I gave myself a little over a week to mentally prepare for the journey. It took a lot of arguing with Mario before he finally allowed me to go off on my own. At first, I tried my darndest to convince him to join me, since the prophecy stated that two heroes chosen by the sun were supposed to take the life light to its rightful place, but he refused. It didn't matter how many points I made about how we were stronger when we worked together. He was certain that everyone in the Underwhere was there because they deserved to be. On top of that, he was busy helping people who actually needed him. Innocent people. 

I'm not like my brother. Not in that way, at least. I believe that innocent people aren't the only ones who deserve to be saved. At the end of the day, can we even say anyone is truly innocent? 

"You're not doing this, Lu," Mario said as I marched toward the door with a return pipe in hand. Nolrem gave me a new one since Mario lost the last. 

He placed his hand on the door so I couldn't push it open. There was an intense look in his eyes, one I wasn't used to. 

"What do you mean? I'm doing it right now," I replied. 

"Luigi, I'm serious. It's dangerous down there," he stated. I felt his arm grasp mine tightly. I was used to this grip. I liked to call it the "big brother" grab. Tight, commanding, stern. He would often use it whenever he started to lose control of me. He had firebrand, but sometimes it felt like his position as the just slightly older brother was where his true power was given, but I wasn't going to give in. I couldn't. Countless souls depended on me to save them.

Mario may have been my older brother, but he wasn't in charge of me. Sure, I followed in his footsteps and never minded being his sidekick, but he couldn't control my every move. I was an adult, and more importantly, I was my own person. This decision was mine, not ours. 

Mine, not his.

"Remember, Polterpup likes to eat at exactly three in the morning," I explained as I brushed his arm away. To my surprise, he let me. "She'll wake you up about five minutes before then, but don't feed her right away. First, you need to scratch her, right around where her ears should be. Then go down and feed her. If you do it too early, she'll ask for more later, and we don't want to overfeed her. In the morning, give her a small pinch of cheese. Not too much, otherwise, she'll get addicted and spend the rest of the day begging for more. Oh, and be sure not to neglect her. She gets lonely, so give her lots of attention and pets. And watch your keys, she loves to take them and hide them. It's a game to her."

Polterpup yapped from below me as if agreeing. I turned and allowed my eyes to fall upon her, then kneeled and placed my hand on her back. Her tail wagged slightly. I doubt she could tell I was leaving. I wasn't bringing much with me, after all, and I almost never left the house without Mario. 

I wished I could bring her, but I doubt the Underwhere would be a safe place for ghost dogs. If she was meant to be there, she wouldn't have become a ghost. It would have been nice to have a companion, but I couldn't risk accidentally losing her. Knowing Polterpup, she'd probably run off and end up causing trouble anyway, which isn't always a bad thing, but this mission was important. I would need all my focus. I couldn't let myself get continuously distracted by all her games.

"I'll be back soon," I promised. "When I am, I'll have tons of stories to tell you. We can play fetch with my go-kart keys in the meadow nearby. I know you love it when we do that."

She wagged her tail and seemed to nod. The look in her eyes said she trusted me, which filled me with a surge of warmth and happiness. 

Mario's eyes didn't hold that same look. 

I gave her head a brief pat, then stepped back and grasped the return pipe tightly. All I had to do was throw it onto the ground and jump in. 

The return pipe wasn't green like the pipes Mario and I normally used. Someday, I'd have to ask Merlon why it looked so different. Maybe I can meet up with him once this mission ends. I needed to catch up with him, anyway. Maybe we could drink more of that super interesting tea. I should probably find Nastasia, too. It had been years since we last spoke. I still had so many questions. Did she ever find Blumiere again? Was she even looking? I can hardly even remember. 

I wonder if he even wants to be found if he's still out there. Yes, he loved Nastasia, O'Chunks, and Mimi, but he has his happy ending now. He's with Timpani, and that's enough. He got everything he ever wanted. Maybe he doesn't want reminders of his time as Count Bleck.

It's not the kind of life I'd be able to live. I couldn't imagine being away from my family. Sometimes I don't want to remember that small part of my life spent as Mr. L, but it's still part of who I am. I can't just pretend it never happened. Although, I suppose that's exactly what I've been doing for the last fourteen years. 

Different people have different stories, so who would I be to judge the way Blumiere's ended? All I can do is hope that everyone is happy and satisfied with their own endings while focusing on mine. 

"I really can't change your mind?" Mario asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nearly forgot he was there.

I glanced up at him to see a pleading look in his eyes. We had very similar eyes, though mine were just slightly darker. His were blue like the late May sky while mine were more blue like water, but not normal water. The kind of water we'd see in the winter whenever we'd vacation to tropical islands to avoid the freezing temperatures. I missed those days. It's been a while since we've visited Isle Delfino. Maybe we can go back when next winter rolls around.

"I really can't change yours?" I replied.

He let out a sigh and bowed his head slightly. 

"I can't go with you," he breathed. "It's just... I put a lot of bad people down there. They wouldn't want to see me anyway. It would just be a disaster and a mess. Besides, I have to be here in case the princess gets kidnapped by Bowser. Plus, I might do some more golfing. I think I'm getting better. Maybe even good enough to beat Daisy."

A few days ago, on June 25th, I think, we were invited to participate in a bunch of golf tournaments, which was fun. It was nice to see everyone again. Princess Daisy usually won, but I did decent a few times. The golf tournaments were all the Mushroom Kingdom could talk about for a while. Sometimes sports were the best way to bring kingdoms together and spread goodwill. We'd often host competitions whenever the world lacked an adventure. Sports, parties, go-kart races, we did everything we could to keep from getting bored. But I couldn't stay back and golf forever.

"You don't need to explain," I assured him. "I get it. You have a duty. You shouldn't make yourself fight for causes you don't believe in. I don't think anyone should ever be forced to do something like that. Just... please try to understand that this is something I believe in. Something I need to do."

His shoulders tensed slightly as he brought his eyes to mind. It felt strange to see him this way. Mario wasn't typically the kind of person to get nervous. Or maybe he was, but he never showed it. I suppose the idea of me going on an adventure alone put him on edge. He's always been extra protective of me. He'd push me behind him at the slightest sense of danger on every adventure we took together. He'd make sure to take the first steps, just in case a trap was set. 

I used to hate it. His caution used to make me think that he believed I was fragile. That wasn't it, though. He just cared. 

I placed the return pipe on the ground and picked up the life light. My gaze returned to him as he remained frozen and tense. His eyes were glassy, though I couldn't quite tell why.

"Mario?" I asked when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me tightly. I nearly fell back from the sudden embrace.

"Stay safe, Lu," he whispered. His voice broke slightly. 

He was shivering, maybe he was cold. 

I wrapped my free hand around him and gently patted his back. Maybe I should have felt guilty for making him feel the need to hug me like this, but in that moment all I felt was grateful. It had been a long time since he held me that way. It felt nice. 

Being loved would always feel good. 

"I will," I said. "I promise, Mario. I'll be back before the month's done."

Most adventures took a few weeks, but almost never over a month. Some were as fast as a day or two, so I didn't expect to be gone for long. Even if I was going in alone. I was prepared. 

"I know," he replied as he slowly pulled back. "I'll have a box of Oreos waiting for you. Okay?"

He wiped a few water droplets that formed on his face with the back of his gloved hand. I watched the water turn the clean white of his gloves to a slightly soggy gray color in the specific spots where the tears were absorbed. 

"Where will you find a box of Oreos?" I quietly laughed. 

"I don't know, yet," he said with a sad smile. "Just... be extra careful, okay? I have a bad feeling about all of this."

"What a coincidence," I chimed as I gently nudged him with my elbow. "I have a good feeling about this."

. . .

According to Nolrem, the dimensional doorways were completely blocked off for safety reasons a few years back, so the ancients had to use another method of transportation to get me to where I needed to be. I asked them if I was allowed to bring Tiptron with me, but they were quick to shut the idea down. I wanted to wonder why, but I didn't have much time to ask questions. Tiptron was incredibly expensive and useful, so she was probably helping someone more important.

I think I was teleported to the Underwhere, but wasn't normal teleporting. Sorry if I'm not being specific enough, my memory of it is a bit fuzzy. It was nothing like what Count Bleck or Nastasia did fourteen years ago. To travel, they would always spin around and "flip" away. It was really rather spectacular. Something someone like me would never be able to do. 

Not that I was powerless. I did have my super jump. That, and my trusty thunderhand, though I rarely used either anymore. My thunderhand especially was unstable and dangerous. One wrong move and I could accidentally electrocute someone to death. Or worse, I could overload a city with electricity and make every single light and electrical appliance go out. 

Actually, I don't suppose that's worse than unintentionally killing someone, but it's still pretty bad.

When I arrived in the Underwhere, it didn't quite feel like I was arriving. It was more like I was waking up. It was a strange sensation, to say the least. The entire world was darker than I remembered, probably because of the years spent without light. According to Nolrem, the longer the Underwhere spent without its piece of sunlight, the colder and darker it became. Nolrem claimed that the light had been gone for half a century now, so each soul had been living in the darkness, watching as the world around them slowly continued to die. 

I felt my body involuntarily shaky as I clutched the life light close, trying to soak up the heat it emitted. 

"You've found me," a voice whispered from the darkness. 

There was breath on the back of my neck. 

I blinked a few times and held the lantern out in front of me. Unfortunately, the light it cast wasn't enough to illuminate more than three feet of space. Not yet, at least. I was certain it would become brighter once I placed it where it belonged. 

"Hello?" I asked. 

I turned around myself and squinted my eyes, as if that would help me. I never completely understood why people squinted when looking for something. Didn't squinting just give us less to look at? Why was I even doing it?

"You're too late. Not much of this world remains," the voice repeated. It was coming from everywhere, as if the air was speaking to me. Though, I could still somehow feel a presence in the room with me.

"Where are you?" I questioned. "I have the life light. I-I'm here to save everyone."

"This world, this place, it was never worth saving."

Never worth saving? 

Everything was worth saving. 

Clearly, this person didn't know me very well. Or at all.

"You still want to try?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "I don't care how dark it is. I'm going to-"

"Alright. Just remember... your actions will affect L."

I felt myself still. There was a pinching sensation in my forehead as a cold chill moved through the air. 

"You're... not talking to me, are you?" I breathed.

The voice was gone. 

I'm not so sure it was ever there. 

I let out a brief sigh, then shook my head. Whatever, I didn't have time to let weird voices get to me. The Underwhere was a strange place. I didn't have time to solve every mystery it threw at me. Not yet, anyway. Maybe I could try to figure these mysterious voices out later, but for now, I had a mission. 

Nolrem didn't tell me much, which was a bummer. He claimed that more information would be revealed to me in time, which was pretty typical of adventures, but still a tad frustrating. All I knew was I needed to put the life light in the center of the Underwhere. He told me that I'd know where to place the lantern when I saw it. All I had to do was see it, and in order to see it, I had to find it. And to find it, I needed to stop standing in place and thinking about what to do next. 

I took a step forward, only to run into what felt like a wall. I stumbled backward, nearly dropping the life light as I placed my free hand over my nose. 

"Ouch, ouch, ouch," I whispered to myself. I felt my face heat up slightly. I suppose I was lucky that no one was there to see me start my adventure in such an embarrassing way. 

I kept my free hand outstretched so I wouldn't run into anything else. After feeling around for a moment, my hand met a cold metal knob. A door handle? A door handle. I grasped it gently and turned it counterclockwise.

A door swung open and I stumbled forward. It was still dark out, but not so dark that I couldn't see. The walls were made of gray bricks, as was the floor. I recognized this place. 

"Queen Jaydes' castle," I whispered to myself in awe. 

Nolrem must have sent me here on purpose! Surely she could tell me exactly where to put the life light! Gosh, it had been years since I had seen her. I wonder if she'd even recognize me. She'd recognize Mario for sure, but me? I was a tad more forgettable than my older bro. 

Meh, even if she had forgotten about me, I sure as heck didn't forget her. If I remembered correctly, she wasn't nearly as scary as I initially thought she would be. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to see the sun finally be returned to the Underwhere. After all, these were her subjects. 

"L,"

The cold presence was suddenly back, but only for a fraction of a second. I looked around myself. I could almost swear that whispers were circling me. I couldn't make out any words, but they seemed to come from all around, just like the voice from earlier. 

I shrugged it off rather quickly, chalking it off to being just another weird aspect of the Underwhere that I didn't remember. After all, it had been over ten years since I last stepped foot in the aftergame. 

Fourteen years. Fourteen years, two months, and twenty-two days. That added up to be about...5197 days. Was that correct? Grambi, had it really been that long? Sometimes it still felt like that whole adventure happened just a year ago. I suppose Mario and I had been keeping busy with all the adventuring that happened in between, but still. 

Most people found that particular story of ours forgetful because it wasn't like our typical adventures, but not me. I put it behind me but never forgot. How could I even begin to forget? For one of the first times ever, I was someone in that story. Not someone good, but more of a someone than I had ever been before. And... it felt nice. Being a someone, I mean. 

I brushed myself off, then started forward. Missions involving Merlon were usually longer and more complex than most of our adventures, but this seemed too easy to be scary. All I had to do was deliver the light. 

I wondered why the sun bothered even choosing more than one hero for this task. Heck, anyone could do this. 

But not just anyone was doing this. I was. 

I was being a someone again. Someone important.