~ L̶u̴i̶g̶i̴ ̴P̴O̵V̸ ~

~ Present Time ~

I stood there, just staring at him as he explained what had really happened, trying to process everything.

This poor guy...

Mr. L seemed to wait a moment for me to respond but continued talking when he realized I wasn't going to. "... I know I shouldn't have blindly followed him, just as I blindly followed the Count... but I wanted to. I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to help him because... I thought maybe it could lead to a future together."  Mr. L stated, looking somewhat remorseful. "I know I shouldn't want to... but I still want that. I still want to find a way to get that. He's more than the person he presents himself to be, I know it- I̷ ̴k̶n̴o̷w̶ ̴i̵t̴"

His voice skipped again at the end of that. It had been a while since it had done that...

He shook his head, then covered his face, lowering it in shame, his speech becoming less and less easy to understand, skipping and glitching more like how it used to. His appearance seemed to also glitch as well. "I̷͇͆'̴̰͒ḿ̶̜ ̸̜̆s̴̖̾o̷̼̾r̵̼̅r̵̞̈y̸̗͑.̸̰́ ̴̱̑Î̶̳'̶̪̈m̴̨̽ ̶̧̇ṡ̴͎o̸̤͊r̵̬̔r̸̞̕y̸̥͘.̷̛͔ ̶̖͑I̶̱͊ ̷̠̾s̵̱͆ḧ̶̰́o̸͙̽u̴̦͋ḽ̴͘d̸͎̄n̸̮̋'̸͔̏t̶͎͝ ̸̲̕h̶̺̅ȃ̶̪v̴͍̎e̷̛̯ ̶̢̈́d̸̫͊r̶̺̈a̸͉͂g̴̙͆g̷͙͆e̸̳͘d̵̟͘ ̴̢̂ÿ̴̬́ö̷̜́u̵̺̓ ̴͖̃i̷̭̋n̷̥̂t̶̗̽ȯ̸̺ ̷͓̋ť̶͓ḧ̴͙i̵͚͐s̶͑ͅ-̶̥̏ ̷̀͜t̴̯̓h̷̩̔i̸͛ͅs̶͙͝.̶̝̿ ̸̬̑I̴̘̅ ̸̝̑ś̵͔h̷͍́ò̶̘u̸̜̿l̴͈͝d̶͙̕ ̸̡̚h̴̡̔á̷̞v̷̛̝e̷͎̒ ̶͓̑k̴̟̈́n̶͖̆o̴̮͌w̸̤̋n̵͇̓ ̶̺͗h̷̨̐e̶͈̎'̴͔́ḓ̶̄ ̸̹͌d̷̥͂o̸̞͑ ̷̮̆s̶̪̾o̸͙͝m̸͈̂è̶͚t̴͇͝h̶̲̊ḯ̷̮n̷̬̆ĝ̵̬ ̸̭̿l̵̩͛i̴̤̽k̶̰̓e̴͉̅-̶͍̾"̷͉͌

I suddenly slid over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, cutting his sentence short. I didn't care that he was willing to give me up earlier anymore. I didn't care about any of it. I just squeezed my eyes shut and hugged tightly. 

And he stopped glitching. He felt... real. 

And at that moment, that was when I realized what was truly going on.

"You love him... don't you?" I softly asked.

He didn't answer.

I didn't expect him too.

It took a good long minute before he hugged back, lightly sniffling. "I.... don't know why. I-it doesn't make sense..." He whispered.

"Well... love doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense, but that doesn't make it any less true. It's okay that it's messy."

"I... didn't know you could do that," He whispered, voice still echoing, but no longer glitching. "The hug I mean. I didn't know you had the power to do that..."

"Me neither," I admitted, pulling back and standing up. "I was actually 90% sure I would just phase through you."

He paused, then seemed to stand up as well. Curious, he punched me in the arm. Of course, his hand phased through just as it used to. "Odd..." He whispered.

"Here," I murmured, taking a deep breath and grabbing his arm. Only this time, I actually grabbed it. "I think... I have to want to feel you. Otherwise, you'll phase right through me. I think that's how I grabbed the pipe."

"So... you can make me real to you?" Mr. L questioned, eyes widening slightly.

"I think-" I started, when I was cut off by the sound of that familiar chime. I snapped my head to the side to see who, but Dimentio, glaring at me with an ice-cold gaze.

I saw him differently now. Before I didn't know what to think of him. But after hearing Mr. L's story, I thought I had a more clear picture. "Umm... hello." I nodded. "C-Can I-"

"I'm simply here to question you, L." He interrupted.

Me and Mr. L seemed to pause in fear, not sure what he was planning on doing.

".... We have to get through to him," Mr. L eventually stated, floating next to me. "Just... say what I say. Okay?"

"Okay," I nervously nodded. 

Dimentio took this as the opportunity to start talking. "What do you know. What do you remember?" Dimentio asked.

"Everything," I replied, per Mr. L's request.

"Hmm, everything. As in..." He trailed off, waiting for a more clear explaination.

"As in Count Bleck. The execution box. The Underwhere. I remember it all," I stated, though the words were not mine.

This was his only chance to communicate to Dimentio, so I didn't mind acting as a medium in this moment. I didn't feel like some sort of puppet, but like a friend being helpful to someone who needed it.

Dimentio's eyes seemed to paint an expression of disappointment as I said that, but his voice remained steady and calm. "Hmm.... and what, do tell, is your goal?" He coldly demanded.

"Easy. To stop you," I shrugged. "To stop you, and set everything right."

"Aha ha ha, cute. And how do you plan to do such a thing? I've got you trapped. It looks as if you haven't thought this through, L."

"With love!" I stated even though Mr. L didn't tell me to say that.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Mr. L shouted at me, shocked at my quick, independent answer. "TAKE THAT BACK, I DID NOT TELL YOU TO-"

"Pfffft, AH HA HA HA, with LOVE?! Have you gone mad?" Dimentio laughed as if what I said was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

"Oh, I think I'm well past mad at this point," I nervously laughed, lightly smiling at him.

"Luigi, what are you doing?!" Mr. L hissed.

"Just give me a chance, Dimentio. We can find a future together. We can figure out a way to be happy!" I chimed for Mr. L, though again, he did not tell me to say that. But I knew he was thinking it somewhere deep down!

He'd thank me later!

"QUIT SAYING STUFF LIKE THAT! I'M NOT SAYING THAT! NOW HE'S GONNA THINK I'M WEIRD!" Mr. L cried. "LUIGI! JUST STOP TALKING!"

Dimentio seemed slightly taken aback on the other side of the cell as I waited for a response. Mr. L fell silent and waited as well, a nervous expression on his face. 

For once, I was the most confident in the room. It felt nice.

Dimentio didn't reply. He just turned away and left, leaving us in awkward silence.

I didn't hear a no! 

"....Great. You've scared him away," Mr. L complained, crossing his arms and glaring at me. "Now what are we gonna do?"

I shrugged and turned my back to the door again, looking around at the cold cell. The bars were black steel, very strong and near impossible to break. I should know, I've read about different kinds of metals in the sarasaland library. There was also no window to escape from and nothing to use to pick a lock like I had before. "I don't know-"

"Well well welly well! I KNEW clown boy was keeping something special down here," Chimed a familiar voice in an amused tone.

Immediately jumped and whirled around, only for my crown to slip so it was crooked on my head. "Oh Jaydes," I muttered, nervously trying to straighten it. "G-Give me a minute."

"Pffft, you are ADORABLE~!" She laughed as I continued trying to straighten my crown. She let out a small giggle, then reached through the bars and grabbed ahold of my chin, making me gasp slightly. She smirked and turned my head so I was being forced to face her in a very asserting manner. "The name's Ms. D-"

"Hi Daisy," I interuppted, looking at her with a blank expression, actually remaining calm for once.

This seemed to take her slightly aback as she froze and her cocky smile faded.

"I'm sorry... what?" She asked in a confused manner, letting me go and taking a step back.

"I said,' Hi, Daisy,'" I repeated. "How have you been?"

"You... You recognize me?" She questioned, eyes softening slightly as if this was shocking. I couldn't tell if she was grateful that I had recognized her or upset. But she was certainly feeling something.

And why did she seem surprised? She literally looked the same as before, minus the grey eyes and the different clothing.

"Well, yeah. Of course. You're Daisy. I'd recognize you anywhere." I stated, finally straightening my crown and looking at her. "The mask isn't a very good disguise."

"HEY! The mask is a GREAT disguise!" Mr. L and Ms. D yelled at the same time, crossing their arms. I had to hold in a laugh from seeing how similar their reactions were.

I bet if Mr. L was real, they'd either be best friends, or worst enemies. Probably even both at times.

"Pfft, no it isn't. I can still see your face. You just look like you're celebrating Halloween or something." I replied, no longer holding in my laugh.

"Okay, Mr. ThinksHe'sSoSmart, just shut up. I'm not Daisy-"

"Hey Daisy, I know you're being all edgy right now, but could you maybe put a pin in that and let me out?" I asked with a polite, not at all sarcastic tone, gesturing to the cell door.

She froze again as her right eye began to twitch slightly. And... she basically just stood like that for what felt like forever, staring at me with a thoughtful expression, as if everything about me confused her, which was odd because I wasn't the one who changed. I should have been the confused one.

But... I wasn't. I knew it was her, clear as day. Even if it was her version of Mr. L. Even if it technically was Ms. D, I still recognized her.

She just continued standing there, staring at me as if she was looking for something.

"Come on. I HAVE to talk to Dimentio," I begged her. "Please... just help me out. You know me. I'm one of your closest friends. Don't you remember me?"

She waited in more awkward silence, then slowly smirked and crossed her arms. "Of course, I remember you. But... I'm NOT Daisy. Not really. This may be her body, but I'm not her."

"Daisy-"

"Thanks for recognizing me though. At least SOMEONE did." She laughed, tossing a small metal rod into my cell. "Do what you wish with that, I've got to prepare for the next time I face your measly little friends."

"Hey, HEY! Those are OUR measly little friends!" I corrected as she turned and started leaving. "Peach is LITERALLY your roommate! Get back here!"

But by then, she was already gone. I sighed then looked down at the small item she so pleasantly tossed at me, then kneeled down to pick it up.

Huh...

"What is it?!" Mr. L asked almost frantically. "A key?!"

"No..." I trailed off, standing up and holding it out to him, a small smile forming on my face.

"Lock pick."