Mario's hunt

Chap. 15: Peach's POV

Am I making the right decision in trusting Mario? After all, he was hunting us down to kill my child...

"I'm so scared," Mario said quickly and nervously. "Ugh, I've got to control my emotions!"

"Any reason, dare I ask?" Bowser Jr. asked, eyebrow raised.

"Because," Mario started, "that's how he finds me."

"Who's 'he'?" Luigi asked, looking around a little apprehensively.

"It's...hard to explain," Mario replied. "He's kinda like a friend, yet also like a brother who's almost exactly like me and who's always been there. But, he's been kind of abusive, lately. I didn't wanna kill Basilisk anymore, but he didn't wanna let me have a mind of my own, I guess."

"What does 'he' look like?" I asked, hoping to get something out of him or at least see if he was lying about everything he's saying.

"Oh, it's horrible, Peach," he answered. "He...looks like me but..."

"But, what?" I snapped impatiently.

"But eyeless."

Those words caused my own eyes to widen. It made me question so much about my life (well, the last three years of it).

"Eyeless?" The word just slipped out of my mouth.

"Yeah, how can he see?" Bowser Jr. added.

"He needs no sight," Mario started. "He hunts me by sensing my negative emotions. It's hard to explain, but it seems like he feeds off my anger and hatred and revels in my pain and sadness."

I looked at the others and I could tell that they, like me, couldn't believe what they just heard. I needed to know more.

"How long was 'he' around?" I asked.

"As long as I can remember, but he's been more active lately," Mario answered. "I guess it's all the stress I've been under lately. You know he's been watching you, right?"

This brought so much stuff back to my mind, stuff I didn't want to have in my mind again. I kept my mouth shut.

"I think I know of one place that'll help me keep control of my emotions," Mario said quietly. "But first I wanna check up on Dianthus. She's been different ever since I sent her to detention."

And I wonder why...