Luigi's Mansion

Chapter 13 - Seeing Stars

Around a dark corner of the hall, Luigi stealthily peeked a glance into the corridor, tugging a loose strap from his overalls over his shoulder. All was quiet for now; the coast was clear.

Moments after a happily uneventful bathroom break, he was as ready as ever to get back to his task of what could only be called mansioneering. Slinking like a careful thief, he stole out into the hallway and up to the next door on his agenda. Pausing for only a moment, he glanced around and then slipped inside.

Wow, all the doors up here are unlocked, he thought to himself, looking around the dark sanctum he'd entered. Just makes it easier for me, I guess.

The place was a stark change from the kind of rooms he was used to seeing. The whole room, walls and ceiling included, was made of contrasting black and white tiles that made his every sound echo and bounce off each surface throughout the small space. Opposite each other in two corners were identical chests of drawers adorned with gold. In the center of the room, a large circle of bronze was inlaid in the floor with a burnished golden star in the middle. It was surrounded by four standing candelabras, as if once used for some mysterious purpose.

   Well... make that five, Luigi thought, bending to right the tall candle stand that had been knocked over on the floor. As if someone had...

He dispelled the thought instantly. Luigi's gaze traveled upward now, and found a strange low-hanging chandelier directly above, with golden ornaments that almost looked like angels' wings.

   Luigi honestly didn't know why, and his sudden outburst almost scared him a little. But for some reason, at the sight of it he nearly burst out with uncontrolled laughter.

"WAHAHA! Who designed this?!" he snickered, eyeing the decor with a critical air. Realizing how loud his outburst was, he tried to calm down before all the ghosts on the second floor heard him. The room was so sound sensitive, and he was being so obnoxious, he couldn't believe nothing had attacked him yet.

The sound of his own laughter bounced off the walls and surrounded him at every angle. It was strange, he thought – not just to be laughing at so serious a time as this, but even the sound of it: Luigi couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed that way for real. And here, it seemed so out of place that he wondered if maybe he'd knocked a screw loose or something. After all, it felt like weird laughter; not completely real. In his mind, he was more sane: What's so funny about a chandelier, anyway?

He did love fashion, and home decorating and all things fancy; but it still seemed an odd time to be losing himself over it. After several long attempts, Luigi managed to quiet down and finally get his bearings. Get a grip, he told himself. What is wrong with me?

Determined to do something useful, he checked his map and found that this place was called the astral hall. So... what does that mean? he wondered.

As nothing seemed to happen even after all his standing around, he figured he might be free to go. There was another door on the other side of the room, so Luigi headed for it. He almost stepped through the bronze circle; but at a sudden afterthought hesitated and chose to walk around it.

At first he was pleased to find that this door was open as well. But when he entered, he was left a little speechless for a second: the room he'd entered was exactly the same as the one before it. Identical down to the last floor tile, it was like another astral hall - twin rooms, side by side.

Confused, Luigi frowned and turned back to the previous room. Standing in the doorway, he looked back and forth between the two identical rooms for a moment.

   "Hmm," he mused, entering the 'new' astral hall. There was another door on the opposite side there as well... Luigi made for it. And when he flung it open, he gasped and stumbled back.