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multicolour-ink · 1 year

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"You Could've Hurt Him"

A prequel to the Mario Dæmon AU. All credit and thanks goes to @istadris for the idea. They told me about it, and I liked it so much I asked if I could adapt it into a oneshot! I really enjoyed writing this, and also having the chance to expand the story on this AU.

A dæmon is a person's soul. To touch another person's dæmon is a great taboo, and can cause great distress and pain.

Please refer to the masterpost for full context.

- - -

"Hey, Luigi", said Mario with a sly grin. "Wanna play a prank on Mama?"

Luigi blinked at him. The two of them were five years old, sitting in the family living room.

"A prank?", Luigi asked nervously?

He glanced over to their Nonno, who was fast asleep in front of the still blaring television set. His dæmon (a blue budgie) sat on his hat, her head under her wing.

"Don't worry!", said Mario, sensing his brother's distress. "Not that kind of prank. A fun one. Mama will find it so funny!"

Luigi blinked again, then smiled and nodded, and Mario told him the plan...

- - -

"MAMA!!!", Luigi cried out, in his best panicked voice.

Their mother immediately came flying into the room, her hen dæmon equally in flight as she toppled in after her human, her feathers all puffed up.

"What is is darling?!", cried their Mama. Her heart stopped as she saw her youngest son kneeling on the floor in tears.

"I've lost my dæmon!", Luigi wailed, before hiding his face in his hands.

Mama blinked. She stepped back a little, as if ready to run outside and prepare a search party. A missing dæmon was no laughing matter!

But then she caught sight of a baby squirrel hiding on top of Luigi's head. She also caught the very obvious smile Luigi was trying to hide on his tear stained face.

She breathed out slowly, pretending to still be worried.

"Oh my!", she exclaimed, playing along. "Oh that's veeery bad to hear, darling! But she can't have gone far. I'll help you look."

And she started making a great show of it, peeking behind the door and under the worn couch.

The two brothers started snickering, as Mama started looking in even more obscure places. They started cackling even louder as Mama's hen dæmon started pecking at the carpet, as if expecting to find Luigis' dæmon hiding under the floorboards.

"Could she be...here?", Mama asked, as she lifted a pillow on the couch.

"Or maybe...here?", as she looked under a chair.

"Or maybe she's under here!", Mama declared, as she carefully lifted Nonno's cap off his head. Neither Nonno or the budgie stirred.

"Ah no, just Nonno's head!", said Mama, pretending to grimace.

The boys were at this point beside themselves, unable to keep up the act any longer.

Mama stood up and scratched her head in pretend confusion. Then she turned, gave a cheeky grin towards her boys, and then carefully approached her youngest.

"Ah ha! There she is!", cried Mama, pointing to the squirrel with a flourish.

She was quite surprised to see her boys still laughing.

"No no, Mama!", Mario giggled. His words almost obscured by his laughter. "She's not there. She's right here!"

And he suddenly lifted up his shirt, reached under, and presented a small mouse in his palm. She squeaked and twitched her nose in excitement, clearly proud of the joke.

Mama blinked. She frowned. Her eyes quickly darted between her sons, the squirrel, and the mouse.

Then she clasped a hand to her mouth, her face draining of colour.

"MARIO?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!", she shrieked. As if her eldest son had just pulled out a hand grenade.

Before Mario could even answer, his mother strode over with tremendous speed, grabbed his wrist, and started shaking his arm hard in an attempt to dislodge the mouse from her perch.

"Put her down, NOW!", Mama shrieked again. Luigi's dæmon, Belissia, fell to the ground with a small thud. Luigi cried out at the impact.

Mario rubbed his wrist as Mama let go; the squirrel, Eliseo, jumped down from his perch to comfort his human.

"How could you do that?!", Mama was still yelling. "You could've hurt Luigi!"

"But Mama it didn't hurt!", Luigi tried to say, but was cut off immediately by Mama.

"How could you both do such a thing?!", her voice was getting higher and higher. They had never seen their mother look this distressed.

"Hey, hey! What's going on?!"

Uncle Arthur came tumbling into the room. His wife, Marie, followed close behind, with Uncle Tony bringing up the rear.

The three of them were certainly surprised to see such a scene. Mama was crying and tottering in one spot on the floor, as if she was about to fall over: her hen dæmon equally as ruffled and distressed. Nonno was startled awake by all the yelling. And then there was the boys, who looked scared and confused as if they were deer caught in headlights.

"Th-they were", Mama started, shakily. She gestured a trembling hand at the boys.

"They were...holding each other's dæmons!"

Aunt Marie gasped and covered her mouth. Uncle Tony peered over their shoulders, equally as confused.

Uncle Arthur blinked.

"You...You're having a laugh, right?", he chuckled, expecting it all to be a joke.

"No I am NOT!", cried Mama. Her voice raising again.

"What's all the yelling for?", asked Nonno. He was now fully awake as he gazed around the room.

"You! You daft old-", shouted Mama. She strode over to Nonno, pointing a threatening finger in his face.

"Wha'choo yelling at me for?!", exclaimed Nonno, as he shrank back into the chair. The budgie fluttered out of reach from the dishevelled hen dæmon.

"You were supposed to be watching them!", shrieked Mama. "My boys could've been hurt because of you!"

"It wasn't Nonno's fault, Mama!", Mario bravely spoke up.

"Don't you dare speak!", yelled Mama. "How could you do that Mario?! How could you hurt your brother?! How could you play with his dæmon?! Luigi, why did you let him do that?! Do you not understand?!"

Luigi couldn't even reply. He was trembling, his head buried in Mario's shoulder. Mario kept a tight hold on his brother. Their dæmons were equally as on edge, huddling together as little mice.

"Hey now!", Uncle Arthur stepped forward, holding up his hands in an attempt to gain some control of peace. "That's enough, you're scaring the boys."

Mama did a sharp gasp, as if she had suddenly been snapped back to her senses. She took in her boys. Mario tight lipped and stony. Luigi shaking against his brother, tears rolling down his face.

Mama went over to them at once, and fell to her knees. She gently cradled their faces in her hands.

"Oh my boys", she breathed. She took in the faces of her sons. Her babies. Her sweet angels.

"I'm so sorry for shouting like that! I didn't mean to frighten you so. It's just...what you did was very bad."

"Are we in trouble?", Luigi asked quietly.

"No! No.", answered Mama reassuringly. "You're not in trouble my darlings. But you must never, ever do that again. It's not right."

"We were just playing!", said Mario.

Mama shook her head.

"You must never, ever, touch another person's dæmon", said Mama firmly.

She swallowed.

"Especially each other's. It's wrong."

"But why Mama?!"

Mama sighed.

"There are...rules, in this world, my darlings. Rules that are in place to keep us all safe."

"Like when we're told to always knock on the bathroom door before going in?", asked Luigi.

Mama's mouth twitched into a faint smile.

"Yeah...Something like that."

She sighed again, before standing a little straighter.

"I will have to tell your father about this", she said, her lip quivering. "Just...be good until then, and please don't let me catch you doing that again for the rest of the night."

The brothers could only nod in response.

- - -

It was only an hour later until their Papa came in the door, whistling a merry tune after a day of work. He yelled out greetings to the rest of the family, and then all too quickly noticed the sombre silence filling the walls.

Mama took him quietly aside into the kitchen. She had shut the door a little, but the brothers could still make out what was going on. Mario approached cautiously, peering in but not getting too close to the door. He caught sight of his mother pacing around the kitchen in a state. His father poised as rigid as a statue.

Papa then suddenly turned, sensing his son in the doorway, and their eyes met.

Mario's breath hitched. Their father was not a strict man. And he was certainly not a scary man; but the frown now adorning the man's face told all. To Mario, that was always the worst expression to see on him.

Dinner was just as silent. The room suppressed of any chatter.

After everyone had finished eating, Mama took Luigi into the living room, and Papa pulled Mario aside into the hallway. He wasn't frowning now, but he looked sad.

He sat on the staircase and gestured Mario to sit down, patting the empty spot beside him.

Mario cautiously did so. Even though his father was quite a short man, he seemed to tower over Mario on the narrow stairs. Their dæmons, Papa's peccary and Eliseo (as a dormouse) sat side by side against the wall.

"Your mama told me what happened today", he said.

Mario swallowed.

"I hope you understand, that what you both did was very wrong."

Mario shook his head.

"We were just playing!", he said indignantly.

Papa sighed tiredly. He pressed his index and middle finger to his forehead, before letting out a breath, and turned to his eldest son again.

"I know you both are too young to understand. And I know you didn't mean any harm, but that was still a very dangerous thing to do, Mario. You're the big brother. You need to make sure you and Luigi are always safe."

Papa shifted again, placing a large hand gently on his son's shoulder.

"You didn't know, and that's okay. But now that you do know, you won't do it again, alright?"

"But it didn't hurt..." Mario said in a very small voice. He leaned forward and pressed his face into his knees.

"I like holding her..."

Papa rubbed his back.

"You're both alright now. But next time, you may not be so lucky.", Papa said, his voice stern but soft.

"You didn't realise it, but it's dangerous. You don't want to hurt Luigi, do you?"

Mario sat up at once.

"Of course not!"

"Then just remember what we told you. Me, and your mother.", Papa smiled.

He patted his son on the back.

"You best get upstairs and ready for bed. Mama and I will be up to tuck you boys in soon."

Mario nodded and sped up the stairs at once. Eliseo slinking behind as a weasel.

- - -

Only a few moments after getting his teeth brushed and finding his pyjamas, Mario was more than exhausted. But he was still too upset to go to sleep.

He kicked the dresser in frustration, then sat back against the bedroom wall, knees up to his chest.

Eliseo approached cautiously as a lion cub, and nuzzled his arm. But Mario remained stiff: he didn't just want the comfort of his dæmon.

He wanted Luigi. But his brother was currently still downstairs getting the same (less harsher) lecture from Papa.

It wasn't fair! Mario was more confused than ever. Why was it wrong to hold each other's dæmons?! Mama and Papa had said it was dangerous, but how? Nothing had happened, and they were fine. They had held each other's dæmons even before today, and neither Mama, Papa, or the rest of the family had noticed.

Maybe they just had to be more careful next time, and not get caught. But the last words from Papa still burned in Mario's head:

"You don't want to hurt Luigi, do you?"

Mario frowned. He would never want to hurt Luigi! And he knew Luigi would never hurt him. But Belissia wouldn't hurt him either. She was always very sweet. And she liked sitting in his hand!

He couldn't explain why it felt so nice to hold her....She just did...

Mario now stood up from where he sat, Eliseo more alert. They would both have to be careful. If Mama and Papa said it was dangerous, and there was a chance they could get hurt (Mario worried more so for Luigi), then they just couldn't hold their dæmons anymore.

He would have to talk to Luigi later, but right now, he wanted to cuddle with Eliseo and be kissed goodnight by Mama.

So with that, Mario got under the covers (Eliseo transforming into a cuddly red panda for comfort) and soon after drifted to sleep.

- - -

Years later, when they were much older, Mario would be able to explain exactly how it felt. Holding Belissia was like...she was almost another part of himself. It felt like, in the moments when he held her, he became more connected with Luigi than ever before. And he knew Luigi felt the same way with Eliseo.

In the years that followed, the refusal to hold each other's dæmons would unknowingly create a rift. Though the brothers loved each other still, the bond between them and the dæmons wavered, until they were unable to connect as they did before.

And it would not be until even later, when a chance encounter with an evil king and a Power Star, would decide the fates of the worlds...

And the love between brothers...

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