A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 23: The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth

Feeling the pain in his arm, Luigi got out of bed, landing badly as he stopped and breathed. If anyone can heal this, it's Kamek and Luigi need to get to his tower before Junior and Bowser come back and focus on him to stay in bed all day. With Bowser leaving the door open, Luigi saw the damage from the last night Junior was discussing. Bowser must have been furious if he did all this, but then again, King Boo was just outside the door...Bowser didn't fight him, did he? Luigi's chest aches, Bowser shouldn't have fought that psycho even if he knew that he would win. What if he came back and hurt him instead of Luigi? What if King Boo goes after Bowser and his family because of him? Should he leave to save them from that monster's wrath? His chest started to hurt even more when he thought about it. He didn't want to leave; he wanted to stay here; this was his home and his family now. Yet every part of his body was telling him that he needed to leave. To leave and never come back because this was all his fault.

He was the problem. He brought this bad omen into their home, their home that has slowly welcomed him without knowing the whole truth. Luigi felt so guilty that he didn't know if he should have just listened to Neville when he had the chance or just stopped letting this fear control him and stopped running away. He may have to say goodbye to Junior and the others after he gets better, but for now, he needs to be healed as he enters Kamek's room. Kamek was at his table, looking over paper that seemed a bit old. He also was writing something down that had all his attention to it.

"Kamek." Luigi said, Kamek looking down at him before he jumped onto the floor.

"Luigi, what are you doing here?" Kamek said as he started to see the damage, "oh my. Was this all from last night?"

"Yeah, and I guess you know who did this right?" Luigi said as he hissed when Kamek moved his arm.

"I do, and Bowser is waiting for us to tell him the truth." Kamek said as he stopped touching him and started to see what he had to help.

"What? Kamek you told him?!" Luigi ask

"He figured it out on his own." Kamek said, pulling out bottles and moving bowls with powder in them, "King Boo-"

"Don't say that name!" Luigi freaked out, having to grab his arm because of how suddenly he moved it. Kamek stops momentarily and looks at Luigi, a frown on his face as he slowly returns to work.

"I'm sorry about that... I'm more used to his name than the Rat King." Kamek apologized.

"It's fine. Just...not right now." Luigi said as Kamek nodded. They were silent as Kamek made something in a big bowl until Kamek started again.

"Did Bowser ever hear you use that name? The Rat King?"

"He heard me say it last night. And one other time when he found me after a really bad nightmare..." Luigi admitted. That's probably how Bowser figured out that King Boo was behind all this, all because Luigi had to talk to someone about his stupid night terror.

"That's how Bowser found out then." Kamek commented as he brought the bowl down to the floor, "now we have to tell him what's really going on...you haven't even told me the whole story."

"That's because it's a living nightmare, and it's all my fault. I have no one to blame for my downfall...do I really have to tell the whole story?" Luigi asks, Kamek levitating him over the bowl.

"Well, I think he would want to know what you did to cross The Rat King, that's for sure. Now, hold still; magic and medicine are very picky with your body." Kamek said as he lowered Luigi. It didn't hurt at first, but the minute it touched the burn mark on his back, it stung, and when the liquid touched his arm, it burned.

"Ah! Son of a Gomba!" Luigi cried out, hoping this would be relaxing and helpful - not painful.

"I told you! I'm still working out all these little details to make your life easier." Kamek said as he grabbed another bottle, "here, have some of this. It'll make you drowsy but it should numb the pain a bit." He only put a few drops in and mixed it well; whatever he put in the mix did its job a little too well. Luigi slowly started to relax as the pain went away, but his eyes got heavy; it felt like he was about to pass out as he felt his body go limp.