Welcome back to another exiting chapter!
I have no updates today so I'll go ahead with the reviews.
Opal- Opal. My friend. My gal. If you're already worried about Luigi this early on, then hoo boy.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Super Paper Mario or any other game in its respected series.
He stopped running when the trail, which should have still led to Bowser's Castle, brought him to a town.
The ground was cracked tile, desperately needing to be replaced. The town itself was incredibly linear, perfect rows of abandoned buildings and nonfunctional elevators lined both sides of the road like a mirror image. Holes covered the ground and debris from what was probably a ceiling fell without warning. The town overall was a mess.
The sound of growling emitted from a shop he approached, the walls of the building rattled as he passed by and a mass of geometric shapes clawed at the barricaded door. Though startled, Luigi continued his steady pace in belief that the creature inside could not break free.
A cloaked head peeked out from the house ahead of him, with a pair of sullen eyes looking in his direction. Following the head outside of the house was the figure of an old man with a long, grey beard. The rest of his body was covered in a blue cloak, fading with age. The man stepped forward in Luigi's direction, scanning his surroundings with weary suspicion, and signaling for him to come near.
Luigi put his faith in the elder, who invited him inside the small blue house he lived in. The inside of the house was lined with broken shelves and a pile of torn books in one corner; shards of glass were swept in another corner. A small table with a little white book, seemingly untouched by time, sat in the back of the house.
The elder plucked the book from its perch and skimmed through the pages . His eyes jumped between Luigi and a certain page in the book multiple times before sighing in apparent relief.
"So my assumptions were correct." The man said to himself. "Who are you, Man in Green?"
"My name is Luigi." He replied, unsure if the man was actually talking to him and getting rather annoyed by how much he had to introduce himself in a short amount of time.
"Luigi...a name meaning 'renowned fighter'. Yes, I believe your arrival here is no coincidence, for a man in you image is mentioned in the book I hold in my hands, the Light Prognosticus."
"I'm pretty sure there'd be at least one other person that matches a description in a random book." Luigi insisted to the elder. As great as it felt to him that someone thought he was important, he felt a necessity to prove otherwise out of modesty.
"This is no ordinary book though Luigi, The Light Prognosticus is a tomb written for the purpose of stopping the end of all worlds, or at least is was before...that happened. Nonetheless, I feel deep within my inner being that you are a prophesied hero that still holds potential to undo the calamity that was brought upon us."
This statement surprised Luigi. A book of future events? One that declared him of all people a hero? One that was almost on-point with his plans to stop the corruption? Perhaps it wouldn't be so farfetched to believe that there was a divine destiny in his name after all.
"I suppose I need to do something for you then, sir?"
"Oh, please, just call me Merlon."
Another Merlon? Luigi supposed it couldn't be helped, names like Merlon, Merlee, and Merluvlee were all common among the Shaman people in his home, and this Merlon looked enough like a shaman to count as one.
Merlon placed the book back onto its sacred pedestal, staring at it longingly, as if he'd never see it again. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a heart-shaped stone about the size of Luigi's head. He held the stone up to his chest and then outward to Luigi.
"This Pure Heart was a sacred relic passed down by my ancestors from the day this town of Flipside was constructed. It has seen better days, but in the end I remain its protector. It's power should lead you to its seven siblings, but what you should do once they are in your possession is up to you."
"Won't you have time to determine their use?"
"I'm afraid I won't. That heart's power has protected me from the plight outside these walls for so long, I fear that I may lose myself the second I let go. I wager that collecting even a few more than the one could possibly reverse the ill effects of corruption."
"Why are you trusting me with this responsibility?"
"In this era of darkness, one must take risks. I put my faith in you because I see a beacon of hope in your eyes." He looked back to the white book on the table. "Take the Light Prognosticus with you first. It is the most cherished book in this house, and I'd never forgive myself if I allowed it to be destroyed by my hands. Perhaps you can use it to find the three other heroes mentioned inside."
Luigi took the book, the text inside was by all means foreign to him, but he felt like he could understand the words despite never seeing the language before in his life. He delicately placed the book into his bag before returning to Merlon.
"Hero," Merlon started, "bathed in the light long lost to all worlds, do you take this Pure Heart under your possession?"
"Yes."
"Then do so now. And when you do, run from this place and do not return, for I may not be myself the next time we meet."
Luigi nodded his head and took the stone from Merlon.
The elder's eyes dimmed as Luigi approached the door, facing his direction. A bloodshot eye opened up inside of his beard as an audible grow rumbled from vocal cords.
Luigi dashed from his spot, violently slamming the door behind himself as he left. The sound of shattering glass blasted from the store at the town's entrance as the building's resident made a beeline for the man in green himself.
His legs naturally carried him to the direction of his original destination towards the end of town, the creature from the shop having ceased its chase upon being distracted by Merlon's aggravated and unfamiliar growling inside the confines of his personal prison.
His desire to escape danger was so strong that he was blind to his surroundings, running only in accordance to his instincts of fight or flight.
He felt himself ram against something and his legs gave out from the impact.
"Don't hurt me!" He cried out, embracing for a hostile encounter.
Luigi has been entrusted with a Pure Heart. Will its light guide him to a cure for the corruption? Who the heck did he run into? Tune in next week for the last chapter of this month before I (hopefully) switch back to updates on Super Paper Swap!
As always, Adios!