Chapter Text
Olly sighed and stared at the wall, for the first time in his short life wondering whether he should have really done what he had just committed. Up until now, he had been steadfast in his decisions, believing them to be the only way to move forward and bring justice upon those wretched Toads, but now it was… almost saddening.
But he knew it was the only thing he could do.
He had taken Olivia across the ocean and together, they had snuck into Princess Peach’s castle in Toad Town, which, ironically enough, was decorated with origami from top to bottom. That stupid festival where Toads celebrated their own torturings of origami had to be stopped.
And so, the origami king and his sister had made their way into the castle catacombs undetected, quickly finding out they were not the only secret guests. The low, dim hallways were brimming with flat life, creatures neither of the royal siblings had seen before. They were Goombas, Koopas and the like, Olly assumed, and were certainly not supposed to be there, and when some of them dropped the name of their master, King Bowser, in conversation, Olly had begun to understand.
How nice of this neighboring regent to deliver materials for his own army, the origami king had thought.
He had left Olivia alone in a room for a moment, but not before making absolutely sure no one else was able to just waltz in and endanger her. He didn’t want her to see what he was trying to do, in case his experiment was a failure, he didn’t want her to see him screw up.
But just as expected, he had been able to freely fold these creatures just like he was able to do with Toads as he pleased. Bringing a new, three-dimensional form to these flat Goombas had also come with the side effect of them immediately listening to Olly’s every command, which had pleased the king greatly. It was almost as if the world was made to be under his control, as if he had been made with the sole purpose of bringing it into a new, better era.
Upon presenting Olivia with the result of his experiment, though without telling her he had made this “folded soldier” himself, she had been initially curious. That was, until the creature without any mind of its own had lashed out at her like a rabid animal even though Olly had not told it to do so.
Shrieking, his sister had fled back into the room where she had waited for him, close to tears. With a sigh, Olly had had to admit to himself he wasn’t surprised about this outcome.
The origami Goomba had waddled around the corridor for a bit, attacking some of its old friends peeking around a corner despite Olly’s orders. While its strength spoke for itself, the fact that the creature only barely listened to his commands had been a great concern that the king had no instant solution for. He was the origami king, all origami was supposed to follow his commands, yet this thing wouldn’t. Using the two other Goombas that had been beaten up by their former ally, Olly had repeated his foldings with the same results.
No, he’d thought, it couldn’t be him, his folding techniques were perfect. Perhaps those lowly Goombas had simply been of similarly low quality paper unable to hold their folds correctly. When the trio had suddenly begun to unfold until they were nothing but lifeless sheets, Olly’s assumption had apparently been proven as correct.
But they made for such a good basis to build an army upon… Dismissing the initial plan would be such a waste.
Hearing voices in the distance, Olly had had to retreat for the moment, entering Olivia’s chamber. He’d found her nervously floating back and forth about the room, only lighting up when she had caught sight of her brother.
“Olly, where were you?”, she had pouted, “I was so scared! What happened to that creepy thing?”
The king flipped his hair.
“I got rid of it, don’t worry. Folded soldiers are strong, but I’ll make sure they won’t ever hurt you. Trust me.”
“Okay…”
It had seemed like Olly’s words had not quite been able to persuade the princess, as she just wouldn’t return to the happy little thing she had so far always presented herself as – this was a big problem. Olly had already assumed she would not be entirely on board with his plans, but if even the lowest of soldiers scared her, it had almost seemed impossible to take her along for the conquest. Furthermore, the presence of this King Bowser meant there was another party that could cause interferences, and the last thing Olly had ever wanted was to have his sister caught in the crossfire.
Perhaps he should have left her on the island.
But they had both been here for now, and Olly had had to work with it.
“Hey Olly”, his sister had suddenly whispered, tucking on his arm, “do you have this funny feeling too? Something is weird.”
She had dragged him along, closer towards the door until a glowing object had appeared right under their feet, which Olly had only been able to describe as a manifestation of magic gathering in one spot, dubbing it a “magic circle”.
Olivia had been instantly fascinated by this unknown phenomenon, but how or why it was here had been none of their concerns, really. Perhaps the thing was able to enhance their magic abilities, making them stronger, but examination of that just had to wait.
But it could serve as a welcome distraction.
While his sister had kept looking at the circle, marveling at the pretty lights it was producing, Olly had removed himself from the scene for a bit to catch a breath.
He didn’t really want to do this, but he knew no other way.
Before Olivia had been able to even realize what was going on around her, Olly had already refolded his arms just like he had done the previous day, removed a bit of paper from the wall, grabbed his sister and stuck her inside, closing the paper over her.
As the adrenaline rush from this event subsided quickly, he was certain he could hear Olivia’s muffled screams from inside the wall.
No, this couldn’t be true, she should stay just as silent as the Origami Craftsman had, right? Or was the paper down here thinner than on the island, perhaps?
But whatever the case, the deed was done now and it was the only way to keep Olivia both safe and away from interfering with him. Once he was done with his conquest, he would get her out of the wall again and present her with their kingdom, the only place where origami could live in peace and without fear of torture from Toads or tools.
It was for her own good.
Olly left the chamber, which seemed more like a prison cell, and decided to just continue with his plans. Any minion of this elusive King Bowser was immediately folded by him, all showing the same signs of having no free will but only questionable obedience and unfolding rather quickly. The solution was clear: if their forms could be kept more tightly, they would certainly not only live longer but also listen to his commands more reliantly.
However, before he could bring Stapler here, Olly had to make sure that he and his tool would not be interrupted by anyone sneaking around.
After encountering creatures that appeared to be Shy Guys, the king decided that the hooded beings made for a good disguise, or at least a better one than those ugly Goombas and weird-looking Koopas.
The origami king folded himself into a yellow specimen to make his way out of the castle dungeons and upstairs, closer and closer to where Princess Peach resided. Any minion was folded and sent out to take care of the citizens of Toad Town for as long as their folds held up, any Toad Olly encountered along his way was crushed and crumbled.
When he finally made his way towards Princess Peach and folded her so that she would obey his every command, it almost seemed like she made a better companion than his own sister.
Her folds were strong and sturdy despite not having been stapled together yet, she was entirely unfettered by what was happening around her. Once Olly had brought Stapler over from Mushroom Island and had let him work on the Mushroom Kingdom’s ruler first, she had become seemingly perfect.
It was a shame, Olly thought, if only Olivia could be perfect like this. No fright, no naivete.
But that was fine. Once Olly was done, there was nothing left for his sister to be scared about – she just had to endure this for a bit for the sake of her kingdom like a true princess should, and sooner or later her brother would present her with the glory that was their origami kingdom.
Yes, soon the two of them would rule together, side by side.
Just like a family.