CHAPTER TWO: THE EGG

OOC: I apologize for the horrible formatting that FF did to my story. It was in Open Office, in proper paragraphs using the tab key and no spaces in between paragraphs but it was completely messed up when it went through. I'm too lazy to fix it at the moment. Also I got a review from someone but I cannot view their fanfiction because they reviewed as anonymous. If you could, review in your FF account. ;)

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Luigi moaned softly, opening his eyes. He found himself on the couch in his house, wrapped in a soft blanket. He felt something on his forehead that was not his hat, and it took him a while to realize that it was an icepack. He took it off and tried to sit up, but a jolt of pain shot up his spine and chest, and he slowly leaned back down.

"Luigi?" He heard Peach's tender, high-pitched voice. "Oh, Luigi! You're alright!" He heard her run to his side. "Mario, quick! Luigi's awake!"

Soon, both Mario and Peach had surrounded him, excited. They would have many questions, and Luigi intended to answer them.

"Luigi, what happened?" Mario asked quickly, jumping up and down. They had obviously been very worried for him. How long was he out?

"Wait, let's ask him what's important first." Peach laid a hand lightly on Mario's shoulder. "How do you feel, Luigi?"

Luigi opened his mouth to speak, but instead, he coughed. He lifted his hand and coughed for a few seconds. When he recovered, he said, "Um... um... my back... hurts... and I feel... dizzy..."

"If you need anything, please tell us, Luigi. But first we would like to know what happened." Peach continued.

"There was... something in the forest... I left to look... I found an egg... then I was attacked. I was attacked by monsters..." He found it hard to speak.

"An egg? An egg of what?"

"I had a dream... something told me... that it was a dragon destined to save... save his people..." Luigi coughed again, then said, "I can't... continue..."

His voice was quiet and raspy, and neither Mario nor Peach could make out what he was saying very clearly, but they did hear something about a dragon and about eggs.

"You tell us when you feel better, okay?" Mario said, knowing that whatever happened to Luigi, it was very important. "Do you need anything right now? Some food? Something to drink?"
Luigi shook his head. "I... I just want... sleep..."

He opened his eyes and glanced at a nearby window, seeing it was nighttime. Had Mario and Peach been staying awake at his side even into the night? How long had he been unconscious? He was glad he lived with them, if not, he could very well have died.

"H... how long... has it been...?" He managed, his voice growing weaker.

"Just a day." Mario replied. "You get some sleep. We better go sleep too, we've been awake a long time."

Mario and Peach left, and soon afterwards, Luigi shut his eyes and was locked in a dreamless darkness.

Throughout the next two days, Luigi had not the strength to speak. He was completely drained, how he did not know. Something that the evil dragons had done to him as they mercilessly pounded him in the forest left him in a state of severe illness. Yet, under Mario and Peach's careful supervision, he began his journey down the road to recovery.

On his third day, Luigi finally had enough strength to sit up and talk. Once Mario and Peach sat near him, he began.

"I was washing dishes when I saw something in the forest. When I went to see what it was, I found this..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out the egg he found. The egg seemed to be a lighter then it was when he found it. Perhaps it was about to hatch?

"After I picked it up, I was attacked by two monsters that looked like Koopas without their shells, instead, they had wings on their backs. They said they were dragons, from the Dragon Kingdom... I don't know where that is."

Mario and Peach seemed worried and confused, but they didn't say anything, letting Luigi continue.

"Something in me told me that I should refuse returning the egg. I didn't give it back to them, and then they attacked me. I defeated them though, but that was only after they hurt me badly, and I was knocked out.

"When I was unconscious I had a dream. Well, it actually wasn't a dream but I figured out that it was the leader of some tribe of Dragons communicating to my subconscious through the egg. He said that the baby in the egg is the one that can unite two warring Dragon tribes into one peaceful faction again. He said that only dragons can fly to the Dragon Kingdom when their wings work, so he said that I need to raise and protect the dragon so he can go and save his people."

Luigi hesitated, then looked up at Mario. "Its very important... you can help me, right, Mario? I can't do this alone... I'm... scared..."

Mario's expression was of both shock and horror. But then, compassion and love came over his face, and he hugged his brother. "We've always been through our trials together, Luigi. You're my brother, and I'll help you no matter what it takes."

Peach joined Mario and hugged both him and Luigi. "I'll do what I can to help you both." She whispered. "We need to save these people if they are hurting. We need to do to them what we would want them to do to us."

"The three of us can do this." Mario finished, "we'll help you to the end, Luigi!"