Sorry that it's been so long since I wrote more of the story. Hopefully it's done before the end of the year. Enjoy!

Luigi woke up and saw Noëlle looking outside their cage while eating a Coco Pops bar. He thought she looked cute in that position.

"Hey," he said sleepily.

"Hey, look who's up," she smiled playfully. "How was your rest?"

"Was good. And yours?"

"Much better than the last one."

"That's great," he grinned. "Man, I could use some water right now."

"Yeah, me too," she said before remembering something important. "Hold the phone," she reached for her backpack. "Yes! I thought I had some," she grabbed a water bottle and passed it on to Luigi.

"Thanks," he opened the bottle and drank it steadily, not wanting to gulp it all down when he might need some again later.

"You're welcome," she said after drinking some water as well. "Want a chocolate bar?"

"Si, please."

She found another Coco Pops bar and handed it to Luigi. He took two bites out of it and put the other half in his pocket to save it for later.

Noëlle sighed deeply and sat down across from the youngest brother. "How long is this going to take? Being prisoners?"

"I don't know," he said. "Hey."

She faced him.

"Does somebody need a hug?" He opened his arms wide with a gentle smile.

She grinned back at him. "Everyone needs a hug once in a while." They embraced each other. "Lucky for you, I'm a teddy bear when it comes to hugs."

"Me too," he said, content that he made her happy for a little bit during their predicament. After breaking away, their faces were very close to one another. They couldn't stop staring into each other's eyes. But before something else could happen, they heard a rumble. They turned to see many little dinosaur creatures, known as the Koopas, leaping onto floating platforms, seemingly to check on all the prisoners. The glowing creature was blowing many bubbles and singing a gloomy-sounding song yet he looked cheerful while singing it.

All of a sudden, there was yelling coming from above. And more cages appeared. This time, they contained anthropomorphic apes. It appeared as if the Koopas had just captured a whole army of them. The nearest cage to Luigi's and Noëlle's was an ape with a long white beard and a golden crown with green and red feathers.

"Ooh, fresh meat for the grinder," the blue creature said.

"Who's this ray of sunshine?" the ape, known as Cranky Kong, said.

"There's no sunshine," the blue creature said. "Only darkness."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" the penguin king shouted at the glowing creature.

"Wow, real life of the party, that talking blue star," Noëlle thought sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

There was a purple poof and Kamek appeared on a flying broomstick. "Hello, prisoners! You don't deserve this, but you're invited to the royal WEDDING!"

"Yay!" a penguin cheered from the same cage as the penguin king.

"Where you will all be ritualistically SACRIFICED!" Kamek exclaimed before disappearing.

Everyone panicked except Luigi and Noëlle.

"Oh no, no, no," Cranky Kong said, worried.

"Finally," the blue creature smiled.

Luigi began to shake nervously. "Mario…"

"Luigi?" Noëlle put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes looked prepared to let out some tears. "Hey, hey," she said gently. "If you need to cry, do it. It's okay."

He couldn't hold it in any longer and hugged her tightly while sobbing.

She cried along with him. "We must have faith that Mario is okay. And as long as we're here-"

"Everything will be okay," he said. The whole phrase was his and Mario's message to each other whenever things went bad. Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together. He remembered his brother's last words before they got separated. Luigi told her the phrase that he and Mario share sometimes which made Noëlle smile. They were still hugging each other.

"We'll get out of this, somehow," she said, trying to sound positive. "I promise you that. We mustn't give up hope."

Although the odds were that they might die soon, Luigi felt assured by her words.