Chapter Text
‘open your eyes’
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A field of flowers fills my vision.
I look up into the sky, the clouds move with the wind.
I hold onto the rim of my hat to keep it steady.
Everything is moving, even myself, as I walk through the field.
My hands glide through the flowers.
I reach to the middle of it all and I sit down.
It’s quite
it’s peaceful
No loud noises
no surprises
it’s just me
only me…
How did I get here?
I feel cold…
When did I become so cold?
Have I always been this cold?
The ray of light is touching my skin but I can’t feel it.
A Rose decorated in thorns sits in front of me, my hand reaching out towards it. I push down into the thorns...I wait for the pain.
For something.
But nothing ever comes.
I push deeper.
Still nothing.
Not even blood.
“Luigi”
I detach myself from the flower and I look up quickly.
I look for who called my name.
But all I see is him.
On the other side of the field.
I try to speak but nothing comes out.
Why can’t I speak?
“Open your eyes”
…my eyes are open
He comes closer and reaches for my arms
He pulls them out and stares at them
“You're a coward.”
No…no i-i'm not…
“You're selfish.”
n-no I’m not-a selfish..,
My whole body squirms
He grips on my wrist harder
It hurts.
“Did you even think about how others may feel?”
“They’re gonna hate you for this”
“More than how they already do”
my legs go weak
I can barely stand
“You’re pathetic”
“You run away from everything.”
“You leave others to deal with your shit”
“But not this time.”
“You're not going anywhere.”
I’m already on the grass crying
I try to reach for his hands
But it feels so out of reach
I really am weak…
“Get up.”
“Get. Up.”
His grip changes
It’s more tight and hard to leave no matter how much I try
“GET. UP.”
With tears in my eyes I look up at him.
It’s not even him.
It's my father.
The clouds shift again they start to pile up
The sun hides behind the clouds
it’s gone
It’s all gone
The flowers slowly die
Why won't he let go
Let me go.
I start to fight
I push and shove
I do everything for his grip to change
He pulls me up and hits my stomach
It hurts
He lets me go and I fall
the floor is gone
And I fall
And I keep falling
Finally I see ground
Nothing for me to grab
I cover my head
And I wait for impact
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‘open your eyes’
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Flowers.
A field of flowers fills my vision.
I look up at the sky.
Clouds.
The clouds run with the wind
My hat flies off
I try to reach for it but it was just out of my reach
I chase after it
Everything is moving faster than I want it to
The flowers are crying
The trees are falling
The clouds are forming once again
The sun is gone
I’m not even running for my hat anymore
I’m just. running.
I run.
And I run.
I don’t know for how long
But I find a door
“Luigi”
I reach for the door and I turn around
its someone different
Someone I can't make out
“Luigi!”
I’m not going back…
I opened the door
But when I stepped through
There was nothing for me to step into
“LUIGI!!”
I’m falling again…
The feeling of being cold returns
It courses through my body
Im alone again
at least that’s what I thought
“Luigi!”
“Luigi!!”
That voice just keeps getting louder and only keeps getting louder
a light appeared
it burns brighter than the sun and it continues to keep getting brighter until it devours me whole
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Beep….beep…..beep…
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Beep….beep….beep…beep beep bep…
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“Luigi!!”
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“Luigi can you hear me?!”
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Hard awakening
001
Luigi’s eyes fluttered trying to get used to the bright light that was in his face. He tried moving his hand over his face but it was pulled back. ‘Cuffs?’ He had been cuffed to the bed, Luigi laid his head down staring at the ceiling.
‘Where even am I?’
The heart monitor beeping filled Luigi’s ears. Luigi’s eyes widened after he realized where he was and why he was there..
’oh…oh my god…’
‘It…it-a didn’t work…’
Before Luigi would fall deep in his thoughts, Dr.Toad came in and jumped, seeing Luigi awake scrambling to get the restraints off of him.
“I’m sorry about the restraints! We had too.”
Luigi got up and looked at both his wrist, bandages were warped all the way around his arms. He tried, he tried so hard and it still didn't work.
“W-Why did you restrain me?”
Luigi's voice was raspy from the lack of use over the past days
“We had to hold you down. To keep you in place. You had woken up at one point, freaking out and you pulled your iv out. We needed you to be safe.”
“Oh…”
“Hm! Now I need to go over some things with you, is that alright?”
“Y-yes that's-a fine…” Luigi said, fidgeting with his fingers.
He listened closely to what Dr. Toad had to say.
“Luigi,.. Do you know why your in the hospital”
Now that's a question Luigi didn't want to admit he felt so embarrassed, he gripped one of his wrist and looked down. Luigi wished it had worked, but it didn’t.
“I…um..i-i do…”
‘Please don't-a make me say it’ he begged to himself
Just before Dr.Toad could speak, someone burst through the door.
“LUIGI!!” Mario cried
Luigi's head darted towards the door
“MARIO!!” Luigi so pleased to his brother
“OH GRAZIE AL CIELO!!” mario clapped his hands and ran towards luigi giving him a hug with tears welling up in his eyes
“Oh, I'm so happy that-a you're okay fratello!” Mario had cupped Luigi's face while tears rolled down his. He was so enthusiastic that his little brother was okay and awake.
“oh il mio bambino…” Mario said under his breath
Luigi felt horrible not only for even surviving but for the stress it seemed to bring to Mario. Taking note of his messy hair and darker eyebags. He didn't want this. He didn't want Mario to cry and worry over him, he wanted everyone to be happy. Just without him…Now with tears in Luigi's eyes his smile started to break.
“Mario..I'm so sorry. I just…I just couldn't-a do it.. I-Im so sorry m-mario” his voice started to quiver
Luigi's voice had broken and he burst into tears and cried, Mario pulled him into another hug. Luigi gripped his brother's sweater, never wanting to let go of him. Mario rubbed Luigi's back and rocked him from side-to-side to calm him down. The thought of Luigi suffering in silence for who knows how long to the point he tried to take his own life and was so close to succeeding, it terrified Mario. That night everyone fought for hours trying to get Luigi stable. The Toads told Mario that it may be best to let him go, that there will be a small guarantee that Luigi would make it from the amount of blood he lost and the mystery pills he took. But Mario was persistent, he needed his little brother back. He needed him to be okay. No matter what.
“Shhh it's-a okay, you're okay. I'm here. I'm sorry I couldn't-a protect you” Mario cried laying his head down on Luigi's shoulder.
They both cried for a while, at least until Luigi tired himself out and fell asleep in marios arms.
“When-a can he leave?” Mario sat up on the side of the bed looking at Luigi sleep, just like they were kids.
“Tomorrow morning at the earliest, we want to watch him over night just in case anything happens.”
Mario moved some of Luigi's hair out of his face. He moved his hand down to Luigi's wrist…
“This shouldn't have-a happened…I should have been there for him..”
“I'm his big brother.”
“He was admitted at 2:31am, you shouldn't blame yourself for this. You didn't know.”
Toad walked over to Mario giving him papers to sign. Mario signed them off and gave them back to Dr.Toad.
“Thank you Dr.Toad. For everything.”
“Of course Mario, you saved this kingdom so many times. You and your brother have. There was no way we were going to turn our back towards you.” Dr. Toad reassured “If you.. need anyone to talk to, I have this guy… I know how hard this type of thing can be. But you don't have to do this alone.”
“Thank you but no worries, I already have one.” Mario said “I want-a Luigi to have one though, I want-a him to get-a better. Not just for me, but for himself.”
“Of course, he will be assigned to a therapist, he will have access to whenever he needs it. I promise you”
Dr.Toad grabbed Marios hand and pulled him off the bed with a smile.
“Now go home! Get some sleep, you need it! If anything happens to Luigi we will contact you. You can pick him up in the morning.” Dr. Toad exclaimed trying to make Mario feel better
Mario laughed getting off of Luigi's bed, Dr. Toad suspicions were right Mario hasn't been getting a good night's sleep ever since he got the call that Luigi was in the ER in bad condition. Mario honestly wants to forget that night, he can't stand the thought that he was having a fun night out with his friends while Luigi was alone in that mansion with no one but him…
“Mario!!’
“OH- sÌ I think your-a right I really should get some sleep, thank you. Take care of my fratello, I'll see you-a tomorrow!!” Mario smiled and headed out the door
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3:44AM
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6:36AM
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9:52AM
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“I'm glad to see you awake, Luigi! You're getting discharged today!” Dr. Toad cheered “How was your sleep?”
Dr.Toad was happy to see that Luigi was up, nothing bad had happened throughout the night so he called it a win. Luigi wished he could say it was peaceful but it wasn't, every 3 hours he would wake up whether it was from a bad dream or just because it happened. He looked at Dr. Toad and then back at the ceiling, he was exhausted.
“I-it-a was fine…” the little green man said quietly
Luigi listened to the heart monitor beep and he looked around the room. Something he didn't get the chance to do yesterday. It was clean. The windows were slightly opened to get some fresh air in, the curtains flowed with the wind. At the side of the bed was a night stand filled with Flowers and note cards, it was all so colorful compared to the blankness of the room. Luigi reached out to a small flower pot, he picked up a blue orchid. He rested it on his lap and looked at it in all of its beauty. Luigi doesn't have a favorite flower, he loves them all and there's just too many to choose from. Luigi checked the card to see who it came from.
‘Dear Luigi, I heard about what happened. I want you to know that you're strong and smart. You're always welcomed at the castle and you're not alone. <3
Xoxo Princes Peach <3’
Luigi smiled, putting the card and flower pot back and looked at both his arms.. Dr. Toad was still in there making sure his vitals were in check. Luigi pushed his hair back when he noticed how greasy it was. He looked at his hand and saw the grease.
“Dr. T-Toad?”
“Yeah?”
“H-How long have I-I been in the-a hospital?”
“For almost a week. Now, Mario should be here to pick you up soon and then you can go home and take a shower-”
“ A-A week!?” Luigi yelled
“Yeah… We struggled getting you back, I don't know how many pills you took or how you even got them but getting you sober before they had a hard impact on you took hours. And even when we did you wouldn't wake up. You had seemingly fallen into a coma and we didn't know how long you would be out for.” Dr. Toad explained
Luigi threw himself back on the pillows he covered his face. He couldn't believe this, he wanted to cry, he turned away from Dr. Toad. Away from the sun. A million thoughts ran around in his head. ‘They should have never called for help… Why did they call for help?’
“I-am-a sorry Dr. Toad”
Dr. Toad ran around the bed to look at Luigi
“Hey it's okay! We should be apologizing to you!” he announced
“N-Nononono its-a okay Doctor..I'm-a just sorry. That you and crew worked so h-hard, j-just for me…” Luigi felt his voice start to break
“Don't say that! You are our friend and we care about you!”
Luigi whipped his tears and looked down again at his bandages. He didn't know what to say.
“W-when can I take these off?”
“In a couple of weeks! But make sure to change and clean it often! It's still healing and doesn't need to get infected.”
“Right…”
“Great! I'll be back soon, most likely with your brother so be ready to go home!”
“I'll see you back in 20! Bye bye…”
Dr.Toad stopped seemingly forgetting Luigi's name, he looked back at the board for a quick look as if Luigi didn't notice.
“Bye bye luigi!!”
“C-Ciao Dr. Toad…”
‘Seems like nothing has changed…’
Luigi stared out the window waiting for Mario, it's not like he could really do anything. All he could do was wait.
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When Luigi woke up again he was in a wheelchair, still in the hospital but out of his room. He saw many Toads talk to other toads of different colors, each toad had a different emotion on their face. Luigi looked down to see a blanket covering him, he shifted the blanket to just sit in his lap and looked around for Mario. He started to get anxious as he had a hard time looking for him. ‘Did I get-a abandoned? Did he forget about me already and just-a leave me?’ Luigi's chest started to rise up and down and slowly started getting faster. He gripped his shirt having a hard time catching his breath. Before he called out for Mario he felt a presence behind him and jerked up.
“Oh! I'm sorry bro! I didn't mean to-a scare you like that! I was just-a talking to Toadsworth, making sure I turn-a in the correct paperwork-a!”
“O-oh- it's-a okay bro just-a caught-a me off guard. Can we-a go home now?”
“Don't gotta say it-a twice. It's-a gonna be good having you home again.”
‘Yeah…home’ Luigi thought to himself
The entirety of Luigi's day was filled with welcomes don't get him wrong Luigi appreciated them but it also felt like a slap in the face. Luigi knows he shouldn't be here but he is. Mario doesn’t want Luigi to leave his sight. He doesn’t want to lose him. But Luigi wants his own space and it took a full 3 hours to finally convince and reassure Mario that he will be okay on his own. He understands that his brother just wants to protect him and he’s grateful for that but he just wants some alone time. He couldn't stand getting looked at in a different light.
Nightfall came fast, Luigi and Mario had just said their goodbyes but when Luigi laid on his bed to sleep he couldn’t. Luigi couldn’t sleep for a while. He tossed and turned until he gave up and walked out of his room. Luigi doesn’t usually walk around the house, but this night was different, nonetheless he walked out of his room. Luigi was surprised to see the house clean; he accepted it to be trashed, but it was way better than he thought it would be. He found himself in the kitchen, Mario had put everything sharp away. Luigi wanted to cook something but he quickly lost motivation and instead found an interesting pile of papers. Probably hospital papers, and with nothing better to do then to waste time He snooped through them...only to find the hospital bill.
‘105,000 coins?!’ he blurted in his head
Luigi gripped on the bill, he felt crazy. Did he read it wrong? No, it definitely says 105,000 coins…How the hell was Mario and him going to pay them back? Luigi had money saved up but he closed his accounts and will have to open them again which could take weeks depending how busy the bank will be..
‘I should have just died..’
‘Why…why…just why..’ luigi sat the bill down and grabbed his hair
Luigi stressed about bills all the time, he and Mario were barely able to pay water and the electricity bill. How will they pay the hospital? Luigi felt so helpless. He knew hospital bills could be a lot but this much!? Luigi couldn’t stand there. He needed to deal with the bill but how?
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2:02AM
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Driving.
Driving is something Luigi doesn’t do; he mostly walks from place to place if they are within walking distance and honestly thought the mushroom kingdom didn’t have cars but he be damned. He had found a car sale a few weeks ago, he didn’t buy a car, he doesn't have that type of money so he uses a rental but he treated it like it was his. He had the radio on playing whatever it wanted, so he reached for the glove department to find a box of cigarettes. He was reminded how much his mother would rant about how bad cigarettes were…
He misses his mother…
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He cracked open the door, and that sound filled the room. Luigi forgot how scary the Hotel looked at night but he needed to be here. He closed the door and looked around. No ghosts. No alarms. No surprises. How weird…he walked to the front desk and rang the bell. Nothing.
“Hellooo?”
‘They don’t normally do this. Why are they gone?’
‘Did something happen when I was gone?’
Luigi ran his hand against his hair and rested it on his neck. Sweat slowly ran down his face. He was on guard, the ghost didn't do this unless something was wrong or their hiding for fun..
But why?
Without a second's notice something had run through Luigi. It felt horrible like his soul was being taken. He lost his footing and fell on the floor. He immediately opened his eyes.
“P-Polpterpup!!??”
Polterpup jumped all over Luigi, barking, causing another ghost like Steward to come out and greet Luigi. The ghost can’t exactly speak so they speak in Sign language, Luigi had taught them it after the first few days of taking over the Hotel once he realized they didn't have a clear way of communication. (I can’t write out hand signs so when they talk they are talking in sign language)
“I’m sorry about last week…uh thank you for calling someone…”
Luigi lied. Yes he was grateful that the ghost cared about him but there was another part of him that had this unjustified anger towards everyone. That one part of him didn’t see it as everyone's way of saying that they love him and that they need him. It almost felt like no matter how hard he tries he will always be bound to stay here as long as he lives. The word “care” didn’t mean anything to him, it’s been used up so many times that he doesn’t believe people when they say that they care about him. He longs for someone, anyone who can make him feel wanted and loved…
Luigi tuned everything out. causing Polterpup to be pulling at his pants, tearing them.
“¡¡AY- RAGAZZO!!” he yelled “¿¿S-sí??”
Luigi backed up on the desk and looked down at Polterpup who barked at him and ran off to the side of the lobby. Luigi ran after Polterpup to notice something the ghost had done. A cake laid in front of him was a small white cake with green frosting and green sprinkles on the side of the cake. On top of the cake was his name. “Welcome back Luigi!” in green frosting. He was speechless. He had never been met with cake after having such a rough time… that was usually Marios sort of thing. He looked up at the ghost with tears in his eyes, ‘don’t cry you bastard…’ Luigi quickly whipped his tears away and grabbed the cake.
“T-Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it! We hope you are doing better now.”
Luigi took a seat and the ghosts explained to Luigi what everyone had been doing to keep the hotel up while he was in care.
Later in the back Luigi was looking at newspapers circling jobs he could pick up to get some cash. He had been doing that for an hour, and was halfway through his second slice of his cake. He was tired, he rested his left hand on his cheek and closed his eyes. He slowly started to drift away, the room had started to feel warm and then cold. Discomfort he felt. He opened his eyes to see one of the ghosts right in front of him. It was such a surprise to luigi he flailed his arms and pushed his chair back as an attempt to get away. The ghost recoiled back once seeing the reaction that came out of Luigi.
“Sorry! I just wanted to show you something I didn't mean to scare you!”
“Nono it's fine…what did you want to show me?”
The ghost pulled out a flyer, from the Koopa kingdom. It was a ceremony, being hosted by the one and only, King Bowser.
“W-whaa…W-where did you get this from?”
“Polpterpup”
“A-and do you know where he got it from?”
“Not a clue”
“Why do you give this to me?”
“Maybe you can help out in the ceremony!” the ghost vocalized “Maybe they have something you can help with!”
“M-me?! In Bowser’s Castle?! Nonono I-I-I don’t think that will end well…”
“Well you need to do something!! Just try it!! You never know what could happen!”
Luigi sinked in his turtle neck…he looked at the flyer, looked at every little detail he could find. At the very bottom it had the date. It was 3 weeks from now. The flyer didn’t say much just what it was and small information at the bottom. Luigi sat the paper on his desk and sinked into the chair. The light was so bright he put his arm over his head to not blind him. He looked back at the ghost, who was looking around the place.
“How could you even get a job at Bowser's castle?”
The ghost turned around as quickly as light.
“My brother is the head chef in Bowser's kitchen! Maybe I can get you a job through him!”
Luigi sat up in complete awe.
“Your brother is the head chef in Bowser’s kitchen?”
“And you're the brother of Mario?”
“Ah..”
Luigi sank back into his chair, like every single day was exhausted out of everything he did. Big or small he found himself to be drowsy and be on the verge to sleep it all away. Luigi rubbed his eyes and stood up getting his car keys.
“So when should I go to Bowser’s castle?” Luigi requested
“I’ll come grab you and you can meet my brother, I’m sure he will find something for you to do.”
He had noticed in Luigi’s hand was his car keys and got concerned, telling Luigi that it would be best to sleep at the mansion instead of risking going home at such a late hour.
“It’s fine the sun will come up soon, I’ll be fine there’s no need for me to stay here. You guys just keep doing your best.”
And with that Luigi left the room making his way out of the mansion. He stumbled to his car and put the keys in, when the car warmed up he started to drive away from the mansion. It was risky to drive late out and when half awake but he suspected with no cars out he would be fine. He needed to be home before Mario would wake up and find Luigi not in his room.
Luigi really did contemplate driving this late, it was dark and hard to see. And his pain was growing stronger down on his wrist, at least that pain was the main reason why he was able to stay up. He really did need to go home and pop a few pills that could ease the pain. That’s what he hoped for.
Luigi was finally starting to get to the entrance of the Mushroom Kingdom and when he got home it was just in time for the sun to rise. Something Luigi enjoyed watching, Luigi enjoyed watching the light slowly hit the flowers. It was beautiful. It was all beautiful. He just wished he was.