The New Monarch (Human! Bowser X Reader)

[5] Burnt On Arrival

This has to be the right way...

You wander through unknown terrain, beginning to feel uneasy. Despite your efforts to navigate with a map, you couldn't find the edge of the dark lands. You hesitate to head directly to the castle, fearing you may get lost in the fiery depths. The sky darkens, and you feel more anxious by the minute. You had explored every inch of this world, but the Dark Lands are uncharted territory. 

Suddenly, your attention is diverted as you step on something. Looking down, you realize it's a withered skeleton bone. You quickly remove your foot and shiver with unease.

Am I getting close?

You question, putting the map away and following your intuition.

You made your way through the forest as it slowly turned into an ashy domain—one of brimstone and fire. You officially entered the Dark Lands, and the once slightly dark area turned into a well-lit one.

"Trespasser!" You hear a loud voice break through the erieness. You jump and whip your head back and forth, searching for the cause of the noise. You continue to move forward after being unable to detect it, only causing you to hear it once more."Stop! Don't take another step!" You begin to panic, which generates a reaction in your system to completely disobey what the voice asks you, making you run away without thinking. "Hey!"

The further you ran, the more grim the landscape materialized. Skeleton remains leaning against trees, rivers of hot boiling lava, the decaying grass and trees. It was morbid.

People live out here?!

You question midway as you run, starting to be grateful you lived where you were. Not fully paying attention to where you are going, you trip on a rock sticking out and fall onto the ground. A cloud of dust spouts around you, making you cough harshly. You glance behind you and see not one but several Koopa troopas chasing after you. You quickly get up and run faster than you did beforehand. In the near distance, you spot what appears to be a small abandoned castle. You jump one after another rock that is above the flowing lava. Forcefully opening the giant rusty doors and barely making it in, as the troopas were nearly inside the building with you when you shut them out entirely. They bang against the doors, and you put whatever is left of the lock. You control your breathing and adjust your vision through the darkness. The only light source was the slight cracks in the ceiling as the moon rose in the cloudless night sky.

What a great start to a new adventure!

You try to comfort yourself in a situation that would scare anyone from their trousers. You check the first floor of the castle to get a better understanding of the area. The remaining furniture was torn up into large chunks, multiple spots burnt to a crisp, and paintings ripped apart like they were nothing. Not to mention the place in total was on the brink of complete collapse.

What happened here? 

It's like someone went crazy...

You made your way up the small staircase at the center of the floor. They split into two different directions from left to right. But right before then, one painting still hung on the wall was draped over with a giant white cloth. You reach your hand out to pull it down, and that's when you stop dead in your tracks upon hearing a rock fall out of the damaged walls. You turn around and are shocked to see several small masked people staring back at you at the bottom of the stairs wearing robes of different colors. You retract your reaction and back up against the wall.

One of them that wore red raises their hand, and in a raspy yet quiet voice, they say, "You're coming with us..." 

The others nod in agreement.

You shake your head. "I didn't mean to cause any disturbance..." You gulp.

"Is that so?" They all chuckle softly. "Bowser will be the judge of that." They say, climbing up the stairs.

You perk up. "Wait, you guys will take me to him?" You question curiously, leaning away from the wall.

They stop. "Uh, yes. Why?"

You tower over them and extend your hands out. "Then great! Please take me to him! I definitely won't miss this opportunity!"

They stare at one another and shrug. Rather shocked by your corporation, put a rope around both wrists just in case. They took you through the front entrance, which you came in through, and had the troopas standing there, bitter the small guys caught you before them.

"Sorry, boys..." You say through a clenched smile, making them frown as they can't do anything. The small guys led you inside a hot air balloon warship and took off. They were kind enough to let you gaze over the land and get a better view from where you started until you were willingly captured. "Oh, wow..." You mumble, looking around like a curious child.

Though, I wonder what the painting behind the drape was...

"Under different circumstances, this would be cool, right?" You question them, making them look away, all in different locations, as if they were shy. That gave you an idea to give them a temporary name.

Shy Guys is a fitting name. 

TIL THE NEXT CHAPTER! ('｡• ᵕ •｡')