Super Mario Continuance (REITERATED)

Chapter 17: Cannibal

Riba awoke from the trance. "---Sister?" Luigi finished his sentence from before. The ringing in Riba's ears ceased. Riba looked down at the ground.

"It was," Riba replied. He didn't want to give further details to Luigi out of respect for Len's privacy. "But... we've gotta keep moving. This place is dangerous if you stay in one spot for too long," Riba picked up Len's cloak, and placed it and the pendant in his knapsack.

"Well, where are we supposed to go?" Luigi asked, following Riba as he walked off. "Don't we need to find Mario?" The truth is, Riba didn't know where to go. What to do. He was just walking deeper into the mansion. Something was driving him to go further in. Perhaps since there was nothing else left to do here, he wanted details on that girl. The one who had trapped him on that panel. He had questions.

"We can't," Riba said. "Only Len knew where he was." What should he do? Tell Luigi that his brother was dead, and that they were never to meet again, thus having gotten his hopes up for nothing all this time? Or not tell him at all? Riba took a deep breath, and felt his heart thump faster as he made the choice.

"Luigi," Riba sighed. He would tell the truth. "The truth is, Mario is... dead."

"What?" Luigi asked. He stopped dead in his tracks and froze. Riba turned around. "No! You can't be serious! You're kidding me, right?"

"Wait. It's not that simple," Riba followed up. "Len had placed a spell of rebirth on him long ago. So he may be out there somewhere, if we're lucky he's been reiterated already. We just don't know where, and with Len gone, we probably never will."

"I see," Luigi mumbled. "Well, I won't give up. I need to find Mario." Luigi said. He looked to the ground, and kicked his foot against it, sighing and kicking up dust from under his shoe. "I'm sorry to leave you alone now, Riba. But I must go. Goodbye."

"What?" Riba asked, taken aback. He turned to Luigi. But he had already ran off. It had all happened so fast, he hadn't had a chance to persuade Luigi to stay. "Luigi, wait! It's dangerous to go alone."

As Riba ran, that creeping sensation in the back of his mind only grew. If he were to die, he wouldn't be coming back. Because Len was gone, her magic must not exist in this world anymore. Meaning whatever treasures she had given him that before would revive him, now wouldn't have any effect. For others, death is just a fact of life. Like breathing or sleeping. But Riba supposed he had lived with the power of rebirth so long, it was like a piece missing. He had to be extra careful.

Riba thought that may be true in Luigi's case as well. He always had a theory that if Mario was a reiteration of Marchionne, Luigi must have been that of Luciano, Marchionne's twin brother. Though back then in Evangeline, and probably for many years after in the region, infanticide towards twins of the same gender was common. Because of a tale of two cursed twins long ago that brought disaster upon their world.

Parents had their twin children of the same gender drowned, because of this legend. Riba only then connected two and two: the original cursed twins must have been Len and Layla. It even fit the description of one Toad's theory that he found in a book in Evangeline. The two cursed twins may not be much of a problem separated, it's only when they come together that they become a bad omen, and everything falls apart. Just like Len and Layla's powers merging into the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed their town.

Nonetheless, it seemed that the action of killing twins of the same gender upon birth no longer really happened, as the legend had fallen into obscurity. Which is why Mario and Luigi were never killed for being two twins of the same gender. Still, Riba needed to find Luigi. Or Luigi may be killed by a spirit in the house. He had to at least see him out of the mansion.