Rosalina slammed the book she was just looking through shut. She tossed it down on a pile of old tomes she had already gone through and slumped back in the armchair in the Comet Observatory's library. She waved her wand lazily through the air and another ancient grimoire from her collection came flying up to her. She grabbed the book and skimmed through it quickly before tossing it in the pile when she didn't find what she was looking for.
"All of the knowledge in the known universe in this library and yet not a single passage on how to bring back the dead without turning them into some kind of a monster in the process." The matriarch of the stars sighed loudly.
"More wine, Mother?" A yellow Luma wearing a black bowtie floated up to Rosalina, carrying a bottle of wine older than most planets and an empty glass on a silver tray.
Rosalina grabbed the bottle and drank the whole thing. She then tapped the now empty bottle with her wand, causing it to refill itself. She had already gone through six other bottles that morning and she really didn't feel like wasting any more of her collection. Most of the alcohol she had already consumed was potent enough to kill a normal human before they could finish off one bottle, yet as it happened she was barely even drunk.
With another swish of her wand, a book flew off of one of the shelves and came to a stop in front of her. Rosalina set the wine bottle down on her side table and grabbed the floating book.
"Tomegathericon." She read the title aloud. "Sounds promising."
She opened up the black tome and began reading through it, searching for anything that could possibly help her resurrect Mario. After a while, she sighed and slammed the book shut.
"I don't want to create a zombie or summon a demon!" She shouted as she stood up and threw the dark spellbook against the far wall. "I just want to bring someone back to life as they were! How is it that there are so many spells and potions designed to turn the dead into monsters and yet not a single one that can just bring them back normally?"
Rosalina picked the wine bottle back up and downed its contents before tossing the bottle aside. She was done trying to find a resurrection spell. With luck, time magic would be more helpful.
Luigi woke up not knowing where he was. He found himself lying on a bed in a small wooden room. The being he believed to be his brother was leaning against the far wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed. Judging from the way the whole room seemed to rock back and forth, and the sounds that Luigi could hear outside, he thought that they must be on a boat.
"What's-a going on, Mario?" Luigi asked Ridley. "Where are-a we?"
"So you're finally awake." Ridley unfolded his arms and opened his eyes. "I managed to make a deal with some pirates for a ride on their ship."
"Pirates?" Luigi was alarmed and concerned by this.
"Relax." Ridley didn't mean for it to come out as an order. "They're fine."
"I don't-a know about-a this." Luigi voiced his doubts. "But-a if you-a trust them then I-a guess I-a will, too. If it-a means getting a ride to-a Dark Land, then I-a guess we-a can't be-a too picky."
"Yes." Ridley suddenly realized that he did not actually know where they were supposed to be going and had not negotiated where the Kremlings would drop them off. For all he knew, they were headed in the opposite direction than where they wanted to go. Then again, it would be easy to shift the blame onto the Kremlings so that Luigi wouldn't know that it was Ridley who had made the mistake.
The door opened and a lower ranking member of the Krew stepped inside. Luigi jumped upon seeing the green crocodile-person.
"The Kaptainsss want you on deck." The Kremling said. "They sssaid we're ready to drop you off, now."
"That was faster than I was expecting." Ridley commented.
Ridley and Luigi followed the Kremling up onto the Gangplank Galleon's deck, where Klump, Krusha and Kersplat were waiting along with several other members of the krew. All of the reptilian pirates stood at attention as Ridley and Luigi stepped out into the sunlight.
"It has been an honor." Kaptain Klump saluted.
"The honor was mine." Ridley returned the solute.
"I hope that we can work together again someday." Kaptain Krusha walked up to Ridley and they shook hands.
"Kersplat!" Kersplat seemed like he was on the verge of tears, though it was hard to tell through his sunglasses.
"Well, here you go." Klump gestured towards the gangplank, which led down to a sandy coastline. "We wish you a safe journey."
"To you as well." Ridley gave another salute before grabbing Luigi by the shoulder and hurrying down to the beach before the plumber could object to anything.
"You-a know that this isn't-a Dark Land, right-a Mario?" Luigi asked once they were safely on the ground and Ridley released his grasp.
"Of course I know that." Ridley didn't like that he was no automatically responding to the name Mario. "But do you really want to argue with pirates?"
"I, uh… guess not." Luigi relented.
"We'll find another ship to get a ride on." Ridley whispered as he waved back at the Gangplank Galleon as the Kremling Krew sailed off. "Preferably one with less dangerous company."
Ridley felt a twinge of guilt at making the pirate crew he had grown to actually like seem much worse than they were. It wasn't a feeling that Ridley was familiar with and certainly not one that he liked. Then again, considering they were pirates, talking about them like that would probably be good for their reputation.
"Hey, where do you-a think we are?" Luigi asked.
"I don't know." Ridley looked around. There was a sprawling jungle in front of them, with a few tall, snow-capped mountains off in the distance. The topography reminded Ridley of the Isle del Bongo, though it was different enough to assure Ridley that the Kremling Krew hadn't simply dropped them off back there.
A bush started to rustle in front of them. Ridley assumed a defensive position, preparing for an attack. However, the creature that emerged from the jungle did not seem to be hostile. The green saurian creature was roughly the size of Luigi, stood in an upright position that exposed its white belly, and was wearing a pair of orange boots.
"Yoshi?" Luigi called out to the small dinosaur in surprise.
"Luigi! Mario!" Yoshi seemed happy to see them, though like most beings that Ridley had met since coming to this planet it mistook Ridley for Mario. "What brings you to Yoshi's Island?"
"I'm-a not really-a sure on that-a, myself." Luigi shrugged.
"We're here." Ridley snapped. "Let's just leave it at that and move on. So how can we get to Dark Land from here?"
"Dark Land? Well, I think you'd have to get back on that ship that just dropped you off." Yoshi peered over Luigi's shoulder at the Gangplank Galleon, which was quickly sailing out of view.
"Well, clearly that's not an option." Ridley didn't bother turning around. Even if the pirate ship was still close enough that they could call it back, it would be too embarrassing to have to explain his mistake. Embarrassment was another new sensation that Ridley already hated. "What other ways are there off of this island?"
Yoshi thought for a moment. "Well, I guess you take the northern bridge up to Dinosaur Land. You might be able to find a boat or something there."
"Then I guess we'll be doing that."
"It will be quite the journey to take by foot, so I'll help you get there. You're too heavy for me to carry you both, though." Yoshi thought for a moment. "Ooh! I know! I'll go get my cousin. We'll meet up at the bridge. You remember how to get there, right?"
"Sure." Ridley lied, wanting to take a break from dealing with the overly cheerful dinosaur.
"See you!" Yoshi ran off back into the jungle, leaving Ridley and Luigi alone.
"It's-a been quite a while since we've-a been here." Luigi pointed out. "Do you-a really remember the way?"
"Of course." Ridley assured the green-clad plumber. "But before that, I want to test your brain a bit. If its morning right now, then which direction is the sun in."
"East, of-a course." Luigi replied.
"Exactly." Ridley pointed towards the sun, then inwards towards the Yoshi's Island. "And that means that we're at the southern edge of the island and that way is north. All we have to do is go this way in order to get there."
"Oh, that's-a smart." Luigi nodded. "So let's-a go!"
