''Luigi?'' I asked carefully and took a step forwards.  

He stopped sobbing and looked up with frightened eyes, his skin was extremely pale from the lack of sunlight in Boo's Woods, and his eyes were red from crying too much. He immediately started to hastily back away from us. He grabbed the poltergust and pointed it at us as a threat. ''Ghosts! Go away!'' He said as tears ran from his eyes.

''We're not ghosts, Luigi. Can't you see it's me? Rosalina?''

''You're dead! Everyone I loved and cared about is dead!'' He said in a shaky fast breathing voice. ''You're not real!''

What has gotten into him? Had he been filled with Bowser's propaganda or something?

''Luigi, I'm alive. I'm here to get you to safety. Please, lower the poltergust''

He seemed to calm down, he loosened his grip on the poltergust and his breathing started to slow down. 

''How do I know it's not a trap?'' He asked, on the verge of crying.

I slowly started to move closer. ''Why don't you trust me?''

He shook his head a little. ''B-Because... Bowser-''

''Bowser is lying about everything. Do not trust what he says. It is really me and we're here to rescue you.''

When I was just a few feet in front of him, he completely broke down in tears. I hugged him to try to comfort him. 

''You're alive...'' He sobbed.

''That's right. I'm alive and well.''

I looked worriedly at the hanging noose. Was Luigi going to kill himself? If we would've arrived any sooner, would we have found him dead? 

''Luigi... what were you doing up here?'' I cautiously asked him.

''I couldn't take it.'' He sobbed. ''My brother, Princess Peach, everyone I ever loved was declared dead. I was so lonely, every night I was awake countless of hours, crying. I didn't want to live in this horrible world anymore. I've lost count of how many 1-ups I have left. But I hoped that I was on my final one.'' He looked up at me, the tears were endless. ''I... I just wanted to see my brother again.''

This wasn't the Luigi I knew. 

''Luigi, you're serious?'' I asked in disbelief. 

To think that he could ever do such a thing. He must've been in so much pain for so long, and the loneliness couldn't have helped either. 

I started feeling sad myself and soon tears began to form in my eyes. ''I'm so sorry. If I knew where you were, I would've come and helped you sooner.''

''It's been so quiet... So lonely...'' He sobbed and buried his face in my shoulder. ''I... couldn't see any other way out.''

''But Luigi, you're better than that,'' I said as I wiped my tears. ''The Luigi I know would never do something like this. He would've continued living and fought every obstacle that he was faced with. That's what Mario would've wanted him to do.''

''I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!'' He whined.

I patted him on the head. ''It's alright. I'm here now, and we're going to get out of this mess and take you to safety.'' I looked back at Shawn, who was standing there awkwardly. ''Can you see if Bowser's troops are here yet?''

He immediately went to the nearest window to check. I continued to try to calm Luigi down. ''You remember Daisy, right?''

''Of course.'' He sniffed. ''How could I forget her? What about her?''

''She was the one helping us get here. She misses you and wants to meet you again.''

''Really?'' He asked in disbelief. ''I thought she had forgotten about me.''

''She was forbidden to leave Sarassaland. That's why she couldn't ever go and visit you. But she still remembers you, take my word for it.''

''Uhh, Rosalina?'' Shawn said.

I turned to look at him. ''What is it?''

''We've got company!''

I immediately stood up, pulled Luigi with me and looked out the window and saw that several koopa troopas as well as King Boo were right outside of the magic barrier and had started to try to get through it with the help of magikoopas. 

''We'll have to leave,'' I said hurriedly. We all ran down the stairs. ''Luigi, you got your poltergust?'' I asked.

''Yeah... it's right here on my back.'' He said scared.

''Good, we may need to use it,'' I said. The three of us quickly got out of the living room and into the corridor. 

''Where do we have to go to get to the exit?'' Shawn asked. 

''Follow me,'' Luigi said. 

He led us to the front door, I carefully opened it and looked outside. The koopas were already through and were quickly coming towards the mansion.

''Luigi, do you have a backdoor or something?'' I asked panicked.

''Uhh, no?!'' He panicked as well. ''But... I have a secret tunnel in the basement made for escaping purposes!''

I didn't have time to question it and only asked him to show us to the basement. We hurried down some stairs and into the dark basement filled with several things from Luigi's many adventures. We could hear several footsteps from upstairs trampling around, looking for us. Luigi went up to a small furnace and started to try to push it to the side. It slowly moved and opened up a secret door behind it.

''In here!'' Luigi said. 

We hurried inside and before the door closed again I could hear a voice from upstairs.

''Let's burn it to the ground, he's probably hiding somewhere in here anyway.''

We realized that we had to get away quick, magikoopas fire magic can spread faster than normal fire. We ran through the cramped tunnel, and after a few minutes, Luigi started having a panic attack. I picked him up and now had to carry him until we were out. I could hear the rumbling sound of giant flames coming from behind us, and an orange light lighting up the tunnel. I looked back and saw that the flames were already spreading fairly quickly. I picked up the pace and started running faster. I could see a ladder far in front of us, that was the exit! I ran as fast as my legs could take me until we were there. But the flames were extremely close to us. I took Luigi's poltergust from him and put it on exhale. I held back the flames while Luigi and Shawn climbed up the ladder. Then, finally, I could climb up as well. The flames engulfed the wooden ladder as we took cover from them behind a few dead trees. The trees and plants in Boo's woods couldn't burn, so the fire couldn't reach us.

''Mamma mia...'' Luigi started sobbing and dropped down to his knees. 

I turned to see what he was looking at and saw that the entire mansion was now engulfed in flames. The koopas and King Boo were outside, watching it with glee. They really enjoyed the show they had put on.

I put my hand on Luigi's shoulders. ''I'm sorry about your mansion...''

''All of my pictures with Mario, my old poltergust, all of the memories... gone.'' He sniffed.

I couldn't even imagine what he felt right now. All of his memories and precious things were left to burn in the fire. The only thing he had left was his poltergust 5000. Nothing more.

''We can't stay here for long, they're going to notice us sooner or later,'' I explained. Even if I sounded a little heartless, we couldn't risk being detected. We had to leave before anyone saw us or else it would be much harder to get back home again.