#me: boy this au will be fun / just the concept of mario characters having daemons

[multicolour-ink]

Journey to the Underwhere

Another scene for the Mario Dæmon AU I discussed in conversation with @istadris .

Inspired by a scene in Chapter 21 Book 3 of ”His Dark Materials” (some spoilers for the source material!).

I am not sure if I will make a full fanfic of this - cannot make any promises - but for now, have this ficlet instead.

- - -

Halfway through the journey the Bros reunite, but Peach is taken down into the Underwhere by Bowser!

However, in order to journey to the Underwhere to rescue her, they must leave their souls - their own dæmons - behind so they can be accepted as "dead". They are also told that this will be painful (as dæmons cannot travel too far from their humans).

Mario tries to get Luigi to stay behind, as he refuses to let his brother go through that, especially with what he has been through already - but Luigi is stubborn and tells Mario that he'll follow him no matter what, and he'll shoulder this with him.

True to what they have been warned, the journey proves excruciatingly painful in of itself due to the pull; but to their horror, they also realise they can feel the pull away from each other. This is before the Power Star awakens the bond, so this is the first piece of evidence that a spiritual connection still exists between them, despite the "barrier".

And all they can do is hold each other as the pain cuts so deep. The dæmons are crying at being left behind by their humans; the humans feel the pain from being pulled away from their dæmons and each other. And it distresses them so much. They know they are physically next to each other, but they can't stop this internal pain. They hold each other so tight, trying to hang onto the warmth and comfort.

Luigi cries and screams with tears pouring down his face, and Mario holds him. He tries to remain strong for both of them, but inside he's mentally kicking himself from how much he's hurting his brother and the guilt of leaving behind his dæmon - and he ends up breaking too. Everything that's hitting him from the pain and the fear gets to him...

“I'm not strong enough. This is all my fault...”

- Luigi notices this, and while he is still distressed by their suffering, he refuses to let his brother shoulder their burden alone. He looks into Mario's eyes and communicates.

"It's ok. I'm sharing this pain with you."

Mario knows there and then that his brother really is the best in the world.

No matter what, they will never leave each other. They will rescue Peach, find their dæmons again, and set things right with the worlds...