Chapter 3: There's always a Silver Lining

Luigi trudged up the stairs and back out towards the kitchen to see if Breaker and Hammer were back with breakfast. Careful to keep the book hidden from prying eyes, he peeked around the corner to find that they indeed were back.

"Hey Weege! We got the food!" Breaker beamed holding up the takeout bags.

Luigi smiled. Their antics never failed to cheer him up. "You guys go ahead and eat; I need to make a call."

Marius spoke up, "When we're done, I hope you don't mind, Luigi, but I'll need to get these knuckleheads back home." He said as he gently bopped them on the head with his fists.

Luigi nodded. "I don't mind Marius, thanks." He gave them one last smile and disappeared up the stairs as the boys dug out the food. Once upstairs, he entered his room, tossed the book and his hat onto his bed and took out his cell phone, dialing the castle phone number.

"Hello?... Yes, hi, is Daisy there?...oh…She's out, okay… Oh, this is Luigi. When she gets in could you please tell her I called?... uh-huh… yeah. Thanks Peach." He closed his phone.

Luigi sighed and rubbed his face as he walked over to a cedar chest in the corner near the window. He entered the combination of the lock and opened it. Inside there were a bunch of pictures of him and Mario as well as a few large stacks of newspaper clippings with large pictures of his brother giving thumbs up to the camera man. Others had pictures of Luigi in his soccer uniform, with his foot on the ball, giving a debonair smile while his team stood on either side giving the Peace sign and the Rock On symbol. Luigi smiled when he saw this before shifting the papers aside.

Beneath the papers was a piece of cloth which Luigi carefully folded back to expose his two most prized belongings other than his hat. One was a silver, guard-hilted dirk which sat inside an ornate polished silver scabbard. A black stone at the very tip of the worn handle reflected his image as good as any mirror. He held that in one hand as he pulled the second thing out; a picture frame.

Luigi stood up and walked over to his bed where he turned around and flopped down on his back. He looked at the two figures in the picture. One was a tall, somewhat thickset man wearing a black Napoleonic, Double-breasted jacket and black slacks. The other was a beautiful, thin, dark-haired woman in a dark-green Victorian dress, who barely came up to his shoulder.

Luigi turned the picture over and looked at the words neatly written on the back of the frame: Delilah and Apollinare Mario. Mario and Luigi's parents. The proof rested mostly with their father because of the nose, anybody could see that. Luigi closed his eyes and placed a hand on his forehead. Normally when he needed some time to think, he came up to his room and stared at this picture. The only problem was, whenever he saw this picture, he was filled with a powerful sense of grief. The dagger though, for some reason brought comfort when he held it. He swallowed and sighed. A tiny knock at the door made him jump suddenly.

"Uh-uh… come in!" He called, placing the picture on his bedside drawer behind the reading lamp, pushing the book beneath the bed, and shoving the dagger underneath his pillow. The door opened to reveal the only person whom he really wanted to see at the moment; Daisy.

"Hey, mind if I come in?" She asked giving him a smile.

"Of course not."

"Oh… I didn't wake you up did I?" She asked as she sat down next to him.

"No. I was just thinking," Luigi said. Well, it's the truth... I'm not lying to her. Clairvoya did ask me not to tell anyone about it yet anyway. "Did Peach give you my message?"

"Oh, no, I was just coming over here to see how you were doing after yesterday."

Daisy smiled at him before leaning her head over onto his shoulder. They both stared out the window at the lush green foliage of Forever Forest for a moment before Luigi spoke.

"Hey, Dais… you doing anything tonight?" She shook her head. "Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to go get dinner together or something."

Daisy grinned at him, "That sounds great Luigi! I really need to get out of the castle for a few hours... So, does 7–ish sound good?" She asked, standing up.

Luigi got up and stretched, he was still sore after yesterday. He walked with her to the door with his hat in his hand. "Sounds perfect." Daisy turned to face him and stared at him for several moments.

Luigi raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Just hold still," Daisy said before she reached up andkissed him on the lips. Luigi was shocked at first, but nonetheless tenderly returned it. When they broke away, Luigi calmly asked, "What was that for?"

Daisy gave him one last hug before stepping over to the door. "I dunno, you just looked like you needed it."

Luigi chuckled a bit before placing his hat back on his head. "Thanks… Ireally didneed it." He paused for a moment as he waited for the blush to die down in his face. "I have a shortcut you can use to get back to the palace." He offered her his arm, which she gladly took, and walked down the stairs. They passed through the front door and onto the front lawn.

"Okay," Luigi said as he stopped on a random spot on the grass.

Daisy gave him a coy look, "Very funny, Weege."

Luigi shrugged, "Who's laughing?" He tapped his foot on the ground a few times and a large green warp pipe popped out of the ground just a few feet away.

"Um, Luigi… I've never used one of those before…" Daisy said uneasily.

"Oh…well, all you've got to do is just climb in and, well… It's a lot like a water slide, except without the water, and it's more fun." He gave her a reassuring smile as he helped her up.

"Okay, if you say so… I'll see you at seven!" She smiled and gave him a wave before putting both feet into the pipe. She disappeared with a "WHOO!" as the pipe sunk back into the ground.

Luigi sighed happily and brought one hand back to his cheek as he walked back to the house. Oh, how she never failed to lift his spirits. He waltzed back into the dining room through the side door and found a sticky note on the table. The writing was organized and neat, so it probably belonged to Marius.

Dear Luigi,

The boys finished early, so I went ahead and took them back home. Thanks for letting us stay the night and congrats on winning the cup.

Thanks again,

Marius

Beneath Marius' signature, were Breaker and Hammer's names scrawled along the bottom.

Luigi looked over at the clock on the wall. He still had a few hours left. Gadd would be in his lab in the basement, Biff would be in the weight room, Melody would most likely be in the instrument room and Shivers was probably wandering the grounds checking the gardens, so he would have an excellent opportunity to look at the book again. Once upstairs, Luigi flopped onto the bed with a contented smile on his face. With that kiss, all of the troubles from the morning seemed to just flow away. After lying like that for a few minutes, he reached under the bed and pulled out the book.

"Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you are, my little friend," he said as he reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a small metal box. Inside were things like a black-light pen, tweezers, saline solution, etc. He opened the book and flipped through a couple pages before stopping. He removed the black-light pen and turned it on. With the pen in one hand, he slowly turned several pages to make sure anything didn't pop up like last time. Nothing.

"God…" Luigi sighed as he put the pen down, "This might take a little longer than I thought… I just know there's something in here, darn it!"

Over the next hour, he used every method and object that he thought could reveal at least something. Nothing happened. What was the most peculiar was that even normal pen ink, highlighter, and even sharpie ink wouldn't make any marks on the old parchment pages. Luigi sighed in frustration. That sigh turned into a small growl. Luigi allowed electricity to lightly charge his hand before he jabbed the book with one finger. There was a small blue flash and the book jumped off the bed and onto the floor.

"Oops." He certainly didn't mean to do that. He got up off of the bed and went over to where the book was. A sharp gasp escaped from him when he saw it. In the tiny, ornate grooves on the cover, there was what looked like pure White-blue light. It filled every crevice in the leather and in the center, it followed the grooves to create a perfect triquetra. Luigi extended a slightly trembling hand and touched the cover. It was warm, but not as hot as he had expected. As he picked it up, the lamp on the table flickered and went out.

"What the-?" Luigi muttered as he placed the book gently down on the bed. He went to the window and closed the drapes. Now the room was plunged into darkness except for the brilliant lights on the book. Luigi paused for a moment with his hands still on the drawstrings of the curtains. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Now we're getting somewhere!" He whispered loudly. He turned back to the book and made his way over to the bed. Before he sat down, however, movements in one of the far corners made him halt. Luigi swallowed and looked up. He covered his mouth to stifle a scream. Standing in the corner, faintly illuminated by the book's light, stood the man from the crystal ball, only he was stoic and pearly white.

Luigi began trembling uncontrollably. The ghost raised and extended its hand. Luigi blinked and the apparition disappeared before his very eyes. "O-oh…G-God…" He breathed. He sat down on the bed, reached under the pillow, and pulled out the dagger. He kept it in his hand as he reached for the book and took several slow deep breaths. As much as he hated that machine, he wished he had his poltergust with him.

He waited for his trembling to cease before he glanced around the room and picked up the book. He carefully opened the cover. The words from before reappeared before the book's pages began giving off a bright light. The pages began turning themselves, revealing their contents one by one. Luigi stared in awe as detailed maps, riddles, a few prophecies, and even an entire section devoted to the fauna of the known world appeared to him. The book then began revealing detailed instructions on how to use magic and fuse spells to create powerful incantations. Luigi saw something of interest. Directions on how to fuse fire and lightning, two elements he was the most adept at using. Interesting enough, he thought, the pages were turning so quickly, but the words were being immediately memorized. It didn't take long for him to get a headache. The pages and their bright light kept turning. Luigi's head felt like a thousand white-hot wires had replaced his brain and his eyes were brimming with tears by the time he reached the end.

The last two pages revealed the next big clue. The next to last page, held a drawn diagram of a large stone panel in a large room. The panel had the image ofthe fangedboo on it, surrounded by ornate craftsmanship and runes. Several quick words quickly burned themselves into his mind before quickly flipping to the last page revealing a small prophecy, which surprisingly enough did not get crammed into his head.

Through tear-filled eyes, he stared at the flowing words.

Ancient Shadow's call to one,

Shall be sundered and undone,

By ghost-lord's hand,

Or else by none

"Strange rhyming meter…" Luigi muttered as he desperately massaged his sore head. The book immediately snapped shut and the lines of fire faded. The only sound in the dimly lit room was Luigi's heavy breathing. "Ow…Ow, ow, ow…" He groaned. "Ow... what was that?" The book had basically forced its contents into his memory. How? Luigi would probably never be able to tell.

As Luigi's eyes adjusted to the darkness again, he weakly pushed himself up to a sitting position and felt around on his desk for the lamp switch. A small 'click', and the room was filled with the soft orange glow. Luigi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Light chases shadow away…" He muttered. "Hey wait a minute…" That was a line from one of the pages the book had forcefully crammed into his head. Now with a chance to think about it, he mentally poured over the information that was now his to know. How to control ghosts? It was simply breathtaking. "Incredible…"

The ghost appeared again, only this time, closer. At the foot of the bed to be exact. This time, there was nothing to stop him from crying out. All in a split second, Luigi's hand flew to the dagger's pommel and with a loud 'shink!' the silver blade was out and pointing at the ghost. What the hell am I doing? It's a spirit, it can't be harmed.

The ghost raised a finger and pointed at the dagger's scabbard. Luigi kept the blade pointed at its chest and his eyes forward. The ghost pointed again. Luigi's eyes quickly darted to the scabbard where it was pointing. Emblazoned on the ornamentation itself was the familiar triquetra. Luigi, by now, was trembling terribly.

"W-What do you want?... I-I…" His voice faltered momentarily and the ghost gave him a sympathetic look. Well, he doesn't exactly act like the old house ghosts… Luigi thought.

"Speak! I-I ch-charge you!" The dagger emitted a faint glow. Luigi straightening his arm and tightening his grip on the hilt. The ghost immediately took several steps back and clutched his throat. He gave several racking coughs before breathing and coughing some more.

"Augh… ah… Tha-… thank you…" It finally croaked out with a voice that resembled several rusty hinges. He coughed some more. "Ack…(Cough) I can still talk… hmm, amazing. After all these (Cough) years…I mean, I… (cough) could talk, but only… telepathically. Frankly I don't like doing that… it sort of freaks me out." He turned and looked at Luigi. "I'm amazed, young man that you know so much already about the key… and yet you were not endowed with the mark."

Luigi sat for a minute, confusion filling the space where terror was currently. "Huh?"

The ghost looked perplexed. "You mean…Ack… you don't know how to use it?"

"What's it?"

Ah, dear Clairvoya was right… the boy is confused, he thought. He waved his hand, "You can put it down now, Luigi. I solemnly swear that I shall not hurt you." Luigi lowered the dagger. "Ah, how rude of me, I am Kalliel, last knight of the Priory of Eidolon." He gave a formal bow.

"Finally, someone who knows what's going on!" Luigi said, the fear slowly subsiding inside of him.

"I… beg your pardon?" Kalliel asked.

"Oh. I'm sorry. You see, Professor Gadd's got stars in his eyes, because he thinks of this as some sort of jackpot for ghost-hunting, and Clairvoya only answers my questions in riddles. Well, I was…uh, hoping that you could, um… well, explain to me just what the heck is going on!" Luigi stated. "Forgive my bluntness, my lord." He added, this man was a knight after all. Kalliel waved a hand, "you have no need to refer to me as lord, for I have not been around for over 1500 years… you see, I-"

Kalliel's head jerked towards the door with a small gasp as Gadd's voice called out for Luigi. "I must away now. If you want your questions answered, seek me out… I believe the book has given you the directions." With that, he vanished once more.

"Hey! Wait!" Luigi tried to get him, but it was too late. He was gone.

Luigi couldn't feel his arm. Looking down, he saw that it was because he was clutching the book for dear life. Professor Gadd and Shivers both burst through the door. Gadd pointed the nozzle of the Poltergust 3000 around the room. "Alright, sonny! Where is it?"

"It's okay guys, really."

"But, Master Luigi, I could've sworn I heard you scream," Shivers said, glancing around the room.

Gadd rolled his eyes and looked at the book in Luigi's arms. His face perked up. "Well! Looks like you've been gettin' to it, huh? Did you find anything?"

Luigi shrugged before shutting his eyes and opening the book.

"Luigi? What are you doin' boy?" Gadd asked.

"Ah! Aheh… sorry. It's just when I opened it earlier, everything became really…really bright. Then, in a few minutes, I guess… the book filled itself out and… closed itself." Luigi held up the book to show them, slowly turning several pages. They were all filled out top to bottom with fine print.

Gadd shook his head before cuffing Luigi on the arm, "You did it, m'boy! Ha-ha! You did it!"

Luigi smiled. "Maybe, but then Kalliel appeared-"

"What? Jumpin' Jehosiphat!" Gadd exclaimed, dropping the nozzle of the vacuum.

"Mmmhmm," Luigi muttered. "Speaking of which," He put the book carefully down on the bed, put the dagger back in the sheath, getting a strange look from Gadd in the process. "Where in the devil did you get that?"

Luigi shrugged, then bolted out the door and down the stairs.

"Wait, Luigi, where the heck are you goin'?"

Paying no heed, Luigi headed down the main flights of stairs, then to a door at the back of the house and down some more stairs to the cellar. Luigi then passed some wine casks and through the door into Gadd's subterraneanlaboratory. He stood stock still in the center of the room.

Panting, Gadd and shivers appeared a few moments later. "Luigi? Wha- what's wrong… oy… I need to siddown…"

Luigi finished muttering to himself. "The book said that the old house where the knights took up residence sat here, on this very spot. There was a map and some coordinates. I remember that."

Gadd thought for a moment, "Maybe that's why it was such a hotspot for the boos and portrait ghosts. Oy... but this was rather unexpected."

"Exactly. What I saw was a drawing of some kind of stone tablet. Should be on the floor somewhere over…" He took a few steps to the stack of wine barrels in the corner. "…here somewhere… I think."

"You... think?" Gadd questioned.

Luigi moved his hand up to his chin… "I'm not positive…" He bent over and took a closer look at the floor. He carefully moved several barrels over and bent down. "Gimme a hand, guys." Luigi said, shouldering one of the machines sitting on the ground next to the barrels. This cellar, for some reason, did not disappear with the rest of the house after Luigi had purged it of ghosts. While finding this rather peculiar, Luigi didn't think much on it.

"Hey, be careful now, boy!" Gadd said as Shivers went to help him move the machinery. Luigi strained and pushed and finally felt it slide a few feet. He and Shivers moved several more barrels while Gadd watched them intently. Shivers floated back a few feet to give Luigi some room. With his foot, Luigi wiped some dust off of the floor, then extended his palm and dropped a green fireball on the area, clearing it of dust, debris and algae. A triumphant smile crossed his lips. Gadd and Shivers went to go have a look. Both jaws dropped in amazement at the seal on the ground. "What is it?" Gadd asked, surprised.

Luigi breathed one word in the dank air. "Bingo…"

A/N: Ah, haven't really come up with a name for chapter 4 yet. But... heh... I need to stop doing the spoilers. Ah well. I'll do it one more time, just for the hell of it.

Luigi and the others open the stone tablet, to find something that will put all of the pieces of this strange puzzle together. The result is a very dark outlook, I'm afraid. Later on, Luigi finds that he must make the decision whether to tell Daisy about the Priory, or not.