Spiritual Connections [Luigi's Mansion AU]

Again?!

Why was today so stormy?

It didn't help that Mario still wasn't home, so it was just eerily empty in the house. Emphasis on the eerie.

Like, really eerie.

It's been a solid 9 hours since he's been gone. I know he said he was going out with the princess today, but he'd usually be home by now. I mean, it's 10PM!

I really don't like this feeling in my gut.

Ding dong! The doorbell rang. Who is at the door at this time of night? In THIS weather?? I opened the door, hoping it was Mario, but to my surprise, no one was there.

I noticed our mailbox had it's flag raised.

What..? But how? It's Wednesday... Parakarry doesn't deliver mail until Sunday...

I probably shouldn't go check, but then again, I probably should? Swallowing the lump in my throat, I ran off and grabbed my shoes and an umbrella. I know it's only the mailbox, but I don't like getting wet...

What I saw made my heart stop.

A single sheet of paper, an all too familiar sheet of paper. I pulled it out of the box, and sure enough...

Congratulations! You just won a free mansion!

No. No way in hell am I falling for that again.

It wasn't exactly the same as the one from the first time, no, this one looked a bit more convincing. The mansion looked different, and that's without knowing how it looks at night. It was also located in the deeper, dark parts of Woody Woods.

Yeah, that was a dead giveaway..

As much as I know the secrets behind this, Mario isn't as perceptive as I am. If he sees this, he's sure to go without even thinking about it! My bro is pretty smart, but not very detail-oriented. He'll see the words 'you won' or 'free' and not even bother to read the rest of the page. Well, at least he isn't home right now. This gives me some time to-

"Weegee!" Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot! Not now!

I shot around in less than a second, hiding the paper behind me. "Bro! You're finally home!" I noticed he didn't have an umbrella or anything, so I walked over and put mine over both of our heads. "Stop running out with nothing to protect you... you're gonna get sick..."

However, his attention wasn't on his soaking clothes, or even the rain in the slightest, he was focused on the hand behind my back.

"Hey, what's that?" He pointed to it.

I visibly tensed. "O-oh! Just mail..!"

"... It's Wednesday."

"I-I know that! It had me confused too... But really, it's nothing important, hahaa..."

"... you know you're really bad at lying, Lu."

I exhaled deeply.

"Well, c'mon, lemme see it!" He tried grabbing for it, but I moved my arm away.

"No! You can't!" I ran back into the house, stuffing the paper into my pocket and putting my umbrella back. Mario was quick to follow me, not letting it go. Stubborn, as always...

"Well why can't I?" He complained, still trying to get the page.

"Stop!" I snatched it back into my hands before Mario could get to it. He groaned.

"Let me see it!"

"No! Mario quit it!"

"What's so important that I can't see a piece of paper?!" Before I could respond, he swiftly yoinked the page out of my hands and immediately read it. That gut feeling from before only got worse.

"Woah... free mansion! We gotta go!" As expected, he read a single sentence and didn't even finish the page before jumping into something he didn't know he was getting into. Again.

"Wait bro! Think about this! It's obviously a trap like every other time!" I grabbed his arm before he could run out the door, trying to reason with him.

"Trap? C'monnnn Lu! There's no way King Boo escaped!" He punched my shoulder softly.

"That's what you said last time. The time before that too."

I saw his smile falter for a second. "Oh yeah... but... what if it isn't a trap this time?"

"... Bro are you serious right now??"

"I'm just so curious! We could be missing out on the REAL DEAL here!" He jumped up and down like a child, classic Mario.

"No."

"I'm gonna go check it out."

"Mario, don't."

"It could be pretty cooollll..."

"Brooo!"

He rushed out the door without another word. I ran after him, obviously, yelling at him and TRYING to rationalize him here, but to no avail, of course...

Suddenly, I slipped on a pile of mud, landing face first in the wet dirt. When I looked up, Mario was gone.

Great... Just great. Now I'm wet, dirty, and have to go fight ghosts... again.

Man... I hate storms...