"The two shades of green."

Chapter 12

"The pain he left behind."

Peach sighted as she walked towards the healing wing in her castle, where the, now single, hero of her kingdom recovered from having a wall dropped on his head.

The mysterious entity who managed to bring down the entirety of Mushroom Knox, has not been identified beyond the fact that he/she looked like a giant Yoshi by the witnesses of the disaster.

She sighted again, missing the Mario Brothers even more and wishing that everything would go back to what it once was.

Ever since their last encounter with Bowser, her world has been flipped over its head.

Even though Luigi wasn't always present during his red brother's escapades to save her, his absents was hardly unnoticeable.

There was nobody there to cover Mario's back…nobody to cheer him up when the situation was deemed hapless…

Nobody to pick him up when he fell…

And Mario's fall was the one thing she and Toadsworth, dreaded.

The Mushroom Kingdom already lost one hero…

Were they doomed to lose another?

And, even though their behavior at the beginning might have suggested otherwise, since they thought of Luigi as nothing more than a disposable sidekick, it started to affect the toads folk as well.

They noticed that their hero was no longer himself, tortured by the enormous guilt that plagued his heart. He no longer smiled, no longer laughed, no longer talked with an over-the-top Italian ascent, no longer favored the color red…

He tried to hide it of course, just like any other hero, but…even the greatest pretenders can't play their roles forever and soon, his mask began to crack.

Slowly revealing, the emotions they all felt but dreaded to show, to everyone who dared to look.

It was like the old saying went: "He who was strong the longest, will always fall first."

Amongst all the other strong emotions burning within all their heart, there was one that stood out from all of them:

Shame...because he allowed his little brother to take a fall and land in a tomb with his name on it. They because, not only did they disgrace the green hero before his tragic death, they also had no mercy for him after the tragedy had happened.

"I always knew he'd end up dead." Peach remembered them saying. "I'm just surprised he lasted that long. The 'wimp-of-a-hero' couldn't beat a rubber ducky if it was thrown at him."

"If I were Mario, I'd go to the pet store, left 'The Wimp' there and got myself a new sidekick, first thing during Day One. Because, Grambi knows, even a goldfish would make a better helper than The Green Dude."

"Humph. I don't believe all that talk about 'The Wimp's' death, the Princess told us. Somebody this pathetic and weak, would never be able to sacrifice his life for the greater good. He probably just threw himself over the cliff and the real heroes are just trying to save his sorry ass from embarrassment."

"I heard rumors that Mario and 'The Wimp' are twins! I say bull-crap! If they are indeed related, then the 'Green Guy' must have been an accident. Or, even better, a bastard! Or maybe he's adopted! Perhaps Mario's mother only took him in because her child felt lonely? How else would you explain the 'Green Guy' ending up as a failure?"

Each and every word was driving a knife into her heart.

To think that he had to hear those spiteful words every day since Day One…

Her heart clinched in her chest and a quiet sob escaped her throat when she realized that…it was all happening under her nose.

And she did nothing to stop it.

Which makes her just as guilty and a terrible friend.

Biting her lower lip to try and bring herself together, to not cry over spilt milk and focus on the 'Here and Now', Peach swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, as he neared the room Mario was being held in.

It didn't take them all long to realize that…without Luigi by his side, Mario can never be happy.

Toadsworth recognized all this as the 'Twin Curse'.

If one dies…

The other is not far behind.

But he never said what would happen if the one said to be dead…was found alive.

Another sight escaped her pretty pink lips, as she rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes.

The news of him being indeed among the living at first made her cry in pure joy, happy that her constant prayers have been listened to by either Grambi or Jaydes and that everything will be back to normal.

That this will end like a bad nightmare, with a sunny day awaiting her at the end.

But it all changed the minute he opened his eyes and the Mushroom Princess had a chance to look inside them.

There was nothing right about those orbs, they were the pure definition of wrong.

If the word 'wrong' had a color, it would be silver.

There was no recognition in them, the silver slits blinking at her with indifference and a bit of confusion regarding his current location.

There was no warmth in them, no spark of mischief, no friendliness that could usually be find inside the blue orbs of her best friend, Luigi.

It then occurred to her that…this changed nothing.

Luigi was still dead.

His body may be here, but his soul and heart were replaced by another.

She recalled a phrase that perfectly represented her best friend's condition:

The lights are on but your friend is not home. May I take a message?

Her mother once told her when she was little that: "Life was never easy. It follows its own rules that are not for us to question or understand."

And she accepted that like any obedient child would.

But, right now, she wished life would spare her the twists and turns, every once in a while.

They would all be better off if Luigi stayed ice cold to the touch. Because seeing a different person talk and move in the well-known body, introduced a new level of heartache to everyone.

Because this could have been avoided.

Sighting again Peach pulled her mind off that path, after realizing that she was already at Mario's door.

Bracing herself for whatever awaited her inside, the princes took a deep breath and twisted the doorknob.