Hello again readers,

Quick Author's Note: I notice the lack of updates going around, probably due to finals. So I decided to post this chapter up early.

Enjoy :)

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story idea.

Chapter 23:
Two Halves of One

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High above the castle, a certain jester watch the scene happening down below with delight in his eyes. He wasn't upset that he had lost his two most faithful slaves, although he was going to missing having Mr. L under his control again. Despite the unsuspected change in the outcome, everything was going as he planned. Mr. L had served his purpose and now he was died. With only hours away, Mario's too stricken with grief to stop him now.

Dimentio smirked and teleported out of the area. Soon, he will be ruling over the universe with no one to stop him.

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Peach and Daisy had their heads down as Spettro whimpers in sadness and grief. Cybele simply turned away, feeling remorseful over the situation. Mario was unresponsive as he just stared at the unmoving form of his brother. His vision started to blur as tears began to build up. Holding back a sob, he cased his head down, shielding his face from the others.

A single tear stir out of place and fell on the cold cheek of his brother's face. As soon as that hot liquid drip on his brother, a slight golden glow illuminated from the younger plumber. Mario looked up, his blue eyes shining with tears and widen from surprise. The others had notice it too and were looking as well.

Before anyone could come to terms with it, the golden light die down and disappeared. Mario blinked. He stumbled over and pressed his ear over his brother's chest.

Thump- Thump

Thump- Thump

Heartbeats… They were like music to his ears. Mario let out a huge sigh of relief as waves of happiness and joy filled his veins. He turn to the others and smile, putting a rest to their fears.

"He's alive"

Peach and Daisy smiled with joy; Spettro's tail was wagging so hard it was creating a draft. A slight movement caught their attention. They look back down as the younger plumber started waking up.

"Luigi…" Daisy said softly "Can you hear me?"

The younger plumber groaned slightly and opened his eyes slowly. It brought great happiness to everyone to see that his eyes were a soft blue instead of the hard white from before.

"Hey Daisy," he smiled weakly. "What are you doing here?"

Daisy smiled. "Saving you, silly; you had us worried."

"Oh…sorry"

"Don't be, it's wasn't your fault."

Cybele cleared her throat and step forward. "We should move him some place so he could rest. The spell stresses both body and soul."

They nodded in agreement. Mario gathered his brother into his arms and carried him back inside the castle. By the time they made it the bedroom, Luigi had already fallen unconscious from extreme exhaustion.

Cybele looked him over making sure everything was alright. Once she was done, she left the room for the brother to rest. Mario, Peach, and Daisy were waiting outside the room, hoping to hear some news about his condition.

"He will recover." She told them. "It will take some time, but with plenty of rest he'll be back on his feet in a few weeks."

The others nodded, happy to know that Luigi will be okay.

"However," Cybele continues "Now is not to time to celebrate. We still must find a way to stop Dimentio and prevent the Chaos Heart from being recreated."

She held up her staff and summoned a map of the Mushroom World for all of them to see.

"Now, I had a feeling that you might not be able to retrieve the Reality Glass in time, so I took the time to locate the ruins myself." She point to the map with her staff. "There… that's where the Ancient Ruins will resurface."

Daisy leans in closer, taking notice of the location. "Isn't that in Sarasaland?"

Cybele nodded. "I believe it is…within the Muda Kingdom to be precise."

"Okay," Mario adjusted his cap. "I'll head there now."

"Not without me, you're not." said Peach.

"Me too." added Daisy. "You're going to need a ship and I'm the only one who can provide."

"I'll remain here and watch over things." offered Cybele.

"In that case, I better call ahead. That way the Daisy Cruiser will be ready by the time we get there."

Daisy turned and left to retrieve a phone. Peach turns to Mario. "I'll go pack some supplies we might need."

"Good idea."

Peach places a hand on his shoulder and left to pack some things. Mario turned to Cybele.

"Cybele," he said softly. "I just want to say…thank you for saving my brother."

Cybele shook her head. "I can't take all the credit. Your brother was the one to put up with the spell and, despite my warning, you were the one who wanted to give him a chance. I can't help but wonder what made you decide on it?"

"Oh well," Mario rubbed the back of his head, unsure on how to answer. "I guess you can say…I heard him."

Cybele raised an eyebrow in suspension. "You… heard him?"

Mario nodded and explained what happened. Cybele places a hand on her chin in thought.

"Hmm... I have heard rumors about this, but didn't think it was true." She looks back at Mario. "The thing is…you and your brother each carries half of one soul."

"A half?" Mario asked confused.

Cybele nodded and continues explaining.

"They say when twins are born, they each one carries one-half of a whole soul. This in tone creates a special bond between them where they're able to sense each others' whereabouts and emotions. When you held your brother close to you, he was able to communicate to you in a spiritual way."

Mario thought about what she said. He always thought he and his brother were two sides of one coin, but to think they were spiritually two halves of one being brought a smile on his face.

"I should let you be. You have much to do before you face the dark magician."

Mario nodded. "Right, thanks again, Cybele."

"Anytime, youngster"

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Ending Note:

PSYCH!...

Got you didn't I?

Did you honestly think I'll just kill off my favorite, number one plumber?

HECK NO!

The two-halves of one soul idea is a common theory used in many Transformer fandom. I always believe in it and had used it in several of my Transformers stories so I decided to use it in this one too.

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Review :)

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