Chapter 6 All the Guilt

All seven Koopalings hung out in the common room. They more or less minded their own business, just doing things that would entertain them according to their individual tastes. For instance, Ludwig sat on the couch reading a book. Morton sat next to him, and based on the fact that he kept peeking over Ludwig's shoulder, it wasn't too much of a stretch to say that he was engrossed in the story too. Ludwig turned the page, delving deep into the world crafted by the words.

"Oh yeah!" Larry exclaimed. "That was awesome! I beat you guys again!"

Of course, getting lost in the world of literature wasn't as easy as it could be, as Larry, Roy, Iggy, and Lemmy were playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate less than five feet away. Ludwig tried not to let this bother him; his siblings weren't going out of their way to annoy him, so scolding them and giving them sarcastic comments wouldn't be fair.

Even with that said, even though they weren't doing it intentionally, Ludwig was still annoyed. Why? Well, it mostly had to do with Larry. Like he always did whenever he won a video game match against his siblings, Larry did a little victory dance. Thrusting his hips and getting himself all up in his siblings's faces, he met the criteria to be considered a massive douchebag.

"Larry," Iggy said, thankfully speaking up so Ludwig didn't have to. "Please. Don't do this now; we were all enjoying the game."

"Yeah," said Lemmy. "I mean, I like winning as much as the next guy, but you don't see me trying to rub it in people's faces."

Larry just laughed. "Of course, you don't rub it in people's faces! You never win, so you have nothing to brag about!"

Ludwig sighed and shook his head. Honestly, he would prefer the awkward conversation he had with Junior yesterday over this. Of course, that came with a caveat; he didn't wish for Junior to throw glass at his head, but overall, he would still prefer the conversation.

Speaking of the conversation, Ludwig was pleased to report that he had calmed down. Oh, he was still mad at Junior; how could he not be when the prince had tried to injure him? But he was significantly less mad than before. It might take a day or two, but he reasoned that eventually he would be calmed down enough to go apologize to the little prince.

With that said, that day was not today. Ludwig looked back down at his book, doing his best to blot Larry being obnoxious out of his mind entirely. He held the book particularly close to his eyes, smiling as he read the dialogue. Man, did this author have some wit! Every line brought the characters to life so beautifully. It almost made him want to try writing a book of his own. After all, he was known for having a silver tongue. Maybe if he applied that into the written form, he would be able to produce something that a lot of people could enjoy.

"Hey," Morton spoke up. "Is it okay if you can let me see the page?"

Ludwig blinked before chuckling. "Ah, so you were reading with me!" He lowered the book down, and Morton stared at the pages with an interested look. It was so interested that it crossed the line into humorous, thus causing Ludwig to laugh. "You know, I could probably go out and buy another copy of this book for you. If that's what you want, of course."

"That would be nice," Morton said. His eyes scanned over the page before he smirked. "The dialogue is really witty."

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Ludwig laughed. "I'm telling you, books like this are awesome! The perfect way to ignore the problems you have in real life!"

"And you have a major problem in real life right now, don't you, Ludwig?"

Ludwig blinked. He looked over at Wendy, sitting in the recliner. For the most part, she had been focusing on putting on some makeup, specifically nail polish. She had been completely silent ever since she entered the room, which made her finally deciding to speak up all the more surprising.

"What are you talking about?" Ludwig asked his sister with a raised eyebrow.

"Your fight with Junior!" Wendy said. She adjusted her position in the recliner. "Don't you think that what happened might have made him upset?"

Ludwig blinked again before sighing and pinching his brow. "Look. Wendy. I know that what happened was messy, and I plan on apologizing soon." He looked Wendy right in the eye. "But I don't need to do it now. Stuff like this takes time. Time to simmer down, time to get my emotions in check." He shifted position. "As a special, I have to make sure that anger is as far from my mind as possible before going back and talking to someone who pissed me off." He looked back down at the book, turning the page as he did. "I'll apologize eventually; don't worry."

Wendy, much to Ludwig's surprise, furrowed her brow. "But is holding off on doing something like that a good idea? I mean, why wait to do tomorrow what could be done today?"

Ludwig chuckled. "You say that as if Junior isn't going to be here tomorrow." He leaned back. "There's no reason to worry, Wen. Everything will be fine."

Right at that moment, Bowser walked into the common room. That made Ludwig do a double take, as Bowser almost never came into the common room. Right as the oldest was starting to wonder if everything was alright, Bowser spoke up.

"Guys, I need to talk with you. It's urgent."

"Urgent?" Larry asked. He paused before laughing. "Nothing's urgent enough to distract me from whooping everyone's butts!"

That statement made Roy growl. He snatched the Switch controller out of the youngest's hand. "The butt whooping can wait, Larry. Believe me." He looked up at Bowser, as did everyone else in the room. "What's up, big guy?"

Bowser… oh goodness, he looked terrified! Ludwig had never seen a look like that on Bowser's face. Never! Nothing had ever broken through Bowser to make him appear terrified. As such, even though he hadn't spoken yet, Ludwig started to feel squirmy.

"Junior's not in his room." Bowser put his hand to his chest, for he was starting to hyperventilate (again, something that Bowser didn't usually do). "And… and his window… his window was open."

It took a minute for that statement to sink into the Koopalings's heads. It even required some time for Ludwig, as the contents of the message was that concerning. Junior… not in his room… with his window open…

"What?" Iggy exclaimed. He bounced to his feet. "You can't be serious!"

"I am." Bowser took in some shallow breaths. "And I already tasked the servants with searching the castle. None of them have been able to locate him."

It felt as though someone had punched Ludwig in the stomach. "So… he ran away!"

Bowser nodded. "Yeah."

A whole slew of emotions overcame Ludwig. Junior… he ran away. So soon after he heard about his birth story. So soon after… after the two of them had had that fight. Did… were those things related? Was there a cause and effect here? There had to be; it was too much of a coincidence to say that it wasn't. Which meant…

Which… which meant…

"Oh, dear word." Roy also stood up. He took off his glasses, allowing everyone to see how worried he looked. "Junior can't run away! He's only seven!" He started to shake. "There are a lot of people out there who would be mean to him! They… they could hurt him if they wanted to!"

That statement made Ludwig sink into his chair. Some of the other Koopalings said more, but he didn't hear them. He just sat there, his breathing and heart rate speeding up as he thought about the news. Junior was gone. He had put himself in danger. And it was all Ludwig's fault…

"We need to find him!" said Wendy. She stood up. "We need to find him right away! He can't be out all by himself!"

"You're right, Wendy; you are absolutely right." Bowser wiped some sweat off his brow (again, that was something he had never done before). "I… if something happens to my baby boy…"

By now, Ludwig felt as though he was going straight to hell. He couldn't move, nor could he lift his head. Junior was gone because of him. He hadn't been the big brother that he needed, especially after hearing about such devastating news. If Ludwig had just been kinder… if he had found a way to practice more patience…

"You guys come with me to the throne room," Bowser said. He backed up into the doorway. "I'm gonna send some paratroopas out. And after I do, I want to tell you what you guys are going to do. Got that?"

"Of course, Bowser, you can count on us," Iggy said. Bowser nodded and went away. Once he was gone, Iggy started to tremble. "Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear." He lifted his finger to his mouth and nibbled on the nail. "Junior's gone! This… this is terrible!"

"It is," said Roy. He looked at all of his siblings. "Why would he run away like this? He likes living with us, and we like living with him! What would make him decide to just get up and leave?"

Ludwig directed his gaze down toward the ground. "It…" he felt like crying. "This is all my fault."

"Oh, Ludwig, don't blame yourself," said Iggy.

Ludwig shook his head and looked at everyone. Doing so was one of the hardest tasks he ever had to accomplish, but he didn't turn away. "Except it's true!" Ludwig rubbed his arms. "Junior… Bowser told Junior about his birth story a few days ago. He wasn't coming out of his room, so Bowser sent me to try to go comfort him." He sunk into the chair some more. "And… one thing led to another, and…." he sunk even deeper in, feeling as though he was about to throw up.

"Ohhh…" Iggy's tone of voice… oh, Ludwig had never heard him sound so disappointed. Least of all with him. "Well… we shouldn't focus on that. The reason why Junior left doesn't matter. All that matters is getting him back." He looked at the other Koopalings. "We'll all find Junior, and we'll bring him home. We won't let anything happen to him."

"Yeah," Larry said, surprising Ludwig. "He may not be blood-related, but he's still our brother. We will find him."

"And when we do…" Iggy looked right at Ludwig and smiled. "We'll get a chance to set things straight."

Ludwig sniffled, wiping his nose as he did. "Thanks, Iggster." That statement didn't relieve all of his guilt, but… well, he felt a sliver of relief. He had the smallest iota of comfort, which at this point in time was an absolute godsend. "We'll… we'll find him."

"Yeah." Larry grinned the cheeky grin he was so famous for. "Come on, guys! Let's go to the throne room!"

All the Koopalings except Ludwig and Wendy left the room. Ludwig took a deep breath after deep breath. He rose a little bit into the air as he did, but he didn't let that distract him from his task. He needed to feel better. The circumstances demanded that he operate at the best possible performance level. That was what Junior required of him, after all.

"Ludwig?" Wendy asked with a furrowed brow. "Are you okay?"

Ludwig paused for a second before nodding (albeit nodding very stiffly). "I will be."

Wendy hesitated. "Are you sure? I can get something for you if you want..."

"No, it's fine Wendy." Ludwig gave her a look he hoped appeared strong and confident. "Everything is going to be fine."

Wendy stood still for a few seconds before nodding. She got up, leaving the common room. Ludwig waited for a few seconds before following her.

"Everything will be okay." Even as he said that he still felt horrible. "I hope..."