We didn't find much else, even after hours of searching. Just some random tape recorders from various members of Bleck's little bad guy team, some bacon soup, and a dog whistle (which I put in my pocket. It seemed like a good way to communicate if we got separated or something.) 

The ink in this castle was starting to get ridiculous. The more we searched, the more it appeared. 

It's dark and it's cold and it's stuck behind every single wall now. In some places, I swear this Grambiforsaken ink is clear up to my knees! Whoever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure I don't, or he's some kind of idiot. 

But the real worst part about all this... are the noises I hear in the shadows. And don't get me started on these blasted elevators... sometimes they open... sometimes they don't... sometimes they come... sometimes they keep on going. I swear, someone's sure to end up falling to their death. And it sure ain't gonna be me. I'm taking the stairs. Make no mistake, this place... this... world... heck, this whole darn thing... it just isn't natural. I'm finding Luigi, then I'm outta here.

"You seem tired..." Peach pointed out.

"Well, of course, I am," I huffed. "We haven't found Luigi, the elevators are too sketchy to use, and we've been walking up and down stairs looking for clues that may or may not exist for hours!!"

She smiled and shook her head, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I think I know what's going on."

"I think you're crazy, and I think I'm just tired..." I murmured.

"You miss Luigi."

Pffft, no I don't-

.... Dang it, she's right.

"I know adventuring is so much easier for you when he's around. You usually feed off of his positive energy, and you distract yourself from growing frustrated by focusing on keeping him from getting too scared. On top of that, he's your brother. You two do almost everything together." Peach explained.

"I- uh... well what does that have to do with anything right now?!" 

She giggled and shook her head while giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, which did make me feel a little better. 

"Don't worry. I promise, we'll find him soon," she said. "Then, we can work together to get out of this mess. There's nothing you two can't accomplish when you're together!"

She was also pretty good at making me feel better. Just like Luigi. Both of them usually knew just what to say to keep me going. Her small little pep-talk almost makes up for how ridiculous she was acting earlier.

Peach let go of my arm and climbed up a set of spiral stairs, giggling as she did so. "I've always loved these types of stairs. They're just so... how do I describe it?"

"Old fashioned?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes at me.

"I was going for something more along the lines of fun or cool."

I quietly chuckled, then climbed up behind her. At the top of the staircase was another door. Peach and I had been spending more time in the hallways and less time actually checking rooms out, since there seemed to be an infinite number of rooms, but this one was placed just above that staircase, so it seemed almost like we were SUPPOSED to go in and check it out, if that makes sense. 

Peach seemed to have the same thought, because she nodded at me, then pushed the door open.

Neither of us were really prepared for what we were met with. The first thing I saw were dozens of glowing eyes, all staring at me. The eyes belonged to countless strange dark beings. Although I gotta say, they're not the weirdest types of creatures I've ever encountered. 

There was something melancholic about them. They all looked lost. No one moved or spoke. They all just stared at Peach and me.

One was using their inky hand to write NO ANGEL WILL SAVE US, on the wall. One hugged themselves and looked down. One sounded like they were crying, begging to go home. I could immediately tell that there was nothing for me to fear. These weren't bad guys. 

"Oh, you poor things," Peach breathed.

All the golden eyes shifted to her. They seemed to look at her with awe. In fact, they looked at both of us in awe, as if they'd never seen a regular-looking person before.

"...Will you save us?" Someone asked. I couldn't tell who asked the question, but their voice was young and strained.

"Yes." I immediately answered before even giving it a second thought. "Who are you all? Are you trapped?"

Some nodded. Others shook their heads.

"We're hiding..." someone corrected. It was hard to tell who was talking because it didn't look like anyone had a mouth. Their faces were blank aside from their glowing yellow eyes. 

"From who?" Peach asked.

"From the Angels and the Demons," someone else answered.

I nodded, then pulled Peach further inside so I could shut the door, hoping that the closed door would make all the sad ink people feel slightly safer.

"Okay... well my name is Mario," I explained. "I'm going to get you out of here and save you. I promise. But first, I'm going to need some information."

They more or less nodded, some exchanging a few glances as if they were skeptical of trusting us newcomers. To be fair, I didn't blame them. They all looked terrified. If I was in hiding and some person who looked nothing like me showed up, I'd be skeptical too.

"What's going on? Who are you? What exactly IS the Ink Demon, and what is Angel?" Peach asked, seeming to read my mind. 

There were a few quiet murmurs being exchanged before someone finally spoke up loud enough for us to hear.

"Well... the world was destroyed. We're just the scraps. The leftovers. This is the trash bin. We've all been thrown in here with no real purpose." He explained. 

His voice was familiar. There was something mildly annoying about it. 

"We don't know who we are anymore. We consider ourselves... lost ones. Most people become like us. People who no longer serve a purpose. We have no memories of our lives, no talents, and no hope. Angel is a character. Someone who has held an important role in one of the creators' lives. The creators made this world. Whether that was intentional or not... we don't know. Some characters have more knowledge, like Brooks. Brooks has all his memories, but he cannot talk. Angel... has limited memories. There are multiple versions of each character. Then there are staff members like the projectionist, the bodyguard, and the music director. Their memories are slowly fading, but they get to keep small aspects of themselves. Lastly... there's the Ink Demon," he explained.

Yep. I remembered that know-it-all attitude. Great. It was MERLON. 

But he didn't remember that he was Merlon...?

... HA! Serves him right for being so annoying and making us do everything for him. I know that sounds really insensitive, but that ancient annoyed me SO MUCH!

I bet 100 coins that he's going to passive-aggressively force me to do things I don't want to do just so I could save everyone "correctly."

"Yes...?" I trailed off, waiting for him to continue lecturing us about the lore of this world.

"The Ink Demon is the only character created to look like Inky. If he finds an imperfect Angel, he kills her. If he finds an imperfect Brooks, he kills him. He essentially will kill anyone he finds. It's not because he's evil. He's just... we don't know for sure, but it's rumored that he has no soul. Unlike other characters, he didn't require a vessel. He was just composed of the creators' fear and anger. He was composed of the very thing that brought forth this world. His only goal is to maintain this world. It's clear that he believes this is better than any other world that may have once existed. Some call him a monster. I think he's just... scared."

So he's the final boss. Got it.

"That's great..." Peach muttered. "But why is he scared? Who's the creator? Is it Luigi?"

All the lost souls exchanged confused glances.

"Who?" Merlon's voice asked.

"Ha! Told you he wasn't involved!" I exclaimed, grinning and nudging Peach.

"We have no idea who the creators are," Merlon breathed.

"HA! It could still be him," Peach snapped back, nudging me in return. 

All the lost ones stared blankly at us. It was hard for us to have a playful, friendly moment in such a depressing atmosphere. So, I wiped my hands on my shirt and offered everyone a smile.

"Well... don't worry. We're going to save you all. I promise!" I smiled. "I know you may feel like this is hopeless. You may feel trapped... but you're not alone. You have each other, and you have us. As long as I'm here, I won't stop fighting until I find a way to save us. ALL of us."

"That's right," Peach continued, placing her hand on my shoulder as if she was backing me up. I couldn't help but notice that there were a few small drops of ink on her usually perfectly clean gloves. "We're going to get you out of here. All you have to do is hold onto your hope and never let it go. I don't care how long it takes. We will all see the light of day again. You just have to believe."

"Belief can trap us, or it can free us," I continued. "Are you gonna let your fear keep you from escaping, or are you going to hold onto your hope and believe in us? I know we're strangers to you now, but I promise, you can trust us when we say we're here to help."

The room seemed slightly brighter than it did before. Step one of being a hero was always to give people hope. To let them know that someone was going to fight for them. I really wanted to help all these people, even if they did look funny. And that's not because I'm some legendary hero. I would want to do this anyway, even if I still was nothing more than a washed-up plumber from Brooklyn. I never asked to be a hero. I just stepped up and did what needed to be done, because, at the end of the day, I just wanted to help people. 

And that's what I was going to do. Yes, it was going to take hard work, but I had Peach by my side. Soon, I was hopefully going to have Luigi by my side as well. I just had to find him. 

The thought of finding my brother kept me going. It's true, I had no leads on where he was, and finding him seemed unlikely, but I couldn't let those facts get me down. I was GOING to find him, and we were GOING to figure this out together. I had to believe that.