Chapter Text
It was around 12 PM, the sun shining brightly onto great grassy hills, the castle glimmering in the light. Toads were walking around, some talking, some playing, and even some spending some good ol family time. Next to the castle was a big gray building, with one wall being covered in windows. Somewhere in that huge gray building, in one of the big labs, was a woman with a white lab coat. She had long, dark brown hair that stuck out on its ends. On top her head was a dark purple newsboy cap with gray-purple brim, which matched her equally dark purple turtleneck sweater. She wore blue pants with black shoes, which happened to also show off her gray and green striped socks. She wore a big pair of thick, round black glasses in front of her turquoise eyes. This was Lexi, the head scientist of the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Currently, she was reading over a couple of papers that were stapled together in her hands. She was nodding approvingly, and soon she handed them to the yellow toad next to her, who also donned a white lab coat.
“Those are good results, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a couple for tests, alright?” She suggested. The Toad nodded, smiling widely as per usual, and ran off with the papers in hand. Lexi sighed and sat back down at her desk, being a little tired. She took out her phone for a minute, checking the time.
12:45 PM.
She sighed tiredly, a clear weight on her shoulders. She was dreading 12 PM, as it was when her break would start. Her and the Mario brothers had made a "date" with Princess Peach, though it was more of the brothers who set it up. She was going to be honest with her, and tell her about her past and all the bad things she's done. To say Lexi was terrified would be an understatement. There were a couple of times where she told people about her past, and she was thrown out and told to never come back. The fact that Mario and Luigi even still liked her blew her mind. Her mind started to swirl and cloud as she just stared at her black phone screen, her own reflection staring back. She deserved this, right? To be liked and cared for.
Suddenly, she felt a gloved hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump in her seat and yelp. The hand immediately shot away, and a familiar voice followed.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't want to scare you! I was trying to call your name, but you weren't responding so I thought I'd come closer." Apologized Luigi, face a tad bit flushed. Lexi sighed a bit in relief, putting her phone face down on her desk and turned towards Luigi.
"Sorry Weeg, I was just…" she trailed off, averting her eyes. Luigi's look softened, as did his voice.
"Are you still worried about Peach's reaction?" He asked.
"...of course I am." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Every time before I attempted this, I was always kicked out onto the pavement and forced to find a new home. Why would this be any different?" Luigi placed a hand into her shoulder again, giving Lexi a smile.
"Hey, me and Mario accept you, Peach won't be any different, I promise. And if she isn't, we can convince her to change her mind!" Lexi turned to Luigi, her eyes a little wide in surprise. "I wo- We won't let you go, promise." Luigi stuttered for a moment, but Lexi smirked and puffed a bit.
"Thanks Luigi."
"It's no problem!" He smiled, even giggling softly. Lexi's smile grew seeing Luigi's smile, and was already starting to feel better. She checked her phone clock again.
12:58 PM.
The same feeling of dread set back in again. Fun.
With a heavy sigh, she sat up from her chair and turned to Luigi. With a silent nod, they both walked towards the exit. When approaching the door, Lexi took off her lab coat and hung it up near the door. She waved good-bye to the Toad at the front desk and walked out with Luigi, meeting up with Mario who was waiting outside.
"You ready Lexi?" Mario asked, jolly as ever.
"Absolutely not."
"Great, come on!" He led the way, the trio walking side by side on the road. Lexi had crossed her arms, squeezing them a little. Mario patted her back, giving her a warm smile. "Everything is gonna be A-OK, I promise you!" She half smiled, looking back down on her feet. She began to question herself again.
"I know, I know, but like...what if?" Luigi then put his hand onto her shoulder again, giving the same smile Mario gave to her.
He asked her, "Remember what we talked about?" She looked up at him, and he continued. "It'll be ok, we won't let you go so easily." Lexi's smile became genuine, once again finding that Luigi's help made her feel better in almost an instant.
"Alright! It's like a band-aid, right? Just gotta rip it off!" She found herself with a newfound determination. "I mean, yes I'm scared. Terrified even. But I gotta be brave, like you Luigi!" She beamed to the green plumber, causing him to be confused.
"Ah, I-a don't think I'm too brave." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as his cheeks were dusted with a light red color. Lexi huffed.
"Of course you are, but now isn't the time for this, I gotta move forward!" She suddenly ran over to the castle, a huge ol smile on her face. The bros couldn't help but chuckle, electing to continue walking instead of dashing off after her. Mario started to nudge Luigi, beginning to tease him.
"She seems to-a reeeeally like you bro! Maybe she loves you back!" Luigi's face turned into an interesting shade of red, but he quickly shook his head.
"I've already told you, I don't love Lexi, I just enjoy her company." He insisted.
"Suuuure you don't. It's completely obvious you don't, evident by all the doodles in your notebook."
"You've noticed?!" Mario burst into a fit of giggles, but quickly stopped.
"It's nothing to be scared of Luigi, you can confess in your own time." There was a bit of silence as they continued to walk down the dirt path. Finally, Luigi spoke again.
"Thanks Bro."
"Anytime Bro." He gave Luigi a wink.
They walked up to the front of the castle, only to find Lexi in front of it, laying down on the ground with her arms spread open as she looked into the sky.
“My bravery was….short lived.” she puffed. Mario reached out his hand, to which she took and he helped her up. Quickly, he started to shove her to the entrance of the castle.
“W-wait hold on! I’m not ready! I-I need to prepare!”
“You’ll never be ready, so just go!” Mario turned to Luigi and tilted his head, singling Luigi to open the door.
“Can’t I have just a minute? Or an hour? Or all of eternity?" She pleaded, her body stiff as a board. Luigi ran over and opened up one side of the door, letting Mario push Lexi inside.
"Oh, Lexi dear, welcome!" Greated Peach, who stood in the middle of the room. "Just one second." She turned to a road in front of her in a postman's outfit, who held a small package in his hands that was covered in peach pink wrapping, topped off with a creamy white bow.
"Please take it to the post office for me, ok?" With an energetic nod, the Toad rushed out the door, passing by Mario and Luigi as they walked through the doorway. The door slammed shut behind them, causing Lexi to jump a little. That was something she’d never get used to.
“Now, what did you all wish to speak to me about?” The princess asked, her smile unwavering. Lexi tensed up, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She turned over the bros, who smiled and nodded, Mario making the hand motion to tell her to “go on.” She turned back to Peach, who now had an inquisitive look on her face. Lexi took a deep breath, and began to finally speak.
“I...haven’t been completely honest with you about my past.” Peach tilted her a head slightly in confusion.
“Were you not a scientist before?” she asked.
“No no, I was...Just not the way you’ve been thinking.” Lexi gestured to Peach’s throne. “I think you might want to sit down for this.”
With a silent nod, Peach walked up the steps and sat on her throne, the trio following her a bit so they’d be closer.
“A long time ago, I was born into a certain type of family. No family is normal yeah, but my family was one of evil. A family of villains I guess, I was raised to be the same.” Started Lexi. Peach listened intently, her interest intrigued.
“To just skip over my childhood, I ended up working for a very, very bad company called “OverGrowth.” Jack’O’line was my boss, a woman who had a pumpkin head and controlled everyone like puppets, including me. I was a head scientist who helped do most of the damage. They already had control over a Yoshi island, but Jack’O’line wanted more, and I continued to help do damage.” Lexi clenched her fists and stared down at her own feet, but she continued.
“Thanks to someone I met on the second island she wanted to take over...I came to my senses and tried to talk to Jack’O’line about changing her plans, but she told me to do my job. In retaliation, I…” She paused her a long time.
“I took and destroyed everything they could use to hurt anyone ever again, I blew up the building while everyone was asleep. Since then, I was going kingdom to kingdom and was trying to just find a home and live my new life. A-and…” Lexi started to choke up, tears pricking at the edge of her eyes. “And I understand if you now want me gone. I can gather up all my things and leave within 30 minutes, maybe sooner if you so please.”
“No!” Lexi looked at Peach, who was now standing. She looked at her, alarmed.
“H-huh?” Peach dashed over and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“Dear, I am so sorry for everything you have gone through. You’ve faced so many dangerous and awful things, I’m honestly shocked that you managed to get through it all.” She then embraced her in a tender hug.
“Let this kingdom be a safe place for you, let us help you deal with your troubles. You’re not alone anymore.” Lexi froze for a moment, but then tears started to spill out her eyes, dripping off her face. She hugged Peach back tightly, silently sobbing onto her shoulder.
“Thank you…” she sobbed, her voice muffled in Peach’s sleeve.
“It’s no problem dear.” Peach softly said, softly patting her back. Mario and Luigi were watching a bit of a distance away, Mario who casually had his hands in his pockets.
“What-a heartwarming sight, right Luigi?” he looked up to his brother, who was also on the verge of tears.
“Yeah, it’s-a heart wrenching.” Luigi wiped the tears from his eyes, which didn’t exactly stop the tears. Mario patted Luigi’s back softly as they looked on. Now, the question was, how exactly do they help Lexi with her trauma?
Perhaps just being there for her is enough.