AN: A few suicidal thoughts in this chapter.

Third Person POV

"Bro....what's going on?" Mario asked as he looked around at the scene. "What are you doing?"

Luigi slowly lowered his arms. "No....how...?"

Mario looked over at Varian, who was unconscious. "Is...is he okay? Luigi, what happened?"

Luigi grabbed at his hair and looked down. "No no NO NO! This isn't how it was supposed to happen. I was gonna.....everything was so perfect!" 

He slowly looked around. His eyes shifted from angry, to horrified.

"No.....I've....no...."

He looked at the book, then at Dimentio.

"I....dropped you." 

"I....." Luigi looked back at the book, then down at his own hands. "I.....wasn't strong enough." He began to shake. "I...."

He hugged himself and let out a scream.

Suddenly, he grabbed at the book and began frantically ripping the pages up. "W-WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" He cried. 

Dimentio ran forward. "Luigi! You're gonna hurt yourself!"

Luigi felt a deep pain in his heart, but continued tearing the book up. 

Mario ran towards him as well. "Luigi? What are you doing?! What's going on??"

Luigi covered his face, then looked at Dimentio. "Kill me! Dim, please."

Dimentio froze. Mario grabbed Luigi's arm. "Luigi, what happened?"

Luigi ignored his brother and continued looking at Dimentio. "Please..."

Luigi clutched his chest. Dimentio slowly looked down at the book. The pages were all torn up. Then he looked down at his own hands.

"....no."

He looked at Daisy, who was holding her ankle. "We're going to save you. Or at least try."

He kneeled down and hovered his hand over the book.

"I'm gonna take the book. It's gonna hurt, but I have to take it."

Luigi became more frantic. He quickly grabbed the torn up item. "NO! Don't touch it! It's gonna hurt you!"

Dimentio smiled. "I won't touch it." He closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could. His magic was still not all there, so teleporting the book into a whole other Galaxy would take everything he had.

Then, the book disappeared. Luigi cried out in pain. "Agh, it hurts." He whimpered. Dimentio let out a breath, then looked at Mario.

"Get him to a hospital. Now."

Mario nodded, then picked his brother up. Luigi began to shake a little less.

"Wait, your mask. It's cracked."

Dimentio lifted his hand to his masked face, then slowly smiled. "....it's just a mask."

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut. "I broke it. You love that mask, and I broke it." Dimentio sighed. "It's really not a big deal-"

"I killed people. L-let me die. Please. I...."

Mario's eyes went wide. "You wha-" Dimentio shushed him. "That wasn't you...."

Luigi shook his head quickly. "No. It was me. I-I knew what I was doing. And I didn't stop it. I... I...I can't live with myself. Please."

Dimentio looked at Mario, pain filling his eyes. "He doesn't have much time now that the book has been taken away. Get him to a hospital. I'll catch up and do what I can in a minute."

Mario nodded and took his brother away.

Dimentio POV

I watched Mario take Luigi away.

I knew that it was very likely that I'd never see Luigi again. I don't even know where Mario came from.

I slowly took my mask off and held it in my hand.

"Just a mask..." I muttered, before carefully snapping it in half.

I turned to face Daisy, L, and that random person, face now exposed.

L was leaning over that kid, crying.

Was this the kid Luigi told me about all that time ago? The one that ruined his life? What was he doing with L?

I walked over and helped Daisy up. I wrapped her arm around my shoulder so I could support her. She propped her sword up and used it as a cane.

"It's L!" She squealed into my ear. I nodded. "It is..."

She smiled, then pinched my cheek. "Aww, look at you! I don't know why you always cover your face up. It doesn't look bad or anything. Aside from the grey skin and yellow eye, you look like an average, 20 something year old attractive guy!"

I shook my head. "Well, when I was younger.... people thought I was....impure. I guess I used the mask to hide. It helped me feel...safe." 

She looked over at L. "Well, are you gonna talk to him?"

I hesitated.

"He's upset about that kid." I closed my eyes. "I...I can feel his soul was returned to him when the staff was smashed....but I feel a very weak pulse."

She nodded. "Well, then let's go. We'll take him to a hospital-"

Suddenly, I was tackled from behind. "GOTCHA!" Came a girl's voice. I yelped out in pain. My side was still giving me trouble, but only when someone randomly touched it. Daisy stumbled backwards and winced in pain when she stepped on her bad ankle.

I turned my head to see that pink toad on my back. Once she saw my face her eyes went wide. "Wait....false alarm, this isn't the guy. The clown wears a mask." She slowly got off my back, when she saw L.

She pointed at a yellow toad. "Tod! Get Luigi!"

He nodded, and hesitantly walked towards L. Then he grabbed his shoulders. "Sorry...." He muttered.

I tried running forward towards him, but that toad captain held me back. 

Mr. L latched onto the kid. "No! He's hurt! Please, help him!"

The toad, Tod's eyes softened. He looked down at the kid, then back at his Captain.

"Captain....Varian's injured. We need to get him medical assistance."

Captain Toadette shook her head. "What?! Luigi's right there. We have to arrest him."

Tod shook his head. "No. It comes down to this. We can either arrest a criminal, or save a life. And I choose to save a life." He slowly let L go, and picked up the kid. "Captain, I need your help lifting him. Please. This is what our job is about. Protecting people."

She slowly shook her head. "But, he's right there! We can finally catch him...."

Tod shook his head. "Captain...." 

She hesitated, before groaning and helping lift the kid. L held onto his hand tightly. "Where are you taking him?!" He asked, tears in his eyes.

I don't think I've ever seen L like this.

Tod smiled. "We'll take him to the hospital in Peach's castle. We'll let him heal, then discuss what to do with him after."

L squeezed the kid's hand. "Don't send him back to jail. We all know he doesn't belong there." 

Tod sighed. "I know. And I'll do my best." Then took the kid away.

L watched them leave, before collapsing to his knees and sobbing. "I couldn't protect him. I told myself I'd protect him."

I slowly walked towards him, then kneeled down and hugged him.

To my surprise, he hugged back.

"I thought....I thought you were dead." He muttered into my shoulder. "Luigi...he said you were dead." 

I sighed and hugged him tightly. "Funny, he said the same thing about you."

He then pulled back and looked at my face.

"Your mask...." He started. I smiled. "It was just a mask."

The stars were out now. He looked up at the sky, then back at me.

"It's really you..." He whispered. I took his hand. "Yes. It's me."

I looked down and took a deep breath. "L, I'm sorry-"

Suddenly, he grabbed my collar and pulled me into a kiss.

I could hear Daisy excitedly squeal behind us. 

He pulled back and placed a hand on my cheek. "You're real." 

"Yes. I'm real."

Luigi POV

I woke up seeing....white. Nothing but white.

Then, a bright light in front of me. Am I dead?

It would be good if I was dead. I've done so much. I've pretty much burned every bridge. It would be so much easier just to die.

Everything got less blurry. I looked around to see I was not dead, but in some sort of hospital bed. I moved my head, to see Mario talking to some doctors.

"Mario?" I quietly whispered. He looked back at me, eyes filled with tears. The doctors walked away when he walked over to me. "Luigi, thank Grambi. You're awake!" He squeezed my hand. I frantically looked around. There was a heart monitor, an IV attached to my arm, and a whole bunch of things hooked up to me. I squeezed my eyes shut. "No...I should be dead. Mario, let me die."

He had a heartbroken expression. "Luigi, Peach told me everything that happened." I could feel tears form. "No...no." He shook his head. "Luigi...."

He looked down. "The kid is recovering in the next room over. The doctors think he's gonna be okay. And since they wrongfully imprisoned Mr. L, they're letting him walk free. The courts decided to also let Varian walk free, since he's already served his time and he brought me back." 

I looked down. "So that's how you....but what about Dimentio?! And Daisy! What about them?! Are they okay!?" He placed his hand on my head. "Shhh, they're fine. Your friend, Daisy, has a sprained ankle, but that was taken care of a few days ago. She's now on trial, pleading her case since she came clean about the true reason behind the fall of Sarasaland." I shook my head. "A few days ago? H-how long have I been here?!" 

He looked at the calendar. "About a week and a half I'd say."

I nodded. "And Dimentio?" 

Mario sighed.

"He's been coming in here every day. He knows that the doctors can't really help you, so he's been doing this weird thing. I don't remember what he called it, but he's basically healing you by taking years off of his own life and giving them to you. That toad, Tod I think his name was, plead a mighty good case for him in court, allowing Dimentio to roam free as long as he's being watched. He isn't allowed to leave the Mushroom Kingdom. I've mostly been in charge of keeping an eye on him. He's just not here at the moment because he wanted to be at Daisy's trial."

I shook my head. "No. Tell him to stop. I don't want him healing me."

Mario looked down. "Luigi...."

"You hate me now. Everyone hates me. I hate me.. No one will ever trust me again. I'll never trust me again. Please, just let me die. It would be so much easier."

"No, Luigi. I'm not going to do that." I squeezed my eyes shut. "WHY NOT!? I DESERVE IT!"

"Because I love you, you idiot!"

Mario let out a sigh. "No matter what you've done, no matter how far you've lost yourself, I'll always love you. You'll always be my brother."

I turned my head away.

"It doesn't matter who I am. I did what I did. You know very well that if it was Dimentio who did this you'd throw him in jail in a heartbeat. Or worse." 

We waited in silence for a minute.

"What are they going to do to me if I get better?" I asked, a hint of fear in my voice.

He let out a sigh. "WHEN. Not IF. And well....I talked it over with the princess. We agreed that sending you to prison would not be the smart move, since this all started because you were separated from me. And it got significantly worse once you separated from your friends. So we discussed house arrest." I shook my head. "I killed someone. I killed a toad."

He inhaled sharply. "Yeah....Mr. L told me about that. We've sent support over to that toad's family."

"That's murder, Mario. I murdered someone. That should at least earn me a life sentence."

"Luigi...."

I looked up at him. "You know I'm right."

He sighed and rubbed his temples. "We'll figure it all out. I promise."

I shook my head and closed my eyes again. "No we won't."

I must have dozed off again, because when I woke up I heard a complete other voice talking.

"Mr. L, I think he's waking up." Came a small voice.

"Great. Now you've seen him. Can we go back to your room now? You aren't really supposed to leave."

I opened my eyes to see Varian and Mr. L. I closed my eyes again and groaned.

"L-Luigi?" Came the kid's voice. I opened one eye. "What are you guys doing in here?"

Mr. L held Varian back. "Mario is getting lunch. I was told to watch you since I was here anyway to see him." He pointed to the kid. I winced and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Are you guys okay?"

Mr. L scoffed. "Define 'okay'"

"I was going to kill you"

"Yeah. I'm aware."

He looked down. Varian smiled and hugged him. "Hey, Mr. L, don't be upsetti. Everything's okay now. Everything s'gonna work outs."

I could see Mr. L smile and pat the kid's head.

"I....didn't know you guys were close." I whispered. Varian smiled back at me. "He adopted me!" Mr. L crossed his arms. "I didn't adopt you. Quit telling people that."

I could tell the kid was a little loopy. Probably from all the medicine.

Mr. L grabbed his arm and started for the door. "I think we need to lie you back down. You're starting to sway." Varian waved his hand. "Nah...I'm fine. Oh! When can Dimentio visit again?!" Varian looked at me, amazement in his eyes. "Has Dimentio visited you? He can do these cool magic tricks! I love when he visits! He's so cool! Plus, Mr. L thinks he's cute-" Mr. L shoved him out of the room. "And that's enough of that. Back to bed for you."

They both left for a minute, then Mr. L walked back into my room. 

"You're lucky that he's okay, or I'd be giving you a real hard time." He told me, glaring. I frowned.

"You think I should die?" I asked. He shook his head. "I didn't say that."

I sadly nodded. "Mario won't let me. But please. Come on, you've seen what I'd done. I killed someone. I've hurt people." 

I looked at my hands. "Mr. L....please. I can't live with myself."

He shook his head and sat down in a chair. "A part of me, yes, wanted to kill you. When I thought you killed Dim....but killing, it isn't the solution. Luigi, Blumiere nearly brought the end of all worlds, and do you see us trying to capture and kill him? No, because we saw him change. There was good in him, and there's good in you. Even if you can't see it. Mario sees it. Dimentio sees it. Heck, even the kid sees it."

I looked down. "Do you see it?"

He froze. ".....Dimentio says it wasn't your fault. That book was controlling you." I shook my head. "That's not what I asked. Do you see the good in me?"

His silence pretty much answered my question.

"How about another question, since you don't seem to have the answer to that one. Have you seen Dimentio?"

He nodded. "Yes. He's been required to stay with Mario, or under someone else's supervision. He's been mostly in here, trying to heal you. He occasionally visits me. I've been hanging out in the kid's room. These past few days Dimentio has been at Daisy's trial, testifying for her. Although he still has been coming in once a day to give you your daily dose of Magic."

"Why?" I asked.

Mr. L sighed. "Something about that book you had. Once you took it, you became dependent on it. Your body is having trouble functioning without it. So, about every day he gives you another few years off his own life. He doesn't want to give you to much at once because it'll overwhelm you. In a way he's been filling the hole the book created with his own magic."

"No. Tell him to stop."

He shook his head. "He doesn't want to. He says he has 'years to spare' or whatever. He just wants to save you."

"Why? I dropped him." I mumbled.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him the next time you see him?"

Mr. L looked up at the clock. "I'm gonna go back to the kid. Mario should be back from his lunch soon. Don't die while I'm gone. Your stupid brother would kill me."

He just silently got up and left.

I didn't like the feeling of being alone again.