Three weeks had passed since the events that occurred within New Donk City.
Since that day, your magic felt... different...
Using your magic every once and a while seemed to keep any possible episodes from happening again. When you used your magic though, it almost felt as if it was strained, causing the chain link necklace that Rosalina had given you to feel heavy and restricting around your neck.
It was something you were willing to deal with though...
That voice also never returned, and any research on the strange silhouette proved futile as you scoured the Mushroom Kingdoms library within the castle for any possible information in your free time. You were far too hesitant to ask anyone about the voice as well, feeling like it would just make you seem crazy if you were to ask questions that were even slightly related to that silhouette.
Despite your frustration from meeting countless dead ends in your research, you actually managed to settle into your role in the Mushroom Kingdom rather well.
You were given a room within the castle and helped Toadsworth with his work when you were needed. Though, being his assistant mostly consisted of simple tasks like keeping his work space tidy or fetching requested items.
You were actually able to learn a lot about the world and magic by working with Toadsworth, with him being willing to answer almost any question you had with great enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, the questions he didn't seem willing to answer were the ones related to power stars...
You had only tried to bring up the power stars twice with him.
The first time, he appeared to get incredibly uneasy at the very mention of the magic item, with him brushing off your questions and quickly changing the subject.
The second time you had brought it up, he was much more straightforward with his unwillingness to discuss the topic, with him telling you in an extremely strict manner that he wasn't meant to talk about it, and to 'please never bring it up to me again'.
You admittedly became a bit shaken by this reaction, fearing you may have caused him some form of suspicion towards you, but, to your surprise, he went back to his cheerful self after that.
Despite Toadsworth seeming to become quite fond of you, you decided that if you were to get the information you came here for, that it had to come from someone else.
Your hope was to eventually get this information from Luigi...
Mario was constantly coming back to the kingdom, only to leave again, most times being to help with issues still occurring in New Donk City, and Peach mainly worked with Toadsworth on increasing security measures in the Mushroom Kingdom.
This left Luigi to basically get assigned to helping you get settled in.
Though, at some point in passing conversations you had with Toad, he let it slip that Luigi's job was to 'keep an eye on you', which made you feel uneasy about asking Luigi questions related to power stars. However, Toad also mentioned something about you being meant to 'keep Luigi from becoming distracted', which you could only assume related to the research on chaotic magic and koopas that Toadsworth hadn't taken too kindly to.
Of course, you were more than happy to play a role like that if it meant preventing him from looking further into that information.
Regardless of this, you found yourself becoming increasingly comfortable around Luigi, with him being surprisingly easy to talk to. He seemed to become more comfortable around you as well, despite his nervousness always seeming to increase at random points, but you were just starting to assume this was normal behavior from him.
You were playing your part.
You were getting close to your enemies and learning about them.
However, at times... it felt as if you were losing yourself as you acted in this role...
It was never meant to be easy.
I can take advantage of these feelings...
...
Why am I so bad at this?
Why is there so much I don't know about this world?
How much longer do I have to play this role?
I just want to go home...
...
No.
I'm doing this for them...
These thoughts would cloud your mind at times, making it hard for you to focus on anything around you.
This was exactly what was happening to you now while you sat in an isolated corner of the castle's library with an open book laying next to you at a small table. However, you ignored the literature you had been trying to relate to your research, and instead rested your head in your arms on the table's surface. The world around you became nothing but a pointless space of towering bookshelves as their presence loomed around you, your mind becoming absent from reality.
I miss my family...
I miss Jr...
I wonder how they're-
"y/n?"
The quiet whisper of your name, and the gentle nudge on your shoulder cause you to snap back to the world around you as you tiredly lifted your head from the table.
You were met with the sight of Luigi standing next to where you sat, with him looking down at you with a slightly confused look on his face. You noticed he was wearing a green hoodie as opposed to his more common overalls outfit. He also had a gray satchel slung around his shoulder.
You always found it amusing that he never seemed to wear an outfit that didn't have the color green somehow incorporated into it.
"Oh, hey Luigi..." You muttered as you ran your hand through your hair in an attempt to fix it from the slight messiness that laying your head on the table had caused. "I thought you were supposed to be in some sort of meeting with Mario and Peach right now."
"I mean, I was in a meeting, but that was about... five hours ago..." He said while tilting his head and giving you a nervous smile. "It's almost eleven at night, y/n. Why are you still up?"
Your eyes slightly widened at this as you realized how much time had gone by since you've been here. You let out a quiet laugh.
"Well, I guess I could ask you the same thing, Luigi." You countered with a small amount of smugness lining your voice. "Besides, I don't think you of all people should be lecturing me about sleep..."
"You're not wrong." He said with a casual shrug before walking over to a bookshelf behind you. "But I have a good reason to be up late for once..."
"What's your reason then?" You asked while watching him run his fingers horizontally across the book's spines before stopping and pulling one off the shelf and placing it in his bag.
"Um, the stars..." He quietly muttered before turning back to you. "The sky is really clear tonight, and I'm going to the observatory."
A twinge of sadness rose in you at the mention of a clear night sky, your mind immediately going to your brother and how much he would love to see how visible the stars were away from home.
Luigi seemed to notice your small change in mood, causing him to look at you with a bit of concern. His face then slightly flushed before he nervously cleared his throat.
"Y-you can come with me... if you want to..." Luigi stuttered while looking away from you and nervously bringing his hand to the back of his neck.
Your eyes immediately lit up at this offer since you had yet to go to the observatory tower on the outskirts of the castle before.
"Wait, really!?" You asked with enthusiasm while quickly standing up from the table. "I would love to!"
Luigi seemed a bit taken aback by your enthusiasm at first before letting out a small chuckle and telling you he had to grab one more book before you guys left.
After he did that, the two of you made your way towards the observatory, having to cut across the castle courtyard in the darkness of the night.
There was a chill in the air, and the sound of chirping crickets and nightly critters filled your surroundings as you and Luigi walked along a path in a peaceful silence.
One thing you had noticed since staying at the Mushroom Kingdom was that you were actually much more used to a warmer climate. It was definitely an adjustment and you tried your best not to seem too bothered by the cold when around others, with you being worried it would come off as odd or possibly suspicious.
However, as a small breeze ran across the courtyard, you couldn't help yourself from involuntarily letting off a shiver from the cold feeling that came from the chilling wind.
"Are you cold?" Luigi asked as he glanced over at you.
"No, I'm fine." You lied with a smile before an ill timed shiver once again ran through your body.
"You're cold." Luigi stated with a small laugh. "You seem to get cold really easily..."
"I'm glad you're amused by my suffering." You said in a joking tone to try and avoid him possibly asking you for some sort of explanation.
"That's a bit dramatic." Luigi quietly laughed as he stopped walking and took off the green hoodie he was wearing and handed it to you. "It won't be that much better in the observatory, so you're welcome to borrow my hoodie for the time being if you're really 'suffering' that badly."
"Aren't you going to be cold then?" You asked in confusion as you took the hoodie from his hands, noticing that he was only wearing a dark green t-shirt underneath.
You felt a bit surprised by his offer and was unsure if it was a normal thing to accept, but he had offered it so casually that you could only assume this was a normal occurrence between most people that you had yet to experience.
"It doesn't feel that cold out here... at least to me it doesn't feel that way." He said with a nervous but kind smile.
"Well, um... thank you..." You muttered as you slipped the hoodie over yourself before the two of you continued walking in a comfortable silence.
The large, soft hoodie definitely helped with the cold, making you feel grateful for Luigi being so willing to lend it to you. A faint, almost wooded scent came from the clothing, making it feel a bit off putting as a strange feeling of warmth and comfort starting to rise within you from the way it took over your senses.
You couldn't understand why something as simple as a hoodie was making you feel this way, but you had a foreboding sense that this wasn't a reaction you should be having towards someone who was meant to be your enemy...
Once you and Luigi got to the observatory tower, you became completely amazed and enthralled by the way it looked.
The soft glow of the full moon and shining stars filled the room as it traveled through the glass dome that loomed high above you, making any other form of light unnecessary. On a raised short platform that had a small staircase leading up to it, grandly sat what looked to be a large, complicated looking telescope, with it being positioned to peer into the night sky. The walls of the octangular room were either being lined with towering bookshelves, or beautiful tapestries depicting what looked to be constellations and stars.
Any conflicting feelings that had started to plague your mind started to wash away as you became completely consumed by the excitement of being in such a new and interesting place.
You admittedly got carried away as you started to bombard Luigi with a slew of questions about the building, the tapestries, and the telescope. He didn't seem bothered by this though as he answered each one you threw at him with ease.
The next hour was then taken up by Luigi showing you stars and constellations through the telescope as he explained the meaning behind each one while using one of the books he had taken from the library to give better visual understanding through its illustrations.
"All this time, I never knew the stars had so much meaning..." You eventually muttered while looking over to Luigi with curiosity still shining bright in your eyes as you gave him a grateful smile.
"It's said that Rosalina gave meaning to the stars, depicting events and telling stories through their arrangements." Luigi explained as he gazed up at the sky. "The last constellation thought to be made by her depicts the War of Unity."
The mention of the War of Unity caused slight unease to rise in you, but your curiosity seemed to outweigh your hesitancy.
"Which one is that?" You asked.
"Well, it's a bit different from other constellations, with it somehow only being visible on a new moon. It's meant to depict the battle between Atlas and, um... Marcellus..." Luigi explained, seeming to become slightly hesitant when mentioning who you had learned to be his ancestor. "I-I think one of the books I brought has an illustration of it though..."
Luigi turned to grab the book out of his satchel that he had placed on the ground next to him, only to accidentally knock it off the raised platform, with a lot of its contents falling from the bag as it smacked against the ground.
A small moment of silence filled the room as Luigi looked down at the bag, only breaking his regret-filled stare when you let out a small snort as you tried to hold back your laughter, only causing him to give you a smirk.
"I'm glad you're amused by my suffering." Luigi repeated your words from earlier, making you break as you burst out into laughter.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" You said between laughs as Luigi hopped down from the platform to clean the mess. "I didn't mean to laugh! Here, I'll help you clean it up..."
You went down a small staircase and walked around the platform and over to where Luigi was cleaning up the scattered papers and books, with you starting to pick up the papers that were closest to you.
After picking up a few, one on the ground caught your eye in particular.
You kneeled down and picked up the paper, only for your heart to drop when you saw what was on it.
It was a drawing of a hooded, masked koopa, but it wasn't the one you had seen in his room before...
This was a drawing of the disguise you had worn in New Donk City...
Oh no...
No no no!
Did he never stop his research on this!?
Dammit!
"Hey... Luigi?" You hesitantly said while looking over to him and raising up the paper for him to see. "What's this?"
Luigi turned pale when he realized what you had just found.
"I thought you weren't meant to be doing research on this stuff anymore..." You said in an almost scolding tone, frustrated that any discouragement towards this research you had given him before had failed to keep him from actually looking into the truth of the situation.
"I-I know, I know..." He nervously stuttered as he stood up and walked over to you, causing you to stand up as well. "P-please don't tell Toadsworth."
Luigi reached for the paper in your hands only for you to pull it away from him.
"Luigi, you told me you'd listen to them..." You sternly muttered as he looked back at you in surprise. "Have you been getting sleep? I-Isn't this the thing that's been keeping you distracted!?"
Your voice was rising out of not only frustration, but also out of fear that he was possibly continuing to get closer to the truth.
"y/n, please, let me explain. I-I haven't been doing as much research as before-"
"No!" You yelled. "I don't understand!"
"y/n-"
"Why are you so obsessed with something that doesn't matter!?" You angrily questioned while trying to hide the fear in your voice.
"It does matter-"
"Then give me one good reason why it matters, Luigi!"
"BECAUSE IF I DON'T TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE, IT ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARES WORSE!" He yelled with desperation and panic.
Everything went still as you looked back at Luigi in stunned silence.
...
Nightmares?
_____