Luigi and Yoshi were still exulted, as with Birdo who was still acting all cheery from their victory.
Apparently, it didn't last long….
Something glimmered from the corner of Luigi's eye. It came from the exact same spot where the twenty-eighth key-pattern eye had been, the last eye, the eye that looked the worst among the rest of the key-eyes the trio had destroyed.
"A-what was that…?" Luigi asked, focusing his gaze on the glimmer he'd caught just now.
He stood up and went to the spot where the last key-eye was, and eventually he discovered where the glimmer had come from—it came from a gold band that held up a piece of rolled parchment.
"It's…a parchment of some sort?"
Yoshi and Birdo stood up from the bush they were lying down on and approached Luigi, who was removing the gold band and now unrolling the parchment.
"What's it say?" Birdo asked.
"Is it another clue?" Yoshi wondered.
Luigi looked at Yoshi as he answered him. "A-sort of…"
The green plumber studied what was written in the parchment, then he screwed his face like he was eating lemon off his pasta sauce. "It's even more confusing than the last one." He showed the parchment to Yoshi and Birdo. "I HATE MATH!"
Yoshi read the parchment out loud. "The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me; fluff and white to replace the green and each tree; the eighth World minus the one who is not green. Prepare to lift off to your next destination and stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal."
Birdo cocked her head to the side. "It doesn't make sense."
"That's a-what I said about the last riddle," Luigi replied. "But I am surprised that it's as if the riddle knows who's reading this."
"For instance, how did the riddle know it was the three of us?" Yoshi wondered.
"And that I'm not green?" Birdo added.
"Maybe the parchment has hidden eyes," Luigi guessed.
"Anyway, this is more like a Math problem to me," Yoshi commented.
"Exactly," Luigi snapped. "That's why I hate Math. It a-makes everything confusing!"
"Well, we need to solve this—if we don't I don't think we'll ever get anywhere."
"How do we solve a riddle with Math? It would've been fun with real numbers, but it a-lacks digits—it's full of this minus that instead of the traditional one-plus-one thing."
"We could at least start with the first one. Hmm…'The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me….' "
"What does that a-mean?!"
"The 'key' in the riddle—I don't suppose it refers to the twenty-eight key-pattern eyes we destroyed?"
"Hmm," Luigi murmured, stroking his mustache, "probably so—that's the only thing that ever happened to us the entire time that can match the heck of a key in the riddle."
"So the 'key' is the twenty-eight key-eyes—so that would sum up as twenty-eight divided by all three of us…?"
"If I recall, I lost count of how many eyes we destroyed. How many did each of us go after?"
"Maybe that's not exactly what it means. The riddle didn't exactly ask how many eyes did each of us destroy."
Birdo cleared her throat. "Does it have any equivalence to 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green'?"
"One question at a time, Birdo," Luigi said as wiped sweat off his forehead. "Just that one part already didn't make sense at all."
Birdo shrugged. "Maybe you could know about it, Luigi—you traveled from World One to World Eight before."
"Super Mario Bros. still doesn't make it enough to fit in a riddle." Luigi took his hat off, then frowned. "Or…does it?"
"When he has that face, he's got his sleuth on," Yoshi whispered to Birdo.
"Did he have that face when he solved the first riddle?" Birdo asked.
"Pretty much—he solved it single-handedly, too."
Birdo stared after Luigi, mystified.
"The key refers to the twenty-eight eyes that a-formed it, since there isn't any other explanation for the whole thing…divided by all three of us right here….Then there's the whole 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green,' what does that all fit into…?" Luigi speculated.
Both dinosaurs kept their eyes on the green plumber, all while being careful not to intrude upon his "sleuthing moments."
"Aha!" the thin Mario Brother boomed. Both Yoshi and Birdo jumped at his sudden outburst.
"A-can't you zee? A-maybe 'the key divided by another one plus all three of you' can easily translate to 'twenty-eight divided by three of us!"
"Twenty-eight divided by three?" Yoshi cocked his head to the side. "That won't give us a pretty good answer…."
"But a-wait," Luigi said, "there's more—it did say another one plus all three of us, right?"
"Yeah…?"
"Think about it, Yoshi, it won't make sense if it's 'all three of us,' but if you add one—"
"—it becomes four—"
"—and if you were to make it 'twenty-eight divided by four'—"
"—it'll result to seven!" Yoshi finished, then he went back to a confused expression. "But what does that number have to do with all this?"
"Oh, this is where it'll all a-make sense, pal—'the eighth World minus the one who is not green…?"
"Did the riddle mean 'World Seven'?" Yoshi gasped.
"Pretty much," Luigi said with joy. "And it did say 'fluff and white to replace the green.' And World Seven is a-just loaded with clouds!"
"So where off to World Seven, then!"
"Exactly!"
Luigi, Yoshi and Birdo were now at Yoshi Village, preparing for their next destination (and for their goodbyes).
"It was fun battling with you," Yoshi said, hugging Birdo.
Birdo clutched her arms around Yoshi, then let go, still keeping a steady gaze on her friend. "Of course it was—it was practically the most fun I had since racing with you for the Mario Kart Grand Prix."
Yoshi chuckled.
Then it was Luigi and Birdo's turn for their goodbye moment. The two faced each other; emotionless at first, then they eventually exchanged smiles.
"So, Birdo," Luigi began, "you still dating Popple?"
Birdo rolled her eyes. "Don't kid yourself, Luigi—I swear when you hit the game credits, I dumped him off; he was such a jerk!"
"By the way, I meant to ask you…"
"Yes…?"
"How did you know what happened back there at the Mushroom Kingdom? It's a-not like you were actually there—who informed you about the whole thing when the only people who witnessed it was us—me and Yoshi?"
"Oh, that…," Birdo giggled. "W-ell, I just have this to tell you, Luigi—I'm pretty much connected, and you know that."
Luigi started.
"Anyway," Birdo said, offering her hand. Luigi took it and gave a good handshake. "I'd really love to tag along with you, but, well, I have a part to attend to with my Birdo sisters—there off to find the men of their dreams and I want to take a part of that."
"Oh, Birdo…," Luigi sighed, smiling; the way he said it sounded like 'Birdos will be Birdos.'
"Hope we'll see each other again," Yoshi said.
"A-no hard feelings this time, Birdo," Luigi said. "Thanks for proving yourself to be there until the end."
"Don't mention it," Birdo said.
"And that leads us to our next destination: World Seven!" Yoshi announced.
"A-right! Off to World Seven! Let's a-go!" Luigi shouted.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hurray for ten chapters! In acknowledgement to the tenth chapter of "Luigi Gets His Hero On," I made a concept art based on the battle scene on Yoshi's Island (Chapter 8 to Chapter 9), featuring Luigi and Yoshi! (I was seriously considering on adding Birdo, but it was just too hard! Birdo, Y U SO HARD TO DRAW?! XD)
To see the concept art, go to my profile page since stories aren't allowed to have links. -_-
To all the faithful followers of "Luigi Gets His Hero On…"
There's another concept art coming once the story reaches 15 chapters!
~Stay tuned! ^^
Apparently, it didn't last long….
Something glimmered from the corner of Luigi's eye. It came from the exact same spot where the twenty-eighth key-pattern eye had been, the last eye, the eye that looked the worst among the rest of the key-eyes the trio had destroyed.
"A-what was that…?" Luigi asked, focusing his gaze on the glimmer he'd caught just now.
He stood up and went to the spot where the last key-eye was, and eventually he discovered where the glimmer had come from—it came from a gold band that held up a piece of rolled parchment.
"It's…a parchment of some sort?"
Yoshi and Birdo stood up from the bush they were lying down on and approached Luigi, who was removing the gold band and now unrolling the parchment.
"What's it say?" Birdo asked.
"Is it another clue?" Yoshi wondered.
Luigi looked at Yoshi as he answered him. "A-sort of…"
The green plumber studied what was written in the parchment, then he screwed his face like he was eating lemon off his pasta sauce. "It's even more confusing than the last one." He showed the parchment to Yoshi and Birdo. "I HATE MATH!"
Yoshi read the parchment out loud. "The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me; fluff and white to replace the green and each tree; the eighth World minus the one who is not green. Prepare to lift off to your next destination and stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal."
Birdo cocked her head to the side. "It doesn't make sense."
"That's a-what I said about the last riddle," Luigi replied. "But I am surprised that it's as if the riddle knows who's reading this."
"For instance, how did the riddle know it was the three of us?" Yoshi wondered.
"And that I'm not green?" Birdo added.
"Maybe the parchment has hidden eyes," Luigi guessed.
"Anyway, this is more like a Math problem to me," Yoshi commented.
"Exactly," Luigi snapped. "That's why I hate Math. It a-makes everything confusing!"
"Well, we need to solve this—if we don't I don't think we'll ever get anywhere."
"How do we solve a riddle with Math? It would've been fun with real numbers, but it a-lacks digits—it's full of this minus that instead of the traditional one-plus-one thing."
"We could at least start with the first one. Hmm…'The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me….' "
"What does that a-mean?!"
"The 'key' in the riddle—I don't suppose it refers to the twenty-eight key-pattern eyes we destroyed?"
"Hmm," Luigi murmured, stroking his mustache, "probably so—that's the only thing that ever happened to us the entire time that can match the heck of a key in the riddle."
"So the 'key' is the twenty-eight key-eyes—so that would sum up as twenty-eight divided by all three of us…?"
"If I recall, I lost count of how many eyes we destroyed. How many did each of us go after?"
"Maybe that's not exactly what it means. The riddle didn't exactly ask how many eyes did each of us destroy."
Birdo cleared her throat. "Does it have any equivalence to 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green'?"
"One question at a time, Birdo," Luigi said as wiped sweat off his forehead. "Just that one part already didn't make sense at all."
Birdo shrugged. "Maybe you could know about it, Luigi—you traveled from World One to World Eight before."
"Super Mario Bros. still doesn't make it enough to fit in a riddle." Luigi took his hat off, then frowned. "Or…does it?"
"When he has that face, he's got his sleuth on," Yoshi whispered to Birdo.
"Did he have that face when he solved the first riddle?" Birdo asked.
"Pretty much—he solved it single-handedly, too."
Birdo stared after Luigi, mystified.
"The key refers to the twenty-eight eyes that a-formed it, since there isn't any other explanation for the whole thing…divided by all three of us right here….Then there's the whole 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green,' what does that all fit into…?" Luigi speculated.
Both dinosaurs kept their eyes on the green plumber, all while being careful not to intrude upon his "sleuthing moments."
"Aha!" the thin Mario Brother boomed. Both Yoshi and Birdo jumped at his sudden outburst.
"A-can't you zee? A-maybe 'the key divided by another one plus all three of you' can easily translate to 'twenty-eight divided by three of us!"
"Twenty-eight divided by three?" Yoshi cocked his head to the side. "That won't give us a pretty good answer…."
"But a-wait," Luigi said, "there's more—it did say another one plus all three of us, right?"
"Yeah…?"
"Think about it, Yoshi, it won't make sense if it's 'all three of us,' but if you add one—"
"—it becomes four—"
"—and if you were to make it 'twenty-eight divided by four'—"
"—it'll result to seven!" Yoshi finished, then he went back to a confused expression. "But what does that number have to do with all this?"
"Oh, this is where it'll all a-make sense, pal—'the eighth World minus the one who is not green…?"
"Did the riddle mean 'World Seven'?" Yoshi gasped.
"Pretty much," Luigi said with joy. "And it did say 'fluff and white to replace the green.' And World Seven is a-just loaded with clouds!"
"So where off to World Seven, then!"
"Exactly!"
Luigi, Yoshi and Birdo were now at Yoshi Village, preparing for their next destination (and for their goodbyes).
"It was fun battling with you," Yoshi said, hugging Birdo.
Birdo clutched her arms around Yoshi, then let go, still keeping a steady gaze on her friend. "Of course it was—it was practically the most fun I had since racing with you for the Mario Kart Grand Prix."
Yoshi chuckled.
Then it was Luigi and Birdo's turn for their goodbye moment. The two faced each other; emotionless at first, then they eventually exchanged smiles.
"So, Birdo," Luigi began, "you still dating Popple?"
Birdo rolled her eyes. "Don't kid yourself, Luigi—I swear when you hit the game credits, I dumped him off; he was such a jerk!"
"By the way, I meant to ask you…"
"Yes…?"
"How did you know what happened back there at the Mushroom Kingdom? It's a-not like you were actually there—who informed you about the whole thing when the only people who witnessed it was us—me and Yoshi?"
"Oh, that…," Birdo giggled. "W-ell, I just have this to tell you, Luigi—I'm pretty much connected, and you know that."
Luigi started.
"Anyway," Birdo said, offering her hand. Luigi took it and gave a good handshake. "I'd really love to tag along with you, but, well, I have a part to attend to with my Birdo sisters—there off to find the men of their dreams and I want to take a part of that."
"Oh, Birdo…," Luigi sighed, smiling; the way he said it sounded like 'Birdos will be Birdos.'
"Hope we'll see each other again," Yoshi said.
"A-no hard feelings this time, Birdo," Luigi said. "Thanks for proving yourself to be there until the end."
"Don't mention it," Birdo said.
"And that leads us to our next destination: World Seven!" Yoshi announced.
"A-right! Off to World Seven! Let's a-go!" Luigi shouted.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hurray for ten chapters! In acknowledgement to the tenth chapter of "Luigi Gets His Hero On," I made a concept art based on the battle scene on Yoshi's Island (Chapter 8 to Chapter 9), featuring Luigi and Yoshi! (I was seriously considering on adding Birdo, but it was just too hard! Birdo, Y U SO HARD TO DRAW?! XD)
To see the concept art, go to my profile page since stories aren't allowed to have links. -_-
To all the faithful followers of "Luigi Gets His Hero On…"
There's another concept art coming once the story reaches 15 chapters!
~Stay tuned! ^^