Fallen Down

Chapter 3

He silently curses himself for not bringing the Poltergust on this outing. He should have suspected he'd encounter ghosts down here. Another idiotic move on his part.

Luigi dies so many times, that he feels the pain begin to snake down the top half of his left arm before he finally spots a simple rock to hide behind. He quickly dives behind before King Boo arrives, in hopes that Dimentio won't give away his hiding spot.

But then again, why wouldn't he? He's already killed him once, (Though Dimentio shouldn't be able to remember that. No one remembers when Luigi comes back after dying, except Bobby. When he asks the Bomb how he remembers, the little guy just shrugs, saying that memory is a funny thing, and once he got it back, he refused to let it go again.)

Dimentio happily sits back as if resting on an invisible chair, kicking his feet up. "Ah, well well well, if it isn't my good friend, King Boo," He coos. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Why isn't he giving me away? Luigi asks himself. What's he doing?

"Dimentio, what are you doing?! You're just wasting time! We're supposed to be trying to find a way out of here! Stay focused!"

"Oh, but I am focused. As focused as a concentrated beam of light created by a magnifying glass used to burn ants by a cruel child!"

"DIMENTIO! THIS IS IMPORTANT! CAN'T YOU TAKE JUST THIS SINGLE THING SERIOUSLY?!"

"Oh, but I am. I am always deadly serious."

Luigi silently held his breath, holding in a snicker at their petty arguing, as he listened to the two of them bicker back and forth, until the Ghost King grew frustrated and left, grumbling about how incompetent the jester was. Once he was sure Boo was gone, he peeked his head over the rock and gave Dimentio a confused glance.

Dimentio just smiles back, shrugs, and begins bouncing a projectile from hand to hand.

Luigi can't help but be confused. On the one hand, Dimentio has already killed him on this outing, but then he didn't show King Boo where he was hiding.

Neutral, Luigi thinks.

"Do you think he'll be back?" Bobby asks. Luigi slowly nods, then steps out from his hiding place.

"Ah ha ha, looks like you got lucky this time."

Luigi shakes his head and points forward. "You said... you said town was that way?"

He nods. "Ah, yes. Would you like me to take you there?"

Luigi takes a step backwards, causing Dimentio to just laugh. He shrugs, and walks forward. Luigi takes a second to shake the nerves off, before setting Bobby down and following.

"Are you really gonna trust this guy, L man?" Bobby asks.

"No."

Luigi and Bobby follow Dimentio, keeping their distance, staying about three paces back. To both of their surprise, Dimentio does in fact lead them to a small town. Luigi can't help but smile a small smile upon seeing the few small buildings. He was 90% sure Dimentio would end up leading them to their deaths.

Dimentio turns and holds his arms out. "Welcome! King Boo doesn't spend much time here, so I guess you're safe for now! Ah ha ha!"

Luigi nods at a small inn. Why there is an inn in the Underwhere, he has no idea.

"... Why are you helping me?" Luigi asks, a confused expression on his face.

"Helping?!" Dimentio asks, a somewhat offended look on his face. "Oh, no no no no no! You're helping yourself, L. I'm just simply watching from the sidelines and letting it happen. Like an innocent spectator watching a fight unfold."

"Why not take me to King Boo?" Luigi questions.

Dimentio doesn't respond. He merely just turns in the air and waves, with a simple, "Ciao, L." Then he floats off. Luigi watches as he leaves, then shifts his gaze back to the small inn. There's a save block in front of it. Thank goodness.

He felt in desperate need of a good night's sleep.

______

Luigi wakes up the next morning, very grateful that nobody broke into his small room and killed him in his sleep. Most people around here didn't seem so bad. They were cold, and would give him icy glares, but that's something Luigi can deal with. He's used to it.

He picks up Bobby and treks through town, shivering in the cool, chilling air of the Underwhere. He didn't think to bring a jacket or anything, and when he asked if they had any jackets in stock at a small shop, they simply replied with a quick, yet firm, "No."

So he'd have to deal with the cold.

He briefly panics when he sees something purple in the distance, in fear that it's King Boo. But as he get's closer, he can see yellow as well, and he lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes it's just Dimentio.

Still not good, but not AS bad as King Boo. King Boo would immediately kill him on sight. He's still unsure of Dimentio's true ambitions. So it's a step up.

Dimentio is neatly resting in the air, his hands up behind his head, as if he's lying back in an invisible floating lawn chair.

"I didn't think you'd be up for going this far," He admits, a smile on his face, not even turning to face Luigi. "I thought you'd be smart enough to stay in town. I mean, it has shelter, warmth, safety, and King Boo only stops by every now and then, so you'd likely be safe from him."

Luigi just shakes his head. "No. I'm going out."

Dimentio takes note. Luigi keeps saying 'out,' but not 'home.' How strange.

He looks down at Luigi and stares for a few seconds, before shaking his own head. "You really are set on that?"

His eyes flicker to the left side of Luigi's face, and Luigi feels a shiver go down his side. A part of him feels like Dimentio can see it. Can see the Chaos heart snaking through the left side of his face and body, bringing pain and taking away function.

But he shakes that thought away because that's impossible. Even if he can sense the heart, now way he'd be able to see THAT.

"You're not likely to make it. It's a long road to travel. Lot's of enemies... lot's of holes to fall in." Dimentio starts. Then he relaxes back in his invisible lawn chair. "But.... King Boo is usually patrolling out in the North section of the Underwhere, so if you move fast enough, perhaps you can get out of this section before he comes back."

Luigi nods and picks up Bobby again. The small Bomb looks up at him and lightly touches his foot to Luigi's arm. Luigi smiles back down at him, then turns his attention back up to Dimentio.

"Thank you," he says, inclining his head slightly downward, before starting forward.

The last thing he sees of Dimentio is a mildly shocked expression in his mismatched eyes. He continues walking off, when he hears a soft, "Hmm, nobody's ever said that before."

Luigi smiles to himself.