Mario The Music Box (Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Fight For Your Loved Ones

                    Mario had finally reached the back door of the mansion, and opened the door to be welcomed back into the gloomy atmosphere. He held up his lantern to give him a sense of reassurance, and allowed its light to guide the way. He started walking towards the town, its structure coming into view. There were several houses lined up next to each other, some smaller buildings, probably inns, and there was even a church in the distance. There were also some statues, and a forest in the distance as well. He studied the houses, observing its structures. It actually didn't seem as run down as he thought it would be. They were in pretty good shape, minus the moss growing on the sides.

                    He started to walk around the town, its eerie presence teasing Mario with its silence. He didn't find anything interesting...... until..... he saw a small flame. It was...... red? Mario slowly crept towards it.

                    "What the- !" the flame leaped at him immediately, making contact with his chest. He could feel the burn of it, and he fell backwards in fear and pain.

                    "Aah!!!!!" he screamed. He looked around him, and his eyes widened in horror. There were more of those things around him. They were heading towards him with a sense of fury.

                    "Alice...... Alice........ Alice......" they whispered maliciously, with the desire to burn him alive.

                    "W-what?!?! No!!!! I'm not her!!!!! She-!!!" They lunged at him once again in fury and thirst for revenge. Mario dodged that time, and leaped up into the air to avoid them. He ran the other way, as they continued to chase him down. Were those vengeful spirits?!

                     "Come back Alice........ SO WE CAN SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!!!!!!" They exclaimed. Mario continued to run, fear pushing him to continue running. He could feel his legs starting to give away, exhaustion inevitable. He looked back. The spirits were still chasing him. They were really determined to end his life. He thought this would be it..... until salvation appeared right in front of him. Right ahead of him was the forest. He could hide there for the time being. He looked back at the spirits, still chasing him down, and he headed for the forest. He ran inside and continued to run, until he was able to shake them off. He then found a nearby tree big enough to hide him, and spirits sped past him, not noticing his presence. Their wails could still be heard in the distance. Mario turned his back against the tree and sat down. He was still panting from the chase, and he tried to slow down his breathing by inhaling and exhaling. It worked at least. Mario was finally able to calm down, and he looked around to make sure no one else was following him.

                       He closed his eyes, and tried to ease his mind to peace. Okay, now that he was in the right mind, what was that? Surely those were spirits..... right?

                       'But why are there spirits here? Why haven't they moved on-!' It then hit Mario.

                       'What Riba said!!' he thought. Hadn't he told him he was stuck here because of the curse? Did that..... also apply to spirits here as well?! He put his hand on his mouth as he tried to get a scope of what he just figured out. If people couldn't leave this place because of the curse, would that apply to him?! Mario blinked before shaking his head. 

                        'Wait, no. If that were the case, surely Alice wouldn't possess people to murder Riba, only to never leave this place. She would most likely want to leave after, so that couldn't be the case.' he thought. Well, no matter the case, if he were to die here, he would end up like all the victims or, spirits here. Trapped here forever, with nothing but vengeance fueling them. A purgatory. Hell. He shivered at the thought. Right then and there, he made new goals: To lift the curse, free the spirits, possibly meet up with Riba again........