I couldn't remember the last time I found myself on the steps of Queen Jaydes' palace. Had I ever stood on the clean marble floors? She had designated times set up where souls of the Underwhere were allowed to wait in line to speak to her, but I never bothered. She wouldn't give me what I wanted. Forgotten, unimportant people like myself weren't on her radar. Besides, the line to speak to her was always far too long. I would never wait ten hours just to be told "no." 

It wasn't one of her designated speaking times, but that didn't matter to Luigi. Clearly he didn't know the rules; not that rules would have mattered to someone special like him. He was above everything. She'd surely make time for him if he wanted to speak to the queen. If she didn't, Grambi would have probably fired her or something. 

Who would take her place if she were to be fired? Luvbi, probably. Oh Grambi, the horror. 

I was never one of Queen Jaydes' fans. I don't think she had any fans, actually. She was an okay person, I suppose. Her job was rough and came with a lot of negative backlash, but someone had to do it. She reminded me of Nastasia in some ways. She had the potential to let the billions of deceased souls under her power run rampant, yet somehow got them all to maintain a structured order (for the most part.) Yes, it wasn't as organized as the Overthere, but that was because she had countless villains to deal with. She was lucky I didn't decide to make her suffer upon my arrival. 

I remained a good distance behind the man in green and hid behind yet another pillar as he dumbly marched up to the queen's throne. He didn't bow, though he should have. Did he know nothing of how to treat royalty? 

The queen glanced down at him. She should have snapped at him and told him that this was no way to greet a royal, but she didn't. Again, some people were just allowed to get away with anything. If I had been up there acting in such a rude manner, her D-men would already have been dragging me to the river.

But for Luigi, she smiled. Not her plastered-on, expected royal smile that she was forced to give. A true smile that brightened her eyes and made her seem almost human. 

"Luigi," she said. Never before had she sounded so life-like. Usually, her tone was cold and professional, yet with Luigi she spoke as if she was reuniting with a childhood best friend.

"You remember me?" he asked. 

I silently scoffed. Who wouldn't remember him? He was a legendary hero who had dozens of life-changing accomplishments under his belt. 

"Of course," she replied with a slight head bow. Since when did SHE bow to people?! "You're right on time."

Right on time. That must have meant he was on another adventure or something. Had a new prophecy truly been written? Why so quickly? Usually, it took thousands of years for a prophecy to come to be, and Luigi clearly wasn't thousands of years old. He had that average, dull human lifespan of about eighty years. 

The man in green awkwardly laughed and set his ghost dog down. My eyes immediately went to the paranormal pup as it happily trotted around him. 

She was going to tell him the rules. She was going to make this ten times more difficult for me than it needed to be. If Luigi knew about the ghost thing, he'd surely protect his beloved dog. He'd sleep with one eye open, do whatever it took to prevent me from getting what I wanted. 

I clenched my fists slightly as Luigi started to rock back and forth on his heels. His black boots squeaked slightly, meaning they were likely slightly damp before he arrived in the Underwhere. 

"I didn't know you guys kept track of these things," he chuckled. "Well, I don't suppose it would be too selfish of me to ask one more favor from you, would it?"

She grinned and gave a quick nod. 

"Anything for you. After all, it's thanks to your bravery that the worlds can still exist in balance. Grambi and I owe you so much."

"Oh, don't mention it," he grinned. Rage continued to flow through me in hot, fiery flashes. All he did was follow in everyone else's footsteps. Luigi was playing both sides. No one should have owed him anything. That was the problem with heroes, they were always rewarded for their "good deeds." Every good deed is done with selfish intent. The fortunate do good because they know they'll be met with good in return. If I were to save someone, people would scream at me and forget the next day. 

"I need to find Mario," he stated. "I mean, I know I could look for him, but the Underwhere is so massive."

"Ah, yes, looking on your own would surely take decades at least," she chuckled. The queen stood from her throne and slowly moved to her large shelf of scrolls and books. "Let me see if I can locate the man in red for you."

"Oh, thank you," Luigi gushed. "You have no idea how much it means to me."

"Anytime," she breathed as she continued to search. Her bony fingers traced over the hundreds of scrolls rapidly. I wished I could know what was written on them. Were they prophecies? Books of spells? A timeline of every living person's life, perhaps?

"Hear that, Polter?" Luigi asked as he kneeled down to the dog's level and squished its face. "We're gonna find Mario!"

The dog continued to pant and grin as it gave a short yap in response. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of this all. 

"Yes, but first I'll need some information to help me narrow down the search," Queen Jaydes sighed. "Unfortunately my memory isn't what it used to be. Can you tell me when he died?"

Ah, so the man in red was deceased. Was Luigi on some noble quest to return the universe's greatest hero back to the living realm, then? Was this all part of a plan to cheat death yet again? Why was I not surprised?

"Ah, yes, right," Luigi quickly breathed. "Let's see... he died about a month ago. It was a freak accident, no one saw it coming. He was changing the clocks for daylight saving time in the princess's castle. Some of those are really high up there, so you know, he needed a ladder. Then, I guess he slipped."

Mario, the legendary hero who went on countless daring quests across sandstorms and lava oceans died by... changing the clocks?

"Falling to his death..." the queen muttered. "On Sunday, November 5, 2034... got it!" 

I shook my head. Was that what year it was?

When did I die?

The last year I could remember was 2014. April of 2014, maybe? So it had been twenty years?!

Odd. Somehow it felt longer. On some days I was certain that I had been gone for at least half a century. Then again, that wouldn't have made sense with how youthful Luigi appeared to still be. 

If the year was 2034, then he must have been forty-five or forty-six. I remembered Mr. L being twenty-five when we first met, though I never did find out when his birthday was. 

Forty-five... the longer I looked at him, the more apparent that became. Gray hairs sprinkled throughout his head and mustache, slightly looser skin than before, even his eyes felt less bright and youthful than they did back then. Still, he didn't look bad. It was the good kind of aging, the kind where you can tell someone has lived, but still has more living to do. 

"Here you are," she smiled as she approached him and held out a smooth scroll made of clearly new parchment. It hadn't turned yellow with age yet like my own scroll probably had. That was if I even had a scroll. Were documents saved for the unimportant, unfavored souls like myself? "Oh, and I'd keep your pet close to you. Some of our shades can get rather dangerous."

"Oh, I'm not worried. Polterpup is the biggest troublemaker I know," Luigi chimed as he unrolled the scroll and started to read. 

So the dog really was his pet. How pathetic and laughable. The dog was blessed with the chance to be a ghost, and what did it do? Became a simple lap pet, something to be looked down upon and ordered around. Not only that, it became the lapdog to the world's most famous ghost hunter. What a waste of ability. 

"Huh, according to this, Mario's in the Overthere," Luigi breathed as his eyes scanned over the scroll. 

"That makes sense. He is Grambi's favorite, after all."

Ah, good, they aren't even trying to hide it. How comforting. 

"Amazing!" the man in green chimed as he rolled up the scroll into a tight tube and held it back out to her. "So how do I get to him? I don't really remember my way around. It's been... Gee, I don't know how many years, but a long time since I've been here."

Twenty years. Just over twenty years, if it really was 2034. 

"Twenty years," Jaydes answered. 

The man in green giggled. 

"Really? Goodness, time really flies, doesn't it? I thought it would be closer to ten. Sometimes I still talk to Merlon, you know. He's a funny old guy, though he's getting on in his years. We all are."

The queen nodded and hummed momentarily, then carefully took the parchment from him and tucked it back on her large shelf. 

"Back to business; since you are dead, there is technically no way for you to meet your brother in the Overthere," she stated.

My head tilted slightly. 

Luigi was dead? 

He wasn't on a mission to bring his brother back to the living world? 

What happened? Why was he so young? Had he also fallen doing something stupid like changing the clocks? 

What was he doing down here??

"You being here means that Grambi has decided your soul was bound to my domain in the Underwhere, so this is where you must remain," she continued. 

Unless...

I glanced at the ghostly dog. 

Would she explain it to him? 

What would he do if she did?

Luigi's shoulders sank slightly. I couldn't see his face, thankfully. I never enjoyed seeing the light from someone's eyes completely vanish, despite what many may think. Not that many thought of me at all anymore. 

"Is there anything to be done?" he asked. His voice had dropped to a slightly hushed, shaky tone. He didn't sound afraid before oddly enough, but he did now. It was like he didn't fear being dead, just being separated from his beloved older brother. 

"Well, there's nothing I can technically do," the queen breathed as she turned to face him yet again, "But it is rather odd that you're down here. You're a legendary hero, and no prophecy requires you to be here this time. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Your heart is pure in my eyes. Perhaps Grambi made a simple mistake."

"Grambi makes mistakes?" Luigi meekly asked. 

"Clearly," the queen laughed. "Why else would you be down here? Don't worry; if he's alerted of this error he'll surely correct it."

"Oh, thank you, your majesty," Luigi gushed. He let out a loud sigh of relief and ran his ungloved fingers through his slightly damp, unkempt hair. 

"Yes, but I'm afraid the responsibility of informing Grambi of his mistakes falls upon you, Man in Green. It's winter, meaning I'm expecting a massive influx of souls entering my domain, so I'll be much too busy to make the journey."

"The journey?" Luigi asked. "But I thought you said I couldn't get to the Overthere anymore. Being, you know, dead and all."

"I did," she stated. "You cannot get to the Overthere. The way you traveled last time is closed off. Our dimensions are constantly changing, after all. However, if you know someone who can guide you to them, you can find your way to the northern gates that separate this aftergame from that one. You won't be allowed within the Overthere's walls, but you'd be close enough to call for Grambi and demand his attention. I can send him a quick letter informing him of your arrival, but something as big and important as this should be discussed in person, not over the mail. Besides, he doesn't open half my letters, as busy as he is."

"Oh, okay! Northern gates. Got it!" Luigi chimed. 

He turned to run off when she suddenly cleared her throat, signaling for him to wait. 

He skidded to a halt and turned to face her once again.

Her shoulders dropped slightly as she tilted her hand and smiled. Her voice drifted back to its regal state, though she still kept a friendly and warm tone. 

"It's a long journey, and it's dangerous." She took a breath and glanced at the ghostly dog. "But with some help, I'm sure you can do it. I have faith in you, man in green."