Luigi is not in this game.

Chapter Seven

Andres dragged himself through the castle walls. He had no idea where Lacey had wandered off to. He hoped that she didn't decide to try to defeat Bowser herself. She already had enough trouble with holding a star without dying, there was no way she would last down there long. Instead of exploring that idea, he walked upstairs, one excruciating step at a time until he finally reached the second floor. Another toadstool bounced idly next to another stairwell, waiting to be spoken to. A hidden star lay in Toad's pocket, but Andres didn't want to talk to him despite the guy being fake. He was real enough for it to be considered social interaction. Instead, he pushed himself into a painting and fell into another level.

Mushrooms lingered around, but this time they charged forward toward Andres. He had forgotten that the mushrooms became hostile after defeating Bowser for the first time. He dodged out of the way and slipped into the water. The air was pushed out of his lungs upon impact. He scrabbled to the surface of the water. The piranha! He grabbed at the edge of the next grassy platform and pulled himself up. His eyes landed on the tiny black ball in the corner. His breath was stolen away from him again, instead of panic. A fireball rolled out and slithered toward Andres. The memory of searing pain passed through his entire body. Without thinking, he jumped up and scrambled on the floating block above him. He sat and watched the fireball puff into smoke after hitting the wall.

Andres sighed, then turned to the higher edge and hopped up onto that. He gazed around, thinking of which star was the easiest. Instead of deciding what to do, he wandered around the plains. It was a level with balance. Not everything was bad. Pain wasn't around every corner he turned. There was bad and good. Stars suddenly didn't matter to him anymore. Instead, he found the slim wooden bridge that hung over the water and he sat on it.

Andres watched his reflection in the water below, rippling as the fish popped up to the top. Quiet footsteps made him look up to the source. Lacey, more like tiny Lacey, stood in front of him.

"Oh, hey." She said. "Uh, are you alright?"

Andres stared at her. He could barely formulate words in his head anymore. "Fine. I'm fine." He turned away and pulled on the collar of his shirt.

"Well," Lacey sat down next to him. She was half the size she used to be. "I got a bunch of stars in the snow level up here. Actually, I got all of them."

"What? Why? That hurts you."

"I know, but the faster we get the stars, the faster we get out of here." She said. "Uh, fair warning, the stars are still on the floor of the room kinda broken. I still can't hold them."

"You didn't have to do that, I didn't mean to be so harsh when I asked you to help out. I should have understood better."

"Andres," She looked up at him. "It's fine."

"...I cannot take you seriously when you're that small," Andres said.

Lacey heavily exhaled. "So, what was your mom like?"

The question caught Andres caught off guard. "Um, she was nice. She liked video games a lot so I grew up with what she grew up with. We never really played the new games."

"Was it only on the Nintendo64?"

"Pretty much, but I played my 3DS alone."

"That sounds like fun," Lacey said. "I'm sure she was very proud of you."

"For playing video games?"

"No, no, more than that." Lacey and Andres sat in silence for a moment. "Let's go get the stars in here." She stood up, now at eye level with him. "Come on, let's go."

Andres heaved himself up to his feet. "I don't wanna."

"You would do this for your mom, wouldn't you?" Lacey asked.

The silence made Andres's ears ring and he didn't respond. He just followed her away from the bridge. He was stuck, he knew that. But he kept going. For his mother.

"This is the room I collected all of the stars in." Lacey pushed open the door. On the floor, seven cracked and broken stars lay on the floor. He crouched down and picked them up, merging them back together with his hands. He put all of them in his pocket and stood.

"We're almost done," Andres said. "It's time for the third floor. But first, I need to grab that star from Toad."

The two headed into the hallway briefly spoke to Toad and went upstairs. The massive grandfather clock stood tall in front of them. "I'll get that," Lacey said. "That's my favorite level."

Andres looked over at her. "I'll get the rainbow level."

"Andres, listen..." Lacey spoke before he was able to turn away. "I'm sorry, about everything. Really, and I know I'll never know how it feels to lose a mother, and you're going through a really hard time. I didn't mean to hurt you-"

"Stop." Andres cut her off. "It's not your fault. You just wanted to be happy with a family who cares, and I failed right at the beginning."

"Are you failing now?" Andres didn't respond. He ran off and wall jumped up to the hole in the wall and jumped down the brick tunnel.

The carpet ride moved at an annoyingly slow pace. He aimed to gather the hardest star first to get it out of the way. He was approaching the tall tower that the carpet gilded through. He remembered the fire that spat out from the wall at random. His hands became clammy and hot. It's fine, it's fine. He started to chew on the collar of his shirt. He felt the strings of the shirt tear off from all of the excessive chewings he's done lately. He forced himself to stop as he entered the tower. He hopped off of the carpet just before the nozzle that shot out the wall appeared and back on as soon as he safely passed it. The carpet circled around the room one more time, but he forgot that it was in the way of the flames for a second time.

Sizzling prompted Andres to turn his head. As fire rapidly spat out, panic shot through him instantly. He ducked down as fast as his body would let him and covered his head with his hands. He felt the hot fire just above his head. Even after exiting the tower, he lay in that position out of fear. His heart was pounding against his chest, breathing heavily. The fresh, cool air filled his lungs which made him safely come out of the fetal position he hid in. He was near to the top, so close to gathering the first star.

First star? He thought. This is only the first? I have to do this again for the second? Agony spread through his chest as he let out an audible groan. All he wanted to do was lay on the carpet and fly into the void of blue sky. He knew if he did that, a platform would push him off the edge and take one of his lives. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad... the thought of escaping the hell he was trapped in gave him slight relief, even if it was by death.

"I can't do this, Mom, not without you." Salty drops burned his skin as they streaked down his face, and eventually, he was full-on sobbing. "I can't do this! It hurts!" The carpet stopped at the platform he needed to get off of. Andres barely crawled himself off, his vision clouded from the endless tears. He sat there on his knees, trying to regain his vision.

"How much of that has to do with the game, and not your mother?" A voice from above caught Andres's breath in his throat. He glanced up to see Lacey on the ship much further away, her voice carried by the wind. Embarrassment took over the sadness that overwhelmed him before.