As the next few days passed, the brothers slowly figured out new routines and ways to maintain as many of their old ones as was possible. The first thing Mario insisted upon was wiring Luigi’s new bedroom to have electric lights. Next was custom silverware so he could eat without making a mess.
Luigi also took to taking strolls around Toad Town, refusing to cloister himself again. It was heartening to get to interact with the toads again, and even more so that they treated him the same as they always had. Sometimes, Luigi could almost forget he had become a dragon. Almost. He still had to be careful of his new size, and his tail continued to defy him.
It did seem that, thankfully, he had stopped growing. Just at the right point, too, as it turned out. His new bed was a perfect fit now, and occasionally he woke up forgetting everything that had happened… for a few moments at least.
After the whirlwind of new activities began to die down, Luigi remembered that he wanted to read up on the legends they had about dragons, curious to see if he could learn anything about his new body’s abilities. And maybe how to control his tail.
Then it occurred to him that all of those books were either in Peach’s library at the castle, or in bookstores scattered around the kingdom. Bookstores were out of the question; he wouldn’t fit. Luigi hadn’t visited the castle since the day after his incident with the gem and wasn’t entirely sure he should go now.
“Why not?” Mario prompted. “It’s big enough, I know you’ll fit. And I’ll bet Peach would like a visit.”
“Yeah but…” Luigi stopped himself from starting to wring his hands. “But… I haven’t tried handling any books since…”
“Ooh, I guess there is that.” Mario looked thoughtful. Then grinned impishly. “Maybe you can wear oven mitts again!”
Luigi groaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m more worried about how much bigger I am. I still don’t really know my own strength… I’d hate to damage anything.”
Mario’s smile softened. “You’ve been doing pretty good lately, though. And I know how you’ve always been meticulous about books. I can’t imagine you would risk doing anything that might have any chance of damaging one.”
“I… suppose.”
“C’mon, quit making up excuses. I’ll bet Peach’ll bake a dragon-sized cake just for the occasion.”
“I-I don’t want any special fanfare. I just… want to do some research…” Luigi realized he had started wringing his hands again, and his tail was swishing agitatedly. He was able to stop the former, but his tail still insisted on doing whatever it wanted whether he liked it or not.
Mario evidently noticed this, glancing from his tail back to his face. “Well, if you insist. But you aren’t going to be able to just sneak in, you know.”
“Yeah…”
“C’mon, I’ll walk with you, okay?” Mario beckoned to him with outstretched arms.
Luigi sighed and relented. “Okay.”
Their walk through Toad Town toward the castle was pleasant and uneventful. Everyone had grown used to Luigi being a dragon now, and so other than some waves and a few friendly greetings, they had no interactions with any of their neighbors.
They made it into the castle with little more than some gentle ribbing from the toad guards on duty, commentary on Luigi’s height and not hitting his head on the door frame.
Once inside, however, they were very shortly met by Peach. Luigi didn’t know how she always knew when they came to visit.
“What a lovely surprise!” The princess declared, smiling broadly at them. “If I’d had some more notice I’d have –”
“Oh, please, don’t go to any trouble on our account.” Mario broke in, waving his hands in front of himself. “Besides,” He added, glancing up at Luigi, “Someone already feels self-conscious enough as it is.”
Luigi wondered if Peach knew he was blushing again. “Ahah, yeah… one party was, uh, more than enough…”
Peach giggled, putting her hands up to her mouth. She didn’t quite mask the smirk spreading across her face, though. “Alright, alright, then.” She schooled her expression back to a polite smile. “Then, you must be here to visit the library?”
“Right, as usual, prin- uh, Peach.” Luigi stammered.
Peach’s smile widened slightly. “I figured it was only a matter of time.”
“Matter of time?” Luigi echoed, tilting his head in confusion.
“Before you decided to read up on dragons.” Peach elaborated. “As soon as we found out, I knew you would eventually turn up here ready to bury yourself in books.”
“I-I wasn’t even sure how much material there was on the subject…”
“Well, likely not as much as you would hope. But we have copies of most if not all scholarly works published on the subject.” Peach gestured welcomingly. “Please, feel free to go about your research. And if you need anything…”
Luigi smiled. “I… I appreciate it… Peach.”
. . .
Luigi shortly had a stack of books gathered from around the library, careful to note where he had collected each one so he could return them when he was done. He started for one of the study desks dotted about the library before realizing he was much too big for it.
He felt his tail twitching as he thought about his predicament. He glanced around and noted that there were very few people currently using the library.
Hoping no one (especially Peach!) would mind a little re-arranging, he carefully set his stack of books down on one desk, and then gingerly picked up another and moved it a few feet further away. Then another, and another, until he had cleared enough space for himself to settle comfortably on the floor.
Sorting the books into three stacks, one comprised of legends and fairy-tales about dragons and two of more scholarly studies on the subject arranged by date of publication (Mario had good reason to occasionally tease Luigi for his fastidiousness surrounding books) he carefully settled himself down on the floor. He picked up the first book in his first stack and carefully opened it using just the tip of his thumb claw.
“Wow.”
Luigi jumped, he had forgotten anyone else was in the library.
“Sorry.” It was Mario. He smiled apologetically. “You’ve really settled in.”
Luigi shrugged. “I figured I may as well get comfortable, and I didn’t want to break anything…”
“I haven’t seen you read on the floor since we were kids.” Mario chuckled. “Well, I won’t keep interrupting you. Talk to you later.” He smiled and waved before walking back out.
Luigi waved back and then returned his attention to the book in front of him.
. . .
As was always the case when Luigi dove into a new subject, he read until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. He wasn’t sure what time of day or night it was that he finally lost his battle with sleep, but when he woke up he was greeted by Mario standing just in front of him.
“…Uuhh… hi Mario.” He lifted his head up and yawned.
“You forgot to eat, didn’t you.” Mario had his hands on his hips.
“Uh.” Luigi grinned sheepishly.
“Well, don’t just sit there. C’mon, you’ve got to eat something or your brain’ll rot. Or… something.”
Luigi rolled his eyes and gingerly got up, surprised to find he didn’t feel stiff or sore after sleeping on the floor. “Hang on, I can’t just leave these lying here.” He said, gently gathering up the books and setting them on the nearest desk. He then followed after Mario, careful not to let his tail get away with any destructive antics.
Mario led the way out onto the balcony where Peach had insisted on serving lunch the last time he had been at the castle. The princess was already there, an anticipatory smile on her face. “Good morning!” She called when they arrived. “And how did our scholar do yesterday?” She gazed up at Luigi, clearly eager to hear about his research.
Luigi was dumbstruck briefly. Usually, only Mario (if even him) was interested in whatever he was reading up on. He wasn’t used to this kind of reaction. I guess it’s understandable, though. He thought. “Oh, uh, well… I’m…”
“Maybe you can tell us during breakfast.” Peach said, taking mercy on him.
“Uuuhh, sure.” Luigi smiled gratefully.
Peach had prepared entirely too much food. There were pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs, at least three types of fruit, and a fresh-baked cake.
“Um, pri- uh, Peach, I hope you invited some more people.” Luigi said, eyeing the spread awkwardly.
Peach blushed faintly and smiled shyly. “I wasn’t sure how much food a dragon needs. I guess I went a little bit overboard, huh?”
“I made the same mistake.” Mario chuckled. “But actually, it doesn’t seem like Luigi needs to eat all that much more now than he used to. When he remembers to eat at all that is.” He punctuated that sentence with a stern look directed at his younger brother.
“Sorry.” Luigi hunched his neck up, prompting an involuntary giggle from Peach. Both he and Mario looked at her in surprise.
Peach put her hand over her mouth, her face turning pink. “Oh I’m sorry. You just… well, you should see yourself right now, Luigi. You look…” She cleared her throat, her face flushing to a shade of red. “I’m sorry.”
Luigi laughed. “Don’t be, Peach. I guess I’m just…” He trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence, and shrugged. His tail did an acrobatic flip.
“Well, then, I guess we should eat.” Mario said when Luigi and Peach both fell awkwardly silent. “I went home and got your fork, bro.” He added, gesturing to where the dragon-sized implement was resting on the table.
“Thanks, Mario.” Luigi smiled and then carefully shuffled over to the place prepared for him. For once, his tail didn’t try to upend anything as he settled down cross-legged on the floor.
“I never really thought about how everything here is… well, scaled for humans.” Peach said. “At least, not from the perspective of being bigger. It’s easier to make things accessible for someone smaller, like the toads, than it is for someone bigger.”
“I-I don’t think anyone anticipated accommodating dragons when everything was built.” Luigi replied, feeling awkward. I don’t need anyone to make a fuss over me. I can manage.
“So,” Mario began, grabbing Luigi’s plate and piling it with food, “What was worth staying up until well after midnight last night for?”
“Huh? Oh!” Luigi grimaced at his brother. “Well… not as much as I’d hoped but…” He paused, trying to collect his thoughts into some sort of cohesive form. “Um, one thing that surprised me is how many theories there are about how dragons disappeared. Some of them are debunked by the fact that we found the remains of one, but others… well, some of them are actually pretty sad to think about. That maybe there was a plague that wiped them out. Or that some races turned to dragon-hunting, whether for sport or… utility,” He shuddered despite himself at the thought, “And wiped them out in overhunting.”
“What a sad thought.” Peach said softly, her own breakfast plate ignored as she gazed, fully intrigued, at Luigi. “A whole race wiped out. Probably a whole culture…”
“And… that’s one thing I was really hoping to learn about that’s just… not there.” Luigi said softly. “Who were they? We have all these legends and myths about individual dragons’ deeds. Sometimes they play a hero in the story, sometimes they’re the antagonist. But we don’t really learn anything about them as a people.” He looked down, frowning sadly. “And now they’re all gone. I don’t really think I count.”
Everyone sat silently for a while, each alone with their own thoughts. Luigi wondered how he would feel about his newest discoveries under other circumstances. Do we, do I, feel a deeper connection to them because of what’s happened to me? He wondered. Would it feel as sad, to know they’re all gone, if I wasn’t a dragon now? Was… that what the spell in the gem supposed to do…? Make people care?
“I think you do count. Kinda.” Mario said, breaking the silence. “Whoever that dragon was, who made that gem, they wanted some part of who they were to live on somehow. Maybe the gem doesn’t even do what they had in mind. But it’s given us all a connection to the dragons that none of us would have had otherwise. That’s got to count for something.”
“That’s true.” Luigi mused softly. “But I’m only a dragon physically. I don’t know how to be a dragon. I don’t really know anything about them. That gem might have magically made me look like a dragon, but it didn’t magically tell me anything about them…”
“What about – …No, nevermind.” Mario shook his head.
“What about what?” Peach immediately perked up.
“Uh.” Mario looked up at Luigi, his cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment.
Luigi knew immediately what he was talking about. “I don’t know.” He said to his brother, shrugging. He then turned to Peach. “There was… one day… uh, when I was still changing,” He began, “When Mario asked me if I wanted anything specific for dinner and for just a split second I thought about raw meat. I have to assume that was some sort of dragon-y thought, but I haven’t had anything else like it ever since.”
“Oh.” Peach seemed at a loss for anything else to say.
“…Yeah.” Luigi said awkwardly when the silence stretched again. “Um,” He glanced around at the table, noting the fact that no one seemed to be at all interested in eating anymore, “If… you don’t mind, I think I’ll get back to my research…”
Mario must have been sufficiently distracted because he failed to notice that Luigi hadn’t eaten anything either. “Mm, okay.” Was all he said.
. . .
Luigi spent the rest of the day largely undisturbed in the library, except for one point at around midday when Mario evidently realized he had let his younger brother slip away without breakfast. He stormed into the library and practically pried Luigi’s mouth open to dump a bowl-full of berries inside. “Next time you sneak off like that, I’ll… I’ll…” Mario seemed to lose his train of thought watching Luigi try very hard to chew a too-large mouthful of fruit without making a mess. Soon he was laughing uncontrollably as Luigi began pulling faces at him, and even the other library patrons shushing him couldn’t settle him down.
Finally, Luigi had to bodily pick his brother up and carry him out of the library. “Next time,” He said, trying to hold in his own laughter, “Don’t make me make you laugh so hard.”
Still giggling uncontrollably and wiping his eyes, Mario nodded, and Luigi returned to his reading. He made a point not to look at his brother again, afraid he would finally crack and start laughing, too.
. . .
Luigi flipped the last book in his collection shut with a dull thud, sighing in frustration. There was so little actual information! Here he was sitting in a library, in the form of a dragon, yet he felt scarcely more knowledgeable about them than when he entered.
He began the slow process of returning each book to where it belonged on the shelves, trying not to grumble to himself and disturb the other library patrons.
It’s not like I was expecting something like “An Exhaustive Study of Dragon Lifestyles and Cultures” or anything. He thought to himself crankily. But I really hoped there would be more than just fairy-tales and half-wrong anatomy. His tail twitched violently in response to his irritation, almost knocking a desk over. He frowned at it, and it flipped a few more times as if to spite him. Would it have been too much to ask to just find out how to manage a tail?
Finally, all the books had been replaced and he went in search of Mario or Peach, or both. Hopefully talking about it will cheer me up.
. . .
“Maybe we could go see how Toadsworth and the professor are getting on.” Mario suggested. “We still haven’t heard anything from them after all, and I refuse to believe they ‘don’t have anything worth reporting’ after this long.”
“They probably don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.” Luigi said.
“That sounds like Toadsworth.” Peach chuckled gently. “He likes to have a solution when he offers ‘results’.”
“Still not interested in flying there, bro?” Mario looked up at Luigi with a poorly disguised smirk.
Luigi grimaced. “No thanks.”
Mario looked over to Peach and spread his hands. “He’d rather run all the way there than try to fly.”
Peach shrugged. “It hurts a lot less to fall while running than if you fall while flying, after all.”
“Exactly.” Luigi gestured towards Peach while giving Mario a look.
Mario just laughed. “Alright, alright, I give up!” He threw his hands in the air. “You must be the only dragon in history who’s afraid of flying.”
Luigi scowled back at him. “I’m not afraid of flying.” He huffed.
“Then why won’t you even try?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
Mario sighed, relenting as he realized he was annoying his brother. “Okay, fine. I’ll stop bugging you about it. For now.”
Luigi groaned, knowing how long “for now” would last: Approximately twelve hours. He tried redirecting the conversation. “Well, it takes a while to get there. Maybe we should start out tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, I guess that works.” Mario said, nodding agreement. “Are you going to spend another night in the library?”
Luigi shook his head. He had exhausted all the reading material available on dragons already, much to his disappointment. “There’s not much point.”
“I’m sorry there wasn’t more information for you to study.” Peach said gently.
“Hopefully we’ll learn some more tomorrow.” Mario added, his expression hopeful.
Luigi forced himself to smile in return, though he still felt disappointed. “Yeah. Hopefully.”