Chapter 28 A Bond Between Souls

Lemmy studied his siblings with a furrowed brow. None of them were in good shape, all of them were grunting in pain. Wendy held her face in a wince as Iggy dabbed at it with a special healing ointment. Larry held his hands to his own face; with the array of different colors,it looked like it had been smashed into smithereens by a thwomp. Morton had a big purple bruise on the back of his head, and his pupils were different sizes. Roy was in tears.

"Damn it!" he sobbed as he held his hands over his crotch. "Why did I think I could take them; they were the ones who took me!"

Iggy appeared calm as he walked over. "I must say. Considering that it was a sledge brother you went up against, I am impressed that you guys are in as good a shape as you are."

Larry sucked some air from his teeth. "You mean it could be worse?"

"Oh ho ho." Iggy got into a kneeling position beside Roy's cot. "Oh Larry. Poor, sweet, innocent Larry. Sledge brothers are brutal. He could have killed you if he saw you as worthy opponents and went all out on you."

Larry glared at Iggy's back. "Gee, thanks. Way to make it clear you think we're weaklings."

Iggy snorted. "HA! 'Think.' That's funny, Lawrence." He handed Roy a bottle of the healing ointment. "Here. You can rub this on your injuries."

Roy blinked. "You mean you're not gonna do it?"

Iggy raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to touch that particular part of your body?"

Roy cringed "Good point." He took the bottle.

Iggy let out a breath, stood up, and snickered. "Seriously, you guys. When the one who performs the best in a fight is Lemmy, you all need to REALLY step up your game." He flashed Lemmy a smile. "Seriously." He took a step forward. "Are you certain you are Lemmy? Based on what was relayed to me, I have reason to believe the body switch spell wore off on its own."

Lemmy giggled. "Nope! I'm Lemmy!" He smiled. "I'm just as surprised as you are; I didn't even know I had it in me."

Iggy chuckled. "Maybe it wasn't you."

Lemmy blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Oh well, you know," Iggy said with a shrug. "Perhaps this spell has allowed you and Ludwig to form a special bond."

Lemmy blinked before snickering. "Are you asking if we can read each other's minds?" He shook his head and covered his smiling mouth. "I don't think so."

Iggy faced Lemmy with a giddy, wicked grin. "I wouldn't dismiss the theory so nonchalantly. There is such a thing as muscle memory. Besides, I would hypothesize you are in possession of our oldest brother's gray matter…"

Lemmy burst into laughter. "Oh, that's a scary thought! Me having Ludwig's brain…" he giggled. "That sounds like it would be a brain in the ass to deal with!"

Iggy's face fell. "Or, perhaps I am wrong." He sniffed. "That is also a possibility."

Lemmy shook his head. "Maybe." He gasped. "Oh, that reminds me! I have to go see how Ludwig's doing!" He turned toward the staircase. "I'll see you guys later!"

…

Perhaps for the first time since the body swap, Ludwig felt…happy. This good mood surprised him. After all, with every circumstance piling against him…yeah. Plus, it wasn't like he was completely relieved of the burdens the swap had forced him to carry. But…he didn't know. He just felt…calmer. Peaceful.

He wore a smile on his face as he listened to another one of his symphonies on his personal music player. Right when the song finished was when he heard a ring come from Lemmy's hammerspace. Smirking, he dug his brother's phone out, turned the music off, and put it to his ear. "Lemmy's phone."

"Hello? Who is this?" a female voice asked on the other end.

"This is Ludwig; Lemmy's older brother. Who is this?"

The person hesitated before answering. "This is the receptionist at Lemmy's dentist's office."

Ludwig laughed out loud. "What? You mean Lemmy actually cares about his physical health?" He snorted. "That's shocking."

The receptionist sighed. "Listen, I am calling because I want to confirm his appointment for tomorrow."

Ludwig smirked. "Hmm. Well see, I actually don't care about Lemmy's physical health, so I would say go ahead and cancel the appointment."

The receptionist huffed. "Well, I'm sorry sir, but I can't cancel the appointment for you. I need to talk with Lemmy himself."

Ludwig burst into laughter. "Oh honey!" He said, his voice an octave higher than normal. "You sweet summer child!" He cleared his throat. "Well, I understand; procedures and all that. I'll tell Lemmy to give you a call back."

"Thank you," the receptionist grumbled. She hung up just as Lemmy came into the room.

Ludwig giggled and lowered the phone away from his ear before looking at Lemmy. "Hey handsome; you're looking good today!"

Lemmy burst into laughter. "I was just gonna make a joke like that! You beat me to the punch!" He shook his head before speaking up. "Who was that?"

Ludwig snickered. "It was your dentist! They were calling about your appointment tomorrow."

"Oh! Right: I scheduled that last month." He looked at his brother with a tiny smile. "Ludwig, you wouldn't be willing to…?"

"Oh, God no! You know how I am around dentists! Besides, they're not my teeth!"

Lemmy chuckled. "Fair enough." He took a seat beside him on the bed. "Anyway, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing well actually." He allowed the next song on his playlist to start. "How about you?"

Lemmy did a double take before speaking. "Uh, I'm doing just fine."

Ludwig smiled. "That's good." He pulled his left earphone back so he could talk to Lemmy. "I often walk out of fights feeling stressed, so it's good you're doing well."

Lemmy nodded, beaming as he did so. "Yeah." A gloom entered his soul, causing his face to fall. "Hey, I'm sorry about the flying thing."

"It's alright." Ludwig moved in closer. "It wasn't your fault; even the best of us have to sneeze sometimes. Besides, you did save me from an untimely death." He chuckled. "I guess that means I owe you one."

Lemmy chortled. "Well, I owe you a lot of things from what happened on the second day."

"True. But then again, saving one's life IS a big deal." His eyes sparkled. "Why don't we call it even?"

Lemmy grinned from ear to ear. "Great! Sounds like a deal!"

"Awesome." Ludwig put the headphone back over his ear. It stayed in that position for a solid minute before he pulled it back. "Hey, can I tell you a secret?"

Lemmy blinked. "Sure, if you want."

Ludwig smiled sheepishly, the hue of his face turning pink. "If you tell this to anyone, I'll have your hide. But…well…" he made a so-so gesture. "You know how I'm not the biggest fan of your jokes?" Lemmy nodded, causing hm to sigh. "Well…maybe this is just a combination of being in your body and just getting out of a high-stress situation, but…a little while ago, I did look back on one of your puns, and I did…chuckle."

Lemmy blinked, not evenly fully processing what had just been told to him. When he finally did, he gasped. "Wait, really?"

Ludwig nodded. "Yeah. I…" He buried his face in his hands. "I laughed at one of your jokes." He laughed, embarrassment present in his tone. "What have I come to; I laughed at your pun!"

Lemmy felt like he would explode into a glittery mess of joy. "Well, which one was it?"

Ludwig's face was now red. "Well…it was the one you told me before we went to fight the duplighost. You know, the one about the space themed movie?"

Lemmy's face lit up. "Oh yeah! That WAS a good one." He patted Ludwig on the back as the oldest buried his face deeper in his hands. "That's great, Ludwig! It's nice that there's another pungeon master in the family!"

"No!" Ludwig shook his head. "No, I'm not a 'pungeon master' Lemmy!" He blushed an even darker shade. "In fact, I have direct evidence to suggest I'm not."

Lemmy blinked. "Direct evidence?"

"Mmhm." Ludwig faced Lemmy. "You know when I was going to put on that clown act for the servants? Well, Larry and Roy came up to me, and Larry asked me to tell him a joke."

Lemmy's heart pounded in anticipation. "So, what'd you do?"

Ludwig cringed. "I told a knock knock joke!"

Lemmy's eyes grew wide as he snickered. "What?"

"I know, I know!" Ludwig laughed, his face maroon. "I panicked! I mean, they thought I was you; I couldn't exactly not tell a joke!"

Lemmy laughed. "Oh man, that's awesome!" He leaned in closer. "Well, what exactly was the joke?"

"Uhh…" Ludwig sat up straighter. "Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Lazy."

Lemmy snickered. "Lazy who?"

The oldest looked like he was about to faint. "I'm lazy cause I'm a loser!"

Lemmy blinked before bursting into laughter. Ludwig looked like he was about to die.

"I know, I know it's bad! Like I said, I panicked!"

Lemmy wiped a tear from his eye. "Bad?" He grinned. "I think it's funny."

Ludwig blinked. "You…really?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's no 'they're the stars of the show,' but it works really well! It subverts expectations!"

"Well, it looks like you, Larry and Roy are in agreement," Ludwig said. "They also found it funny." He shook his head. "What's happening to me? I think I actually am turning into you!"

Lemmy smiled. "Nah. You're still your own person, Luddy."

Ludwig let out a breath. "Well, that is comforting to hear." There was a moment of silence before he looked at Lemmy angrily. "Hey, you just called me Luddy!"

Lemmy blinked. "Oh yeah! I guess I did!" He chuckled. "Oops!"

Ludwig glared at him. "Don't call me that! You know I hate that name!"

"Good!" Lemmy chuckled."See, if you really were me, you would love that name!" He patted Ludwig on the shoulder. "You're still you. Don't worry."

There was a moment of silence before Ludwig let out a breath of relief. "You're right. You're absolutely right." He took in another breath to calm himself before putting the earphone back over his ear. "Anyway…"

"Ooh!" Lemmy's heart pumped. "Is it okay if I listen to that too?"

"Umm…sure." Ludwig turned the headphones of, allowing Lemmy to hear the music. He smiled, especially when the guitar carried its wacky twangs across the room.

"This is nice; is it one of yours?"

"Yeah, it is," Ludwig said with a nod. "I know this probably makes me some like an even bigger narcissist than I already am, but I like to listen to some of my older tracks and…well, you know."

"Yeah, I get it." Lemmy grinned. "It's nice to look back at your own work; believe me, I know." He and Ludwig listened to the track for a little while. Lemmy's mouth hung open when he heard something specific. "Ooh! That beat! Is this in the 5/4 time signature?"

Ludwig blinked. "Yeah, it is." He raised an eyebrow. "You know what the 5/4 time signature is?"

Lemmy blinked. "I…" his spirits sank. "Oh, I just had it; I can't remember the definition."

Ludwig's brow furrowed. "Huh. That's…odd that you were able to recognize it."

"Oh, do you know what it is?"

"Well, yeah! I'm a musician, of course I know what it is! It's when a song has a rhythm that is three quarter notes…"

"Followed by two!" Lemmy said in unison with Ludwig. He smiled. "Yeah, I remember now!"

Ludwig blinked. "Really?" There was a pause. "Well, it's nice that you know. Where'd you learn about it?"

Lemmy smiled. "Oh, it's when I was ten! I learned about it when I was taking this class that I had signed myself up for."

A pause hung in the air. Ludwig looked taken aback to the nth degree. "Lemmy…that was me."

Lemmy blinked. "You?"

"Yeah! I signed myself up for a music class when I was ten; you never took a music class when you were ten."

Lemmy blinked, not once, but twice. "No…no! I DID take a music class when I was ten! There were eight of us in total! We were being taught by this little pink goomba named…"

"Mrs. Chestnut," Ludwig said, staring at Lemmy in awe. "Yeah, that was me. I took that class."

Lemmy did a double take. "Really?" He sat back, feeling a little freaked out. "Did…did you ever tell me about that class?"

"No, not to my knowledge."

Lemmy did double take. "Then…how was I able to…" he looked into Ludwig's taken aback face.

"I….I don't know." Ludwig sounded like he had just seen a ghost. There was a pause before he spoke again. "Wait. Lemmy, I'm going to try a little experiment, sound okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Ludwig closed his eyes. "Now, I'm thinking about a number between one and twenty. Can you guess which one it is?"

"Four." Lemmy didn't even hesitate. Ludwig opened his eyes in shock.

"Okay," he said, his voice in a squeak. He slowly faced Lemmy. "Now, I'm thinking about three numbers between one and a million. Can you guess…?"

"Seven, one hundred and forty nine, and eighteen thousand."

Ludwig's jaw dropped. "You….you got them all right."

"I did?"

"Yeah! All four numbers…you got them all right!" He stared at Lemmy. "How did you…?"

"I don't know!" Lemmy got an idea. "Wait, maybe it doesn't just work for me. Do you want to try it?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Lemmy closed his eyes. "I'm not thinking about numbers this time, but rather, words! Can you guess which four I'm…"

"Sparkly, shadow, smile, and sausage."

Lemmy's heart skipped a beat. "Holy crap!" He faced Ludwig. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know!" All of a sudden, Ludwig gasped, his hands flying up to his mouth as he did so. "Oh my God! Lemmy…I think…"

"What? You think what?"

Ludwig put his hand to his chest. "I didn't really think we could when Larry suggested it, but I think…"

"Wait, what?" Lemmy snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously suggesting that the mind reading idea Larry suggested is plausible? That's ludicrous!"

Ludwig let out a little shriek. "LEMMY! YOU KNOW WHAT LARRY SAID?"

"Well, yeah, don't you remember? He told us when we were in the common room."

Ludwig shook his head. "No, Lemmy. You were in the bathroom when he told me in the common room."

Lemmy blinked. "I was?" Realization hit him. "Oh, right, I was!" He gasped. "Wait a second! If I have access to you memories, then that means…"

"We actually can read each other's minds!" Ludwig's eyes were as wide as the sun. "Holy shit!"

"I know!" Lemmy began hyperventilating. "But…how…?"

Ludwig's breathing sped up. "We have each other's brains," he whispered.

"Huh?"

"It's because we have each other's brains!" Ludwig exclaimed. "We only swapped minds and voices; the physical brain didn't move!"

Lemmy gawked. "No way! Iggy…Iggy told me that…"

"In the lab!" Ludwig smiled. "I know he did Lemmy!"

A dark feeling overtook Lemmy. "So we have each other's brains!?" He gripped the sides of his forehead. "Oh, this is bad; this is really bad!"

"Bad?" Ludwig's eyes glittered. "Are you kidding? This is incredible!" He got down and started to pace. "Oh, if I have access to the inner working of someone else's mind, then that could serve as a basis of inspiration!"

Lemmy furrowed his brow. "You mean for symphonies?"

"Yeah!" Ludwig's heartbeat sped up. "And…it could help you too! Imagine the potential for jokes that would appeal to my demographic!"

Lemmy thought about this before smiling. "Huh. I guess you're right." He giggled before gasping. "Oh man! Ludwig, there's so much we have to do! If we have each other's brains…"

"Then imagine what else we have access to!" Ludwig listed it off on his fingers. "Taste buds, auditory skills.."

"..Imagination, processing power!" Lemmy grinned a sparkly grin. "There's so much we have to try now! We have to do more experiments; see what we're really capable of!"

"Yeah!" Ludwig took two steps toward the door before something occurred to him. "Wait! Before we do that…"

"We need to call my dentist back!" Lemmy exclaimed. He held out his hand. "Mon telephone, monsieur?"

Ludwig smiled as he handed the phone back to Lemmy. Once he was done canceling the appointment, Lemmy, beamed down at his brother.

"Okay. Let's-a-go!"