"That's not what happened." I huffed while turning away from her and crossing my arms.

"Oh, come on! Quit being difficult and THINK about it!!" Peach exclaimed, grasping my shoulder.

"Nope! Nu-uh!" I spat. "Never in a million years."

Basically, the princess was blaming this all on Luigi, my precious angel brother who would never hurt a fly. According to her, Merlon said he held a very important role in the prophecy. His audio log just laying around and all the posters of the characters he designed were only further proof.

She ACTUALLY convinced herself that my little brother designed this world and trapped us all inside.

You see, THIS is why we weren't a couple. Peach would sometimes just say the weirdest, most random stuff. Before the void destroyed everything, she actually came to me with another ridiculous theory about my little brother. She kept saying things like, "what if Luigi and Mr. L are the same person? I mean, their voices match, their height matches, and they both have mustaches. And if you think about it, they look practically identical."

It's at times like this when I have to remind myself that Peach is a blonde. It's common and normal for her to have these less-than-smart moments.

"But why!?" I asked. "Say he DID do this all. Why would he do it? Hmm?"

"I don't know yet," The princess admitted, bringing a hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner. Her gloves were still perfectly clean, unlike mine, which were practically always stained. "Maybe it was an accident. Or maybe he had reasons behind it. We don't know yet."

"We also don't know that this is his fault. You need more proof. Let's just... put a pin in this and come back to it, alright? I'm sure this isn't Luigi's fault. He's not some supervillain. He's probably alone and scared. This is LUIGI we're talking about!" I exclaimed.

She paused, then shook her head, letting out a sigh. 

"Yeah... you're probably right... let's just keep looking for more information."

I nodded and led her forward. We traveled down a few floors, looking for more information while discussing a plan.

We did come up with a few theories. The most popular one was that this was just a storage space for everything that used to exist before the count destroyed everything. So, if that was true, then maybe we could try to find and re-activate the pure hearts so we could undo everything. Then again, that was just a theory.  

Most of the walls looked rather clean. There was occasionally some black paint splatter, but everything looked rather tidy. Or... it did until we came up to a split in the hallway. On the wall in front of us, there were big, black letters written messily on the wall. The paint was dripping from it as if it was still wet.

PATH OF DEMONS, OR PATH OF ANGELS

"Should we split up-" Peach was starting to suggest when I held an arm out in front of her.

"No, no, no. Bad idea. We're sticking together," I breathed, turning towards the path of angels. It seemed the obvious choice. Who would choose to go down a hallway labeled path of demons, after all? Well... in most circumstances, I probably would... but not with the Princess.

"You don't have to get all protective, you know. I was just saying, it could be faster if we-"

"I don't wanna hear it. I'm gonna play it safe, okay? We don't know what could be out here," I huffed while trekking down the hallway. The walls seemed a little bit brighter than they were before and there were cute little stuffed animals sitting on the ground. Peach smiled down at them and quietly noted how cute they all were while I silently wondered who they belonged to.

"Are these Luigi's?" Peach asked me, clearly still not dropping the Luigi issue.

"No," I answered. "He only owns two stuffed animals, and I don't see either of them here."

"Pffffft, he still owns two stuffed animals?" Peach giggled.

"Hey!" I exclaimed in a half-joking tone. "Like you're one to judge. I've seen your room. You have like, fifty stuffed animals. So shhh!!"

"It's thirty-seven, actually," she corrected with a giggle. "You were fifteen off."

"I was thirteen off, actually. Who taught you math? They need to be fired."

"Oh shut up," she said, elbowing me. 

We both laughed. It was a nice feeling. Even though the entire world had fallen to darkness, we were still able to joke with each other. It almost made me forget how horrible the situation we were in really was. Nothing seemed impossible because she was still there. 

I continued smiling when Peach suddenly got very serious and placed a hand in front of me, stopping me from continuing forward.

"What? What is it?" I asked when she shushed me.

"Do you hear that?" She whispered.

I frowned, then tried to listen for whatever it was she was hearing. That's when I finally realized that someone was softly singing an eerie tune. Though I couldn't figure out what the lyrics were.

"She sounds creepy..." I whispered. I tensed up slightly.

"Shh!" Peach shushed again, though her shushing me was louder than my whispering. 

The singing stopped.

"Great, now look what you did!" Peach hissed.

"Me?!" I asked, my voice still hushed. "You're the one who basically screamed at me, telling me to be quiet!"

"Are you always this difficult on adventures?!" She exclaimed, still in a hushed manner. "How does Luigi put up with this?!"

"How does Bowser put up with you?! If I were him, I'd just throw you in the lava and be done with it!"

"Well, at least Bowser doesn't wear overalls! How many times have I offered to take you clothes shopping?!" Peach yelled, the quiet voice disappearing.

"I've said a hundred times... I DON'T NEED NEW CLOTHES!" I screamed.

"REALLY?! You don't need new clothes?! Tell that to your stained gloves and your smelly shirt! Do you even HAVE any other outfits?! When's the last time you've washed your clothes?!"

"Washing clothes is a WASTE OF TIME! I'M A BUSY GUY!!!"

You know what, forget everything I said before about the princess being this sugary-sweet saint who I loved and appreciated. This woman was a MONSTER! 

"MARIO, THAT'S DISGUSTING!!" She yelled.

"WHO CARES IF I'M NOT AS FANCY AS YOU!" I snapped.

"No, no, she's right. It IS pretty disgusting," Angel said.

"THANK YOU!" Peach huffed, crossing her arms.

I tensed up, falling silent.

We were so busy fighting that we didn't even notice the horrifying woman standing behind us. She looked somewhat similar to the drawing of that Angel girl... but her halo was hooked through her head, her horns were larger, ink covered her arms and legs, and half of her face was completely distorted. Angel was supposed to be beautiful... but this girl was far from that. No offense.

I grasped Peach's hand and pulled her behind me.

"Who are you?!" I exclaimed.

Angel looked right past me and at the princess, who I could feel was growing tenser and tenser, but she still remained strong. She didn't tremble in fear like most people would have expected her to. She put on a brave face instead and held her chin high.

"You're beautiful..." Angel muttered, reaching for Peach.

I backed up on instinct and glared up at her.

"Don't you dare touch her," I hissed.

Angel didn't pay me any mind. She continued to reach past me as if she was going to grab the princess when the room suddenly went dark.

Angel winced and drew back, suddenly looking very fearful.

"He's coming!" She whimpered. "This way!" 

Before I even could open my mouth, the woman turned and started running down the hall. Peach, thinking much faster than I ever could, squeezed my hand and pulled me along, running quickly behind. 

Great. So now we were FOLLOWING the creepy lady?!

As we ran, black liquids began to seem up through the cracks in the floor, dripping as if gravity had been reversed. A few drops splattered onto my clothes, leaving small black stains.

"What's going on?!" I asked when Angel opened a door and ushered us in. Peach quickly pulled me inside, revealing a cramped room. Angel rushed in behind us and closed the door.

The room was already small, but in hopes of staying away from the creepy lady, Peach and I was huddled in one corner while Angel was staring at us from the other. 

My heart was racing. NOT from standing so close to Peach, I assure you. Just from having to run from whatever Angel was making us run from.

I call her Angel because she resembles the character... but I don't ACTUALLY know her name. I felt kinda guilty for that, but I didn't feel too bad because I didn't 100% trust her. I mean, just looking at her was giving me bad vibes.

"What was that thing? Why was ink starting to flow from the ground?" Peach asked, looking over at Angel, who was waiting for the ink on the ground to fade before letting out a breath and answering.

"The Ink Demon," Angel explained.

"Ink Demon? You mean that weird monster thing?" I asked.

Angel nodded.

"Yes. The first person to come here. Inky..."

Something that scary did NOT deserve to have a name as cute as Inky. Just saying.

"Wait... but you look like you're Angel. Shouldn't you be friends with him?" I asked.

She quickly shook her head.

"Him? Oh no no no, I don't mess with him," She said, her voice sounding half an octave lower than it did before. "I'm not beautiful enough to be his Angel yet. So... I can't let him see me. If he sees me... he'll drag me back into the dark puddles..."

She giggled a little.

Not going to lie, this lady seemed a little unhinged to me...

"Um... Miss Angel..." I trailed off. "Do you think you can tell us what's going on-"

"You're so beautiful..." she trailed off, looking down. "Both of you. I want her beauty, and I want your soul. Maybe with that... I can be beautiful enough for him... wouldn't that be something?"

I tensed up.

"Um... what?!"

"Oh relax," She said, her voice becoming much higher and song-like. "I can't rip your insides out and take parts of you for myself unless you're a character like Brooks. Unfortunately... you're safe. For now..."

Funny. Her saying that didn't make me feel all that much safer. 

I was getting a feeling that we weren't going to get many answers out of her.

"Um... w-well then, Miss Angel," Peach breathed, stuttering slightly. "Thank you for saving us from... that thing. But I think it's time we be on our way-"

"NO!" Angel screamed loudly. "NO, NO, NO! YOU AREN'T RIGHT, YET! BUT YOU WILL BE! I HAVE TO KEEP YOU UNTIL YOU CAN MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL! YOU CAN'T LEAVE!"

Yeesh. She must be fun at parties.

"Okay, okay, let's calm down. Deep breaths... in and out. Alright?" Peach calmly stated. "How about we work this out? Mario and I will go out and look for some hints. Then... once we figure everything out, we'll find a way to make you even more beautiful, alright?"

"NO!" Angel cried, bringing her hands to the side of her head and shaking. "No no no no NO! NO! I NEED THIS! CAN'T YOU SEE?! YOU'LL NEVER FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR! YOU'LL BE A LIAR! A LIAR!!!!"

"Okay, we're leaving," I breathed, grabbing Peach's hand and running out the door. We both sprinted as fast as we could down the hall while Angel gave chase, screaming at us as loudly as she could.

"LIARS, LIARS, LIARS!" She yelled from behind us as we got further and further away. "JUST WAIT! IF I DON'T GET YOU, THE INK DEMON SURELY WILL! YOU'LL DIE, AND DIE, AND DIE! OVER AND OVER UNTIL YOU'RE AS UGLY AS ME!!! THEN, I'LL FIND YOU, AND I'LL BE BEAUTIFUL AGAIN! BEAUTIFUL ENOUGH FOR HIM! BEAUTIFUL ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE!"

She continued screaming while we continued running. I tried not to let her words rattle me, but I could tell Peach was getting nervous. Her grip on my hand tightened ever so slightly, just like it does when she's scared.

"Don't worry," I whispered to her in a soothing manner while we continued to run, down the hall and down a set of stairs. "Don't listen to her. We'll be okay. I promise." 

We continued to descend for what seemed like forever, in hopes of getting as far away from Angel as possible. 

Something about me that not everyone may know is that I make a lot of promises. Some may sound impossible. But, here's a secret, I've never EVER broken a promise. So when I promise something, no matter how impossible it may seem, I will keep that promise.