I'll Never Let You Go

by Drones-of-Innocence

When Bowser mobilizes his latest plot to kidnap Princess Peach, Mario finds himself pursuing them toward the deepest reaches of space. The long journey gives him time to reflect on how he and Luigi came to be in the Mushroom Kingdom. Though he struggles to find a way forward, Mario only has to think of Princess Peach all alone in the center of the universe to keep going.

3. Other End of the Telescope

"Now, you're at the other end of the telescope,

Seven billion stars in her eyes

So many stars

So many ways of seeing,

Hey, this is no time not to be alive..."

-Love Is All We Have Left, U2

O~o~O

Mario started to doubt the instinct that had driven him forward.

Both he and Luigi stood, frozen, in front of an extremely large, red-spotted mushroom. It had an odd shape, almost as if it had hands and feet.

"Mario." Luigi whispered loudly, not moving from his place behind Mario. "That mushroom has eyes."

Swallowing hard, Mario nodded in agreement, and found that he couldn't break eye contact with the mushroom. For a funny little toadstool, it definitely had a compelling gaze. Without really thinking too hard, Mario started to lean forward, trying to get a closer look. He could have sworn he saw the mushroom blink.

"Hi there!" the mushroom somehow came to life, and waved at Mario with a broad smile.

Luigi let out a sound that was just short of a shriek, and fell down on his back. Mario just frowned, trying to make sense of the little creature. It carried a tiny messenger bag, and wore a vest with an official emblem he had never seen before. The mushroom looked up at him expectantly, though Mario couldn't do much more than blink.

Tilting its head, the mushroom seemed to realize it wouldn't get an immediate answer out of the brothers. "Let's see…" it started walking, and wandered around Mario in a wide circle, eyeing him up and down. Luigi scooted closer to Mario with a nervous groan. "Bold red hat that casts a shadow over deep blue eyes? A mustache that disguises all expression? Gloves and overalls, sure signs of a hard worker? You must be the Jumpman!"

"Ehm…" Mario shared a glance with Luigi, before they both turned to look back at the mushroom. The description contrasted sharply with what Mario had heard of himself before. The red hat? A poor choice in style, though typical in his occupation. The mustache? Compensation for something else, a desperate attempt at displaying some semblance of masculinity. Gloves and overalls? Sure, a hardworking man, who spent his time unclogging toilets. No, neither Mario or Luigi were prime examples of success or class, and yet, this strange little mushroom had an expression of such admiration when faced with the pair.

Maybe the mushroom was attempting flattery. Mario couldn't see any reason why that would be necessary, but he narrowed his eyes anyway. He remembered the pressure of the journalists, the businessmen who wanted to advertise the Jumpman to sell their own products and further their own agendas. They pressed and pressed in their search for him, offering money and fame that Mario turned away again and again. That poor woman, Pauline, had been swept away into the politics of it all, and Mario hadn't wanted the same life for Luigi and himself. He would much rather unclog every toilet in Brooklyn if it meant no more publicity.

Luigi got to his feet, and didn't appear to take any comfort in how much taller he was than the little mushroom. "Excuse me, ah, sir? How do you know about the Jumpman?" he fidgeted with his hands.

The mushroom gave an expression of such shock, like Luigi had sprouted a second head. "Everyone knows of the Jumpman! You are the Jumpman, aren't you?" he implored, coming close to Mario and holding his little hands up to his chest.

Mario frowned. He glanced at Luigi, sharing a bewildered look, before looking down at the mushroom again. The poor little thing looked so desperate, so hopeful that he was the Jumpman. He finally gave a curt nod.

"We, ehm, followed a voice down here." Luigi started to look around, searching for the pipe they had fallen through. "It was the voice of a woman, asking for the Jumpman. Do you know anything about that?"

The news seemed to light up the mushroom. "But of course! Her Majesty's message must have reached you through her wish!" he reached into his little messenger back and pulled out an envelope with a fancy wax seal, offering it to Mario. He took it, but held it out in front of him, wary of the message. "Her Majesty Princess Peach Toadstool is the monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom. She has been captured by the King of the Darklands. We heard of the Jumpman's triumph over Donkey Kong some time ago, and when the Koopa King broke through our barrier, Princess Peach called out for you, sir. She believes you are the only one who can defeat the King and save the Mushroom Kingdom. It is an honor to be in the presence of such a well renowned hero. I am Toad, the royal messenger for the Princess."

While Mario inspected the sealed letter a little more closely, Luigi blinked at Toad. "Ehm...You said a lot of things just now. Could you go over all that again, but slower?" he gave a nervous laugh.

"I'm not a hero." Mario spoke up, just before Toad could reply to Luigi. Toad practically jumped once he spoke. "But I will help you. Where are these 'dark lands?'"

Toad looked at Mario for a moment with wide eyes, appearing dazzled. "Your accent is so...Exotic! No wonder you do not know where the Darklands are!" he pointed to the West, where a shadow lay across the horizon and dark clouds obscured the view. "I do not know how we could ever thank you, Jumpman! Please, bring our Princess back safe and sound."

Luigi gawked, and snatched the letter from Mario's hand. "Macche—! Now wait just one moment! First of all, I have the exact same accent as him! Second, Capo, we can't just run off to some dangerous place! We don't even know what's going on, or what this 'Mushroom Kingdom' place even is…" he trailed off as he ripped open the letter, and his eyes flickered over the words. "Oh...Hm, yes, I see…Hmmm…"

Mario leaned over to see what Luigi was reading. He blinked at the fancy handwriting, the endlessly loopy cursive. It took a bit of squinting to make out the words.

"My dearest Jumpman, it is my earnest wish that this letter somehow reaches you soon. Word of your amazing feat in your city has traveled far and wide across the land. It was not my intention to reach out for you without any sort of warning, but I must ask for your help. The Koopa King has a far superior military than the Mushroom Kingdom, and he has invaded our capitol without much resistance. He has come for me, I believe, because I denied him when he asked for my hand in marriage. I was afraid of this. Our allies have eluded all contact. The Mushroom Kingdom has no one left who will assist us. You, Mr. Jumpman, are the Kingdom's last hope. Be warned, King Koopa is a powerful adversary, and the journey will be perilous. I understand that I am asking a lot, possibly too much. But please, if you could find it in your heart, help the Mushroom Kingdom. My people and I need you. Yours sincerely, Princess Peach."

Luigi suddenly snorted. "Mister Jumpman," he read aloud. And then, in a silly voice, he added "Oh please, Signore Jumpman, help me!"

He stopped at Mario's sour look, and coughed into his fist when he noticed Toad tilting his head. Mario was relieved that Toad did not seem to understand that Luigi was making fun of the Princess.

After a beat of silence, Toad smiled again, and kept his attention mostly on Mario. "Mister Jumpman, Princess Peach's advisor must know your qualifications for rescuing princesses. Toadsworth is very particular, you see, and defeating the Koopa King will certainly not be easy."

"Qualifications for rescuing princesses?" Luigi had a faint warble in his voice that Mario knew to be his brother holding back laughter. He looked to Luigi, and knew they were both thinking the same thing. Luigi shrugged, and neither of them were certain if they could answer the question, but he had to try.

Mario turned back to Toad, and tried to sound very serious. "I have an associate's degree in Civil Engineering."

"Oh!" Toad clearly did not know what that meant. Still, he wrote it down in a little book he had inside his vest. "Interesting...Well, I'm positive that an 'association degree' far exceeds the minimum requirements. I will take this information to Toadsworth immediately! Good luck on your journey, Mister Jumpman, I wish you all the best!"

As Toad turned around, Mario looked to see Luigi pointing to himself, with his mouth half open like he was about to call out to Toad. Finally, as Toad wandered too far for him to do any good, Luigi sighed. "So what am I, la pecora nera?"

Mario chuckled and came to pat Luigi on his shoulder. "Yes." he grinned so that Luigi knew he was teasing, but Luigi still punched his arm.

Looking at Toad, Mario took the letter back from Luigi, and delicately put it in his back pocket. Luigi watched him, curious, but Mario just looked across the landscape before them. The soft, verdant grass spread out over the hills. The vivid blue sky opened wide, with just a smattering of perfect little clouds. He wondered if they had stumbled into a painting, rather than a whole new world.

His eyes fell to the path, following the direction Toad was going, and he was just able to make out the little mushroom creature in the distance. He could see a castle, a whole town laid out down the road. Other than the breeze stirring the trees, he could hear nothing like the constant buzz of the city. He wondered if he had ever known such silence before, if he had ever known peace like that of this strange land. Taking in a deep breath, taking in the sweet air, he smiled.

"What are you so happy about?" Luigi elbowed Mario in the side with a quirked grin.

Mario glanced vaguely at him before he returned his attention to the vast horizon, the rolling hills and the endless plains. He didn't respond for a long moment, just taking in the new world. Wherever they were, it was nothing like the cold gray of the urban cityscape. Without knowing anything about the place, this Mushroom Kingdom, Mario thought it was very beautiful. That town where Toad was headed, Mario wondered what it was like. Were the citizens worried about their Princess?

He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the town. Luigi followed his gaze. "They're without a ruler, huh?" he crossed his arms and shifted from foot to foot. "You think they can manage on their own…? I mean, what does the Princess do?"

While Luigi rubbed his chin, Mario slowly turned his head to look at him. He started to think that Luigi had a train of thought going and tried to pin down what his brother was thinking.

"Saving the Princess is a job for the Jumpman," Luigi asserted then, not looking at Mario. "Mister Jumpman can handle a Koop-er King by himself, no? But the town can't be left by itself."

It was then that he turned, only to see Mario shaking his head.

Luigi saw his worry, and offered a sly smile as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. You go save the Princess; I know you want to. I'll be here."

The use of any logic or reason should have had him turning around to find their way back home. They had a job to do, after all. But there was a lightness in the air, and a new light in Luigi's eyes. That little mushroom spoke with such earnest optimism. The letter in his hand lay such trust in a stranger. None of it made sense. Maybe he was dreaming, and his actions would have no consequences.

No, he knew this was real. He felt it, a certainty set deep inside. More vivid than anything he had felt in years.

It was with great reluctance that Mario turned and left Luigi there, in that strange Kingdom with the odd talking Mushrooms, to go and save a Princess he didn't know from an evil King he'd never heard of.

Of course he didn't want to leave Luigi alone. He wasn't so sure about going off by himself into a whole new world that was nothing like the Earth he had known. But once the sight of the town and of his brother disappeared over a hill, Mario turned to see the evening light settle across the realm. How could such a place be real? He took a big breath. The air was so fresh and sweet, filling his lungs with the promise of a new beginning. There were so many flowers, so many creatures, so many new places to go.

Mario patted the letter in his back pocket, and adjusted his tool belt. Then, with a half smile, he straightened his hat. He had a princess to save.

He set off once again with a swift march.

And then, as more and more of the land became clear to him, he picked up the pace into a jog. He looked around in wonder; the clouds all had eyes, there were bricks that just floated on their own in the air. There were turtles and brown mushrooms that were nearly his size, which he later learned were called Koopas and Goombas respectively. He also learned, very quickly, that they weren't friendly. But they presented no threat that he couldn't handle.

The new world was a thrill to him, and every new thing he came across was just as exciting and invigorating to him as the last. Before he knew it, he was running.

He ran and leapt and flipped, past the plains and through a desert, on to an ocean and into a jungle. There were many small castle structures, or forts, where he'd find Toads that encouraged him to keep going after a brawl with some larger being. The deep purple clouds that shrouded the dark lands grew like a brewing storm as he approached them. But he still had a little while to go. He only slept twice, and ate just what he could find. The only thing he needed to get himself back on pace was a glance at the letter he kept in his pocket. Princess Peach was waiting on him.

While that helped, he didn't really need much encouragement to keep going. He found himself able to run faster with every day he was traveling, able to jump higher with every daring leap he took. Mario constantly sought new heights, testing himself with all sorts of flips. With a slight adjustment of his hips and an arcing reach with his arms, he was able to perform a flawless high jump. His long jump took him across great gorges he never would have believed he could cross. When he gathered enough speed, he could jump higher, and twist and flip in midair with more finesse than he ever had before.

Aside from the excitement he felt from running, his resilience and endurance came from the responsibility he felt he had to the Princess. The faster he got to her, the faster she could restore harmony to the Mushroom Kingdom, and the faster she could help him make sense of the beautiful world he had stumbled into.

He had many questions. In the jungle, he came across a stone temple. An ancient structure. Mario had been wary of it at first, but he swallowed his nerves and went inside, wondering if it was the castle with the Princess. It didn't look anything like the ones he'd come across before.

The structure was abandoned. Mario found no enemies wandering inside. Only moss, cracks in the stone, and hieroglyphs he had no hope of deciphering in red.

Still, something in his gut compelled him to keep exploring. Deep inside, atop a great staircase, was an orb. His eyes fixed on it and he found that he couldn't look away. Even as he climbed up toward it. The orb flickered and pulsed with a blistering flame inside. An entrancing spark. Mario reached out to touch it.

His shirt had been an olive green, and his overalls red. But once his hands came to rest on the orb, his shirt changed to red, and his overalls became a denim blue. The change had startled him at first. But, he had never really concerned himself with style, and instead preferred practicality. He did check his hat, and was relieved to know it stayed the same red as before. The orb's heat ramped up, and Mario tore his hands away, breathing hard. He looked at his hands as a new warmth manifesting inside of him.

The gift of the orb, he discovered, was the strangest ability to create fire.

The ability translated into being able to fling projectiles and an increase in his natural body temperature. He was grateful, if slightly concerned, when this allowed him to traverse up a snowy mountain without noticing the cold. There was none of the numbness in his fingers or his nose like he would have expected. Still, he brought with him a yellow cape for warmth, which he had found somewhere in the desert.

Mario didn't see another such temple for the rest of his journey, and for that he was glad. He wasn't sure if he could handle much more than the fire.

At the very peak of the mountain, Mario managed to jump so high that he landed right in the fluffy white clouds. And from there, he only had one more night of sleep before he would reach the Darklands.

Once he passed through the swirling darkness of a storm, Mario could very clearly see the looming castle. He didn't hesitate to run down the broken path that led to the massive fortress. There was no doubt in his mind that it would be where he would find the Princess.

The Koopa King, as he heard, was ruthless and intimidating. The minions Mario encountered whispered his name out of fear, their murmurs following him through the endless halls of marble and lava. The castle was so hot that Mario, even with his newfound tolerance of both the cold and the heat, had to wipe sweat from his brow as he ran along and got into scuffles with his minions. Most of it was the heat of the molten earth. Some of it was nerves. Mario had no idea what to expect out of the feared King, but he knew it couldn't be anything good.

Just before he could open the massive doors that would take him to the King, Mario's hand hesitated over the handle. What was he, to a King? He was nothing more than a small, ordinary man, maybe with a decent jump. Along the way, he had picked up a neat yellow cape, and the ability to throw fire. Still, there was nothing he had that assured him he would be able to triumph, or that he even should.

That was, except for one thing. He checked his back pocket for the letter he had carried, and let out a shaky breath when he felt the familiar parchment. The Princess had been wrongly kidnapped. For the sake of the beautiful land of the Mushroom Kingdom, and for her sake, Mario had to face the King. She needed him. He took in a deep breath, and let it out swiftly. His expression settled into something stern and bolder than what he felt.

Then, he opened the door.

Mario barely felt himself as he ran through. His boots struck the dull brick, but he could hardly tell. His palms began to sweat with how tightly he clenched his fists. With his back straight and shoulders back, he stood tall, but didn't think he had any control over the slight panic in his pace. But he abruptly returned to his senses when he escaped the long hall and finally came upon the King.

His fanged leer became rippled by the heatwaves between them, and Mario recalled his name that the minions had whispered.

Bowser.

He remembered thinking, this monster is no king. It wasn't until much later that he would learn the true nature of Bowser and his empire, that evil wasn't quite the right word. But, when he had been first faced with the Koopa King, with all the fire and fury and faculty for evil, Mario was convinced on the spot that he was a tyrant who must be stopped.

One look at the hopeful face of the Princess behind Bowser solidified his belief. Without a word, he ran headfirst into battle.

The King could breathe fire, and Mario could throw it. Mario was quick and packed a punch, but Bowser was calculating and powerful. However, where Bowser had a particular pattern in his attacks, Mario experimented with what he could do.

With a shout, Mario dared to leap close and swing his fist. His knuckles connected with thick scales. A hit, but he couldn't tell how effective. Especially when those bright red eyes fixed right on him with a burning hatred that chilled him straight through.

A splintering pain. Mario flew across the bridge, whipped away by Bowser's tail. He tumbled to the ground with a grunt.

The echo of a sharp gasp cut between them. Mario blinked up at Bowser, and then the Princess behind him.

Bowser focused on him again. He couldn't mess up. There was no way he could fight his way through. He had to think of something else.

The heat welled up from below. The molten earth flowing through the castle promised certain death if he stumbled or failed to defeat Bowser. Mario knew there had to be a way through; the massive monster was too predictable. If he could just make it through one of Bowser's high jumps.

The oversized lizard could leap really high. Mario blinked, and recalled the intervals at which Bowser had jumped.

That might be the only way. He breathed hard, feeling the pressure in his chest. Bowser considered him with a scowl, baring his fangs. Mario got to his feet, like he was ready to attack. Bowser took the bait.

As soon as he could steel himself, Mario made a break for it.

Bowser whipped his head back, stunned as he was when Mario sprinted underneath him, and actually made it through to the opposite side of the bridge. For a moment, they both just looked at each other, chests heaving, blinking. Mario had cuts about his face that stung in the heat. Bowser kept opening and closing his jaw, from when Mario had gotten close enough to punch him.

Mario realized that Bowser's wild eyes trained on the ax just next to him. On instinct, he reached out to grab it, and the alarm in Bowser's face was all he needed to see. He yanked the ax from its post, intending to wield it as a weapon.

The bridge began to crumble. Startled, Mario stepped back, and watched as the bridge fell into the lava piece by piece.

He looked up, and understood the sheer horror in Bowser's eyes. Had he doomed the king to melt in the lava below? Mario dropped the ax and rushed to the edge, but Bowser was too far for him to do any good. An apology was right on the tip of his tongue. Though, it was quickly quelled by futility.

Bowser met his eyes, and held his stare until the bridge finally collapsed. Mario had to resist the urge to cover his ears when his terrible howls echoed all around him. But after the massive monster had been swallowed up by the lava, the silence was almost worse.

Mario searched the lava, seeing no sign of life at all. He had murdered the beast. The realization caused him to release a weak breath, and he blinked several times. Touching his head with a hand, Mario wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He knew he couldn't just stand there; he didn't have time to question if he did the right thing.

On shaky legs, Mario turned, remembering his purpose.

He raised his eyes to see her. The King had locked the poor woman in a cage. It hung from the ceiling and swung precariously, but all Mario could see was her face peering at him through the metal bars. Her hands gripped the side for some semblance of balance. With a start, he realized the cage was fading away into dust. She was going to fall.

Without even thinking, forgetting why he was even guilty, Mario sprinted forward to catch her. He tried to calculate where he needed to be, where she would hit the ground, and if he could do anything to stop it. She let out a surprised cry once the cage disappeared, and covered her face with her hands as she fell. Mario gathered all the speed he could, pushing faster and faster. The height was iffy. But he thought he could make it. He drove his knees, struck the ground with his lead foot, and jumped with everything he had. In the air, he twisted, getting an arm behind her shoulders and beneath her knees. His grip was secure.

"I got you!" he assured her, breathing hard. When he landed, he ran a little ways to ease the momentum. Then, he had to drop to one knee, and tried to catch his breath. "I got you. I won't let you go."

Her head thumped into his shoulder, and he realized he didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do. Carry her? He stood easily once he recovered from the hard jump, but where could he go? While he looked around, she apparently came to life again. Her hands came around to his shoulders, and she clutched at his shirt with a weak grip. He thought he could feel her trembling.

Mario didn't know what to say to her. She was a princess after all, and Mario had never met a princess before. He imagined them to be much more important than he was. Was he supposed to say something? Was there anything he could say that would comfort her? She was obviously frightened. It occurred to him to wonder why she was human; didn't the Mushroom people of the Mushroom Kingdom send him to save Princess Peach Toadstool? For a moment, he thought he might have the wrong woman. But, looking down at the crown on her head, he could at least infer that she was in fact a princess. Then, he wondered just how many princesses there could be. Were there more?

He pursed his lips as he realized he couldn't really afford to doubt himself. She had to be Princess Peach; he had come all the way across the Kingdom through the Darklands and defeated the King like she had asked him. So, he had to figure out how to get her home.

After looking at her for a few moments, Mario decided he shouldn't say anything, and instead opted to look for a way out of the castle. Her eyebrows were creased, eyes shut tight, and her mouth was pressed into a thin line. Mario couldn't imagine how she felt. What sort of horrible things had the King done to her? There were all sorts of possibilities, all manner of unspeakable crimes that flew through his mind. Remembering some of the dark tragedies of his world, Mario couldn't help but feel dreadful pity for Princess Peach. He didn't know if she'd be okay, if she would ever speak again, if she could even tell him what had happened. In what he hoped was a reassuring gesture, he gently squeezed her shoulder.

Once he started walking, she stirred. Mario wandered in the direction of where the bridge had been before he had destroyed it. He hoped there was some other method of crossing the deep chasm.

"Mr. Jumpman?"

Glancing down, Mario acknowledged Princess Peach with a nod. She shifted against him. Mario wasn't sure what she wanted, but assumed she wanted to get down. He came to a stop so he could let her stand, until he realized she had only adjusted herself to have a better grip around his shoulders. She gave him a somewhat expectant look. Mario quickly averted his eyes and started walking again.

She must have realized he wasn't going to say anything. Even so, he could still see her smile out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you, Mr. Jumpman. I was afraid I might never leave this place, for the King's materials dampen my own power. Surely you must have come a long way. I give you my word that I will do anything possible to make it worth your while." she told him. There was a cordial tone to her words, and Mario couldn't help but think she felt obligated to speak from some sort of script. But when he looked at her, he found that her smile was kind, and at least appeared genuinely grateful. She had a very nice smile.

What he didn't want was for the poor woman to think she owed him anything. She had been through enough. "Please, don't worry about that." he said simply, fixing her with a careful stare before he looked away again. They were getting close to the edge of the chasm, and he was beginning to feel the heat of the lava on his face.

Blinking at him, Princess Peach paused. "Oh, I...Alright." she nodded, and the way she continued to look at him was becoming a little unnerving. But she must have felt similarly; the way she searched his face and fidgeted with her hands made Mario think she might not have a script for such an occasion. "Thank you, really. I saw how you fought. You are very brave, Mr. Jumpman. But…" she trailed off, scrutinizing his expression. "Are you alright?"

Mario thought he was alright. His body hurt as much as he would have expected it to after a long journey and a hard battle. There was nothing he couldn't handle, so he nodded again. "I'm not hurt."

Shaking her head, Princess Peach reaffirmed her grip on his shoulder. "I don't mean on the surface." she gave him a sad smile.

After a moment of confusion, Mario thought he understood what she meant. She must have noticed how he had stared into the lava after Bowser had fallen, or seen his unsteady stance afterward. He stopped walking, and looked at the ground. They stood just before the edge of the chasm, looking out across to the other side that was diluted in their view because of the heady orange glow from below.

"I didn't mean to kill him." Mario murmured after a moment.

Princess Peach tilted her head and nodded sympathetically. "You are very brave." she reiterated, her voice calming and gentle. Mario wasn't familiar with being spoken to in such a delicate manner. Even if she had no words to help, it was her tone that eased the guilt. He wondered if she was being kind to him because she felt like she should, or if it was just in her nature.

Adjusting his hold on her, Mario was just about to turn to take Princess Peach the other way. But there was a snarl from below. Bowser lunged up from the edge.

Mario and Princess Peach both yelled out. He stumbled back until he lost his balance completely. Both he and Princess Peach fell to the ground beneath Bowser's dark shadow. He froze. Horrified, Mario realized he couldn't run. He couldn't move. There was nothing he could do.

Bowser roared. Clawing for them, the back of his throat igniting. The hatred in his eyes petrified them both. He reached for Princess Peach, breathing so hard that steam left his nostrils and spilled from his mouth. He loomed over them. Baring his fangs that reflected in the dim orange light.

They were doomed. Mario failed to save her. They were going to perish at the hands of an evil tyrant. He shut his eyes, anticipating the worst.

And then there was silence.

After several moments, Mario realized the only sound he could hear was their shallow breaths. His cheek was pressed into the top of her head, her face buried in his shoulder. But, when Mario raised his eyes, darting all around, he saw that Bowser hadn't managed to climb out of the chasm. They were clutching one another even though nothing had happened.

Mario found that he felt a little silly, but in a giddy sense. His arms wrapped protectively around Princess Peach, and she clung to him in turn. In their terrified rush, they cowered together. Even if there was any danger, at least he would have taken the worst of it. But, Mario was very confused, and very concerned. Hadn't he killed Bowser? How did he come back from the lava? Did he fall and die again? Mario had no answers, and he wasn't entirely sure if he even wanted to know.

They slowly came apart, as if they both had to remember how to use each individual limb and muscle after completely locking up together in such a futile embrace. Though the danger was gone, Mario still could feel his heart pounding furiously in his chest. Princess Peach wasn't much better; her eyes were wide, and her hands shook just enough for him to notice.

"Oh." she breathed, her shoulders falling with relief. She broke away from him as well, but held her grasp on his shirt. "Oh, stars."

Laying his hand on top of hers, Mario tried to meet her eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

He gave her a moment to regain her bearings. She actively tried to slow down her breathing, and pressed her free hand to her head, before she was finally able to look at him. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." she told him in an unsteady voice. Then, she gave a meek glance to his chest, where she hadn't released him. "I'm sorry, but is it okay if I…"

Mario blinked. She didn't want to let go of him. He was stunned that she might turn to him for comfort, but of course he wouldn't refuse her. With an earnest nod, he started to gather her back into his arms like he had her before. Princess Peach sighed, and she hid her face in his shoulder. Her breathing came slower. Mario was reassured when her trembling hands stilled.

When he had her in a comfortable position, he waited until he was certain his knees wouldn't cave before he stood.

And then, Mario started walking. Both he and Princess Peach shared a mutual, dazed vigil. And once he managed to find a way out of the castle, he started to head back the way he came.

Even after she was okay to walk, Princess Peach never let go of him.

She held his hand and stuck close to him as they made their way across the lands. Through the clouds, the mountains, the jungle, the desert, and the plains. They didn't speak. Mario wouldn't have been able to say anything, so he was grateful. Thoughts of the King, the horrible roars, the lava, plagued his mind.

Any journey has a mysterious way of being shorter on the way back. The walk was long, but somehow, they made it to the Kingdom just before the sun started to set. As they came over the hills overlooking the Kingdom, they were met with a massive celebration of the likes that Mario could never have imagined.

Luigi managed to hold down the fort, and established his presence well among the people of Toad Town. And the Toads were incredibly happy to have their beloved Princess back.

In his rush to greet them, Luigi tripped and stumbled over a root in the middle of the path. Princess Peach was looking the other way to address some of her citizens, so she didn't notice. "Watch out, there's a root." Mario teased him quietly, and Luigi huffed.

After thanking him profusely for his help, Princess Peach laughed gently when she noticed Luigi's resemblance to Mario. "Are you, by chance, related to the Jumpman?" she asked.

Stroking his mustache, Luigi gave a coy nod. "Yes. I'm Jumpman Two." he shook her hand. Mario could see how he struggled to hold back his laughter at the sheer dumbfounded look on Princess Peach's face. "I'm only kidding, Princess. It's a pleasure to finally meet you! The Toads told me so much about you. I'm Luigi. I guess my brother never actually introduced himself."

He pushed Mario forward. Mario protested with a sharp sound and a quick look to Luigi. Then, faced with Princess Peach's surprised expression, he had to resist the urge to look away. She regarded him with more familiarity than she did Luigi, as they had practically walked across the kingdom together hand-in-hand, but there was something in her smile that made him feel guilty. He hadn't bothered to tell her his name, because she didn't think she'd care. She was a Princess, and he was a lowly citizen of some other world. His name didn't particularly matter. If she wanted to call him Jumpman, then he didn't mind.

Then again, with an ashamed glance to the ground, he supposed she might have liked to know. It was very rude, even by his world's standards, to leave her without at least telling her who he was. They had been through quite a lot for her to not know how to call him.

"Well! I'll leave you to it." Luigi gleefully patted his back, and ignored Mario's glower as he sauntered off.

Princess Peach watched him go with a pleasant smile. Then, she turned back to face him. Mario anticipated her expression to harden, and blinked, wary of what she might say. But her smile never left. Instead, she let out a small laugh. "We never really got a chance to introduce ourselves." she acknowledged, and Mario nodded along. He found himself relieved with her patience.

There was something else behind her smile, something warm that made his heart thump noticeably in his chest. Most people looked at him and never really saw anything special. He had never really wanted them to. But she looked right in his eyes, determined to understand. She wanted to see him, and he didn't want to stop her.

She extended her hand towards him. "I'll start. My name is Peach Toadstool. I am the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. What's your name?"

He hesitated, and then took off his hat before reaching to shake her delicate hand. She looked so delighted, and he couldn't hold back a slight smile. "I'm Mario. It is very nice to meet you, Princess." he told her. Then, he glanced around Toad Town and realized there was so much he wanted to know. He tried to put together what he wanted to ask her. She waited, patiently. "Could you...Could you please tell me more about the Mushroom Kingdom?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

A bright smile lit up her face. "Oh, yes, of course!" she touched his shoulder, and encouraged him to come with her. He hesitated, but quickly met her pace. "It's an honor to meet you, Mario, I hope you know that. I've known about you for quite a while now. I can only imagine that you have lots of questions. Would you accompany me to my castle? I will tell you as much as I can on our way."

In the face of her enthusiasm, Mario remembered thinking that he might just follow her anywhere. He nodded, and she squeezed his arm. "I think we'll get along very well, Mario."

Mario agreed wholeheartedly.

O~o~O

The irony was not lost to Mario, and he considered it as he flew through space toward the gloomy, haunted planetoids. Of course, out of all of space for Luigi to find himself, it was the galaxy that had all the ghosts. Mario felt like he should have known.

He wasted no time fighting his way along the twisting path, sprinting without regard for how gravity tried to trip him up. The cool air burned in his lungs, but he didn't care. The spiders, the goombas, he avoided or fought through them all, stirring up the fog into gnarled tendrils all around him. He narrowed his eyes until the space was quiet and still again, and found bits and pieces of a broken path that would lead him to a dark, looming building he could just make out ahead.

Every step had the sound of a hollow crunch, like he was running across ash. He wondered if there was a sun that shed light on this particular galaxy, or if the planets were shrouded in eternal darkness. Off in the distance, he could see wispy clouds that resembled long, miserable faces. He had a faint feeling that the ground had never seen the light of a star. Did the ghosts come to the galaxy because of the lack of light? Or did the light leave upon the ghost's arrival? Mario wasn't sure why it might have mattered. He shook his head and continued running. The only thing he could compare to the Ghostly Galaxy was a graveyard in the dead of night, devoid of all life.

Except, despite the ghosts, he knew there was life in the galaxy. Mario leapt across the gaps of the fragmented path until he got to what he guessed was the haunted mansion. The moans coming from inside, he realized, were none other than Luigi's miserable complaints.

Mario wasn't sure if he was troubled or relieved to hear him.

The Boos tried to give him a hard time. They came out of paintings in the walls, and chased him all through the mansion like they were just playing a game. He could hear their giggles echoing down the halls. Luigi must be terrified, and the thought made Mario clench his jaw. How dare they terrorize his little brother? After rounding a few corners, he glanced up to the high ceiling and found a light fixture. Jumping up, he nudged the lamp, just enough for it to swing its beam across the hall.

Then, he led the ghosts into the light.

He watched them disappear with cold indifference. They wouldn't be back any time soon.

The halls led him to a dead end. Through a barred opening, he could see the next few rooms. Mario tested the strength of the bars, and he didn't think he would be able to bend them; if it were normal metal he would have no trouble, but the cursed objects in a mansion couldn't be trusted to abide by normal rules. He was just about to turn around to check the way he came, when Luma came out from his hat.

The little star motioned toward a discreet corner of the room. "Over here," he whispered playfully, as if he were about to play hide-and-seek from the ghosts. Walking closer, Mario saw a pale mushroom encased in a crystal. Luma crooned with a twirl, and flew back into his hat so he could spin.

At the sound of the crystal shattering, Mario's head snapped up when he heard Luigi yelp from another room. He narrowed his eyes, listening for anything else, but the mansion had gone quiet.

After touching the pale mushroom, Mario realized he wasn't touching the ground anymore. He couldn't really tell what the mushroom had done until he glanced into a mirror on the opposite wall. He wondered why space had such a strange collection of power-ups. The bee suit was bad enough, but becoming a Boo, complete with a mustache, was just ridiculous. Though, when he spun as a Boo, he became invisible. He quickly figured out that becoming invisible would allow him to pass through the bars, so he floated through to the other side.

He followed the general direction that he had heard Luigi's voice from. When he came into a large room, with two rooms blocked off by the same bars, he spotted Luigi at the far end close to a window. Luigi saw him too, and groaned; somehow, despite the hat and the mustache, he still didn't seem to recognize anything other than a ghost.

Mario looked into Luigi's room, and then to the room next to it that was only separated by a bookcase, where he spotted another swinging lamp. Without a second thought, he spun as a ghost to become invisible, and rushed towards the light in the hopes that he would shed the Boo power.

Sure enough, as soon as he touched the light, Mario was himself again. He looked down at his arms and his feet to make sure, before he turned and vaulted over the bookcase that separated him from his brother.

Luigi lit up as soon as he saw Mario. But Mario didn't even spare a greeting; as soon as he got close, he pulled Luigi into a tight embrace.

"Whoah! Good to see you too, Capo," Luigi gave a strained laugh, and patted Mario's back. But when Mario didn't relent, Luigi shifted. Off in the other room, on the other side of the bars, some Boos giggled, but left them alone. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Mario realized he was squeezing Luigi, and let up a little. He didn't have the words to express what he felt; it was wonderful to see Luigi safe, it was terrible that he was out here at all, of course he got stuck on a haunted galaxy, but they couldn't go home, the galaxies are so big, the bee suit was awful, and also he was slightly offended that Luigi didn't recognize him as a Boo. The more pressing issue was the Princess, he wanted to say something, to explain everything, but his throat was too tight for him to even try. He shut his eyes and took in a shaky breath.

Luma peeked out from beneath his hat, distracting Luigi as Mario gathered himself enough to pull away. But the question was still there, in Luigi's wide eyes. Mario finally nodded. "I just missed you, Coniglio." he spoke in a low voice.

Luigi smiled, but still had a strain of concern in his expression. He hesitated to rest one of his hands on Mario's shoulder. "I missed you too. Thanks for coming to get me, I got separated from the Toad Brigade. You remember them, right? It's hard to keep track of that whole group, I hope they're all okay." he shook his head, amused. Luma flew up to his cheek, and Luigi let out a little laugh. "Who's this little guy? He's cute! Anyway, I hope you know how to get out of here. I found something, and I think it's important."

Mario looked to Luma, seeing his excitement, and had a feeling he knew what Luigi had found. Sure enough, Luigi reached behind him, and carefully pulled out a Power Star. For a moment, he felt a surge of warmth in his chest. His brother, and the Brigade, all of his friends were always searching for ways to help him. They had learned over time to search and investigate everything that they could, to explore every inch of the earth, to try and make his journeys easier. To think that they would have brought that with them, after being lost in space, was beyond wonderful. How could they even consider him, if they didn't even know where they were, or if he could find them?

The Power Star floated just above Luigi's hands, and Mario swallowed hard. He couldn't reply, and just settled for a slight nod and a weak smile.

He reached out, and touched the Power Star. Its golden light washed over the room, blazing bright and proud in the dark. Mario saw Luigi's eyes widen out of amazement. The light was the first of its kind to grace the land of the Ghostly Galaxy.

Out of the corner of his eye, as they flew off through the gloom of the hollowed skies, he saw a shimmering reflection of himself wallowing in the waste. A haunted, lonely mirror.

O~o~O

"This is your brother?" Rosalina blinked serenely at both of them. "...You two look nothing alike."

Sharing a glance with Luigi, Mario half-shrugged while Luigi tried not to smile.

Clasping her hands together, Rosalina nodded to Luigi and gestured to the beacon behind her. "Mario has made great progress with returning the Power Stars to the observatory. Soon, we will be ready to save his Special One from the one they call Bowser." her eyes held a distant glimmer even as she was looking directly at them. "With your help, I am certain we will be able to get there even sooner. Thank you, Luigi."

"Not a problem, Miss Rosalina." Luigi bowed his head. But then, once she wasn't looking, he glanced at Mario with a slight smirk and elbowed his arm. "Ah, so we are going to save your Special One, Capo?" he teased.

Mario whirled around and smacked Luigi's cap off of his head. "Taci!" he hissed, and Luigi burst out laughing.

As Luigi bent to get his cap off of the ground, Rosalina turned at the commotion. She regarded them each with a somewhat puzzled look, especially Luigi, who kept giggling to himself. "Is...Something funny?" she asked, tilting her head.

With an exasperated sigh, Mario shook his head. But Luigi snorted at Mario's expression, and Rosalina blinked as Luigi struggled to rein himself in. "Nothing, Miss Rosalina, I am just giving Mario a hard time." He gave his brother an obnoxious grin, and Mario met it with a sour look.

Rosalina observed their dynamic, giving just the faintest smile. "Hmm."

Even as Luigi stopped laughing, his smile never faded. Mario watched him, as he took a look at the star map in the forefront of the Observatory. Like the Toads, he seemed more relaxed than daunted by the prospect of space. Even the idea that they wouldn't be going home for a long time didn't bother him. Mario wondered how Luigi, of all people, could be more calm than he was. Luigi, who hated ghosts, jumped at loud noises, and couldn't stand the dark, somehow handled space without so much as a complaint.

"It's cute, you know," Luigi commented absentmindedly. Mario looked up, just as Luigi's hand passed over the projection of the Terrace on the map. He raised his chin once, as a question, and Luigi glanced back at him with a sly smile. "Even Rosalina can tell."

Mario frowned, and his eyes darted around the ground for a moment before he scrutinized Luigi's expression. What did he mean? But Luigi chuckled to himself, and messed with the strap of his overalls. "That Princess Peach is your Special One, Capo."

"Oh." Mario groaned and rubbed his forehead, just as Luma flew out from under his hat.

Luigi gave a sympathetic smile, and watched as Luma trilled and flew in lazy circles around them. "You miss her, don't you?"

Glancing to his right, off in the distance in the heart of space, Mario spotted Earth. They were getting further and further by the day. Soon, he knew Earth would be lost in his sight, indistinguishable from the rest of the deep blue universe. The clusters of stars were spectacular, charting galaxies so far and yet so clear. The colors of the supernovas and the moons and asteroid belts were beyond anything he could have ever imagined. There was so much out there to see, so many places to go. But the Princess wasn't there with him.

Of course, if she was, there would be no need for him to be out in space and to be thinking of how inconceivably vast the universe was in the first place. It was her touch and her grace that soothed him, that compelled him to chase after her even across the most treacherous places. He may be nothing compared to the light of a star, but she was everything and more. Whether she was taken to another Kingdom, taken to another world, or even across the universe, he would follow. He was drawn to her like a moth was to a flame. For a moment, he wondered if he was really saving her for all this time, or if she was the one saving him.

When he looked out to the stars, he felt so very small. He always had, compared to the world around him, but being short was nothing compared to being a speck of dust. As long as he was saving her, he didn't have time to worry about the nature of his existence. She gave him purpose, and that was enough. Bringing her home, safe and sound, mattered more than whatever he might feel.

He could feel Luigi watching him, and he closed his eyes. His voice came low and soft. "More than anything."

O~o~O

After spending a few hours helping the Toad Brigade construct another Starshroom, Mario found himself covered in grease and sweat and decided he should clean himself up before dinner. Luigi had laughed at the sight; Mario's clothes and parts of his face streaked with oil, evidence of his hard work, where the Toads were perfectly spotless. Even Luma had a little bit of dirt on him, but none of the Brigadiers had any trace of the mess.

Mario drifted over to the fountain, his feet practically dragging along the ground, and politely shooed the Lumas out so he could take a bath. The water was always cold. He shuddered hard as he hung up his clothes on a wire he had put in the dome. But once he was submerged, his Firebranded body heated up the water, and he was able to relax.

He scrubbed himself clean, washing away the grease and the dirt with a routine he had for years. Even out in space, he continued to do manual work just like he had back in Brooklyn. Mario would have found it funny. But he was tired. The warm water did wonders on his aching muscles, though he had still been running around more than he had been sleeping. He stared at the wall for a long moment, and very nearly drifted off, before he woke himself up again and tried to hurry.

Cleaning his clothes was easy enough. After he managed to rinse out all the soap, he stood in his underclothes and held his hands up to his overalls and shirt. With the heat he could conjure, he was able to dry his clothes with little effort, though it took some time. He stared at nothing and absentmindedly alternated which article he was drying. Steam wafted softly from his clothes.

After a while, he realized he had spent too long on the overalls, and they were dry enough for him to wear while everything else was still wet. He slid them on quickly, so that he was at least a little decent. Then, Mario felt a presence with him in the fountain.

Luma came from behind; he had gone off to Rosalina while Mario was in the bath. He perched in Mario's hat, though it was still a little damp. Mario reached up to offer some heat to Luma and hopefully finish drying his hat.

He blinked slowly at Luma. The little guy was very cute. All of the potential energy in the universe was concentrated inside of him. He could be anything; he could become a sun or a planet or the foundation of a whole galaxy, and yet here he was, tiny and sitting inside Mario's hat, looking at him with those big eyes. Rosalina had called the Lumas her children, and Mario could very easily see that Luma really was a starchild.

With a giggle, Luma glided towards him and affectionately nuzzled his hair. "Mama says dinner is ready," he said quietly, and Mario couldn't help but smile.

After putting the rest of his clothes on, and retying his boots, Mario left the fountain with Luma and headed for the kitchen. He could smell the food even from across the observatory, and he became very aware of the hunger that had been sitting in the back of his head. Now, it lunged into his stomach, insisting it was empty with a low growl. And who was he to disagree? He could sniff out Luigi's cooking anywhere, and knew a delicious, steaming meal awaited him.

He moved at a sluggish pace, hoping to disguise the slight limp he had from an ache that had settled deep in his knee. The pain was familiar and he knew how to handle it. But, Mario didn't think Luigi would see it that way; Luigi always worried more. For all the running and jumping he did, he got hurt less than he should have. Mario had gotten good at playing down his various overuse injuries, like the persistent pull in his achilles from ages ago that he still hadn't shaken. Luigi, for better or worse, had gotten much keener at being able to tell when he was hurt.

And that was why, as soon as Mario stumbled into the kitchen, Luigi whipped his head up from the pot he was standing over. "Why are you limping?" He narrowed his eyes, interrogating his brother even before Luma could leave his hat.

Mario thought about pretending he didn't know what Luigi was talking about. He could try to dismiss the accusation, but he didn't particularly like lying, nor was he any good at it. There wasn't any point. He was tired, and the limp was probably more obvious than he thought anyway.

He finally gave a half-hearted shrug and mumbled something about his knee. By the time he had trudged over to a chair, Luma had looped around Rosalina twice and had come back to him. There was a plate on the table before him but without anything on it yet. He was aware of Rosalina's steady gaze on him, and looked up just in time to see her mysterious smile fade.

Luigi sighed over the pot and said nothing. Mario slouched in his seat, and Rosalina tilted her head with her perpetually serene expression.

For a little while, the only sound was the bubbling pot and Luma entertaining himself with his reflection in the silverware. The silence wasn't tense; Mario would have been able to tell if Luigi was upset with him, but he still felt uncomfortable. His days had been filled with noise, with something constantly going on around him, whether it was laughter or destruction or the general hum of a machine. So complete silence was somewhat unsettling.

Thankfully, as if she had some sort of insight to his struggle, Rosalina began to speak. "This meal you are preparing," she began, reaching with a languid hand to offer a starbit to Luma. "It carries a pleasing scent."

Mario looked up with a weary smile. He knew exactly how Luigi would react.

Luigi turned to face Rosalina, and blinked several times. "You mean to tell me that you have never experienced the beauty of authentic Italian cuisine?" he asked softly. Then, with renewed vigor, he stirred the pot and added spices with exaggerated flare, like he was dancing through the kitchen. "Princess Rosalina, I cannot allow this to go on! You have not truly lived until you have tasted the perfection that is spaghetti. Mario may be better with breakfast, but I am il maestro della cena!"

Rosalina blinked at Luigi's sudden burst of energy, and how he began monologuing in Italian about the magnificence of his cooking. He spoke so rapidly that Mario couldn't even catch every word. The general idea wasn't to make sense; Mario fondly remembered when Luigi had acted in a similar way in front of Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, just to amuse them. The skit never failed to get a chuckle out of him as well. Once Rosalina saw his smile, she caught on and laughed softly with him.

Ever the entertainer, Luigi went on until he had finished cooking. He kept glancing over his shoulder, waiting for Mario to say something, but he must have realized that Mario was too tired to bother. So he came around with the pot to serve Rosalina and Mario platefuls of pasta. "Here you are," he scooped a massive amount for Mario; he always could anticipate Mario's appetite. "Eat as much as you want. God knows you need it, you have a lot to do."

The moment before Mario could stick his fork into his mouth-watering meal, Luigi's words caused his heart to lurch.

He did have a lot to do. He still had four domes left to get through, and so many more Power Stars left to find before the observatory would have enough energy to track and travel to Bowser. If he wasn't finding Stars, then he was thinking, and he didn't want to think because thinking brought up the enormous spread of the universe. Though Luigi probably hadn't intended it, his remark brought everything Mario had been stressing about back to the forefront of his mind. Instead of hunger, all he felt in his stomach was dread that rose all the way up in his throat.

Luigi and Rosalina both had started eating before either of them noticed he was frozen, fork still hovering above his plate. Before, the pasta had smelled so delicious, so enticing. He had wanted nothing more than to dig in and satisfy his hunger. But suddenly, the mere thought of eating made him feel ill. Luigi looked up at him with a frown, and Mario lowered his fork into the pasta so he wouldn't say anything. He was alarmed to notice that his hand was shaking.

There was too much to do. Too much to be sitting around and wasting time. Princess Peach was by herself across the universe, and what was he doing? He couldn't stop, he had to keep moving so that he could get to her as soon as possible. All he needed to keep himself going was a nap and maybe a bite to eat every now and then. Mario twirled his fork enough to get a bite, and tried not to look at the food. The nerves that jumped up in his throat nearly caused him to gag. As soon as he managed to swallow, he dropped the fork and got to his feet.

He was met with wide eyes from Luigi and a curious squint from Rosalina. "Capo?" Luigi asked, calling out to him with a meek frown.

Mario looked to the floor. He couldn't stand to see their faces. "I'm sorry, Coniglio." he murmured vaguely, trying to avoid the worried look in his brother's eyes. "I have to—I have to go."

As he turned and staggered back out of the kitchen, he could only just hear Luigi's voice. "Rosalina," he sounded a little hurt, and Mario felt a harsh pang of guilt. "I've never seen him like this."

He didn't stand around long enough to hear if Rosalina would reply. In as much of a hurry as he could manage, he headed for a map to find the closest galaxy.

O~o~O

The hallowed space of Ghostly Galaxy had only grown quieter without Luigi's moaning and mumbling. Luma insisted they come back, as he could sense another Power Star, and Mario was in no mood to argue with a being of infinite energy dancing in circles around him.

"They are Boos but they explode!" Luma delighted in Mario's narrow miss, having taken cover behind a statue that now lay in pieces. "They are Bomb Boos!"

Mario failed to see the fun in exploding Boos. He could only thank whatever luck his brother had that allowed him to avoid them. Their glowing yellow eyes tracked him through the gloom. Their dark shapes were easy to miss when they moved, but their eerie, echoing giggles gave them away.

They were like black stars, the fundamental opposite of the gentle light coming from Luma, who laughed in their faces.

"You can spin them into things!" Luma suggested, and though Mario wanted explain to the little starchild that exploding ghosts were not toys to be played with, he had to admit that the idea turned out to be very useful. He dutifully ignored the childish thrill that almost wanted to emerge as he hurled the Bomb Boos into walls and each other. It wasn't a game.

In fact, it was actually very serious. Space was no joke and he had to patiently remind Luma that these missions needed to be treated with gravity. Especially when he reached a great cobblestone platform on a remote part of the galaxy, and rocks drawn from every direction came together to form a massive Bouldergeist.

No. Mario couldn't even find a spark of excitement when the Bomb Boos appeared. Almost like the rock monster was asking to be blown up.

Luma giggled the entire flight back to the Observatory. "Boom!" he kept bursting out with tiny sparks of blue, twirling around with the Power Star that they earned from the fight. Though Mario wouldn't play along, he didn't try to stop Luma from celebrating. Any mission that brought back another power star was a success.

But it wasn't enough.

He set out again. And again. He barely spared a moment aboard the Observatory before he picked another galaxy to search. Polari offered him a break, or time away from the domes, but Mario shook his head even in the face of disappointment and concern from the elder Luma. He remembered seeing that look before on Toadsworth.

How could he even think of stopping? He couldn't imagine what a mess things were back home. He tried not to think about it.

They made their way to a galaxy where a great fort extended straight up. Giant springs and bolts and other mechanical parts formed rings around the strange planetoid as if parts had flown out everywhere, but the fort itself looked well constructed with all the workers well adapted. The Gearmos told him it was called Buoy Base. One of them emphasized how the fort maintained a careful position by virtue of an anchor underwater, one that kept it from rising further up on the surface. Mario could tell by Luma's rummaging and repeated looks upward that he needed to make all the Gearmo's jobs a little bit harder. So he dove underwater to get a good look around.

He worked to stay oriented underneath the bowl-like structure, and the effort forced him to come up for air a few times. But finally, after getting chased around by several Torpedo Teds, he managed to destroy the anchor. In their panic upon the base shooting toward the surface, the Gearmos didn't notice him drag himself back onto a platform, panting, to start the long climb toward where a Power Star must be.

Then he was off to a more remote galaxy, to a tiny planet mostly made of water. He found a group of penguins staring worriedly down at the Giant Gringills tearing through the water. The solution was at least straightforward. He dove in to eliminate their problem. Even when one of the Gringills rammed right into him, sending him reeling through the depths and forcing him to claw his way back to the surface with darkness closing in on his vision, Luma delighted in the chase. His spins allowed him to move through the water quickly. But he couldn't quite control the direction. He finally managed to take out all of the Gringills, restoring harmony to the penguin's planet and earning a Power Star in the process.

The Observatory detected another enemy base. Before anyone could stop him, Mario found a launch star and took off.

Bowser Jr's armada presented an overly familiar threat. The layout of the airships manned by Goombas and overseen by Kamek would have felt like home, except for the abrupt dropoff into the great nothingness of space. Mario kept as tight a grip as he could on what was ahead.

The battle should have been more drawn out, but instead he found himself in somewhat of a rhythmic trance. Bowser Jr admittedly had a little more strategy than his father, Mario had noticed, except it was a very predictable strategy. The younger Koopa always held some kind of trump card that he would not reveal until things got dicey. So Mario fully expected being fired at by Bullet Bills to be the least of the trouble. Luma taught him how to spin after stomping on a Koopa shell; a mysterious gravitational force drew the shells straight to his hands. He leapt up to hurl them at Bowser Jr's pacing airship.

Even when Kamek appeared to fire magic spells down at him, even when the amount of Bullet Bills being fired doubled, and even when Bowser Jr began firing superheated cannons at him, Mario found himself avoiding every threat with a strange numb sense. He leapt over every blast. Every spell striking the floor beside him burst with color, yet Mario remained strangely calm. Cannons and Bullet Bills whizzed by. His eyes felt heavy.

He reacted on instinct to a Koopa behind him, and threw one final shell at Bowser Jr's ship.

Steaming and sputtering, the ship started to crumble. Bowser Jr's secondary strategy, as Mario yet again observed, was a perpetual escape plan. The propeller pod detached from the ship. Bowser Jr tore away into the darkness of space as his ship exploded, and a Grand Star emerged from the wreckage.

The brilliant, gleaming star. His eyes hurt. Even when the Grand Star drew him aloft, his limbs seemed to drag.

He didn't stay to watch it expand the Beacon. Instead, he trudged away to find somewhere quiet before anyone could stop him to ask questions and try to convince him to slow down.

O~o~O

The planetoid was darker than he remembered. It had been so vibrant when he had chased the star bunnies, the Lumas, desperate for an answer to a question he couldn't bear to ask. The Gateway, Rosalina had called it. And truly it was, the small planetoid acted as a gentle introduction to the vast universe he would soon face, because when he looked up, he thought he could see every single star along with his home.

"Mario?"

She sounded close. Mario turned, but he didn't see her. She wasn't behind him, she wasn't standing in the patches of flowers, or over by the little house. He frowned. "Princess?" he dared to ask.

Silence answered him. Had he imagined her voice? Mario wasn't sure, and just before he could call out again, he felt someone grip his shoulder.

Mario's eyes opened and he came to life with a jolt. "Ahi," he let out, breathing hard. Beside him, he noticed Rosalina watching him indifferently.

His body relaxed all at once. Mario realized abruptly that he had been sleeping. He was laying on his side, and was a little dizzy with a slight headache from the way he had been resting. Waiting for his heart rate to return to something normal, he slowly sat up, and focused on taking long breaths. When he looked around, he saw that he was out on the platform just outside of the Bedroom. He didn't have much memory of how he had ended up there. He shuddered hard.

Rosalina sat close to him. Mario found her presence to be oddly comforting, despite having just woken up with a start. Curious, he glanced at her while trying to blink the sleep from his eyes, and she offered him a small smile.

"You have been asleep only for a little while." she told him. "Polari was worried. He said you had just come from a big fight."

Mario nodded along, though he struggled to think of which fight she might be talking about. There seemed to be a lot of big fights lately. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get everything straight.

Luma stirred beneath his hat. He must have woken the poor starchild. Sleeping wasn't exactly something Luma needed, but he knew Luma enjoyed it. Mario hadn't realized he had spaced out until Rosalina delicately took his hand, and held his palm face-up. She looked at him as if to ask for permission, to which he had no answer. All he could do was blink dazedly.

She folded his shirt sleeve up his arm just twice to his elbow. A little bashful, Mario looked toward the ground, because the gesture had a strange way of making him feel like a little boy. A brief and faint memory crossed his mind, of his mother smoothing down his shirt one morning when he was very young. He wondered how he could have remembered something from so long ago, and then also wondered how he could have possibly forgotten. The smell, he remembered the smell of their house back then. He knew home because home smelled like sweet rice and linens.

He forgot to pay attention to what Rosalina was doing, because he was so amazed by her ability to throw him back so far and so fast that his breath almost hitched at the deluge of nostalgia he felt. So much came back to him in just a moment, and he became overwhelmed by a heavy, agonizing urge to immerse himself within more remnants of a simpler time. Of course, when he came back to himself and noticed all the stars before him, he knew that was too much to hope for.

As much as his memories meant to him, they were meaningless in the bigger picture. The stars knew nothing of his mother. They didn't care to dwell on the past or speculate about the future like he might. Instead, the stars had an impersonal way of just being , either with no concept or no concern about what came before and what might come next. They were content to just exist. If only he were the same, if only he were content to live without meaning. But he was only human; the delusion of a meaning to his life was all he had.

He was sure he wasn't purposeless. However, he was small. Compared to the spectacular light of any star he could pick out, he was nothing more than inconsequential organic matter. He didn't have the mental or physical capacity to be anything more. Though that was a truth he had suspected throughout his life, he hadn't anticipated it to become so unbearably painful when faced with the boundlessness of space. He pursed his lips, and looked out across the stars.

Rosalina's fingers traced the inside of his forearm, following the blue-green veins that were most visible in his wrist. Her skin, Mario noticed, had a pearly quality to it. That might have implied to him that she was cold to the touch, but her hand was actually quite warm. "Blood has a unique composition." she got his attention with just a murmur, her gaze intently looking upon the intricate patterns of vessels and muscle, all strung around his arm. "The element of iron is only naturally occurring in the heart of dying stars. And yet, there is iron here, constantly flowing through you."

Mario blinked, and turned his face up to Rosalina. She had a soft, reassuring smile that somehow eased his nerves. "You have starlight flowing within your veins. You always have." she held up her hand then, and suddenly every vein in his arm glowed with a pale light. It lasted only briefly, fading just as soon as it had come. Stunned, Mario was reminded of when he had been bestowed with Luma's power. The glow had been just the same.

She rolled his sleeve back down, and left him with a gentle touch on the back of his head. Maybe she knew he had a lot to think about, or maybe she just wanted to let him rest. Regardless, Mario blinked sleepily at the stars for just a little longer, before he settled himself on his back. Maybe it would be okay for him to be able to sleep for a while.

Just a little while, he promised himself, and he let his eyes slide closed.

O~o~O

It's time for a nap ?

The name of the chapter and the quote at the top come from U2's Love Is All We Have Left. The song is from their album Songs of Experience, which if you know anything about Western poetry, is the follow up to another album called Songs of Innocence, which you might notice I drew half of my username from ? Drones-of-Innocence is more a U2 reference than a William Blake reference in any case. If you're an Apple user, you might hate that album specifically, which is understandable I guess, but I promise it's a good album ? U2 is very dear to me. I've seen them live a few times. They were my first concert ever when I was a kid, and one thing about their performances is that they're hard to top haha, but I also had the amazing privilege of seeing them perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Now THAT was a concert I'm not sure can ever be topped, but you never know what the future holds ✨️

They also introduced me to Muse. The first concert I ever went to was the U2 360 tour for their album No Line on the Horizon, and Muse was their opening act. That was the day I heard and saw Starlight for the first time as a starry eyed child, and I would argue that moment was the first domino to fall toward me eventually writing this story. So if you like it, you have to give U2 all the credit basically ?

There are a few songs I associate with this chapter specifically. They are Human by Civil Twilight, In Metaphor, Solace by Luke Howard, and Losing My Religion by R.E.M. The lyrical pieces I have on my playlist mostly represent the state of Mario's mind and what he's thinking. The piano pieces are more or less what I imagine a soundtrack to a cinematic version of the scenes in the story would be like. The Luke Howard piece has a sad melody that continuously falls and claws it's way back up, almost as if it's struggling to keep going.

Anyway. Hope you liked this chapter, I really enjoyed getting to explore the origins of this universe as well as flesh out details surrounding my favorite game. This one in particular is more flashback heavy and I kind of tried to emulate a fairytale with how Mario's first journey to rescue Princess Peach goes. Also, just really bringing out the canonical characterizations of Luigi and the Brigade during the course of the game. They always seemed so calm and chill about the whole thing, and I think that would bother Mario a lot.

Thanks for reading!