The lore of Marios planet was slightly confusing. From what he had gartered, his planet used to be... well... a planet, until his denizen had come and split it up. The sun in the middle of his planet was at the core of his planet. His Denizen, Sol, had broken his planet and set the core free, creating this splintered nightmare of a land.

His companions were scattered and fearful of all this and the constant light made it difficult to sleep.

Heh, come to think about it, Luigis planet had a similar problem with sleep. Only that his companions could sleep, but they would have nightmares so strong that they were terrified of it. Luigi told him that he experienced one of those the one time he felt asleep after a draining fight against an Ghost-ogre, but he wouldn't tell him what the dream was like.

Maybe Mario didn't even want to find out if the haunted look his brother had while telling his tale was something to go by.

Both of them had to do something to enable their companions so sleep well again and fix their planets. So Mario took on quests, spoke with the Lumarians and learned all sorts of stories, lore and of course, the Legend of Sun and Moon.

" The Legend of Sun and Moon?", Mario asked the eldest Lumarian, that was some kind of leader of the village on the largest part of the planet.

" Yes, indeed. It's an old tale around here. It goes a bit like that:

There were once two siblings. There were twins and the only children of a great Force in the universe. And because they were well-beloved, their parents gave each of them a gift. The slightly older one got the Sun. A fire-y ball of heat that could light up everything, wherever the older one went. The younger one got the Moon. A ball of stone , but one that could reflect the light of the Sun, turning the harsh beam into a faint glowing light and making every night beautiful and soft.

Their parents left them to care for other lifeforms with their new gifts. And care did they bring. The older one with their Sun turned the day bright and gave them warmth. And the younger one with its Moon, which reflected the light of the Sun in the night when the Sun couldn't shine, lightened up the way for travellers and brought the tender embrace of the night with it.

And the people loved them, loved the care and the beauty that came with the Sun and the Moon and their guardians.

But over the time, people began to praise the Sun more and more. And why not? The Sun gave them warmth and light and the day. The Sun was so big and bright and wonderful. And the Moon? It was only seen at night were everybody would sleep after a long day and so its guardian became more and more forgotten.

And the younger sibling became saddened. They didn't hate their sibling or the people who had forgotten them, but with time, they became sadder and sadder. And all their sadness had nowhere to go. Even if the older one did notice something, nothing could be done.

So in the night, the younger one would sit on their Moon and cry, because it was hopeless. Nobody could be forced to remember and love the Moon or its guardian. And nobody did. And the feelings of loneliness and the bitter tears of a being in pain and forgotten would form a sea on their Moon. The tears of sadness and bitterness would finally seep down to the land below, into the mind and dreams of the people who lived there, forming the first nightmares.

It was a horrifying experience for the people and nobody knew what had happened. So the guardian of the Sun set out to find out, because the people would not sleep and would be tired during the day.

And after a long time, the older one found out. What their sibling had done and what had happened because of it. They found their younger sibling sitting on the edge of a gigantic sea on the Moon, filled with their tears and found the overflowing liquid seeping into the void and knew that this created the nightmares.

The older sibling was shocked and confused and angry at the same time. How could that happened to their beloved sibling, how could nobody see the loneliness and how all this was slowly eating away at their sibling?

But it was too late now. Because the feelings of the younger, the longing after SOMEONE who would notice it, had created something powerful but dangerous. Nyx, the Mistress of Nightmares, was born from the sea of tears on the Moon and the older sibling knew that she would destroy everything, for she was a being born from sadness and bitter feelings, nothing more than power and negative emotions, bend on freeing herself from the sea and killing every soul the Moon guardian's tears had touched.

There was no other way. The older sibling sealed Nyx away, but with this act ended up killing the younger sibling.

Broken from this loss and horrified by their actions, the Guardian of the Sun threw themselves into their Sun, dying inside of it.

The people were confused about what had happened. Nobody really understood why their beloved guardian had died. Nyx lived on, now even madder after the dead of her creator and even more determinate to break free. And the Sun itself seemed to mourn its guardian's death.

Over time, it drew planets and rooks to itself more and more, until a gigantic sphere was formed around it. The Sun hid itself from the universe, disguising itself as a mere planet, maybe in hope to forget or maybe in hope to draw life nearer to itself. Life, that both her guardian as well as their sibling loved.

And this is how this world was created."

Mario looked at the elder Lumarian, still deep in thought.

" It's... a very sad story.", Mario said.

" Well... isn't that the case with most of them?"

" I think you are right..."

Mario left the Elder one with an uneasy feeling. The story just hit to close to home.

" I wonder if my denizen is some kind of residual from this Guardian.", wondered Mario. "And... I wonder if they miss their sibling still..."

" I can still fix this. I CAN FIX THIS!"

" No... No, you can't. Not this."

" But..."

" NO!"

I still had to try. I'm sorry, but I still HAD to try, because it was my only chance.

I am so sorry.

Luigi told him that he had heard the story of the Sun and Moon on his planet, too. Only that in his version, the Sun ended up dying to save their sibling, killed by Nyx but freeing their sibling from chains that Nyx had woven around her creator.

The Guardian of the Moon was blamed for the death of the older sibling by the people and in their pain, the guardian decided that nobody could ever look at the Sun, the precious thing of their sibling, again and encased it into stone.

The Guardian of the Moon then wandered off, never to be seen again and maybe even dead like their sibling or still wandering in darkness and loneliness for the rest of eternity.

Mario didn't know which version of the story was more depressing...

Later he learned the full name of his denizen: Sol, the Clockmaker.

He didn't want to face a being like that just yet.

" I... I just want to... to turn back time. This... this all... please... let it be a bad dream."

" ... I'm so sorry, Mario... I... I wish I could, too... but... but..."

" It's not your fault. It... it is nobodys fault. Just... just... it's just so UNFAIR."

" I know..."

But it was my fault. My fault. Oh God, I'm so sorry...

Against all odds they found each other and their quest-beds some time later. They were just two big slaps of stone, one red, the other pink, with the symbols of Time and Heart, located in the catacombs of Dense (And boy, had it been trouble getting there).

Mario thought that it was very morbid to call them "beds" as if death was just a nice sleep... Actually, this was the whole problem: Death.

In this strange reality weren't any one-ups. No extra-lives. No failsafe. It wasn't even something like "the End of one's Game". They have to die and hope that their dream-selves were still alive. Mario hadn't awoken yet and his brother said that he wasn't awake either. But Luigi was so sure that they were still alive. Mario... wasn't so sure but willing to trust his brother, even when Luigi couldn't explain what made him so sure.

" No! No, you could DIE!"

" No! You don't understand! I won't die! It will just end my Game!"

" No! NO! DON'T!"

… I... I really wish life would work like that... please... please...

" Mario?"

He could feel Time ticking. He always had a good sense for time, how many seconds had passed since he had stepped into enemy territory. Now that he was a hero of Time, his senses only sharpened.

But he didn't gain any form of time-travel. Nothing he tried came out right. Still, he did manage to create some sort of clocks that could stop time for a few seconds. He was surprised he could replicate the effect of something he once had dreamed about...

" Mario? Hey...?"

Luigi on the other hand said he had difficulties to realise his powers as well. They did find out that the power of Heart is the power of Souls but Mario had no idea what that could mean. Luigi... well, sometimes, Mario had a feeling that Luigi did know something but is afraid to do anything with this knowledge. Even if Mario couldn't begin to imagine what it could be. It confused him quite a bit. He was so used to knowing what Luigi was thinking...

(But he didn't. Not always. There were things Luigi hid from him, he knew. And other things Luigi told him about he had not known before... but it was not like that, wasn't it?)

Maybe if they were God Tier, it would become somewhat clearer...

" Mario!"

Luigis voice pulled him back to reality, back to the Quest Beds and his brother beside him. He looked at him.

" Yes?"

" Are you alright?"

" Yes... yes, just... something on my mind."

Luigi just nodded and looked to their beds.

" So... we have to die, huh?"

" ..."

" Taking the legendary nap?"

" ..."

" Bro?"

" ...I... it just doesn't seem right to me."

" ... I know, bro, but there is no other way, right?"

" Aren't you afraid?"

" Terrified. But... we... we did all kinds of things in the past... we can do this again. Together?"

There was something like hope shining in Luigi's eyes and Mario smiled a bit. Yeah, the biggest of their adventures they did do tackle together. Even if Luigi didn't always get the credit he deserved (not for the lack of trying on Mario's part, even if Luigi insisted that it didn't bother him), with him Mario always felt as if anything was possible.

" ... Okay. Together, Luigi."

And he took the hand of his brother for the last time and went to his Quest Bed, unsure what would happen next. But one thing was sure: Luigi would be just behind and beside him...like always.

" What are you doing? … no... please... no you don't want that! Please... Please don't do this. Please don't do this... no... Please... you'll hurt... no... NooAAHHHH!"

" ..."

" ..."

" ..."

" Oh... s...stars... wh...what... have I done? No... nonononono NOOOOOOO!"

Mario didn't find out how exactly he died on that day. Luigi said he saw it happen (Okay, he confessed it rather after a LOT of questions from Mario... who felt bad after that for bothering his brother so much) but he never told Mario what had happened and how. All he did tell was that Mario wouldn't want to know and after a while Mario gave up.

He trusted his brother and if Luigi was serious about something it was hard to get him to open up. He DID seek out to find his body, but at the time he found his Quest Bed again, there was only blood and no body left. A lot of blood, come to think about it, most of it where his head would have been. But it was a little morbid to ponder about this sort of thing and so Mario left it like that.

He just enjoyed the perks of being God Tier, a fully realised Heir of Time. His outfit was of a vibrant red and shaped like some kind of pyjama with dark red shoes. The Time Symbol was painted in dark red across his chest and a long hood, longer than he was tall, rested on his head instead of his iconic cap. It wasn't BAD but... a bit of silly if he thought about it. It tended to get into his way at first but as soon as he got the hang out of flying (yeah, he could FLY now! Definitely a bonus) the hood wasn't a problem anymore.

His newfound timepowers were just awesome! He could manipulate the flow of time itself, speed it up, slow it down, stop and start it... within limits, but even with that it was a huge help in fights and out.

And the help was desperately needed. There were just so many strong enem ies now. Even if he was kinda immortal, when his death was heroic or just, he would stay dead... and Mario knew full well that if he died, he would go down either heroic or just. (But he hoped that he never would end his game with a just death. There was no way to be certain, but he sure hoped that he would never go rogue and that someone had to put him down... mainly because the only one who could do it would be Luigi and Mario wouldn't want to put his brother through THAT.)

Mario looked in front of him. The battlefield of Skaia came closer and closer. He and Luigi both had something to do on their planets as soon as they had reached God Tier, so they had split up and agreed to meet each other on the battlefield again.

Mario still found it strange that it looked like a chess field.

He made it to the battlefield and could see Luigi fighting black knights. Luigi's outfit reminded Mario of a classic Knight costume with hood and all. It was coloured pink with dark accents, displaying the symbol of heart proudly on the front. And he fought with something... resembling a blade? Mario was confused about that. A new strifespecibus? Maybe this was some kind of power of Luigi? That or the blade was a vacuum in disguise?

Mario ran up to his brother. One of the knights slowed down, becoming an easy target for Luigi's blade while Mario kept his grip on the time. A second knight moved behind Luigi and would have him sliced in half if Mario hadn't sped himself up and rushed over, his hammer swinging at impossible-to-observe speed. In a fragment of a second, the knight was down.

Just then Luigi turned to his brother, his face brightened but also a bit shocked.

" Mario! Bro, it's good to see you. Are... are you okay?"

Mario smiled a bit.

"Yes, yes. Everything is okay. I'm just happy to see you." He glanced at Lugis costume again. After their ascension to Godhood there had been simply no time for checking out each other's new looks. Mario grinned. "Nice outfit, Luigi. Very... pink."

Luigi made a face, a bit annoyed.

" You are one to talk, Red Pyjama."

Mario laughed.

" Yeah, yeah. It's a bit glaring. But we both should be thankful that none of us is a page or a prince... THEIR costumes tended to look a bit silly on the pictures, huh?"

Luigi now seemed surprised.

" You have seen pictures?"

"Well... yes? Didn't your consorts had some kind of... caves and temples devoted to the God Tiers?"

" Yes, but only to the Knight of Heart... I have read about other ones, but there were no pictures..."

" Maybe because of the shade? It was dark on your planet..."

" Yes... it... is dark." Luigi said, voice a bit distant and sounding a bit... upset? Mario looked a him.

" Hey... Are you okay?"

" Hmm? Oh... yes, yes. I'm okay, bro."

" ... are you sure? If there is something you want to talk about... I'm there, okay?"

" ...yeah. I know. Just... I'm okay. It's just a bit weird."

Mario smiled.

" Yeah, I know... But it's still pretty cool. Come on, bro. Let's look around a bit and try to find the Space player. He or she has to be around... If not in God Tier form, then at least their dream-self."

Luigi didn't say anything, he just nodded, captchalogged his blade and followed Mario through Skaia. Just like always.

" Why did you start playing the game? Why would you do this?"

" I... I thought... that... that if I can't have... I just thought that I could have the thing I wanted from the game... when I couldn't get in in Real Life..."