Luigi's Beta Mansion

Chapter 1 - Turn of Fate

   It had all started with a letter.

   Letters for him always made Luigi excited, when they occasionally came; and indeed, this one had taken the cake the instant he laid eyes on it. It was wonderful and strange, and that was all Luigi knew.

   A wiser person might have thrown the silly thing away. But Luigi was too curious and too starved for a fortunate turn of events that it never crossed his mind. The thing had been sent for him, after all; it must have had a purpose.

   And besides, he hadn't been completely rash about it. Before setting out he had asked his brother to meet him, scope everything out for him beforehand. Mario was never hesitant to do anything.

   It was only now, hours later, that the creepy forest began to speak to him.

   Brushing aside some over-reaching ferns in the path, Luigi tried to suppress a shudder and scanned the trees right and left hopefully. Surely, surely, this wasn't another loop. He had to be on the right track this time.

   To be honest he couldn't have said why it had gone wrong the first time; he had followed the map as well as he could. It was very simple and straightforward laid out on paper; and yet Luigi had had the hardest time finding his way. Perhaps it was only the darkness that had made him seem hopelessly lost.

   Whatever had happened, it seemed at long last to be over. Peering ahead, Luigi soon spotted what he'd been searching for all night - a clearing.

   Rubbing his arms, he stepped forward through the dead branches and tangled weeds wearily. He had been walking forever; if ever there had been a more inviting time to stumble upon a house in the woods, this was it.

   For that was the end for which this little midnight journey had started; the place to where the letter had brought him. Luigi had won a mansion.

   He knew it was not an ordinary, everyday affair, to just suddenly become the proud owner of a huge estate; but it had to happen to someone, right? Surely, somewhere out there must have been the lucky break Luigi had long been waiting for, the chance to have something go right. And now, quite randomly, it seemed that a single letter could have changed his entire life.

He had told no one outside of his brother, who had believed the outrageous news without question. The two had agreed to meet outside the proposed house that evening and 'celebrate' Luigi's unexpected victory; it had all sounded great.

   But the one tiny doubt remained: Luigi had never entered any contest.

   Mario had expressed a slight concern over this road bump; but Luigi was too excited to listen to any reason. "Well then we'll go check it out," he determined. "Aren't you curious?"

   Curiosity was Mario's weak point. Luigi's big brother loved exploring more than archaeologists did.

   Wiping a sweat from his forehead, Luigi glanced around for a moment and paused thoughtfully. He didn't know why he had; it was the oddest feeling. For a moment, it almost seemed as if something had spoken to him.

   Abruptly, almost as if someone had turned on a fan, a huge gust of wind swept through the trees into the clearing. With it was swept Luigi's gaze, to that single opening where the ancient trail emptied. For a moment, Luigi was held in complete stillness as the thick ferns parted, blown aside almost by some unnatural force; and then all of Luigi's attention was drawn to the captivating sight waiting behind it.

   Even with all the dead trees that surrounded him, he didn't know how he had missed it before. He didn't have to question further; in the back of his mind he already knew that this was it. He had arrived.