Mario stumbled up the hall, charging back along the passages he had just traveled.
He had taken the lead now, navigating by memory to the place where their little group had split up. Henry floated along beside him, looking confused and reasonably concerned.
"I don't understand, where are we going?" he asked.
"To the front door," said Mario, a bit breathlessly.
"But that's where the boos went!"
"I know-" said Mario, but the conversation was cut short as he miss-stepped, hissing as he caught himself.
"I though that star was supposed to help," Henry said as Mario got back up again. "It's not helping at all."
"It will help," said Mario with a grimace, then started to move again. "But I have to save it."
"Why!"
"Because it won't last forever. I have to save if for when I need it most."
"So all that was for nothing?"
"Not for nothing," said Mario, a hardness coming into his eyes.
Henry was unconvinced.
"But it's pitch black outside! And Raining! Even if you get past the boos you'll never get through the woods like that!"
"I'm fine, Henry," said Mario.
"You don't look fine!" shouted Henry.
The tone in the ghost's voice made Mario slow. He looked back and realized with a good deal of shock that the boy was about to cry.
He dragged to a halt, breathing hard, not exactly sure how to respond.
"I'm not leaving," he started, calmly and he hopped soothingly, then spoke fast as the ghost prepared to shout at him again. "I'm staying here to help the professor; to deal with King Boo and the other ghosts."
This did not have the effect that he was hoping for.
"WHat! You can't fight the boos! You're crazy! Look what they did to you already!" Henry shouted.
"That's what the power star is for-"
"No! It was supposed to help you! So you could get away!"
There were a few moments of awkward silence.
"Henry, you have to trust me," Mario said. "I know what I'm doing, I promise. But I still need your help. I have to get to the front of this place. Will you show me how to get there? Please?"
Henry looked down at the floor, away from Mario's determined eyes. After a moment Mario sighed and looked down too, gaze falling on his leg.
He winced.
"Okay..." said Henry finally.
The ghost took the lead, and the two plowed on.
Before long they came to the crossroads where Mario had chased off the butler. It was dead there now, the knocked over vase and a few scorches the only sign that anything had ever happened. Mario watched the walls carefully as they approached, keeping an eye open for any telltale shadows on the walls, but there was nothing there, no sign of ghosts or boos. Apparently they hadn't considered this spot worth watching.
After a moment of hesitation, Henry took the same path the boos had.
The boy was back to anxious observation again, going extremely slow and peering around distrustful at the darkness. He was dim now too, so dim that Mario could hardly see him. As they continued along passage a low chittering became apparent from up the hall. Henry froze, looking frantically back at Mario. Mario's heart rate was ticking up as well, but he kept his expression steady, giving the boy a slow nod.
Henry continued to hesitate, looking downright terrified. Mario pressed gently past him, once again taking the lead. He kept close to the walls, making his way down the passage at a painful inch. Henry hung in his shadow, all but clinging to him and almost completely invisible. The only indication that he hadn't left was a pale blue shudder and a slight chill to the air over Mario's shoulder. But no matter how close the boos came, they always seemed to be on the other side of the wall, that is, until a sheen of silver blue came into view up ahead.
Mario froze, then shuddered at the cold sensation of Henry passing through him. The boy gasped and stammered an apology. Mario just put a finger to his lips, signaling for him to stay were he was. Carefully Mario edged forward, kindling fire in his hands.
But it turned out to be unnecessary. There were no ghosts ahead, boo or otherwise. The only thing there was a door slicked over in webs.
Mario let out the breath he had been holding and waved again to Henry, then moved forward to inspect the situation more closely. It was a set of double doors this time, a particularly dense patch of webbing spanning their surface. A pattern of carved hearts was just visible under the tangle.
"That was the door we needed..." said Henry softly.
Mario hesitated for a moment, then squared his shoulders and reached for the knob with his good hand. The flashing of the web grew faster as he approached, the whole mass beginning to writhe...
"Don't do that!" barked Henry, pulling him back.
Mario hissed at the jarring of his shoulders, and Henry shrunk away.
"It's fine," he said quickly, before the boy could start apologizing, and again stared down the glowing slick. He kindled another fireball and tossed it at the mass in an experimental way. The vines flashed brightly again, the fire dissipating across their aura before it even reached them. Mario pulled a face, all of a sudden a lot more grateful to Henry than he had been a moment before.
"There's another passage over here, we can try that," said the ghost, pointing. Mario nodded and followed.
After a bit of meandering they reached a small side corridor. Mario rounded into it then recoiled as he was faced by another sheet of web, this one spanning right over the passageway. Its glow was dimmed, though, by a stream of yellow light filtering down the stairs beyond.
"That's really weird," said Henry's disembodied voice. There was a flick of movement and his presence vanished. Mario assumed he had gone to check the situation out and waited, leaning against the wall and listening to the chatter of the boos.
Whatever they were doing out there they seemed to have moved. The sound was growing fainter, spreading out and traveling away. It didn't do much to ease his nerves, though.
There was a moment in the hall to this left.
Mario tense, eyes wide and flashing. He had only seen it for a moment, just a flick of darker grey across the wall, but he was sure he had seen it. He pushed himself upright, staring keenly into the dim passage, looking for the shadow...
"Guys?" said a familiar voice.
Mario sagged with relief.
There was a flick of blue, and Orville dropped into the visible spectrum.
"Guys!" he said in almost a shout, "The lights are on! The lights are on!"
Mario winced hard at the volume.
"Be quiet, or someone will hear!" Henry hissed, darting into the passage through one of the walls. Orville clapped his hands over his mouth.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Henry.
"Looking for you guys, of course. The lights are on in the front room, and in our hall too! Chuncy's gone!" gabbed Orville in a lower tone. "The boos are all raging mad!"
"How?" asked Mario.
"I don't know, but there was a weird guy up there, and-"
Mario's heart thudded.
"What did he look like? Was he alright?" he asked with an urgency that very much startled the ghost.
"I don't know, I mean, I think he was alright..." said Orville uncertainly.
"What did he look like?"
"Well, he was kinda tall, and green, or wore green, with a green hat and gloves and he... he kinda looked like you..." the boy trailed off, looking up at Mario, realization in his eyes.
"I have to get there now," said Mario. "Right now."
He made a move for the hallway, but Orville darted in front of him.
"But you can't! There are boos all over there! They'll see you!"
"That doesn't matter," Mario said, trying to go around him.
"Wait! Wait! There are vines everywhere, You can't get through! He's not even in the house anymore, I swear!"
"What?"
"I saw him go out through the front door!"
Mario blinked. Luigi had managed to get away? It was possible if the rooms were lit, but Mario had a hard time believing the king would just let him walk out like that.
"Did the boos see him?" he asked.
"I don't know, but-I-don't-think-so!" Orville blurted as Mario went to go around him again.
"They didn't show up until after he was gone!"
Mario studied Orville for a moment, then let out a slow breath. Okay, he had a bit more time then. Not much, but some.
"Are you sure all the passages are sealed?" he asked.
"Yes, positive," said Orville, slowly easing out of his body-block stance.
"There is another way around, though," said Henry softly. "You can go around the outside, the boos shouldn't be there."
Mario mumbled and rubbed his face hard. That was just what he needed: more detours. But if what Orville said was true, he didn't have much of a choice, and the boys had done nothing but steer right so far...
"Alright," he said finally, "but we have to hurry."
"This way," said Henry, hardly missing a beat.
It turned out the front of the castle wasn't the only place that had grown lively. The halls were ringing inside and out with the calls of boos. Mario knew that this mansion was swarming, but they were everywhere, under the floors, through the walls. Most of them way too close for comfort.
The situation wasn't doing good things for anyone, but it was having a particularly bad effect on the boys. They clung to Mario in half visible clouds, his personal blue halo, telling him which way to go. Mario didn't complain about this new arrangement, just plowed ahead, using the powerstar to bolster his speed. The powerstar (who had been sneaking him bits energy since they left the observatory) was all too happy to oblige.
Soon he started to recognize landmarks again. The soft sound of piano seeped from somewhere up ahead. For the third time in the evening, Mario found himself in the butler's hall.
He wasn't terribly concerned. He highly doubted the ghost would try anything after their last encounter, and even if it did, Mario felt more than prepared. He did slow, though, when the song ended and the sound of the piano died.
He hesitated, lingering against the wall at the branch of the passage. There were no more sounds from the room, but he saw no shadow either. Cautiously, he entered the passage.
The hall beyond was empty, and accepting the flicker of the candles, all was still. Satisfied, Mario picked up his pace again, stepping softly across the red carpet. A short distance ahead was the door; as he drew closer, he heard the faintest sound of humming from inside. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, but at least the ghost seemed to be occupied.
One of the boys (he wasn't sure who) gave an audible sigh of relief when they reached the end of the passage. Mario spared a last glance over his shoulder, just to be sure, but the halls remained still.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" whispered Henry, fazing solid enough to tug his elbow.
Mario nodded and rounded the corner, then started back at the ghost hanging in his way.
She was drifting just a few inches off the floor, maroon dress billowing as if she was underwater. Mario tried to backpedal around the corner then winced as Henry saw her too and bit back a yelp. The new ghost turned sharply to face them, expression not altogether pleasant. Her eyes flicked from Mario to Henry, then to Mario again, the look slowly changing to curiosity.
"M-melody!" Henry gasped, and she laughed.
"Hello, Henry," she said, drifting forward a pace. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
The boy pedaled backwards as she came on, then dove behind Mario as the man stepped forward to meet her, one hand on the power star in his pocket.
"And what's this?" she said with another crystal laugh. "Have you made a new friend? A new assistant of the professor's, maybe?"
"No!" barked Orville, dropping in to view as she made another drift forward. "He's not! He has nothing to do with the professor!"
"Really?" she said, bright eyes flicked up to Mario's again. "Who are you, then?"
Mario's expression darkened; he didn't like her tone.
"Just let us by, Melody," said Henry, drawing up close over Mario's shoulder.
A smile flashed across her face. "Feisty tonight, aren't we?" she said, then turned back to Mario. "Well? Are you mute?"
"Please move out of the way," said Mario.
There was a moment of silence.
"Is that all you have to say?" she said, sounding very much annoyed, but she buried it with another laugh. "You should have said so sooner."
With that she drifted to the side, creating just enough room for him to pass.
Mario hesitated, eyeing her intently, then stepped forward. He half expected her to attack as soon as he was within reach, but she didn't, just nodded her head with a sharp smile. Mario did the only thing he could think of and nodded back, then plowed forward down the hall.
• • •
Melody pursed her lips as she watched the man disappear. So that was the fellow the boos had lost.
Well, he hardly seemed like much to her. He had gotten reasonably far, but he could hardly take credit for it with the twins trailing being him like they were. Sweet, stupid little boys.
She gave a light shrug; in the end, it was no concern of hers. When she had finished her little 'stroll' she drifted once again into her room.
But it wasn't empty.
There was a flash of movement as she entered through the wall; the tiniest flick of silver. She gave a disgusted grimace, writing it off as one of the grabbers, that is, until she drifted past where it had disappeared.
It felt like a boo.
There was a presence radiating from that spot, a little bubble of nerves trickling from under the draped stool by the harp.
Melody felt caught out. Sent someone to check on her, did they? To make sure she was staying where she should? Well, she would see to that.
"You know, you should always knock before entering a lady's room," she said. "Come on out."
There was no response, though the anxiety tainting the air grew stronger.
"Well, come on," she said again, a little firmer.
Hesitantly the boo drifted into view, a deep purple splashed across its face. It wasn't a big boo at all and hardly seemed able to look her in the eye, but he was trying, puffing himself up marvelously.
Melody laughed a clear little laugh.
"Oh, don't be that way," she said, waving a hand at him. "What's your name?"
"Boolevier," he said, attempting to sound important.
"Well, Boolevier, what are you doing in my room?"
"I don't have to tell you. But if you must know," he added quickly when Melody's expression turned sour. "I was-"
"Looking for someone?" she finished for him.
The boo looked annoyed.
"Yeah, I was-but the king's called everyone to the store room-"
"Shhhh," said Melody softly. The boo stopped talking, expression ridged.
"How would you like it if I shared with you a little secret? Something special to take back to your king?"
Booliveir eyed her suspiciously then gave a slow nod.
"I thought so. Don't worry, it's nothing too hard. Just take a peek down that left passage is all. There's a little surprise down there."
"But the king-"
"I'm sure the king will like this much better," said Melody, with another sharp laugh.
The boo eyed her suspiciously, looking towards the wall where she had pointed.
"Go on now, hurry. Before it gets away."
With one last unsure glance, the boo disappeared through the wall. Melody watched him go with a curved smile, then returned to her piano.
• • •
Whatever news had been spreading, the message was received.
Mario had seen more boos in the last few corridors than he had seen since his escape. They traveled in bunches of twos and threes, streaks of silver shooting across the passages, chirping amongst themselves.
And one thing was for sure; they were no longer looking for him.
He hung in the shadows, ears strained for their chatter, eyes marking every nook he could dive into should a pack appear. Had they been truly looking, he wouldn't have had a chance, but as things stood now they simply darted by, oblivious.
And wherever they were going, they seemed to be gathering to the same place, all convening on some center point. It was more terrifying to Mario than a gridlock search. There was only one thing he could think of that would interest the boos more than finding him...
And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. The boos had all gone, and the halls were deathly silent.
As soon as he was sure he was in the clear, Mario ran.
Up ahead the glow of the candles was chilled by a filter of blue. Very soon Mario found himself at the entrance of a new passage, massive, ornate windows sweeping away in both directions. The courtyard he had seen from the upper floor lay beyond, wet, chill and hazy.
A direction was whispered in his ear and he turned right, watching the windows as he bounded past. As big as they were the metal running through the glass would make getting out of them impossible.
A few moments later they reached another door. It too was covered in vines.
Mario skidded to a halt.
"Oh no..." said Henry.
Oh no hardly covered it. Mario swallow a cry of frustration, breathing hard through clenched teeth. Of course it would be blocked. Of course. Why would the boos not block such an easy means for him to escape? Anger and panic churned through him in curls. He probably would have punched something if the boys hadn't been there to see.
He looked back over his shoulder. Both the ghosts had retreated away, fear in their dim faces. A twinge of guilt mixed itself into his emotional cocktail.
"I'm sorry," he said, trying to control his breathing. "This isn't your fault."
"There are a lot of doors. They can't all be blocked..." said Henry, voice quavering.
Yes they could. At this point Mario would be very surprised if they weren't.
"Then let's go," he said.
"Wait, I can check them faster," said Orville. "You just- just stay here, I'll hurry."
Mario grit his teeth again. He wanted to move. He needed to be moving right now, but the boy was right.
"Check the kitchen door. The kitchen door was broken," he said.
Orville nodded and streaked away, vanishing through the wall. Henry still hung back, the most clear thing Mario could see of him a pair of wide, frightened eyes. He sighed and rubbed his face.
"The guy- the one upstairs- he's your brother?" Henry asked, when the silence became too much.
"Yes."
"Oh..."
And the pitiful attempt at conversation died.
Slowly, Mario eased himself to the ground, back against a window, staring vaguely at his sock.
He gave a huffing chuckle as he realized the hole he had worn in it had been patched. Luigi must have done when it was his turn to do the washing. Mario hadn't even noticed.
When the trill of a boo rang from somewhere far away; Henry snapped to it, flinching. By degrees he inched closer, until he was again resting at Mario's side.
"You're scary when you're angry," he said softly.
Mario huffed again, glancing over at him. By the look on Henry's face, he was being dead serious.
"I'm not angry at you."
"I know, but I can still feel it..."
Mario sighed again.
There was not good way to tell how much time they spent there. Henry sat next to him--or Mario assumed he was sitting; it was hard to tell when he didn't have any legs--looking out of the window. He was still very dim and anxious, fidgeting and playing with his hands, but he seemed to have made his peace with the silence. The blue of the moon came and went with the blowing of the clouds outside, bathing the hall dark and light in turns. The windows above them tainted the shadows with their colored panes. Some of them were cracked or missing chunks, letting in gusts of wet air. Most of the candles in that hall had long been snuffed, all except a single, particularly stubborn one, spitting softly in the breeze. It was cold.
There was a movement to their right. Mario glanced up, expecting to see Orville, then froze.
It was a boo.
This one wasn't in a pack like the others had been, no, this one was on its own, meandering through the hall in a flowing bob, an incredulous look on its face. Mario stayed still as a statue, eyes fixed on the creature as it came. It was too late to hide. Then it spotted him and froze, eyes bugging.
Adrenaline coursed though Mario's system. In an instant he was up, lunging for the creature with a fist full of fire. But the boo wasn't sticking around for a fight. It plunged through the closest wall and vanished.
Mario changed direction and grappled to the first door on that wall. He smashed into it with his shoulder, cranking the handle with all his might. There was a crack and it gave, crashing open onto some sort of sitting room. He charged inside, nearly tripping over a footstool in the dark, and spun a circle in the middle of the floor. The room was empty, the boo was nowhere to be seen.
That was it then, It was only a matter of time now.
Mario turned one more circle, fists clenched and mind spinning, then glance sharply back at the hall as another moment caught his eye. It was Orville, staring back at him mouth agape. After a moment he picked out Henry's soft outline as well, still resting in front of the window, rigid with shock.
"What do- what do we do-" asked Henry, voice high and cracking.
"Do about what? What happened?" said Orville, looking between his brother and Mario.
Mario didn't answer, just snagged a book off one of a nearby lampstand and plunged back into the hall, stumbling again on the same footstool on the way out the door. He shoving both hands into his pockets, past the star, past the clattering key ring, into the remains of the map crumpled at the bottom. Something hard brushed his finger from among the shreds, and he snatched at it, fishing out the stump of a old pencil.
"What are you doing?" Henry asked as he flipped open the book and began a frantic scrawl on the first page, then flinched as he tore it out.
"The boos will be back; both of you have got to leave," said Mario.
"What! But-" said Orville
"No!" shouted Henry.
"Shh," hissed Mario, then shoved the note at Henry. "Take this,"--the note was followed by the ring of keys--"Take these things to my brother."
Neither of the boys answered. They just hung there, looking dazed and distressed.
Mario took a deep breath, forcing his haggard tone into calm.
"Henry, staying here will put you in danger. The boos can't know that you've helped me, either of you. But you can still find my brother. I'm sure he'll be back and he doesn't know- I need you to warn him for me."
There was a moment of silence, then slowly, Orville took the keys.
"Thank you," said Mario, and started to turn away.
"Wait!" said Orville, and he froze again. "There's an unblocked door; I found one up the passage."
"Where?"
"Just up that way," he said softly, pointing with an unsteady hand. "Along this wall..."
Mario closed his eyes in something like relief and nodded.
"Thank you. Thank you both. Now go!"
They hesitated for just a moment longer then starting with Orville, both boys vanished from sight, taking the note and the keys with them. Mario reached to adjust his hat, then remembered it wasn't there. He settled for rubbing his face instead and pushed forward down the hall, heading in the direction Orville had pointed.
• • •
For the second time this evening, every boo in the mansion had gathered to one place.
The storage room was alive with them, filled wall to wall with the murmur of their voices and lit almost to the brightness of day with their glow. But there was a distinct feel of tension this time round. Anger bubbled below the surface; a red, aggressive undertone that had been distinctly lacking before. It was turning the atmosphere of the room distinctly sour.
King Boo blamed himself for this. He was the centerpiece, the heart of the cloud, but try as he might he couldn't hold the same air of calm he had before.
It was true that this had been a trying evening, but overall, he couldn't say that the circumstances bothered him overly much. Things weren't going as he had envisioned, but the situation had evolved, that was all. Things were still well within the realm of manageable.
Despite his escape, Mario was still here somewhere. Whether the man was in the dungeon or the halls it didn't really matter. King Boo had little problem letting him run for a while if that's what he insisted on: burn off some of the accesses energy he had. They would corner him again soon enough and put him back where he belonged.
The others had been more of a problem. As a rule, King Boo liked to know his guest before inviting them into his castles, to know them quite well if possible, and those two had shown a good deal more fight than he had been counting on. But in all honesty, he was more fascinated than annoyed.
The last lingering concern had been that the three of his guests would at some point encounter each other, but that had resolved itself of its own accord: the king was reasonably sure that one of the intruders at least was dead.
It was unfortunate. Not how he had wanted things to go at all. The other was still here, likely still huddled in the council room. He should probably have her checked on at some point, but that was a thought for later...
No, what had the king riled was something entirely different: the disappearance of Bamboozle.
It would seem that at some point during the chaos, another guest had arrived at the mansion. In the search for Mario the front chambers had been discovered to be lit. All of the room from the foyer to the nursery had been emptied of their ghosts, and Bamboozle, the scout charged with watch the front of the castle, was among those missing.
There was only one person King Boo knew of who was capable of a feat like that. It would seem that the professor had finally returned.
It was a sharp reminder as to why the king had bothered to take this place initially; that he still had unfinished business. There were several ventures running their course this evening, all interesting and all with immense potential value, but at the end of the day they were undercards. If every one of them fell through, the professor at least would be the king's tonight.
And no matter what happened, he would have Bamboozle back.
A shift of excitement churned through the room, jumping like an electric charge across the ranks. Slowly King Boo opened his eyes, turning to face the small boo flitting through the crowd.
King boo raised an eyebrow as the boo floated to attention before him. He realized the scout was waiting to addressed, and gave a nod.
"Well? What is it?" he asked, cocking his head.
"I found him!" said the little boo, with a reasonable attempt at gravity.
King Boo's eyebrow arched higher. "Who have you found?"
"Mario! And he's almost to the back courtyard! He's almost gotten out!"
Well. That was unexpected.
King Boo didn't answer right away, eyes darting back and forth as he considered what to do. It was true, he would rather let the man get away than lose the professor, but on the other hand, he would very much prefer to have both.
King boo looked around him at the boos crammed into the little storeroom. Their expressions were eager, every one of them turned to him. It was all too obvious what they expected him to do.
Well, he supposed he shouldn't disappoint. There was still time to deal with his other agenda, after all.
"Boolderdash?" he said. The boo in question nodded to him and gave a chirp to a few of his squadron.
"Excellent. Boolsome, take charge of the ambush. This shouldn't take long, but if the professor should arrive before I do, you know how to handling him."
"Yes sir."
King Boo grinned widely, and with that, disappeared through the wall, heading in the direction of the courtyard.
Notes:
It feels so good to be writing again.
Notes: It feels so good to be writing again.
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