Brother's Loyalty: Battle for Evershade Valley

Unlikely Friends

One week later...

He eased the door open as quietly as he could before tiptoeing into the library, daring not to disturb the ghost residing within. Though the Poltergust was snugly on his back, the injuries from his brutal fight with King Boo hadn't completely healed—so he couldn't risk getting into another ghostly throw-down. He exhaled softly through a rounded mouth as he ventured further into the library, toward the grand piano where the Poltergeist sat. Their fingers moved gently across the ebony and ivory keys as they played an upbeat tune.

Abruptly, the Poltergeist stopped playing the piano and turned to face Luigi.

Luigi froze.

A long beat passed between them.

And then the Poltergeist smiled in greeting.

Luigi smiled back. "I hope I didn't disturb you," he said.

Reassuringly, the Poltergeist shook their head and scooted over on the bench, allowing the man in green to sit next to him.

After Luigi situated himself on the bench, he stretched his fingers over the keys and placed his feet on the pedals below.

And then he began to play, the Poltergeist playing along with him.

Last week, Luigi never thought he'd wind up making music with the Poltergeist—not when the latter was hurling library books at him. However, the Poltergeist didn't really know what they were doing at the moment; with the Dark Moon shattered, they'd been rendered mindless. But once the Dark Moon was back in the sky, the Poltergeist had been taken by Luigi's skill at the piano. The two of them would spend hours on end in the library, tickling the ivories together like they were doing now. Luigi could more than keep up with the big-brained ghost's frenetic pace, and he didn't even flinch when they made the keys move in a wavelike motion. And he even moved the Poltergeist to tears when he first played that dark, doubtful melody he'd dreamed up twelve years ago, the melody which segued into the up-tempo, hopeful melody that gave him the strength to go on. Making a ghost cry—now that was a first!

Over time, Luigi taught the Poltergeist how to play those melodies, and in return, the Poltergeist taught him how to play that singular composition from their first encounter. From there, it snowballed—in a good way, of course—into their current activity. Luigi wished that more than one piano was in the library, so they could have piano duels. That actually sounded like a good idea. One of these days, he'd talk to Gadd about it.

But right now, he was having such a good time, playing off of the Poltergeist's energy as the Poltergeist played off of his, releasing the last of his angst and nervous energy from the incident one week ago. His fingers danced about the keys until they ached. And with one last note, Luigi stopped, flexing and shaking out his fingers as the Poltergeist gave a "mimimimimi..." of approval.

"Oh, there you are!" exclaimed Gadd, walking into the room with a manila folder tucked under his arm, Polterpup trotting at his heels.

"Hello, Professor," said Luigi, getting off the bench as the Poltergeist resumed playing the piano solo.

"This won't take long, youngster," said Gadd, placing the folder on a nearby desk and opening it.

Luigi's heart thump-thumped in his chest. "Is that...?"

"Yes, it is," replied Gadd, removing the documents from the folder and neatly stacking them onto the desk.

Luigi walked over to the desk, sat down in front of the papers and began reading them thoroughly.