Author's Note : The remainder of the second chapter interlude, this time focusing on the thoughts behind the characters, and developing the ever-so-mystifying plot, as well as introducing/teasing a couple fancy new plot points...

Interlude Two Part Two :: Redonis Pastoris

The cruise ride home was uneventful, and everyone was too tired to enjoy the rest of the mini-vacation. Mario thought deeply about the situation they were in. He wondered what Peach was thinking, where Invidus was keeping her, why he had taken her. He stopped himself from thinking about it too much. Right now, the best option was to keep pressing forward and be the hero he had always been. Everybody was counting on him.

Toadsworth thought similarly, but mostly just worried about the state of the princess. They still had no idea what Invidus' motives were, but it didn't seem good. Toadsworth also knew he was only slowing them down – it was the partly the reason why he volunteered himself to stay on the coast back on Insula. As much as he wanted to save the princess, he knew that the task was best suited for Mario and his new friends.

Luigi worried for his brother. He was used to being in Mario's shadow, sometimes not even there at all, but he always cared deeply for him. If he was ever in any danger, Luigi would be there to help him at all costs.

Violet began to miss Maurice. It had been awhile since they left Verion and she yearned to return to him. But she wouldn't say anything, of course. She knew the importance of their mission. She always wanted to be a part of something big – something that would take her away from the quiet, quaint village she had lived in for her entire life up to this point. She wondered what her purpose was in all of this.

Antony, being the newest member to the team, was still getting used to things. He was confident in his abilities to be useful, that was for sure. He thought about Jennifer a fair amount on the way to the mainland. She was a lot like him, in some ways. She had a knack for detail and always seemed to take charge when important decisions needed to be made.

Jennifer thought about how her life had changed so drastically in such a short period of time. A couple of plumbers, a toad and a princess show up and all of a sudden, she is off and trying to save the world. It was definitely a lot more exciting than doing research and writing about things. But they didn't know what was really happening yet. She hoped that Sophos would give them some sagely knowledge when they finally returned.

They arrived at Tempora Hall late in the evening. It felt like home to them. They entered and walked down the long, dusty corridor. The building wasn't well-taken care of. It almost seemed like it was in worse shape than before. The large clock at the end of the corridor loomed in front of them. Mario pulled out the pocket watch, and the clock became liquid-like. They walked through it.

"Welcome once again, heroes," greeted Sophos. "I trust you've come back with another cog?"

"We have," replied Jennifer.

"Well, go ahead and place the cog in its rightful place."

Mario walked over to the other, broken gate where the first cog was placed. He put the second cog on the other side of the circular gate and it begun spinning immediately. The pocket watch glowed bright white, and then the ring around it turned into a rainbow of colors, spinning faster and faster until suddenly stopping with a flash of light.

"What's the new power?" asked Jennifer. Sophos examined the pocket watch carefully.

"Ah, this one is quite powerful," he replied. "It's called Redonis Pastoris. Do you know what that means?" Everyone's faces looked puzzled for a moment, until Antony lit up.

"It means 'redoing the past'!" exclaimed Antony.

"Indeed it does," replied Sophos. "Activating this ability in the pocket watch will allow Mario to redo the past. With limits of course. You can only go back thirty minutes, unfortunately. The way to enter Redonis Pastoris is slightly different than Constus Temporus, however. Notice the colorful ring around the edge of the clock face – turning the ring counter clockwise one whole turn will bring you thirty minutes into the past, and once you turn the ring, you cannot turn it again until it returns back to where it was, thirty minutes later."

"So Mario can go back in time thirty minute, every hour?" said Luigi.

"That would be the case," replied Sophos. Mario looked at the pocket watch and thought about how he would use this new ability. There was a lot to ponder about the possibilities of such a power.

"There is one more thing that you should know before you venture out to find the next golden cog. Something showed up here in Constus Temporus. A small, metal compass." Sophos pulled the compass out and handed it to Jennifer. "I do not know how or why this compass has appeared, but it seems to point towards people that it desires. It may be important in finding the remaining golden cogs." Jennifer looked down at the compass, then up at Sophos, confused.

"Why does it want me?" she asked, innocently.

"I do not know. Some things are not known even by old, wise sages."

"The compass isn't pointing towards me anymore," said Jennifer. "It's just moving around randomly."

"That is because this world, Contineous, is not a part of the other worlds. Whatever it is that the compass is looking for isn't here. This is all of the information that I have for you at the current moment. I wish you good luck – you will need it. The road ahead will be more challenging, and you will face obstacles that you haven't come across before."

They left Contineous, feeling a mixture of accomplishment, yet incompleteness. The full story behind their adventure wasn't yet fully revealed. It was late at night in Tempora Town, and they rested at the Inn for the night, endlessly wondering about what lied ahead.