Mario's hunt

Chap. 19: Peach's POV

Where is Mario? What is he doing?

It had been several hours, and Mario hadn't returned. He didn't say when he was going to return, and I felt like something was horribly wrong. Aside from worried, I was feeling a bit lonely; Bowser and Luigi went out to find food while I was to stay put and watch Basilisk and Bowser Jr. (who was asleep in another room). I got up and got another drink of water before sitting down with Basilisk.

He was already starting to walk, and he was getting some distance. I was impressed that he was already walking, even though he wasn't entirely human.

He walked to the window and said "five". I looked out that window and saw Mario, back facing us. He had his hand in the air and was waving at us. Something wasn't right about Mario, but I didn't really care; all that mattered was that he was alive. He was turning around, and when I saw that his eyes were gone, I grabbed Basilisk and ran into the bedroom where Bowser Jr. was sleeping. I woke him up and had him hide under the bed with us. Basilisk, who seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, kept his mouth shut. I couldn't say the same for Bowser Jr., who was whimpering like nobody's business. In fact, he was whimpering so much that I had to put my hands over his mouth to shut him up. I heard a door open.

He's coming...

"Peach?" Luigi's voice said. "Basilisk? Bowser Jr.? Where are you guys?"

"Guys, stay here," I whispered softly to Bowser Jr. and Basilisk. "If I don't come back, Bowser Jr., I want you to get Basilisk and yourself to safety. Find Luigi if you can and have him take you somewhere far away from here. Understood?"

They both nodded.

I crawled out from under the bed and slowly walked to the living room. I peered around the corner and saw Luigi and Bowser looking all around. I walked into the room.

"Oh Peach, there you are!" Luigi exclaimed. "Listen, we couldn't find any food, but while we were looking we found Mario. But...you may not like to see."

"No, show me," I said quickly. "One of you, show me."

"I'll show her," Bowser said. "Luigi, watch the kids. Where are they, anyway?"

I looked around, then yelled, "IT'S SAFE, GUYS!"

Not long after, Bowser Jr. came in holding Basilisk. Bowser Jr. was relieved, and Basilisk just looked happy.

Bowser and I left the house and he led me into the plains until we spotted trees. A small forest, it was, but a forest nonetheless.

After what felt like a long walk into the woods, we came across Mario, but he was extremely weak. There was blood coming out of his neck, and he was much more pale than his brother.

When Mario saw me, he took the photos out of his breast pocket and barely tossed them at my feet. I picked them up and looked at them. There were four in all, and each one brought more tears to my eyes than the last.

The first one was of the woods back at the cabin, but eyeless Mario was there. The next one was of Bowser and I that one night, and this one brought tears to my eyes.

I dropped it and went to the next one, which was of Mario, in the woods, covered in blood and crying. This one made the tears leave my eyes, but I wiped them away and went to the last one, which was the worst one yet.

It was of Yoshi, but he was in one of his eggs, dead. This one did it for me, and I dropped it and broke down to the ground, crying. As I sat there, I heard screaming coming from the house. Bowser and I ran as fast as we could all the way to the house.

Luigi and the kids were still in the house. They were unscathed, but they looked terrified.

"What happened?" Bowser asked.

"It was a trap," Luigi answered, quivering. "Mario, or someone who looked like Mario, was heading into the forest, knife in hand. I screamed as loud as I could to get him away from the woods so you guys might have a safer shot out."

"Safe?" A voice came from behind us, making us jump.

We looked and saw Mario, but eyeless. I pushed the kids behind me and looked in horror at the eyeless Mario.

This was who "he" was...

"Who are you?" I asked. "Why are you here?"

"Silly girl," he said in a calm yet kinda crazy-inducing voice. "You know better than to ask who one is when said one wants to kill."

"Kill? You're not going to be able to kill all of us."

"No, not all. Just one. I want your child, Peach."

"NO!" I screamed as I grabbed Basilisk in my arms. "YOU ARE NOT GETTING MY CHILD! YOU'LL HAVE TO GET THROUGH ALL OF US IF YOU WANT TO GET TO HIM!"

"As you may not be so aware, I am perfectly able to do just that."

Bowser and Luigi immediately got in front of me and were already ready to fight.

Eyeless Mario came forward and grabbed Luigi by his throat and threw him into a wall. Bowser tried to grab Eyeless Mario by his neck, but the latter jumped up and kicked the former away. Eyeless Mario then came for me. He tried to grab me, but I jumped back and kicked him in his face. He didn't do anything at first, then he got up and jumped at me. I just got to the side and grabbed him when he was close enough. I threw him in the air and kicked him into a wall. He shook it off and made for another grab, but I grabbed his arm and threw him behind me. I turned around to face him when I saw that he wasn't there. I was then pushed into a wall, Eyeless Mario standing over me.

"You have put up a good fight. How about I make a deal with you?"

"Deal?" I said, not really sure I was going to like what he was going to do.

"Yes. In exchange for your child's life, I want one thing in return."

"And what's that?" I asked.