Luigi invited Toadstool and I to a five-star hotel... Well, he invited me, but it went through Toadstool to get to me, so she decided to come along with a bunch of her chancellors. Nosy tyrant.
I also wanted to warp there, but nooo, Toadstool had to get her bus out. It's nice, but it doesn't compare to a nimbus cloud bus.
We're on our way to pick Luigi up from his house in Roger Valley and then we'll head to the hotel. The address puts it in a remote valley by a lake, so it'll be a long ride. It's only been an hour and the chancellors are already asleep. Should've brought something to knock myself out with, maybe then this'd be alright.
Well, Luigi didn't give Toadstool and I all the details... certainly didn't say anything about winning another contest.
Turns out, the hotel was run by that necromancer lady's ghost and the big boo. Only, the boo took a page out of the necromancer's book.
Toadstool and I got possessed by those assholes, and Luigi went through hell and back to save us.
He called in a favor from Elvin Gadd, the scientist that had helped him rescue me from the boo before, and had to run up and down a haunted hotel.
Beyond that, I don't know anything of what happened while I was possessed; woke up in time to help curb stomp the boo into the vacuum though.
We're now having a civil discussion with Gadd over what to do with the two ghosts... or demand terms. Demand terms is what I'll call it. I'm on Toadstool's side, but staying quiet. I'm feeling lethargic. That magical heartburn's back.
"I'll cover all expenses for a new laboratory if you let me destroy the ghosts," Toadstool says.
"Now now, Princess, don't be too hasty. These are important for research, but that lab..."
"I'm only asking for the big boo and that lady ghost," she says, motioning to the big boo and the necromancer's portraits.
Luigi looks like he wants to say something, he's opened and closed his mouth a few times.
"But Princess! They won't ever get out! An-and they're unique specimens!"
He's nervous, no one's siding with him.
"Professor Gadd, I'm not worried about them escaping, but I won't allow something that has seen into my head to continue on," she says.
"They won't be able to do anything!"
"That isn't what this is about. Now, do you want to keep two ghosts, or do you want a nice lab?"
"But the lab is the reward for helping save you two?"
"No, the lab is a choice."
"Well, yes, but..." Gadd pauses and Luigi joins in.
"I think the Princess's right, E Gadd. Think about it! This's a sorta privacy thing," Luigi says.
"Yes yes, but that they've possessed people is why I need to research them! This will progress my research into the paranormal! The boo used magic I've only seen in records while possessing your brother!"
Toadstool has a hand over her mouth, Luigi looks like a fish.
Now, I'm a little aloof, but that's a bit morbid. After all, I was possessed! No, I'm not angry or in shock over it, I get his point, but even I could phrase it better. Actually, what magic did the boo use while possessing me?
Luigi looks over at me like he's expecting a response. What am I supposed to say? I'm not particularly offended, I just want the ghosts gone.
He blows up. "He's right here! Why're you acting like he isn't?! You-"
My hand's on my forehead. "Luigi, stop. Gadd, I agree with Toadstool, but could you explain what the boo did that interested you?"
Gadd looks surprised. "I don't mean to be..."
Luigi's about to interject, but a gesture to stop keeps him quiet.
"... Insensitive, but there was a power the boo used that I know he didn't have before. I don't think you have any magic, do you?"
I shake my head.
Toadstool and Luigi look at me, each other, then me again.
"That means King Boo acquired a certain strain of magic while possessing you. The kind that should be extinct in the living, and takes the form of black shapes or, as they call them, shadows."
Strain? I don't think Gadd understands magic.
"Shadow magic? The kind that makes shades?" Toadstool imitates a zapping motion with her hands.
"Yes. Luigi, tell them what you saw!" Gadd seems excited.
Luigi is still peeved, but answers anyway. "Fine, when I started chasing him, he was doing this thing with black stuff to slow me down, I... don't think it's anything special." He's downplaying.
"Oh ho ho, that's not the case! I looked at every source I could get my hands on, and what I saw in the recordings matches up with this shadow magic. No complex shapes, but it's still that magic."
So I might be able to use shadow magic? Maybe there's a silver lining to getting dosed with dark power. Wait, what about Toadstool? She got possessed by the shade in Rogueport.
"Alright, what about the ghost that possessed Toadstool? anything odd there?" I ask.
Toadstool and Luigi seem shocked I'd even ask that. What's with them? I guess possession by the Shadow Queen or Dimentio was worse than this.
"No, but it used her magic in addition to its own. I want to keep both of them to note anything that's changed after possessing you two; if they learned things, gained new properties, anything."
So, Toadstool didn't retain any of the magic... The possession research does sound interesting, but I don't want the boo telling Gadd about whatever he dug up while possessing me.
"I think it's worth researching..." I wait for his hopeful reaction. "... With other ghosts."
Gadd's hope turns into a sigh, "Other ghosts!? Do you know how hard it'll be to find- Fine. You take the ghosts, but I'm getting that lab!"
I'd say he could just find idiots for ghosts to possess, but Toadstool and Luigi are here.
"Very well, contact me about where you want your new laboratory, and I'll send a crew your way," Toadstool says as she grabs the portraits. "Another thing, if you tell anyone about the possession, that lab is forfeit."
Gadd nods nervously.
Outside, Toadstool draws a circle on the pavement with her umbrella. She places the portraits inside, mumbles a couple of incantations, then tosses a fireball at the portraits, releasing the ghosts. The boo and the necromancer are panicking and darting around. The circle collapses, and the ghosts are gone.
Luigi and the chancellors seem quite happy, but Toadstool's walking towards me with narrowed eyes.
She leans to speak into my ear. Her voice is low, "You have shadow magic, don't you?"
"Sure." I shrug. It's not like I can get out of this.
"Don't sure me, you got it from the shade in Rogueport?"
"Yeah, it's done nothing."
"Of course it's done something, it's been years since Rogueport. You should've told me, I could've purged it. Who knows what it's done."
You're not someone I'd trust.
"I don't know, Toadstool. It's not like magic can be intrinsically evil, so leave it be?"
On one hand, I've seen forms of magic that corrupt, which scares me... Maybe this one just has heartburn as a side effect! It made me feel like garbage for a while before the feeling faded... actually, I feel like garbage now. Maybe the boo stirred it up.
"I already have to manage the kingdom, Mario. Please, I don't want to chase you around to get help for this."
I don't want her meddling with my magic. What if she pulls something?
"Help? I'm flattered you're worried about me, but I don't think it's anythi-"
"No, even if you think it's nothing, at least let me see if there's any sort of corruption."
Maybe she wants to help because she suspects I might snap, but I get the vibe she also wants me to think of her as a friend. Not sure why she would have interest in that after years of dealings. It's a bit too late; everybody knows she's a mage, and it's an unspoken rule to never be personal friends with a mage.
"C'mon, it's been what? Five years? I'm not too worried about it."
"You've been a little alarming as of late. You've always been... somewhat wayward, but I think you need to start considering how your actions affect opinion. The shadow magic could be why you're acting odd," she says.
Reasonable, but the magic's not why I killed the necromancer lady, that's just going for efficiency over ethics. Admitted, there's a chance I'll end up wicked in my later years, but it won't have anything to do with the shadow magic... Actually, therapy sounds like a good idea now. I doubt Toadstool's going to budge on the whole evil magic thing... and I'm too tired to argue, and maybe I have no real counter.
"You've got a point; I'll be a little more careful with what I do. I honestly don't trust you, though."
"Three days after we get back, meet me in the castle. I'm at least getting you a therapist this time."
She doesn't care.
"Alright-y."
Toadstool's still pushing that therapy, but if I'm going for therapy, it'll be outside the kingdom. She also said I should try figuring out the shadow magic, but I have no idea how to go about it. It makes me feel like garbage, so I'd rather not use it. When I mentioned having no real magic skills, she offered an apprenticeship.
I said I'd think about it. That means no.
The whole thing gives a bad vibe. She's fascinated by me in a way zoologists are fascinated by animals, and it's kinda creepy.
Might hide out in Diamond for a while and visit Pauline... maybe get some leads on things to look into.