"Wow. Ancient." Luigi said, looking around at what looked like an underground city. Not even the chirping of a cricket was heard, Luigi feeling strangely conscious of the fact that he was alone. Everything was grey and colorless, like time itself had stopped here. Looking up, he saw a large chapel just down the street. It looked like the road he was on would take him straight to it. As the chapel came closer, Luigi suddenly felt as if he was being watched. Glancing behind him, he saw nothing but the deserted city. What was a city like this doing underneath Star Summit anyway? Turning around, he found himself at the front doors of the chapel. Taking a deep breath to calm his shaky nerves, Luigi pushed doors open.
It was a lovely little chapel, though it could use a little dusting here and there, but what really caught Luigi's attention was a strange door in the back of the chapel and an ornate little alter in front of it. The alter looked like it had a hole on the top in the center, at least from where Luigi stood, and the Door was pure white, with grey symbols each engraved just above a keyhole. Walking over to the alter, Luigi found the hole to actually be a keyhole. Looking up to the door, Luigi found there to be seven symbols, a keyhole below each of the seven, and a strange indent in the center of the door. Luigi walked over to the door to take a closer look at the symbols.
From the bottom left, it arched around the door, stopping at the bottom right. It showed, from the bottom left;
A boulder,
A drop of water,
A tree,
A gear,
A flame,
A fluffy cloud,
And finally a bolt of lightning.
Luigi stared at each keyhole in odd fascination, wondering what each symbol meant. His pocket suddenly started vibrating however, causing Luigi to jump in surprise.
"W-what the-?" Luigi reached into his pocket to see that the leather pouch he kept the shard in was vibrating, as if someone was trying to call him or something. "Oh yeah!The Star Spirits!" Luigi exclaimed before plopping the shard into his open hand. He slightly jumped as a giant hologram of Eldstar appeared before him, the shard glowing brightly.
"Greetings Luigi. It seems you have found the door..." Eldstar looked around to find the chapel grey and colorless. "Oh my. It seems things are worse than we thought...have you seen any Truffles?"
"Truffles?" Luigi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, Truffles. They are akin to the Ravens species, but white in color with black eyes. They have long since guarded this place. But seeing as I do not sense any around, I must assume the worse has happened to them." Eldstar then turned around to face the large Door. "Oh dear...it seems Skolar was right in his concerns..." He spoke sadly.
"What do you mean?"
"Luigi, before you is what is known as 'The Door to the End'. It is the door to a chamber that has long since been used to hold the Heartless captive, so that their destructive ways could be contained. But alas, do you see the hole in the indentation in the middle of the door?" Luigi nodded, noticing the strange area of the door. It looked like something was missing. "That hole used to contain a seal, a large jewel very much like Princess Peach's Royal Brooch. However, as you can see, it no longer rests in its proper place. Someone has broken the seal of the Heartless..."
"And you think that's how the Heartless are free?" Eldstar nodded. "But who could have broken the seal?" Luigi pondered.
"We do not know, but it is best you find a way to reclaim the Seven Crystal Keys. Without them, the Heartless will continue to roam the upper world."
"But how will I be able to find them?" Luigi asked. Eldstar pointed to the alter in front of the door.
"Luckily, whoever broke the seal forgot to destroy the alter as well. Insert your Keyblade, and the way will be made clear. Good Luck Luigi." And with that, Eldstar disappeared, the Crystal Shard dimming until it lightly glimmered in the dim light of the Chapel.
Luigi watched the shard for a moment before placing it back in its pouch. Deciding to save him the trouble of being startled again, Luigi hung the pouch around his neck instead of putting it in his pocket. Turning back to the alter, Luigi pulled the Keyblade from its resting place in his belt and aligned it with the keyhole. Stabbing the weapon into the opening, Luigi twisted the 'key' until he heard a 'Click'. A low rumbling sound shook the chapel, Luigi trying unsuccessfully to keep his balance. Upon smacking his head onto a statue, the rumbling stopped. Luigi, eyes rolling, shook his head to rid himself of the dizziness before a paper dropped into his lap. Picking up the paper, Luigi's eyes widened.
"This kind of looks like a map of the Mushroom World..." Luigi exclaimed. His eyes narrowed however as he traced rivers, lakes, mountains and other landmarks on the map. "But...it looks really outdated...I'll probably need to find a specialist if I want to read this thing right..." He sighed in defeat. Luigi then stood up before putting the Map into his Adventure Pouch. Turning back to the entrance of the Chapel, he suddenly had a very bad feeling about this place.
'I'd better get moving...' Luigi thought, quickly exiting the chapel. He looked back to the Chapel, his eyes finding the bell tower above it to see two silhouettes staring back at him. 'DOUBLE TIME!' Luigi panicked, picking up his pace ten-fold.
Luigi wheezed as he collapsed outside the entrance to the old town. He didn't know what he saw, and he didn't want to find out. He didn't so much as twitch as the staircase disappeared, not leaving a single trace of the entrance ever existing on Star Summit.
"It might have been Heartless..." Luigi told himself, still unnerved by the event. "Or, it could have been those Truffles..." Luigi thought, remembering Eldstar's words. Either way, he was out of the city, and he didn't plan on going back for a while. Taking another deep breath, Luigi calmed himself. "Well...guess I better go looking for a Map specialist." Luigi said aloud. The only place he could think of was that one town near Toad Town. There was a map specialist there, an old Koopa by the name of Gregory. "All right, off to Newsong." He nodded.
As the plumber left for the small town, he didn't notice the shadow that watched him from a good distance away.
Upon reaching the town, Luigi's heart sank. Toad Town wasn't the only place that was suffering from the Heartless attack. And Luigi knew that it would only continue to spread unless he put a stop to it.
'Maybe I'm not cut out for this...I can't even stop a soccer ball unless it hits my face…' He gloomed. Looking down, he caught sight of his shoes, as well as the rest of his new attire.
"It was made with great care."
"I...well...Um...g-good luck!"
Luigi smiled. Maybe he WAS cut out for this.
'After all...it may have been with my face, but I still stopped the ball.' The plumber grinned as he started his way into the town.
Luigi quickly felt out of place as numerous Koopas, Toads and Goombas rushed all over the town, transporting either food and water to another area of the town, or just carrying injured people. Had there really been this much destruction? Multiple times he had tried asking for help, and multiple times he had been ignored. Not that he could blame them. Sighing in irritation, Luigi felt a tap on his side. Turning, he saw an orange-capped Toad looking up at him.
"Is there something you're looking for sir?" He asked. Luigi nodded, thanking the small mushroom fellow.
"I'm looking for an old Koopa who goes by the name Gregory. Do you know where I can find him?"
"Old man Gregory? Yeah, he's the mayor. He's busy requesting help from Toad Town, but I can take you to him anyway."
Luigi smiled. "Thank you, I'd really appreciate it." The tall Keyblade wielder followed the Toad until he came upon a damaged, but still standing nonetheless, house.
"Mr. Mayor sir, you have a visitor." The Toad said after knocking on the door. Luigi smiled as he came into the room, Gregory smiling as he looked up from his paperwork.
"Ah, Luigi, good to see you. Thank you Todd." The old brown-shelled Koopa smiled, thanking the orange-capped Toad. "It's been quite a while...what brings you here, 'Mr. Hero'?" Todd's ears twitched upon hearing Gregory's referral to Luigi. The plumber blushed as he began rubbing the back of his neck.
"Come on Greg, it's been forever since I last went on an adventure with my bro. We've been playing tennis and racing Go-karts lately more than anything else." Luigi grinned before turning serious. "I see the attack hit this town about as hard as Toad Town..." Gregory sighed.
"I was afraid of that...we haven't heard anything from our messengers, so the only thing we can assume is that they're either injured or...worse..."
The silence hung heavily in the air. After a moment, Luigi took a deep breath, breaking the silence.
"Greg...I'm calling up one of my favors." Luigi started.
"Oh?" The aged Koopa raised a fuzzy white eyebrow, a smirk playing on his face. "I never thought I'd hear the day, considering you and your brother always denied me the honor of returning your kindness. Though you must know the position I'm in, so resources are quite scarce." Luigi nodded in understanding before setting the map down in front of him.
""Don't worry, I'm just going to need some of your expertise, none of your drinking buddies." The tall man chuckled before looking back down to the map. "I was sent by Merlon to the Star Spirits the other day...I think I might have found a way to stop those black creatures." The aged turtle furrowed his fuzzy eyebrows.
"You mean there are more?" A slight tone of fear trickled into the Koopa's voice.
"Hundreds...possibly thousands..." Luigi himself was more than a little intimidated at the idea. "But, if we don't stop them, it's not just the Mushroom World that will be destroyed..." Luigi took a deep breath before pointing back at the Map. "The Star Spirits led me to a special door that once sealed the Heartless..." He noticed Gregory's confused look. "Err, the black creatures...but someone broke the seal on the door. If we want to seal them back up, I need to find Seven Crystal Keys." Gregory peered over the map, suddenly very intrigued. "From what Eldstar said, this map should lead us to the Keys...but, I don't exactly know how to read this map...it looks like-
"A map from the second Mushroom war!" Gregory exclaimed in shock.
"Huh?"
"This map is from the time period of the Second Mushroom War. It was the war that many Goombas defected to Dark Land. It was a time of great strife, when the entire Mushroom World was encompassed...where did you find this?" Gregory asked, looking up at the man in curiosity.
"I found it in an ancient city that the Star Spirits led me to. It was in the same room as a door called 'The Door to the End'."
"Ah...so THAT'S where this stems from..." The Koopa's eyes were downcast as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Gregory?" Luigi asked, curious as to the old turtle's quiet reaction.
"This map is very old and VERY outdated...even I won't be able to decipher everything with my abilities..." Luigi sighed, dropping his head in disappointment. "...but this area..." Luigi looked back up at the map as Gregory pointed to a mountain range on the map. "This is where Dry Dry Dessert now exists. In fact, it's not far from Dry Dry Outpost." He nodded, tapping the spot twice before leaning back into his chair.
"Really?" Luigi asked, looking at the map. Luigi leaned closer, the leather pouch hanging around his neck falling out from behind his shirt and skimming along the map. A flash of light suddenly blinded all in the room. When Luigi could finally see again, a glimmering key was marked on the mountain range. "Oh! The map!" Luigi exclaimed.
"Well I'll be a piece 'o Koopa loot! I don't know what you just did, but you just unveiled the location of a key!"
"Yeah...but it looks like only one key is visible right now..." Luigi sighed dejectedly.
"BOG-WASH! You at least know where ONE is! And I'd bet my own left shoe that once you get that key, the location of the next one will show up sooner or later! Now get goin'! I'll send a letter to a good friend of mine that you're coming. Just head to the Desert Flower Inn once you get to Dry Dry Outpost and we'll take care of everything else."
Luigi nodded, smiling gratefully to the old Koopa. "Thanks Greg." The plumber stood up straight, picking up the map and beginning to roll it up before a voice stuttered off to the side.
"Umm...Excuse me." Turning, Luigi found the Orange-capped Toad that had led him to the building Greg had been occupying.
"Oh! Todd! I hadn't even noticed you there! Have you been there this entire time?" The old Koopa a questioned, a twinkle in his eye. The boy swallowed quietly before nodding.
"Um...I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped…but," He turned to Luigi. "You...you said that those black things…those 'Heartless'…there are tons of them..." Luigi nodded hesitantly. "But, there's a way to stop them?"
Luigi breathed a tense sigh. "It's...complicated. It's a Do-or-Die thing at this point, and I'm not even sure if it's going to work, or even if I'll be able to get all of the keys..." Luigi looked down at the map, mulling in thought before nodding. "But after seeing both Toad Town and Newsong...I have to try." Luigi began to chuckle. "Besides, if I don't at least try, my brother will chew me out big time." Luigi grinned, thinking of Mario scolding at him for giving up too easily. Todd stared at the ground, clenching his fists tightly. He swung his head up, looking at Luigi in fierce determination.
"Please! Let me come with you!" Todd suddenly shouted, bowing to the nostalgically induced plumber.
Luigi was completely caught off guard, and answered the Toad's request with a simple, "Huh?"
"Those...things...they destroyed my entire town...and, my sister..." He clenched his fists tighter. "We moved here so she could recover from her illness...but, if these monsters, these Heartless, if they aren't stopped, then we came here for nothing!" He bowed deeper to Luigi. "So please! Let me come with you! I want to help in any way I can!"
"I...I don't know..." Luigi hesitated. Gregory began to chuckle at the two, stroking his small white goatee in amusement as Luigi stumbled over the request.
"It would be a wise decision to bring him with, Luigi. Despite his size, he has a good amount of experience with the Martial Arts. He's actually one of the best in the city. Of course, I'm still the best...though I'm not in the position, nor the best condition to go with you." Luigi turned to the old Koopa, staring at the old man in curiosity. Was it really such a good idea to bring this kid along? Luigi looked down at the map, staring at the mountain range.
"Luigi you've got to go on your own adventure sometime! You'll meet lots of awesome people, and you'll make friends that'll stick up for you no matter what! An adventure isn't any fun unless there are others there with you! And remember, two heads are always better than one."
Luigi smiled, remembering Mario's words after his last journey. Looking to the greatly determined Toad, Luigi sighed, a smile on his face.
'He'll probably follow after even if I say no...' The plumber hummed in amusement.
"All right." Luigi said nodding.
"No buts! I'm coming with you even if I have to-wait, really?" Todd stopped halfway through his rant, shocked at Luigi's answer. The plumber shrugged before scratching the back of his head.
"I mean, two heads are better than one, and I'm pretty sure you'll follow me even if I say no." He turned to Todd with a knowing grin on his face. "Am I right?"
"Y...YEAH! I would!" Todd stated, clenching his fist in excitement. Luigi smiled as he finished tying up the map before placing it into his Adventure Pouch.
"It's getting late, so I think I'll spend the night in town. Meet me at the front gate tomorrow, and don't forget to say goodbye to your family, because you won't be seeing them for a good while." Luigi warned the Toad, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"R-right!" Todd saluted Luigi before rushing out of the house, Luigi sighing as he rubbed his forehead.
"Ho ho ho, you've made a wise decision Luigi." Gregory chuckled as Todd clicked the door shut.
"Yeah? Well right now I'm feeling pretty stupid..." He sighed pathetically before waving back to Gregory. "I'll see you around. And thanks...for everything." Luigi smiled to the Koopa before disappearing out the door. The brown Koopa smiled as he leaned back in his chair, wondering how everything would turn out.
"A wise decision...eh, Marcus?" Gregory mumbled to himself as he began to rock in his chair.