The Horror of Castle Bleck
He was dead. Dimentio, the source of all Nastasia's despair over the past week was finally dead. It had been week from this very morning that Nastasia had first arrived at Castle Bleck to make sure General White had arrived safely. She had instructed the General to come to Castle Bleck to offer comfort and company to Blumiere. However dear reader we still haven't addressed a question that goes back to the very beginning of this story.
How did Nastasia know that Blumiere would sustain a misfortune?
Blumiere looked down at Dimentio's dead body and left it impaled on the corpse.
"Merlon, make sure he's dead, he might be using some sort of magic to conceal his condition," Blumiere instructed wearily. He had only been back in this realm for under an hour and had already fought a vicious battle.
Merlon confirmed the jester's death by shrouding the fiend in some sort of mystic blanket that seeped into Dimentio's corpse. After it had permeated the jester and nothing had happened, Merlon confirmed the death with a nod.
Nastasia shed a tear at this, and clutched her hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe that Dimentio was finally gone and the horrors she had lived for the past week were finally over. Dr. Flintome laid a hand on her shoulder and embraced her tenderly. Peach broke down, thinking about what strife Dimentio had caused the Mushroom Kingdom.
Queen Jaydes did not stir.
Blumiere rejoined the group and together they looked around the remnants of Castle Bleck, only a week before the keep had shined in its resplendence, but now it was a mere husk of its former self. The chandelier lay shattered, the marvelous stair case was gone, the old grandfather clock was busted, books lay about in the library, and the dining table was toppled.
"I can't live here anymore," Blumiere said with an empty stare at the contents of his once-pristine mansion.
Nastasia grabbed his hand, and he blindly accepted it. Raising her hand to his lips, he delicately kissed it and returned it to her side. Nastasia blushed.
"Watch it! What a tale!" Old Man Watchitt remarked as Dr. Flintome filled the curmudgeon in on the events of their trek.
"It seems as if it's all over," Dr. Flintome remarked.
"Watch it! Did you hear? They found Sir Noir's body up in his mansion, Watch it!" Old Man Watchitt spoke with energy.
"That's awful, he must have gotten in Dimentio's way somehow," Dr. Flintome deduced.
"Perhaps," Blumiere grumbled.
Blumiere had known Sir Noir, although the two were mere acquaintances, they had met each other previously. Blumiere was constructing his castle, and the young Sir Noir had advised him not to build in such a desolate place, but Blumiere countered that he liked the view.
In the afternoon, Dr. Flintome decided to go back to his house, but General White wouldn't have it.
"That won't do doctor, I'm sure we can find a house in Poshley that will suit a man of you airs?" the General insisted.
"Poshley? Now General…" Dr. Flintome began but the bob-omb persisted and the arrangements were made for Dr. Flintome to accompany White back to Poshley Heights.
Peach had sent word to the Mushroom Kingdom that she was in Mount Noir and required an envoy to travel back home, and decided to stay at Watchitt's until the brigade arrived. Merlon would accompany her back, and had decided to rebuild his roots in Toad Town.
As everyone was busy making preparations, Nastasia was sitting in Watchitt's living room when Blumiere sat down next to her with a sigh.
"Why did you come to Castle Bleck?" Blumiere asked randomly.
"Pardon me?"
"Why did you come to Castle Bleck a week ago, to check on my health? Come on Nastasia, I may have lost my memory, but I'm not stupid."
He fished out the ruby amulet from his coat, and laid it on the table.
"You found it," Nastasia exclaimed with half-hearted enthusiasm.
"Dimentio had it," Blumiere said.
"I want you to have it," he finished.
Before she could object he held up a finger, "A gift," he offered.
Taking the amulet in her hand, she slipped it into her pocket and looked into Blumiere's eyes.
"I was passing through Toad Town," she began.
"Whatever for?"
"I was going to see Princess Peach."
"Why?"
"After the Chaos Heart was destroyed and…and we went our separate ways," she dodged mentioning Timpani, "I remained in Flipside, restless and eventually decided I wanted to know what was in store for me. I had Merlon read me my fortune."
General White pricked up his ears from the kitchen; the house was very small, so noise carried.
"He told me that a pair of lovers were doomed, and I assumed that he meant Princess Peach, as he told me that the danger was close to the heart of my world. The Mushroom Kingdom."
"You were wrong," Blumiere asserted.
"I was," Nastasia sniffled, "I saw something I shouldn't have, I saw Dimentio enter an upper window of Peach's Castle and I told myself for days it wasn't true, but I fled for the only place I thought would be safe from him. I knew that Dimentio would come for you, to exact his revenge."
"Why didn't you tell me, you knew he was behind the murders? You knew all along!"
"No! It wasn't like that! I knew that Dimentio could be stopped, if he got what he wanted…but everything went wrong and…"
"Allow me," General White spoke up from the kitchen.
"Nastasia came to me, in a very dire circumstance. I had recently just brokered a deal with the Mushroom Kingdom's leading big business owner, Goldbob. Goldbob had orchestrated a deal to where I would receive full control of the Mushroom Kingdom military if a source of his received what he wanted."
Blumiere held his head in his hands.
"If I were to give this partner of Goldbob's one simple thing, I could dispatch of General Guy and control the military."
"What did this partner want?" Blumiere asked.
"You," General White spoke in a hushed whisper.
"You Blumiere were the key to the puzzle. Dimentio had returned from the Underwhere and sent letters to three of the Mushroom Kingdom's leading figures. Princess Peach, Goldbob and General Guy. Princess Peach was instructed to kill Master Mario, Goldbob was instructed to kill you and General Guy was instructed to bombard the Overthere and the Underwhere with militant force."
"And this was allowed?" Blumiere questioned with a demanding tone.
"Dimentio, in order to be taken seriously, decided to kill General Guy in front of the Princess and Goldbob. He would dispatch of the Overthere and the Underwhere himself. But then Goldbob backed out, and offered my head instead, saying that my influence was greater. Being unaccustomed to the affairs of the Mushroom Kingdom, Dimentio took the bait and let Goldbob go. However, when he came for me, I was gone."
"Nastasia had rescued you."
"Precisely old chap," General White added, "Dimentio had forgotten about the visionary powers of the Royal House of Merlon, and Merlon was able to foresee the troubles ahead. Merlon sent Nastasia to fetch me and the Princess immediately while he consulted the Light Prognosticus."
Blumiere listened attentively as General White continued.
"Well Dimentio realized that he would have to take out Grambi, Jaydes and yourself, so he came to you first out of malice. He wanted me alive, and Nastasia was supposed to die, but she was always by your side Blumiere, Dimentio could never get to her."
At this Nastasia blushed.
"So, why did Merlon divulge all of this information to Nastasia?"
"She's the only person alive you love," Merlon answered as he appeared from the hallway.
Nastasia breath flew out her stomach and she felt the heat hit her cheeks like fire. Blumiere loved her.
"She was the only who would be able to keep you alive after Dimentio killed you. She was the only able to ensure your hate for Dimentio developed, to ensure that Count Bleck would form from your soul and to ensure that we could use this method to catch Dimentio off guard," Merlon stated.
Blumiere stood up and wiped his brow, he had been a pawn, in a quest to rid the world of a lunatic.
Facing Nastasia, Blumiere looked into her eyes, "You could have told me."
"It would have affected the turn of events," Merlon flatly spoke.
Hurt filled Blumiere's eyes, but Nastasia touched his arm, grazing the veins that surged under his skin. Benevolence worked its way into Blumiere's visage and he steadied himself.
"There is only one question left," Blumiere stated.
"Ask away," Merlon prompted.
"How did Dimentio escape?"
A look of realization slapped itself onto the faces of both General White and Merlon.
"Someone must have promised Dimentio power and revenge from his prison, someone conspired with him, he couldn't have done this alone? To orchestrate the deaths of so many, with such finesse, making sure that all of you wound up together with the knowledge that you contained!" Blumiere's voice climbed.
"Someone was on the inside, someone freed Dimentio," Nastasia hysterically calculated.
And as the thought dawned on them all, it was Blumiere who spoke it, "And I'm willing to wager that it was one of us."