"Well, that was unexpected."
"Understatement of the century there, Luna."
"Heh, you need a new line, Ash. Actually, could you be a darl and bring me some coffee. Vanilla latte, please. And check up on Raven and Dim Sim."
"You know he hates it when you call him that." Luigi's eyelids fluttered. He could hear voices. They continued.
"Well, his real name's too long. And anyways, Dim Sim sounds cuter. It's better than Raven's pet name for him."
"Do I want to know what Raven's pet name for him is?"
"Nope. Let's just say I'm surprised that he's still with her."
"Business-wise or…?" A distinct growl sounded.
"Ash, are you gonna stand there all day gossiping, or am I gonna have to resort to violence?"
"Geez Luna, that's a bit much for a cup of coffee." Deathly silence, broken by a deep rumbling noise. "Okay, okay, I'll get your stupid coffee!" It was Ash, sounding unusually nervous.
"Aw, you're such a sweetie Ash," Luna crooned. Disgruntled muttering sounded, followed by footsteps that gradually faded. A soft hand stroked Luigi's forehead.
"Oh, Luigi, who are you?" A soft voice whispered sadly, as Luigi drifted back to unconsciousness.
Luigi jerked awake. It was dark. He looked around frantically, heart hammering in his chest. He was in an unfamiliar room, lying on a plain white bed. He shook his head, hair and pyjamas sticking to his skin. Something had happened, something terrible. He shook his head, shivering.
"Looking for me?" Luigi whipped around. Floating in the darkness, his gaze glittering with mirth, was Dimentio. Luigi trembled as the jester looked him over, contempt lighting his gaze. "Well, well, well, the green mustache man has finally awoken from his seemingly eternal slumber. I must admit Luigi, that this is rather unexpected. Even I did not anticipate this little rendezvous, hard as it is to believe." He grinned maliciously. Luigi, shaking off his drowsiness, glared at him.
"What are you doing here? I thought Mario finished you off back at Castle Bleck." Dimentio smirked.
"It takes more than a simple showdown with an overweight plumber to finish off the great master of dimensions. And also, my dear Luigi, don't act as if you remember what happened." Luigi flinched. Dimentio, seeing this, laughed.
"Ah ha ha ha, so it seems I've hit a weak spot. Don't worry Luigi. You didn't miss out on much. However, if you so desire it, I could…jog your memory a bit," he smiled, drifting closer. Luigi continued to glare at him.
"You can take those offers and shove it, Dimentio. I don't want anything to do with you," he growled, trying not to show his fear. Dimentio stopped, amusement lighting his gaze.
"Oh what a temper! Your eyes, they burn like scalding water on a bad sunburn! But," he began to drift back slowly. "I am not here to torment you like I once did. Let's just say I've mellowed a bit since we last met." Luigi glared at him, not bothering to speak. Dimentio's gaze glittered, his yellow eye shining like a cat's. "Ah, I see you are not convinced. Well, how about you come and speak to me in the real world, hmmm? I promise I'll answer all of your questions, no doubt of which there are many." Luigi shook his head, still glaring daggers. The jester threw his hands up in exasperation. "Well, it seems we are still like a sad deflated sack with no trust. Luigi, if I wanted to end your game for good, I would have done it already. I am utterly harmless, both here and in the waking world." Luigi looked confused, forgetting to be angry for a moment.
"The waking world? You mean we're in a-"
"A dream. Yours specifically." He floated a bit higher, looking smug. "Hypnomancy, the magic of dreams. Something we can all learn to do if we just…wake up." Dimentio snapped his fingers. Blinding white light filled the room. Luigi screamed as he was swallowed in the light, Dimentio's laughter echoing in his ears.
Luna was dozing in the chair across from Luigi's bed, waiting for Dimentio to finish. The jester had come up earlier, Raven tagging along, offering to wake Luigi up.
Luna had glared at him.
"What makes you think you can make him better, when the whole reason he's like this in the first place is because of you?"
Dimentio, unfazed by her hostility, had continued.
"My dear sweet Luna, I promise you I can get him out of the nightmare he is trapped in. I swear on my life that I will not harm him. Please?"
Luna sighed.
"Fine. But, if he gets worse, I'm hunting you down and shredding you into purple-and-yellow confetti. I'm sure you'll look very nice raining down on people's heads next Mardi Gras."
Dimentio had merely bowed extravagantly at this threat.
"Of course. I won't stop you." And with that, he disappeared, delving into Luigi's subconsciousness to wake him up.
Raven had stayed behind, mainly to calm Luna down, with phrases ranging from, "Oh, they'll both be fine. What else could possibly go wrong?" to "Calm down Luna. You'll just make it worse if you shift now, and Luigi wakes up to a wolf running around his bedroom. I think he's already had enough rude awakenings," to, "Dimentio can't harm him. Aunt Jaydes and Mother put a spell on him, and…well I saw the…effects of it first-hand, and let me tell you, it isn't pretty, especially for him." After this, Raven had decided to head back downstairs to inform King Diddlesmith and everyone else of the situation.
It had been three hours, and Dimentio had not come back, nor had Luigi seemed any better. She sighed, trying to resist the urge to start pacing. That was a wolf thing, and she didn't want to stress Luigi out any more than he already was. Luna drew her knees up onto the chair, hugging them against her body, as she tried to ignore the clawing pain that had started deep in her stomach.
"Hurry the hell up, Dimentio," she growled under her breath. No sooner had she said this than Luigi had begun to toss on the bed. He moaned, his breathing becoming faster. Luna could smell his fear, hear his heart rate quickening. She growled, the tension making her bristle. Dimentio, what the hell are doing to him? she thought agitatedly. With a sudden scream, Luigi sat bolt upright on the bed. Luna leapt up in shock, claws sprouting immediately from her fingertips. Dimentio appeared in the same instant, looking rather pleased with himself.
"Ta-da! Better than new." The jester stopped at the sight of Luna crouching across the room, a steady growl rumbling through her chest. Her eyes had changed to a fierce amber colour, their gaze fixed on Luigi. Dimentio tutted. "What's wrong now? Did you actually decide to agree with me for once and prefer that he stayed asleep?"
Luna snarled, not taking her eyes off of Luigi.
"Shut the hell up, Joker wannabe."
Dimentio gave a gasp, filled with fake hurt.
"After all I've done! Really, Luna, I thought our relationship was going impeccably well."
Luna shook her head, calming down, wrestling her wolf half back down. She smiled sweetly up at the jester.
"I'm so sorry, my sweet little jester. I could never ever stay mad at you. Dim Sim," she crooned in sweet sugared tones dripping with venom. Dimentio smiled back, equally venomous.
"Anytime, mia luna fanciulla."
Luna glared at him.
"Say that again and I'll wreck your pretty-boy face. Yes!" she growled truimphantly as Dimentio stared at her in disbelief. "I've seen you without your mask! And I'll admit...," she leaned back and looked at him with a critical eye. "Oh, dayum," she winked, smiling to reveal savage white teeth. Dimentio blinked a few more times, before regaining his composure.
"I shall take that as a compliment, wolf," he replied, distant and cold, though Luna could smell something raging beneath his mask. Figuratively. Choosing to ignore it, the werewolf shrugged.
"Take it any way you want it. Anyways enough about you. Is Luigi going to be okay? You didn't try and mentally scar him, or anything?"
Dimentio floated casually in the air above her, his bad mood seemingly forgotten.
"Oh, my dear, it's a bit late for that. But I promise you that he'll be fine. And I should really get going and inform our king of this situation. Ciao!" He vanished, the shockwave distorting the air around him. Luna sighed, making sure she was completely calm, before heading over to Luigi. He was still sitting upright, panting heavily. His eyes were closed, and he had gone a sickly white colour.
"Um, Luigi?" she reached a hand out tentatively. He gave a sharp gasp, before snapping his eyes open. They focused unsteadily on Luna.
"Luna?" he breathed, eyes clouded with sleepiness.
"Shhh," she pulled the covers up around him. "You're okay now. Nothing to worry about." Luigi shook his head, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"I…think I had the weirdest dream, "he sighed, yawning as he did.
"Yeah?" Luna murmured, "What was it about?" He shook his head, trying to remember.
"I was in this strange room…and then...DIMENTIO!" Luigi yelled suddenly, eyes focusing on something behind Luna.
"Wha-" she whipped around, baring her teeth as she spotted Dimentio floating lazily in the air above them. He grinned, taking in the scene before him. Luna breathed deeply, trying to ignore Luigi whimpering behind her. She gave Dimentio the most charming smile she could muster. "Dimentio, since you're so fond of tag…how about we play a game right now?" The jester's smile vanished as Luna shifted, ignoring the intense pain tearing through her body, trying to push it forward as fast as she could. The black wolf leapt at the jester, a blur, too fast for even Dimentio to avoid. She pinned him to the ground, digging her claws deep into his body, before baring a mouthful of deadly teeth. A snarl rumbled through her chest. Dimentio glared at her, refusing to back down. He struggled, trying to break free of the werewolf's grasp, but she dug her claws in even harder, making Dimentio gasp slightly at the pain. Small pinpricks of blood began to drip to the floor, the smell sending her instincts into a frenzy. Dimentio smiled.
"I say Luna, this is a rather unfair game of tag, don't you think?" She growled in reply. And you're playing a rather unfair game with Luigi's head, don't YOU think!? Dimentio sighed. "Could you really not blame me, dear Luna? After all, isn't that what I excel at?" And with this Dimentio vanished, reappearing in the air a few metres above Luna. She whipped around, hackles bristling, teeth bared, as Dimentio launched a purple and yellow energy sphere at the wolf. She growled, tensing, waiting for the pain as the sphere flew towards her. However, just as it seemed it would hit her, a blinding white flash of light filled the room, followed by an eerie shriek. She closed her eyes against the flash, tensing. Opening them again, she was confused momentarily as she realized that Dimentio was nowhere to be seen. Glancing over at Luigi, she was relieved to see that he was unhurt, but looking relatively shaken. He was also staring nervously at her. Oops, she thought, shifting back to human form. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. He smiled back tentatively.
Walking over, she leaned down next to him, as he asked, "What happened? Where's Dimentio?"
Luna shrugged.
"I don't actually know. Raven told me that Queen Jaydes and Queen Nyx both collaborated on a spell they put on Dimentio to keep him from causing trouble while he was out and about but she never…" Luna trailed off as she realized something was rustling the bedsheets at the other end of the bed. Motioning for Luigi to keep quiet, she prowled over quietly, peering out at the bed. Nothing. Then, more rustling sounded as a shape crept out from underneath the bed. Luna put her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Grambi, really?" Luigi was craning his head, trying to see what had shocked Luna.
"What? What is it?"
Luna knelt down slowly, watching the shape in front of her. It stared back at her, a confused and pained look in its gaze. Luna shook her head.
"Dimentio? What did they do to you?"
About the Italian bit, I got that off Google Translate, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:P No offense intended or anything like that intended :)