The brothers were thrown from the tower of the Castle with unbridled force. Soaring through the air at an uncontrollable, unstoppable speed Mario and Luigi were at the mercy of Ruin's power and the malevolent energy she had channeled. Tumbling helplessly through the air the brothers could only wait for gravity to stop them, landing in a place they did not know.

"Gah!" Luigi yelled bitterly as he and Mario finally began a sharp descent from the air. The line of thick trees was not something either had hoped to cushion their fall. "Mario!?"

Without another word the duo plummeted into the thick trees; bursting through the numerous green leaves, crashing through strong branches, snapping the snaking vines and startling entire flocks of birds from their roosts. With a resonating 'thud' on the dark jungle floor the two brothers had finally come to a halt.

Birds squawked and fluttered about the branches angrily as a cloud of dirty wafted up from abrupt impact on the ground.

"M-Mario...?" Luigi asked breathlessly as he laid on his back beneath several broken tree branches. "Are you al-alright?"

Sitting up slowly, pushing aside the fallen tree limbs and leaves, Mario let out a defeated sign and rested his arm atop of his knee. "Yeah. I'm okay." He put his hand to his head and unsurprisingly felt his thick brown hair, not his red cap. "How are you?"

Luigi imitated Mario and slowly sat upright from the ground and adjusted his crooked green cap before responding. "I'm fine." He coughed a little then used his hand to wave away the lingering dust. "What... What happened back there? Who was that? WHAT was that?"

Mario shut his eyes and bowed his head as the sight of seeing Princess Peach taking the form of the Shadow Queen brought back sickening, painful memories of his journey for the Seven Crystal Stars throughout Rogue Port. Seeing Peach being dragged into the tomb of the Shadow Queen in the lowest portion of the demon's ancient, crumbling lair was horrific enough, but watching Peach's body become possessed by the Shadow Queen herself ached at his heart in a painful manner that he had never felt before; until he and his party had no choice but to attack Peach in order to stop the Shadow Queen.

Mario and Peach swore to never speak of that battle. Neither wanted to remember being forced to face off against one another in combat, let alone risk the entire world because of any hesitation that would prevent them from doing everything in their power to protect the Light from the Darkness.

"Mario?" Luigi could see his brother was lost in deep thought.

Mario's usually bright blue eyes were dull and unfocused as he sat on the dirty ground pondering away quietly.

"Do you know what's going on?" Luigi asked again, needing his brother to respond to his voice.

"No..." Mario admitted, finally finding the strength to push the memory away as Luigi's voice broke through his trance. "I don't know what happened."

Unsure of what to do next Luigi slowly got to his feet, dusted off his clothes and offered his hand to Mario. "I wonder where we are."

Mario looked up at his younger brother but didn't accept his hand, choosing instead to remain where he sat on the jungle floor. "I don't know. I haven't been here, before."

Luigi reluctantly retracted his hand, letting his arm hang limp at his side. The look of worry in Mario's eyes made Luigi's stomach lurch. How could someone who was always so strong, so confident become so shaken so easily? "I'm uh, I'm going to climb this tree and see if I can figure out where we landed, okay?"

Mario didn't respond or even look at his brother any more. His eyes wandered down to the jungle floor as his mind wandered back to Peach and the Darkness that had consumed her.

Utilizing the broken tree branches advantageously Luigi managed to climb a very tall tree like a ladder, easily ascending to the top of the treeline. Pushing the leaves and smaller branches from his eye line Luigi was blinded by the exposed sunlight. "Wow!" Luigi shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted through the light. "That's bright!" Scanning the horizon Luigi was able to locate Princess Peach's Castle in the distance and from there he was able to determine his and Mario's current location.

"Hey, bro!" Luigi called back down Mario who was completely concealed beneath the thick tree foliage below. "We're South of the Castle! I think we're in the middle of Verdant Jungle!"

Mario looked up slightly through the wavering leaves and branches as Luigi descended back to the ground at a steady pace. "Verdant Jungle?"

"You are correct." An unseen voice responded from behind a fallen log just a few yards from where the brothers had first landed.

"GAH!" Luigi was startled by the unexpected third occupant looming in the jungle and temporarily lost his grip, sliding down the side of the tree for a few feet. "Who are YOU?" He demanded as he took a firm hold of the trunk of the tree to keep himself from falling. "Where'd you come from?"

Mario barely reacted to the voice. Looking only in the direction of the rotting log he waited for their hidden observer to reveal himself.

"I am one of the Seven Mushroom Sages." An elderly Toad draped in a tattered brown hooded tunic emerged from behind the log and through the low hanging branches. "You may call me Moss: Sage of the Woodlands."

"Mushroom Sages?" Luigi reached the bottom and the tree and stood beside Mario protectively, wary of the stranger. "Never heard of them."

"I am not surprised." Moss replied casually as he pulled the hood from his head, revealing his face. The green spotted Toad looked over the brother with wise, inquisitive eyes. He was no taller than Mario and his hunched posture exposed the age that had worn away his tired old bones. "Come. I have much to explain to you young adventurers."

Turning on his heels Moss casually strolled back through the dense green foliage from whence he came.

"Should we follow him?" Luigi asked Mario quietly as he kneeled down beside his brother. "I mean, how do we know this guy can help us?"

Mario shook his head solemnly before finally looking at Luigi. "We don't know. We don't know anything. I don't think we have much of a choice."

Nodding in understanding Luigi trusted Mario's judgment and offered his hand for the second time. "Right. Let's go after him."

"Yeah..." Mario's response was quieted beneath his heavy sorrow as he accepted Luigi's hand. "Until we learn anything else about what happened back at the Castle this Sage is our best bet."

Trailing after Moss in silence the heroic duo was still trying to comprehend the bizarre and frightening event that had transpired in the Castle. Neither brother knew what had happened, nor did they know what befell Princess Peach and the rest of Toad Town after their sudden departure through the tower windows. And what of Ruin? Who was she and why she inside of the ancient mirror?

"Not much further." Moss spoke softly as he approached a wall of vines hanging from the top of a massive cliff side. "Home is just a few feet away."

"Home?" Luigi asked bewildered as he glanced around the jungle. "You have a house out here?"

"Not quite." Moss answered with a sly grin as he approached the lush, green vines. "Behold!"

Grabbing onto the center of the vines Moss parted the natural growth like a curtain, revealing a large cave hidden away in the cliff. Inside the cave was an ancient tree that had long since died and had long since been hollowed out into a modest abode.

"This tree has been in the jungle since the first eon, in which the seeds were planted." Moss led the brothers into the cave and toward his home. "It stood watch over the jungle and its creatures for millennia until a single bolt of lightning struck it down. The tree had perished but its roots were strong. From within the stump it had left behind the very first Sage of the Woodlands created this sanctuary."

Mario and Luigi paused just outside the small doorway leading into the thousand year old home. Admiration for the longevity of the jungle was palpable. It was evident that after the great tree had fallen erosion created the that sheltered cave from the exterior of the cliff that bordered the edge of the jungle. Nature will always prosper.

"Come." Moss opened the small door and warmly invited the heroes to join him inside. "We have much to discuss."

...to be continued...