Beauty of the Ivory Keys: A Luigi's Mansion Twisted Tale

2: Home

Melody kept following the map for hours until it was dark. She looked up when she finally reached the end of the maze, where it said Your Mansion Is Here. It specifically marked the exact mansion that her family had died in.

    Here she is, she recalled her father saying once they'd driven over to the mansion, clad on horseback. Welcome to the Pianissima Mansion.

    Melody took a deep breath. She was finally going to get answers to how and why her family had perished.

She walked up the gravel walkway to the stairs leading to the front entrance, seeing Henry and Orville walk up and open the door after coming home from school.

     Hello, Melody! Henry had called.

    Oh, hi-hi, Melody! Orville had waved.

Melody took in a sharp breath. She had to keep moving.

She walked up to the entrance. A glorious dark oak door stood before her. The only barrier left to prevent her from entering her previous home.

    Melody had to remind herself to breathe. She turned around.

There's nothing there, she told herself.

Melody, with an inhale, turned the bronze doorknob and pushed the door open.

There before her stood the same grand hall as she always remembered. It was dark, but she could see the white marble staircase leading to the living room and servant's quarters. In awe, Melody walked over to them and climbed them up to the door-

A blue light caught Melody's attention. She spun around, looking directly at it. It danced gracefully across the room, then spun around Melody. She reached for the glowing ball.

A ghost, blue and glowing, appeared. Melody cried out and fell.

The ghost laughed, then stuck his finger out at the frightened girl, taunting and mocking her. She wasn't sure exactly what he was saying, but she had a feeling that it had to do with her falling. She'd heard "weenie", but that was it.

"Oh, go ahead and mock me." Melody didn't feel the slightest bit ashamed or threatened. "I can't understand a word you're saying, so it doesn't bother me that-"

The ghost suddenly lunged for her. Melody hit her head against the wall. She tried to get up; the blue ghost didn't look that strong. She looked up, hearing a gruff breath.

The ghost wasn't blue.

He was red.

She didn't have a second to react- the ghost just threw her and sent her flying. With a shriek, Melody was flung onto the stairs, almost cracking her head on the hard marble. She quickly stood up, and the red ghost delivered a punch to her stomach. Melody choked, coughing out blood, and staggered but didn't lose her balance, holding onto the railing.

Out of nowhere, a green ghost appeared, tackling her to the floor. She fought it, trying to get it off her, but the ghost simply held her hair tight, for it was all it needed to stay latched onto her. Melody was relieved when the green specter looked up and let go. She sat up-

Crack was the sound of the red ghost's fist when it went into Melody's stomach. She coughed up blood, and the red ghost repeated quick, hard punches until she screamed and fell over, her screams blood choked and her body unable to move. Blood ran out of her nose and the corners of her mouth. She felt horrified; she didn't know what the three ghosts were planning. She saw them from her sideways position, grinning maliciously.

A clatter on the ground startled her. The three ghosts looked up, startled as well.

Running footsteps came towards her. The ghosts turned pale, much to Melody's surprise. All of a sudden-

She heard a sucking noise, much like a vacuum. The green ghost howled, suddenly taken out of Melody's viewpoint. The red ghost was next, then the blue ghost. She felt a presence behind her. Someone lifted her. "Are you okay?" A man asked, sporting an Italian accent.

Melody tried her very best to turn and look at the man speaking to her. She coughed a little, blood trickling down her face, and made eye contact with him. He was a man sporting brown hair, blue eyes, a green shirt with blue denim overalls, a brown mustache, and a green cap with an equally green "L" on it.

"I-" Melody suddenly entered a fit of coughing, spitting out more and more blood, then fell back into the man's arms. She couldn't even say anything.

"O-oh, mushrooms..." The man muttered to himself, looking back at Melody. "What do I do?-"

Static sounded through the room. The man picked up a device and pressed the screen. Like magic, a little old man with spiral glasses and white hair (not very much of it, to be honest) appeared on the screen, highlighted by the red tint.

"Hello, Luigi!" The man exclaimed enthusiastically. "How are you- why do you look so stressed?"

"I found someone," Luigi said, sounding a bit desperate. "S-she was attacked by some ghosts, and..." He pointed the screen in Melody's direction. The man jumped in his seat.

"Oh my stars!" He exclaimed. "Take her back to the lab right now! She needs to rest!" And with that, the screen clicked off, and Luigi nodded to himself. He grabbed her and lifted her, carrying her bridal style, and ran.