Oh, so, this chapter decided to have a lot of stuff go on and take over second rank in terms of length. Since it's pretty long, give yourself some time to read it! When you're all set, buckle up. Seriously, stuff happens. (Also, italics in this chapter quote other things. Just so you know.)
...
[Luigi]
One would imagine that marching through the Deserts might be quite the trying and tiring experience. Considering that my brother and I have done so before, I can tell folks that it certainly would be, on most occasions.
However, when someone that traveled with can whip out a magic scepter and blast most enemies to cinders, the road would be easier.
Sure, she didn't have anything to make the actual hike there easier, but it was nothing compared to past visits. As we trudged through the sandy trails, Peach would cast spell after spell against whatever Goomba, Koopa, or Firesnake jumped up to attack us. If I looked away for a moment, a pink flash would be the only sight that I would see as I returned my attention to her.
Meanwhile, the rest of us were worn out from just traversing the desert's landscape. Yoshi had already taken to carrying both Green and Yellow Toads on his back, and moved a bit slower as a result of the extra weight. Whenever we reached platforms that allowed us to quickly get across large mounds of sand, I would force myself to stop and turn back to help pull the Blue Toad up and along, who helped the Purple Toad right after. Though she waited for us, our princess was always leading the way.
After she floated to the top of the latest flagpole, Peach ripped off Bowser's black flag and glided down to the rest of us. The Purple Toad took out a pink one with Peach's royal crest on it, one of her crown, and hoisted it to the top.
"Right," Peach sighed and nodded. "That should be the last one before the fortress."
"Hah…good," I panted. "I think…Yoshi might be…getting tired."
"Nope, I'm ok for now," reassured the ever-energetic Yoshi.
"Well, we can take a break and walk to the fortress instead of running," suggested Peach. "Sound fair?"
The four Toads and I nodded. Yoshi watched us a bit and joined in.
"Ok. Yoshi, why don't you lead the way for a bit?" asked Peach.
"Sure! Leave it to me!"
The green dinosaur happily skipped ahead, and the two Toads on his back buckled with each step. Behind them, the Blue and Purple Toads snickered with one another. I moved to follow them, but Peach tugged on my arm and held me back.
"Luigi, could you hold my scepter, please?"
"W-What? Me?"
"Yes," Peach sighed. "We shouldn't run into any more enemies along the way."
Still perplexed, I shrugged and took her golden scepter as we slowly followed the others, and fell behind by a bit. Its heart-shaped head caught my attention, and I gazed in at the sun-sparkled jewels. The rim of it was golden, like the rest of the rod, but there was a thin blue layer between it and the pink ones that shaped around the heart. A larger blue gem was at the core of the wand, similar to the one that Peach wore on her dress.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
My head snapped up and I turned to Peach. "O-Oh, y-yes it is," I stuttered out.
She shook her head, and then looked at me with disdain. "Luigi, you don't have to pretend it doesn't concern you." What? "I can tell that you're just as worried about my safety as everyone else is. Please don't be."
I scratched at the back of my head. "Princess, we're all concerned about you because you lead this kingdom," I explained. "If anything happened to you, we would be in more peril than we could imagine. It's only natural that we act defensive over you and show our worries. However," I added, "I also know that you're very capable, especially with this scepter in hand. In fact, we're all having a hard time keeping up with you as you lead us about. None of us will stop watching out for you, but don't mistake our apprehensions with doubts." Still, she seemed unconvinced, so I tossed in a bit more: "I act the same way around Mario every time we venture together."
Peach took a long stare at me. "I'm sorry, Luigi," she bowed her head. "Honestly, I know that I haven't been myself lately."
As it gleamed again, I waved the wand at her while she picked her head up again. "Would this have anything to do with it?"
"Probably," murmured Peach. "Magic is…complicated. And the side effects can take a toll on the user."
"Side effects that include…?"
"Memory loss and nastier personalities, for starters," Peach answered. "It takes a heavy hit on the user, and has different effects for the various spells. Sometimes, the side effects vary based on users. For example, one person might experience memory loss, while another has the sharpest memory around. In turn, however, the latter person may become more hostile, whereas the former has the sweetest demeanor."
"Peach," I practically gasped before I continued, still anxious, "with that kind of backlash, you shouldn't be using this rod."
"Perhaps, and that's normally why I limit the use," admitted Peach. "However, I still have used its magic before, but I don't always carry it around with me. Usually, if I'm able to prepare beforehand, I'll cast a spell that allows me some magic capabilities before leaving the castle." She sighed. "It's not all bad magic, Luigi. And Bowser has tested my patience to the very last end. No more. I'm taking back the entire kingdom by whatever means necessary."
My head slowly shook. "And at what cost, Peach?"
We stopped and she gave me another long, hard look. After a silent minute, Peach took her scepter back and muttered, "Whatever it takes to get Mario back. He's done the same for me countless times before and I owe him this much. I owe my kingdom as well."
And with that, Peach resumed her walk behind the others. There was more that I wanted to ask her, but I had already pushed the princess too far. Perhaps later I could dig for more answers.
Answers from her, at least. One foot lifted up and fell forward as I got ready to follow the others. However, my hands shuffled around my overalls until I pulled out Mario's letter. I waited more than long enough to read over the rest of this.
Hesitation flared up within me, however, as I studied the folded letter. Was this the time to read it over? The preview I had earlier had given me some worries over what was going through my brother's head. And it is his, so maybe I shouldn't.
In spite of myself, my hands slowly opened the letter. Curiosity trumped fear today.
My feet dragged along, and I was able to follow the group, but the distance between us was quite noticeable. A slight jog closed the gap a bit, but kept it sizeable enough that I could read the letter in peace. With a periodic eye on the road, I brought my attention to my brother's letter.
Beloved friend, wait. I've already read that bit. A bit further along and I'm past what I've read over. We come together, time and again, and I love it. What was he thinking of? His royal majesty, they call mockingly call him, his grouchiness, his awfulness, his wretchedness, and all the terrible rest. Those titles sounded…familiar. Bowser's henchmen have called him such before, in either mock support or the weirdest terms of endearment. But why would Mario…? Truth be told, I'm no hero, for I love this destruction, this chaos. What? No way.
Yes, him. He is the fire, my fixation. He literally breathes flames and would dare to put on a show just for one, just me. Always just for me, I like to tell myself. Imagine.
I stumbled and took a moment to regain my footing. The path took a few turns that I hadn't been aware of and I followed the others carefully. While I was ready for one of them to turn back to me, ask me something, none of them did. The four Toads laughed and told stories to one another, which managed to keep Yoshi's attention. Peach had already worked her way to the front, too focused on leading to check on me again.
Good. I needed the space, because the way Mario's letter sounded was off. For some reason, it felt like a love confession for…but that can't be right.
Back to the letter, it…he went on to mention how people misjudge the princess and to discuss his relationship to Peach, a mostly platonic one. He even went on about how she confided in him, because the stresses might be too much for anyone else. And I needed to look back up again, at Peach, because I'm one of them, the people she refused to tell about her inner turmoil. Even as we spoke before, I still wasn't able to get her to open up further. What nerve had Toadsworth struck earlier? What else would set her off like that?
My eyes drifted back to the letter. Mario went on to reaffirm that Peach was not interested in him romantically, contrary to many people's beliefs. Though part of me had hoped my brother would be interested in royalty, specifically Peach, I hadn't dwelt upon the two as an actual couple. Mostly, I just wanted one of us to be able to get close to her for whatever benefits it might have brought. Since Mario managed it, I left it to him, but it appeared that Peach wasn't interested in him, and I'd imagine myself by extension. The way she's held her attention on Mario, how she steals him away from everyone, just for some time alone, whatever compliments she handed Mario in private…
They're the thoughts that any woman could have. Or any man, right? Wait, wait, what?
A bit further in, I hit: People would call Bowser disgusting. How is beyond me.
I've practically tripped at this point, and flailed my arms to keep balance. The letter flapped as I waved and my eyes are widened. I thought Yoshi might have looked back, so I pulled myself back together, and stiffen myself back into a stroll behind the others and move the letter in back of me. The dinosaur glanced in my direction and smiled. With a struggle, I sent him one back and waved. While Yoshi was pacified, the Yellow Toad turned to check on me as well.
"You all right, Luigi?" he called.
"Fine," I lied. "Just keeping an eye on the rear." If Peach had been at all curious, that would force her attention away. The Toad nodded and went back to chattering with his friends. My forced smile fell and I felt my body shake.
This isn't right. The letter isn't right. He's strong, imposing. No, it's fake. When our eyes meet, I see warmth. The heat's playing tricks on my eyes. Sure, the scales are different, but they seem so smooth, gross. The fun part is the tail. It wags around as he saunters, flowing delicately after the rest of his form. I'm not really reading this. I'm not. I admit, it's not the best way to offer myself to him, but it gets the point across.
What I have here is not my brother's writing. The-this garbage about a nicer Bowser and love for his army, his kid, that can't be Mario's thoughts. He calls out Toads on their cowardice, my brother would never do that. Bowser isn't a family man; he is a monster! Of all people, Mario would know.
I can barely read this anymore, yet I can't stop completely. I already know the kingdoms, the world, would call my love a form of insanity, but would he? Yes, this is insanity. If it were real, that is. Could I change him? Should I? Would I change? Mario never changes. Not that much. He wouldn't.
But the next part of the letter holds no punches. I can't even imagine my own brother's reaction. His twin, so twisted inside? Sure, Mario would be concerned with my opinion, but…no. How could I ever let my little brother down? He…he…stop, it's not real. Luigi has always been so selfless, putting everyone and everything before himself. How could I possibly hurt him in such a way, betray him? …You never would. Mario, that is. He never would. This trash heap isn't him.
Why am I even still reading this? I should hate these thoughts, this lust. Love between men is a delicate subject in and of itself. Love between mortal enemies isn't possible. I…well, men in love…enemies definitely shouldn't be. No, no! This. Is. Not. My. Brother! Yet it's real. These are my thoughts. I desire these things. STOP! …Stop reading.
Something that no one can know, and it's that I love Bowser. Not Luigi, my brother whom I share many things. Not Peach, who can be my confidant as much as I hers. Not even Bowser himself, who will probably never know my declarations of love.
…No.
Yes, I'm sure this will end up in someone else's hands, at some point or another. I am hopeful that it is someone who comes to understand me, if not someone I come to love. A pang hits me hard in the chest. Truly, I hope that I've given this away willingly and that it was not stolen from me.
I lifted my head as my hands quaked. I'm desperate for one of the others to look back now, to wonder if I'm all right. But they're satisfied in keeping to the path, and they're in no hurry to look back.
The letter ends with: Fondly, Mario (Yep, that's-a me!)
And that was it.
My eyes poured over the words, over and over again. It couldn't be real. There was no rhythm, no rhyme, and no reason. It was illogical. Somehow, I had to have made a mistake in what I saw or did. Checking again though, I was certain:
This was his handwriting. It was my brother's work.
No, this had to be a ruse. Bowser planted it, or had one of his soldiers do it.
My brother, our hero, could not be in love with the evil king. Bowser is a demon! Mario knows that. Even if he were gay, he wouldn't go after a literal monster. Not after the tyrant of the Mushroom Kingdom, not after the cruelest being we know.
Wait, what am I saying?! This isn't the truth! The letter is just a very convincing fake that someone else made! It's not real! …It can't be.
…And yet…
"Luigi!"
"What?"
A shove against my head refocused my attention. Peach stood in front of me, annoyed. The rest of the group stood behind her, concerned and…in front of a pyramid. The fortress.
Fingers snapped. "Luigi, come on! We've tried getting your attention repeatedly!"
"S…Sorry Princess. Everyone." I bowed my head. Peach's eyes followed and I realized that my hands still clutched the letter.
"What's that rubbish?" she asked.
"It's not rubbish!" I jumped to the defensive instinctively. Peach gave me an inquisitive expression and I bit my lip. Wasn't it trash? Wasn't this piece of drivel exactly that?
"Then what is it," she questioned, and carefully studied my behavior, "if it's so important that it'll distract you enough to walk straight into the fortress?"
Was I really about to? "It's a letter from Mario," the words slipped out of my mouth. No! No, they can't know!
"Really?" asked Yoshi. "When did you get it?"
Before Peach could even think of snatching it from me, I folded the letter back up and hid it away within my overalls. "A while ago, before all of this. He sent it to me from his last adventure," my lie rolled right off of my tongue. "It's just something that I took with me so I could…so I wouldn't…"
A hand came down and rested on my shoulder. I blinked. Peach's face changed and was more sympathetic. "He'll be fine, Luigi. We've come this far. We will save him."
Does he want that? "…Ok."
The Green Toad leaped off of Yoshi and tossed out the Item Bag, which I hadn't even realized he was carrying. "Should we equip anything before we go in?" he asked.
"Fire Flowers are always useful," suggested the Purple Toad.
"But we're in a desert," pointed out the Blue Toad. "They're going to have some resistance to fire prepared in there, right?"
"No way, that would be Seaside," argued the Yellow Toad.
"If anything, our best bet would be the Penguin Suit," I intervened. "But we need to save that for the colder areas where we really need it."
"Then what should we use?" the four Toads asked together.
"Nothing," came my answer that they feared. "We'll go in and use whatever we can find."
"Luigi," argued the Purple Toad, "we can't just go in defenseless while the Princess, uh…well…" he trailed off.
"I can handle the front," Peach huffed. "The last fortress may have been empty, but the entire way here wasn't."
The Toads exchanged nervous glances and nodded. They lined up behind Peach to enter the fortress. I moved to follow, but something grabbed my arms and held me back. Yoshi.
I pivoted back around to him. In a lowered voice, I asked, "What's wrong, Yoshi?"
"Uh-Um…" he shivered.
"Are you scared?" I asked. He nodded quickly. It wasn't the first time this happened. "Yoshi, it's fine. Just wait out here for us to get back."
"But what if something goes wrong?" he questioned. "I…I've gone into these before."
"That's really brave of you," I soothed. That was brave of him, something that a lot of us lacked. And being courageous was something that Mario excelled in.
Still, Yoshi shook his head. "No, just desperate. If I didn't, who would?"
"Well, you don't have to worry about that here," I reassured him. "We can handle it."
"But…what if something bad happens in there?"
For a moment, I wasn't certain on how to answer him. "We'll take care of it," I forced out and put on a smile to calm him. Yoshi's dark blue, almost black, eyes studied mine. They wavered with fear. He couldn't go in.
He would try to go against that though. "I can't just…" he whispered.
"Yoshi, stay. We can do this." I felt I was telling myself that as much as I was telling him.
Somehow, that managed to pacify Yoshi, at least enough to nod and back away. I nodded back and ran into the pyramid fortress, quite a bit behind the Toads and Peach.
After I had entered, all that I could see at first were large amounts of sand, which practically covered the brown floor. Straight ahead appeared to go on for a while, so I started to sprint again.
"Luigi, not that way!" called one of the Toads.
With a skid, I stopped myself and looked upward. The four Toads were jumping on platforms above me. Peach had paused to glance down at me, before she returned her attention to an approaching Dry Bones. A small pink spell fired out, and encased the bone pile in a block of ice. The Green Toad hopped over, lifted the ice block, and threw it away. Upon contact with a wall, it shattered to bits.
"Hurry up, Luigi!" shouted Peach. "The Toads are still searching for Ice Flowers."
It took a brief scan of the room around me, but I noticed some blocks formed together just above a sand mound. Running up the heap, I jumped onto the platform and made my way up toward the others. A Dry Bones leaped after me and I barely managed to avoid it.
"Hey!" I yelled. "You guys missed one!"
"My bad," the Yellow Toad apologized. "I stepped on that one before by accident."
Left to repeat the attack, I jumped up and stomped down on the resurrected Koopa's head, which knocked the bone pile back to pieces. Again, after I spotted a path of platforms, I hurdled myself upward. Eventually, I had caught up to the group, just as the Blue Toad bashed a block open to reveal a batch of Ice Flowers.
"Ah! Here they are!" he cheered. "Come on everyone! Get them while they're hot! Or, uh, cold, I guess."
Each of the four Toads and I had rushed around to grab an Ice Flower. With a glow and a flash, the five of us have our clothes altered to include a bright blue, and now signified our acquired ice powers.
"Too cool!" announced the Green Toad as he spun around and launched two balls of ice. "Pun intended!"
"H-Hey, watch it," cried the Purple Toad. "You nearly froze me!"
We continued to ascend the pyramid, and the space around us slowly thinned as we climbed higher. Though a number of Dry Bones had showed up, Peach froze most of them before we caught up, and left one of the Toads to throw it away. A few Swoopers had appeared, and the small purple bats tried to impede us. Peach, however, took out most of them. Any Swooper she missed, an ice ball would be sent out to send the leftover bats spiraling down the pyramid, with a faint shatter that sounded below.
"Huh. I would have imagined that Bowser would at least have tried to give us a harder time over this," echoed Peach's voice.
"Be thankful that he didn't, Princess," laughed the Green Toad.
It's true. Why wouldn't Bowser have made his forces here tougher? Could Mario have anything to do with that? …Wait, no, that would be admitting that they're interested in each other, which—
"Luigi! Watch out!" yelled a Toad.
Barely, I processed it enough to spin away from a Swooper. The Yellow Toad shot an ice ball after it, and watched it plummet to the ground.
"Phew. Thanks," I let out a breath.
"You're welcome!" giggled the Yellow Toad.
"Keep up, Luigi!" chastised the Purple Toad, as he froze another Dry Bones.
I nodded, but was still distracted by similar thoughts. As the room narrowed, we arrived at large, studded orange door. Peach turned to check on us.
"Is everyone ready?" she asked.
"Definitely!" cheered the Yellow Toad and clapped his hands together.
"Let's go for it!" shouted the Green Toad as he thrust his fist into the air.
The Blue Toad bounced up and down. "This place has been so easy! It's great!"
Another laugh sounded and the Purple Toad chimed in, "Bowser's slacking here!"
Slacking. Distracted. Kidnapper. Tyrant. I bit my lip. How could Mario possibly—?
"Luigi?" Peach interrupted my thoughts. "Are you ready?"
"Uh, y-yes," came my not-so steady answer. "But don't you think this has been…well, too easy?"
"Maybe, and we'll keep our guard up," Peach agreed. "Even still, we can only go forward."
While I still hesitated, a single nod was all that the princess needed to see. With a smirk, she turned and opened the door. Our group marched in single file, and the door eerily closed behind us. It made us jump, but we recollect ourselves quickly.
The path ahead moved slightly uphill. Peach broke into a dash and charged ahead. After a few shouts, the Toads and I raced after her. Soon, we run into the main room.
"Hmm, is no one here?" questioned Peach as she moved further into the dark yellow room, lit by orange torchlight. It was cone-shaped, and the space narrowed up to the roof.
"Princess, be careful!" warned the Blue Toad.
His words had scarcely left his lips when Peach stepped on a tile in the middle of the room. Abruptly, a faint gust of air pulsed through the room. The torch flames suddenly went out, and the room was darkened. However, it didn't remain that way for long, as slowly, blue flames mysteriously relit the torches.
"W-What's going on?" nervously asked the Green Toad. "This is c-creepy."
"Yikes! Look over there!" cried out the Purple Toad. "Princess, m-move away!"
Past Peach, at the end of the room, rested a large pile of bones that had appeared. A couple of blue fireballs bounced around it, which caused them to shake. Bones rattled and the heap slowly clustered up together, into the shape of…
It was of Bowser…or a Dry Bowser.
The bones had formed into his shape, with burnt red studded collar and armbands where his normal black ones would be. Its shell was colored like charcoal, with lava-like red spaces between the plates. Rotten hair was tied up between the chipped horns on its head. Somehow, this creature gave off a more sinister vibe than Bowser himself.
"B-B-Bowser?!" shouted the Blue Toad. "He's d-dead?"
"C-Can that be true?" wondered the Yellow Toad. "Or did he rip his skeleton out?"
In the black holes where eyes belonged, two small orbs, which looked like tiny fireballs, suddenly lit up. The Dry Bowser hunched over, and let out a rattle-filled roar.
"Get ready," I called out, and hoped the Toads could focus.
"Princess…Peach…" came the awful, ghostly voice of Dry Bowser.
"H…How does it know…?" Peach began to ask, but instead fell silent.
"Congrat…ulations…on getting…this far…" rattled the boney abomination. "You have…proven to be…more of a pest…than we had originally planned for." Its speech had slowly improved as it continued.
"Happy to exceed expectations," taunted the princess.
"King Bowser had mentioned…that he still had terms to send you," he sounded out between the clattered bones.
"I'm not remotely interested in them," snapped Peach.
"Give up here and now…and you will be able to spare Mario," Dry Bowser clacked as it continued, and seemingly ignored anything Peach added in.
"We haven't come all the way here to just quit now," the princess fired back. "If Bowser wants to send idle threats, he may. But if he so much as harms Mario—"
"He lives," rattled the bones. "Tell his brother so. It might…motivate him otherwise."
Bowser was trying to get me to stop Peach? Why?
"No chance," I refused the skeletal monster's offer. "The only way to my brother will be through you and whoever else gets in the way."
Dry Bowser rolled its head around, and clacked as it did. The fireball-like eyes were a bit bigger now.
"He wondered if you truly cared about him," sounded the bones, clearer than before. "If you did, there might have been a better chance, had you accepted the offers. Now, no negotiations can be made." Dry Bowser shook violently. "Now, you decided that the war continues."
"So we have."
Peach lifted her wand. She then fired out a pink ice ball, which hit Dry Bowser's chest. It slid back a bit, with part of the bones now frozen.
"Quick guys," shouted the Purple Toad. "Get him!"
The Toads joined in, and shot a few ice balls in succession of one another, and iced up more of Dry Bowser. I was ready to throw one of my own, but faltered instead.
"What the…?" was all I could manage.
Purple smog whipped around the iced bones and melted the chunks away. Dry Bowser let out another roar and threw a large bone, which soared right after the Yellow Toad. He narrowly managed to jump over it, and fired another ice ball before the Toad bumped into the enclosed ceiling.
"Hang in there!" rallied the Green Toad.
Dry Bowser sent out a fireball, but it was a blue color instead of red or orange. As the two attacks collided, they puffed into a cloud of smoke and water, and cancelled each other out.
"Not good," cried the Yellow Toad, as he fell back down.
Dry Bowser stumbled into a run, and charged at us. Peach leaped to the side, and tried to cast another spell, which proved ineffective as a pink ball bounced off of Dry Bowser. The Purple and Green Toads tried to pelt it with ice balls, but were knocked away by the rushing bone monster, and lost their ice abilities as they slammed into the walls.
"Incoming!" yelled the Blue Toad.
As it redirected itself and neared us, the Blue Toad tackled the Yellow Toad away and I jumped out of its path. It stopped near another wall and turned back around.
"I've had enough of this!" Peach snapped and raised her scepter again. Hastily, Dry Bowser lifted its hand, which suddenly fired out and burst through the air. The bone claw slammed into Peach and locked her into a wall.
"Princess!" the Toads cried out in unison. She struggled to move her rod, but the bone claw only tightened its grip, and rendered her unable to move.
Annoyed, I leapt out and fired another ice ball at Dry Bowser, who cancelled it with another fireball.
"He would be disappointed in you," murmured the creature. "He truly would have expected you to be more cooperative, for his sake."
Wait, what? Did it mean Bowser or Mario?
"Luigi!" screamed Peach as a bone quickly fired out and knocked into my head. I stumbled backward and hit the floor.
Even as I winced from the blow, I knew that I had just lost my ice power-up. With two more shouts of pain that followed in quick succession, I forced myself back up. The Blue and Yellow Toads rolled away on the floor, and tumbled over to the claw snared Peach.
"No!" the princess cried out in anguish.
Meanwhile, it felt as though the room was spinning around me. Barely, I made out that the Green and Purple Toads had struggled back to their feet and staggered forward to fight back. Tightly, I pressed my hands against my head to make everything still again.
Refocused, I moved my hands away to find that Dry Bowser had nearly clobbered the two Toads. A swift glance allowed me to spot the other two as they squirmed and shoved against the claw that held Peach against the wall.
"The end is already near," roared Dry Bowser once more.
Quickly, I ran to a wall and kicked off of it. Launched into the air, I moved for the center, to get as high as I could. Then, I flipped and forced my feet downward toward Dry Bowser. Briefly, I felt a surge of speed and power, as my legs connected against its head. A crackle sounded and purple smog spilled out.
I bounced off of Dry Bowser, who flailed as it tried to attack before it slowly fell back to pieces. Briefly, I caught sight of its attached hand that held another bone, prepared too late for another attack. Peach cried out as she suddenly fell to the floor, along with Dry Bowser's other claw. The purple smog gathered around the shattered bones and covered it completely, before it slowly dissipated.
"You did it, Luigi!" cheered one of the Toads. Before I could tell which one, I sank back to the floor and felt my eyes shut.
He would be disappointed in you. He wondered if you truly cared about him.
My eyes snapped back open and I found myself back outside of the pyramid. Yoshi was staring down at me, with a clearly concerned expression stuck on his face even as I pushed off of the ground. Perhaps I did it too quickly, since I felt a dizzying rush fill my head again.
"What happened?" I asked and slowly went back to the ground.
"You collapsed after beating Dry Bowser," explained Yoshi. "He gave you a nice knock on the head to remember him by."
Carefully, I felt around my head, where my cap was missing. Instead, I felt a large bump through my hair, which still stung with pain.
"Rest," Yoshi insisted, and he handed my cap over. "The Toads and Peach are trying to find out something about Bowser's Castle."
My eyes went from half closed to suddenly widened.
"Well?" I demanded. "What happened? Is Mario all right? Did Bowser mess with him? Can we get him out?"
Yoshi shook his head. "They're still checking up on it."
Gently, I pushed myself up from the ground again. This time, Yoshi wrapped his arms around me to help me up. He then sat beside me, practically on top of me.
"Are you ok?"
"Still a little sore, but I'll manage," I reassured him.
Oddly, Yoshi shook his head again. "Not like that. I meant about Mario."
Confused, I blinked and raised an eyebrow at Yoshi. He kept his arms around me, and held eye contact.
"What do you mean?"
"You seemed really worried about him before," Yoshi reminded me. "And now, you did it again, and got really scared over him. I miss Mario too, but even I'm not getting as panicked over him as you."
"He was kidnapped, Yoshi," I clarified. "Of course I'm concerned about him."
"That's not what I meant."
The green dinosaur studied me carefully. His eyes searched mine, and pried for answers that I refused to give him. Yoshi couldn't possibly understand…he wouldn't really think about what I'm hiding.
"I'm just really worried about him, Yoshi," I persisted.
Yoshi waited a bit before he pulled me backward with him, and then leaped up with me. It took him a minute to steady us, but he managed to do it.
"You can tell me some other time, then," hummed Yoshi, and he gave me a tight hug. "Mario would want me to wait too. He'd trust you with whatever you know."
That last bit stirred my headache. Yoshi couldn't know about that. No, that's just me misinterpreting him. But this dinosaur knows me better than that. I am keeping something from him…and everyone else. Something that Mario didn't trust me with. And though I'm still not sure about the letter, I've decided to take it at face value, and consider that my brother is in love with a literal monster. And that elicits a shiver that snakes around my body and over to Yoshi's.
"Luigi?" he asked as he pulled out of the hug. "Was that—?"
"Guys!" called out the Blue Toad. "Guys, we got word!"
"Huh?" was all I could get out.
"They've sent us a message from the castle," explained the Green Toad. "They're almost ready with the escape attempt!"
"Mario might be free really soon!" exclaimed the Yellow Toad. "Isn't that great?"
There's a pulse of hope that courses through everyone, and we exchanged smiles and sighs of relief, though my drains out after a minute. The question on only my mind: does Mario want to leave?
"We also got word from our castle," added the Purple Toad. "There's a visitor that will be by soon for Princess Peach."
"Visitor?" asked Yoshi.
"Yes, that's about my reaction as well," sighed Peach, but she kept her smile. "Oh well, we've faced quite heavy challenges so far. We could use a bit of regrouping."
Yoshi and the Toads nodded in agreement. Peach went on about getting back to her castle, but I remained hung up over the thoughts that buzzed around my mind. She was definitely wrong, though, that much I know.
The challenges we've faced so far were easy compared to what still lies ahead.
...
Wow, morbid much, Luigi? Then again, battling the undead can do that to people, huh?
But yeah, this chapter took some time to work out, since, hey, stuff happened! Luigi knows some things, Yoshi knows just a step or two less, Peach knows what she needs to, and...well, Toads know how to help here and there. Oh, and Dry Bowser was a cool boss to use; it was hard to pick a character that fit the desert and would mesh with Bowser's army. I figured, since we've delved this far into magic, why not use him? (Luigi considers Dry Bowser an it for the most part because Luigi considers lots of things to be inhuman monsters...in this case, he's not totally wrong.)
Sorry if the italics were kind of confusing. Some part of me thought that was easier than quoting Luigi as he quoted the letter. And for the massive mental mess that Luigi had going on. He has issues. Ha, I'm joking. (Mostly.) I wanted to be able to quote a previous chapter enough so readers wouldn't have to go back and re-read it word for word. (But if you do, it's from chapter two! Sorry.) I love you all for reading this much and I'm trying not to overload you guys, which I'm a bit over 60,000 words too late to avoid probably, oops.
Anyway, hope you all like Luigi and Peach, because they're going to get role upgrades. Whoops, surprise, but not really; they're going to be doing the same stuff as now, but get a bit stronger of a focus, also known as, MORE CHAPTERS! (You weren't reading this for the pairing, right? ...What do you mean, you were?) But, this group will be getting a bit of a break, since the next chapter does go back to the leading couple. (See? I'm with you, fellow shippers. People are shipping this pairing, right? ...What do you mean you're here for the plot?)
All right, I've blabbered on enough. If you have the energy/time left, let me know what you think of the chapter / story so far. Your words give mine more power. Thank you again for reading!