Chapter 2 Evil Darkness

Getting back home to Bowser's Castle was so nerve wracking that Ludwig could barely bring himself to move forward at all. The darkness bore a strong similarity to the Shadow Seeker, almost too strong. It shook Ludwig in the worst way possible, making his entire being feel freezing cold as shivers ran up and down his arms. He didn't feel safe. He didn't feel comfortable. All he felt was afraid.

As such, when he finally arrived at Bowser's Castle, he muttered about ten thousand prayers of gratitude within the span of about thirty seconds. He took a deep breath as he landed in front of the door. He rubbed his frigid arms, telling himself that all reason for worry was nonexistent. The Shadow Seeker was miles away. It couldn't hurt him, or really anybody else for that matter. It was sealed away safely, and Aria was going to take care of it. He didn't need to feel scared.

But he did. Oh golly gee whiz did he feel scared.

Swallowing a lump, he opened the door. The light inside the castle was a very welcome sight to Ludwig's eyes (even thought it took a bit for them to adjust to it). There was also a warmth to the place, a warmth that Ludwig honestly never recalled feeling before. Maybe the atmosphere in the building knew the worries that were plaguing him. Maybe the very fabric of reality itself was going out of its way to help Ludwig feel better. Sure, that possibility was pretty slim (not to mention a little egocentric, in Ludwig's opinion), but nonetheless, he welcomed the warmth with open arms.

Letting out another breath, he closed the door telekinetically and flew to the east wing. He knew exactly who he wanted to see, exactly the type of people that could make the comfort provided by the warmth even more palpable. Sure, it was late, but he knew that they were going to be up. Come hell or high water, the other Koopalings always managed to stay up. Especially in times where Ludwig needed them.

Once he got to the east wing, he made a beeline for the common room. And sure enough, all six of the other Koopalings were already there, participating in… a board game? Okay, that was odd to Ludwig; given how each one of them were members of the generation raised by technology, them actually ignoring the screen in favor for something like this was… odd. Or, at the very least, it was odd for most of them. The one who it was most odd for, without a shred of doubt in Ludwig's mind, was the youngest and video game extraordinaire, Larry.

This viewpoint seemed to be shared by the blue mohawked Koopaling himself, as he sighed and held his head in his hands. "This is so boring!" He shook his head. "I want to play Metroid!"

Iggy, the middle child with plant hair and more height than he knew what to do with, glared at Larry. "Lawrence, you desperately need to refrain from obsessing over the screen." He adjusted his glasses. "I especially view this to be the case because the game you just mentioned, Metroid, just so happens to be catastrophically violent!" He looked down at the game on the table. "Engaging in a social event such as this one is much better for the mind than shooting down aliens as a woman in a robot suit ever could be."

Larry shook his head. "What are you smoking, cause I would love to try it…"

Before Iggy could respond with another pontification (and thereby drag the conversation down into an argument), Ludwig cleared his throat. Everyone looked up from the game.

"Ludwig!" Lemmy exclaimed. The short, rainbow-haired Koopa smiled at his brother. "Back so soon?"

"Yeah," Wendy said, the only female member of the family. "I mean, didn't you say you were planning on spending the night with Aria? What happened to that?"

Ludwig curled a strand of his royal blue hair back and cringed. "Yeah… about that…"

With that, he explained to his family what happened when he encountered the demon. He could feel the vibe in the room change as he did, transitioning from happy and fun to so full of dread that nothing could salvage or bring back the frivolous tone. Every single one of the Koopalings looked extra grim, especially when Ludwig told them about Aria calling them "tactical geniuses."

"Woah," Roy said when Ludwig finished speaking. He removed his sunglasses, making the worry in his violet eyes all the more noticeable. "That's terrifying."

"Yeah, only a little bit." Ludwig shook his head, rubbing his arms again due to the fact that his chills from before had returned. "And I don't know about you guys, but I think running into something like that is… you know, just a bit of a mood killer."

"Certainly!" Morton said. His soft tone seemed odd coming from the largest member of the Koopalings, or at least it would've been if Ludwig hadn't been expecting it. "I can see why you came home."

Wendy's brow furrowed. "Is Aria going to be okay, though?"

"I… I think so," Ludwig said. "She did tell me not to worry about this, that she is a professional demon hunter and therefore knows how to deal with this stuff." Ludwig's stomach squirmed. "But… well, I'm still a little worried for her…"

"A sensible viewpoint," Iggy said. He stood up. "From a personal perspective, I would question if you were not harboring some concern toward your girlfriend. Demons are quite powerful, as you are well aware."

Ludwig nodded. "You don't have to tell me twice." He bit his lip. "I just… I just hope that she can kill it."

"As do we, Ludwig," Larry said, all of his previous boredom gone. "As do we…"

Ludwig was silent for a brief period. He looked at his siblings, grateful for their presence as well as the fact that they were willing to listen to and support him. However, a thought popped into his head, a thought that made him feel so small and helpless. If the demon somehow managed to escape… what would that mean for his siblings? The way that Aria had described it made it clear that it wasn't a being you wanted to mess with. And considering how… giddily wicked and horrifying this demon had acted when it was in Ludwig's presence… oh, what would happen to his family if it got free? Would the Shadow Seeker go out of its way to target them? Would it make life miserable for them, or would it outright kill them all? Ludwig honestly didn't know which of those two possibilities was worse, but… oh, he didn't feel good thinking about this. He didn't feel good at all…

So, wiping some stress induced sweat off of his forehead, he looked at his siblings with a very very VERY worried expression. "Well… uh, I'm going to go to bed." He looked Lemmy right in the eye. "Lems, I don't know if I would be able to sleep all by myself tonight, so could you…?"

"Oh!" Lemmy nodded and stood up. "Sure, sure." He looked at everyone else. "Sorry guys, but we have to end this game early tonight."

"Oh, fucking FINALLY!" Larry exclaimed. "Now I can actually get back to play a REAL game!"

"Don't you dare!" Iggy said to him in response. "Metroid is too damn violent; YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT PLAYING IT!"

Shaking his head, Ludwig turned and made his way up to his room, with Lemmy following close behind. When they got to their shared bedroom, Ludwig let out shaky breath after shaky breath. Standing in the natural darkness just felt so… dangerous. Ludwig was never someone who feared the dark, but now? Oh man, if Lemmy wasn't there, he would cower in the corner for hours on end.

Thankfully, Lemmy was there. And just as thankfully, right before Ludwig went to his bed, Lemmy gave him a hug. "It's okay, Ludwig," Lemmy said. "I know it's scary, but you're safe. Your home and have a whole lot of extra security than you would have otherwise."

Ludwig let out another breath, this one nowhere near as shaky as before. "Thank you, Lemmy." He patted his brother on the back. He allowed the hug to last for significantly longer than he probably otherwise would have. As a consequence, he almost felt safe going over to his bed and laying down.

Almost…

…

Miles away, stuck within a flimsy jar and letting the delicious darkness bend around it, sat the Shadow Seeker. This demon, on some level, had been expecting the person holding it prisoner to bring home a significant other. It could see paths that history could down, after all, and thus had been fully ready to meet the boyfriend that the stupid little koopa girl brought home.

But even though it had been expecting that, it had not at all been prepared for who exactly the boyfriend was. The minute that the demon saw him, it recognized that he was important. You see, demons had a unique ability that almost no one else had. That being, they could see an aura around a person, an aura created by the person's soul. This aura could be dim or even nonexistent sometimes, but people who had higher standings in society, as well as people who had the ability to impact fate in much more meaningful ways, had much stronger glows. And the boyfriend had one of the most luminous auras the demon had ever seen. That meant several things, but there was one thing in particular that it meant for the Shadow Seeker.

He was a member of royalty.

That was such a deliciously delightful revelation for the it. And what made it even better was that, the second it laid eyes on the prince, new paths that the future could follow opened up to it. Paths that it specifically could forge. Paths that led the demon to the most top notch, highest level of power that any demon could ever hope to possess (except of course for the Dark Prince and the Shadow Queen. Their powers dwarfed the power level of pretty much anything else in the universe). And sure, while the fact that its captor had managed to subdue and detain it did make the demon just a tad bit frustrated, its positive emotions were still miles high. One could even say the Shadow Seeker was now hopelessly, unbelievably excited.

And with that excitement came a stronger reason and motivation to break out of its shell.

So, the demon fought against the pitiful walls of the glass jar. All the while, plans formed in its wicked, evil twisted mind. These plans would allow it to take over this Koopa Kingdom. Heck, if it wanted to do so, it could even take over the world! It didn't want to do that, as the Shadow Seeker recognized that this world rightfully belonged to the Shadow Queen and her son. But still, its plans led him down paths of power and prosperity. If it played its cards right, if it could actually get out of this stupid, pathetic jar, then it would bring an era of darkness. Many demons had aspired to bring an era of darkness before, and had obviously failed or been thwarted. But the Shadow Seeker? Oh no. The Shadow Seeker wouldn't fail, nor would it be thwarted. It just needed to get free. It was almost there, almost undetained…

CRASH!

The jar landed on the floor, shattering into millions of tiny pieces. The demon grinned, rising up in a dark cloud that bore a resemblance to what mortals recognized as smoke. "Free at last," it sai with its slimy, snakelike voice. "Now, to get to work…"

Before the Shadow Seeker could do anything, it needed to do something about its captor. The demon hunter known as Aria Shellcreep was one of the few things standing in its way, one of the few things that could stop his plans. So, as quiet as a mouse, it drifted through the air toward her bedroom. Sneering down at her sleeping form, it cast a spell on her. It watched, feeling mountains of satisfaction being piled onto his soulless self, as the curse took effect. Seriously, was there a more satisfying sight in the world than seeing mortals getting cursed? The Shadow Seeker didn't think so.

Once the curse was in full effect, the demon grinned. Turning around, it made its way out of the house and toward the castle that housed this Kingdom's royalty. It didn't want to be too… blatant in its attempt to gain the power it so desperately and thoroughly desired, as doing so would get in the way and sabotage that goal. So, it needed to be subtle. It needed to get rid of the people within the castle that would stand even a slim chance of emerging victorious in a fight against it. Luckily, the Shadow Seeker knew exactly what to do to avoid that.

Oh, how fantastic would it be to put this plan into motion…