Many great stories involve a great and unshakable hero, ready to defy all odds and put his life on the line for the greater good. Many story tell the tale of a man/woman who has gone through great tragedy, sacrificed so much, and ultimately lose their most important aspect that makes them, them.
This is not one of those stories.
Our story begins with a man that just reaches above the lines of average. A man who, unfortunately, is not measured by his own actions, but the actions of his brother. He is a man who has spent most of his life in his brother's shadow, always ready to be noticed. And this man is our...hero of this story. It was a bright and breezy day, just perfect for walking. Our unsuspecting hero, Luigi was taking a stroll through the fields of the Mushroom Kingdom, deep in his own thoughts. "This is ridiculous!" Luigi thought to himself. "I can't believe it! This is, like, the 8th time Bro is off having an adventure of his own...WITHOUT me!" Luigi was becoming frustrated as of lately. It wasn't long after the events with Count Bleck and the citizens of the Flipside, that Mario took on yet another saving-the-world-quest-prophecy-thing. "Am I just not good enough for you, Bro!? Do I really just slow you down THAT much?!" Luigi proclaimed. After his last journey to Rogueport, Luigi swore to always be ready and willing to take on another daring quest. But the only reason Luigi was able to join Mario in stopping Count Bleck was because he was thrown into the middle of everything, and thus, Mario had to watch over his little brother.
As our unsuspecting hero fumed through the fields, shouting to himself like a crazy person, he heard a soft whimper off in the distance. Luigi immediately stopped ranting and stood, listening.
*sniff...sniff...*
The whimpering led our favorite plumber to a small opening in the woods. There, he met a lone shygirl, crying quietly to herself.
"A shy...girl?" Our hero thought to himself. It was rare to see a shyguy to close to the Mushroom Kingdom, the fact that it was female was even rarer. Though Luigi may be seen as a coward, a wimp, or a scaredy-cat to some, he is still a man of pure heart, and is always ready to help those he can. Luigi slowly walked behind the sniveling shygirl, trying not to scare her.
"Um... Excuse me?" He asked. The shygirl quickly turned around, tears flowing through her mask. She had beautiful green hair, which stay tucked away under her long, red hood. But her most noticeable feature was her height. In comparison to other shyguys, she towered most of them. She quickly stood up, wiping the tears off her mask.
"Oh..um...Sorry if I scared you." Luigi said. She buried her hands to her mask and kept weeping.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Luigi asked.
"Voice.." she muttered to herself.
"Voice...?" Luigi asked, determined to get some answers. "Why don't you tell me what happened? What's your name?" he asked.
*sniff* "Skye..." she answered.
"Skye?" he asked.
"My name...It's Skye. Skye the Shygirl..." she explained wiping the rest of the tears away.
"Well, it's nice to meet ya Skye! I'm Luigi!" he exclaimed, hoping his name had some merit.
"Who?.." she asked.
Luigi was obviously let down. The poor man knew that if he had said "Mario", she would instantly rejoice. "Luigi Seagulli...My brother is Mario Seagulli...You know, 'Super Mario'?" he explained. She instantly livened up a bit.
"Maybe...you could help me then?" she asked.
"Ab-So-Lutely! I'd be happy to help!" Luigi exclaimed.
"Well...It's a long story but..I was picking some pretty flowers in the field, singing to myself when...Some guy swooped in out of nowhere and used some weird machine on me...And now every time I try to sing I..." she stopped.
"You what?" he asked.
"I...start coughing and...it hurts sometimes. It's almost hard to breathe after I cough..." she explained.
Luigi was lost, but wanted to do whatever he could to help.
"Hmm... Maybe our library back in Toad Town could explain a thing or two?" he said.
"Toad...Town?" she asked.
"Yup! I can take us there in no time. I know Toad Town like the back of my glove!" he said.
He started walking away, expecting her to follow. But she didn't. He turned around again to see her just standing there.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My friends...They went to Toad Town a little while ago...and.. caused trouble...right?" Skye asked.
Luigi stopped to think back to the day shyguys swarmed the town. He remembers chasing one around his entire house before his brother sent the shyguy away.
"Pfff. That happened a loooong time ago. Besides, no one in Toad Town is going to hold you personally responsible." he explained.
"Well..." she hesitated.
"C'mon! If any one gives you any trouble, I'll take care of it! I can't help you if we're just standing out here all day, right?" Luigi said.
She was reluctant at first, but Skye finally agreed to follow Luigi into the Mushroom Kingdom.
Our hero guided Skye through Toad Town, determined to quickly get to the library. Skye did receive quite some attention from the inhabitants of Toad Town. She was given looks of scorn from some and looks of admiration from others. But not a single person got in our hero's way.
A friendly toad gave both Luigi and Skye a warm welcome to his library.
"Please! Please! Come in and make yourselves at home!" the old toad announced.
"Hello Russ T.!" our hero greeted.
"Ahh, if it isn't Luigi! To what do I owe the honor, sir?" Russ asked.
"Well I was wondering if you had anything on the shyguy species, shygirl in particular." he asked.
"Hrmm...Let me dig in the back a little bit. I'm sure I have something. In the meantime, please, relax and read to your heart's content!" Russ proclaimed before walking towards the back of the library.
Skye, not wanting to draw attention to herself or be blamed for any problem caused within the library, quietly took a seat on one of the quest chairs by a large pile of books. She simply sat with her hands rested on her lap. Luigi was secretly a fantasy enthusiast, and began looking through the books that fit his favorite category. He skimmed very quickly over some books of magnificent stories. One told of a great door beneath a dingy city which holds the spirit of a 1,000 year old demon. Another told of a book that would be used to destroy all worlds. But the last book he looked at is the one that really caught his eye. "The Voicless Suffering, huh?" He read to himself. He opened up to a random page in the beginning and started reading a random paragraph.
"The innocent shall do no harm. He will steal that which is most precious from her. Sorrow. Agony. Pain.
Passing bystander eager to help. Save her, sir! Struggle. Vast. Conquer.
Should she never be able to reclaim what is hers, the end of of life shall draw near. Sleep. Forever. Death.
Take heed, noble sir! Journey of a thousand. West. West. West."
Russ T. soon emerged from the back. "You're in luck, sonny! I found one last copy on The Biography on Shyguys! I hope it helps."
Russ handed Luigi the book. "Thanks gramps! Would it be okay if I borrowed this book for a bit?" Luigi asked.
"Of course! Please, step over here and we can fill out some paperwork."
Skye and Luigi both emerged from the library.
"Cool! So now I have a good place to start learning about what I can. Let's go back to my place so I can read into this a bit." Luigi explained. Skye nodded.
After taking a pipe back to his and his brother's home, Luigi placed the book on the table and began to read it.
"So..Luigi. How is reading a book about me going to help at all?" Skye asked.
"I figured the best way to help you, for now, is to learn more about you. Did you know you're the first female shyguy I've ever seen?" Luigi asked while flipping through some pages. Skye shrugged.
Some time passed as Luigi read the book. He did take a break to make Skye a cup of Koopa Leaf Tea. As our hero flipped through the book, one phrase kept popping up in his head for some reason. "West. West. West." Why west? What could it mean. Eventually Luigi tired of reading the book and was determined to find out exactly what the west held for him and Skye. Luigi closed the book.
"Enough of this! It's time we chase down whoever took your ability to sing from you!" Luigi exclaimed. Skye woke up and nodded.
"Just out of curiosity Skye, do you know what way that guy went?" Luigi asked.
"Oh..erm..." Skye stood up and walked outside. Luigi followed. "If I was here like this..." Skye started. She pointed up in the sky, then changed direction. "That way!" she exclaimed. Our hero was not a compass, so I assumed, for all intents and purposes, that she was pointing west. He nodded. "Gimme a second." he said before walking back inside. He began writing his brother a note. "Bro, while you are out taking care of your business, I'll be out taking care of mine. If you are home before me, then don't worry! I'll be back in no time. Stay safe bro! Love, Luigi. P.S, did you know Shyguys can take off their masks whenever they want, they just choose not to?" And with that, our hero set out with Skye, determined give her back her ability to sing. Skye had her doubts for a moment, but decided to stay by Luigi's side since he was the first to offer her help. But what exactly lays ahead for our hero? What has Luigi truly gotten himself into?