Chapter 18 Empathy
Mario looked up at the ceiling of the Goldleaf's guest bedroom. It looked a lot like his, which struck him as weird. Maybe this was something he could take advantage of. Maybe, if he decided to ignore all the circumstances surrounding these last few days, as well as ignore what body he was currently in, he could pretend that the ceiling hanging over him was his bedroom ceiling. He could bury his worries for a minute, could tell himself that he was going to wake up in his own house tomorrow morning. Luigi was going to be down in the dining room to greet him. Princess Peach was going to give him the most beautiful smile known to man.
That fictitious reality was so desirable. It was perfect, tranquil, and peaceful. It was a fantasy that should be reality, and would be a reality if everything was in order. That fantasy was Mario's life, his real life. He wanted to return to it so badly but knew he couldn't at the moment. His life was now a dream, and a dream was now his life.
Or, rather, a nightmare was now his life.
Feeling that weigh of that thought sinking in, Mario shed a tear. He continued looking up at the ceiling, all while the tears came harder and faster. There were no words to describe his sadness. There was nothing that could make it go away nor measure how deep it was. It was like he had been put under a curse, a different kind of curse from his new koopa body. His soul had been wrapped in chains and had been attached to a mountain of big, black sorrow. His soul obviously wanted to get free, and as such was continuously pulling against the chains. His soul struggled and grunted, pulling with all its might. It could see what lay before it if it managed to get free. It longed for the reality that it had been separated from. But it couldn't get there. In fact, pulling on the chains just served to make it hurt. It stung with sadness, with pain. And yet, it still wouldn't stop pulling.
Mario turned over on his side, now realizing that a new emotion was developing in his mind. It was worse than his sadness, worse than his fear. It was loneliness. Loneliness, in general, was an emotion Mario never felt because he had no reason to feel it. He was constantly surrounded by family, friends, and fans who would support him. He had none of that now.
The tears of the Mushroom Kingdom Hero became stronger. He lifted his hand, looking at it in the light of the moon coming in from the window. He curled his fingers, turning his hand this way and that. The tears grew stronger the more of this he saw. He couldn't stop, not even when he tried to count his current blessings. He had the Goldleaf family, a family of koopas who were everything to him right now. They were a light in the darkness, a silver lining on the foreboding, dark gray cloud. They were a blessing.
But they couldn't make up for what he lost. Nothing could.
"Mr. Mario?"
Mario blinked. He turned toward the door, gawking when he saw Gabby. The little five-year-old girl stood in the doorway, so tiny and gentle. She stared at him with wide eyes and a furrowed brow. It was so surreal. Mario didn't know what he was supposed to do, or what to say to this young baby.
"What is it, Gabby?"
Gabby came even further into the room. She slowly closed the door, not saying anything as she tiptoed over to his bed. Meanwhile, Mario was left to ponder what he was seeing. Why was she here? Why did she look so hurt?
"Gabby, is something wrong?"
The girl trembled as she pulled herself up onto Mario's bed. She looked into his eyes, all while appearing like she was going to cry. Mario's heart couldn't decide whether it wanted to race or if it wanted to skip some beats.
"Mr. Mario… you're hurting. Aren't you?"
Mario frowned, turning away from Gabby's sad eyes. "I…" he didn't know what to do. He honestly didn't. Should he be honest? Should he tell Gabby that everything was alright? Should he tell her not to worry about him, that she should go back to bed?
"I…"
"You don't need to answer that. I already know the truth." Gabby scooted closer. "You're hurting. You're lost, scared, sad, and confused." Gabby looked ready to break down. "You feel like you have nothing, don't you? You feel like nothing is making sense anymore, and you're scared that nothing will make sense ever again." She leaned closer to him. "Right?"
Mario's jaw dropped. He stared at this girl in stunned silence, marveling at her emotional intelligence.
"I know that you hate what happened to you." Gabby looked down at the ground. "There's a lot of anxiety in you right now, I feel. I could see it in you. When you thought we poisoned you, you were scared. Even after you recovered, you were still scared. Despite all the good my family and I are doing for you." She looked him in the eye. "You're scared more than you've ever been before. Possibly more than you'll ever be."
Mario's stunned state got stronger. Holy. Cow. Could this girl read his mind? How else could she be so aware of what he was feeling? It was honestly creepy.
And yet, Mario felt he needed it on some level. He wiped the tears from his eyes again before frowning.
"It's all really complicated, Gabby." He cupped his hands together. "I am scared, but I also want to continue hoping." He chuckled. The sound was hollower than he would've liked though. "That's part of what is required of me in order to be a hero. I always have to hope for better. Even as everything is crumbling around me, I have to be a rock for everyone else. I'm strong. I'm a leader." He paused. "I'm…" he couldn't even finish the sentence without sniffling. He wiped his tears away, all while Gabby refused to take his eyes off of her. "I'm sorry." He immediately felt guilty. He was an adult, and Gabby was a child. He shouldn't be appearing this weak in front of a child. He was supposed to be strong. He had to be strong in order to…
Before he could finish the thought, Gabby pulled him into a hug. Once again, Mario was stunned. He couldn't say anything as she held onto him, instead being left to battle a round of awe and confusion. This… this wasn't real. This wasn't really happening.
But it was. And he didn't hate that it was happening either. The fact that a little girl, a girl like this, was willing to do this for him, who was an enemy to all that her King and race stood for…
It only got even more unbelievable when he heard crying. THAT shook him in ways he didn't know were possible.
"Gabby…"
Gabby held on tighter. "It's okay." Her voice was wobbly, sounding like it was about to break. "It's okay if you're not strong right now." She rubbed his shell, an action that felt really good. "You're stuck. You're struggling." She chuckled. "And that's fine. Even adults can have moments of weakness." She held tighter. "And heroes can be weak too. It's part of being a human." She pulled away from him. "And a koopa. It's part of being a person."
Mario sniffled and wiped his eyes once again, somehow managing to find a way to smile as he marveled at what was going on in this moment. "Wow." He chuckled. "You sure know a lot for your age."
Gabby giggled. "Well… I like to watch people, know what I mean?"
"I do." Mario chuckled again and rubbed Gabby on the arm. "Thank you, Gabby. I really should thank all of you, including your parents and your brother." He chuckled. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have been found by you guys." His face fell. "And I hope my crying didn't make me come across as ungrateful, because… well, I'm not. I'm really not." He held the blanket close to his chest, specifically over his heart. "If you hadn't found me when you did… I might not even be here right now."
Gabby nodded. "I know." She paused, allowing a heavy silence to hang in the air. "I understand you've had it rough, Mario, and I don't want anything to go wrong for you. I hope, when my Mom teaches you how to fight, that you can get good at it. And I also hope that you are able to hold your own when you go up against Bowser."
Mario chuckled. "Well… I am at least confident that I can do that." He laughed. "I am Super Mario after all."
"Yeah you are." Gabby laughed right along with him, creating a sound that no doubt carried throughout the house. When Gabby finally calmed down, she yawned. "Oh, wow." She bounced off of Mario's bed. "I need to go back to my room now." She looked him in the eyes. "Will you be okay by yourself tonight?"
"I think I'll be alright," Mario said with a nod.
Gabby smiled before leaving, making sure the door was securely closed behind her. When she was gone, Mario took some time to assess how he felt. He wasn't at one hundred percent at the moment. He was still sad, and loneliness threatened to submerge him neck deep into despair. But… he felt better. He could count himself lucky that Gabby showed up when she did.
Laying himself back down, he prayed that Grambi would help him sleep tonight. He needed it if he was going to get trained by Opal tomorrow.
…
Luigi had never felt this hopeless.
He and Peach had been searching for Mario for a little under a week. Luigi had hoped that they wouldn't take that long, that Mario would've been easy to find. But now, as they walked back to Peach's Castle with the sun rising on the eastern horizon, he felt horrible. Being someone who could get lost in his own thoughts rather easily, Luigi couldn't help but dwell on all the worst possibilities. What if Mario was dead? What if the Koopa who he had seen in his house had killed him and hid his body somewhere?
Luigi felt awful just thinking about it. He felt so awful, in fact, that Peach had said he was in no position to fight Bowser and thus called their search off a little early. That, while he supposed it was a kind gesture, made him feel even worse. He felt like a failure. He felt like it was his fault that everything had gone as wrong as it did. If he had seen the Koopa coming into the house, maybe he could've prevented this. Maybe Mario would still be here.
"It's going to be okay, Luigi."
Luigi whimpered. "You don't know that."
"I don't, but I hope it will." Peach frowned as they continued on their walk to the castle. "We need to stay positive. Mario is a strong person. He has come out of worse situations like this completely unharmed. Why would now be different?"
Even though those observations were true, they did nothing to help Luigi feel better. "I… I just…" He shook his head. "If something happened to him… I would… I just… I don't…" He started to cry.
"Oh, Luigi." Peach patted him on the back. "Tell you what; I'll make you a cake like I do for Mario when he rescues me. And after we spend a decent amount of time eating our feelings, we can go back out, okay?"
Luigi smiled. "Yeah. That would be good."
Peach smiled back at him, and they continued on their way. Luigi took deep breaths as they made their way to the castle door. This would be fine. No need to dwell on the negative; this would all be…
"Princess Peach! Master Luigi!"
Both individuals jumped back when they heard the Toad who opened their door shouting their names. "Toad?" Peach asked. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine." Toad stood at attention. "There's someone who's here to see you. Someone who says she has information regarding Mario!"
Luigi's heart skipped a beat. "Well, take us to her right away!"
The Toad nodded and began leading them through the Castle. While Luigi couldn't speak for the Princess, he could say he was feeling antsy and excited. This person, if they were speaking truthfully, could give them the only form of a lead they would have since starting the search. Luigi's stomach couldn't help but churn and his heart couldn't help but race.
Eventually, they got to the common room. There, they saw a brunette human woman with green eyes sitting at one of the tables. The Toad cleared their throat as she stood up and bowed.
"May I introduce Miss Ruby Patch."
