Chapter 13

*Beep *Beep *Beep *Bee-*SLAM*

I groaned at the sound of the alarm. It was still pitch-black outside, and I knew we would have to leave as soon as it was light. Luigi fell back asleep after slamming the snooze button on the alarm. I knew if I went back to sleep I would never wake back up. I sat up, but Luigi's grip on my waist tightened.

"Not…yet…stay…" he mumbled.

"I need to take some medicine. I feel a little feverish. King Boo's charm is starting to wear off." I heard him groan, and I reached for the bottle of ibuprofen and water from the night stand. "How many snoozes left?"

"Two." I laid back down, feeling him rub my back as I laid my head on his chest. I was not looking forward to our departure. All we needed to do was get up, eat, and leave. Last night we made sure to shower and have everything ready to go…Luigi and I both were not morning people, and neither of us were too fond of this journey.

*Beep *Bee-*SLAM*

"One." Luigi put his head under the blanket, like he was trying to hide from the alarm clock's last alert. I absent mindedly twisted the small bike charm that Wally got me, which I wore as a necklace. My brain was scrambling to think if there was anything that we missed. I remembered to put the stun gun in my bag, a key was set aside for Mario, we had plenty of medicine, our coats, a tent, blankets, food, water-

*Beep *Beep *Beep *Beep *Beep* Click*

I turned off the alarm, kissing Luigi as I got out of bed. I brushed my teeth and got dressed for the trip; Luigi was staring blankly at the ceiling. When I was done, he was sitting at the edge of the bed, giving me a sorrowful look. I leaned over and hugged him. "I'll get started on breakfast. Meet you downstairs." I knew if I stayed in the room, I'd get back in bed…we didn't have that luxury. King Boo only gave us one night's worth of protection in the mansion, and I could feel it was almost gone; I wasn't about to use the ring just to lay around in bed.

I got out some toast with jam, bacon, and eggs to cook; we needed all the energy we could get before heading out, and a hearty breakfast would help with that. I had gotten almost everything plated when Luigi finally trudged down the stairs, dressed and essentially ready to go. I brought over the plates, and he nodded his head in thanks. Neither of us were very chatty and were quietly enjoying our last moments of safety and security. It wasn't until we had finished when he finally spoke.

"I wish it didn't come to this. I'm going to miss home." I didn't really know what to say, and just grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

"Rested enough. I'm not delusional, and I'm not running a high fever. So that's something positive, I guess." Luigi rubbed his face with his free hand.

"That's not very reassuring."

"Well, it is what it is. Staying here would only make things worse." I looked out the window and saw the first glimmer of dawn. "Do you have the ring?" Luigi patted his pocket. "I put the cell phone in my bag. I'm going to give Petey one last meal, and we should go…" We stood up, and Luigi went to triple check our travel packs while I fed Petey. Petey was still fast asleep, and I put a small plate of lunch meat near him. I didn't want to wake him up, and he'd eat when he was hungry. Bye, Petey…I'll miss ya, little guy.

When I went back to meet Luigi, he had on his coat and travel bag; I saw a small compass and map tucked in his side pocket, making it easy to access. He handed me my coat and I slipped it on. I picked up my bag while he opened the front door, letting in trickles of daylight that were brightening up the sky. We both took one last yearning look at the mansion, and we left.

Luigi showed me our route, and we had a lot of land to trek in what felt like such a short amount of time. Our plan was to travel through Boo Valley until we got to the outskirts of Hoohoo Mountains. We'd have to do a little climbing, but directly west was the border of Hyrule. Once in Hyrule, Zelda would meet us at a place called Goron City, and we'd teleport to the castle. We traveled along the edge of the woods, staying close enough to dash behind a tree if we needed to hide, but not so far in to where we would get lost. It took more time, but it provided more safety. The less time we spent out in the open, the better.

Traveling was difficult due to the fact I felt miserable. My head was throbbing, I had a small fever, and I felt queasy as the sun rose further in the sky. I traveled as fast as I could, pushing myself so we could make decent time. Luigi frequently asked if I was doing alright, and I shrugged it off. Suddenly, Luigi stopped.

"Break time." I tried to argue, but he put down his pack and sat down. "Jelina, you aren't fooling me. You look exhausted."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. You look pale, clammy, and like you're about to puke. Sit." I put down my pack, and he pulled out a water canteen and some medicine. I waited to take the medicine until my nausea had passed.

"Luigi, we've barely been on the go. We don't have time to sit around."

"Jelina, we've been up for several hours now. Your medicine is wearing off, and you're pushing yourself too hard. How good will you be if you pass out from exhaustion on the first day? We need to pace ourselves, and if we need to go a slower, it's ok. We should probably take a nap at some point, too…"

"Why? Wouldn't that just waste time?"

"Waluigi told me about the redeads. I have a feeling we aren't going to be getting much sleep during the night." I sat down and felt a wave of dizziness. I laid my head in his lap, and after a few seconds, the wave passed. I was frustrated that I was holding back our pace; Luigi saw my annoyed look and kissed my forehead. "I know that look." He kissed my cheek, then started running his fingers through my hair. "I understand how frustrating it is. Believe me, I've been on enough quests with Mario to feel like I was holding us back." He cupped my face, rubbing my cheeks. "You aren't holding us back. I know you're worried about getting there in so many days, but we have at least a few days of Maxim serum, and if we had to, we can take a detour and visit Beanbean Kingdom. My point is, we will get there when we get there, and we will deal with whatever happens along the way."

I sighed, and knew he was right. "I wish we could just take pipes."

"I know, but we aren't sure if they are being monitored, and last thing we need is you to hop in one and end up at Bowser's Castle. You just need to trust me, ok? This isn't my first life or death adventure."

"Of course I trust you. I'm just impatient. And stubborn." He laughed. "Hopefully with this charmed ring, I won't be feeling this bad tomorrow." I felt a cool breeze blow across my face. It felt refreshing against my warm skin.

"Usually it's Mario giving me this pep talk. Feels strange being on the other end. I'll have to tell him all those years of nagging paid off." I laughed, and he pulled out a few snacks for us. I wasn't completely satisfied that I couldn't go at the pace I wanted, but Luigi was right: I had to trust him.

The rest of the day went a lot slower. We found a steady pace where I wasn't feeling constantly ill, and when I tried to go a little faster, Luigi outright refused to match the pace. We stopped every so often so I could take medicine, have a snack, and briefly rest. We had an early lunch, and I tried not to sit around too long, though it was tempting. I was glad the day was beautiful and tried to focus on that positive. After a few more hours of traveling, Luigi looked at his watch.

"We should try to take a nap. Let's walk a little in the woods. I thought I heard a stream nearby, which would be good for filling up our canteens." We walked in a bit, enough where we could see the edge but be hidden amongst the trees. We could see a small stream and pond full of crystal clear water.

"Set a timer on your phone. I don't want to wake up and it's already dark. An hour sound ok?"

"Sure. And, you were right. A nap is definitely needed. Even with our little breaks, I am beat." Luigi spread out a bedroll and folded a blanket into a makeshift pillow.

"When Mario and I would travel, we'd take a LOT of naps." He patted his bedroll, and I curled up next to him. I was surprised how roomy it was and had a feeling we would only use one…especially with creepy monsters out at night.

"How much longer should we go today?"

"We'll see how we feel when we wake up. I don't think I am going to be able to carry on much longer. And you look like you are done." He zipped up the bedroll, sealing us in our little covering. "Plus, I'd like to practice my magic." I closed my eyes, and felt exhaustion quickly take over. Before I was able to reply, I passed out.

I felt like I had barely closed my eyes when my phone alarm went off. Damn. Luigi stretched next to me. My body felt heavy, and I knew I reached my limit for the day. Luigi sat up and grabbed medicine for me, which I gladly took. He pulled out his map and a pencil, making small notes and drawing a small star.

"What'cha doin?" I peeked at the map. Beside the star were the words Day 1.

"Marking where we are. Or at least, where I think we are…I know you probably will hate what I'm about to say, but I want to stop here. I'd like to do some training, and we only have a few hours of real daylight left." I admitted to him I was done, and he was glad I didn't argue. "We started today really early…even though we took breaks, and went at slower pace, we have been on the go for almost twelve hours. You can't overdo it with your fevers, even if you think you have them under control."

"Do you think we'll have to leave quite as early every day?"

"I think we need to see how our first night goes before we determine that."

"When do you think the redeads will start coming out? Did Wally tell you?"

Luigi shuddered. "He said they usually come when it's completely dark, so I'm guessing closer to midnight. They won't just pop up as soon as the sun sets." I yawned. "Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll wake you when I start a fire for dinner." He smiled at me, and I immediately fell back asleep.

I woke up to the sound of crackling and popping, and saw Luigi stroking a small fire. "Hey there, handsome." He turned around and smiled.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. How was your nap?" I still was exhausted, and could have easily gone back to sleep, but I was getting hungry.

"Good. Too short." He nodded.

"Aren't they all?" I laughed and couldn't argue with that. I stood up and saw that the sun was setting.

"I brought soup for dinner." He held up two mason jars full of soup.

"Wally said glass bottles are valuable in Hyrule."

"Well, when we get there, they can have these. I have an entire cabinet full of jars." Luigi went to his bag and dug out a small pot. "Are you ready to eat?"

"Yes! I'm starving!" While Luigi started heating up the soup, I changed into some warmer, more comfortable clothes to sleep in. I pulled out my journal and started making notes about our travel. It didn't take long for the soup to heat up, and Luigi called me over to the small fire.

"Here, it's pretty hot, but it'll make your hands feel nice and toasty while you wait for it to cool." Luigi handed me a small travel cup, and my mouth watered at the aroma of the soup.

"Thanks for cooking. Did you do any magic today?"

He smirked. "Yup." He pointed to a spot towards the entrance of the woods. There were several blackened spots in the grass, and a tree was split in half. "I am working on building up my stamina. It's been a while since I've really used magic, and I get tired pretty quick."

"Building up your stamina? I didn't know you got tired from using magic."

"It's like anything else you do. Magic uses up energy. You need energy in the atmosphere to create magic, and each person has a limit to how much personal energy they can use. The more you practice, the stronger and more skilled you become. If you use too much magic and run out of energy, you pass out. The more things that take up energy in the area, the weaker your magic will be."

"Like modern day technology, such as cars, planes, computers, and stuff?"

"Exactly. Technology is wonderful, but it comes at a price. Some places would rather have technology than magic. I think that's why magic died out over in the states and that realm. The industrial revolution had something to do with that." He took a sip of his soup. "Even getting away from the mansion, which had some modern amenities, I've noticed my magic is a lot stronger and easier to channel."

"Since you can do things with electricity, can you charge my cell phone?" Luigi frowned.

"Maybe, but right now I'd rather not. I don't want to accidently fry our one link to everyone." I drank my soup and enjoyed the surge of warmth that it gave me. "I called Mario and Waluigi, and just updated us on where we were. Everything is fine on their end." We finished our meal, and he went to the small stream to rinse out our pot and glass bottles. When he came back, he handed me a stick.

"What's this for?" He grinned.

"Wait just a sec, let me change. It's a surprise!" I absent-mindedly peeled some bark off the stick while I waited, and he came back with chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows.

"S'mores!" He laughed and couldn't help but join.

"I may be scared shitless, you may be sick, and we may be fleeing the country, but dammit, I have a fire going, and I want s'mores." I gave him a kiss, appreciating him trying to enjoy little things when there were so many horrible things going on around us. It was one of the reasons why I loved him so much. I stuck my marshmallow in the fire and watched it ignite; I waited until it was blackened to blow out the flame. The gooey treat was delicious, and we had enough to make two each. When we were done, I threw the stick towards the small pond. The sun was almost gone, and I knew we would have to put out the fire and hide in our bedroll soon.

Luigi got up and got our camp ready for night. He got my last dose of medicine, a small flashlight, and the wax out from our packs and put everything else away. We made sure my phone was off…the last thing we wanted to happen is it to go off and alert creatures where we were. He rested our shoes and packs up against a close tree, and I straighten our bedroll. We had one blanket folded up as a pillow and spread the other over the top so it would cover our heads during the night. I saw him pat his pocket, and a disappointed look came across his face. He must be nervous about me getting sick tonight and the ring not working like it should. We sat down, and I was about to kill the fire when he stopped me.

"Shouldn't we extinguish it? It's almost dark." Luigi looked at me then heaved a great sigh.

"We will, but…I want to enjoy the light for just…just a little bit longer." He put his arm around me, and I leaned into his shoulder. "I love you, Jelina."

"I love you, too. Thanks for looking out for me today. I know I can be-" Luigi suddenly cut me off and gave me a passionate kiss. He cupped the side of my face, and when he pulled back, he gazed into my eyes.

"You mean the world to me, and I've never been happier in my whole life." I gave him a skeptical look. We were on the run, and I was being attacked by some magical force. I could think of several times we were much happier. He must have read my expression and shook his head. "I, uh, well, right now isn't a happy time. That's not what I meant." He stopped to collect his thoughts. "What I mean to say is, even though things are shitty, I'm glad to be WITH you. I, um, thought you should know…" I kissed him to stop his rambling, then put my head back on his shoulder. I closed my eyes, savoring this moment. I opened my eyes, and Luigi was digging in his pocket. I held out my pinkie, but he put down my hand.

"Not yet. We still have a little daylight left." I opened my palm so I could see this ring, and he hesitated.

"I just want to see it. I won't put it on yet." His hand trembled when he gave it to me, and his faced was etched with worry.

"Are you concerned the spell won't work? I felt the charm when-"

"No…I…um…"

I looked at the ring, and it was gorgeous. Small bands of green and white diamonds encased in rose gold swirled around each other, sparkling in the firelight. "Wow…this ring is…beautiful…" Luigi didn't say anything and was wringing his hands. "It almost looks like something you'd give to someone you…wanted…to…" my head snapped up, and realization hit me like a brick wall. Luigi hesitantly watched at me, and I understood why he was distressed. This was originally meant to be an engagement ring, but with our rush, it was the only ring he had readily available to use for the charm. That's why he didn't want me to see it and why King Boo had me close my eyes. I knew what he wanted to ask me but couldn't because I had to wear the ring. I could hear his mind thinking now wasn't the right time; if he asked and I said no, it would be upsetting and awkward, and if I said yes, would it be because of the pressure of having to wear the ring, or me truly wanting to be with him? I knew he secretly wished I didn't figure it out, but he recognized I understood the symbolism of the ring in my hand.

My mind was made up before he could say anything.

"Yes."

Luigi suddenly looked confused. "Yes to what? I didn't ask you anything."

"You don't have to. I love you, and I want to marry you." I held up the ring. "Isn't that what this ring was for?"

"Well, maybe, but n-"

I cut him off. "Tonight, when you put this ring on my finger, you will put it on this-" I pointed at my left ring finger- "finger. Not my pinkie. And it will stay there. Permanently." He observed at the determined look on my face, and suddenly wrapped me in his arms, deeply kissing me. He pulled me away, and we both had tears streaming from our eyes.

"Jelina, leave it to you to not even let me ask the question and you just answer." He kissed me again.

"You know me." He sighed, and I held his hand. "Neither of us are very subtle."

"This wasn't how I intended to ask you. I wanted to take you on a bike ride, have a picnic...make an attempt at being romantic…"

I was touched, knowing I would have loved for him to propose to me while we were on a bike ride. But in all honesty, how he proposed didn't really matter. He looked a little saddened about this. "Luigi, this may not have been the romantic getaway you planned, but I know the meaning behind why you want to marry me... all that really matters is you wanting to be with me. Forever. That is what's important." He kissed my temple, whispering how much he loved me, and we saw the sun had finally set. "I wish I could capture this moment. But I guess we need to go into hiding mode now…" Luigi sighed, and we reluctantly got up. I killed the fire, putting dirt over the embers. He handed me a small wad of wax, and I started shaping it to fit in my ears. We spread the blanket over our heads after we buried ourselves in our bedroll.

"Hold out your hand," he whispered. I gave him the ring, and he asked, "Jelina, will you marry me?" I grinned and whispered yes, and he shakily put it on my left ring finger. Immediately I felt a warmth envelope my being, and my ongoing headache subsided. He kissed me, saying "I guess I'm officially your fiancé." I beamed, and we put the wax in our ears. It didn't completely drown out sound, but everything was muffled and muted. Luigi wrapped his arms around me and I buried my head in his chest. I tried to close my eyes to fall asleep, but I was too uneasy. We laid there, anxiously waiting for whatever creatures in the night would appear.

Waiting in silence was excruciating. I would start to doze off, but every little sound kept me awake. I tossed and turned in the bedroll, careful not to make any noise. I tried to make my mind wander to occupy myself, and I became overjoyed thinking about the ring on my finger. A stupid grin spread across my face, and I wanted to giggle with delight. A part of me just wanted to get hitched as soon as we could and not wait for a ceremony. I didn't know if Luigi would like that…he'd want his brother and Peach there. And Wally would kill me if he wasn't invited. But I had the feeling he didn't want a big ceremony; he didn't like being the center of attention.

I was lost in my thoughts when I felt the presence of something else. I wondered if my magic had something to do with sensing people's energy. I couldn't completely make out what it was, but there was something mischievous and playful to its nature. I was tempted to peek out of our blanket, but it wasn't worth risking our safety. In the distance, I heard a faint giggle.

Luigi started to shiver, and I heard his teeth clatter in fear. There must have been a stray boo in the forest. I positioned myself to face Luigi; I knew he was scared of boos. I started rubbing his back and heard him give a slow, shaky breath to calm himself down. He was still trembling, but his teeth no longer were rattling. We heard the boo giggle for a while, glad that it was not directly near our campsite. My mind started to wander again, when I suddenly experienced a chill run down my spine. I sensed something else, something…unnatural, like it didn't belong to this world. I gently shook Luigi to get his attention and put my hands over my ears; he followed suit. I squeezed my eyes tight, feeling the dark being become more present.

"AHHHHHHHH" A high pitched scream filled the air, and the boo's giggling stopped. I heard Luigi quietly gasp. Even though our ears were covered, we still were able to hear the petrifying scream. It was bone chilling, and it gave off a sense of pain and anguish. What was worse was I could feel the boo's energy, or whatever it was I sensed, go from playful to fearful. Silent tears streamed from my face, and after a few more horrifying screams from the redead, the boo's presence was gone. There was a surge of energy from the redead, and then everything was still.

Luigi and I were both breathing quickly, tightly clinging to each other. I knew the redead was no longer near us, but I was still afraid to move. Eventually, Luigi's grip wasn't as tight, and I felt his breathing slow down. He must have fallen asleep, or quite possibly passed out. I nuzzled my head into Luigi's chest, crying over what I just experienced. I didn't hear or sense anything, and eventually my body and mind grew heavy with exhaustion.

All night I kept drifting in and out of sleep, scared to fall into a deep sleep. Finally, when I opened my eyes, I saw it was light outside. I took out the wax in my ears and noticed Luigi was still asleep. I tried my best to slink out of the bedroll without waking him up, but I was unsuccessful. Luigi tightened his grip around me, grunting.

"Is it morning already?" he mumbled.

"Yup. You can sleep for a while longer, if you want." He sighed, and I saw him take the wax out of his ears.

"No, we shouldn't probably lay around too long. How are you feeling?" We sat up, squinting from the sunlight.

"I'm actually feeling pretty good. That charm really helped get rid of the fever and most of my headache. I might not need to take any medicine today!" Luigi blushed and took my hand, running his finger over the ring. "And…I'm, well…excited about getting engaged to the love of my life." I reached up and gave him a kiss.

"I can't wait…it gives us something to look forward to." He looked at his watch, groaning. "Well, at least we'll get an early start. It's only 7 in the morning. Did you get any sleep? I felt like I only got a few hours tops." He stood up and helped me up.

"Not much. But at least we know hiding works. I also noticed the redead only emerged when the boo was giggling. I didn't hear or sense anything else overnight…do you think it's triggered to appear when they hear sounds?"

Luigi pondered this thought while digging for a few granola bars and apples. "That…that makes sense. Let's hope we don't run into anyone else on our trip. I actually felt bad for the boo…no one deserves that…" I shuddered and told him how I was able to feel them when they were there. It was horrifying to feel something suddenly vanish. Luigi hugged me. "Can you feel my essence?"

"I…I think I can…I always feel you near me, and I get this overwhelming sense of…love…and protection…and sometimes…fear?" Luigi laughed.

"That sounds about right."

"I'm not really sure how it all works. I'll be glad when I meet Zelda so I can learn what I can do."

We munched on our meager breakfast and I found that I had an abundance of energy now that I was no longer ill. I was motivated to get to Hyrule so I could learn my magic. After eating, we got ready and packed up our belongings; hopefully, with my surge of energy, we could make up for some lost time. Luigi was pleased I was feeling better but warned me not to push it too much. He wanted to save some of his energy in case we needed to use magic, and we found a pace that was much faster than yesterday, but still slow enough to not completely drain our energy.

The next two days of travel were pretty uneventful. We'd walk all day, taking a break for lunch and a short nap, and go until a few hours before sunset. Once we found a good place to settle in, Luigi would practice his magic. I found it fascinating to watch him charge electricity in his hands and fling it to nearby trees or create a bolt of lightning out of thin air and zap parts of the ground. Luigi appeared to get stronger the more he practiced, and by the third night, he was no longer huffing and puffing when he stopped for dinner. The nights were mostly quiet, with the exception of a random boo being attacked by a redead. We never got a full night of sleep, but that didn't stop us from getting up bright and early, nor impede our travels.

Our fourth day of travel proved to be difficult. We had reached the edge of the woods, which we had considered a place of safety. To get to the Hoohoo mountains, we needed to cross the exposed plains of Boo Valley.

"It'll take at least a day to cross…we will be sleeping out in the open. Once we hit Hoohoo mountains, we can rest in caves." Luigi looked up at the sky, and grimaced. "It looks like it could rain soon, too…we're probably going to have to pitch our tent at night. I don't like being this vulnerable…"

"Do you think the redeads will still disappear in the morning if it's raining?"

"No idea. I think they disappear with sunlight, but if I need to, I'll fry them with my magic." Luigi shuddered, and I frowned at the idea of redeads appearing during the daytime. We walked for a few hours when I felt tiny droplets of rain on my face. Luigi put away his map, then we both covered our heads with the hoods on our jackets.

"Set an alarm on your phone. Last thing I want to do is travel at night…and if it's raining hard enough, we'll have no sense of time." Luigi was right; we headed directly into a heavy rain patch, and it was dark enough to look like it was nighttime. We had to make frequent stops to make sure we were heading in the right direction, and at one point, I barely saw Luigi standing right next to me. We continued to blindly traipse through the muddy valley until my alarm went off. The rain was still falling in heavy sheets, and I longed to be inside our dry tent.

Pitching the tent was difficult; Luigi slipped in the mud a lot, and my fingers were numb, making it hard to grab things. Eventually our little tent was up, and we bolted inside, thankful to be in someplace dry.

"I hope tomorrow is a little less wet," I commented while pulling off my muddy shoes. "I know we needed a shower, but this is ridiculous!" Luigi handed me some dry clothes from my pack. "Should I even bother setting an alarm for tomorrow morning?"

"No…I don't want to alert anyone of our location, and I doubt anyone could find us in this storm. I think we'll rely more on your ability. If you sense redeads lurking around, we will just quietly wait in our tent." We spread out our bedroll and threw the blankets on top; we were chilly from being wet, and the weather was considerably cooler. "I wish I had something warm to drink. I brought some coffee to make, but we can't set a fire right now. And I can't really zap the water to make it warm. Mario was always the one who would warm our drinks and meals in a pinch."

"Hot tea would be amazing right now…but at least we are dry." I dug in our packs for something to eat. I was getting tired of eating jerky, dried fruit, and granola bars, and longed for Luigi's cooking. "I can't wait to eat real food again." I threw a bag of trail mix, bagels, and jerky at Luigi. "Something that requires a stove and seasonings." Luigi agreed. I crawled in the bedroll, and we ate our small dinner. While it wasn't anything amazing, it was enough to fill our bellies, and that's all that mattered.

The sound of rain pattering on our tent lulled me to sleep. I slept the entire night and felt well rested. When I awoke, I noticed it didn't sound like the rain had let up at all. Looks like another wet day. Luigi was awake, staring at the flap of the tent. When he saw me wake up, he looked uneasy.

"Morning." He gave me a quick kiss.

"What time is it?"

"A little after seven. Do you sense anything?" he whispered. I closed my eyes, and the only presence I felt was him.

"No. Why? Everything ok?"

He started putting on his shoes. "I have to pee. I didn't want to go out there if a redead was hovering at the door." I laughed, and he quickly ran out to do his business. I felt my clothes from yesterday, and they were still damp. I wasn't looking forward to traveling in wet clothes. I didn't want to get both sets of clothing saturated, so I started to change when I had an odd feeling. I suddenly sensed something was present…as if it teleported or entered my range. It wasn't a redead; I had learned how they felt. But it was something hostile, and maybe a little dimwitted. I didn't sense much intelligence from whatever creature this was. Hastily I clothed myself and opened the flap. The rain wasn't quite as heavy as yesterday, but it was still hard to see.

I stepped out of the tent and heard a zap. "LUIGI!" I screamed for him at the top of my lungs, not caring if something found me. I heard a grunt, followed by Luigi moaning. I looked down and saw Luigi's footsteps, and followed his path until his steps transition to a singular line…like he was being dragged. In the distance I saw Luigi laying on the ground and this red pig looking monster hovering over him, and three pig things lying face down on the ground. I started to run towards Luigi to help him. Luigi saw me and tried to yell.

"Jelina! Watch ou-" The pig looking thing hit him on the head with a wooden sword, then laughed at him. He then started running towards me.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" I was livid. All sense of fear was gone, replaced by a surge of pure anger. I focused on the creature; it had a black outline around him. My hands started to feel warm, and when I looked down, a soft white light glowed from my palms. I scowled, trying to figure out what it meant, but didn't have time to dwell on it; the creature was almost beside me. As if on instinct, I reached out and touched him. He screamed, and as I held on to him, the black outline diminished until he fell limp at my feet. The pig creature faded away with a puff of purple smoke.

I looked down at my hands; they were now black. I was afraid to touch anything with my hands tainted. I tried blowing on my hands, but nothing happened. Unsure what to do, I clasped my hands together, and almost instantly the energy was absorbed into my system. I didn't feel hostile like the creature; I just felt a little stronger. What the hell just happened?! I ran to Luigi, who was out cold. The other pig creatures that were laying beside him had vanished.

"Hey, hey babe, we need to get back to the tent." I didn't sense any other creatures nearby, but I didn't like being this exposed. My hands were no longer glowing, so I felt safe to touch him. I shook him until he awoke. "I can't carry you, but I can help you walk." He put his arm around my shoulders and helped him stand up. We trudged to the tent, and as soon as we got inside, he passed out. I set an alarm on my phone; we didn't have all day to sleep, but after using magic, I needed to recharge. I immediately wrote everything down in my journal, and after my mini rush was gone, felt exhausted. Bewildered by what just happened, I joined Luigi in a much-needed morning nap.