing. "Fear the joy! Fear the smile! FEAR THE CUTENESS!" He laughed up a storm. "FEAR IT!"

Ludwig pushed Lemmy to the side, all while keeping a firm grasp on his pillow. "You seem to have a very messed up definition for the term 'fear it.'" He chuckled while shaking his head before setting his scaly feet down on the floor. "Well, you win Lems. I'm gonna get right into getting ready for the day."

"That's the spirit!"

With that, Lemmy followed his older brother into the bathroom. When the light turned on, and Ludwig got a glance into the mirror, he almost fainted. Sure, sleep wasn't the best thing to contribute to a healthy, full looking hairstyle, but man, Ludwig's hair was a mess! It looked more like a hairball a cat would cough up, like a bird's nest that had fallen out of it's tree during a violent thruder storm.

Ludwig sighed. "Man." He grabbed hold of a hairbrush, going to town on the disaster area in a way that only he could. "All of that trouble I went through yesterday to make my hair look perfect; it's ALL gone down the drain!" He scowled as he attempted to attack a very stubborn knot.

"Oh, you don't have to be so down about that!" Lemmy said as he took a washcloth to his muzzle. "You still look good."

Ludwig sent his brother a look. "You think that the 'Kooky von Koopa' hairstyle looks good?"

Lemmy snickered, nearly dropping his washcloth as he did. "Well, it looks better than a grand majority of hairstyles nowadays."

Ludwig wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Yeesh Lemmy; you must be blind as a bat." He grit his teeth as he attacked the knot, both because it frustrated him and also because it was so matted that attempting to untangle hit actually hurt a little bit. Regardless, Ludwig wasn't about to give up. He had standards, and he wasn't going to give up with reaching those standards just because a little bit of pain was involved.

Thankfully, after about five more minutes of concentration, Ludwig managed to tame the wild knot. Smiling, he reached over and got a bottle of hairspray (rose scented; he had developed a strong affinity for that particular aroma). Right as he began to spray was when he decided to speak up again.

"I'm still kind of surprised you had the cat spell removed yesterday."

Lemmy shrugged. "Well…it was fun, I won't deny it. And I felt like it was a good experience overall." He set his washcloth to the side and got his toothbrush ready. "But I'm happy to be a Koopa again. I'm gonna remember these last two weeks forever, but…well, you know, all good things have to come to an end eventually." He stuck the brush into his mouth. "Besides, I never intended to be under the spell forever."

Ludwig nodded as he got his own toothbrush ready. "Well, if nothing else, I'm glad to have you back."

With that, they brushed their teeth. Both koopas looked into their respective mirrors, not really talking to each other for about half of the two minutes required to brush teeth. When that minute passed, however, Ludwig spoke up and broke the silence.

"So, is there anything you have on the agenda today?"

Lemmy spit into to sink. "I think today is just going to be a rest day." He stuck the toothbrush back in his mouth. "The whole debacle with you getting cursed was really stress inducing. I can't remember the last time I felt that…scared."

"Really?" Ludwig asked after he too spat into the sink. "There are several instances that come to my mind."

Lemmy chuckled. "Well, it's the most I've been scared recently." He put the toothbrush underneath the faucet and cleaned it off.

"Fair enough." Ludwig did the exact same thing, rinsing his toothbrush until he was sure that there was not one drop of unwanted…well, he wanted the thing to be as clean as possible. Anything less tended to gross him out to no end.

"Yeah," Lemmy said. He wiped his mouth. "So, I'm more or less going to let this be a "lay day" as they say. If Bowser has any job he wants me to do, I'll gladly do it, but I'm going to have this day be as uneventful as possible." Lemmy beamed. "Granted, that most applies to horrible events. I would gladly welcome exciting events with open arms."

Ludwig snickered. "And I would expect nothing less from you."

Once the two koopa brothers finished with that task, they went out of the bathroom. Lemmy took in a breath, the smile from before still present and accounted for. Ludwig couldn't help but smile too. This helpee bring up his mood even more, something he was starting to learn smiles were extremely good at doing.

"So, that's my desire for the day," Lemmy said. He looked into Ludwig's eyes. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Ludwig thought about this before shrugging. "I don't know; avoid physical labor like the plague, I suppose."

Lemmy laughed. "Oh please. You have telekinesis; physical labor is much more easy to deal with for you!"

"Even still, I don't want to dedicate a good chunk of time to doing that," Ludwig replied. "You thought that the less month has been stressful for you?" Ludwig smirked. "I was cursed to be a cat for a few days; if anything, I think I deserve to be as lazy as I wish!"

Lemmy smirked too. "Fair enough."

With that, Ludwig got right into making his bed and cleaning up his side of the room. Just because he wanted to avoid physical labor as much as possible didn't mean he wanted his room to turn into a pigsty; he did have standards after all (as previously established). He did this task with a smile, although he had to admit Lemmy watching him do this without moving a muscle was kind of irritating. If there was anybody who could benefit from following Ludwig's example, it was Lemmy, as his side of the room looked like a landfill. While cleaning, Ludwig dropped one or two hints toward his brother that maybe, just maybe he should clean up, or at the very least tidy up. Unfortunately, Lemmy didn't get the message. Or maybe he did, and was actively choosing to disregard it. Either way, he just sat on his bed, hugging one of his sock monkeys to his chest.

Whatever. Even without Lemmy doing his part, Ludwig didn't falter when it came to making his room match his standard of cleanliness. When he finished, and had put his favorite royal blue cloak on, both Koopalings made their way out of the room. Ludwig hummed while walking down the hallway, a cheery tune that was more improvised than it was actual, pre-established notes. Lemmy bounced alongside him, still wearing the smile. It didn't take much thinking to realize that Lemmy was a morning person. He rose with the sun, and spread a warmth throughout the waking castle similar to that bright shining ball in the sky. Sure, did Ludwig have the same level of enthusiasm before eleven am…nay, before having his daily cup of coffee? Hell no. But he could at the very least appreciate Lemmy being that way (he wasn't annoying about it too often).

Once they made their way down the stairs, Ludwig got a chime on his phone. This caused both Koopas to come to a halt.

"Who's that?" Lemmy asked.

Ludwig checked his text messages. "It's Aino." He smiled, on some level starting to feel grateful that Lemmy woke him up so early so he could respond to his new friend's text right away.

"Oh cool!" Lemmy exclaimed. He giggled as Ludwig typed in the reply. "Aino Hatcher…." He looked up at Ludwig, his eyes glittering. "I bet he's feeling good on this fine day!"

"It seems so," Ludwig said as he put his phone back in his hammerspace. "His mom is making good progress in recovering."

"That's awesome!" Lemmy exclaimed. "Man, we were extremely lucky to find him."

"That we were." Ludwig resumed walking, taking note of his growling stomach. Man was he ready for a heart breakfast.

Lemmy followed after him. "Yeah. Very lucky indeed…" he walked for a little bit longer, bouncing every once in a while in order to put a little spring in his step. "Oh!" He came to a stop, his eyes wide.

Ludwig furrowed his brow and turned back toward his immediate younger brother. "What's wrong?"

Lemmy didn't respond for a tiny bit, but his eyes certainly sparkled as the gears turned in his head. "I…I just…" he managed to gather his bearings and looked back into Ludwig's face. "I just have a question for you."

"Oh you do?" Ludwig said with a blink. He put on what he hoped appeared to be a mischievous smile. "Well, why don't you go ahead and ask? I am an open book."

Lemmy chuckled. "Well, I was wondering." He spoke a little slower than he was accustomed to, which disoriented Ludwig a little bit. "When you stopped by Frostwall two weeks ago to find Aino…did you stop by Aria's house?"

Silence. Ludwig stood statue still as he stared at Lemmy. His facial expression seemed caught between all sorts of different emotions, most of them unidentifiable. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but all his tongue allowed him to do was let out little, drawn out "Uhhs." These "uhs" happened to be very quiet, but still very much packed with shock that Lemmy had the audacity to ask such a question in the first place.

"Uh…" Ludwig tried to move his body, but it was frozen. "Uh…um…uh…" his heart, despite the fact that his body couldn't move a muscle, went into overdrive. It pounded in his ears, the beat so strong that it almost made him nauseous.

Lemmy's face fell for the first time that day. "Sorry! Sorry, I was just wondering. I…I…" he directed his gaze toward the floor. "Sorry…"

Ludwig did a double take, trying to gather his bearings. He stumbled over his words at first, but eventually got his tongue under control enough so that he could properly answer Lemmy.

"Uh, no. No I have not."

.Lemmy nodded, prompting Ludwig to continue walking. He hadn't even taken three steps when Lemmy spoke up again.

"Why not?"

Ludwig hesitated. There were a plethora of reasons why he hadn't, but he didn't know if he was capable of listing them all in great detail. Just thinking about that name, "Aria," the name of the girl who still to this day was very important to the oldest Koopaling, caused him to shutter. Thinking about that name caused a very deep pit to form in his stomach, and it also caused his previous bout of nausea to become even stronger. He tried his best to not throw up as he answered Lemmy's innocent question.

"Just…because."

Lemmy blinked. "Just because?" When Ludwig nodded, he snorted. "Ludwig, you never do things 'just because.' There's a bigger reason why you didn't go to Aria's house."

Ludwig hesitated again, feeling like he was being put on the spot. He severely wished he could disappear, that he could turn invisible in a similar way to how had done when his powers had gone haywire. Sweat formed all over him, making his palms in particular feel very sticky.

"I…I uh…I…" Man, this was so unlike him. Usually he was able to find words to say rather easily, and those words tended to roll off of his tongue like butter. "I…." Eventually, he came across an answer that he believed to be good enough. "It's complicated."

'Complicated?" Lemmy asked.

"Yes. Extremely complicated." Ludwig swallowed a lump. "I don't think that me going up to Aria's house and seeing her would be a good thing to do, especially now. I haven't seen her in over fourteen years, and the last time I did see her….well…"

Lemmy's expression sank lower than Ludwig had ever seen before from his brother. "Ohh…." His voice trailed off, his volume reducing to one similar to a raindrop dripping onto the pavement all on its lonesome. Lemmy's shoulders even slumped a little.

Ludwig bit his lip. "Yeah…" Honestly, he didn't want to discuss this further. He already had to stare this particular issue right in the face three weeks ago, when Magnus had cursed him to be a cat and forced him to be there for Aida Hatcher, who had very much been impacted by the horrible action Ludwig took fourteen years ago. He didn't want to think about it anymore than he already had, not today. Dwelling on Frostwall's destruction tended to back him up into a corner in his mind, a particularly dark corner that displayed evidence of a monster's presence.

So, he resumed walking. Instead of dwelling on Frostwall, he focused on his stomach. He questioned what exactly would be the food that the chef was going to serve the Koopalings. Was it going to be an egg's benedict? Oh, he really hoped that it was going to be an egg's benedict. He had been craving that over the past few days and even put in a request for one two days ago.

Unfortunately, Lemmy wasn't going to let this issue rest. "Ludwig…" he hesitated, trying to find the right words. "You don't have to feel bad about Frostwall. You fixed it, remember? You did what no person in the history of the world had done and rewritten history! You made it so the bad thing that happened in your past never occurred! You don't have to think about yourself in such a negative light anymore! Because the destruction of Frostwall…" Lemmy smiled. "It never happened."

Ludwig sighed. "I…I'm aware of that…" He tilted his head up and cleared his throat. "And believe me, I'm very thankful that I was given the opportunity to do that. But…even still…I think it would just be best if I let Aria live her own life." He resumed walking, taking swift steps as he grasped onto the jasper button to his cloak. "Without my influence."

Lemmy ran up to him. "Do…is that what you want though?"

"It doesn't matter what I want." Ludwig faced his brother. "I need to think about what's best. Best for those who live in Frostwall, those who were impacted by what happened to Frostwall, and especially those who I personally knew in Frostwall. Lemmy I…well, if I had the choice, I never would've stepped foot in that city again. I only did so because I needed to find Aino. That was what was best for him and his mother." He faced forward. "It's best if I stay far away from that part of the world. There's too much there. Too much that isn't worth thinking about, too much that is better left to be forgotten by the sands of time."

Lemmy bit his lip and nodded. "I…suppose that makes sense."

Ludwig nodded. "So, if it's all the same to you Lemmy, I would rather not discuss this anymore." He smiled. "It's a beautiful day. We should appreciate it."

Lemmy smiled. "And I have every intention of doing just that!" He beamed. "Especially if doing so allows me to spend time with all of you guys!"

Ludwig beamed. Without any other words, the two Koopalings continued on their way to the dining hall. He was ecstatic to see that his other siblings were already there. Iggy was in the middle of what Ludwig could only assume was a lecture, if the sparkle in his bespectacled eyes was any indication. This was only further reinforced by the sight of the blue haired Larry's head dipping down, as if he was dozing off due to the banal, dry words of the plant haired genius. Roy, on the other hand, looked very confused, a sight that his sunglasses absolutely did not hide. As for Wendy and Morton? Well, the dark skinned Koopaling just focused on eating breakfast (which was in fact an egg's benedict; heck yes!), and Wendy just painted her nails with a sort of boredom in her crystal blue eyes.

"And so, since continental drift is occurring at an alarming rate, if the shifting of the tectonic plates is any indication, it is very possible that all the continents in the Mushroom World will form one big super continent sometime in the next hundred or so years!" Iggy beamed as Ludwig and Lemmy took their seats. "Isn't that neat?"

Wendy and Morton nodded, not really paying attention. Roy slowly nodded.

"That…that does sound cool, Iggster," he said. "But…but how are the continents able to move in the first place?"

Iggy's shoulder slumped. "Oh, for crying out loud…" he glared at Roy as Larry's head went clunk on the table. "I already covered this! The continents rest on these things called tectonic plates, which rest upon the mantle! Since they aren't big enough to cover the surface of the entire planet, they tend to shift. Hence continental drift!"

Roy nodded just as the servers came out with Ludwig's and Lemmy's breakfast. "Um…okay. So, these tectonic plates, are they like dinner plates?"

Iggy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, why do I even bother?"

"You're just asking this question now?" Ludwig asked with a snicker as he dove his fork into his breakfast.

Iggy cast him a look. "Yes, I am. But you are correct; I should have questioned this years ago. No point in sharing information with the blind and deaf."

Lemmy snorted. "I think the stuff you talk about is cool!"

Iggy beamed. "Thank you, Lemonade!"

"Congratulations Lems," Morton spoke up from his chair. "You are in the one percent of people in the world who can bear to listen to Iggy flapping his gums."

Iggy's face turned red. He started yelling at his siblings, but honestly, Ludwig didn't really pay attention. He just ate, letting the flavor of the eggs and hollandaise sauce take him to a dimension that only the most tasty of dishes could transport someone to.

"Master Ludwig?"

Ludwig looked up and saw a koopa troopa servant. "What is it, Bloke?"

"There's someone at the castle gate requesting your presence."

Ludwig blinked. "Really, who?"

Bloke pressed his lips together. "She says her name's Aria Shellcreep."