AN: Please play the video and listen to the music when I do this: --Music Start
Trust me, do it.
Luigi POV
It was dark. Nothing but dark.
I looked around. "What the..."
Hmm....where was I. I couldn't see anything for miles.
"Hello? Anybody?"
No response.
"Hmm, maybe the book will explain this,"
I reached down for the book, but, "W-what? WHERE'S THE BOOK??"
I started frantically looking around. I never let it out of my sight. I always kept it on or near me. "W-Where is it??"
I continued freaking out. I dropped to the ground and started searching for it. "Come on. I-It has to be somewhere! I can't have lost it already."
Then, I saw color.
Purple.....
Purple and yellow.
Someone was standing. His back to me. He looked to be about 50 feet away.
My eyes went wide. "D-Dim?"
H-How was he here? I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes.
I smiled and started running towards him. "Dim! Dimentio, it's you!"
I ran faster and faster. "I-I thought I lost you! I thought you were gone!"
He didn't react to my voice. He just stood there, looking off at nothing. Silent.
I slowed down once I reached him. "Dimentio?"
He said nothing.
I reached for his shoulder, but when I touched him, he faded away.
I shook my head. "W-what? No! Dimentio! Come back!"
I looked around. "Dimentio? Dim, where are you?"
"Luigi, please."
I turned around. The blackness faded to white, and I was back. Back in that room. The room where it happened. The room where I dropped him.
"LUIGI, PLEASE!"
I could see another version of myself holding Dimentio by the arm, but he wasn't looking at that Luigi.
He was looking at me.
"Why? Why did you drop me?"
I looked down at my hands. "I-I don't know."
He shook his head, barely hanging on. I could see the other version of myself's grip loosen on him.
"You could have saved me."
I held my head. "I know! I KNOW! I-I just....I...."
He frowned at me. He had the look of a thousand sorrows.
"You chose the book over me."
My eyes went wide. "What? No! I-I didn't."
He looked down and shook his head.
"I trusted you. I trusted you more than I trusted myself."
"Dim, I-"
Suddenly he used his free hand to snap his fingers, the book floated into view. My eyes went wide and I quickly grabbed it, hugging it to my chest.
"Oh, thank goodness. I thought I lost this!"
He gave me a sad look. "Yeah....I expected you to do that...."
I cocked my head to the side. "Do what?"
"You'd rather lose me, than lose that book."
I shook my head. "W-what? I didn't say-"
"Luigi, please...."
The other Luigi let go.
I screamed and ran to the edge, reaching out for him. But he was already gone. I watched as he faded from view.
"DIMENTIO! NO, WAIT! COME BACK!"
I stayed in that spot, reaching over the edge. Tears filled my eyes. "....no. Dim...."
I looked to the side. The other Luigi slowly got up.
I hugged myself and looked down. "No.....come back."
I continued sobbing for a good minute, before the other Luigi cleared his throat.
"He's gone."
I looked over at him. "W-What?"
He turned around. "He's gone. It's time to move on. You've got a brother to save. You've already sacrificed this much. Don't let Dimentio's death be for nothing."
He walked away.
And I was alone again.
I jerked up. The book, floating in front of me.
Looks like I was dreaming. I lifted my hand to my face.
And wiped a tear away.
"I-It's time to move on. I've got a brother to save." I mumbled. I think....I think that was what the dream was trying to tell me.
I can't let Dimentio's sacrifice be for nothing. He wanted me to have Mario back. He wanted me to be happy.
I got up, grabbed my soul staff, and made my way to town.
All I needed was to get someone's soul
Mr. L POV
"Hey! Prisoners, WAKE UP!" I opened my eyes to see that girl who arrested me standing outside our cell. Varian sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. "Huh?" He asked. The girl ignored him and pointed at me. "I'm here to question you."
I sat up and rolled my eyes. Oh, right. I forgot she had wanted to question me. "Well, ask away Ms. MushroomFace"
She scowled. "You are to refer to me as Captain Toadette." I smirked. "Whatever you say, Captain MushroomFace." I teasingly bowed my head.
She just rolled her eyes. "Luigi, I need you to tell me where your partner is hiding."
I looked at Varian. He seemed to mouth something.
"Just play along."
I nodded and smirked. "Pffft, wouldn't you like to know."
Her face lit up. "Ha! So you finally admit you know where he is??"
I hesitated for a second. Because now I did know where he was.
He was dead.
No, I'm not going to think about that.
"Yup, but I'm not telling you nothing."
She growled, then pulled out some keys. I eyed them, then looked over at Varian. He seemed to be thinking.
"I'm taking you in for some private questioning." She called for backup and carefully stepped inside my cell. She cuffed my hands together, and took me into another room.
I would try to escape, but I didn't want to just ditch the kid. I needed him if we were gonna try to rebuild that gun thing. For now, I'll let him try to come up with a plan and play along.
She walked me into a dark room. There was a small table and a chair on each side. She sat me down on one end, then sat down across from me.
"So....why did you bring me into this lovely room?" I asked. She glared. "Because, we tend to like to question our prisoners alone. This conversation doesn't concern Varian, so there's no reason for him to hear it."
I nodded. "Why do you keep the kid here anyway? I mean, he's technically free to go, right?"
She shook her head. "Once his sentence was over, he begged for us to keep him here. He felt like he was a danger to everyone outside....which he was. So he made us promise to keep him here for the rest of his life. He told us to keep him here no matter how much he begged to be free."
"Wow.....well that's a little dramatic." I stated. She chuckled. "I know. But he seemed really afraid of himself. He thinks he's helping the world by staying locked up, so who am I to judge. He is rather threatening. So it's safest just to keep him locked away."
I nodded. She leaned forward. "Now, Luigi. Tell me, where is the clown?"
I looked side to side, then leaned forward. ".....if I tell you, will you do something for me?"
She laughed. "I'm not going to negotiate with a prisoner." I shrugged. "Okay, well then I won't tell you anything."
She groaned. "What's your price?"
I smiled. "Oh, it's a small thing, really. All I want is a blanket."
She seemed slightly confused. "Wait, really? That's all you want?"
I nodded. "Well, you obviously won't give me anything actually important, but maybe you'll give me something as harmless as a blanket." She shook her head. "What are you playing at...? What could you possibly use a blanket for?"
I shrugged. "Sleeping. Do we have a deal or not?"
She seemed a little skeptical, but agreed. "Alright. You tell me where the clown boy is and I'll give you a blanket."
I smiled. "Okay! Last place I saw him was in Chapter 6. Sammer's Kingdom. You can access it by going to flipside and going through one of the Dimensional Doors."
And that wasn't a lie. That really was the last place I actually saw him. Back when it was destroyed.
She smiled. "Thank you for your cooperation." Then led my back to my cell.
Once I was back, I saw Varian sitting on his bed. He looked deep in thought. Captain Mushroom shoved me back in, and undid my wrists.
I saw the keys were attached to her belt. How interesting.
She snapped her fingers. "Guards! Bring down a blanket!"
I heard two toads quickly run out, then back in with a blanket. They handed it over to her. She then threw it at me. "Here's your blanket, Luigi. As promised." She turned around and started walking away.
Once she was gone, I threw the blanket over to the kid. "Here. Consider it a gift."
His eyes went wide as he caught the blanket. "R-really? How'd you get this?" I smiled. "Oh, I have my ways. So, come up with a plan for getting out of here?"
He slowly nodded, and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Yeah. But first, I need to know, what information did you tell her?"
I smirked. "I told her that the last place I saw Dim was in world 6. However, since he's....he's....." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Not there, she's probably gonna come back and question me more." Varian nodded. "Okay. Good. That should give me some time to mentally prepare."
I cocked my head to the side. "Prepare for what?" He looked down. "B-being outside again. I haven't seen the sun in years. I don't know if I'm ready. Plus, what if I end up hurting more people. I'm only really doing this so I can fix the gun with you and help save Luigi."
I nodded. "Oh... well don't worry, kid. I'll be there with you. It won't be so bad."
".....Never mind that right now. I need to tell you the plan."
I looked around. "Okay. Spill."
"Now, we're down in the dungeons. There's a back entrance which will lead us out to the back of the castle. Now, this entrance is usually locked. Luigi did happen to break it when he came to.....visit, but when you were being questioned some guards fixed it up. So in order to get out that way, we need the key, which is located on Captain Toadette's keychain, on her belt."
I smirked. "So, we just grab the key an leave? Sounds easy enough." He nodded. "Yes, however, she's highly trained. Just grabbing the key won't be easy. And she's only gotten stronger. I heard that ever since Luigi and the clown got away from her last time, she's been training harder and harder in hopes to catch them and not let them slip away again. So....we can use my smoke bomb to throw her off. If we time this right, we might have a shot at escape. The next time she comes back to question you, she's going to open our cell door. Before she cuffs your hands together, I can throw the smoke bomb, giving you time to grab the keys, and giving us a window of opportunity.
I smiled. "Sounds like a plan. Good job kid." He smiled a little. "Thanks, Mr. L."
That night, the kid slept soundly, with the new blanket. Just as I hoped he would.
He really did seem like a good kid.
I keep calling him kid. Even though he's technically an adult. I guess he just had that child-like quality.
It made me smile, seeing him sleep soundly.
.....I saw myself in this kid. He was smart, cunning, clever. But he was to afraid. Afraid of himself. He didn't trust himself.
I'll be sure to fix that.
Strangely, I suddenly felt....warm. I felt, oddly at home.
I don't know where I was. It looked like a small modern house.
"L~!"
I quickly turned around. "L! Look,"
My eyes went wide as I saw Dimentio standing on the other side of the room.
He was standing there, safe and sound. Alive.
He ran over, grabbed my arm, and brought me outside.
"Dim?" I asked, eyes wide. "How are you he-" He shushed me and pointed up to the sky. "L, look!"
--Music Start
I looked up. "Whoa....."
The stars were shining brightly. I could see planets. I could see galaxies.
I saw a comet shoot across the sky, leaving a trail of light behind it.
"It's beautiful....." I whispered
I continued watching the sky. I felt Dimentio lean into me.
"It is, isn't it."
What was going on?? Why was he acting so strangely happy? This is all....to perfect.
I looked down at him, and felt myself relax. All my other worries melted away.
There was that smile. The smile that made me realize....
I loved him.
I smiled back at him.
Never have I felt so happy.
So at peace.
I looked back up. "I've always had a fascination with the night sky. So calm, yet so complex."
Dimentio leaned his head on my shoulder.
"I know."
I put my arm around him. I wish this moment could last forever.
I specific star caught my eye. It was glowing yellow. Brighter than the other stars around it. "Hey, Dim, look." I pointed to the star. "It's you."
He smiled again. "Me?" I nodded. "Yes. It glows the same yellow your eye. Plus, it shines brighter than the rest."
He nodded. I could see the wonder and amazement in his eyes as he looked up at the sky. I felt warm inside.
"L, that star's you!" He said, as he pointed to a green star. I smiled. "Really? And why's that?"
He continued looking at the green star.
"Green stars are special. There are only a few. It's difficult to spot them. But, that doesn't mean that they're worth less than the other stars. They hold more power. They're stronger."
I took my eyes off the star and looked at him. "You think I'm powerful?"
He nodded. "Why, you're the most powerful person I've ever met."
I smiled and looked back up. "Thanks Dim."
There was so much up there. It almost made me feel small. The universe really was large, with infinite opportunities.
I felt.... free.
I heard happy laughter in the distance. The sound of a soft breeze blowing through the trees.
Dimentio took a step to the side.
"I'll be right back."
He quickly ran inside the perfect little house. I continued looking up at the stars.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.
The cool air felt nice.
I could smell pine trees.
I could hear nothing but distant laughter.
When I opened my eyes, I could see children playing on a hill of flowers in front of me. Purple, yellow, blue, and green flowers.
It was dark out, but the stars seemed to make this whole land glow.
What was this place?
Dimentio came back out with a telescope. He set it up, and waved me over.
"Look in here."
I looked inside. It was pointed at a planet. I could see, grass. Grass, and flowers. Occasionally a small spot of clear water, some rocks. It was beautiful.
"What is that?" I asked. He smiled.
"That, is the Gateway Galaxy. Beautiful, isn't it?"
I nodded. "Yes. Beautiful."
The Gateway Galaxy. I believe I've heard of it before, but where from? In every book I've read about space it goes unmentioned. Like it's a secret or something. Like someone doesn't want people to know about it.
"It's a rather special planet. The only place I've ever seen....with no war. No fighting. Just....peace."
I looked into his eyes. "Really?"
Was such a place real? A place with no fights, no pain, no suffering?
"Yes, for the lonest time it was the only completely peaceful place..... until now."
I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean by, 'until now'?"
He laughed. "Now, this place is at peace too."
I looked around. "And where exactly are we?"
He smiled and took my hands.
"Oh, L. You know what this place is."
I looked around some more, clearly confused. I really had no idea where we were. I don't think I've ever been here before.
He shook his head and laughed.
"This is home."
I looked back at him.
"Home?"
He smiled.
"This is my perfect world, L."