Mario's hunt

Chap. 16: Mario's POV

I'm so glad I'm out of his chains...

We arrived at my cabin, where Cappy was outside with Dianthus, who was facing a tree with her arms crossed. I ran out to her and asked what happened. Cappy said that she had ran upstairs and broke a lot of stuff. Dianthus said that she was sent upstairs to get something when Cappy went berserk and made her face a tree.

She had changed last time I saw her; her hair was now a burnt sienna (which I guessed was a failed dye attempt) and there was a dried bloodstain on her chin. The bloodstain worried me.

What did Cappy do to her?

I gave her a hug, and she hugged me back. She hugged me for quite a while before running back into the house.

Huh, she's never hugged me back before...

Cappy followed her while Luigi summoned his pipe.

"Where are we going now?" Peach asked.

"We are going to Yoshi's house," I answered as we all hopped in the pipe. "It's the only place where I can keep my cool and think."

We arrived at Yoshi's place and found Yoshi...not there. I got worried; Yoshi was one of very few who could help me keep it together, and he was gone.

We noticed that the door was unlocked, so we cautiously entered his house. I looked for any signs of a forced entry, but then I stopped because I knew I was just worrying myself and that the last thing I needed to do was worry. I decided to play with Basilisk to keep myself amused, and I had to admit, that kid was fairly bright; when I waved my hand, this kid talked, saying the word "five". It took me a minute to figure out why he used that word, then I figured out that he was counting my fingers. Bowser and Luigi said that while they were looking for food, they were teaching Basilisk how to count and use words. They also said that "five" just became his first (actual) word that wasn't just incoherent babbling.

Peach came to pick him up when he said, "mama" to her. My eyes widened with surprise, and so did Peach's. I had to figure out what else he knew; I brought Bowser Jr. over, and Basilisk said, "bruh". Bowser came over, and the little guy said, "dada." I was so impressed by all that this days-old child already knew. I had Luigi come over, and that little child said, "wimpy." Everyone except Luigi laughed at that child's insult.

How was this child picking up these words in such a short amount of time?