1

"Is something wrong, Luigi?" Mario asked as the two brothers were wandering the empty, grassy, and slightly mountainous terrain of the Mushroom Kingdom. They were now about twenty miles from the city of Rogueport and the storm had since passed, but the clouds were still present. The sun was beginning to set along the mountainous western horizon, creating shades of gold, orange and pink in the thick clouds as they started to clear. A slight breeze resembling the one which occurred the night before blew across the wet prairie and through the nearby trees and bushes in a peaceful manner. However, the brothers once again knew that they were in a situation that was anything but that.

The two brothers had finally managed to get themselves into more suitable clothing, after which they made they the rough decision of throwing the black suits into the garbage. They wouldn't be able to carry the suits with them and they really saw no use for wearing them again (plus there was the unfortunate fact that they lost everything else they had owned in a fiery explosion). Mario was now wearing a blood-red long-sleeve shirt and pair of light-blue coveralls along with a pair of sporty brown boots. Luigi had chosen a similar outfit except he chose a lime-green shirt with a pair of dark-blue coveralls. Both brothers also carried with them a pair of white gloves which they would save for colder climates and other situations they might run into.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled. "Tell me what it is that's bothering you!"

"Nothing's wrong!" Luigi finally replied. "I was just admiring this spectacular sunset. It reminds me of when we went to the amusement park as small toddlers."

Mario suddenly remembered that time and looked to the west. He managed to bring a tear to his right eye, knowing that it was one of the only times that the two brothers had ever to have fun together as children. It made him happy.

"I'm glad that you remember that." Mario said. "That was one of our golden moments! It really meant a lot to me."

"Did it mean as much to you as being called the 'athletic child'?" Luigi asked.

"All I can say is that I wish I could relive those times. Now, life to me is just black and white."

"Same here." sulked Luigi as they continued climbing up and down rolling hills and over small boulders. As they continued, the trees started to become thicker and the sky was beginning to get darker as twilight started to take over. Mario pulled out the book and was still able to read about the estimated location of the first Crystal Star which Lord Crump was after.

"According to this book," Mario said, "the first Crystal Star is located underground in an old abandoned mine accessible through an old pipe."

"I knew our plumbing skills would come in handy!" Luigi said. "You know, professor Frankly forgot to mention the pipes as a way of transporting ourselves throughout the kingdom!"

"Hey, you're right!" Mario said. "If we can find any warp pipes along our journey, they can take us to different parts of the Mushroom Kingdom in a matter of minutes. I think the professor is still a little old-fashioned if you ask me."

The two brothers chuckled as they continued walking through the forest. The already waning moon was starting to rise in the east and casted eerie shadows through the large aspen trees. Luigi started to shiver at the sight of them.

"Please don't tell me you think there's a ghost out here!" Mario said.

"I don't." Luigi lied. Mario knew he was lying too.

"You can't fool me, lover boy!" Mario teased. "I know when you're afraid of something. Now, come on! There's no time to waste!" Mario grabbed Luigi's arm and they both continued through the dark twilight.

…

Stars were beginning to shine down on the two brothers as the sky turned black. Luigi, having always been called the 'star child', was able to able to point out a few bright planets as well. Both of the brothers decided to stop and do some stargazing.

"See that really bright point over in the west?" he asked Mario, pointing to a cream-colored star.

"What about it?" Mario said.

"Do you know what planet that is?"

Mario thought about it for a moment and suddenly remembered everything that his brother had once told him from astronomy class. Mario looked up at the point again and guessed.

"Is it Venus?" Mario asked.

"Close, but no." Luigi said. "It's not bright enough. Plus it's in the wrong place in its orbit to view it right now."

"How about Jupiter?" Mario guessed.

"You guessed it brother!" Luigi said. "How about the one that's next to it?"

Mario looked over and saw a bright red point and knew hat it was right away.

"That's Mars!" said Mario. "Duh."

"It's the red coloring that gives it away." Luigi said. "There's one more planet up in the sky and it's above Jupiter. Any guesses?"

Luigi pointed up to another bright point that was also cream-colored like Jupiter, but dimmer. Mario stopped and began to think. He knew that his brother already knew the answer, but he was afraid that he would get the answer wrong.

Sometimes I hate it when my brother gives me these kinds of tests! Mario thought to himself. I wish I was smart like him!

"I'll give you a hint." said Luigi. "It's my favorite planet."

"Just tell me." Mario said. "My brain really hurts."

"It's Saturn!" said Luigi. "I've only told you that who knows how many times!"

Saturn, the ringed planet! Mario thought. Should've guessed!

The two brothers continued looking up at the sky and saw a few meteors shoot across the sky in long, bright streaks as they burned through the atmosphere. Mario looked at the three planets again and saw something strange.

"Luigi, have you ever seen so many planets in the sky at the same time?" he asked.

"No." said Luigi. "I've also never seen planets in the same general part of the sky either. I remember reading in the newspaper the night before the king's funeral that there's going to be a planetary alignment in a couple of weeks."

"An alignment?" Mario questioned with interest.

"Yes." Luigi replied. "Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will all be on the other side of the sun relative to Earth and form somewhat of a straight line."

"How often does this happen?" Mario asked. "Do you know?"

"It depends." said Luigi. "I read that alignments like these usually happen around every forty years or so if you only count the moon with the planets. But this alignment will include the moon, the planets, and the sun!"

"How is that different?" Mario asked. "Wouldn't the sun be in line with the planets anyway?"

"Well, let me paraphrase what I just said. In this configuration, the sun will be in front while the other five planets involved will be lined up behind it. This means that Earth will be still be lined up with the other planets, but will not be on the same side of the sun as the others. I read that these kinds of alignments are harder to predict."

"So we aren't going to see the other planets when it happens?" Mario asked.

"Unfortunately." Luigi said. "And, based on current calculations from the Mushroom Kingdom's chief astronomers, an alignment like this upcoming one is not expected to happen again for another 675 years!"

"That's crazy!" Mario said.

"There will also be a solar eclipse when the alignment occurs." said Luigi. "And of all the places in the world see the best of it; Bowser's realm was listed as number one!"

"Just the place we need to be to rescue the princesses!" Mario said.

The two brothers continued through the darkening woods. The forest had become dark and it was very hard to see anything ahead of them. Their only source of light was the light from the waning gibbous moon, but even that was not enough to stop the brothers from tripping over twigs.

Mario started thinking over the planetary alignment and wondered if it signified anything significant in the quest. Deep down, there was something in him that seemed to make sense, but he could not seem to put his finger on it. He was too tired to think right now.

"Mario, look what I found!" Luigi shouted ahead of him. Mario looked up and saw Luigi carrying a couple of fire flowers.

"Where did you find those?" Mario asked.

"Over here by this tree trunk!" said Luigi. "Here, take one!"

Just a little note about the planetary alignment:

This idea actually came to me as I was reading an online article about two similar alignments that happened in 1962 and 2000. I was also partly inspired by the first Tomb Raider movie, because there was a planetary alignment involved there as well, though it involved all nine planets. In reality, it is very unlikely that the planets (including Pluto) will ever line up in a straight line just as it did in the movie; such an event would only occur once every 180 TRILLION years, as opposed to the movie's fictional plot, claiming that it happens every 5,000 years.