-Chapter Three-

...

mmm...

...

What an awful dream...

I dreamed I got married to some lunatic...

I feel so warm. I don't want to open my eyes yet...

But Eliza opened her eyes anyway.

She yawned and stretched, being very sore and still a bit tired.

Slowly, she blinked and took in her surroundings.

She was lying on top of a simple black bed with white outlines, in a small room that contained a wardrobe, desk, and a lamp post flickering with a strange black fire. There were two doors, one that led out onto a balcony, and the other that likely led into the hall. Everything in the room was the same dark black, with white outlines.

Eliza almost recognized the pattern.

"Is this... Castle Bleck?" She noticed her throat wasn't hurting anymore, so she must have slept for at least a few hours. She got up. "I must still be dreaming..." She pinched herself to make sure.

"Ow! Okay, not dreaming. But this is insane! Let's see..."

She was pacing about the room now. "I got kidnapped yesterday and married Dimentio. Then I woke up here."

She stopped in the middle of the room, just at the foot of the bed. "But why? Of all people, why does he want me? I think it's time to get out of here."

She went over to the door that led into the hall, and turned the handle. Or, at least she attempted to, for it was locked and wouldn't move. "Great... Not that I was really expecting just to walk out of here..."

She walked over to the door on the other side of the room, just as another thought popped into her head.

"I wonder what my family's doing right now? I'm sure they found out I was missing by now..." She thought about whether her family would be calling her friends, or the police even. She hoped they weren't too upset and afraid for their only daughter's safety.

At the door to the balcony, she turned the handle, which turned in response. Eliza walked out just as the sun was rising, making Eliza have to squint her eyes after seeing a room full of darkness.

She came to the edge and finally viewed her surroundings.

The morning breeze, crisp and cool, was blowing her long hair around and ruffled the folds of her dress.

"Oh wait, I'm still in the wedding gown. I hope I can find some new clothes in a minute..."

Eliza looked out over the horizon, and she could see for many miles around. Almost immediately she could recognize Lineland, the Land of the Cragnons, and the Tile Pool just beyond the Bitlands.

Eliza chuckled. "Seems more like an ocean, it's so big."

Everything was so beautiful in the morning dawn. There was also a large field of green grass near the horizon, with trees and flowers. Though most of these places she recognized from her video game, Eliza thought that they looked much more realistic now.

She looked and could see some people, many miles away, wander around. Then she carefully leaned over and looked directly down, beneath the balcony, and saw that she was several stories off of the ground. There was also a forest very close to the castle.

Coming up with an idea, Eliza walked back inside and opened the wardrobe. There were plenty of feminine articles of clothing to chose from.

"I wonder if this was someone's room before?" Eliza asked herself. She rummaged through and pulled out a long, dark turquoise, sleeveless dress with a small black ribbon tied around the middle.

"This is so pretty... It wouldn't hurt just to try it on." Eliza smiled. That excuse almost always got her the clothes she wanted when she went shopping with her mom.

She slipped out of her white gown and she put on the new dress. It fits me like a glove... She thought. Eliza glanced through the rest of the clothes. Better take this black cloak out, it may come in handy later.

Remembering her idea, she took out an armful of clothing and began to tie them together. Mmmph... This looks so much easier in movies... After some struggling, Eliza now had a makeshift rope.

"Time to get out of here." She said to herself, quietly. She grabbed the cloak and the rope, went back outside, and slowly closed the door quietly behind her, until it clicked shut.

She tied the rope to one of the short columns holding up the balustrade. Giving it one final tug, she climbed over the edge and started climbing down.

Trying to keep quiet and stay on a rope made of clothing isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, as Eliza soon found out. Though it felt like hours, after only a few minutes, she was finally at the bottom of the rope.

Eliza felt around, and she knew she would have to fall the rest of the way down. It was only a few feet, but from that height Eliza felt like she was a mile off the ground. oooh... I hate heights...

Closing her eyes, Eliza let go and fell roughly to the rocky ground.

"Ah- Ouch!" She felt a sharp pain in her left forearm. Examining herself, Eliza could see that she had scratched herself on a stone when she fell, leaving a small cut that started to bleed. A small, deep red drop of blood fell from the wound.

Ignoring it, Eliza got up, picked up her cloak, and started to run as fast as she could away from the castle. She ran straight for the forest. Somewhere I can hide until it gets darker... She thought. The young girl picked up her pace.

Running deeper into the denser parts of the forest, Eliza had to zig-zag her way around the many trees, and avoid any extra underbrush.

After several minutes with no stopping, she was beginning to get tired quickly, but kept running anyway. Until she hit something, that is.

"Ooof!" She cried, as she fell down, rather hard. Glancing up, she saw that she had knocked a man over, who was just as dazed as she was.

Terrified that someone should find out, she quickly got up and turned her back to him.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't tell anyone! I'll go back, just please don't tell!" Then Eliza ran as fast as she could away from him, scared that Dimentio would do something horrible if he found out.

The young man was left sitting on the ground, puzzled. Who... Was that?

-30 minutes later-

Eliza was back in her room, quickly pacing and thinking (rather loudly) to herself.

"What was I thinking? Just running out during the day? Of all the dumb things I've done..."

She was furious with herself.

"AND someone saw me! Urgh..." She sat down on the bed.

"That was the only plan I had... I can't think of anything else. What am I going to do now?"

Without any hope now, she was silently sobbing. She put her head in her hands, in despair. All she wanted was for a way out of this confusing mess, away from Dimentio, and away from the Chaos Heart. I thought this was just some video game. It wasn't supposed to be real... Why is this happening to me? She thought sadly.

Just then, a clear and soft voice called out. "Hello?"

Eliza raised her head and sniffed. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks.

"What do you want?" She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Glancing around, there wasn't anyone in the room, though.

"Please... Stop crying. I cannot bear to see such a beautiful girl so miserable."

She heard the voice again. It sounded like a young man.

"Where are you? I can't see you." Suddenly, a man flipped into her room. It was the man from the forest she knocked down earlier.

Eliza dried her tears and took a good look at the man. He had deep, orange eyes and black wavy hair, but the most noticeable part of him was his deep blue skin.

He wore a dignified scarlet cape, with a dark suit top underneath. He had no arms, legs, or feet, but he did have hands, which were bare.

Eliza thought that he looked very handsome, and he appeared to be just slightly older than she was.

The man spoke again. "Are you alright? I'm terribly sorry about bumping into you earlier, I'm afraid I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Oh..." Eliza was surprised at how polite he was.

"Th-Thank you, sir. I'm afraid I wasn't watching where I was going, either... But it's okay, no need to worry." She smiled, trying to convince herself that it was true. She knew her eyes were still red from crying.

"I'm very glad. Oh," The man reached into his cape and pulled something out. "You dropped this... I thought you might want it back."

Eliza took it and unfurled it. It was her cloak. "Thank you... That's very kind of you."

The man blushed.

"Now that all matters are in order, may I know the name of this fair maiden who stands before me?" He bowed low. Eliza wondered how this was possible, as he had no legs.

"My name is Eliza. It's nice to meet you."

"Eliza... What a magnificent name. My name is Romando. It is quite a pleasure to meet you, but..."

"Yes?" Eliza asked.

"What are you doing inside a closed room? It's a wonderful day today, why not go for a walk?"

"Oh..." Eliza was nervous now. She didn't really want to tell him what happened, but if he knew, maybe he could help her.

She took a deep breath, then she told him what happened over the last 24 hours, from Dimentio appearing in her bedroom back home, to crashing into Romando just minutes before, but left out the part about getting married. She wasn't going to tell him that she was married to an insane freak.

Romando listened intently, not saying anything. When she finished, he nodded his head slightly and said, "Well, then we need to get out of here, don't we?" He smiled and held out his hand.

Eliza's heart was beating rapidly. Here was an incredibly attractive young man who was polite, and seemed very mature, ready to help her. Eliza blushed as she smiled shyly and walked over to him and reached out to take his hand, as there was not an arm to take.

Just before she could take it, suddenly she heard faint voices.

Eliza looked up at Romando with a worried expression, and saw that he had heard the voices also.

Someone was coming closer down the hall outside her door.

"Romando, you can't stay. What if someone sees you?" Eliza pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

"But I can't just leave you here! You must come with me!" Romando replied hastily.

As they were talking, Eliza tried to push him out gently.

"If someone sees I'm gone, they'll come looking for me! Please, you have to leave!"

The voices outside were so close now that Eliza could hear their heavy footsteps echo out around the hallway.

Romando sighed. "Then I will come back for you tonight, I'll help you escape then!" And he flipped out of the room.

Quickly Eliza laid down on the bed with her back to the door, and pretended she was asleep. She was trying to stay very quiet to hear what they were saying, but it was very hard as she was so nervous, her heart was beating rapidly.

The first voice spoke, it sounded clearer now that Eliza could hear them.

It sounded like a male, though a bit smaller than a human.

"Well, I always thought that pink was a girly color." The second voice immediately chimed in, it sounded similar to the first voice.

"Hey, speaking of pink, remember that pink-haired girl that came to the castle last night? I heard the Master had her locked up in the prison cell. She's probably not much use to him, but he won't bother himself with her."

The door creaked opened as a tray of food was shoved in, the door closed again, then the lock clicked. Now the two voices were too far away to comprehend.

Eliza got up and wondered, What were they talking about, a pink-haired girl? And who is this 'Master'? Now she had nothing to do but wait for Romando to come back tonight, and she really wasn't hungry.

Eliza let her body relax, collapsed on the bed again in a tired heap, and quickly fell into a world where there definitely were no boundaries between reality and fantasy.

"Timpani... Do you know where we are?" Blumiere asked. The young couple had been walking for almost an hour, trying to figure out what had happened such that Castle Bleck could be seen.

"Well, it appears that we are currently in Lineland... But why? I thought our 'paradise' was in a separate dimension than any other?"

Blumiere glanced up at the clouds, which took the form of linear mushroom kingdom-style equations. Then he looked out over the horizon, past the trees, and saw a somewhat pixelated land, though with a similar landscape to that of Lineland.

"These dimensions are supposed to be separate, not all combined into one world together like this." Blumiere adjusted his monocle, and resumed.

"And Castle Bleck was located in the center of The Void, no one could see it unless they basically went right up to the front door. Only a truly magnificent power could combine all these dimensions and worlds."

The two looked at each other. They could see that they were both thinking the same thing, and they shuddered.

"Let's walk a little faster..." Timpani said, with a trace of fear in her voice.

Could HE really be behind all this?

"Mario!" Luigi shoved his brother. "Bro, wake up!"

Mario opened his eyes, just as Princess Peach came running over.

"Mario, you're awake! Look at what happened!"

Mario stood and took in the full view. Mario, Peach and Luigi were all standing outside Peach's castle, and it was very dark. Many of the other guests seemed to have already left.

The castle itself was fine, save for some minor damages here and there, and there was a large fissure in the ground next to the castle courtyards. Past that, Sarasaland, the kingdom from which Princess Daisy was from, was clearly visible.

"Sarasaland was too far away to be seen from the castle," Peach said. "But after that earthquake, we're practically next door neighbors."

"What do you think happened, bro?" Luigi asked.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Bowser shouted at the top of his lungs as he emerged from a pile of debris. "Some freak didn't want me to be with my wife!"

"But Bowser..." Peach began. "That wasn't even a real wedding, just a stunt to create the Chaos Heart to destroy the universe."

Bowser wasn't even listening. "Whoever did this is gonna PAY, Koopa-style!"

Quickly Mario spoke to the group, gesturing to further express his point. They couldn't just keep arguing like this, they had to do something.

"Mario's got the right idea. We should all go to see Merlon in Flipside, maybe he knows something about this." Peach turned to Bowser. "Don't you think so?"

The giant koopa crossed his arms and grunted. "Another trip with the Mario losers? Isn't once too many times? I don't wanna."

Peach sighed. "Please Bowser? For me?" She pleaded.

"Grr... Fine. But I'm gonna kick some butt for sure!"

And then the four heroes once again set off for the wise wizard's home.

"I love you...

I always will."

There was a huge flash of blinding light...

She was falling. There was no one who could catch her...

No one who could save her...

"Eliza!"

"Mmm... What?" Eliza slowly opened her eyes. Romando was in the room, standing next to her bed.

"Are you alright? You were crying..."

Eliza felt her face, which was indeed both warm, and wet. Her pillow was also fairly soaked. "It... I had a nightmare. I'm okay though."

In reality, Eliza occasionally had had that dream before of the woman, but she could never recognize her. She could never do anything, but watch in fear.

Romando looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Very well, then... Let's go."

Eliza stood up, just as she remembered the conversation she heard that morning.

"Wait... We can't leave yet."

Romando turned and stared at her, a questioning and bizarre look on his face.

Quickly, she explained to him what she had heard from the guards.

"A pink-haired girl, you say? Hmm..." Romando furrowed his brow. "I don't believe I know anyone with pink hair."

He stood (or floated) there, nearly lost in thought about the mysterious girl in question. "Well, whoever she is, we can't just leave her here in the clutches of a mad man... Thing..."

Eliza looked up at the young man. He looked into Eliza's deep blue eyes. She had a small pout on her face, which was simply too pitiful and cute to ignore.

"Please?" Eliza said in her cutest voice. She stuck out her lower lip, like a little dog.

Romando chuckled. "Then perhaps we shall rescue this girl!" His eyes lit up as he proclaimed this. "But first... I must show you something outside." He smiled, energized by their youthful ambition.

Eliza watched him walk (or float, she couldn't tell with the cape he was wearing) over outside to the balcony. He beckoned for her to follow.

Eliza walked to him, her heart beating rapidly as she wondered about what he wanted to show her, especially this late in the evening.

"Take my hand, and hold on tight." Romando spoke so crisply, with determination in his voice. Eliza took his hand, and he flipped them both away from the dark castle.

By the time Eliza blinked her eyes, they were both outside, in the middle of the same forest as the one they were in that same morning.

She looked around at the surroundings, and gasped in amazement. It was dark outside, but the moon was full, and its light shone beautifully over the forest and reflected on the small lake in the center of the clearing.

"It's so beautiful..." Eliza said with a quiet sigh.

"It is, isn't it?" Romando asked. "It gets even better... Look up."

Eliza turned her gaze to the stars above. The view of the celestial bodies was much clearer than it was at her home, back on Earth. She loved stargazing at night. Suddenly, a star whizzed across the midnight sky. Before she could speak, another flew across the sky, closely following the first.

"A meteor shower!" Eliza proclaimed, very elated, and sat down on the cool, soft grass to watch.

Romando nodded his head, smiled as he sat down, and again turned his eyes toward the stars above. "Where I was once from, my people considered a meteor shower to be the most beautiful natural occurrence. And it was a sign of prosperity... And love."

Eliza blushed shyly.

"So... Where are you from?" She almost knew the answer anyway, but she figured that it wouldn't be polite to say so.

Romando looked away. He didn't think he'd really have to tell anyone who he was. Not yet, at least.

Well, since Eliza told me about herself... He thought.

"I'm from a tribe... The Tribe of Darkness." Immediately he winced, fully expecting Eliza was going to do something in sheer fright. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and looked at the young girl. She still had her gaze pointed towards the stars, as if nothing had happened at all.

"If you're from the Tribe of Darkness, then why did you come to me at all? I thought your kind was not allowed to mix with humans?" Eliza replied quietly.

Romando breathed a sigh of relief. Eliza didn't seem to be frightened of him or his kind, but rather curious.

"I saw you on the balcony this morning... You looked so beautiful in the sunrise. When we... met in the forest, you seemed so scared and confused, I couldn't just leave you miserable like that in such a time." He cleared his throat.

"And I am no longer bound by the ways of my people. There is no one left... but me. There was a lot of rubble, here and there from the various houses and the castle, though the majority of the structures were still standing. It was if our entire dimension was destroyed, and then re-built."

Eliza didn't say anything at first. Then she spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that... If I may, how did you survive?"

"I'm not even sure myself. I remember taking a walk, trying to clear my head. I was very far from the castle which was located in the center of our dimension. The next thing I knew, there was some kind of explosion. I woke up a week or two ago, no one was around, and the castle was falling apart. I stayed there for however long it was, I don't exactly remember. Then there was a large earthquake, and I could see other worlds around me, and last night I left. I walked most of the night, and then that's about when we met."

The two sat silently, staring at the lake.

"I actually miss everyone... My friends and family..." He was starting to cry a little. Eliza tenderly placed her hand on his. Romando held back his tears. It was far too inappropriate for him to cry in front of a young woman.

"I miss my family, too." Eliza spoke quietly.

Romando replied, "What were they like?"

Eliza smiled. "Well, my dad's a firefighter. He's always off, protecting people, like a real hero. And my mom's a teacher, she teaches history to high-schoolers. And then there's my two little brothers. They can be a total pain sometimes..." She smiled at the thought of the people who loved her and cared for her.

"What about your family?" She inquired.

Romando sighed. "My mother died when I was born. Sometimes when I was younger I would wish she didn't, then maybe things would have been different. My father was always gone... working. I often had the feeling that he didn't really like me anyway, he always seemed to prefer my older brother. Who was also a pain."

He kept his eyes on the shimmering lake as he spoke.

The two sat there on the grass, staring at the beauty around them, from the lake, to the full moon, to the stars streaking across the galaxy. They sat there for a long time, both thinking to themselves.

After a while, Romando turned his attention to Eliza and spoke. "Eliza, if you plan on rescuing the pink-haired girl, how are you going to do it?"

Eliza thought hard, suddenly feeling very stupid. "I guess I didn't really think that far ahead..." She felt her face get hot.

"Well, I know a way that might help. Do you know how to flip from one location to another?" Eliza shook her head. "Then I am going to teach you."

Eliza widened her eyes in amazement. "You can actually teach me?"

Romando chuckled. "Well, you don't plan on just wandering the castle with the girl, now do you? Come on, follow my lead."

Eliza got up and stood back, to watch.

"First, observe. I simply focus on the exact place where I want to go, and then..." And he flipped, re-appearing next to a tree a few yards away. He then flipped back to where Eliza was standing. "Of course, there's more to it than just concentrating. Act as if you're spinning when you start. Now, you try."

Eliza took a deep breath, shut her eyes and thought very hard about the same tree, and spun. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around. Romando was still standing next to her.

Seeing the disappointment on her face, he smiled and tried to encourage her. "That's okay, most don't get it right on the first try. Why, it took me a full week just to completely grasp the subject!" Eliza's face brightened. "There. That's better. Now, try again..."

And this round of instruction went on for hours with occasional conversation in between, until the sun began to rise.

The sunlight was beginning to streak through the trees. Eliza looked up at the sky, and saw the faint outline of the moon behind the pink and orange clouds. "I have to go before someone finds out that I'm gone."

Romando tenderly grasped her shoulder. "Keep practicing the technique. I know you'll get it. Maybe tonight I can show you something new."

Eliza took his hand.

"Hold on... I'll get you back safely." And he flipped them both to the bedroom of the dark castle.

"Ah, Pierre!"

"Yes, Sire?"

"Pierre, I wish to congratulate you and your wife, for the future arrival of your firstborn."

"Thank you very much, Sire. I am deeply appreciative."

"Do you know what you are having?"

"I do not know for sure, but my wife believes it is a girl."

"So then, Pierre... If your wife bears a daughter, as my loyal advisor, would you consider her betrothal to my younger son?"

"Not your firstborn, Sire?"

"Oh no... He's nearly 11 years old, far too old for betrothal. But my younger is the perfect age, only a young child."

"I would be honored, Your Majesty. My wife will be very pleased."

"Excellent. One day, your daughter shall be a princess."