Paper Mario - A New Beginning

Chapter Two: Mimi, Age 7

- Age 7 -

"Mimi! Down from there! Now!" My father yells. I sigh and climb down from the roof, reverting back to my human form and hopping in the house through the window, plopping down on the couch. Most children in our species choose to remain in their true forms, but I just feel more comfortable this way. Father shakes his head in disappointment.

"Mimi, you need to calm yourself." He says softly. "You're only seven. This type of activity can exhaust your energy quickly."

I already know how the whole energy thing works. I have a limited amount of energy in a day until I'm ten. Then I'll be able to use up all the energy I want. But I never feel tired, so I'm pretty sure the energy thing is just a fairy tale.

"Whatever, dad." I roll my eyes. I'll probably be reprimanded for misbehaviour, but I don't care right now. I just need to get out of the house as soon as I can. "Can I go out today? I'm bored."

He sighs in disappointment, but nevertheless, he nods. He knows that imitandum children need sunlight to grow properly. We're similar to plants in that regard. I smile gratefully and dart out the door, morphing into a bird and flying off.

The neighbouring kingdom isn't too far off. I can make it no problem! I know it. Besides, I'm one of the strongest ones in my village. I just really want to see that kid again. He seemed so nice when I last met him!

Finally, the castle comes into view. Decorated with shades of purple, black, and white, it would be pretty intimidating for most. Not for me, though. I know the family that lives here is really nice. They're from one of our ally species, the noface. Despite that, they don't actually not have faces. It's because their faces have a mask-like appearance. I've joked with the kid about how they should be called "mask-faces" and he replied by saying that, by that logic, we should be called "spider-shifters". Touché.

I land near the castle, turning back into my human form. I'm about to knock on the castle doors when I hear footsteps behind me.

"Didn't think you'd be back so soon, Mimi."

I grin. There's only one person I know whose voice echoes naturally. I turn around and run to him, hugging him tightly.

He laughs. "Good to see you too."

I giggle and sit down. "Dad was on my case again about the whole energy thing."

He kneels down next to me, smirking. "You're smart enough to know that it's just a rumour, arent'cha?" He asks. I nod eagerly.

"Of course! I've never been tired at all from shifting." I reply. Then I pause. "Though, often, I do find myself getting bad headaches. It's really annoying."

"Sure they're not from your dad's shouting?" That manages to get a laugh out of me.

"Hey, um... You never told me your name." I say softly. He glances at me curiously but then chuckles and looks up.

"Name's Xeras. Current Dimince."

"Dimince...?" I ask. "Um... I know that you guys have a different sort of government system, but what's a Dimince?"

"Dimensional Prince." He says calmly. "My dad's the one in charge here. Normally, people call us by our status. So they call me Dimince. But I prefer to be called by my real name."

"Oh... Okay then." I smile brightly. "It's nice to really meet you, then, Xeras."

"It's nice to meet you too." He says. He opens his mouth to say something else, but a loud shout interrupts us from within the castle.

"Dimince! Come inside at once! We must discuss the imminent threat from our neighbouring kingdom."

Xeras sighs. "Coming, dad." He shouts back. He stands up but takes a glance back towards me. "I'll see you again some time, right? Promise me you'll come back."

"I will." I say. And no matter what, I know I'll keep that promise.

He smiles at my answer. "Good. Then I'll see you around." He turns towards the door and vanishes, the air around where he was rippling before stilling, as though he were never there to begin with. I stare at the empty space left in his wake and then shake my head. Better get home. I morph back into a bird and take to the air.

I wish I could teleport, like he can. Is it even teleporting? He said he was a dimensional prince or something so maybe it's like he moves between dimensions. I don't know. It would be useful, thou-

CRACK!

I scream and fall from the air, plummeting down towards the water below. I must've hit a tree. Or a bird. Or something that makes a cracking noise when you hit it. I land in the water with a splash, holding my breath, but then remembering that my species doesn't need to breathe. It's just uncomfortable not to.

I slowly open my eyes, wincing as the water hit them, but not really being bothered by it. Just annoyed. A school of fish swim by me and I turn to watch them in wonder.

I decide to take a swim around. I push off a nearby rock and swim through a narrow passage, leading into a more open part of the ocean. Here, I can see almost all the coral, rock, and earth that makes up the vast waterway. I stare at it all in wonder. I've only ever seen this in pictures before, in the few history books we have in our village. Most of them detail the history of our own species, but I've found a few about the history of the world. Pictures of the ocean were included in those.

I start feeling an uncomfortable tightness in my chest. I'm not going to drown, but it's gonna feel like that the whole time I'm underwater. I shudder a bit but keep moving along. I pass a few more fish, more coral, shimmering in brilliant colours with the light shining through the water.

I get bored. The ocean is really repetitive to me. My dad's always saying to slow down and appreciate what's around me, but that's boring. I already know what's around me! I huff a bit, bubbles shooting out of my mouth, and I swim back up to the surface, taking a deep breath to ease the tightness in my lungs. I look up and notice that the sun's starting to lower. Dad's probably gonna worry about me, so I'd better hurry up. I swim to shore as fast as I can and change back to a bird, flying back home.

Halfway there, I start feeling dizzy. I shrug it off as a side effect of being underwater and keep flying. I see my village off in the distance and quicken my pace.

I'm almost there. I'm right overhead. Now all I've got to do is land and-

I hit the ground with a thud, unconscious on the spot.

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