Chapter 1: Luigi's Mansion
Daisy sang as she hung up a garland across the freshly-dusted mantel. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Come on, Mario! You ARE going to sing along, aren't you?"
Mario rolled his eyes, "Fa-la-la—" he was interrupted by his own coughing. "It's too dusty to sing."
"It's a wonder Luigi was okay with holding the festivities here at his mansion. I mean, he doesn't even come this way to maintain it!"
"Uh… actually… I haven't told him yet."
Daisy spun like a dreidel, facing Mario in a fraction of a second. "WHAT?!"
"Well if I told him, he wouldn't have agreed!"
"That's when you convince him and tell him we couldn't very well have the party in Peach's castle with the state it's in right now!"
"Daisy, you know him as well as I do… he would try to find a way to make it work… anything to avoid coming back here." He held back a sneeze. "That's why we need to make this place not only festive, but sparkling clean. Maybe brightening up a few rooms with a fire's glow and some open curtains and candlelight can make it a little less scary for him."
Daisy looked out the window. "And if it doesn't?"
"Then it's going to be one long Christmas…"
.
"Dashing through the snow…" Luigi sang, carrying a box of old Christmas decorations to the castle. "In a one-horse open sleigh…" It was going to be the merriest Christmas yet. Mario was home for the holiday, and even Luigi was in a bright mood, full of Christmas cheer. "O'er the fields we go…" He carefully made his way up the stone steps, which were normally very icy this time of year. "Laughing all the way… Ha, ha, ha!" He balanced the box on his arm as he opened the castle door. "Bells on— Huh? Where is everybody?"
He pulled out his phone and called Mario. "Hey, bro, don't tell me you're still shopping for food!" he said.
"Um… Luigi… I have some good news and bad news."
"Mario…"
"The good news is, our party spot is ready for the holiday!"
Luigi looked around the grand entry room of the castle. It was beautiful, even with the scorch marks and splintered banisters, but it was certainly not ready for the holiday.
"The bad news is… it's not the castle…"
"So… where is it?"
"To him," Luigi heard Daisy's voice in the background, "that's even worse news! Better just tell him. And let me know if you need me to drag him here…"
"Drag me there? What's going on?"
"Well, the party is actually going to be at your mansion, Weeg."
"M-M-M-My m-m-m-mansion?!" Luigi nearly dropped the box of decorations. "M-M-M-Mario! I can't go back there!"
"Ah, don't worry Luigi. It's in better shape than the castle, and it's so bright and cheery over here!"
"Easy for you to say… you haven't seen what I've seen…"
"I was trapped in a painting, Weeg."
"Fair enough… but still… I can't… I couldn't… I won't!"
"Give me the phone!" Daisy's voice. Then, more clearly, "Weegie… the castle's in no state to party… but your mansion… it's beautiful! Please, Luigi! Come to the party here. Don't worry. Everyone's coming. The ghosts won't dare to haunt this place while we're partying hard!"
Luigi bit his lip. He's seemed like a wimp enough times in front of Daisy. It was a wonder she still put up with it. But she and Mario were right. He had gotten rid of all the ghosts in his mansion. He could've been living there instead of the tiny house outside the Mushroom Kingdom his brother and he had called home for nearly all their life. It was time he got over it. "F-Fine," he still stuttered.
"Attaboy! Here's your brother again!"
"Hey, Weeg, I'm proud of you!"
"Yeah, just make sure Professor Gadd is one of the attendees."
Mario laughed. "See you soon, bro. You got all the family decorations right?"
"Yeah."
"Ciao, bro!"
Luigi hung up the phone and adjusted the box. He looked around at the castle's entry. Sure, there's no way it could bear a party right now, but he'd rather the risk of the floor caving in than the risk of ghosts. Hm… I'd have to think about that, actually… Nope, ghosts definitely topped just about everything.
.
"Well, that could've gone worse," Mario put an angel statue above the garland on the mantel while Daisy threw tinsel on the tree.
"The best thing for him is to face his fears," Daisy determined.
"Maybe we should have started with heights or something… 'ghosts' is pretty high on his list."
Just then, Peach entered the room, putting something in her jacket pocket. "Oh, I thought Toad and Toadette were in here."
"No, they're taking care of cleaning upstairs. They wanted to be surprised at the Christmas decorations."
"Well, I'm finished in the Dining Room. The table is full of holiday charm. I have to go find the mushroom kids though…" she hurried off to the hallway.
"I think Toadsworth should be finished with the Foyer by now," Mario mused.
"I'll go check on him," Daisy headed out.
Mario finished up the last of the decorations in the ballroom. He wiped off his hands and turned for the door. Suddenly, he heard a CRASH come from upstairs. He ran for the stairway, where Toad, Toadette, and Peach were looking up the stairs in alarm. "What was that?" Mario asked.
"No idea…" Toad answered. "We were all down here."
"Maybe… something… just… fell…?" Toadette tried.
"What?"
"Well, I'm not going up there to look!"
"I'll take a look," Mario headed up the stairs, shaking his head. The sound had come from the parlor.
Honestly, it's bright as a Christmas tree up here… nothing to-
SCREECH.
He jumped a little. "What was that?" He turned just in time to see one of the chairs fall over. THUNK. He walked over to examine it. Nothing could have pushed it over…
"Mario?" he jumped again. It was Peach. "We got worried down there. Did you find what fell?"
"Um…" He looked around. Besides the chair, everything looked fine.
"Oh, I see, it was the chair." Peach lifted it back up and dusted it off a bit. "Well, let's go… Luigi's here."
"Right…" Mario turned his attention from the Parlor. He felt as if it was somewhat darker in that room all of a sudden. He shook it off and followed Peach down the steps into the Foyer, where his brother was knelt over the box of old ornaments.