Mario The Music Box (Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Developing Friendships?

                    "Hey. Hello? Hey! Wake up!" Mario was then brought out of his sleepy state. He then slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the blurred voice he was hearing. He was lying on his back with his head faced towards the ceiling. His eyes then landed on a man's face. He had messy blond hair, with glasses pushed up to his eyes. He was in a gray suit with a signature red tie. He was looking at Mario with what seemed to be an annoyed face.

                    "Hello? What are you? Deaf?" he said again, with annoyance in his voice. Mario then sat up and replied.

                   "Ah, sorry... um, who are you again?" The man's face seemed to soften, and he held out his hand for Mario to take.

                   "Riba." he replied. Mario took his hand, and Riba helped him up.

                   "I'm-a Mario." Mario replied.

                   "Well, Mario, you want to tell me what you're doing in a place like this, much less being on the floor unconscious?" Riba asked. Mario was then pulled into awareness of his surroundings. He looked to his bottom left side. There laid his lantern which he had dropped earlier. The flame had already gone out, and darkness covered the room once again.

                   "Oh, um, I was investigating this mansion and-" he paused. Should he really trust someone he just met? He didn't even know why this "Riba" guy was here anyway..... Mario started to hesitate. Riba then cocked his head to one side.

                  "What is it?" he asked, confused. Mario then rubbed his hands nervously behind his back.

                 "Ah, I think I had fainted earlier...." Wait. That's right! Mario's eyes widened. Earlier's events came rushing back to him like a tidal wave. He had heard music.... then a music box.... then.... a woman's voice after he touched it? And some other weird after-effects....?.....

                                                            'What the hell happened?'

                "Ahem?" Mario looked up again. Riba had one eyebrow raised. He was still waiting for an answer.

                "Oh sorry, um.... I was investigating this mansion, and then I fainted...." Riba face seemed a bit conflicted, as if he didn't believe everything he said.

                "I see..... does that happen often?" he asked. Mario was a bit taken aback by his question. He still didn't know whether or not to trust this man he didn't even know, so he decided not to say everything that happened.

                "Ah, no! I was just feeling a little light-headed...." It then hit Mario. How long had he been out? It was still dark out, so maybe he had been out for several minutes? Mario then decided to change the subject.

               "Can you tell me what you're doing here?" Mario then asked. Right there and then, Riba's face seemed to change into a questionable glare.

               "That's.... a story I wish not to go into. I can say that I've been looking for a way out of this place." Riba replied. Mario's eyes widened.

               "Wait, looking for a way out? Are you trapped?" Mario then asked with curiosity. Riba then had a thoughtful look on his face.

               "That's one way to put it I suppose..." he replied. Mario started to feel sympathy for the stranger.

               "Well, I just came in recently, and I remember where the front door is. It's in that other room," Mario said as he pointed towards the door he came in through. When Mario focused back on Riba, his face seemed to be covered with a melancholy expression.

               "No, you misunderstand. I mean, I literally can't leave. I'm stuck here...." he said. He then looked away from Mario's face towards the ground. Mario was stunned.

               'He can't leave? But how?' Mario thought.

               "W-what do you mean....?" Mario then decided to keep his mouth shut, as he didn't want to bother him any longer with his question. He then remembered what he wanted to ask.

               "Um, if you don't mind," Riba then looked back at him as Mario continued, "do you know how long I've been out?" Riba eyes widened a bit, then he thought for a second.

               "I'm not sure. I was wondering around the mansion for a bit, and decided to to come to the foyer, only to find you unconscious here on the floor. If I were to guess, I would say 15 minutes maybe?" he answered. Mario felt relieved. So he hadn't been out long. He then picked up his lantern which had laid on the floor.

                "Well, I have to continue my investigation, so this is where we part ways.... thank you for waking me up." Mario then said to Riba. Riba looked at him as if he wanted to ask him something. Mario cocked his head.

                "What is it? Is there something wrong?" Mario asked. Riba was a bit taken aback, and looked down. He then looked at him as he replied,

                "I... I need you to help me. To escape this place."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Well. Someone was actually here. Again. What the hell? What in the world brought them here anyway? Was it her? Or simply human foolishness? Well, he wouldn't really be surprised at that last one. But that was hardly the problem. This human.... he looked like a familiar face....

                Hm. Most likely he was part of a forgotten memory. Riba was inevitably prone to losing his memories whenever he died inside the mansion. It was a bothersome symptom to being cursed to this hell. This familiar stranger had blue overalls on with a red long-sleeved shirt, and white gloves. He had a red hat with the letter 'M' in the middle. Huh, how.... mundane. The man then walked up to the door. Riba narrowed his eyes, and disappeared into the darkness of the mansion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Riba was a bit intrigued by this 'Mario' person. He definitely had a lot going for him. How sad.... to have it all end here.... well, anyway, he was definitely an open book. He told countless of tales of him and his adventures from this so called "Mushroom Kingdom", where he came from. Apparently, he had heard the rumors of people going missing in this mansion, and he decided to come investigate this mansion himself. Ego, much? Talk about human foolishness at its best. Well, that was what Riba was about to say, but Mario said he only came here to stop the disappearances here, but he had to know what exactly what was going on here, and who the culprit was behind it.

                He had to admit, Mario had points for loyalty. He was willing to put his life at risk just to put an end to this madness. If only he knew that wrench who was inside him, was the cause....