With the final piece of the broken mirror finally in their possession Mario and Luigi took their leave of the Seventh Sage's tower by using the secondary lift revealed to them by the Sage herself. This lift was merely a single round platform that elevated the two heroes away from the Sage's chamber at the top of the tower, through a small hatch in the roof and through the seemingly eternal darkness above.
Mario was quiet, thoughts preoccupied with many potential worst case scenarios that would leave the world to its demise.
"Bro?" Luigi looked over at his brother standing by his side. "You okay?"
"Fine." Mario replied quietly without look toward Luigi. "Just thinking."
"About the Princess?"
"And the Sorceress." Mario could get the horrific image of Ruin's appearance from the painting out of his mind. "How do we stop her, Luigi? She's like no one we've ever faced before."
"We've dealt with darkness and black magic before. We had to deal with it before we even knew what we were in for, so I know we can do it again."
"I hope you're right."
"...me too." Luigi muttered in response.
As the lift ascended further into the sky a small point of light began shining down from the dark sky. The point became brighter and larger as the lift raised the two heroes higher and higher.
"Mario, look!" Luigi pointed upward the bream of light with one hand and shielded his eyes with the other. "Light."
Looking up Mario used his own to shield his eyes as the light above became ever brighter and intense. The lift carried the brothers up and into the powerful ray of light and out of the darkness. The smell of fresh air and the sound a billowing spring breeze brought a sense of calm over the weary heroes as the lift reached its destination.
The lift delivered the brothers out of the secret maze hidden beneath the mountains and dense rocks to the surface. A land of stone and quiet greeted the heroes as the duo prepared for the return journey back to Princess Peach's Castle.
"We're finally out of the maze." Mario sighed with immense relief. "Now we just need to get back to the Castle."
Luigi didn't reply. He looked around himself with a silent horror stricken across his face.
"Luigi? What is it?"
"We're... We're in Toad Town."
"We're-" Mario's eyes darted about as a surge of adrenaline pumped through his heart.
Luigi was right.
"What... What happened here?!" Mario nearly shouted as he took in the sight of the altered, cursed town.
The brick streets, the houses and even the grass were covered in a layer of ethereal, unnatural dark stone. Flowers that once bloomed in vases and boxes nestled on windows were stone and dead. The glass windows were broken and replaced by rock. Alarming still were the Toads who were unable to escape the ripple of the dark power forever frozen in stone, their faces masks of terror in the midst of a perpetual scream.
"Ruin..." Luigi rasped as dread tightened around his heart. "She did this."
Mario put a shaking hand on the outstretched arm of the nearest Toad cursed in stone and shuddered at how cold and still the poor creature had become.
"If she can do this without even leaving the Castle..." Mario trailed off the full weight of the situation struck him. "Luigi! We have to get back to the Castle, NOW. We can't let Ruin run wild! She must be returned to the mirror!"
Inside the ancient mirror prison Princess Peach wept silently as she laid on her side with her arm tucked beneath her head. She was tired. She wanted to sleep, to dream. Only through dreams could she finally escape the mirror.
"Mario..." She closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her face. "I'm waiting for you. Please, hurry. I... I'm so tired..."
Mario and Luigi raced down the stone encrusted streets to the heart of Toad Town. The silent streets and its cursed inhabitants gave a forbidding aura to the once glorious town that was no under a spell of Darkness.
"Come on!" Mario leapt easily from the street to the lower drawbridge that crossed the moat that surrounded the Castle.
"Right behind ya'!" Luigi shouted as he kept pace with his older brother.
Mario pushed on the large doors that lead into the main chamber of the Castle, but they were stuck and refused to budge.
"Come on-" He begged through gritted teeth as he put his whole weight against the doors. "OPEN!"
Luigi assisted Mario and began pushing with his all his strength against the doors. "Keep... trying!"
A loud 'crack' echoed over the silenced Castle Grounds as the doors finally parted. With a slow and heavy swing the doors opened fully and allowed the brothers to enter the cursed Castle at long last.
Inside it somehow seemed even quieter. The natural energy of the Castle was gone. No life, no joy, no beauty.
"Mario... I don't like this." Luigi admitted as he shuddered with fear. "This is too easy. Why wasn't there anything more to stop us?"
"I don't know, Weege. But I do know you're right. Ruin is planning something." He turned to his brother as he pulled the bill of his cap down over his steeled eyes. "Stay on your guard."
Luigi could only nod in agreement as he followed Mario up the staircase and to the higher levels of the Castle.
The interior of the entire Castle was caked in cold stone that gave the once glorious Castle a hollow, dead vibe. The sounds of the brothers' heavy boot steps as they slowly crossed the stone surface of the stair steps and lengthy corridors only intensified the hollowness that was now Ruin's dark and ominous lair...
...to be continued...
