Melody

I wasn't about to tell Pietro, but the whole "Mystery Machine" thing was not leaving the top of my mind. I couldn't sleep that night, and I don't think Pietro did either, judging by the way he looked at breakfast the next morning. I think Lillian was the only one who got any sleep at all, even our parents looked tired.

"What is up with you guys today?" asked Lillian curiously after kicking our behinds into the pavement (metaphorically, of course) for the fourth time at tennis. It was me and Pietro versus her and she still whipped us! She walked around the side of the net and came closer. "It's not the you-know-what, is it?" she said more quietly. We looked at one another and nodded. The need to know what in the Eight-Worlds was in the Mushroom Castle basement had grown from curiosity to a burning desire.

I knew that we all wanted to go and see if Pietro was right, but simply would not admit it.

"Okay, fine, let's check it out, but change into Lillian-style clothes. The basement is not the cleanest place in the castle," I said. Everyone got smiles on their faces and I got replies of "Melody, you're the best!" and "Me-style? I've set a trend? You're awesome still, though!" as if I had been keeping them out of the basement (or insulting her clothes). All of a sudden I wanted to change my mind. There was a sense of foreboding that would not go away…

I walked inside the castle from the tennis courts to change, but was instantly greeted by Mother.

"Melody? You have to be at Cici's in 10 minutes and it takes 15 to drive there! Let's go!" said Mom and walked off. Poison mushrooms, how could I forget? I was getting fitted for my coronation dress today at Cici's Regal, an upscale fashion store that only the rich ever went to.

"Um, hold on one second…" I said. I ran up the stairs and crashed into Lillian.

"Ow! Melody!"

"Sorry Lillian. Look, I completely forgot about my appointment at Cici's Regal today. You and Pietro can go ahead and check out the machine, just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Don't worry Melody, you can count on us!" she replied, but for some reason, that comment only made me feel worse.

"Good luck!" I called and boarded the Silver Star.

I finally get to ride in the semi-front of the Silver Star! The "semi-front", in case you are wondering, is the row of seats behind the driver's. Sometimes, the mystery of the Silver Star annoys me to insanity sometimes! There is a large space where I think a passenger's seat would fit perfectly…

My worries were completely forgotten as we reached Cici's. Cici's Regal Dresses and Formal Attire was my absolute favorite place to be on a rainy day. They sold mostly beautiful dresses, but also sold a vast array of makeup, shoes, accessories, and much more. It was the perfect place to put together the perfect ensemble. They also had a small men's section, but that was mostly for the men whose wives/girlfriends forced them to come along. Cici's was enormous. You never really had to "shop around", to find the perfect match. Cici's was also expensive, and only really meant for the rich.

I had an appointment with Cici herself, the head fashion consultant and manager of the store, who was almost more wealthy than the royal family themselves. I was instantly whisked away to a small but elegant fitting room in the back of the store while Mother waved good luck.

I was seriously mistaken about the fitting room; it was not anywhere close to small. The whole room was hexagon-shaped and mirrors covered all walls except the door. I noticed Cici moving toward a bump in one of the mirror-walls that I soon realized was a doorknob to a closet full of what seemed like a shrunken Cici's Regal. The enormous closet held what you would find in the store, but less of.

Cici stepped into the closet-room, so I followed. No way… This must be the Royal Reserve! Every dress in the Royal Reserve is not only for royalty only, but is one-of-a-kind. There would be no other dress like it in the Eight-Worlds. But was this the Royal Reserve?

Cici was a purple-spotted toad who always wore lots of makeup and elegant clothes. She was also full of words and her large horn-rimmed glasses were quite a sight. Before we even came inside the closet-room (Royal Reserve?), I learned how honored she was that I was here and how she didn't know what color I usually wore and that she would like me to tell her. At first I was quite confused.

"Your mother always wore pink," she explained, "What's your favorite color?" Oh, duh.

"Purple," I said. Cici didn't seem to agree. But if purple was the color I always wore, so she couldn't argue with that, right?

"I am not so sure, any purple dress that I carry clashes dreadfully with your blonde hair…" she said and began to browse among the racks of small dresses. I looked up and saw a sign hanging above the dresses. Sure enough, I was in the Royal Reserve. I was jostled from my thoughts when Cici said, "How about green?"

Green? I don't know, but any doubt I had in my head was driven out when I saw the dress Cici was holding in her hand. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen…The dress reached to the floor and had emeralds set along the bottom. Were they real? Knowing the Royal Reserve, they probably were. My eyeballs started at the bottom of the dress and moved upward. The bottom half of the dress was made of the finest silk and underneath the emeralds, the fabric was a darker teal, but as my eyes looked further up, it faded from teal to jade green. The top half reminded me slightly of Mother's favorite dress, but with a noticeable difference. There was a teal band that marked the waist of the dress and an emerald set in the center, but my, there was no way that Mother would let me wear a strapless dress on such an occasion!

"Go ahead, try it on," said Cici.

"But Mother would never let me wear this dress to the coronation and ball!" I said.

"There are ways to persuade the Queen," she said with a smile and once again encouraged me to try it on.

So I changed in the little dressing room while Cici waited in the Royal Reserve. I'd have to admit, I did look stunning in the dress. It was long enough for my long legs and this particular shade of green matched my blonde hair and tan complexion. Maybe Mom would let me wear it just once. After all, Cici had just given me a small white jacket to wear during the coronation itself.

I went back into the Royal Reserve and Cici took some measurements of sorts while I gazed at the clothes on display. Then we messed around with shoes, makeup, possible hairstyles, and even jewelry. I was having the time of my life, but the curiosity to know what was in the Mushroom Castle basement had returned. The urge to know what the machine was had grown phenomenally. I wondered what Lillian and Pietro were doing right now.

Lillian

I was nervous. What if the machine was dangerous? Why are my parents, aunt, and uncle hiding this thing from us? I met Pietro in the main hallway and together we descended the stairs to the basement. I wasn't about to share my fears with him, that might make him even more nervous than he was (pretty nervous, I'd say, considering that he's as white as a sheet.)

There were several inches of water in the basement and I was glad Melody advised us to change. I wondered how she was doing and if she'd found a nice dress yet. There was supposed to be dancing after the coronation and Aunt Peach and Uncle Mario were supposed to pick Melody's husband based on who she seemed to love the most.

"Her first dance at thirteen… she's growing up so fast," I heard Mom talking about the coronation to Dad a few days ago. The dress would be a big factor in this dance.

Pietro and I splashed through the slimy water, soaking my socks. There were sounds of dripping from the plumbing and was that scurrying I heard? The only light came from the torches mounted on the wall. The reason why such an important machine would be kept in here unless someone was really desperate for a hiding place within the castle grounds was beyond me.

We came upon a door. There was no debate necessary to decide whether or not to open it. I took a deep breath and turned the knob, but it would not turn. The door was locked. I tried again but it still would not open.

Of course. I should have known they would take extra precautions to keep this thing safe. Why would they leave it unlocked? I sighed in exasperation. All of a sudden there was a crunch and creaking noise. I turned toward Pietro. Somehow he had gotten the door to open.

"How did you do that?" I asked him. The words bounced off of the walls and echoed throughout the basement. He shrugged. How is this kid 3 years younger than me and yet stronger? I even preferred sports and exercise while he preferred books. Nothing is making sense…

I took the first step into the damp room and looked around. My heart stopped. There it was in the corner of the dingy room covered in cloth. The Mystery Machine in its full and mysterious glory. We took a few slow steps closer to the machine. There was water in the room, but the machine was sitting on a 2-foot high platform. The machine was huge and heavy looking. I looked like people could fit inside of it… I was scared to lift the cloth.

"We lift on 3," said Pietro as the cloth was heavy. This time, his voice did not echo.

"1…2…3!" he shouted. The cloth was pulled back to reveal… a giant clock.

A giant clock? A giant clock? ARE YOU SERIOUS?

"This machine plagues my dreams, it makes me be always distracted, it disturbs my very stinking CONCIOUSNESS and it turns out to be a GIANT CLOCK!" I shouted, furious. While I was raving on about how stupid giant clocks are, however, Pietro was looking it over.

"Lillian, check this out. It seems as if you can go inside this thing. I've found a doorknob!" he said.

"I do not care if you can view the inside of a giant clock. The door is probably for maintenance, for setting the dumb thing to daylight savings time or something of that nature…" I responded, still very frustrated that the machine did not have the glory that I had expected.

Pietro opened the door and went inside the clock. I decided to go with him, after all, Melody said not to do anything stupid.

I went inside and shut the door. There was a window in the back of the clock, but I still felt around for a light switch and found a button. I pressed it and lights came on inside that gave us a better view of the inside of the clock. I still didn't quite understand why you would want to go inside a giant clock, though. I noticed Pietro messing with something resembling an olive green video game controller.

"Where did you get that?" I asked. He gestured toward a shelf on the wall. I peered over his shoulder and saw that you could set on a screen in the center of the controller the date, time, and chose various places in the Mushroom Kingdom, including "RW Warp." What the heck did that mean?

"Seriously, what is that?" I asked again. I think the Mystery Machine had more mysteries than I think it does… This thought was soon confirmed.