Print

Author Topic: The story  (Read 6087 times)

« on: August 10, 2000, 01:44:49 PM »
Please, take this seriously. This is going to be a school project if this turns out good enough. Yes, I will give all of you credit.
This takes place BEFORE the Mushroom Kingdom as we know it existed. Nothing above medevial. Peruse this. Think about it.
I'm thinking of two versions. One would be fanfic, and one would be this.


   Once, in a land far away and a time far lost, there was a touching story of daring-do, fate, and the bonds that love creates…

   Luigi looked up at the bright sun, shielding himself from its piercing rays. Little rain had fallen and the sun-baked soil couldn’t support his crops any longer. The minstrel was coming to town today, as was a mysterious traveler. He couldn’t remember a time like this one ever before. The drought was threatening to destroy his crops. He wanted to, just once, have good fortune. His entire life, as far back as he could remember, had been like this. He bent his head and was going to go inside when he heard the children of the village running to the courtyard. The minstrel must have arrived. He looked at his time-beaten hands dejectedly and decided to go. He stepped inside, and took his ring off of the shelf.
   The ring. It was silver, with an inlaid emerald and a small inscription on the inside. He got it from his mother when he was very little. It seemed a relic of a forgotten past. It was his most prized possession. Luigi slipped it on, and started walking into town.
   Before he got there, he could hear the minstrel’s singing and he smiled. The minstrel was nearly the highest part of his life, and everybody was always there. He was at the back of the crowd now. He thought about the village. It probably wasn’t going to be here in two years. He would have to move on. If the opportunity presented itself now, he probably would go. Why not just go now? He’d ask after the show. For now he’d just enjoy the music.
   The minstrel wrapped up his show, and the crowd dispersed. The minstrel was inside his wagon when Luigi walked up to ask if the minstrel needed any help. The faded and battered side of the wagon said “Minstrel Mario”.
   â€œAre you Mario?” Luigi asked.
   â€œMe?” asked the muffled voice.
   â€œYes.”
   â€œYes.”
   Out of curiosity, Luigi asked, “Do you remember a time when this area was good?”
   â€œAs a matter of fact, no I don’t. The area around the palace is always nice, but-“
   â€œYou’ve been to the palace??”
“Almost performed for King Bowser himself. Want to hear more?”
“Not right now, there’ll be time for that later. What I came to ask you about was this: Do you need an assistant?” Luigi asked.
“Why, yes I do. Are you applying?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Let me take a good look at you.” And Mario stepped out to see an image of himself, complete to the lines on the face. “You’re hired. Get inside the wagon. NOW.”
Luigi didn’t need any further urging. He hopped in, and he heard another carriage draw up and a female voice speak in pure tones  â€œCan someone give me directions?”
Luigi and Mario both popped their heads out. A fair lady, the most beautiful that either of them had ever seen, was sitting in the old, dirty, faded carriage.
Luigi spoke first, cutting off Mario by a hair. “Where to?”
“The inn, please.”
Luigi took it from there. “It’s over there. Do you need anything else?”
“Yes, as a matter fact, I do. I need food.”
“Follow me.” The three of them went inside the inn. The Bartender wiped his hands off and walked around the bar to them.
Peach said, in that sweet, sweet voice, “We need a room.”
“Certainly, miss. This way.” The bartender led them up the dirty, grimy stairs and showed them a room. It was a dirty room. A broom lay in the corner, dirty. Luigi whispered into Peach’s ear. “I’ve got a house on the outskirts of the town. We could all stay there.”
Peach said, “Sorry, but I don’t believe that this room is what I was looking for.”
The three left the inn, and walked across the street to the market. Luigi bought some hard, crusty bread and six apples. Luigi put them in the satchel, and the trio went to Mario’s wagon. They headed towards home.
On the way, Peach noticed the barren fields, and spoke in that wonderful voice.
“Has this place always been like this?”
Luigi answered, “As long as we can remember.”
“How depressing.”
Luigi said, “You’re telling me? I’ve lived here all of my life.”
“Does it ever seem like you’re being watched?”
Three things happened at once. Mario and Luigi both said sometimes, and she disappeared.
Mario almost said “Where is she?” and then he thought ‘Where is who?’ For, you see, neither Mario nor Luigi remembered the woman with the wonderful voice known as Peach.
The two of them rode home in stony silence, for there was nothing to talk about.. They went to bed, for it was nearing curfew.
That night was very strange indeed. Mario and Luigi were asleep, and Mario was dreaming., when Peach appeared to him. She was in a cage, he could sense, but one
She spoke. “…Mario, you must release me. I’m trapped in time. Please help! You’re my only hope…”Mario and Luigi both woke up. Mario was pale as he looked around the room. The dirt seemed to be everywhere. This town was one of the worst he had seen yet.
Mario spoke. “I think I saw a ghost. Do you remember that girl we met yesterday in town?”
Luigi asked, very puzzled, “Who? I don’t remember any girl.”
Mario spoke again with an extreme sense of urgency. “We have to go see King Bowser. Everyone says he can help with time-related problems. I may be the only one who remembers her. I must rescue my love. No one else will.”
Luigi said, “You are a noble heart, and you are an identical to myself. I will follow you. But King Bowser sees no one. How are we to get in?”
“We will. I don’t know how, but we will.”
 Chapter Two

Luigi said, “Let’s leave now. The faster we get out of here, the faster we get to your princess. There’s nothing for me here anymore.”
Mario said, “Let’s put supplies in the wagon.”

The two of them set off in Mario’s wagon, with supplies for three weeks, and the house locked up. As Luigi looked back at his house over the ridge as the two of them set off, he thought he’d never see it again. Mario spurred on the mules, and Luigi looked forwards, towards the mountains. All he had ever known was behind him, and everything was ahead. He wanted to go. There was nothing left for him here. He looked back at his house, just before it faded from view. He looked at the three things he had brought of his own. The ring, which seemed to sparkle brighter than it had ever before, an old sword, sparkling like new thanks to a restorative spell placed on it by Mario, and a mushroom, one he had found in the woods. The village identifier couldn’t identify it. Oh, he had almost forgotten. He put the mushroom in the wooden, padded case he had brought with him to house the ring.
He felt younger than he ever had. Mario had told him that Bowser’s castle lay many days’ trek over the Mountains of Twilight.
Mario said, “I know what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?”
“It’s a long road ahead, and you’re leaving home for the first time.”
“Luigi said, “You’re right. I am. What are you thinking?”
Mario was thinking many things. He was thinking of the heavenly Peach mostly, but there were other things too. He had an uphill trek ahead, and he knew it, but there were things that he never would have suspected ahead. It was almost time for noon (Both had overslept and Luigi had been slow packing up.). Lunch would be soon, and Mario liked what was packed. Mario liked to eat, but neither he nor Luigi ever drank the stuff called ale. He sometimes drank wine, and so did Luigi, but no ale or beer for either of them. “I am thinking of many things. Mostly of Peach, but sometimes of food.”
“Do you always think of your stomach?”
“No…mostly, but not always.”
“What did Peach look like?”
Mario closed his eyes, remembering the dream. “She was tall, light-coloured hair, blue eyes, and the most beautiful voice in the universe.”
“I wish I had seen her. What makes you think that Bowser, our wonderful overlord, could help us?”
“I don’t know. And, if he’s omnipotent, couldn’t he make your region fertile?”
“I don’t know. Let’s ask him when we get there.”
They rode in silence over the parched dry terrain. There was a small forest ahead that they would use as an eating spot. Mario stared at the mountains. Much would have changed since the last time he had been there. He knew some changes would have happened, but there would have been many more than he thought.
Though they didn’t know it, Mario and Luigi had no idea of what was ahead. Mario’s knowledge was useless, and Luigi had never been farther than town.
Luigi tried to imagine what Peach could have looked like. All of the people he had ever met were fast receding behind him, and a world was ahead.
Luigi had no concept of distance. He thought they’d get to Bowser’s Castle within two days. In reality, it was many days’ travel from his home. He looked into the interior of the wagon. There was all of Mario’s life. All of his relics, all of his trinkets, all of his treasures, all in one wagon ambling down the path. He couldn’t imagine where this wagon had been.
They were nearing the grove of trees. There was a large rock nearby. Mario tethered his wagon, and they went into the grove.
It was the nicest place Luigi had ever seen. A small grassy part was next to the water, which was bubbling from the ground. The trees shaded the grove, and the light shone in, and became visual liquid as it hit the pool of water. Mario was carrying the food satchel of food, and the two of them set the food down.
Luigi, in awe, said, “This is the nicest place I’ve ever seen. I never came out here because I didn’t want to leave my house.”
Mario stated, “Pity that you missed this before now.”
Luigi spoke again, more that a touch of awe in his voice, “’Tis.”
The serenity of the grove was soothing to the mind and body as well as the soul.
Mario unpacked the picnic basket, and the food was spread out. There were several kinds of cheeses and fruits. Among the cheeses there were rock-hard green varieties that no one would touch; creamy, soft yellow-white varieties that Luigi had had in his cupboard; and some flaming-red varieties that Mario had picked up from another town. Among the fruits, there were small, round melons, large, green grapes, small, hard nuts, and the aforementioned apples. The former two were contributed by Mario, the latter two by Luigi. They ate, Luigi eating mainly the fruits and Mario eating the cheese.
After a while, they packed up their remaining food, and went to the wagon for their waterskins. When they came back, they filled up the waterskins, and they put them in the wagons with the rest of their equipment.
Mario told the mules to move, and they started down the path. Luigi noticed that his flower was blooming…
 Chapter Three

The night was nearing, and the pair was nearing a campsite that Mario had heard of. They unhitched the horses, and were starting a campfire when three figures came up to them.
-Pegasus Team, slide ruler

Print