Chapter 19 Missing the Obvious

The sun now hung overhead, and Ludwig couldn't be more frustrated. The search for Lemmy had turned up fruitless, which wouldn't be so bad if Lemmy actually answered his phone! But he didn't! As Ludwig flew over Stonebrim looking for him, he had texted him at least seventeen times, trying to find out where he was. Did Lemmy do the sensible, considerate thing and answer the messages? Of course not! Every message went completely unnoticed, which on top of being frustrating was just… mind boggling. Seriously, why didn't Lemmy answer him back?

Well, Ludwig didn't know. And now, as he sat himself on a bench at eight-thirty in the morning, his frustrations were threatening to increase and turn into anger. Which would be a problem, and probably would be what ended up happening if Ludwig wasn't so tired. He yawned once every ten seconds, and his eyes couldn't stay open for a single minute more. He was halfway tempted to fall asleep right on this bench, which was probably for the best honestly. He felt too tired to really focus on his anger, and as such, he didn't pose a danger to anyone.

But even with that said, feeling like he was going to collapse wasn't a good state to be in. He rubbed his temples, telling himself to stay awake. As much as he wanted to sleep, he knew he had to find Lemmy so they could solve the mystery. The shadow of the mystery loomed over everyone and everything; it was only a matter of time before someone else got hurt by one of the phantoms or even the people who attacked Roy and Celia. Ludwig couldn't rest, no matter how much he wanted to. After gathering his bearings, he was going to get up, go find Lemmy, and together they would piece together who the evil mastermind behind this was…

Bring! Bring!

Ludwig almost shrieked, with the sound of his phone ringing sounding like it was being blasted through a megaphone. Struggling to keep his head up and not doze off, he pulled the phone out of his hammerspace and saw that Iggy was calling. Well… good? That might be good, or it could be heinously heinous. Part of Ludwig wanted to put the phone down, another part of him wanted to put it to his ear, and he couldn't for the life of him tell which desire was stronger. It was purely an impulse decision that made him answer in the end.

"Hey, Iggy."

"Ludwig? You sound like you haven't slept in months!"

Ludwig did a double take; his sleep deprivation was that obvious? "Well, what did you expect? I was just up all night trying to figure out the answer behind the phantoms!"

"I know, I know, I just…" Iggy paused before groaning. "I just shudder to think what would happen if you stayed up any longer. You know, you and sleep deprivation… it is comparable to playing with fire, you know?"

Despite the pun, Ludwig didn't laugh. He just sighed as he recalled the events that made Iggy take up this position. "I know what you mean, Iggster. I just…"

"Just what?"

Ludwig cringed. "This mystery is really important, you know? I mean, our own family got hurt by somebody; that can't exactly go ignored."

"Oh, believe me, I agree wholeheartedly. But the same could be said about your level of sleep deprivation. Ludwig, you not getting sleep is dangerous. I think it would be best if you return to the castle as soon as possible."

"Iggy…!" Ludwig was about to object, but stopped himself before he could. He once again thought about what happened to his powers when he was sleep-deprived, how out-of-control and violently powerful they were. As much as he wanted to deny it, Iggy was right. As important as the mystery was, he couldn't participate in solving it if he accidentally blew someone up with each new step.

"You're right." He rose from the bench, a practice he actually found difficult due to his tiredness. "I'll come back to the castle right away."

"Good. I'll be waiting for you."

…

Fifteen minutes later, Ludwig stood at the entrance to Bowser's Castle. Taking a deep breath, he smoothed out his cloak and opened the door. That action made Iggy fall flat on his face, much to Ludwig's… surprise wasn't the right word; he was mildly alarmed.

"Wow. You really had no place else where you could've waited?"

Iggy grunted as he hoisted himself up. "My impatience was acting up."

"Impatience… it's only been fifteen minutes!" Ludwig studied Iggy's appearance, and all at once snorted. "And wow, talking about the pot calling the kettle black. You look like you've missed out on sleep for a week!"

Iggy glared at him, adjusting his glasses as he tried to smooth out his frazzled hair. "Hey! Need I remind you that I don't have powers that react negatively to sleep deprivation?" He stepped closer. "I will get sleep, but I will only do it knowing that no one could potentially be in danger. Not Lemmy, not the people in Stonebrim, and especially not you."

Ludwig scowled at those words, wanting with his entire being to object… but he couldn't. He just couldn't in good conscience do that. He sighed and stepped further into the castle.

"Fine. You're right, I'm wrong, you're smart, I'm stupid." He rubbed his eyes. "I'll make my way up to my room as soon as possible."

"I'll come with you." Ludwig's jaw dropped and flames ignited around him. In response to this, Iggy gave him a dry, defiant look. "My own bedroom is in the same direction, genius."

The flames went away, but Ludwig still felt annoyed. "Fine. Fine, fine."

So, the two walked toward the east wing. And, as much as Ludwig didn't like to give Iggy any credit or any form of ego stroking, he had to admit the thought of crashing onto his bed and sleeping the rest of the day away became more appealing the closer he got to his bed. It was just a heavenly idea, a real way to relax his mind and soul at the same time. And goodness knew he needed a chance to relax after all the stressful nonsense last night had put him through.

"How's Lemmy doing?" Iggy asked as they passed through the throne room.

"You mean before he decided that ignoring his brother's texts was the greatest idea ever?" Ludwig paused. "He was doing alright. I mean, the stress of trying to solve the mystery as well as being stalked by all the different phantoms wasn't exactly helping, but…" Ludwig shook his head. "He was doing his best to make progress. Like, he's really dedicated to solving this case."

"I do not place any blame on him," Iggy said. "You yourself said that a case that involves members of our family getting attacked couldn't go ignored." He snickered. "And I would like to add onto that; a case that involves our family getting attacked AS WELL as some of the most bizarre, baffling circumstances known to Koopa ESPECIALLY can't be ignored."

Ludwig nodded. "Yeah, that's a good way to phrase it." Ludwig pinched his brow. "I just… I don't get it. I don't get any of this. Nothing about this adds up." He groaned. "And… there's something about this whole thing. I feel like I'm missing something. Something obvious and laid out for anyone to see." He stopped walking and turned around to face Iggy. "Do you ever have that feeling?"

"On occasion."

"Well, for this occasion, it's so strong it might as well be carved into the inner workings of my brain." He started walking again. "I hate this feeling. I feel so helpless, so stupid! There's something obvious about this case that I'm missing; I just know it!"

Iggy nodded. The scene fell silent for a few minutes as they continued walking to the east wing. Before long, however, Iggy smirked. "Speaking of missing something obvious… did you know that there was a meteor shower last night?"

Ludwig did a double take. "Woah, really?"

"Yep! It happened at around nine thirty in the evening."

Ludwig entire core felt like it had been shaken. "That was around the time Celia and Roy got attacked." He paused, letting the reality of the situation sink in. "Damn. We were so focused on trying to find out what happened to our family that we didn't see what was right over our heads."

"I know. It's crazy." Iggy shrugged. "But, you know. These things can happen. Sometimes, you're so focused on your problems that you don't see what life has to offer."

Ludwig nodded, delving deep into his head as he thought about that. That was legitimately insane. How could something so beautiful, so breathtaking, so completely and utterly amazing happen on the same night as an attack that, for all Ludwig knew, could've been an attempted homicide? And if not an attempted murder, was assault, battery, and theft at the very least? That just made him feel like he had been put into a case that someone decided to turn upside down and shake. It boggled the mind and almost made it feel like fate was taunting him. Taunting him in the cruelest, darkest, most psychotic way possible.

"That's insane." Ludwig paused as he and Iggy made their way up the stairs. "I guess… this just makes the whole thing worse."

"You mean because people decided to attack and harm other people instead of celebrating Halloween and observing the meteor shower?"

"Well… sure. But that is kind of an inconsequential point to make. The attack would've happened anyway; the promise of seeing a bunch of pretty shooting stars wouldn't have changed anything." Ludwig frowned. "But it also makes me think of what the culprits of these crimes stole from us. They stole a beautiful evening away from our family. They wanted to take without any thoughts or feelings about the consequences. They didn't care about anyone or anything; they just jumped right into stealing and hurting two innocent souls." He sighed. "And honestly, they probably would've done more. Hell, if they are the ones behind the phantoms too, then they have DEFINITELY done more."

Iggy took a minute to think about this. "I see your point." Right as they got to the top of the steps, he let out a gigantic yawn. "Oh, excuse me." He looked down the hallway, specifically at his bedroom door. "I should probably retire to my chambers sooner rather than later. Everyone else is already sleeping in; it'd be wise to follow their example."

Ludwig snorted. "So wise that it makes me wonder why you didn't do that instead of waiting for my return."

"Hey, I did what I did for a reason!" Iggy said while rubbing his eyes.

"Oh really? And what reason is that?"

Iggy stopped blinking as he thought about this. "I… uh… I…" he shook his head. "That doesn't matter."

"Oh, so you can't remember!" Ludwig said as Iggy started on the way toward his door. "Makes me think that you get a tad dumber when you haven't slept."

"Shut up!"

Ludwig chuckled at that, feeling immense satisfaction over the fact that Iggy slammed the door behind him. He made his way to his own room, yawning as he stepped in. He looked at his own bed, then he looked at Lemmy's. He scowled when he saw that, deciding to check his text messages one more time. Maybe… just maybe Lemmy finally responded to them. Maybe he decided to put Ludwig's worries to rest and help him sleep easier.

"Dammit, Lemmy," Ludwig said when he saw that there were still no answers. "Are you trying to kill me; what exactly are you doing right now?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes as he completed the journey over to his bed. "Well, whatever it is…" he settled in, pulling the comforter up to his neck. "I hope it's bringing you closer to solving the mystery."