14
After the brothers recovered from the intense cold, they continued down the glowing passage that was nearby. The first thing that struck Mario and Luigi as they walked down the tunnel were the glowing bluish crystals that were suspended on the walls and ceiling. Although the source of their brilliance did not do much to keep the brothers warm, it was nonetheless mysterious and unlike anything they have ever seen in real life. What could cause such a dazzling light spectacle? Was it magic? Did it relate to the Crystal Stars in any way? As far as the brothers could tell, there was nothing else they could say about it. Then, they emerged into a very large room that was covered with large brilliant crystals of all colors and the brothers were standing in very top portion of it. Although blue was the most prominent aura of color in the room, Mario and Luigi could also see crystals glowing in brilliant hues of green, red, and purple.
"Wow!" Mario said. "What's making these rocks glow?"
"I'm not sure, brother." Luigi said. "But I have this feeling we may be close to the next star. Where else would those ancient settlers hide it?"
"If they hid it here, then it must be camouflaged among these crystals." Mario replied. "At least that's where I would hide the star. Where would you hide it?"
"Not in plain sight." Luigi said. "It's obviously hidden somewhere it can't found too easily."
The brothers looked to the bottom of the cavern and saw that it was a long way down. The bottom of the giant cavern was even brighter and covered with even larger crystals that seemed to wrap themselves onto the wall and make their way upwards to where the brothers were currently standing. There were large cracks in the crystals as well, suggestive of some kind of erosion. But to Mario and Luigi, it meant something else. To them, it was a way of getting to the bottom of the cavern safely. Mario went ahead of Luigi and immediately grabbed onto the large crystal first to test its stability. Once he gave the 'okay' signal, Luigi started following his brother down the crystal and they both slowly made their way down to the bottom of the large cavern.
"I don't know why, but I have a really good feeling about this." Luigi said. "I think this is where the next star is."
"My guess is that if this is the only path, we must be on the right path." Mario said. "Right now, let's just focus on getting to the bottom of this cavern."
The brothers slowly made their way down the side of the cavern, making sure they make the right steps to reach the bottom. They found themselves slip a couple of times, but they were able to maintain their grip despite their relentless fear of falling to their untimely demise. When the brothers were about halfway down the giant glowing crystal, Luigi suddenly noticed something strange happening on Mario's back.
"Mario! The rucksack!" Luigi shouted. "It's glowing!"
"What?!" Mario asked, trying to look back. But that was a mistake. By the time Mario realized this, it was too late. Luigi tried reaching out to grab his brother, but he ended up falling as well. Screaming for their lives, they tried grabbing onto different crystal outcrops as they tried breaking their fall. However, the two brothers ended up brushing their whole bodies against the wall and soon found themselves in a whole world of pain and suffering. Once they reached the ground, Mario and Luigi were bruised and badly cut, especially around their arms and midsections. Mario pulled out the two Crystal Stars and saw that Luigi was right. They were glowing brightly. It was almost as if the stars were guiding them to their next target.
"What's going with the stars?" Luigi asked, trying not to express the pain that he was going through.
"They seem to be reacting to some kind of magical force." Mario replied, handing Luigi a green mushroom. "Whatever the source of this magic is, it must lead us to the next star."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"I can't see what else it would do."
Once the brothers ingested their mushrooms, they immediately went to get up on their feet, but were quick to discover that they were walking on top of solid ice.
"Okay, this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought." Mario said. "I'm just glad we didn't break the damned ice!"
"Mario! Look!" Luigi said, pointing down to the ground. "I think I may have found the answer to our mystery!"
Mario looked down and saw a mysterious glowing coming from underneath the icy surface. Glancing back to the Diamond and Ruby Stars in his hand, Mario could see that they were even brighter than before. Looking back through the clear window of ice below his feet, the object that was causing the mysterious glow seemed to be spinning, as well as pulsating in its overall brightness.
"What is that?" Mario asked.
"Is that what I think it is?" Luigi asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Just look, Mario."
Looking closer, Mario saw that that object was geometric in that it had five distinguishable points. Smiles began to crawl on both the brothers' faces. They had found the third crystal star.
"Well done, Luigi!" Mario said, giving his brother a nice pat on the back. "You found the third star! I bet Bowser wished he found it much sooner! This was much easier than I expected it to be."
"Only one problem." Luigi said. "How do we get to it?"
"Somehow we need to break the ice." Mario asked. "More than likely there's going to be water below it. If only we saved that last fire flower…"
"If only we knew that the star was going to be concealed below a thick layer of ice." Luigi replied. "Damn…"
"Let's look around and see what we can find." Mario said. "I think I see a passageway at the far end of the frozen pond. Maybe there's a large boulder that we can use that's heavy enough to make a large hole in the ice."
"What about the crystals?" Luigi asked. "They look big enough to break the ice."
"Yeah, but there's no way we can move them around." he replied. "Come on. Just follow me."
Luigi followed Mario over to the large opening leading to another room filled with large glowing crystals. The ground was made of solid rock, making it easier for the brothers to walk around and stay on their feet. It seemed to lead down another passageway with a low jagged ceiling that slanted downward and then up again into another area. However, the brothers were not focused on trying to get out of the caves yet, assuming that the passage did in fact lead back outside. One thing was certain: there was no way that Mario and Luigi would ever think about trying to get out of the caves the same way they came in, especially with the cold water. Even if they were able to return the same way they came, there was a high chance of Koopas and Goombas waiting for them above ground and neither of them were willing to take that chance.
Looking around the small cavern area, Mario and Luigi saw many chunks and loose pebbles, as well as pieces of loose crystal fragments that managed to retain their glow. They were sprinkled all around the room like tiny glowing Christmas lights, giving the room an overall sparkly appearance. However, there were no large boulders seen around the room, at least not in plain sight. It did not take long before Mario spotted a large crystal 'boulder' on the left side of the room and the two of them started rolling it towards the frozen pond concealing the third star.
"Here, take a red mushroom." Mario said. "We're going to need some strength to create a large enough impact."
"I figured as much." Luigi replied. "Thanks."
"No problem, little brother." Mario replied. "On the count of three, I want you to help me hoist this heavy chunk off the ground, that way we can throw it onto the ice and break a hole to reach the star."
"Who's going to go in the water?" Luigi asked.
"That doesn't matter right now." Mario replied. "On the count of three…ready? One…two…three!"
The brothers hoisted the large piece of crystal off the ground with their renewed strength and forcefully threw it onto the frozen pond, shattering the cold ice to create a hole that was large enough for either of them to fit through. The only issue that needed to be dealt with was the question of who would be the brave man to brave the cold.
"I can't go in that water! I'll die!" Luigi complained. "I have less fat to keep me warm than you."
"Don't look at me!" Mario replied. "I'm not freezing my nuts off!"
"Are you sure there isn't another way we can retrieve it?!" Luigi asked.
"Got any fishing line or hooks?"
Luigi shook his head and continued starring into the glowing icy water. The star was right there, but the only way to get it was if either one of them jumped into the water. To make matters worse, the water was relatively deep, so a quick dunk was not an option. A swim was the only way to reach it, and Luigi knew that for a fact. He thought about it for a few more moments until Mario started to talk again.
"Well, if you're not going to get, then I guess I…"
But it was too late. Luigi had already splashed into the water and was swimming straight towards the spinning crystal star.
"LUIGI!" Mario yelled. He ran over to the hole and panicked at the sight before him.
Meanwhile, down in the icy depths, Luigi felt his chest burn as the cold water started to take a toll on his body. Drowning was now the least of his worries as he struggled to maintain his own body warmth.
Swim, damn it! Swim! Luigi thought. He was in the water for just over twenty seconds when he finally got close to the glowing crystal star. He reached for it, but felt his body start to weaken as he grabbed the precious artifact. A few seconds later, Luigi was completely numb. He could not feel anything in his body and felt paralyzed from his neck down.
I'm going to die. Luigi thought as he felt his mind wander away from consciousness.
Back above the ice, Mario was beginning to suspect the worst.
"I'm coming after you, Luigi!" he said, diving into the water without even realizing the potential consequences of his own failure. Nevertheless, he was obligated to his brother, no matter what the cost may be. Diving down, Mario was quick to spot Luigi floating in the water motionless with the Crystal Star in his hand. With his body starting to cool drastically, he quickly swam over to his brother and grabbed his arms before slowly swimming back up to the hole.
Come on! Almost there! Mario thought. Don't fail me yet!
Twenty seconds have passed since Mario entered the water. For Luigi, it had been almost a minute, which is enough time to potentially kill him. Finally, Mario surfaced and quickly brought Luigi's body above the water before pulling himself out and into the cold cavern. With the last bit strength that he had, Mario reached into Luigi's hand and grabbed the Crystal star. It had lost its glow, leaving behind the cold-looking crystal formation that had a similar appearance as the Diamond Star. He turned it over and saw that, like the other two stars the brothers had in their possession, it had a planetary symbol engraved on the back. But Mario did not closely examine the symbol, for he was too worried about his brother's, as well as his own, state of being. Shivering uncontrollably, Mario checked Luigi's pulse and was relieved to find that he was still alive, but he was unsure how long that would remain. He turned his brother over onto his back and started to perform CPR, but that did not seem to work. Mario then tried giving him a green mushroom, but that did not seem to work either.
"Oh, please don't be dead!" Mario cried. "Stay with me, brother!" In a last desperate attempt to save his brother, Mario wrapped his cold, wet body around Luigi's hoping that his body warmth would return and ensure that his brother would warm back up to a manageable temperature. With no more fire flowers to work with, Mario could only hope for the best outcome, for he was far from ready to lose another member of his family.
"Please don't be dead!" Mario said, as he wept and prayed for Luigi's survival.
Finally! Another chapter is up and running. It's been way too long and I apologize for such a seemingly endless wait. My simple excuse for this is the fact that I am being kept busy with tons of homework in all of my college classes for the past few months. However, I have not forgotten about this story and the gears are slowly starting to turn again after a prolonged case of writer's block.
The Mario Brothers have just collected the third crystal star after what seemed like an effortless search, with the exception of the freezing cold water. Luigi is currently hanging onto his life after almost drowning in the retrieval of the star under a layer of ice and both brothers are cold and wet. Will the brothers ever make it out of the caverns and will they ever survive the intense cold? Stay tuned to find out.
Once again, I apologize to anyone who was following this story. I can assure you that there will be more chapters to come in the near future.
Saturn 95