Two

The Hideaway: Part 2

You pulled me along, down through areas of the ship that clearly weren't meant for humans to access since there were lots of wood planks and pipes to crawl over and under. In your mind, a part of you was a little upset that you had to backtrack back to one of the first places you and your brother already had come across when you first set foot onto this ship, but you knew it was a safe spot.

New plan, you told yourself. 

Step 1: Get the new guy to safety

Step 2: Find Mario. Make sure he's okay.

Step 3: Go back to the original escape plan!

It seemed a solid plan in your mind, however finding Mario had the potential to be difficult, considering the fact that you had no idea where he was. You could only hope that he was okay.

I allowed you to pull me by the hand through the obstacle course of a hallway when I suddenly saw something move in the shadows.

I jumped a little, squinting my eyes and trying to see what it was. 

"What's that?!" I asked.

Your eyes were much better than mine because you immediately tensed up and said, "A boo. They're ghosts I think. I'm not sure if they're hostile. I think it depends on who's leading them. They don't have any memories of their lives and aren't good at making decisions for themselves, so they thrive under someone else's command."

"Boos huh..." I trailed off, squinting as the outline of a little circle became visible. "They don't look like normal ghosts..."

"They're special," you explained. "I've seen ghosts, and they usually look different. I'm not sure what sets these guys apart from the rest, but hopefully I'll find out someday."

You seemed slightly tense. It looked as if you were unsure whether to be afraid of the boos or not. 

Each and every time we passed a boo you would hesitate briefly, then ignore it and walk past. I wondered why you kept freezing up. Maybe you were just afraid of ghosts.

"So.. not that I'm not grateful, but why'd you just let me join you so quickly?" I muttered, awkwardly looking down and fidgeting.

"Because we were both alone, and I wanted a friend. I wouldn't have left you there all alone no matter who you were!"

I nodded my head in understanding. "But aren't you afraid that I'll... I don't know, turn on you or something?" I asked.

"Turn on me?" You questioned, lightly giggling. "Why would you do that? I mean... I don't think I've done anything bad enough to make you turn on me."

"Yeah... but I don't know. Sometimes we trust our friends, then they let us down," I muttered.

"Yeesh. Sounds like you need new friends," you replied, stopping and letting go of my hand. 

You took one step back, then held your hand out once again, as if you were asking me to shake it. "Let's start! My name's Luigi! What's yours?"

What's my name...

I wasn't about to tell you that I didn't have one. I wasn't going to allow the exact same thing that happened before to happen again. However... I didn't want to outright lie to you either, and I didn't have the creativity to come up with a name on the spot.

"One," I replied, gently shaking your hand, and preparing for your reaction. "My name is One."

It was funny, calling that my name instead of my number. I mean... it was kinda like a name anyway, since it's what I called myself. It was the only identity I had. Still, it felt weird to say, 'my name is' in front of it.