A/N: All right, so this takes place about 2 months after A Rescue Gone Awry, but you won't need to read that story in order to understand this one.

I spent a while thinking of ideas for a new Mario fanfic, and came up with this. This story focuses a lot on the brotherly relationship between Mario and Luigi, and also features a 'character' I've never attempted to write before, so I hope I do all right.

One last note... there's a small amount of LuigixDaisy in later chapters, but it's not a main part of the story.

Enjoy and feel free to review!

* * * *CHAPTER 1* * * *

It wasn't the first time this had happened, and he knew it wouldn't be the last.

The darkness around his eyes twisted sharply, contorting and swirling in elaborate patterns. He couldn't see a thing. It was as if he were blind. He moaned in pain and lashed out against it, feeling the dark give way beneath his fist and fall back unharmed. Next moment he was pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, desperate to escape the evil presence that pressed in from all sides.

The blackness twisted again, and suddenly he could see. But all he could see was a pair of eyes, pure white and glaring, cutting through the fog that thickly surrounded him. He turned away. Maybe if he couldn't see the eyes anymore, they wouldn't exist. But the shadows took their own shape, distorting into horribly long, spindly fingers that gripped both of his arms and held him in place.

The white eyes grew larger until they filled his vision completely, and in the brief moment before raw terror overwhelmed him, he caught sight of a reflection glinting back at him in their surface.

His own reflection, grinning cruelly, with those same blind white eyes glowing faintly from their sockets. Mocking him.

He screamed.

'Luigi! Get the heck out of that bed! NOW!'

Someone was shaking his shoulder, and their voice sounded familiar and uncharacteristically impatient.

The tall, green-clad plumber groaned at the sudden intrusion of sunlight as his brother tugged the curtains open. He threw an arm across his face and rolled sideways. 'Mariooo!' he whined. 'It's too early for this.'

'Yeah,' Mario agreed, strolling around to the other side of the bed. Luigi pulled his arm away slightly and saw the smile plastered on his sibling's face. 'But it's the morning of that big tennis tourney, remember? We're invited to the princess' castle for the first game! Come on, bro, we don't have all day here.'

Luigi mumbled something under his breath, in Italian, and slowly forced himself out of his warm and comfortable bed. When he glanced at the digital clock beside him he almost had a heart attack. 'MARIO! It's 5AM! The tourney doesn't even start for another three-and-a-half hours!' he nearly screamed.

Mario grinned. He was already fully dressed, Luigi noticed, which was ridiculous – he never got up and dressed this early. Not to mention there were traces of toast crumbs on his shirt, which probably meant he'd already cooked and eaten breakfast.

'We can't be late,' he replied innocently. Then he took off running out of the bedroom, leaving Luigi alone.

The younger brother groaned again and, fighting back his sleepiness, staggered off towards the kitchen to hunt for something to eat. 'You just want to talk to Princess Peach before the game starts...' he muttered furiously.

Oddly enough, he had a vague memory of dreaming the night before. He remembered darkness and whiteness and a terrible feeling of being watched... something in the shadows, following him... but the memory was too distant to unnerve him now. Maybe the details would come back to him later, but it was doubtful. Luigi had always found it difficult to recall his dreams...

With a vast yawn, he reached for the nearest box of cornflakes.

'So you never did tell me why you were talking in your sleep last night,' said Mario conversationally as the two brothers walked briskly along a sidewalk in Toad Town.

It was a damp, grey, and rainy morning in mid-January, though it was barely warmer than it had been a month ago. The Christmas decorations had long since been taken down, leaving most of the town looking dark and dismal, especially after the last remnants of the snow melted. The roads were so wet that Luigi accidentally splashed through an ankle-deep puddle, soaking his shoes and part of his overalls.

Princess Peach had decided that the only way to raise everyone's spirits was to host a massive tennis tourney throughout January and February, of which the first game was being held this morning. It was a bit of a walk to the castle, though Mario did not seem to mind and spent half of the trip whistling to himself and deliberately stepping in puddles, until he finally addressed his brother.

'Hmm?' Luigi looked up in surprise at the question. He hadn't been paying much attention to Mario, having been more concerned with keeping himself and his tennis equipment as dry as possible.

'You were talking to yourself,' the red-capped plumber repeated. 'Pretty loudly, I remember.'

'In my sleep?'

'Yep.'

Luigi racked his brains, but couldn't think of a single instance the night before where he might've been talking in his sleep. He couldn't even remember dreaming, but that was nothing unusual.

'Are you sure?' he said doubtfully. 'What was I saying anyway?'

Mario shrugged and kept his head down, using the brim of his cap to shield his face from the rain which was now coming down in a hammering crescendo. 'Something about darkness and eyes. It was kind of vague.'

'Sounds sinister,' replied Luigi jokingly, not at all disturbed. After a short pause he added, 'I don't remember anything like that happening.'

'Well, you said you never remember your dreams.'

'Not very often. But sometimes.'

The brothers ceased talking then, because the great star-patterned gates in front of Peach's Castle were looming into view. The rain was pounding from the sky now and the foggy air made it difficult to see much, but as they approached the entrance, a pair of Toad guards carrying spears hurried forth to open the way for them.

'You look like a couple of half-drowned Goombas,' observed the less tactful of the guards as he held the gate open.

'Gee, thanks,' muttered Luigi, stepping through. Mario followed, distractedly checking the contents of his tennis bag. He continued doing this until they were a few paces inside the castle grounds, whereupon he stopped abruptly and grabbed his brother's shoulder.

'Hey bro, I think I forgot my spare racket,' he said apologetically. 'I'm gonna run back into town and buy another one. Can you wait here for me?'

Luigi sighed inaudibly. He knew that if he agreed, he'd end up spending the next ten or fifteen minutes getting soaked by the cold rain while Mario tried to pick out a new tennis racket from the shop. But he was already wet enough, he supposed. What difference did it make?

'All right,' he said. 'But hurry.' Gratitude flashed through Mario's expression for a split second, and then the plumber was tearing off across the grounds at high speed. Luigi was left standing alone once more.

He lifted his head and exhaled slowly, watching his breath transform into white vapour in the frosty air. It was so early. No one in their right mind would get out of their safe, comfy bed to go wandering about outside on a horrible morning like this... unless you were Mario, of course. Mario had no regard for the cold and rain. Luigi guessed he was so accustomed to dangerous adventures that he no longer cared about the weather, no matter what it was doing.

He cared, though. A lot.

And he was still half-asleep, despite the long walk from his house to Peach's Castle. The chill had done nothing to drive away his tiredness. Maybe Mario was right and he'd had some nightmare, something that had prevented him from sleeping properly last night, although he couldn't remember any of it. However, a little voice in his head told him that it would be a bad idea to think about the dream. The more he concentrated, the stronger the voice grew, until he was absolutely certain he didn't want to recall it. If he did, he might go insane.

Shivering, he tugged his scarf tighter and started walking in no particular direction, trying to wake himself up and fight off the cold at the same time.

It was right then, in his confused and bleary state, that he first noticed it.

A tall figure was perched on the edge of the castle roof, silhouetted against the pale sky. He started when he saw it, body giving an involuntary jerk, and not only because of fear or shock. The figure didn't stir, but he knew it was looking intently at him just as he was looking at it. A black scarf, shorter than his own, fluttered in the wind around its neck. Its face was thrown into shadow. He'd never seen this person before – was it even a person? But there was something eerily familiar about it.

Then he realised why. Because it looked like him.

They stared at each other for a moment more, then the silhouetted figure slunk backwards onto the roof and disappeared from sight.

'Luigi! Hey, over here!'

The voice pulled him from his reverie, a welcome distraction which he immediately grabbed onto. 'Mario! I'm here.'

His brother came hurrying out of the fog, panting for breath and with a brand-new red tennis racket held over his shoulder. He seemed oddly relieved. 'Luigi! I couldn't see you for a while,' he gasped. 'Then when I finally found you, you were just staring up at the castle like you'd seen a boo. What in the Stars was going on?'

Luigi found himself quickly constructing a lie to tell his brother. For some reason, he didn't want anybody else to know about the strange figure he'd seen on the roof – not quite yet, at least.

'I thought I saw Yoshi up there, but it was just a shadow,' he replied. Then, changing the subject, he added, 'Are you ready? Can we go indoors now?'

'You're getting tired of this rain?' Mario responded, regaining his breath and grinning knowingly. 'Sure thing. Let's head inside.'