"The two shades of green."
Chapter 15
"Gone…like yesterday's wind."
E. Gadd looked sadly at the unconscious young man chained to the wall before him, from his seat on the other side of the underground bunker where they transported him for safekeeping.
The characteristic green "L" cap was missing from his now blood-covered light brown hair, his familiar overalls were replaced with ones the wise professor did not recognize that were torn in various places by the explosion, showing off injuries that would be either crippling or lethal to a normal human being.
A ripped up piece of clothing exposed a badly broken limb in various places and the captive's torso was torn to shreds so much could count each individual rib sticking out from between the ripped flesh and muscle mass, making them seem barbaric for allowing an injured captive to stay in such a cold, unfriendly environment without treating him with proper medical attention first. The position the body was in did nothing to ease the strain the injuries put on it, stretching broken and shattered arms to their full potential in order to keep the rest of the body in a hanging position.
But this wasn't a normal human being, he never really was in the first place.
None of those 'wounds' actually hurt him…the body is dead. Killed by the fall that happened two weeks ago…
The same fall that caused everyone else so much pain…
The man's head was bowed, blood leaking down his head injuries continuing to stain what was left of the once a nice pair of black overalls and a dark-green sweater.
He was on his knees, his upper body hanging over the steel floor limply, allowing the life-giving liquid slip down his chin and land on the hard floor with a soft dripping sound.
The puddle only grew bigger as his wounds began to heal, prompted by an unseen power that originated from his chest. His heart.
A heart that doesn't beat.
What the smart human saw before him was essentially a possessed zombie.
A body that walks and talks but is never alive…like a puppet. A doll in the hands of a skilled puppet master...
Something never meant to live, forced to act as if it was…
A violation against nature and life in general.
The ghost researcher had to constantly remind himself that this…abomination of a human, was once the softly spoken, sweet Luigi that helped him fix the Dark Moon not so long ago.
The same young green-loving plumber that, despite his tremendous fear of ghosts, ventured into six haunted mansions to save his beloved brother from King Boo…the same kindhearted soul that gave his life to protect one of his best friends, even when nobody believed he'd have the bravery to lay his life down for someone else...that continued to smile despite being shunned at and berated for not being who everyone wanted him to be…
Having his body used after his demise by an entity long thought dead, preventing him from having an honorable and peaceful end.
The professor shook his head, sadly.
"Oh, Sonny." He whispered, his voice thick with misery. "What has that monster done to you?"
Back when he heard about the abrupt and shocking death of his 'partner in crime', the professor didn't waste any time whipping out the Poltergeist 5000 and going out to search for him.
If Luigi really died at the cliff his ghost should have been roaming that area for his death was premature, early, before his time.
It had to be. He was so young…Grambi, he was just a boy.
Those type of spirits didn't leave until it was truly their time to return to where they belong with either Grambi or Jades, the small professor knew they didn't.
Luigi is there. The tiny human repeated the mantra in his head over and over again as he rushed towards the dreaded cliff. There was no other option in the professor's head.
He would find him and bring him back to his family, back home to where he belonged.
Luigi is there.
And once he finds him, he'll yell his ears off for scaring them all like that and make him do all the chores in the six mansions for the rest of the week, just to make sure he'll never do that again.
Everything will go back to normal. The brat will be a bit transparent but he'll be able to communicate with his friends and family, help Mario protect the kingdom and do everything that living Luigi could do.
E. Gadd refused to believe otherwise.
But, once he got there…Luigi wasn't waiting for him.
The cliff was ghost free...No matter how much refused to acknowledge that fact…the plasma scanner didn't show any ghost around for miles and the brat himself didn't try to make contact with him…
It was as if he just…disappeared. Like he wasn't just here…it was as if he wasn't anywhere.
That was the first time, in what felt like forever, that the proud ghost researcher cried after a loss of a loved one.
He never had to, they were never truly gone. Sometimes they hid out of sight, sometimes they visited other parts of the world and other times playing pranks on his fellow living, but they always came out when he called for them.
Luigi…Luigi was just…gone.
As if there never was a man bearing that name…
There was no trace of him…like of yesterday's wind.
After searching for four hours and shouting for the blasted kid to finally show himself, he finally broke down. Tears falling down freely, the poltergeist 5000 slipping through the loosened grip, his body curling up under a nearby tree, wrecked with convulsions.
His screams carried away by the wind…until a familiar ghost butler carried the broken professor back home.
Back then he prayed every night to both Grambi and Jades, to tell him what happened to his 'Sonny'. He needed a closure, needed to know if he's alright wherever he ended up in, if he could talk to him during his prayers…
Right now…he was staring at the answers to his questions…
And silver eyes stared right back at him.
JA107: I hope the last chapter didn't sound to 'Star Wars'-like, with the darkness feeling like a living entity XP. I have been recently reading a lot of fanfiction from that franchise and that might have influenced the way I presented it in the previous chapter ^^', I hope it doesn't ruin the story for you all.
Thank you for all the reviews, likes and favorites!
Have nice day!
Over and out!
