Luigi’s eyes snapped open. His heart was pounding in his ears. He jerked his head up from his pillow, breathing hard. It was just a dream. He took a deeper breath, heaving a sigh of relief. Oh, thank goodness it was just a dream…
He slowly sat up as his heart rate began to return to normal and pulled his old blanket close to his chest for comfort. Normally, after a nightmare like that, he would go see if Mario were awake (or more likely if he had awakened Mario by accident). Now, though, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.
He took a few shaky breaths, trying to settle back down. He quickly realized he was much too wound up to try to fall back asleep. The fear that the nightmare would return was too great. He sighed and flopped gracelessly face-first into his pillow, remembering just in time not to bonk his snout.
The nightmare had been terrible, and recalling it in the dark of night seemed to make it grow worse.
He had awakened to find war was descending on the Mushroom Kingdom once again. Bob-ombs rained down around Toad Town, reducing houses to burning rubble. Toads ran for their lives or tried to help those trapped in the rubble.
Luigi ran through the burning streets, trying not to step on anyone. Mario was nowhere to be found.
Bowser’s airship loomed overhead, heading inexorably towards the castle. Luigi knew that Mario must be there, ready to defend the princess.
Except this time, Bowser wasn’t here for Peach. Luigi skidded to a stop as a squad of Koopas came around the corner of a mostly intact house and immediately made straight for him.
Luigi began to back away nervously as half a dozen sharp spear tips were pointed at him, then yelped as something landed on his back. Twisting his head around he saw another troop of Koopas had snuck up behind him, and one particularly bold individual had leapt onto his back.
Unsure what to do and unused to fighting as a dragon, he had frozen for just a few moments too long while the Koopas surrounded him. When he finally gathered his wits enough to try to get the Koopa off his back, it was too late: a weighted net suddenly landed on him and knocked him breathless to the ground.
Panic took over and he thrashed desperately, but only succeeded in tangling himself up in the net.
As the Koopas closed in again, he realized the airship was retreating from the castle. Heading straight for him. They weren’t here to kidnap Peach, they were here for the Mushroom Kingdom’s only dragon.
That was when he had woken up in a panic.
Luigi found he had been wringing his old blanket in his hands and leaving little punctures in it with his claws. He dropped it and buried his head under his pillow, wishing it were morning.
He nearly jumped out of his fur when there was a sudden, quiet knock on the door. Once he calmed down and gathered his wits, he thought to respond. “H-hello?”
“Luigi, you’re awake?” It was Mario.
“Y-yeah… what are you doing up?” Luigi felt a sudden stab of anxiety; was his nightmare starting to come true? He shook his head fiercely. That’s ridiculous.
“Well I… kind of had a nightmare and… I wanted to see if you were okay.”
Luigi nearly fell out of bed in his haste and fumbled for the rope that operated his new room’s door. “Come in.”
“…We need to get you some lights in here.” Mario said in the shadows, sounding chagrined.
“Y-yeah I guess so…”
“Um, to tell the truth I didn’t expect you to be awake. Are you okay?”
Luigi caught himself wringing his hands and stopped. “W-well…” He sighed. “No. I had a nightmare too…”
An instant later, Mario was beside him, arms as far around him as they could go. “I’m sorry.”
“W-what… was your nightmare?” Luigi didn’t want to talk about his just yet.
Mario sighed in the darkness. “I… dreamed that…” He trailed off, evidently also reluctant to talk about it.
“We… can just… wait until morning.” Luigi offered.
Mario laughed weakly. “We’ll both need coffee…”
Luigi wondered briefly how coffee would affect him as a dragon and laughed at the mental images produced by the thought of him getting over-caffeinated.
“What’s so funny?”
“O-oh, I just… was wondering how coffee and dragons work.”
Evidently that sparked similar mental images for Mario as he snorted and laughed.
They sat together in companionable silence there in the darkness, each comforted by the presence of the other. Luigi reflected on his nightmare again; it didn’t seem so frightening with Mario here. He hoped Mario felt the same about whatever his nightmare had been.
. . .
“So, have you thought about trying to fly?” Mario asked while they ate breakfast together that morning. Neither brother wanted to bring up their coincidental nightmares just yet.
Luigi stopped trying to get his fork and knife to cooperate with his oversized hands and glanced up at his brother. “F-fly? Uuuuhh, n-no… no thanks…”
“Oh c’mon Weegie, you literally have wings, I don’t see how it could possibly be dangerous.”
Luigi steadfastly shook his head no. Flying was simply not for him, no matter what his body might now be capable of. It was bad enough when he and Mario were off on a mission to rescue Peach (again) during wartimes and had to board one of Bowser’s many airships.
“It’s not like a power-up,” Mario continued, ignoring Luigi’s protests, “You can’t really lose them. At least… not… easily.” He grimaced, realizing what he was saying.
Luigi cringed, remembering how much it had hurt when he accidentally bashed one of his wings into a wall.
“You know what? Forget I said anything.” Mario said quickly, his face turning red.
“Happily.” Luigi smirked in spite of himself; it was always funny to see Mario flustered. He quickly returned his attention to his attempt to eat his pancakes like a civilized being.
“So, uh… got any idea what you want to do today?” Mario asked, his gaze firmly locked on his own stack of pancakes.
“Um… not… really… urg.” Luigi grumbled as he dropped his knife for the fifth time.
“…You know, you could probably eat them all in one bite.”
Luigi sighed. “Yeah…”
“…Or you could keep… doing what you’re doing.” Mario blushed again.
“Everything is too small.” Luigi complained.
Mario sighed, shrugging helplessly. “…Maybe we could get some custom cutlery made…?”
Luigi frowned and slumped, sighing. “At this rate, maybe…”
Mario looked up at him, looking alarmed. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, Weegie, I just… you know… to make things easier for the time being…”
Luigi looked back up at his brother and forced a smile. “I know… and… I appreciate it. It’s just… well… maybe I’m just being impatient? I really thought they’d have figured something out by now…”
“Maybe we should go out and visit them today.” Mario sounded like his mind was nearly made up already.
Luigi thought about returning to that cave again and shuddered involuntarily. “I’d rather not…”
Mario frowned. “Well, we don’t have to, of course…”
Luigi felt a stab of guilt. Mario was just trying to help. “Well… maybe we… could just go and see…”
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to. Really.” Mario insisted.
“No, no, I think… I think you’re right.” Luigi took a breath and plowed ahead before he had a chance to have second thoughts. “And-and, m-maybe it would be… g-good for me to go back.” He was wringing his hands again.
Mario stared pointedly at Luigi’s fidgeting hands and then looked back up at his face. “You sure?”
“No.” Luigi admitted, hiding his hands behind his back. His wings involuntarily folded over his arms. “B-but… also… yes?”
Mario smiled and laughed gently. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop prodding. Let’s head out once we’re done with breakfast.”
. . .
Neither of them had considered, until faced with the predicament, the fact that Luigi could no longer use his kart.
“It’s more than a day’s walk.” Mario mused, rubbing his thumb and forefinger across his chin thoughtfully. He then suddenly smirked up at Luigi. “Maybe you could reconsider your stance on flying?”
Privately, Luigi was reconsidering his desire to go on this trip at all. “Uh… what if I just… followed you on foot?”
Mario made a face. “I mean I’m sure you’re faster now, since you’re so much taller and all but… I don’t think you’re as fast as a kart, bro.”
Luigi suddenly felt determined that this would work. “No, really. I think I can keep up.”
Mario gazed at him skeptically. “Even if you could keep up at first… I just don’t see how you’re going to be able to keep up that pace for the whole trip.”
Luigi hadn’t thought of that. Yet… he still felt confident he could do it. He couldn’t explain it, and decided he didn’t want to bother trying to. “Can we at least try it?”
“You really don’t want to try flying, do you?”
Luigi felt his tail doing one of the little dances it liked to do when he felt shy or embarrassed – or both. He sighed. “Yeah, I really don’t want to try flying.” He admitted finally.
Mario sighed, running his hands over his face. “…Okay, you win. We’ll try it this way first. And maybe, if you can’t keep up, you’ll consider flying?”
Luigi forced a smile. “I’ll consider it.”
“Close enough.” Mario shrugged and hopped into his kart.
While they were still in Toad Town, Mario kept his speed low to ensure he didn’t hurt any pedestrians, and Luigi was able to keep up with a brisk walk.
Soon, though, they were leaving civilization behind and Mario picked up the pace. Luigi found himself first loping along, then running at full tilt. He still wasn’t fast enough as Mario kept slowly pulling ahead. The kart wasn’t even going at max speed.
Then, something clicked in Luigi’s head and he dropped to all fours, adopting a galloping stride that rapidly caught him back up to his brother.
Mario glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widened considerably, and he floored it.
Luigi grinned to himself as he easily kept pace even at the kart’s maximum speed. Who needs flying, anyway?
. . .
When they reached the cave mouth, they found it devoid of occupants. It was obvious a lot of research and experiments had been going on here, though, as the entire cave entrance was filled with Professor Gadd’s signature gadgets. One corner appeared to be Toadsworth’s personal sanctuary, with an armchair and a book shelf tucked away from the rest of the gear.
Luigi quickly discovered he was too tall to walk very far into the tunnel standing upright. Walking on all fours, when he had the time and energy to think about it because he wasn’t keeping up with Mario on the road, felt very awkward. Even if it also, physically, felt perfectly natural.
Mario was walking ahead, following the string of electric lights that had been set up. “This sure beats poking around with a flashlight, huh Luigi?”
“Uuhh, y-yeah. Definitely.”
Mario paused and looked back at him. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah, just fine!” Luigi realized immediately he had oversold that line.
Mario turned around completely, folding his arms across his chest and gave him a look he knew meant “try again.”
Luigi sighed, his head drooping. “It’s not the cave.” He elaborated. “It’s… uh…” He raised one hand, using the other to support his weight, and wriggled his clawed fingers in the air. “I’d rather be able to stand up straight.”
“Oh!” Mario nodded. “I should have realized. I’m sorry.”
“It’s o-okay, really. I just…” Luigi sighed, unsure what he was even trying to say.
“Well… that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?” Mario said, trying to sound reassuring.
“Y-yeah, right.” Luigi nodded and tried to perk up. “L-let’s keep going.”
Mario nodded and turned back to the tunnel before them, but now he kept periodically glancing back as he walked.
Usually, they could walk in silence comfortably, but today Luigi felt as though the silence would suffocate him. “So, um… we never did talk about our bad dreams.” He said awkwardly.
Mario broke stride, surprised. “I… guess not. You really want to talk about that now?”
“Well… I’d rather talk about something.”
Mario sighed and nodded. “I understand…” He was silent for a while longer before he spoke again. “Well… do you want me to go first?” He asked finally.
“Um…” Luigi realized he wasn’t sure. “I-I can… start, since it was my idea.”
“Only if you want to.”
Luigi hesitated for a few seconds, then forced himself to begin recounting his nightmare. He had to pause a few times to compose himself, but ultimately managed to get through the whole thing.
Mario didn’t respond for a lot longer than Luigi would have expected. When he did, his voice sounded small and shaky. “I… I had… almost the exact same dream. Except I was stuck watching it happen and I couldn’t get to you… it was… like I couldn’t move.”
“That’s… that’s weird. We both had the same… or almost the same dream?”
“I-I guess so.” Mario shrugged.
“Think it’s because of what we talked about yesterday? About what might happen if Bowser finds out I’m a dragon now?”
“…That would make sense, actually.”
“It’s… it’s still weird we had the same exact dream though.”
“Yeah. I guess… we just think too much alike?”
Luigi laughed. “Yeah right.”
“Oh come on, Luigi, we’re more alike than you like to think.”
“Maybe in some ways.” Luigi admitted. “But you’ve always been… better.”
“Don’t say that!” Mario whipped around and glared up at him, fists on his hips.
Luigi sighed. He would have spread his hands in a shrug, but they were busy keeping him from face-planting into the floor. “It’s true though. You’re better at… at almost everything than I am. You’re braver, faster, smarter…”
“Stop it.” Mario stamped his foot. “Okay, maybe I’m less anxious than you. But everything else? No. No, Luigi. I’m not better than you.”
Luigi almost opened his mouth to say “you would have been smart enough not to touch a glowing magic gem” but realized that wouldn’t help anything. Instead, he sighed. “Okay, if you say so.”
“I mean it.” Mario insisted. “You’re why I’m… as strong as I am. Okay? I wouldn’t be half the man you see me as if you weren’t here with me.”
Luigi couldn’t help but smile. That feeling was mutual. “…Yeah, well, same.”
A smile slowly crept over Mario’s face in return. “I guess we both kinda see each other as our better half, huh?”
“I guess so.” Luigi couldn’t disagree with that statement, even if he struggled to understand why Mario felt that way about him, too.
“Want to keep going?”
“Sure.”
Silence returned as they walked, but it wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.
When the tunnel forked, Luigi noted with some alarm that the passage they had ignored on their initial exploration was now blocked off with piled wooden crates, all nailed together.
“I wonder what’s up with this.” Mario mused, pausing to check out the blockade.
“I hope they didn’t find anything… um… unpleasant down that way.” Luigi said, swallowing uneasily.
“I doubt they’d have just blocked it like this if they had.” Mario said reassuringly. “Maybe it branches more and more that way and they didn’t want to get lost.”
“Oh.” Luigi nodded. Hopefully that’s all.
They continued down the unblocked tunnel, and Luigi realized it was narrower than the original tunnel had been. Shorter, too. He felt the need to duck his head lower despite having plenty of clearance. His wings tucked closer to his body without him consciously thinking about it.
He breathed a soft sigh of relief when the tunnel opened up into the large chamber they had found before. The ceiling leaped up far overhead, still cloaked in shadows beyond the light of the lamps strung all around. Luigi stood up straight, relieved to be able to ditch the quadrupedal posture.
For the first time, Luigi was able to take in the entire chamber all at once. It wasn’t nearly as frightening once it was all lit up. However, it was unnerving to see the skeletal dragon fully exposed to the light, lying in the middle of the cavern. He wondered who this dragon had been, and what they had been doing here. And how they died. He shuddered at the thought, fighting a sudden desire to get back out of the cave as quickly as possible.
“It doesn’t seem as big as before.” Mario commented, also staring at the immense skeleton.
“Hello? Who’s there??” There was no mistaking that voice. Professor Gadd suddenly appeared around one side of the dragon’s skull, peering at them. “Mario? Is that you? And is that Luigi with you?”
Mario waved. “Hello professor. Yes, it’s us. We wanted to see how things were going.”
“If we had anything to report, we’d have done it.” Toadsworth followed the professor around the skeleton, giving them both a cranky look.
“You mean you haven’t learned anything?” Luigi cried.
“I didn’t say that, my boy. My, but you’ve gotten bigger, haven’t you?” Toadsworth craned his neck to look up at Luigi.
Luigi felt a sudden stab of irritation and barely resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the older toad. He settled for scrunching up his face. “Just a little bit.” He said sarcastically.
Mario glanced back at him, his expression concerned. He then returned his attention to the two researchers. “Well… can you tell us anything new?”
“Nothing truly helpful, at least for you.” The professor replied. “Although, you may find this interesting, Luigi. I’ve run several analyses on our skeletal friend here as well as the gem you found. The residual magic in the gem matched what little was left in these bones. It seems that, whatever spell was placed in the gem that you activated, it was created by this dragon.”
“Created by…” Luigi paused in thought for a moment, then his eyes widened in realization. “You mean this dragon intended to turn someone else into a dragon??”
“Well, I certainly can’t determine intent.” The professor said, adjusting his glasses. “However, no one goes to that kind of trouble to create and preserve a magical spell without some sort of intent in mind.”
“I wish we could ask him.” Mario said, gazing sadly at the skeleton.
Luigi looked at his brother in surprise.
Mario looked back up at him and shrugged. “It’d be a lot easier than all this guessing.”
“I am not guessing.” The professor said defensively. “I don’t indulge in guesses, not of this nature.”
Mario sighed. “Okay, sorry. But still, it would solve the mystery if we knew who this dragon was and why he created that gem.”
Luigi quietly slipped past the conversation and approached the ancient skeleton. It was strange being nearly as large as the giant dead dragon. He circled the skeleton a few times, musing over how closely his own body resembled it now. He stopped and sat down cross-legged in front of the skull and gazed down at the empty eye-sockets. He sighed and slumped. “What happened to you?” He wondered aloud. “And why did you do this to me?”
He realized it was ridiculous to think that this dragon had specifically done this to him; the dragon must have died long before Luigi and Mario had been born. But… for some reason, the magic in that gem had awakened and fixated specifically on Luigi.
“Was it because I was the first to notice it?” He wondered, remembering that it was him, not Mario, who had caught the brief reflection of the gem in the flashlight’s beam.
“Notice what?”
Luigi jumped. He hadn’t heard Mario walk up. “Er, I was just… thinking aloud.” He explained.
Mario nodded thoughtfully. He looked from the skeleton to Luigi and back a few times. “It’s weird. It looks like you but also… not like you.”
Luigi huffed and folded his arms. “Well, for one thing, I’m alive.”
Mario laughed. “You know what I mean, Weegie.”
Luigi sighed, his angry façade cracking. “Yeah, I know.”
“You doing alright?” Mario’s smile faded, replaced with a look of concern.
“I guess. It’s just… it’s just weird, seeing this… and knowing what I know now…” Luigi blew out a heavy sigh. “I have so many questions, and the one who could answer them all is… right there… and can’t.”
“Well… maybe we’ll never know who this dragon was or why they were here, but… I’m sure we’ll figure out enough. I guess it’s going to take longer than we thought, though.” Mario said, putting his hand reassuringly on Luigi’s knee.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Luigi looked down at his brother. “I guess… we should see about some custom cutlery then?”
Mario laughed. “Among other things, yes.”