As the first few freed spirits rose up into the twilight air, Luigi couldn’t help but think of fireflies, like what he would see sitting on the porch at night—but then as multitudes more joined, weaving together, they instead seemed more like massive tendrils, reaching ever upward for their homes as they left iridescent trails of light in their wake.

And they had been so close to losing all of that.

Luigi shuddered, shuffling closer to Mario, who finally let go of the tension in his shoulders.