After Luigi's successful encounter with Dimentio, he walked with a slight skip in his step, feeling high on joy and happiness. Luigi was a strange man. But when he was happy, he often forgot what sadness was. He forgot about all the troubles in the world. Nothing could bring him down from this joyous mood. 

The man in green made his way to his room and fell back onto his bed, falling into it. The mattress was rather stiff and uncomfortable, and the pillow was so rock hard that it hurt, but he didn't care. The blankets were also fairly thin and horrible when it came to keeping one's body heat in, but Luigi was already feeling warm, so he didn't mind.

The man in green just smiled, hugging his guitar to his chest and sighing up at the dark black ceiling. 

This was when Death walked in. 

Luigi frowned and sat up, sitting his guitar down on the bed next to him and giving his friend a confused expression.

The god was wearing an expression that Luigi couldn't quite read. Was it confusion? Curiosity? The god didn't quite look happy, but he didn't look upset either. He just looked as if he had a question. 

"Death...? Are you alright? You look... lost," Luigi pointed out, slightly worried.

"I am not lost," Death assured him. "I'm just... wondering."

"Wondering...?" Luigi trailed off, leaning forward slightly as he raised an eyebrow, waiting for his friend to finish the thought.

Death had always known everything and everyone, so it wasn't often that he wondered. 

~ Music Start ~

Death: Where'd you get that melody?

Luigi: I don't know
It came to me
As if I'd known it all along

Death: You have
It's an old song
A song of love from long ago
Long-time since I heard it though

Luigi: You've heard that melody before?

Death: Sure

Luigi: Tell me more

Death sighed then sat down next to Luigi, gently placing a hand on the man in green's shoulder.

Death: Remember the tale I told you once about the Gods?

Luigi: Which ones?

Death: Jaydes and Grambi,
Remember how it used to be
Their love that made the world go round?

Luigi: Yeah, I remember now
But that was long ago

Death: Tell it again though

Luigi quickly nodded and grabbed his guitar, striking another chord.

Luigi: Queen of shadows
Queen of shaydes
Jaydes was queen of the Underwhere,

Death nodded as Luigi slowly stood up, closing his eyes trying to remember the story Death had told him long ago.

Luigi: But she fell in love with a beautiful man
Who walked up above in sky's grand field
She fell in love with Grambi
Who was gathering flowers in the light of the sun
And she wished to take him home to become her king
Where the sun never shone
On anyone

Luigi paused for a moment, opening his eyes and turning to look at Death, who waved his hand, gesturing for Luigi to continue.

Death: Go on...

So Luigi did, facing Death and telling the tale they both already knew.

Luigi: The man loved her and the kingdom she had
But without him above, not one flower would grow...
So Queen Jaydes agreed that for half of each year
Their daughter would stay with her there in her world down below

The man in green paused to take a breath, turning and looking at the small desk lamp in his room. The only sign of light around.

Luigi: But the other half, she could walk in the sun
And the sun, in turn, burned twice as bright
Which is where the seasons come from
And with them, the cycle
Of the seed and the sickle
And the lives of the people
And the birds in their flight

Death: Singing...

Luigi took a small breath, then sang the melody he knew. 

Luigi: La la la la la la la...

Death: Down below and up above

Luigi: La la la la la la la...

Death: In harmony and rhythm

Luigi: La la la la la la la...

Death: The Gods sang her song of love

Luigi: La la la la la la la...

Death: And the world sang it with them
But that was long ago
Before we were on this road...

~ Music Stop 3:12 ~

Death simply smiled again and stood up, waving to Luigi before he left, telling the man in green that he had a train to catch. After all, he still had a job to do, and he couldn't spend all his time following Luigi. There were other characters in this story too, after all.

So, the god of death disappeared, leaving Luigi alone with that tune in his mind. With the sad tale of the gods, who were once in love, but now had been separated and constantly trading their daughter off.

It really was quite a sad story. However, with the way their kingdoms were built, there was nothing that could be done. 

Luigi never liked that expression. 'There was nothing that could be done.' It implied that something was impossible, which went against his belief that anything was possible. He always liked to believe that there could always be something to be done. Even if things seemed hopeless.

Since Nastasia didn't wish to jeopardize losing the man in green to the heroes, she didn't send him out to fight. He didn't look like much of a fighter anyhow. He was rather scrawny, he didn't have very much muscle mass, and he overall seemed a more gentle type. Perhaps if she had brainwashed him she could have gotten rid of that characteristic, but that would leave a whole new personality she'd have to deal with and she didn't have scheduled time to deal with that. 

She stressed to all the other minions how important it was that they keep the man in green INSIDE Castle Bleck, making sure they all knew to keep an eye on him. 

But the thing was, he didn't seem to want to leave. He didn't try to get back to his friends or family. It was almost as if he saw himself as one of them. And her goal was to keep him this way. Even if it meant lying to him and keeping information about what they were really doing secret.

But Dimentio, you see, had already known about the Count's nefarious goal to not only destroy all the bad in the world but destroy anything. He already knew what the Count was up to. And he already had a plan to stop it. A plan he had made long ago.

But... then Luigi happened.

What about Luigi's song?

If the man in green could finish his song in time, then maybe Dimentio wouldn't have to follow through with his plan. Maybe he wouldn't have to betray everyone. Maybe things wouldn't have to be so dark and lonely.

Maybe.

Maybe things could be okay!

He wasn't sure. But, he found himself believing more and more with each second he spent with the man in green. Luigi promised so much, and though Dimentio knew most promises ended in only disappointment, a part of him truly wanted to believe that Luigi's song could in fact fix things. Maybe it could make the world whole again and make the flowers bloom once more. Luigi seemed genuine when he promised these things, unlike everyone else Dimentio had ever spoken to. Luigi's smile was real, and his words seemed truthful.

Maybe he was foolish for wanting to listen and believe Luigi. But maybe that was okay because was the alternative plan much better?

As the weeks went on, spring had still yet to come, even though it was far into the month of June. And yes, it was cold and the world seemed near dead, but Luigi made it feel like everything had somehow come alive again. And when he sang, the choir of the world seemed to sing with him in peace and harmony. 

Dimentio knew how Luigi felt about him. And though he was not yet sure of his own feelings... he knew he felt different than before. Was it a good different? Was it a bad different? He had no idea. It was just... different.

He wasn't sure if he was afraid of the feeling, or rather afraid of losing the feeling that Luigi gave him. All he had ever known his whole life was how to hold himself up on his own. But now... things seemed different.

He could look at the flower and feel different.

He had no idea how all these feelings inside himself formed so quickly. He had no idea how the flower still lived, petals not having wilted in the slightest. They were smooth and tender, like true flower petals. They WERE true flower petals. 

The first flower he had seen in such a long time. So beautiful. So small, yet so significant. 

When he was little, he couldn't remember much. But he could always, ALWAYS remember flowers. The feeling of fields of flowers, soft beneath his feet. The sweet smell of spring having come again.

It was so long ago. Why did spring never come any more? What had happened? Why was the world so out of tune now?

There were so many questions and so few answers.

But what he did know was this. He wanted spring back. He wanted the feeling of flowers beneath his heels. He wanted the smell of blossoms and blooming. The small puffs of white cotton floating in the air and the sound of simple honey bees buzzing.

He wanted that feeling back.

And that was what Luigi was promising to give.