Fragments, Chapter 43

The moment Mr. L had said he'd drunk tea with me, my heart had jumped for joy. But my elation was short-lived; he said no more. Instead, he grew paler with every second, his eyes flickering as if he were in a world of his own. Then he collapsed in his chair, catching his forehead on the edge of the table as he fell to the floor. What happened next terrified me, for he went completely rigid, and then spasms spread through his body while the blood from the cut on his head trickled into his eyes. I shouted for help. Nastasia, who'd been waiting outside the door, came to my assistance at once. Leaving her with him, I left to find Dr. Toadley and Mario.

I found Mario waiting in the room two doors down the corridor, where he'd spent most of his time over last few days, ever since Mr. L had been moved to the guest suite. He didn't even wait for me to explain what had happened - he set off to help as soon as he saw me. By the time I'd sent a servant on to find Dr. Toadley and returned to offer my assistance to Nastasia, Mario had already lifted his brother from the floor of the guest suite and settled him into the great bed. Mr. L, who from Nastasia's account, had only regained consciousness briefly, had immediately fallen into a deep sleep.

Nastasia's relentless questioning exhausted me; I repeated everything that had happened in I don't know how many different ways. All I could really confirm was that Mr. L had remembered one single moment of Luigi's life; he may have remembered more, but there was no way of telling. While Dr. Toadley dressed the cut on Luigi's forehead, Mario and I sat down at the table while Nastasia outlined the next part of her plan.

Her decision came as a shock to me, but pleased Mario, for she had elected him to stay with his brother until he woke. The risk of a face-off between Mario and Mr. L was low, and therefore one she was prepared to take, since Mario was in the best position to assess what impact the memory breakthrough had had on his brother.

And so, once Dr. Toadley was satisfied with Luigi's condition, we left the two brothers alone and retreated to the room next-door-but-one, to wait for news.

Princess Peach and Professor Gadd joined us to wait; we ate together, while a meal was sent to Mario in the guest suite. We quizzed Nastasia about what had happened to Luigi as thoroughly as she'd questioned me, but her answers were no less vague than those I was able to provide to her.

The simple memory of sharing a pot of tea with me, she had explained, might have been enough to have opened the floodgates so wide that Luigi's brain just hadn't been able to cope. Dr. Toadley suggested a mild sedative might help ease him through the worst of it, and while Nastasia had agreed in principle, she made it clear that she wanted to perform tests of her own first.

A good two hours had passed before Mario slunk into the room and slumped down onto a couch. Without even waiting for the questions, he said, "It is Luigi, definitely Luigi, but - he still thinks that he is Mr. L."

"How did you know it was Luigi?" said Nastasia, sitting up straight and adjusting her glasses.

Mario looked at her as if she were quite mad. "I think I can recognise my own brother!"

"Specifics, Mario. I need specifics to work on. You know him better than me."

"There was nothing specific." Mario gave a shrug. "Perhaps it was in the way that he stands. And he has the habit of holding things very tightly when he is nervous. He did that with a book." Mario demonstrated holding an imaginary book to his chest, and I realised I'd seen Luigi hold objects in this way at least a thousand times over the years that I'd known him, yet had never really noticed it before.

"Anything else?" asked Nastasia.

"The stubbornness," he replied. "He does not like it when I tell him things for his own good."

"Give me examples."

"He does not like me always taking care of him." When the princess stifled a chuckle, Mario whipped around at her, scowling. "What?"

"What do you expect? He's not a child, Mario," said Princess Peach with a smile.

"He is all I have!" He thumped his knee with his fist as he said it; my princess tilted her head with an air of indignance, and immediately, Mario looked apologetic. "Well," he said, "you know..."

Nastasia cleared her throat to regain Mario's attention. "you say he still believes that he's Mr. L. What makes you think this?"

Mario glared at her. "Because, he said, 'I am not Luigi.'"

"Is that all?"

"Look. He did not taunt me. He did not try to attack me. He did not even look like he was trying to fight any programming to kill, like before. No, it is Luigi, it is my brother. He just... doesn't know it."

I watched Nastasia, who looked as doubtful as I felt. Stubbornness was a trait both the Mario brothers shared, and I knew Mario well enough that he would do anything to have his own way.

"Master Mario," I said, "I know you would take Luigi home in an instant if you could, and I am sure I speak for everyone here, that we all wish the same. But Miss Nastasia must know the full picture before she can release him. To be safe."

"What, you are still worried because he shaved his moustache away? I always said that he looked better without it."

"I am talking about his behaviour today," said Nastasia, keeping her eyes on him. "Think carefully. Was there anything else?"

At last, Mario sighed in defeat. "There is one thing," he said. "He insisted on speaking in English, even though it is hard for him. Luigi would never do that when we are on our own. There." He folded his arms and gave Nastasia a stern look. "That is all. Nothing else. He is waiting for you."

Nastasia rose to her feet. "Dr Toadley, Toadsworth," she said, "come with me. No, Mario..." Mario had stood up as well, ready to come with us. "He will need you, more than he realises, but not now."

I kept my eyes ahead as we exited the room. I couldn't look at Mario. I couldn't bear to think how frustrated he must have been feeling right then.

We discovered Mr. L, if he were indeed still Mr. L, sitting on the edge of the bed hugging his journal to his chest, just in the way Mario had described. He had not dressed, still wearing nothing except his grey sweatpants. The rather brooding demeanor I'd witnessed earlier had changed now; he looked troubled - I'd even go so far as to say haunted - he didn't even seem to notice that we'd come into the room. Nastasia, however, seemed unperturbed. She greeted him in her usual businesslike manner and ordered him to sit at the table.

He obeyed without question, and I stood aside while Dr. Toadley examined his eyes. When the doctor had done, Nastasia sat opposite him.

"You remembered things, huh?" she said.

He nodded, still hugging his book. "Too much things." He glanced at me, and looked away.

Nastasia must have caught him, because she said, "I brought Toadsworth in with me, because he witnessed the moment you had your first conscious memory."

He glanced at me again, this time with a look of apology. This was the Luigi I knew, and I could understand how hard it had been for Mario, earlier.

"Tell me what you remembered," she said, her eyes firmly on his.

"You are... the enemy." He gave her a reproachful look. "A wedding... The princess and the beast... Then I try to escape from Castle Bleck. Then I saw you... then I lose everything, and screaming..."

I saw his eyelids begin to flicker in the way they had done before, and I alerted Nastasia, fearing that he might pass out again. She sent him into a deep trance, and whispered to him. "You will not seek memories for now. You will only perform tests at my request. Do you understand?"

I shuddered at the blank look in his face as he nodded. Nastasia had him completely in her control.

She wasted no time with her hypnotic magic; she had him counting to fifty while she alternated the commands of 'Wake, Luigi', and 'Wake, Mr. L'. Ocassionally he'd utter one or two numbers in Italian, but it was clear to me that at no point did he lose count. Then, she had him describe his surroundings while she continued alternating her commands. Despite it being a greater challenge to him because of his limited English, he did not lose his train of thought. When Nastasia had finished, she reached forward and put her hand on his. "Well?"

He looked down at his book, and then back at her, with an expression of awe and disbelief. "C... continuity?" he said with a splutter.

She nodded. "Congratulations. You've regained continuity. It doesn't matter now which part of you I wake, both have joined back together. Now, you only have one consciousness. You remember counting to fifty?"

I saw the colour return to his face, and with it, open-mouthed realisation, followed by a triumphant grin. But it was not Luigi's grin.

With an urgent click of her fingers, Nastasia demanded him to tell her who she was speaking to.

His plain response was "Mr. L".

"Wake, Luigi," Nastasia commanded. "Who am I speaking to?"

Luigi blinked, and in the same manner, replied, "Mr. L". Alarmed, I looked to Dr. Toadley, but he didn't seem at all disconcerted.

"Wake, Mr. L." Nastasia pointed at the book in his arms. "Who wrote that?"

"I did," he said. He stopped, looked at the book, and with a sudden, angry roar, he flung it across the room, narrowly missing Dr. Toadley. Then he held his head in his hands and moaned.

Nastasia stood up and laid her hand on his shoulder. "You have continuity," she said, "and with a little medical intervention courtesy of Dr. Toadley here, you'll be able to handle the return of your memory. Only then will you have your true identity. Just a little while longer, just a little while."