Luigi on the edge of Mario's bed, relieved to see his big brother finally awake and coherent. Mario's memory of the events leading up to his mysterious illness, his 'Subconian Fever', however, seemed to be blocked out.
"So... you don't remember anything about returning home and getting sick?" Luigi asked his weary eyed brother.
"No. Not a thing." Mario looked around the bedroom in a mild daze. He recognized his surroundings but didn't remember how he got into the bedroom to begin with.
"What do you remember?" Luigi asked as he rubbed his sore shoulder.
"Well..." Mario paused and tried to focus his train of thought on his last moments before falling ill. "I know I went into the Forever Forest, but I can't remember why."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Mario looked down at his arm where the Boo had bitten him. "It's almost like going to the Forever Forest was a dream in itself."
"Do you remember what you were dreaming about while you were sick?"
"A little. But it was so weird that it's really hard to explain... I'm not sure if I could even start."
"Try." Luigi encouraged.
"Okay... Let me see."
Peach walked into the bedroom with an ice pack and a glass of water in her hands. "For your shoulder Luigi." Peach gave the ice to the injured hero who gladly put it on his wrapped up shoulder. Peach then gave the water to Mario.
Mario took the glass and tried to begin explaining his dream. "Well, I remember I was falling through a big red door. A voice was calling to me from beyond the door and I was drawn to it. I don't remember opening it but I do remember I started falling once I was on the other side of the door. There were tall green hills, waterfalls and scrawny trees across the landscape. Shy Guys, Tweeters and Snifits were patrolling the land."
"Sounds like a typical day here in the Mushroom Kingdom." Luigi joked as Peach sat on the bed next to him. She was also curious about Mario's dream.
"Yeah, but then I was trying to get a key to open a locked door and I was chased by weird masks that only came after me when I picked the key up."
Luigi shuddered at the thought. "I think I would've left the key and ran for my life."
"After I got through the locked doors with keys and used crystal orbs to open bizarre gates shaped like an eagle's face, I kept crossing different continents. I walked through a grassy meadow, two deserts, an oasis, a wintery tundra, and a mountain... and finally I was in a kingdom in the sky."
"A floating kingdom?" Luigi tried to picture it. "That is weird. But also kind of beautiful."
"Yeah, and I was about to enter a large temple when I finally woke up. The whole time I could hear a faint voice calling my name, asking for help."
"Do you know whose voice it was?"
Mario shook his head. "No. But I did hear it before. It was too familiar."
"When?"
"The night before I went to the Forever Forest."
"Mario..." Luigi wanted to believe his brother but his story was too fantastic. "are you sure about the voice? I mean, you were very sick and sometimes fever dreams can make things seem real when they're not."
"I'm sure of it." Mario confirmed. "And I'm sure there's someone out there, somewhere, asking for my help."
"Help? From what?"
"Not from a 'what', but from a 'who'."
"Do you know who?"
"Yeah, someone named 'Wart."
Upon hearing the name Luigi paled.
The Dark Realm Boo who had bitten Mario mentioned a king by the very same name...
...to be continued...