Timpani was right. About an hour later, Luigi woke up, shortly followed by his brother and the two princesses. All of them let Bowser sleep in a bit more; they knew that with the extent of his fire breathing the other day and worrying about the kids would leave him exhausted.
The Count aided the brothers in making breakfast for everyone with his magic. Small tasks like boiling the water or washing the dishes were left to him, as the brothers knew more about their old home than he did. He helped carry the tray of grilled fruits and cheese sandwiches back to the group before settling down next to his wife again.
Bowser woke up to the scent of food. A few gestures from the brothers and everyone started eating, though the Count only ate scant amounts.
Well, when you're only the upper half of a body, you only need so much food…
After the quiet meal, everyone just sort of… sat around. No one was quiet sure how to start the conversation.
Finally, Daisy just threw her hands up. "I give! What's up with the glamour doo-hickey my sweet girl mentioned the other day?"
Blumiere tipped his hat, though out of shame, sadness, or embarrassment was unknown. "Have you lot ever noticed how many people stare when they see me? Purple skin is not a common trait… being half a body that floats is even less common."
"So you used magic to make yourself look different to blend in with us more?" Mario inquired.
"More or less."
"I can see it," Luigi commented, gaining stares. "What? Oh come on, we've all tried blending in at some point. Was it for a different reason? Probably, but it still makes a lot of sense."
"True. But what I don't understand is why you never told us?" Peach turned back to Blumiere.
The Count could only shrug. "It never came up, and there was never a good time to bring it up."
They all tilted their heads to the side and nodded. It was the truth, after all.
"Now I have a question for you," Timpani spoke up, addressing the two brothers. "What did the chief say that made you react so strangely? And furthermore, why did you say it was unfortunate that your father came with your mother?"
The two capped brothers looked at each other and let loose a long-suffering sigh simultaneously.
"He was… not a good man," Luigi started, making his red counterpart snort.
"Understatement. He did things to our mother and us that I'd rather not delve into. It took a long time to get over that part of our lives and I'd rather not bother old wounds."
Timpani nodded in acceptance. She knew a thing or two about disapproving father figures.
"The recent events do bring up a question, though…" Bowser started, gaining everyone's attentions, "Where the heck to do we go next?"
Everyone shrugged. "We should probably call wizard-guy. He's probably figured out some more of that book of his."
A sudden knocking interrupted those plans. Mario went and opened the door, inviting Yoshi inside.
"Shi-i-yoshi," he said.
"Hello." Luigi began translating again.
"Will you be joining us?" Peach inquired. Yoshi thought about it, then shook his… hand? Paw? I'm just gonna stick with hand. Anyway, he shook his hand in a "kinda" motion.
Mario nodded, seemingly knowing what the lizard meant. "Thank you, Yoshi. We were just about to see where we had to go next."
Yoshi nodded and took a seat in a basket of blankets near the fireplace. Most had just assumed it was a basket of laundry that was never done, but they were proved wrong by the previous actions.
It was Blumiere who opened the book this time around. Merlon's face greeted them, as if he was just about to call them.
"How did it… go…?" Merlon trailed off as he saw the exhausted states of the heroes.
"Overall? Not bad, considering there have been worse fights in our adventures," Mario said.
Blumiere coughed.
Merlon raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject. "I am assuming you all are confused as to where to go next and how to get there?"
"First part yes, second part no," Luigi replied.
"Here's what the Light Prognosticus told me:
The guy in green
Is finally seen
Go to the magician's dreaded lair,
But fear not, the universe does care
A curse now rests upon the miserable
And though the solution is quizzical
The storm shall be settled, the parent's approval,
Love is certainly renewable.
That's all for now… I assume you know where to go?"
Blumiere nodded. "Yes."
"Good luck, heroes. Neither Rosalina nor I have discovered more information, but several of the doors here in Flipside have been sealed… be careful, my friends."
"We will be, Merlon. Try and help Rosalina with those Lumas, alright?" Timpani asked.
Merlon bowed his head. "Of course, Lady Timpani. I bid you all adieu." And with that, the book was closed.
Noticing the Count's mood, Mario had to ask "So on a scale of one to invading the Bob-Omb city in the middle of winter, how screwed are we?"
"Kicking King Floro out of art school," Blumiere replied without missing a beat.
"Well. Crap," Bowser stated everyone's thoughts.
A/N: Short chapter be short? Nah, just a lack of transitions. On with the story!
Mario and Luigi guided them all to a cave with a door on the front. Blumiere, now fully recovered, had once again casted his glamour spell and regained his legs.
"It hasn't been used in years," Luigi translated over Yoshi, "what are you hoping to accomplish?"
"It's the only transportation we can hope to use… I can still manipulate voids, even if it is only tweaks. That's all we need to get to where we need to go," Blumiere stated. "I refused to even think about manipulating these again… but sometimes you have to do what you must."
"Good luck. You'll see me around," Yoshi said.
The two closest people opened the doors, the two being Mario and Daisy. A purple void was behind there, just as they suspected. Blumiere tapped the side of the void with his cane before it sucked all of them in. No one was quite sure what happened to Yoshi, but they knew he'd be okay. Meanwhile, they tumbled and tossed around through the limitless area until they were dropped unceremoniously on the ground.
"Oof," was the collective response.
AS they looked around, the Mushroom and Flower Kingdom gang took in the sights. The realm's color scheme was certainly different than the bright colors they had seen so far. Blumiere had perfect camouflage here, as the area was all dark shades of purple, red, blue, and green. Of course, the monochrome colors were there as well: brown, white, grey, and black. It was certainly beautiful in its own right, but Blumiere crinkled his face as if he smelled sewage.
"You have got to be bloody kidding me," he said loud enough for them to hear. They were surprised at the slight accent in his voice, but he quickly continued before anyone could comment. "Welcome to the Necrealm… home of the Tribe of Darkness." He tilted his hat over his eyes.
"Should we leave?" Peach suggested. "I mean, didn't Rain-shi say we only needed two more Stars? Surely there are more in other places…"
Blumiere shook his head and began whispering. "The Light Prognosticus said we must come here… we don't have much time to seek out any other Stars that may exist."
Timpani nodded. "Even the Tribe must agree with the laws of Light and Dark… despite how much they may dislike it."
Daisy picked up on their moods quickly and moved to show her support. "Some respectin' they did, launching you like that. It's like Ike against Jigglypuff in a land battle!"
"Who?" the couple asked.
"It's unfair." Daisy skipped the reference to clarify for the two members who weren't in the tournament gone wrong.
"Let's just hurry… this place gives me the creeps…" Peach hummed lightly, before looking really confused. "Um… I didn't mean to do that…"
"It could be the curse," Luigi suggested. "The Tribe certainly doesn't seem like people who would enjoy randomly bursting into song."
"Most certainly not," Blumiere agreed, "let's just find the Star and go…"
It wasn't long before a resident walked up to them… but it wasn't about to be a pleasant meeting.
"Blumiere? Or is it still Bleck?" a man who looked quite similar to Blumiere without the glamour spell demanded.
No one spoke to him.
"Are you going to ignore your own father?"
"No man with the title of father would've done something so heinous to his daughter-in-law… or thought the son would be okay with it…" Blumiere commented, not even looking at him.
The man shrugged and looked pointedly at Timpani. "I see she's still alive…"
"No thanks to you," the couple muttered under their breaths.
"Even you must respect the rules, Blumiere. Light and Dark were never supposed to mix."
Daisy couldn't stand this man's arrogance anymore. "Dawn? Sunset? Twilight? The concept of a day? Ringing a bell here?"
The man had no reply.
"Besides, it wasn't the ancients who made that rule… it was modern society. Though I suppose we know how you feel about that." Blumiere elegantly flicked his cape and stalked away. The group left, following Blumiere.
"That went well," a voice that was familiar to some came forth.
Everyone but Blumiere and Timpani turned around to see Link standing there, dressed in his green hero garb. The Master Sword still rested on his back, even though he had claimed to have long since returned it. He was smiling, but the group saw dark circles and new scratches on his face. They suspected his attire hid more injuries.
"Link!" Bowser exclaimed. "This is…"
"Unexpected? Man, Luigi, I thought you could do the Lakebed Temple blindfolded!" Link had turned to the other man in green.
Sassy as per usual. It seemed not even the voids could alter his type of personality…
"But yeah, here I am." Link gestured at himself.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Timpani asked.
"Name's Link. I see you've got a few newcomers, Mario. They gonna be in the next tournament?"
"I'm Timpani, and this is my husband, Blumiere. Probably not, to answer your question. We're not particularly inclined towards competitions."
"Ooh, a pair of hitchers! Congrats you two." Link shook both their hands.
"What are you doing here, though, of all places? I thought you'd be helpin girlie over there in that blessed country of yours," Daisy said.
Link's smile faded. "That's why I'm here… sort of. I'm not the Hero of Time, paradoxes aren't my shindig, you know? They fly over my head like Bulbin arrows. But somehow I still managed to get myself stuck in one. The universes are collapsing, as I'm sure you know. But what you don't know is that the Void is on the outside working in, towards its source."
"Wait, so that means…" Luigi was the first to piece it together, horror spreading over his face.
Link nodded. "Hyrule has already collapsed. I'm not too worried, which is strange. Maybe it's because I know bits of the future already."
Blumiere nodded. "That is often comforting, having an idea of what is to come. I also assume, however, that you know your universe can be restored?"
Link nodded. "If we ever meet up again, I'll see if I can get letters to everyone to come and explain Subspace to you. But the point is that I have stuff I need to tell you before everyone runs around like Cuccoos attacked with bombs. You know that book you've got, Top Hat?"
"Why is it always the top hat?" Blumiere muttered.
"You're the only one wearing one. Anyway, you're supposed to get that from your parent's library and then give it to me so I can give it to Fracktail in the past." Link dug something out of his endless pocket, pulling out a small, blue object. "I may have… borrowed this from Time; long story short, time, then space collapsed in Hyrule so I got to meet some pretty cool people. I can travel through time with this. I'm the only one here who can actually travel through time."
"You can't?" Daisy addressed Blumiere, who shook his head.
"Time and magic don't go well. I'd give you an example, but all are horrific. We tell them as coming-of-age stories, gruesome warnings to budding magicians to never mess with the flow of time."
"Ah, so that's how I was supposed to learn that. Anyway, there's a catch because of freaking course there is! But yeah, that whole curse thing? It affects everyone, except maybe me. Something about still being from a different universe and not being affected by some of the rules, or something. I was kind of bummed I didn't get to defy physics. But, yeah, that's the gist of it. Oh! And apparently I'll be accompanying you for at least a little while on your journey. There is a place I leave you, but apparently I hang with you all for awhile."
"I think that's the most you've ever talked," Bowser commented.
Link shrugged. "Lots to say."
"Wait, what about the other contestants? Dedede? Sonic? Fox?" Luigi frantically asked Link.
Link's face darkened. "As far as I know, they're gone… all of them… you guys are the last ones left. Zelda managed to get enough information to me before I fell through a Void. Not to mention you guys from… later? Earlier? Paradoxes," he cursed.
Peach and Daisy gasped. "Even Ice Climbers and little Kirby?" the pink princess asked.
Link bowed his head. "Even they. None were spared… even Collin, Beth, and Ilia… I can only assume they're with the universe in whatever limbo state it's in."
All but Blumiere and Timpani were sad. The former two were more confused than anything, but Timpani knew what she needed to do.
"So are we just gonna sit around and let them waste away? We need to move it, people! From your comments, it appears that it is not only our universe at stake, but many others, and little children's lives! So we can either sit around and let them waste away, or we can do what Mr. Pointy Hat over here told us to do and get a move on for those Stars!" She clapped her hands, startling everyone.
"She's right," Blumiere added, "There is no doubt in my mind, this is what we must do."
"And how are you going to do that, son, when you're not even allowed in the house?" the man, Blumiere's father, had appeared from nowhere.
Blumiere narrowed his eyes instead of shying away. His orange eyes burned.
"I will do what I must. Even you must respect the fact that young lives are at stake."
The man shrugged. "It's of no consequence to me."
"Um, actually, dude, yes it really freaking is," Link interrupted, "you know, the whole spiel I just doled out? Not for pranks! Your universe will end."
"The Dark Prognosticus told of this. I have no fear."
Mario rolled his eyes. "Well, I for one, am not about to let infants die," he said harshly. Luigi seemed to mutter something in Yoshi in agreement. The red capped brother turned to the Count. "Which way to the house? I've got no issue with starting a different rep here." Mario cracked his knuckles.
"Not necessary… it's about an hour's walk in that direction." Blumiere pointed while jabbing the ground with his cane. His father tried to move but couldn't.
"Ah, libraries… lovely places," the Count commented whimsically as he walked the direction he pointed, sort of reminding the group of Dimentio. They all shuddered at the thought of the demented jester.
They were about ten minutes into the walk when Link asked a question, bored of silence.
"So how'd you two hitchers meet anyway?" He placed his hands behind his head. "It's not every day I see you guys."
"We have to spill eventually, don't we?" Timpani asked no one in particular.
"Might as well."
"Well, first thing you have to know is I jumped off a cliff," Blumiere said casually.
"What?" the group exploded.
"Not like that… I can still fly!" He rolled his eyes. "But I misjudged, and a wind blew me into the cliffside. I woke up in a strange and colorful realm: Timpani's."
"It was really quite strange! Daisy, I hope you're writing this all down for Goombella's sake."
"I got y'all covered!" Daisy had, in fact, produced a pen and notepad from… somewhere. Probably the same place Peach got Toads in the tournament.
"As I was saying, it was strange! A well dressed man, falling from the sky. It was sunset, so most people were already home. I was tending the flowers, though, which is why I found Blumiere."
"I woke up and saw her. I jumped nearly ten feet away and brandished my cane."
"Love at first sight," Link commented sarcastically.
"Hardly. She raised her mecha arm at me and shot. The paralyze shots live up to their name."
"After a conversation that goes amongst the lines of 'who are you' and 'uh… an alien?' that eventually got us to introduce general policies, he asked a very strange question."
"My fair lady,
Why do these flowers bloom
When they know that their end will be here soon?
Why do these flowers bloom so bright,
When frost may take their lives tonight?
Why, oh flower girl,
Do the flowers bloom?" Blumiere sang, recalling. He didn't seem to notice he had sang the last few lines, looking somewhere no one else could see.
"My Count that fell from the sky,
None know for sure the reason why
Our rainbow blooms do show
When their life expectancy is low.
But I understand them, I believe
And just by looking, it will be conceived."
"Tell me, my fair lady,
Why do these flowers bloom when the future is so shady?"
"My sir, this is what I've come to know:
Too much rain or not enough sun or even snow
Will one day take these flowers away
But the blooms know of the smiles they'll bring today…
That, dear Count, is why
These flowers will bloom, only to die."
"And this is how the years went by,"
"I asked of his, he asked of mine,"
"And slowly the string was woven,
And could not ever be broken…"
"But then the shadows fell,"
"And collapsed upon our wedding bell."
The two trailed off, eyes cast towards the sky.
Daisy held up her phone. "It's okay that I recorded that part, right?"
"Well, I did promise Goombella a backstory," Timpani shrugged, "the fact that it comes in song form would probably just throw her into a laughing fit."
Blumiere muttered darkly under his breath. Everyone else sniggered at his reaction to singing.
"Well, that song somehow took up most of the hour…" Blumiere trailed off, frowning as he spotted familiar house nearby. "That can't be right."
"It is… don't worry about it too much now, it will be explained…" Link replied vaguely.
Blumiere nodded, trusting the new fellow. He didn't really have much of a choice: his old house was right in front of them. They stood at the door, waiting.
Blumiere sighed. He slowly raised his fist and knocked.
The door creaked open, revealing another member of the Tribe dressed in an outfit similar to Blumiere's own, only theirs was dark green.
"Big… big brother?" the voice murmured disbelievingly.
"'Tis I, Ariel." The Count grinned sadly.
"Big Brother! Big Brother! You're back! And Aunt Timpani! Father didn't succeed!" The little girl flew around in a loop before becoming serious. "Did he see you? Is he coming?"
"Yes, not for awhile. Heck, it's a miracle we didn't run into any of the other members…"
"Other members gone. Praying. The curse, the curse…" Ariel whispered.
"Ariel, look at me. We'll help, all right? But we need to do something first. Do you know where-" something in a strange language, similar to the words Blumiere had previously used, was uttered here, "is?"
The girl nodded. "Where you left it, Big Brother! It wouldn't let Father touch it…"
"Good," Blumiere laughed, "Then I have not yet lost my touch for Protection Charms!"
"Oh no." Ariel pulled out a pennant. "This still works too!"
"Oh?" Blumiere examined it. "I could make it better, you know."
Ariel shook her head as she led the group. "Let him suffer his own undoing. Many of the Tribe are horrified at his actions toward Aunt Timpani. Let him try to justify hurting me in court."
"Are they horrified of me… are you scared… of me?"
The group had never seen Blumiere look so unsure of himself, not even when local customs caught him off guard.
"No, no! Understanding… sympathy. Tad of anger, gone… but returning…praying, praying…"
"Shh, Ariel… find your peace, little one."
Ariel shook head. "Here!" She pointed at a pedestal. "Book!"
Blumiere patted her head. "Thank you, Ariel." He carefully removed the book of its pedestal and handed it to Link, who put it in his infinite pocket. The older copy of the book weighed heavily in Blumiere's cloak pocket.
"You must leave now. Prayers ending," Ariel spoke in a curious manner.
Blumiere knelt down and hugged her. "Of course, little sister."
They all left, Ariel waving goodbye.
It was the first time they had seen Blumiere cry.
"Why does she speak so oddly?" Peach asked kindly.
"She's prophecy inclined… that's why the village still holds my father in slight respect, for raising her. What they don't know is that he abuses her." Blumiere wiped his eyes. "I knew what I was going to do after my father tried to kill Timpani… so I made her a protection charm. Ironic how that was my strength and yet I failed to protect you…"
Timpani shrugged. "I could handle myself, and you know that. Son of a Boo only got to me because of a sneak attack, the coward."
Blumiere sighed. "One of my few regrets after becoming Count Bleck; leaving her behind. The Tribe sent her away before the world was destroyed, though. I knew they would."
Wind blew through the trees, a whistling sound echoing around.
"Come with me to the Prayer Cave. Perhaps there is something we can do about this curse."
Luigi and Link remained behind as everyone forged ahead after the Count.
"The storm shall be settled, the parent's approval," Luigi recalled.
"Love is certainly renewable," Link finished, blinking at Luigi's surprised reaction. "What? You guys drilled every prophecy that even remotely involved me into my head."
"I don't think we're going to get approval from his father anytime soon." Luigi changed the subject.
"Then don't look for it there. The Zant wanna-be doesn't deserve kids, if what I've heard is any indication," Link commented, walking after the group.
Luigi whistled under his breath. That was a pretty serious insult, coming from Link. He too hurried to catch up with the group.
Off in the distance, dark clouds could be seen, and they were moving in quickly…
A/N: Yes, Blumiere has a sibling. He never talks about her to keep her safe. I mean, come on, how many people do you know who would want to know the future? Besides, we didn't really get much about Blumiere in-game.
Furthermore, yes, Link is indeed the 'guy in green'. Here's the list of hints that were thrown at you in the last few chapters:
One of the first A/Ns: "It will stay within the Nintendo franchise and mostly in Mario's part of that." Mostly. The small part that doesn't is the guy in green himself.
Fracktail's commentary: "A strange guy in green said that someone would need this… It was if he was not of this realm."
The first two lines of the second prophecy: "The guy in green is a mystery/His identity lies in your history". I'm pretty sure Link has been around since the first Smash Bros, and even if not, the story implies this takes place after Brawl, which came after Melee, so he does share history with the two brothers.
The mentions of characters from Brawl, such as Sonic, and also the storyline of Subspace Emissary. A subtle hint, but it showed that the characters were all from different universes. I understand that there were different colorings and that it very well could've been Toon Link or Zelda or anyone else who could dress in green as an alternate color scheme, but the other hints show it's Link.
The next hint was pretty obvious for those who know some details about Majora's Mask. The Carnival of Time is what the whole game is centered about; the Moon falls on the Day of the Carnival or the last day of it. I was never really clear on that front; it certainly didn't look like a carnival…
The note: "You forget these like I forget some of my items." This is basically making fun of how useless some of the items are in Twilight Princess. I mean, you use the Gale Boomerang… twice in required game play, maybe five if you go for 100%? Link's naturally going to forget about some of them…
The fact the characters can use some their moves from Smash Bros. Specifically Brawl and Melee, which I've played and are chronologically in this fic. SSB4 has not yet occurred.
Blumiere tells us it's not Luigi due to the rules of prophecies: everyone has a title they are addressed by specifically. Blumiere will always be "the magician", Mario will always be the "hero of prophecy", and Luigi "the man in green". This was actually a bit difficult to write, seeing as most the prophecies I write are some form of poetry. I was originally using man instead of guy. It was my previously mentioned friend who helped me alter that.
Also, I've been getting into Kirby recently, so there's his honorable mention of his world being stuck in Limbo. This is going by the cartoon's cannon, for the most part, where Kirby is just a baby. It's that somewhat aged cartoon, "Kirby: Right Back at Ya!" or "Kirby of the Stars". It's on YouTube if you doubt me.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own ideas.
And after that really freaking long A/N, what's our count look like?
(Current Length: about 61 pages and 22,335 words in MS Word.)