Chapter 17: Cannibal

Riba awoke from the trance. "---Sister?" Luigi finished his sentence from before. The ringing in Riba's ears ceased. Riba looked down at the ground.

"It was," Riba replied. He didn't want to give further details to Luigi out of respect for Len's privacy. "But... we've gotta keep moving. This place is dangerous if you stay in one spot for too long," Riba picked up Len's cloak, and placed it and the pendant in his knapsack.

"Well, where are we supposed to go?" Luigi asked, following Riba as he walked off. "Don't we need to find Mario?" The truth is, Riba didn't know where to go. What to do. He was just walking deeper into the mansion. Something was driving him to go further in. Perhaps since there was nothing else left to do here, he wanted details on that girl. The one who had trapped him on that panel. He had questions.

"We can't," Riba said. "Only Len knew where he was." What should he do? Tell Luigi that his brother was dead, and that they were never to meet again, thus having gotten his hopes up for nothing all this time? Or not tell him at all? Riba took a deep breath, and felt his heart thump faster as he made the choice.

"Luigi," Riba sighed. He would tell the truth. "The truth is, Mario is... dead."

"What?" Luigi asked. He stopped dead in his tracks and froze. Riba turned around. "No! You can't be serious! You're kidding me, right?"

"Wait. It's not that simple," Riba followed up. "Len had placed a spell of rebirth on him long ago. So he may be out there somewhere, if we're lucky he's been reiterated already. We just don't know where, and with Len gone, we probably never will."

"I see," Luigi mumbled. "Well, I won't give up. I need to find Mario." Luigi said. He looked to the ground, and kicked his foot against it, sighing and kicking up dust from under his shoe. "I'm sorry to leave you alone now, Riba. But I must go. Goodbye."

"What?" Riba asked, taken aback. He turned to Luigi. But he had already ran off. It had all happened so fast, he hadn't had a chance to persuade Luigi to stay. "Luigi, wait! It's dangerous to go alone."

As Riba ran, that creeping sensation in the back of his mind only grew. If he were to die, he wouldn't be coming back. Because Len was gone, her magic must not exist in this world anymore. Meaning whatever treasures she had given him that before would revive him, now wouldn't have any effect. For others, death is just a fact of life. Like breathing or sleeping. But Riba supposed he had lived with the power of rebirth so long, it was like a piece missing. He had to be extra careful.

Riba thought that may be true in Luigi's case as well. He always had a theory that if Mario was a reiteration of Marchionne, Luigi must have been that of Luciano, Marchionne's twin brother. Though back then in Evangeline, and probably for many years after in the region, infanticide towards twins of the same gender was common. Because of a tale of two cursed twins long ago that brought disaster upon their world.

Parents had their twin children of the same gender drowned, because of this legend. Riba only then connected two and two: the original cursed twins must have been Len and Layla. It even fit the description of one Toad's theory that he found in a book in Evangeline. The two cursed twins may not be much of a problem separated, it's only when they come together that they become a bad omen, and everything falls apart. Just like Len and Layla's powers merging into the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed their town.

Nonetheless, it seemed that the action of killing twins of the same gender upon birth no longer really happened, as the legend had fallen into obscurity. Which is why Mario and Luigi were never killed for being two twins of the same gender. Still, Riba needed to find Luigi. Or Luigi may be killed by a spirit in the house. He had to at least see him out of the mansion.

"Luigi?" Riba asked. "Where are you?" Riba took a glance outside. Luigi's car was gone. Damn it!

Riba felt a presence behind him. And a bad one. Riba turned around, but nobody was there. "Where are you?" Riba asked. "I know you're there!" Riba brandished his machete, and held it in front of him, looking up at thin air, calmly. What he wasn't expecting was a kick in the back to send him hurdling forward.

Riba fell to the ground, and felt something hold him down. "Agh! Get off!" Riba shouted. He turned around, only to see a woman's red tinted spirit whose name he could not remember on top of him. She had a red dress and headband, long brown hair, and blue piercing eyes. She was strikingly similar to Mario in color scheme. Though it was likely just coincidence. Riba was caught off guard by this, giving the spirit enough time to take a hold of both his wrists so he could not use his machete to ward her off. "What do you want? Who are you?"

"Oh, please!" The spirit exclaimed in a feminine voice that was almost suggestive in nature. "You remember me, don't you, Riba?" Her voice was certainly familiar, as was her appearance. But Riba could not think of any encounter he had ever had with her.

"I don't!" Riba cried. "I'm sorry."

"Aw, surely you don't mean that..." the woman faked having her feelings hurt. She held his wrists tighter. "After all, I'd hate to have someone with such tasty meat on their bones to have forgotten me." Tasty??? Riba felt like he needed to get her off of him.

Riba tried kicking her off, but it didn't do any good. She had completely taken control of him. She had not possessed him, just gotten him in a position where he couldn't move. Where had she learned to restrain people like this?

"After all," the woman followed up. "I do need a meal... it's been ages since I've been able to eat anything!" She lowered her head towards Riba's neck, licking her lips and opening her mouth wider than should be possible. Riba feared for his life in that moment. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't fight her.

So he wouldn't. "I know where to get something to eat!" Riba shouted. She stopped.

"You do?" The woman asked.

"Yes!" Riba exclaimed. "There's more food there than I could ever offer myself. But if you kill me, you'll never know where it is!"

The woman thought for a while. Then, she got up off of him. She didn't help him up. "Then by all means, Mister Riba..." She said. "Lead the way."

"You... know my name too?" Riba asked.

"Of course," the woman said, a small confused frown on her face. Riba couldn't help but take notice of dried blood on her lips. He couldn't not focus on that glaring out of place detail on her otherwise pretty face. He watched as her lips quickly returned to a smile. "Everyone here knows you, Riba~."

"Okay, fair point," Riba replied. He continued to stare.

"H-hey!" The woman cried. She shot her fists downward, and appeared flustered. "My eyes are up here!" She pointed towards her eyes, looking upset. But... Riba hadn't been staring at anything but her lips?

"Sorry," Riba apologized. "Um... what's your name?" He asked.

"Marie, Marie Aduraice!" She introduced, spinning around and pumping her fist in the air and raising her heels from the ground, winking. What an odd pose. "Better known as... the cannibal spirit!"

Riba didn't ask why she was flaunting that nickname like it was something to be proud of. And why was her name one letter off of Mario's? Along with their physical similarities, it was almost like they had some sort of relation. "O-okay." Riba replied, putting his machete in its sheath and putting it in his knapsack. "Anyways, Marie, before I take you to where we're going--- I have some business to take care of in this place. Do you mind waiting right here?"

"Wait?" Marie asked. "No, I'm going with you! Otherwise, how do I know you won't try to escape without bringing me to what I need?"

Riba thought about it. "You have a point," he replied. "Let's go."

A few minutes into their search, Marie began to get antsy. "So what type of business is it?" Marie asked, from behind Riba. "Is it a date? No... that's silly!" She was now at his side. "When will we get there~?" She was now in front of him, beaming at him.

"Um..." Riba mumbled, his voice shaky. "We just need to find that girl. The one with dark blue hair. I need to talk to her about something."

"A girl with dark blue hair?" Marie asked. "I think I remember something about her."

"Do you?" Riba asked. "What do you know about her?"

"Well..." Marie started, putting a finger to her chin and looking up towards the ceiling. "She was definitely a member of the family in her lifetime," she paused, closing her eyes and averting the direction her head was pointing in. "But ever since her death, she's distanced herself from us. She always spends her time in the library, and I haven't even seen her in passing in a while."

"Do you know anything else?" Riba asked.

"No, I don't," Marie replied, shaking her head. "I wonder why not... she is a true enigma to me."

"Hmm..." Riba said, as he continued his trek. "Well maybe we can get answers from other spirits in the house. Somebody is bound to know something about her that we can use to find her."

"Why are you so interested, anyways?" Marie asked. "This is just in the way of me getting to my goal."

"I don't know," Riba replied. "I feel bad, I guess. I was kind of mean to her before." Riba recalled how he said he was not her friend. "I want to make it up to her. Somehow."

"Hmm?" Marie asked. "How odd. Riba, you've never shown compassion to anyone here before. Was it that man? The one with the red hat? He changed you, didn't he?" Riba looked to the edge where the floor met the wall as she followed him. "Don't you think you're taking this good guy act too far?"

"What do you mean?" Riba asked. "This isn't an act. I'm just a guy trying to do good in the world."

"Oh no... poor thing!" Marie clasped her hands around her mouth. "You even have yourself fooled. Don't forget, you're a demon. A killer at heart."

"Please stop talking," Riba groaned.

"But it's true. You're not some 'Super Riba' just because you ceased your evil ways, leaving us all behind to suffer here," Marie laughed. "You think you're a good person now that you had some moral epiphany amidst the crime, stopped stabbing, and fled the scene? That's rich!"

Riba took these words to heart. Really, in the end, he had just said he was sorry and ran away from all his problems. That's not how it works. That's not how redemption goes. "You're right, Marie," Riba replied. "So that's why I won't stop there! I'll make amends for all my crimes against you, and your family. That's a promise!"

"That's not what I meant!" Marie yelled at the top of her lungs, her face turning a cold shade of blue. "That's just more stuff to pile on before I get to eat!"

"You brought it up," Riba replied. "Mario would want me to be a hero. So I'll be just that!" He grabbed Marie by the hand and ran further down the hallway. This house had a habit of rearranging itself, so it was nearly unrecognizable to Riba.

"Riba, you can't do that!" Marie shouted, turning a shade of blue. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to be heroes, Marie!" Riba exclaimed. Up until now, he had been fighting for his and Len's sake. It felt so much better to do it for someone else, for no other reason than just because. He felt air brush by him as he ran. Determined to save as many people as he could. He would put their spirits at peace before his time was up.