This takes place shortly after the events of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Enjoy ~

It was still not truly evident to the kingdom as to why Mario had traveled to the Dark Lands without his brother by his side. They had been an unstoppable duo together, and unstoppable still if they were apart – this the kingdom knew well. What they hadn't known and couldn't understand was what Mario wanted to do in the Dark Lands. Bowser was defeated, order was restored, and the princess was in her castle – what else was there?

Thunder shook the nearly empty Mario household. Luigi only let out a light groan and rolled over, away from the little window in the room. A pain hit his leg, aching and tense. He kicked the sheets over his legs. They fell to the side with ease. Luigi felt the pain run up his thigh to his waist, and he started to tighten his grip on the pillow. First he thought it was only a twitch, but it was, or became, something more. He stood, walking around in a circle to try and calm the pain.

The pain was gone soon enough and Luigi returned to his bed. He sat on the edge, and looked down at his feet, as if contemplating whether or not he should sleep. He looked up at the dark nothingness before him. A sharp pain hit his head this time. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees, letting out a cry of pain that was muffled by a roll of thunder.

Luigi scraped his fingernails against the wooden floor, breathing heavily. He started sweating, his heart pounding against his chest. He started to crawl out of the room, stopping every few seconds to grab his chest and wheeze. The storm started to get stronger outside and inside. His throbbing head made his vision blur and clouded his mind. Luigi reached the bathroom and put his weight against the sink and stood. He looked into the mirror and stared into his blue eyes.

His comforting blue eyes.

With another threatening growl of thunder from the storm outside, Luigi felt his consciousness and balance slip away. The thump of his head against the bathroom floor was the last thing he heard before slipping into the haze.

Pretense.

That was all it was, that was all it would ever be.

Mario felt the heat of the lava pit below him hit his face. He looked to the other side, crude and crumbling. Skulls of Koopa Troopas rested in the shadows, with black and empty sockets. He wondered if they would resurrect themselves the minute he set foot on that other side – a thought that quickly slipped away like the bead of sweat on his forehead.

Mario directed his attention upward to a broken rope with fibers slowly twinkling down to the fiery depths. And to think that he was only halfway there. . .

The Koopalings had been easy to round up. They were all stupid enough to want to attack at once, making it easy for Mario to get of them all with one shot. It almost amazed him that Bowser took so much pride in his seven little creations. Personality or not, they were all lacking in the ol' intelligence. The smaller minions were virtually no problem, and there were less of them now. Mario didn't really hesitate with his second trip to the Dark Lands, leaving the princess behind and his brother to look after her. Luigi would be fine. He always was.

Pretense.

Mario jumped up, grabbing the weak rope and holding on to it with all his might. His fingers started to slip, but he placed them higher and higher until he was sure that he was safe. Thousands of little fibers trickled out of the rope's unwinding end. The metal bolts at the top started to creak and Mario felt the rope start to move. He held it tighter, closer. He was going to make it. He was sure of it.

Pretense.

The rickety old thing brought him to the edge of the other side of the pit. He steadily lowered himself, dropping as gracefully as he could to the ground. He looked up to the jagged mountain that held Bowser's castle high. It was almost as monstrous and deadly-looking as the beast itself. Mario took a breath and continued walking forward, mindful of the hollow bones beneath him. There was no doubt in his mind that this would end now.

Then, pretense.

The haze was an unforgiving place. The memory of what had happened last night was gone – deleted. Only the sound of a thump against the floor which Luigi soon recognized as his own head hitting the tiles was the last thing he could remember. When Luigi escaped the haze, he felt fine again. What had happened the other night was a good question to ask, but he didn't exactly want answers.

He stood and looked in the mirror. His skin was pale and ghostly and his eyes were as white as his skin. The blue color was lightly faded around his pupils. He rubbed his eyes violently and looked again. Blue.

Lighting flashed outside and thunder shook the house again. The storm must have raged on since late last night to the next morning, if it even was morning. Luigi couldn't tell. The sky was just as black as it would be in the late evening and the sun was dead. It was nothing more than a circle in the sky engulfed by dark clouds. Luigi grabbed his head and the pain started again.

He was just ill. Some sort of medicine would take care of it. The princess might have one. The princess had everything there was to be found in this strange kingdom.

Two Toad guards led Luigi into the castle, keeping a close eye on him and careful not to question his grey-like skin, afraid of receiving a not-so-nice answer. When he had walked up the paved path of the castle, he looked as if his thoughts were not with him and he had no purpose to be there. To the guards this still reigned true. Though, these were simply the thoughts of the guards, who were taught to think that anyone who was different was an enemy ever since they were selected to be in the force. The Humans were Humans, and they were the worst kind of different. Their illnesses, their thousands of emotions, their thoughts, and their speech – every little detail was different. Even if the Mario Brothers had been in the kingdom for a full year now, the Toads were still on high alert.

The guards stopped before the library. The doors were wide open and the room was dark. One of the guards walked in and picked up the only lit candle that rested on the mantel of the fireplace. He walked around the room, slowly lighting every lamp.

"The princess is busy right about now," the other guard said, spear in hand, "but she'll meet you here shortly. Until then . . ."

Every lantern that hung on the walls was lit, but the light was dim and dull. The two guards stood beside each other. "Stay here," the other finished and the two walked out the room.

Luigi looked around the library. A painting of what looked like an older version of Toad Town hung over the empty fireplace.

Lightning stuck close to the window. Luigi stepped away, startled, but quickly composing himself.

After the painting, he noticed chipped paint on the walls. He walked closer, temped to pick at it, but knowing better.

Thunder roared, not loud enough to shake the castle. Luigi rubbed his forehead and inhaled deeply. Where was the princess?

He looked up and around. The ceiling was bare, a plain white. There was never anything special on the castle ceilings – no one ever bothered to look there. Luigi turned to face the ovular table that sat in the center of the room. A large book lay open, waiting for someone to either close it or read it.

Lightning. A slight step back.

Luigi strode over, willing enough to distract himself from the aching pain in his head. It was a large book with old yellow pages that could be easily ripped. He picked up the front cover and looked it over. It was a dictionary of some sort. He looked back over to the open page. Underneath each word was the definition along with a short . . . story? Story or history, Luigi couldn't decide between the two.

Aging – the process of growing old.

In some cases, the process of Aging makes one greedy for youth.
Many years ago, there was once a young Toadette with beautiful hair and smooth skin. For a few days, she would disappear, but return as glorious as ever. With every disappearance, Toad children started to go missing along with her. This led some of the town to believe . . .

Thunder. Pain.

Luigi had lost his train of thought and turned away from the article. It was obvious to him that there would not be a happy ending anyway.

Alter - change or cause to change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way.

Sometimes there are stories that tell of black-eyed or white-eyed demons possessing people to destroy them or the world around them. This is the Alter.
One example is of a Toad that once tried to break the laws of time to retrieve a lost item. The Toad tried everything, until he eventually became corrupted by dark thoughts of the Alter. He was banished, and never seen again.

History or fiction, Luigi could not say, but he was terrified. He had outbursts like the prior one dozens of times before. All of those outbursts caused him to have dark thoughts or think with a mind that wasn't his. It was just a gene thing, the brothers both decided on that. They believed it. This had to be some kind of kingdom mumbo-jumbo – an inside joke that Luigi would never find humor in.

Thunder. No lightning this time.

Princess Peach walked into the library. "Luigi?" There was no answer, but she knew that he was there. The guards had told her that he was there, and the guards would never lie.

She walked in deeper, her eyes landing on the open book on the table.

Alter – change or cause to change . . .

She looked away and dropped her papers at the sight before her.

Mario fell to the ground. He wiped his hand across his mouth and tried to stand again. Bowser stepped closer, a toothy grin spreading across his face. "You shouldn't have come alone, Mario."

The plumber reached for something behind him.

Bowser opened his mouth and summoned his fire breath, lighting up his throat. Mario grabbed the broken spear behind him and hurled it into the monster's mouth. Bowser stepped back, choking loudly and gulping.

Mario stood up and started to run. A wooden bridge over the lava pit started to sway. Mario turned and watched as Bowser pulled the wooden pole out of his mouth. The broken pole fell to the floor, covered in slime and blood. Bowser roared, shaking the castle, and started to charge. Mario continued running across the bridge. It started to shake violently under the massive weight of Bowser.

The axe on the other side stood beside the rope, ready to drop. Mario leapt and landed on the other side. Bowser did not slow. The plumber pushed the axe, forcing it to cut the rope that held the bridge.

But, Bowser jumped before the bridge fell and landed on the other side. He looked up. Smoke exited his flaring nostrils, and for a second he reminded Mario of a bull waiting to attack. Mario still had the axe in hand. Bowser clawed at him. Mario held the axe above, blocking the sharp claws from digging into his flesh. Bowser tried to strike again, only to be blocked by his own axe.

Without thinking, Mario swung the axe, feeling it slice through Bowser's scales. Bowser roared, falling to the ground in pain. Mario breathed heavily and slowly walked over. Slime oozed out of the slit and started to spread quickly across the stone floor.

Bowser's red eyes moved up. His fine, constricted pupils were dilated to big, black circles. "Finish it then," Bowser said with a growl.

They waited.

Mario finally inhaled and lifted the axe above his head, aiming at Bowser's.

Luigi had a seizure.

He had slipped into the haze once again and lost all memory of ever being in the library. When he regained the least bit of consciousness, he felt a hand on his forehead. It was not his – he learned quickly – but the princess'. Then the sense of smell came back to him and all he could smell was the scent of grounded herbs and tree bark. After that, the high-pitched ringing noise in his ears faded and hearing came back to him. He heard a conversation between the princess and someone else. The conversation stopped after a moment and he felt the princess' hand slide off his forehead.

After that, pain.

His whole body ached and he became restless. He needed to move, but if he did he would only hurt himself more. Luigi slowly opened his eyes, the whole world out of focus. The princess turned to him.

" . . . believe that he would . . . awake?"

"Stop . . . scaring . . . worth, he's fine."

Princess Peach placed her hand back on his forehead. "Are you feeling all right, Luigi?"

Everything was now in focus. He tried to sit up on the bed, but his body screamed. The princess hushed him and told him to be still. "You had a bit of trouble in the library" – her voice shaking, unsure – "but I think you're going to be okay now."

"I wouldn't be completely sure about that," Toadsworth said softly. Peach jerked her head towards him and glared. He looked away, his shoulders squared.

"You are," Peach said firmly. "You will be. Please, try to relax."

Toadsworth quickly said something about a meeting in another room and bid them both adieus before stepping out of the room. Luigi couldn't fully comprehend what Toadsworth had said – the throbbing of his head was still a little too much to bare – but he guessed it really didn't matter. He looked over to the princess, who stood and walked to the other side of the room. Luigi had many questions, like what the 'trouble' really was, or how long had he been unconscious, or if Mario was back. There were so many questions to ask her but not enough strength to ask them all.

Luigi turned his head over to the window. The storm had cleared, but it looked like the sun was setting. How long had it been? Hours? Days? Weeks? Was Mario back?

Princess Peach grabbed a sliver flask and a mushroom. She walked back over to the bowl and placed the flask beside it. "I know this world is still very new to you and your brother, but you have to be aware of everything. Dangerous things happen when you least expect them, and the results can be grave." She grabbed what looked like a wooden potato masher and crushed the mushroom to a pulp. "My parents used to dabble in the medical arts," she said wistfully. "I don't usually require medical help, but when I do, it's something serious." The princess put the masher to the side and lightly brushed her fingers in the mushroom powder. She sprinkled it into the flask.

"Can you try to sit up?"

He tried. He failed.

Princess Peach put the flask up to his mouth and cupped a hand underneath it. He drank the solution slowly, savoring its sweet taste. Most of the foods in the kingdom were tasteless, he remembered. The fruits were not, but they were closer to the edge of the border of the kingdom, and the brothers hadn't bothered to venture that far from home. The princess moved the flask away and wiped the excess moisture from his mouth with a handkerchief. "Can you sit up now, Luigi?"

He tried. He succeeded.

She nodded. "Good."

"How long has it been?" The words came out staggering and soft, but the princess heard them.

"A day. You've been sleeping all this time, but I think it's for the best." She cleaned the tip of the flask and closed it. "You deserve a rest, though. After all you and your brother have done for me, for the kingdom – you deserve to relax."

Calling what Luigi had gone through 'rest' wasn't really fitting, but he didn't object. Thinking about it, he did feel well-rested now more than ever. "Where is Mario?"

"He isn't . . . back yet," she said dryly. "He'll be here sometime soon, I think." In a smaller voice: "I hope."

He's Mario, Luigi thought. He always comes back.

Peach put the tools back in the cabinet on the other side of the room. She turned back to face Luigi and she smiled. "Stay here as long as you need, Luigi."

"Grazie," he said and before correcting himself in English, he could tell that the princess understood. They say some things are universal.

Toad slammed the door open, not bothering to ask to be let in or apologizing for the rude interruption, and started to shout: "Mario's back! Mario's back!"

Then Toad ran out the door and down the hallway to greet his god in Human's clothing. Princess Peach started out the door, but stopped and turned. "Can you get up on your own?"

He tried, expecting to succeed. He failed.

Peach came to his side and helped him up. His knees buckled, but she held him up. They walked out of the room together until Luigi could finally hold himself up without her help.

"Mario!"

Mario looked up and found himself quickly surrounded by half the castle, the princess and his brother. Princess Peach walked up to him, her hands playing with an invisible necklace charm by her neck. "Where were you?"

"In the Dark Lands," he said solemnly.

It was evident that most of the kingdom knew that he had gone back to the Dark Lands but her. Luigi heard anger creep in her voice."Why? You . . ." Peach did not finish her sentence and Luigi could not make out the words she wanted to use. He then studied her gestures closer. You had me worried, was what she meant to say.

"I tried to get rid of Bowser."

The crowd gasped. There was silence for a few moments before an uproar of applause and cheers. Luigi looked around. Mario killed Bowser. That's what they all thought. But was it really the truth?

Princess Peach held out her hand to cause the cheers to come to a halt. "Is he gone?"

Mario looked at her, then he looked away. He couldn't lie. Luigi knew that he couldn't lie to the princess and her kingdom – right in front of her kingdom.

She understood his silence. "Why did you not?"

"It didn't feel right," he said slowly.

And there we have it. What was once in my notebook is now on Fan Fiction. After a year of staring at those notes . . .

What is this Super Paper Mario you speak of? It hasn't happened yet. The kingdom doesn't know what kind of wacky hijinks will ensue. If it takes place after SMB3, then it's technically the second time Mario and Luigi saved Princess Peach (not including Super Mario Bros. 2 - the Japan release version that is like Super Mario Bros., but ten times harder), so the games weren't fully developed. And I'm a strong believer in the "Mr. L was always there" theory, so fault me on that if you want.

This was sort of practice for POV 3rd person story-telling. I think I'm getting better at it. Maybe, maybe not.
I hate the book scene, by the way. If you really want my thoughts on this, there. The book scene feels horribly out of place for some reason, but it works.

All in all, I liked this. I think it was good, detailed, and just interesting. That's just my review of it, though - and I'm usually never nice to my work. No real freebies for this one, though, because I want it to be the best it can be.

Criticism would be much appreciated, but all reviews are welcome!

- Great Mistake