Chapter 23 Fortune's Turning
Mentally keeping track of how many books he had read so far, Mario put one of the history books back and pulled out one situated right next to it. He didn't even bother waiting until he got back to his table to open this one up and read through it. He kept his eyes glued to the pages, swiftly flipping through them as he walked. This activity absorbed him, narrowing his focus onto the book. It was no surprise then that he accidentally ran into E Gadd.
"Oh, dear boy!" E Gadd exclaimed as the book he carried fell to the floor.
"Sorry! Sorry…" Mario sent Elvin a furrowed brow. "Are you alright?"
E Gadd sighed. "Of…of course I am." He picked his book back up. "Just…you know, laser focused and all that."
Mario nodded. "I know exactly how you feel." He resumed walking to the table, and he noticed the Professor trailing behind him. Understandable; the table did have good lighting, and E Gadd more than likely wanted to prevent any more accidents in the same vein as the one from less than a minute ago.
When Mario got to the table, he let out a breath as he sat down. Flipping through the pages of the textbook, he kept his eyes peeled for any key words. "Body swap," "Magic," "Ancient Power," Magical Stars…" that sort of thing. He knew that there had to be something. Well, not "knew" so much as "hoped," but…well, Mario needed to keep a positive attitude in this endeavor. If he dwelled too much on the negative, and let the lack of progress get to him, he would become despondent and probably give up. Nobody needed that. He didn't need that. Luigi didn't need that.
So, he continued flipping through the textbook. E Gadd did the same in the seat opposite him, humming a song under his breath as he did. While this was a little distracting, Mario did his best to ignore it. He continued on with his search, tuning out the world and all of its distractions.
"Oh, bother," E Gadd said as he closed the book. "Nothing in here. It seems that I need to look somewhere else."
So, he got up. Mario bit his lip, trying to prevent his frustration from boiling to the surface. He himself had already covered ten books, which was certainly a lot. However, if one took into account the fact that E Gadd was a much faster reader, there was no doubt he had checked through more than ten. So, if Mario combined the total number of books both he and E Gadd had searched through…
Mario shook his head. Again, he couldn't let this get to him. So what if the search has been fruitless so far? There were still plenty of other books in the library. So many stones still left unturned, so much information begging to be discovered. Sure, was it frustrating that they haven't found what they set out to find? Sure. But Mario could not let it get to him. He wasn't one to back down when the going got tough. He was Super Mario, the man who trekked through the most difficult terrain in the world to rescue Peach. If he could do that, he could read a few measly books. Right?
That thought caused Mario to sigh. It was just so…easy on rescue missions. With rescue missions, he could be brave and push on forward, not letting anything deter him from his goal as he liberated the worlds Bowser's forces had taken control of. Sure it was stressful, but Mario had grown used to it. So used to it that he stomped koopas and squashed goombas without any problems. Why was he having trouble being that man now? Was it because he was in a different body? Or was it because he genuinely wasn't that man, and he was just one big joke in the grand scheme of everything?
Mario froze. He dwelled on that question, mulling over what the answer could be as E Gadd returned to the table. Was Mario a fraud? Was he not the super human people saw him as, but a regular guy that had no special attributes whatsoever? He had certainly gotten a taste of what it's like to be normal ever since the swap occurred. But when he wasn't swapped, when he was himself, did he truly deserve the praise that people gave him?
"Mario?"
Mario did a double take, coming back down to reality. He looked over at E Gadd, giving him another furrowed brow.
"Are you okay, sonny?"
Mario hesitated before nodding. "Just…well, just overwhelmed by the search I suppose." He delved back into the textbook. Those thoughts had a place and a time to be explored, and the here and now wasn't it. Whether he felt like a fraud or not, he still needed to find the answer to his and Luigi's problem.
So, for the next hour, Mario focused entirely on looking through the textbooks. He looked through all sorts of subjects: History, in order to find out if there were any recorded instances of a body swap. Science, to see if there was any scientific explanation for the swap. He even covered Astronomy, hoping to see if the shooting stars in the Mushroom Kingdom had the power to grant or reverse wishes.
Unfortunately, he didn't find anything. And the longer he went with no results, the more aggravated he became. Around noon time, he was so high strung that he almost threw one of the textbooks to the floor.
"There's nothing here!" He almost shouted until he remembered that he was in a library. "I'm telling you Elvin, there is nothing here that can help us!"
"Don't say that," E Gadd said with a cajoling tone. "We'll find something."
Mario crossed his arms. "Where? We searched pretty much every single textbook here! Every darn textbook, and there's nothing in them that can help reverse the swap!"
E Gadd wrinkled his brow. "Well, that might just mean we have to expand our search." He put his hand to his chin, considering the next course of action before his face lit up. "I know!" He got up from the chair, and Mario followed him as he dove back into the bookshelf area. He was ultimately surprised by the book that the Professor pulled out.
"Ancient Mushroomian Legends?"
"Mmhm!" E Gadd smiled as he turned around and walked back to the table. "I believe that this little baby could point us in the right direction."
"I…I hope so." Even still, Mario wasn't about to get his hopes too high. If the pattern continued, they were going to scour through the entire book and come up with absolutely nothing.
Although…Mario had to admit, it was an interesting topic to search. Ancient Legends…a shooting star like the one Luigi wished upon was bound to be part of some old Mushroom Kingdom myth. So, while still aggravated, Mario was also willing to admit that he was at the very least intrigued.
So, as he sat back down at the table, he kept his eyes glued to E Gadd. The Professor muttered to himself as he flipped through the pages, keeping his nose buried so deep in the book that he practically melted into the pages. After ten minutes, and right around the time Mario was starting to grow despondent like he predicted he would, E Gadd froze. His jaw dropped as he looked down at the page.
Mario blinked at this sight. "Uh…Elvin?" He got up from his chair, going over to the Professor with both concern and anticipation. "Is…is everything alright?"
E Gadd spent another minute looking down at the book before lifting his head. As he looked into Mario's eyes, he had a smile on his face. A big smile too, one that could get anybody who looked at it into a happy mood. Mario's heart pumped.
"Mario…I think I found something."
Mario's heart skipped a beat. "You did?" He got in closer. "Well, tell me what it is!"
E Gadd kept the smile on his face as he lifted the book for Mario to see what was inside. Mario blinked as he looked at the heading, in bold black letters and big enough for even the visually impaired to spot it from a mile away.
"Fortune's Comet?"
E Gadd nodded, his excitement overflowing. "Yes!" Wow, he sounded really giddy when he said that. Almost too giddy. "I think that this might be the answer! Everything lines up!"
Mario got in a little closer. "How so?"
"Well," E Gadd began, doing his best to not giggle with glee, "this book says that every one hundred years, a comet passes through the sky of the Mushroom World called Fortune's Comet. It is a very powerful prankster comet, as well as a unique one. Anybody who makes a wish on it while it passes over them will have their wish granted, no matter how enormous or impossible said wish might seem."
Mario's eyes grew wide. "Oh my word…"
"Yes!" E Gadd looked ready to bounce up and down. "This is it! This is the answer! This is how you and your brother managed to get swapped in the first place!"
Mario beamed. "Yeah! It's no wonder wishes on other stars didn't work; it was a special star that granted the wish!" Suddenly, something occurred to Mario. When he realized it, his blood ran cold. He also started hyperventilating. "Wait, Elvin. You said that the Comet passes through the Mushroom Kingdom sky every hundred years."
E Gadd's smile quickly waned. "Oh." He looked back down at the book. "Well…yes, I suppose I did…"
Mario's eyes grew wide. "Oh, Mama Mia, that means the wish is irreversible!" He grasped his temples, shaking as he did. "Luigi and I are going to stay like this forever!" His hyperventilation kicked in again. "Oh, this is bad, so very very bad…"
E Gadd stood up. "Mario, calm down…"
"Calm down! How can I calm down? The life I lived, everything that was familiar to me has been taken away!" Mario's trembling only got worse. "I'm going to be stuck in this body forever!"
"Now now," E Gadd said, trying to sound relaxing. "Let's not panic. There has got to be something we're not seeing." He put his hand to his chin before his face lit up. "Say. Maybe your friend Rosalina could help out with this predicament."
Mario blinked. "Rosalina? How is she supposed to…" Suddenly, he remembered something, a detail that was prevalent during the first time that he met Rosalina. "Wait." The more he thought about it, the more hopeful he became. "When….when I was at the Comet Observatory…there was a luma! A little purple luma that was able to manipulate the the paths of the Prankster Comets!" He smiled. "Maybe…maybe that little guy is still there! Maybe he can change the direction of Fortune's Comet so that another wish can be made!"
"Yes! Exactly!" E Gadd grinned. "And it's not going to be difficult to do either. After all, Rosalina…"
"Is staying in Peach's Castle!" Mario felt like jumping up and down in excitement. "Oh, this is perfect! We can change the path of the comet, we can reverse the wish, and then mine and Luigi's lives will go back to normal! Oh, this is great! This is fantastic! This is…!"
"Luigi!"
Mario froze. He slowly turned around, unsure if he had heard right. He was shocked to see Daisy standing there, smiling up a storm as she looked at him.
"Hey, Weegee. Wasn't expecting to see you here."
Mario exchanged a look with E Gadd before swallowing a lump. "Uh…Daisy. What…what are you doing here?"
"I just thought I should check this place out! I mean…sure, I'm not the biggest reader myself, but I do enjoy a good adventure book every now and then." She giggled, her eyes glittering. "However, I don't think I need to read one now. After all, what adventure is greater than hanging out with you?"
Mario chuckled. "He. Hehe." He scratched the back of his head. "Well..Daisy, I will admit it is nice to see you, but…"
Before he could finish, Daisy went up and grabbed his hands, wearing a smile that put all her others to shame. "Well, come on, Weegee! I haven't seen you at all yesterday, so I want to make up for lost time!" Before Mario could responded, she tugged don his arm and pulled him away. "We're gonna have so much fun!"
Mario gulped and looked back at E Gadd. Oh, this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all….
