Mario and Luigi: Darkness In Light

Chapter 35: A New Ending

Mario-who was still in his transpart form-and Luigi were both breathing heavily as the scepter fell from Lucian's grip as the barrier shattered around them. Luigi put both of his hands on his knees as Mario continued to stare at the tired state their enemy was in. Lucian winced as he looked at the scepter that was laying in front of them as he had a painful expression on his face.

"H-How...? Why...?" He wondered, clenched his hands into fists, trying to sit himself up.

"It's over Lucian!" Mario exclaimed. "Just give up! You lost!"

"..." Lucian only grunted as he used his arms to support himself off the ground. He growled as he clenched his hands into fists as he started to become angry. But from that anger...that lead to his sadness. To the brothers' surprise, he let out a few soft sobs as tears fell from his eyes and fell to the ground.

"...Why...?" He asked again. "Why must my path be foggy? H-How can it...not be clear? Even as you hung over the edge of death...you still held on. Why?"

"..." Mario and Luigi both looked at each other in small synpathy. They never expected Lucian to break like this. They almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"It was...because we weren't alone." Luigi said, beginning to slowly recover. "We had each other. You thought you could do this by yourself to get back your old life...but it didn't work because your friends didn't agree with you."

"...Loneliness is all I have felt." He said, slowly starting to stand up. "That was how this time-this world began. This world began with darkness...and from that darkness, light was discovered. From that light it eventually lead to humanity, and from that humanity, there was chaos. And from that chaos... peace was brought to order..." Lucian weakly stood on his feet as he had his hand wrapped around his stomach, his other hand on his scepter as he used it for support.

"If you would've let me resurrect that order...you would all be able to live in peace. We all would. You and your brother would be together once again!" Luigi clenched his hands into fists as he glared at him.

"You still hurt people because of this." Luigi said. "Your crazy obsession about a new world just tore you apart from what you already had...from what we had." Luigi held onto Mario's hand, who smiled a little in peace. Lucian could only chuckle as he saw this.

"Your love for your brother...it has really come...stronger." He said.

"...You don't know the first thing about love, Lucian." Mario said. "It was your choice to hurt those people. You messed with their emotions just to give you joy. A real leader knows that he can learn from his mistakes and move on. It wasn't your choice to even start with."

"...Then whose choice was it?" Lucian asked in a threatening tone. Someone needs to stand up...and lead this unbalanced world."

"...Then you're not the right person for the job." Luigi said, taking a step forward. "After everything you did...you shouldn't even deserve friends."

"!" Lucian's eyes widened hearing this line, even Mario's eyes widened too. He never expected to hear his brother say that. He's always known Luigi as someone who's willing to give them a second chance, someone who would help another in need. Did this entire war really change him? The brothers expected Lucian to say something to stand up for himself. Instead, he only sighed as he closed his eyes.

"...Perhaps you are correct." He said. "How can I gain a second chance if that chance won't accept me...?"

"You don't know that." Mario said. "That's your choice, not ours. Besides, you still have Salem and Alessia. They still care about you. They're your second chance."