Peach and I had been up and down hall after hall, floor after floor. Some rooms were short and narrow, others were wide and open. The story lacks action for a while. After hours, maybe even days of searching, the only interesting things we found were tape recorders, and only one of them really stood out.

"I didn't want to break it to them that I wasn't exactly a hero. But... well, I WAS trying to escape. However, unlike whoever they were talking about, I wasn't going to go around making empty promises, filling them with false hope. I suppose that was the difference between me and Mario. I can try, is all I say."

- Luigi

"So... he's gotta be alive and down here, right? He's just looking for the exit!" Peach chimed.

"Yeah, the exit that doesn't exist..." I trailed off. "We have to MAKE an exit, not find one."

"Well, I don't think he knows that," Peach shrugged. "Are there any clues that hint to where he was heading?"

I shook my head no and set the tape down, taking a deep breath and reminding myself not to give in to my frustrations. I was going to find Luigi and we were going to fix this. I just had to keep reminding myself to stay positive.

We still avoided the elevators. The power in this place seemed very unreliable, so I wasn't going to take any risks by riding in those. We went up a few floors of stairs once again, then steps into a large room that was absolutely flooded with ink. The black substance was literally up to my thighs.

"Gross..." Peach trailed up, holding up her dress, which still didn't protect the bottom from being stained black with ink. Her once perfectly clean dress had black stains all over it, as did her perfect gloves, and hair. 

Although, I wasn't complaining. She actually looked pretty nice. I wasn't used to her looking quite like this. 

"Um... Hello?" I called out. Ever since we saw Angel and those lost ones, we had yet to see anyone else. Merlon said that some people were made into those characters, but I didn't see ANY recreations of Brooks yet and just the one of Angel. 

In response to my question, there was a soft whining noise coming from across the room. This room was rather dark, so it was almost eerie. Not that I was scared. I had been through many dark places and got out just fine. Boo Houses, caves, underwater levels, you get my point.

"Um... hello?" Peach called out.

Suddenly, dozens and dozens of images lit up and were projected on the walls. It was brighter now, so we could see what the room really was. Some sort of projection room. It made me think of old-fashioned films and stuff. Each projection was showcasing a different moving picture of the three characters we knew about.

"This has to be one of those people the lost souls talked about. The projectionist!" Peach pointed out, almost excitedly. "Maybe they know where Luigi is!"

Or maybe they wanted to kill us.

Either way, I had to find them. "HELLO?" I called out, making myself slightly louder. "IT'S ME! MARIO! WE'RE JUST HERE TO HELP!"

Whoever was in the room seemed to hesitate, then there was a slushing noise as if they were walking through the ink and towards us. I slowly moved in front of Peach, just in case I needed to protect her, while the sound grew closer and closer until the projectionist was standing in front of us.

Her entire body was black and covered in ink, similar to the lost ones, only instead of a normal head, it looked like a projector box had been smashed onto her. 

"Mimi?" She asked, sounding almost weak. "Mimi, I can't see. Please take this off..."

My gaze softened and Peach let out a small sigh. "Oh... you poor thing... what happened?" Peach asked, using her sweet and gentle tone.

The projectionist looked side to side, acting as if she couldn't see us.

"You're not Mimi," she said.

"We're not Mimi," I agreed. "We're here to help you. What are you doing down here? It's dark and cold. Are you trapped?"

She paused, then seemed to look down.

"I just naturally seek out dark places," She explained. "It helps me think. Yeah, you see, I've learned all the ins and outs of this castle. I know where to go so I'm not bothered by any of the other minions. It's not shady or anything. I don't care what Mimi says. She can seek all the attention she wants. I prefer staying back here where it's dark anyway."

She didn't sound genuine at all. I could tell by her posture. She felt trapped and slightly jealous. I knew very well who Mimi was since we had seen her on our adventure. So... judging by this girl's voice and her way of speaking, I could only guess that she was Nastasia.

"That projector... it's stuck on your head?" Peach asked.

Nastasia nodded.

"She wanted to be even more beautiful in comparison... not that it matters. I was never all that much to look at. I just... is beauty all we are anymore? Is that all that matters?" Nastasia asked.

"No, no, of course not," Peach assured her. "And I remember you. You're Nastasia, right? You were breathtaking. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. I think... wherever your friend Mimi is, she's just confused."

"We're all confused down here," Nastasia muttered. "I can't even see anymore. I can barely breathe. Look at me!!"

Peach and I exchanged glances, then I reached for Nastasia's head.

"Here. Let me try to get that off of you..."

"You can't!" Nastasia hissed. "I've tried so hard. She's the only one who can, and she won't do it unless she has what she wants..."

"Well... what does she want?" Peach asked.

Nastasia looked down.

"The perfect Brooks. And I... I know where he is, but I can't let her get him. I just can't let her get him! I can't!! I can't do it! I can't let her have him!" She cried, getting louder and louder until she almost sounded hysterical.

"Okay, okay, okay. Well... How about this!" I chimed, handing her the dog whistle I picked up earlier. "I'll figure something out. I'll find a way to get that projector off. I PROMISE. Until then, hold onto this. You can use it to call me. When I hear that, I'll come and help you. That way, Mimi won't hurt you again. Deal?"

She grasped the dog whistle, then cocked her head to the side slightly.

"You are aware that you can't hear these, right? Only Brooks can." She stated.

Wait, what?

"Really?" Peach asked.

"Yeah. Don't you know how dog whistles work?" Nastasia asked us. 

Peach and I both exchanged confused glances. To be honest, I've never had a dog, so I had no idea.

"Wait, give me that for a second," Peach said, taking the whistle back. She took a deep breath, then blew into it.

The room was suddenly filled with a high-pitched ringing sound. I winced and covered my ears until Peach stopped.

"Huh. I guess you're right," Peach admitted. "I couldn't hear anything."

Couldn't hear anything?!

"Um, are you deaf?" I asked. "That was PAINFULLY loud!"

The princess looked at me with a confused expression. She waited another moment, then blew into the whistle again.

Once again, the room was filled with a high-pitched screeching noise. I covered my ears.

"Interesting..." Nastasia muttered. "You hear it?"

"You don't hear it?!" I asked. 

I don't understand how anyone could possibly not hear that.

"Odd..." Peach trailed off, handing the whistle back to Nastasia. "Well... I guess it'll serve its purpose all the same at the end of the day."

"Yeah. Just don't go using it too often," I grumbled. "My ears need to recover from that..."

Nastasia looked down at the whistle, then back up at me. "Okay..." she muttered.

I smiled.

"So... before I go, I want to ask you... do you know what's going on?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Our memories are... not exactly gone. They're just... fractured. I can only remember a few things about myself, let alone what happened," Nastasia trailed off. "I remember Mimi... I remember some other people. Then... I remember him. I don't know his name... I just know that I have to protect him. That's why I can't let her have the perfect Brooks. That's why I can't let her take him."

"Him? Who's him?" Peach asked.

Nastasia seemed to shrug.

"I don't know. I only saw him once. He was alone and scared. I wanted to stay with him... but I knew if I did, Mimi would track me down and find him, then she'd kill him to make herself beautiful. We can't die in this world, but to be torn apart like that... it's worse than dying." 

Peach and I tensed up slightly.

So no one can die in this world?

"Wait, what happens if we do die?!" I asked. "I mean, you just said we can't... but..."

"Depends on the person. Lost ones become ink puddles until they reform, more distorted than before. People with roles, like me, reform as well, but our memories and sanity are only further fractured. Characters like Angel and Brooks... takes a long time to reform. And when they do, they become less human and more like their character. They become more and more distorted until there is nothing left but an empty shell left." She explained.

Peach nervously swallowed. 

"And... what about us?" She asked.

Nastasia paused.

"Depends. Are you the creator?" She asked.

We both shook our heads no.

"Then you become a lost one or a character."

Peach seemed pretty rattled after that. I, on the other hand, wasn't sure how to feel. It was comforting to know that we couldn't die, but the idea of us losing ourselves each time we were revived... I didn't like that. Not a bit. 

I was a little disappointed that we couldn't get more information out of Nastasia, but that wasn't really her fault. This whole adventure was turning into one of the more difficult ones. But at least I had Peach by my side.

After we left, we had been going up and down a variety of different floors and found ourselves in what looked like some sort of creepy fitness center. 

"O'Chunks is gonna be here. I bet ten coins," Peach muttered.

"You're rich. You can bet more than ten," I chuckled.

"Fine. Ten thousand. I bet ten thousand coins he's in here." She giggled.

"I'll take that bet!" I smiled confidently.

I should not have taken that bet...

Although, we didn't see him at first. We just heard his voice echoing through the room. We could tell it was him because he was practically impossible to understand. It sounded like he was shouting plain gibberish. Peach and I exchanged a worried look, then ran towards all the commotion to see who, but our good friend, the ink demon. The big, blobby monster thing was dragging O'Chunks back down a set of stairs and into a big, dark room.

O'Chunks looked just like us. Absolutely normal. He was incredibly easy to recognize because nothing changed, aside from the expression on his face. His once confident smile turned to a terrified frown. He was kicking and screaming, desperately trying to escape.

"Lads! Maria!! 'Elp meh!!" He cried out while being dragged away.

I clenched my fists, ready to jump into action. Yes, he was an enemy before, but he was still a person who needed to be saved. I was ready to spring to his aid and rescue him from that giant inky monster.

Until a hand grabbed my shoulder.

At first, I thought it was Peach, but the hand was too large and almost felt... squishy? It was a weird sensation.

I looked up, and behind me was none other than a practically perfect re-creation of Brooks.

Peach was standing behind him, covering her mouth. She looked afraid.

The perfect Brooks shook his head, then let go of my shoulder, gesturing for me to follow him.

I frowned, then looked back at O'Chunks, who was still being dragged away by the ink demon.

I was left with a choice. Do I dive head first into battle to save O'Chunks, taking my chances against the ink demon, who everyone down here was terrified of? Or do I follow the perfect Brooks away from the fight, and live another day?