Luigi was the first to wake up as he slowly blinked his eyes open, and he slowly sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He looked out the window, and saw the sun was just starting to rise. He couldn't help but smile seeing the beautiful colors in it. It made him feel calm. Serene. He looked over at Mario's bed, and he saw he was still sleeping as the blankets were on the floor, and he had his arm under his pillow as well. Mario had a peaceful expression on his face, which made Luigi relieved.
He stood up from the bed, and he walked over to his bed. He picked up the blanket from the floor, and he gently laid it over his brother as he saw a small smile form on his face. Luigi saw this, and he put his hand on his shoulder for a moment, before he walked out of the room, and gently closed the door behind him without waking his brother. He then stretched his arms as he walked down the stairs, but to his surprise, he saw Lucian in his second form sitting on the couch, and he had the books from the library, and the book they had last night as he was putting them into a brown satchel.
Lucian heard his footsteps, and he turned and faced him.
"Oh! Good morning, Luigi." He said. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept fine." He said as he walked over to him. "Mario's still sleeping."
"I see. I think he deserves more rest." He said, now putting the three books into the satchel. "After what Salem has done to him...I cannot blame him for being this exhausted."
"Hard to believe he was completely different back when you were friends." Luigi said as he sat down on the chair beside him. "I can't believe we're even getting this much info on him this quick."
"Not just him, but to me and this goddess as well." He said. "It is a strange feeling. Having someone look familiar, yet you cannot place your finger on it. I feel...I am suppose to know her, yet the memory feels it does not even exist."
"Well, at least we know there was a leader over twilight I guess." Luigi said, but then he became a little nervous. "But uh...when we get Peach, where are we going to go?"
"...As much as it pains me to admit it...your kingdom is not safe to reveal this information." He said as Luigi's eyes widened a little. "Having even just a piece of an orb of darkness can be extremely dangerous. It does not affect the area you are in, or rather...it affects the person in charge of it."
"Mario.." Luigi muttered, and Lucian nodded his head.
"But we need to find the remaining two that lie within." Lucian said.
"But how can we find them? I don't think the books can tell us this, right?"
"Yes, however...we do have one person who can aid us, and that person...is your brother, Luigi. The Edge of Darkness was a gift for Salem, and he was the only one who could wield it for a long period of time. Salem can sense where they are, yet Mario can as well. You can say he will be our...guide. Someone to lead us to the right direction."
"So, Mario technically knows where it is?"
"Yes. However, this is also risking Salem becoming more powerful as well. If he is able to use Mario to give him the orbs...humantiy will be erased once again."
"..." Luigi crossed his arms as he looked away nervously. He didn't want to ask the next question he had on his mind...but he had to know.
"What happens if we get all the orbs?" "Will the Edge of Darkness get pieced back together?" Lucian tensed as he dropped the book he had in his hand back on the desk.
"..."
"W-Well...?"
"...Once we collect the orbs...they will..." Lucian's hands started shaking as Luigi noticed.
"Lucian?" Luigi put his hand on his shoulder.
"...Please...you will know when we collect them all. You have my word. It is...difficult to explain at this moment.."
"O-Okay." Luigi said. Lucian's reaction seemed...suspicious to him. It was just a simple question, why did he start shaking all of a sudden, and why won't he say the answer? Regardless he decided to drop the subject, and let Lucian finish what he was doing. However, to drop the tension, he decided to change the subject.
"So, Lucian, besides being a god...did you like to do something else? Hobby-wise?" He asked.
"Hmm...well, I was always such a fan of poetry." He said. "During my times in the organization, I would always read any kind that I would lay my eyes on."
"Which one's your favorite?"
"I have so many favorites, I cannot even choose one." Luciam chuckled as he closed his eyes. "I was not much of a socialist back then. I would always spend my time reading. Studying."
"Well, considering we're bringing these books with us, that's a skill that will definitely come in handy." Luigi said. Lucian nodded his head in agreement.
"Now, what about you, Luigi?" He asked. "Are there any activities you and your brother do?"
"Well...I dunno if you already know this, but me and Mario do like to be plumbers once in a while. I guess it's just something we were born into doing."
"That is an interesting hobby." Lucian said as he put the last book into the satchel. "Do you do another?"
"We both do some sports too. Tennis, Football, Golf, you name it." Luigi said.
"You do so much more than I do." He said impressed. "It almost fills me with jealousy."
"Hehe.." Luigi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Lucian then sat the satchel upright.
"Okay. This should be what we need information-wise." He said. "We are going to need some items as well before we leave."
"Right." Luigi said as he glanced upstairs. He was still worried whether Mario was truly going to be okay or not. Sure, he looks peaceful this morning, but he has a feeling it won't last all day. Lucian saw this, and he frowned.
"You can check on your brother if you wish, Luigi." He said. "Family is very important."
"Okay, thanks Lucian." Lucian nodded his head as Luigi headed towards the staircase. As soon as he made it up, he gently opened the door, and he saw Mario was still sleeping on his bed. Luigi closed the door, and he walked over to him. He still had a peaceful expression on his face, yet something felt...off about him. It didn't feel like it was darkness, or rather it was a familiar feeling. A person.
"I wonder what you're dreaming about.." Luigi muttered to himself as he put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
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"So, what do you think they need us for anyway?" Salem asked Lucian as they were both walking up a hill.
"I have no clue, Salem." Lucian answered. "However, it did not sound very urgent for them to ask the both of us to come here."
"Well, whatever it is, here's hoping it's interesting for once." Salem shrugged as they both made it to the top. When they stepped in the area, they saw the Star Spirits floating in the middle, waiting for them. They noticed their presence and they turned towards them.
"Ah, Lucian, Salem, glad to see you made it on time." The first orb said as the doors closed behind tem.
"Yeah, so what's this about?" Salem asked as he put his hands on his hips.
"We're aware there's Light and Darkness in the world. However, we discovered that there is another existence between those two. Another power!" The third orbs said amazed as Lucian and Salem looked surprised.
"ANOTHER POWER?!" They both exclaimed in perfect unison.
"We were surprised ourselves." The sixth orb said. "This power is something that exists in both the light and dark. And that power...is Twilight."
"'Twilight'?" Lucian said intrigued.
"Yes. You can say it's like a sunrise and sunset. Twilight carries out an important role in this world as well. Twilight is a road where people wish to control there demons. If they can't decide which road they take, Twilight is a place for them."
"As much as this is really surprising, why does this involve us?" Salem asked a little impatient. The orbs looked at each other for a moment before they glanced behind the duo.
"You can come out now." As the first orb finished that sentence, Lucian and Salem both looked behind themselves as they saw a person appear in light. She was just like Lucian and Salem; human. She had shoulder length chestnut hair with tan highlights. She was also wearing a long peach colored, sleeveless dress as the sleeves were on her arms. Her eyes were light orange as she had a scared expression on her face.
"May I introduce you to...the Goddess of Twilight." He announced. "She will now be by your side to help you with your roles. We will leave you to get acquainted with, and treat her with respect."
The orbs all disappeared in light and Lucian and Salem both walked over to her.
"Hey there." Salem said as they both stood in front of her. "How are you?"
"..." She only stayed silent.
"It's okay to be shy, this must be completely new for you, huh?" He said as he crossed his arms.
"..."
"Hmm...so they have chosen you to watch over the Twilight? That is a very high honor to have." Lucian said. "It may be frightening at first, but you with get accommodated with it very quickly."
"..." She looked away for a moment before she glanced up at them. "T-Thank you.."
"Hey! You can talk! That's good." Salem said with a smirk on his face. "So, what's your name? Mine's Salem, and this is Lucian."
"Hello." Lucian gave her a small wave.
"Lucian...Salem.." She muttered to herself before a small smile came to her face. "It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is ours." Lucian smiled. "Now, what is your name?"
"O-Oh! My name is...Ale-"
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Mario snapped his eyes open, and he quickly sat up from the bed and he looked around for a moment and he saw he was alone in his and Luigi's bedroom. Mario groaned in annoyance as he plopped his head down on the pillow as he had an annoyed look on his face.
"And of course it cuts off right when they're about to say the name! Why not?" He said as he closed his eyes. The only letters he could hear was 'A', 'L', and 'E'. What name starts with those three letters? Regardless he sighed as he sat back up. He looked back at the time, and saw it was 11:37AM. Luigi must've gotten up before him. He swung his legs off the bed, and he fixed his hat, which was askew on his head, and he stood up, and yawned as he stretched.
"Well, I better see what he and Lucian are doing." He said as he walked over to the door, and he opened it as he walked out of the room. He walked down the stairs, and he saw Luigi and Lucian, who was now in his star form floating beside him. It looked like they were both talking to each other. They heard Mario's footsteps, and they glanced back at him.
"Morning, Mario!" Luigi said as he walked over to him.
"Morning." He said as he sat down beside his brother.
"Did you sleep well, Mario?"
Lucian asked him.
"Yeah, I slept fine." He nodded his head as he laid his back against the couch. "So tonight we're getting Peach, right?"
"Yes, however, we must be very careful when trying to retrieve her. I can sense that the guards will not be merciful if we alert them of our presence."
"And when we get her...we'll be gone for a long time." Luigi said as Mario's eyes widened a little. Luigi saw this and he frowned.
"Mario, the way everyone here is acting, Lucian said we can't risk staying here and being attacked. For all I know, just a small toad would come at us and win under a minute." Luigi said. "And besides, we need to look for the other two orbs. It might not be safe to be anywhere else, but we have to do something about this. We can't let this darkness get spread out more.
Once we get Peach...once we step foot at night...there's no turning back. So, we gotta be careful about tonight. We can't get caught."
"...Right." Mario had to admit, he wasn't feeling very confident about this at all. Leaving the kingdom, their home for a very long time. Sure, they have left their home sometimes, but for this...for all he knows, there won't be anything to come back to. Regardless, he knew they had to do this. They had to stop Salem no matter what the cost. Not for one second was he just going to let Salem bring more hurt to the world. To his friends.
"So, do we even know where the first orb is?" Mario asked. Lucian and Luigi glanced at each other for a moment before they looked back at him.
"We were hoping you were going to tell us that." Luigi said.
"Huh?"
"The orbs of darkness are connected to Salem, Mario. You are connected to Salem, therefore you should be able to sense where they are."
"So I'm kinda like a guide?" He said as he put his hand on his chest.
"Yes. You are the one who will lead us to where we need to go."
"How am I suppose to do that? Right now I don't feel any different." He asked.
"Sure, you do not feel different, but that does not mean you do not have it. You must focus on their scent. No matter how close or far it may be, you just need to focus on its power. Follow the heart, and you will find the way."
"'Follow the heart'..." Mario looked down at his hands, and he put the both over his chest where his heart is. He took a deep breath, and sighed as he closed his eyes and focused.
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When Mario opened his eyes again, he saw his surroundings were completely dark. However, when he took a step forward, the floor glowed under him, and he winced as he put his hand in front of his eyes to block to light from them. When the light died down, his eyes widened seeing he was in some kind of cave as it looked like it was in ancient language. He looked to his left, and saw an opening from the cave. He ran outside, and he gasped as he immediately recognized his surroundings.
"N-No way!" He exclaimed. "T-This is-" He suddenly felt a huge force of wind on his chest, and he screamed as he got pushed back in the darkness of the cave. He grunted as he hit the ground, but this time, he was in a completely different place. The hallways of a castle. He immediately recognized it as he stood up.
"This is...Beanbean Kingdom!" He said as he walked around and it was definitely Beanbean castle. Was this really where the second orb is? He walked down the hallways for a few minutes, trying to remember where exactly he was going. It's been so long since he and his brother have been here, years. He almost forgot what being in the castle felt like. Regardless, he was still happy to be back.
...But that happiness last only for a moment until he heard a yell come from the throne room.
"Can't you guards do anything right?!"
Mario winced as he recognized the familiar voice. He ran into the room, and his eyes widened a little seeing the queen herself sitting on her throne as three of her guards were standing in front of her.
"I ask you to just keep him in the castle, and you have lost him already?! How could you lose track of just one prince?!"
Mario stood by one of the pillars in the room as he continued to listen on what she and the guards were talking about.
"It's not our fault he carries around that flying bean every day!" The first guard exclaimed angrily. "Besides, why do you even want him here in the first place?"
"Do you have any idea what goes on outside these walls?! The outside world is a completely dangerous place for a prince like him! YOU were supposed keep an eye on him, and make sure he's protected!"
Mario frowned hearing this anger come from the queen, and even from her guards. No doubt the darkness definitely messed with her emotions, but this about protection...was there another part of the darkness he doesn't know about? Bringing him out of his thoughts, he saw the one thing he was looking for and he gasped as his eyes widened seeing what it was.
"Don't forget that I can easily replace you with just the power from this orb." She said as she held the second orbs they were looking for. "If I see you fail to bring him back, I won't hesitate to kick you from the guard. Understand?"
"...Yes, your majesty." They all said as they nodded their heads, but they had annoyed looks on their faces.
"Good. Now go!" She said and they all walked out of the room. Mario saw them pass by, and he stepped out from his spot. He saw Queen Bean look down at the orb, and she smirked as she held it in her hand.
"So much power coming from a small orb like this." She said intrigued. "I wonder...how much power can it really give me?" She closed her eyes, and concentrated on the orb, and she saw flames of darkness began to shroud her hands. Mario saw this and his eyes widened.
"QUEEN BEAN! DON'T!!" He reached his arm out to her as he ran towards her, but it was too late as he felt a huge force in darkness push him back as his entire surroundings became black.
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"NO!!" Mario quickly sat up as he snapped his eyes open as he was breathing heavily. He looked in front of himself and he saw Luigi and Lucian looking at him with concern looks on their faces.
"Mario, are you okay?" Luigi asked concerned as Mario put his hand on his chest. He now noticed he was now sitting on the floor as they were both beside him.
"What happened?" He asked as Luigi stood up.
"You just fell over, and you were moving around a lot. It looked like you were having a nightmare." He said as he gestured his hand out to him. Mario accepted it as he was pulled onto his feet. Mario looked away as he had a worried look on his face.
"Honestly...I wish that was true." He said as Luigi's eyes widened.
"Mario...what did you see?"
Lucian asked him.
"...The next orb...it's in the Beanbean kingdom, but it's definitely not doing so good. Queen Bean's in danger." He said as Luigi's eyes widened.
"Queen Bean?!" He asked surprised. "Does she have the orb?!"
"...Yes." He answered. "She does. It might even take a long time to get there too.."
"I thought you and Luigi were there only days ago when you discovered the first orb."
"True, but we only got there because E.Gadd pixelated us there." He said. "But since he's affected...I don't know how else we can get there."
"'...Pixel-late'?"
"It's a long story." Luigi shrugged. "But anyway, we gotta find another way to get there somehow."
"Hmm.." Mario put his finger under his chin as he thought about it for a moment. However, Lucian had a small idea for this. His own idea.
"...I believe I have a solution for this."
"And that is...?" Luigi asked. Lucian glanced over at him, and he knew what this meant.
"Oh no! Lucian, we are NOT doing that again!" He said, taking a few steps back. Mario, however, looked confused. Lucian saw this and he sighed.
"Mario...I plan to take control over your brother."
"What?!" He exclaimed in shock. Lucian then turned his attention towards Luigi.
"Luigi, please...you must trust me. This is the only transportation we have. With the combination of your power, and mine...it will allow me to give us more flight to reach the kingdom."
"But...w-what about...?"
"Please!"
"..." Luigi hesitated, but he nodded his head in final agreement.
"Thank you, Luigi. I promise, I will not be similar to Salem. You have my word."
"..." Mario didn't like where this was going. What did Luigi mean by 'again'? Did this happen before, and he wasn't there for it? He didn't like being out of the picture with this, but he decided not to say anything about it...for now.
"Right, So...what do we do now?" Mario asked, trying to change the subject.
"Considering we have only hours left until we retrieve the princess...you and Luigi are free to do as you wish for today."
"Huh?" They both looked at him in small surprise.
"This is the last day you will possibly be in your home. I suggest you make the best memory you can possibly cherish. Pretend that I am not even here. You both deserve it after what is happening."
"Lucian.." Luigi muttered in small concern.
"I will be fine, Luigi. This day is for you and Mario. Please, enjoy it while you can."
Mario and Luigi both glanced at each other for a moment, and they looked at Lucian.
"...Thank you, Lucian." Mario said. "But are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"
"Yes, I will be fine, Mario. I promise."
"If you say so." He said. "C'mon, Luigi. I have an idea." He then ran out of the house as Luigi followed closely behind. As they left, Lucian changed into his second form as he materialized his golden locket in his hand. He hesitated, but when he opened it, he gasped seeing a small change in it. A tear then fell onto the picture that was inside of it, as he put two fingers onto it.
"Who are you?"
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Mario and Luigi were now sitting on top of one of the hills as Luigi had his legs crossed butterfly-style as Mario was sitting beside him as he had his hands behind himself as they looked over at the sunset in front of them.
"So...the next orb is really in the BeanBean kingdom?" Luigi asked.
"Yeah, Queen bean has it." Mario reminded him. "But...she's using it to make herself get more powerful. Almost like Salem.."
"Remember the last time we fought her?" Luigi said. "If we have to fight her again then.." Mario put his hand on his shoulder.
"We can handle it, little bro." Mario assured. "We beat her once, we can do it again!"
"Yeah, I know that. But..." Luigi looked down at his hand. "What if it's something a lot worse than last time? When we fought her it was because of that belly belch worm, remember?"
"Yeah, but I know we can handle it, Luigi." Mario said. "We just have to stay together, okay?"
"..." Luigi couldn't help but smile hearing that.
"Yeah, thanks Mario." Luigi smiled as Mario nodded his head.
"No problem, Luigi." He said...and then a smirk formed on his face. "Who knows? Maybe when we get there, you can see Prince Peasley again. You looked happy when he was around."
"Hey!" Luigi playfully shoved him as Mario laughed. "I-I wasn't that happy!"
"Uh-huh, sure, let's go with that." Mario said as Luigi pouted and crossed his arms, but then he smirked.
"At least I wasn't the one who had my stomach full of that chuckola reserve, and had to spit it in the queen's mouth." Mario tensed as Luigi chuckled at this.
"Oh, please don't remind me of that. I feel sick just thinking about it!" Mario said as he put his hand on his stomach and Luigi laughed as he faced the sunset.
"You know...we made a lot of memories going to these places." He said as Mario glanced at him. "The past, Pillo Island, the Beanbean kingdom, we did have some fun times there."
"You can say that again." Mario said. "Sure, things were tense back then, but thankfully we handled it. It wasn't easy, but we managed, right?"
"Yeah.." Luigi said as they both stared at the sunset in silence. However, that silence only last for a few minutes until Mario's eyes widened a little.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" He said as he stood up.
"Huh?"
"I'll be right back!" Mario said as he quickly ran down the hill behind Luigi as he looked at him confused. He didn't know what Mario was doing, but he knew it wasn't anything bad, but he was still curious as for where he was going.
It almost felt like minutes to him, until Mario came back holding something in his hands.
"Lucian and Salem did this...so I thought we could do the same." He said as he sat down beside him. "Here." Mario held a brown, fudged ice cream bar in front of Luigi, and he accepted it.
"Thanks." He said as he looked down at it for a moment as Mario just began to lick his. Luigi began to think as he still stared at his ice cream. He had a strange feeling in his chest that something was off with Lucian. Luigi thought that if they collected all the orbs, it would restore the Edge of Darkness. If that's true then...why did Lucian refuse to say his answer? What is he trying to obtain?
At first, Luigi was okay with Lucian...but now he's starting to have doubts about him. He knows he's been through a lot, but why is he suddenly acting suspicious? Why now? He wanted to know, yet another part of him was saying it was a bad idea to ask. He didn't know what Lucian was hiding...but he is going to find out one way or another.
"Luigi?" Luigi got driven out of his thoughts as he saw Mario looking at him. "Are you okay?"
"O-Oh yeah. I'm fine." He said as Mario nodded his head, and continued to eat his ice cream. Luigi looked down at his for a moment...before he now took a bite out of his as the two brothers sat in silence.
'What are you really hiding?'