25

Mario and Luigi were dazzled at the sight of precious stones and gold coinage scattered inside the tiny room in huge mounding piles which the brothers were unable to estimate their approximate worth. There were also huge treasure chests buried inside the huge stacks of coins and jewelry that did not require keys to open. The brothers were quick to dig all of them out to see what the contents of the boxes were.

"This is amazing!" Mario said. "Look at all this treasure!"

"I know!" Luigi said enthusiastically. "We're going to be rich now!"

"As long as Bowser doesn't get to it after we leave!" Mario said as he picked up a beautiful golden necklace encrusted with large diamonds and rubies. "I think I'll give this to Peach!"

"Look at these huge sapphire earrings!" Luigi said. "Do you think Daisy would like these?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't like them!" Mario said. "What about those large emerald bracelets you're holding Luigi?"

"Oh, I already know Daisy is going to like these!" he replied. "She may prefer gold, but she also likes the color green."

"I can only imagine why..." Mario said sarcastically, knowing that it was because green was Luigi's color. Luigi simply chuckled and continued digging through the treasures.

"AH!" Luigi suddenly gasped. Mario turned around and saw Luigi pointing with a shaky hand at a human skull that had been buried under a pile of gold and silver coins.

"Are you alright, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"Yeah." Luigi said. "Just a little freaked out that there's a dead human carcass inside this room. Why would it be in here in all this treasure? Did he or she get trapped in here?"

"I don't know bro." Mario said. "I can't be the judge of that."

Luigi continued digging and revealed the rest of the human skeleton and found a something strapped to its back.

"Well, whoever was trapped in here must've been here recently." Luigi said. "This person has a rucksack."

"Open it and see what's inside." Mario said. "There could be survival supplies inside."

Luigi opened the dirty rucksack after taking it off of the skeleton and felt inside. He reached and pulled out an old canteen that was empty and a few rotten red and green mushrooms inside a small bag that have since expired and dried up.

"What a waste!" Mario said. "They could've survived at least a little longer so that we could use them!"

Luigi simply tossed them aside and continued searching through the rucksack for any more survival supplies. The last thing that he found was a knife.

"This should come in handy." Luigi said. "I think I'll use this rucksack to carry some stuff too."

"Good thinking Luigi." Mario said. "You could probably put the jewelry we found inside that rucksack as well. There's still one more treasure chest that we need to open."

"Do you need help opening it?" Luigi asked.

"No I think I got it." Mario replied as he lifted the lid to see what was inside. Suddenly, there was a bright light coming from the inside of the chest and Mario squinted his eyes to see better. He reached inside and pulled out the mysterious light source and both brothers could not believe what they saw next.

"Did we just find another key?!" Luigi asked.

Mario pulled out the other key and compared both of them, finding that they looked almost identical.

"It looks like we found another key!" Mario said. "Awesome! That means we only have two more to find!"

Mario and Luigi gave each other a high-five when turned around and saw that the door was sealed shut!

"What the fuck...?" Mario said under his own breath as he attempted to pull the door open again. Unfortunately, the door was too heavy as the Mario Brothers appeared to be stuck inside.

"Great! Now what are we going to do to get out?!" Luigi asked. "There's no other way we can dig our way out!"

Suddenly, the two brothers looked up and towards the opposite side of the room relative to the closed door and saw the orange glow shining down upon them in the darkness. It was coming from a large hole in the upper part of the wall that looked like a crawlspace big enough for both Mario and Luigi to traverse through. They were no longer trapped.

"We can fit through that space easily!" Mario said. "I wonder where it leads."

"I can tell you this, it leads out of here!" Luigi replied.

"Well, let's stop talking about it and start working our way out of here!" Mario said. "I'll go first."

"If you say so." Luigi said.

Mario went up to the wall and jumped up to grab the ledge. He then pulled himself up and squeezed into the tiny gap.

"Come on, Luigi!" Mario said. "I think this leads outside! I think I can also hear running water!"

"I'm right behind you, brother!" Luigi shouted out.

Luigi jumped up and grabbed the ledge, pulling himself into the tiny crawlspace. He then followed closely behind his brother and they both started maneuvering their way around tight corners and sharp rocks.

After a few minutes of crawling, the ceiling was high enough for both Mario and Luigi to walk on their feet, so they got up and started walking through the cave. The floor of the cave was now covered in sand and the tunnel was starting to get a little brighter. There was also the sound of a moving river coming from ahead of them.

"I think we're almost outside!" Mario said excitedly. "I can really hear the water now!"

"So can I!" Luigi said. "Where did this tunnel take us though?"

"I guess we'll be finding out shortly." Mario replied.

The brothers rounded another corner and were pleased to see the light of day pouring in from the cave exit just ahead. They ran up the slanted cave and emerged into the bright morning sun on a cliff overlooking a fast-moving river. Mario and Luigi were free at last...

The brothers are now in possession of two of the keys that will unlock the door to the second Crystal Star which is buried underneath the large pyramid. After following the orange glow, they were able to find their way back outside to a small cliff overlooking a river. However, despite their triumphant success, there are still a few mysteries that are rocking Mario and Luigi's minds: One, what is causing the mysterious orange glow phenomena and will they be able to find out? Two, what are the whereabouts of the princesses and Pauline? And three, is Bowser still trying to kill them?

I'm esimating that there might be around ten chapters left to this part of the story. After that, I will begin writing Volume 3. I can't wait! I have so many ideas through my head :)

However, I will see you the next time I update! I'll be looking forward to what the future is going to bring! :)

saturn95