When morning came, Bowser's hand hurt. His main focus wasn't on his well-being when punching King Boo, but he could have soaked it in hot water before falling asleep. He turned his head and spotted Luigi still there, hugging his thumb; his face stained with watermarks from his tears. They should have been dyed by now, but they were still wet as he rubbed Luigi's eyes and wiped whatever tears that were left; he must have been crying again while Bowser was asleep. Bowser got off his stomach and twisted his body to lay on his left side, getting up just a little so he could bend his arm and place his head on his hand while keeping his right arm still to make sure he didn't disturb Luigi. Looking down at Luigi, Bowser's heart broke. How did Luigi cross that madman, and why would King Boo ever hurt such a beautiful soul?
Bowser stops his thoughts for a bit. Did he just think that Luigi had a beautiful soul? It's no lie that Luigi is kind and has been very patient with Bowser since he met him, but he didn't know that his first thought would call him beautiful. Bowser shook his head. Beautiful shouldn't be the first word to use when discrediting a good person like Luigi; maybe good-natured or selfless; even lovely or charming could have been his first thought, but his mind went to beautiful. Bowser returned to Luigi, slowly rubbing his cheek once more before pulling his hand away to see the damage he got last night. Luigi's whole arm was burned, which left it black, with what looked like places where the wood had been chipped off from. Bowser couldn't help but trace every chipped and uneven area that he saw, watching to see if Luigi was in pain from his touch. Luigi's face changes painfully, mostly when Bowser touches his brunet arms, but his chipped area and cut don't bother him before Bowser returns to Luigi's face.
He did the same thing as he traced the little details on his face. Luigi's hair, which he got a better look at last night, reminds him of chocolate. His mustache also had a craving that twisted around itself. The red dots on his cheeks, round and warm, and all the tiny cuts that follow the outline of Luigi's face. Bowser lightly tapped on each one with his nail as he counted how many there were; some had overlapped with each other, and Bowser didn't know if he should count them as one or figure out how many there were. This pissed Bowser off the more he counted, and how he imagined that every last one that he counted was from King Boo that he had to stop counting before he let out a deep breath; what was going on?
"DAD! DAD!" Junior yelled as he came running into the room, "LUIGI GONE! I-"
"Not so loud Junior. He's sleeping right now." Bowser said as he got out of bed. He walked over to Junior and picked him up to try to get him out before he saw how bad in shape Luigi was in. However, when Bowser picked him up, Junior saw Luigi clearly.
"Luigi...W-what happened to Luigi?!" Junior said as he struggled in Bowser's arms, trying to get to Luigi.
"Junior, now is not the time. We have to let him sleep." Bowser said, trying to get Junior out of the room.
"NO! I want to see Luigi! I want to stay with him- I want to stay with Luigi! Let go of me!" Junior yelled, throwing punches and kicks at Bowser's arm as he tried to escape them.
"You're being too loud, Junior! You can see him later!" Bowser scolded him as he started walking into the setting area, and Junior bit down on him to let him go. It worked for the most part since Bowser did let go of him, but Junior wasn't able to get past Bowser.
"Bowser K. Koopa Junior! That's enough!" Bowser yelled at Junior as tears built up in his eyes, "Go to your room right now before I forbid you from visiting Luigi! I won't let you act like this!"
"B-but-"
"No buts! Now go!" Bowser cut him off as he pointed to the door. Junior was about to sob and leave when a weak voice could be heard.
"I-it's okay Bowser... I'm up already..." Luigi said, his little bandana twisted to cover his arm from Junior's view. Junior ran past Bowser and turned to face him; Junior picked Luigi up into a hug as he held back a hiss of pain.
"Luigi! W-what happened to you?!" Junior asked as he held Luigi, trying to pull back the bandana to see the damage, but Luigi made sure that he kept it in place. Bowser kneeled beside them with a heavy heart; how would he explain last night's events to him and how there may be changes to all this new information. Luigi did all the work for him, however.
"I messed up, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. You see, it can be really hard for me to see in the dark even with the glow from the lava. And you now know how I can be clumsy sometimes...without realizing it, I tripped over a rock and I burnt myself real bad." Luigi explained, lying through his teeth as if it was sweet honey that even Bowser would believe him if he wasn't aware of last night.
"Why would you do that then? Why walk in the dark? Also what about the damage outside? There are holes in the wall and on the floor."
"I had a bad dream and you're always telling me about how your dad makes a good hot chocolate to help with bad dreams. I wanted to try it." Luigi said before he started to push Junior away to let him know to put him down, which Junior did as Luigi made sure that he couldn't see how bad it was. "As for the wall and floor, they were already there when your dad found me...with how bad I hurt myself, I'm not going to be able to sleep in your room for a while."
"T-that's right Junior. The doctors need to see him but they need to do it where there's a lot of space...like my room." Bowser added to the lie, watching Junior sit on the floor as he grabbed onto Luigi's bandana, just holding onto it as if he didn't want to let go.
"C-can I at least see it? Or sleep in here tonight? I-I've got too used to you sleeping next to me..." Junior said, sniffling as he tried to be a big boy.
"Junior, you can't-" Bowser started to talk but stopped when he saw Luigi show Junior his hand. It was black and looked like it could fall off at any moment. Junior slowly moved his hand over Luigi's hand, shaking Junior lightly, touching his hand as Luigi hissed in pain. Junior pulled back, scared, his tears coming back as Luigi hid his hand.
"Remember what I promise you Junior: I'll always come back to you, no matter how many times I fall apart."
"Y-you promise that you won't fall apart again..." Junior said, wiping his tears away as Luigi rubbed his hand.
"I know...and I'm sorry I didn't keep it but I promise I'll get better, okay?" Luigi said as Junior nodded, giving Luigi another hug before Junior carried him back to Bowser's bed.
"I'll bring your bed later okay Luigi?"
"Okay, Junior...how about you and your dad get it for me now? That way, I can sleep a bit more." Luigi suggested as Junior nodded as he approached Bowser and grabbed his hand. Bowser just gave Luigi a worried look as he didn't want to leave him alone right now, but Luigi just smiled and waved as Junior started to pull on his hand to go to his bedroom.
When the two of them left, Luigi let out a shaking breath. He was awake the whole time as he felt Bowser touch him, feeling all his imperfections and scars on the right side of his body. His heartbeat raced as he tried to stay as still as possible, and he felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest when Bowser went back to feeling his face. Rubbing his cheek before Luigi felt what he assumed was Bowser's claw tap, his jawline made his cheek heat up. Luigi hopes that Junior doesn't tell Bowser that he needs his bed to actually be asleep; in fact, he wishes that Bowser would have kept his mouth closed. When Luigi said that he couldn't be in Junior's room, he planned to hide within the walls or stay with Kamek for a while - not in Bowser's room!
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.
"I-I think... I'm about to..." Luigi whispers before closing his eyes.
When Luigi opened his eyes again, he heard voices talking with what sounded like fire popping. Luigi felt the soft mattress underneath him instead of the bowl he was lying in; Kamek must have brought him back to his bed. Wait, he remembered that his bed wasn't in Junior's room right now. Luigi shot up, letting out a groan as he scolded himself to stop doing that. The talking stops as he turns to see Bowser and Kaemk sitting on the lounge on his left and hear the fire going on to his right; at least Luigi's bed was in the sitting area instead of next to Bowser's bed. Luigi was quiet, rubbing his sore arm, waiting for all the questions they had.
"How are you feeling?" Bowser asked. Luigi's eyes widened before avoiding eye contact. He would much like it if they asked questions rather than small talk.
"Still in pain but I think whatever Kamek gave me helped." Luigi admitted.
"It's a start, but all it did was knock you out. Not heal you. At this point, we may need to make you a new arm." Kamek explained.
"We don't need to do that. I may be made out of wood but it will heal. Trust me."
"After last night, I don't think I can," Bowser said, crossing his arms, "it's time to start talking."
"It's a long story," Luigi said, trying to postpone it a little longer.
"We have all day. It's still early afternoon, so you can start at the beginning, so start talking," Bowser said, waiting for him to start. Luigi sighs; no more getting out of this now.
"Fine I'll talk but I'm going to need Kamek help. You see, if I say certain words, bad things happen. I've told Kamek about the Rat King and the wish that is going on but it would be a lot easier and safer if Kamek explains that part. I'll add more if needed." Luigi explained as he looked at Kamek, who nodded since it would be faster. So Kamek clears his throat as Bowser and Luigi face him.
"Of course. So just to clear the obvious at this point, The Rat King is King Boo, and the wish refers to a curse on Luigi." Kamek started, waiting to see if Bowser had any questions before continuing, "This curse is supposedly caused by King Boo, but they're a second type of magic trapped in a gem that Luigi calls the heart. I'm doing research on it, but it's hard without the actual name of it. So far, we have managed to take what we know to block its negative effects."
"What kind of effects?"
"The main one being forgottenness. You forget that Luigi exists. Another side effect is that since Luigi is non-existent, your mind replaces it with something else. It's based on how you perceive him." Kamek explains.
"In your case, you see me as Mario...who is also my brother." Luigi said, which got Bowser's eyes wide open.
"Wait, you're telling me that this whole time I've had someone related to that annoying and irrelevant plumber in my home?! Around my son!?" Bowser said, annoyed.
"Can you wait to get mad after we're done? This is already hard and I don't want to repeat myself." Luigi said that got Bowser to grumble, but he listened. "Yes, Mario is my brother but that's a whole nother thing that's not important. What is important is that when you see me without your necklace, I'm Mario in your eyes. It...hard since so far you think that you have broken his arm and he has run away from you when in reality that's all been me."
Bowser took all this in. His annoyed face slowly turned from that to processing, then to realization. His face showed signs of guilt, trying to think of something to say, but Luigi kept going.
"Depending on who it is, they all see and remember something totally different. The other side effect increases headaches and fainting spells that happened before and after the episode. The effect happens faster after it restarts itself after three times that someone sees me without a gem."
"Which is why I've been giving everyone a gem. That way, no one has an episode in case they have crossed paths with Luigi from before this curse started." Kamek explains, watching Bowser's disappointed face before he turns to Luigi, "but that's for the most part with the curse...at least what you have told me."
"Honesty that as much info I know that I can tell. Every time I've tried to tell someone about the wish...it always failed. You two know the most information in the last three years."
"THREE YEARS?!" they both said simultaneously.
"W-why didn't you tell me that part?!" Kamek asked Luigi.
"Because that's how long I've been on the run from that psycho. Even then, I've been stuck like this for five, and once December comes it will be six." Luigi watched as they went speechless, letting this cruel fact set in. Luigi turned away from them; he didn't want to see the pity on their face, "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear your pity comment."
They both shared a look of sadness. Now they see why Luigi didn't want to talk about this. They can only imagine what had happened within those years. Kamek didn't want to hear the rest of this, he knew that this was hard and they should just stop, but Bowser wished to know.
"What...what did you do?" Bowser asks. He wanted to know what King Boo did, but he wanted to know what led him to hurt Luigi.
"He wanted revenge," Luigi tells them, "before this event, I first came across King Boo back in my early 20s. He has tricked me into believing I won a mansion in a contest that I didn't even sign up for. Me and Mario were foolish to think it was real, but we wanted to see how well-maintained it was so we could sell it. He imprisoned Mario in a painting and I had to save him, which led me to meet a professor who became a good friend of mine, and he helped me imprison King Boo in his own painting."
"And this is his revenge? Turning you into a doll? Why?" Bowser went on.
"He knew that a painting can easily be broken free from; He broke from one and I've broken plenty of things from painting. People also remember you if you're in a painting, he need a way to control both me and others without anyone realizing it." Luigi explained to them, "He used the heart to trick me again. Making me believe that once all the pieces were back together...everything would go back to normal...I thought I was doing everything right but I was wrong. "Luigi pulled his legs to his chest, hugging his legs and facing the fire.
Bowser reached out to touch Luigi, but Kamek stopped him. Bowser turned to Kamek and saw him shake his head no before Bowser pulled back to let Luigi finish at his own pace. This was wrong in more ways than one that Bowser tight his hand into a fist.
"The Rat King laughed in my face as he crowned me the biggest fool he ever met, that he brought me along to see him break free all the other ghosts I helped imprison. They all remember my past actions against them. A lot of them resented me, while others didn't want anything to do with me. However, The Rat King gave them one job: Never let me leave. He didn't care about the mean as long as the damage was kept to a minimum and the heart was in his procession at all times. It took months to get them to trust and help me before he locked me up in a cage. I was looking up for a year and a half in pure darkness, only being allowed to leave if I was being misused but the ghosts that pretended that I was simply a doll." Luigi told them, feeling the tears build up and a ball getting stuck in his throat, "I-If I wasn't allowed outside of that awful room, I would be visited by that psycho every day. Forced to do what he said, and if I didn't do it- I was to blame and got punished for it. He would beat these sick so-called 'manners' into me so I would act like all the other ghosts that were scared of him. I-I was - no, I still am his property that is expected to call him 'My King' every time I saw him. Expected to call every sick and cruel thing he did or made beautiful and lovely even if I didn't want to. Listen and obey every order he gives me, and talking back was a big no no. If I ever step out of line or try to run away, he would hurt me, then sweet talk to me as if it was an accident. Calling me sweet things like beloved that made my skin crawl as he stared at me with glee as I had tears in my eyes from the pain he caused me. He said he was teaching me a lesson but all I ever saw was a psycho that enjoyed seeing me suffer."
Bowser stood up; he wasn't going to sit there and do nothing. King Boo had already pissed him off last night, and now he would face this beast as Bowser was about to storm towards his door. Only stopping when he heard Luigi.
"It's pointless," Luigi cried, still facing the fire, "you're going to lose if you go after him now."
"I won against him last night, I can-"
"NO YOU CAN'T," Luigi said as he turned to Bowser, seeing the hurt in his eyes. "Thank you for saving me but you can't beat him if he's with the others. He'll use every last ghost as a shield and weapon like pawns to get me. Not to mention that he'll use every dirty trick he knows, that includes hurting you and Junior...I-I don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of me...."
Bowser kneels next to the table as Luigi looks away; he hates how they're looking at him right now. Full of pity and sadness that he didn't want to face Bowser right now, but the minute he felt Bowser's thumb rub his cheek again, wiping the tears away as his plan rested behind Luigi's back made him face him. Luigi must have looked like a mess in front of Bowser as all he could see was concern and anger on his face; it was clear that Bowser wasn't going to show him a look that he didn't want to see.
"Luigi, I know how it feels. The pain, the sickness, the feeling of guilt, and the feeling stupid. I know it too well, and I would never wish for anyone- not even Mario to feel like that. As a King, I swear I'll listen and repeat your wishes. But as your friend- as part of this family, we're going to fuck him up for the bullshit he's done. No one messes with the Koopas, not even a rotten marshmallow." Bowser said that he got a little chuckle out of Luigi when he called King Boo a marshmallow. Luigi couldn't help but lean in; he was already emotionally drained and didn't care what he was doing right now; leading in was not going to mean anything anyway.
"Thank you..." Luigi whispered as he closed his eyes and rested against his hand. Bowser's mind was running a hundred miles from what he would do to King Boo once he had his hands on him to how can Luigi trust him? Bowser can't even remember who Luigi is or what he was to him if he has forgotten him. Yet all he remembered was when he was being rude to him and all the times Mario acted odd. Was that really him? If so, then he hurt him badly. To the point that if it was himself, Bowser would never trust him again. Bowser looks back down at his arm again and remembers last night's event; how can Luigi try stopping him when that madman did that to him? He just rubs Luigi's head, Bowser's heart breaking to see a new side that the light had shined on all this, and he hates it.
The fireplace popping was the only sound that was heard as the three stayed silent. Kamek decides to leave after a bit of Bowser just holding onto Luigi. Now was not the time to make jokes or push their relationship, but he knew they both needed space, so he left as quickly and quietly as possible. When he was outside, he saw Junior sitting on the floor, his knees up against his chest and eyes watering. Kamek sat beside him and wrapped his arm around him in a side hug.
"How much did you hear?" Kamek asked as Junior hugged him back.
"E-enough to know that he was never a toy...Grandpa, we're going to keep him safe, right?" Junior asks as he looks up at Kamek, who smiles bittersweetly.
"We're going to do more than that. He's going to have a happy ending, I can promise you that much." Kamek said as he picked Junior to his feet, "How about we make something for you Dad and Luigi? Afterwards we can hangout with them for a bit, how does that sound?"
"Can we make them sugar plum and coco?" Junior asks as Kamek pulls him away from Bowser's room, nodding as he takes him to the kitchen.