Chapter 53: Beyond The Sight

"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 7th 2151"

Moon, Juliet, Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle ran as fast as they could as Bowser's army slowly began to gain enough strength to break free from the Birdos and the Yoshis "chain" to hold them back.

"Quick, we need to hurry! If those guys finally block the road, I doubt we'll get another chance!" Danielle shouted, dodging a Spiny egg that a Lakitu threw in her direction.

"Ugh, coming." Pit said, giving put just as much effort as Danielle to dodge the attempts coming at him.

It would only be a matter of time before the mass of Bowser's crew blocked their way to the gates... permanently. Then, as if their fears were read, a handful of Koopas and Parakoopas blocked the gates.

"Oh no, you don't!" Dark Pit hissed.

He aimed the Silver Bow in their direction, and he fired an arrow with so much power that a couple of the Koopas and Parakoopas blocking the way practically flew from the impact. He and Pit then rammed toward the weakened defenses blocking the gates. Successfully, they were able to make it, albeit only slightly, past the troops blocking the gates, and now, they, Moon, Juliet, and Danielle were inside. With all haste, and not sparing even half of a second, the five closed the gates and locked them from the inside.

"Whew, that was close." Juliet said.

"I just hope Birdo, her friends, and everyone else will be okay." Pit said.

Moon put an arm on Pit's shoulder.

"They'll be fine. They all gave it their all to bring us here, and if we turn around now, that would mean we don't believe in them. They believed in us, and that's just what we'll do in return." Moon said.

Pit took a deep breath and nodded.

"Come on, let's go." Moon said.

They ran toward the door where they were certain Bowser would be hiding. It was too obvious, the grand door waiting at the very end.

Only to realize that the door led to a narrow hall, in which by the very end split into five separate halls.

"Great, so that makes it harder for us to find him." Dark Pit said.

"Well, there's no sense complaining about it. Let's try to check them one by one. If we reach a dead end, we'll turn around." Danielle said.

"Can't we split up?" Pit asked.

Moon shook his head.

"I have a feeling that if we do, it might be easier for Bowser to take us out that way. It's just too risky." Moon replied.

Pit thought about that.

"Hmm, yeah, I guess your right." Pit said.

And so, Moon, Juliet, Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle walked towards the first of the five doors, which was equally as narrow as the one it had split from. The very fact it was nothing but a straight narrow hallway made it more assuring that the only worse thing they could encounter would have to be a dead end. And as they walked several more steps forward, that was exactly what greeted them.

"Dead end." Danielle said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh well, that means we'll turn back and try the remaining four others." Moon said.

She, Moon, Juliet, Pit, and Dark Pit started to walk the return route. But eventually, there was something that had gotten wrong. It hadn't been obvious when they walked, but as they stopped, two things were apparent. First, they had been sure that they had walked longer to reach the dead end then it took to go back to the starting point. And second, there had been five split hallways at the starting point. Now, there were just two.

"Wait, weren't there five doors at the start?" Juliet asked.

"Ugh, the more I think about this, the more I feel like I might be hallucinating about earlier." Dark Pit replied.

Danielle's mouth straightened to a grim line.

"Well, nothing much with us staying here thinking about it, is there?" Danielle asked.

Pit shrugged.

"I guess we may as well pick a route among these two. I have to admit, though... with two routes to choose from, it's a little easier for us." Pit replied.

"I'll give you that." Danielle said.

The five picked one and started to make their way towards what could either be a dead end or, hopefully, a door.

"Argh!" Dark Pit yelled when, at the very end, it had split up to three more different hallways.

"Bowser's doing a good job with this whole hard-to-get thing. Even if the two of us were able to get inside, it's taking just as much time to get to him inside the castle." Juliet said.

"What do we do now?" Danielle asked.

"I thought of turning around and trying out the other hallway, but who's to say we won't run into the same kind of trouble as we did earlier with the previous five hallways that became, strangely, two?" Juliet asked.

"Yeah, that's right. Next thing you know, what used to be two hallways may just as well become a different number when we come back." Moon replied.

"Bowser just turned his castle into one huge labyrinth." Pit said.

"We have to solve into this. We can't fail something like this. My parents and the others are just within arm's reach." Moon said.

"So we aren't going to turn around then, Dad?" Danielle asked.

"I don't think so." Moon replied.

He picked among the three new hallways that had greeted them at the very end, and they were off. To their strange pleasure, there was a door that greeted them. They quickly ran towards it, happy that they were likely making progress, yet they seemed unaware of the possibility of a trap behind the door. Moon hastily opened the door, and they were greeted by the brightness emanating from behind it. It blinded the boy's eyes for a second, but then it faded away for him to see where the door had taken them.

"Well? What's at the other side, Moon?" Juliet asked, floating over to him.

Moon looked around. It looked like the interior Bowser's castle, but when he turned his head right...

"Wait, that's the door we used to enter that hallway maze!" Moon replied.

To their right side, the grand door that they had just taken was right there.

"Then... that means all this time we've been going in circles?" Danielle asked in a disbelieving tone.

"No, I can't believe it. There has to be a way to get to him, like how we were able to bypass his defenses with the key jewel." Moon replied, shaking his head with as much disbelief as his future daughter.

He looked at the grand door to which they had entered to enter the hallway labyrinth, thinking of what could possibly happen if they were to take another shot at entering it. Most likely, there would be hallways which would split into more hallways at the end. Those which would lead to dead ends, and those which would lead to a door that might take them back to where they were at the current moment. It seemed as if there was no way to solve the labyrinth.

Then, something caught at the corner of Moon's eye. When they had barged their way in through the gates, there were two statues, very identical to the ones that they had used the key jewel for earlier when they had breached the castle defenses. He looked closer to them, and then looked back at the huge door where they had first entered the moment they had gotten into Bowser's Castle. The door wasn't that far apart from the gates, but there was something about the distance, about the way the statues were placed by the gates. It was then that Bowser's words echoed in Moon's head.

Two heads, five tiles off, and three corners out.


"Location: Alternate Arendelle, The Bitterverse, July 4th 2067"

Alternate Jeffery opened his eyes a bit to find himself in a bed. He felt a cool presence beside him, and his skin had little goose bumps from it. He remembered what happened and smiled. It was weird. As little as he knew about Alternate Elsbeth, there wasn't anyone else who made him feel so alive. It was like what Alternate Mathúin used to tell him. His father always said that his mother made him feel so alive. Of course, this was completely different. For one, Alternate Jeffery wasn't remotely the same as his father. His "alive" and Alternate Jeffery's were very different.

He turned his head to see beautiful, if a little messy, platinum blonde hair beside him. He moved his body closer to hers and started kissing the back of her neck. She started moving a bit and adopted a smile.

"Well, aren't you sprightly." Alternate Elsbeth said.

"Only for you." Alternate Jeffery said.

Alternate Elsbeth backed up into Alternate Jeffery and placed her hand on his cheek. She looked up at him and kissed him.

"Well, aren't I just one lucky girl." Alternate Elsbeth said.

Alternate Jeffery chuckled. Alternate Elsbeth pushed the blankets off the both of them and got out of bed before walking over to her clothes and starting to put them on. Alternate Jeffery hopped out of bed and grabbed his own clothes, which were scattered all over the floor. Alternate Elsbeth looked at him and giggled a bit.

"What?" Alternate Jeffery asked with a smile.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised you can... be attentive for so long in the cold." Alternate Elsbeth replied.

Alternate Jeffery stared at her for a second and realized what she meant. He did a fake laugh as he got into his pants. Alternate Elsbeth laughed at her joke, and she put all her clothes on and headed for the door. Alternate Jeffery got his shirt on and noticed where she was going.

"Elsbeth, what are you doing?" Alternate Jeffery asked.

"Nothing. I just have a little surprise I want to get ready for you. I'll be back soon, don't worry. If you do go outside, try not to wonder too far. You don't know the area like I do. I wouldn't want you to get lost." Alternate Elsbeth replied.

Alternate Jeffery nodded and walked over to the fire. There was still some soup leftover, so he decided to heat that up for himself. Alternate Elsbeth looked back at him and smiled to herself before leaving the hut and walking towards her castle. She wiped away the snowstorm and approached her castle. Alternate Olaf rushed up to her.

"Why haven't you killed him yet?" Alternate Olaf asked.

Alternate Elsbeth raised her brow at his question.

"It is not your place to question me. I can do what I wish. Besides, there is much more I can get from this one. He can get me to Eva with ease." Alternate Elsbeth replied.

Alternate Olaf looked at his wooden fingers and counted them.

"But... all the other times you used someone you never let them get so close. You never let them touch you the way he did. You never giggled like you did." Alternate Olaf said.

Alternate Elsbeth looked at Alternate Olaf with a dastardly stare.

"And what is it to you?" Alternate Elsbeth asked.

She waved her hands towards him. Both of Alternate Olaf's arms fell into the snow, and he looked at himself with fear.

"I would be careful when talking to me. I have not changed my course in the slightest. Eva and Arendelle will fall before me. Now get out of my way. I have something to make." Alternate Elsbeth said.

She pushed Alternate Olaf out of the way and walked into her castle. Alternate Olaf attempted to get up, but didn't. He laid in the snow until the flurry covered the entire area.


"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 7th 2151"

Moon pondered deeper on the tiny riddle Bowser had left them with.

"Two heads, five tiles off, and three corners out." Moon muttered to himself repeatedly.

He eyed the two statues, the door from which they'd first entered back and forth.

"Um, Moon? What are you muttering about?" Pit asked.

"There's something about those two statues, and the door that we came in earlier. Something's off." Moon replied.

He looked at the statues for a few more moments before snapping his fingers.

"Aha! I got it!" Moon exclaimed.

"What were you able to dig up?" Danielle asked.

"Remember what Bowser said? You know, just before he left us off to fight his battalion of underlings?" Moon asked.

"Yeah, something about two heads, five tiles off, and three corners out." Pit replied.

"Right. Now, look at the statues." Moon said.

Juliet, Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle did so.

"Well, they look pretty much the same as the ones that we used the key jewel for in order to enter past the security system." Dark Pit said.

"Yeah, that's good, but look at the distance they have between each other, and the distance of the door that we took in the moment the entered inside the castle." Moon said.

The four looked hard.

"Well, if we were from the perspective of the gates, looking straight, I'd say that the door we had taken seems perfectly at the middle. And not only that, the distance looks too perfect, like a... triangle." Danielle said.

"Now tell me, how many corners does a triangle have?" Moon asked.

"Three." Juliet replied automatically.

Pit's eyes bulged as shock dawned on him.

"Wait, your not seriously telling us the triangle formation these two statues and the door make was what Bowser meant?" Pit asked.

"It is. It has to be." Moon replied.

"Okay, but what about the other two things mentioned? Two heads and five tiles off?" Dark Pit asked.

"Notice the tiles on the floor?" Moon asked.

"Yeah, but... it's not like it leads anywhere." Dark Pit replied.

Moon stepped toward the gates of the castle, as close as possible, while making sure that he was an equal distance between the statues, and looked at the others.

"The two statues represent the two heads, mainly because they are the ones that have heads. Now, I want you guys to stand your closest at the door that formed the triangle." Moon explained.

Juliet, Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle positioned themselves in front of the door. Facing each other, they were now perfectly parallel.

"Okay, good. Now I want you to walk forward, all while counting the tiles. And we'll stop the moment we reach the fifth tile." Moon said.

They walked forward, passing internally counting the tiles as they pass by them. Then they stopped, having passed by five tiles. There was a single tile that laid in front of them.

"Five tiles off." Moon said, pleased that what he'd figured out he was correct.

"So we have a single tile in front of us. What now?" Juliet asked.

"Let's try to take off the tile." Moon replied.

He held out the key jewel they had used earlier. The others gave the boy a confused look, but they complied. Together with Moon, they tried to pull out the tile that was in front of them. To their surprise, there a slight click sound, and underneath was a dent.

"What?" Danielle asked, too much in awe to say anything for the moment.

"I'm a-starting to think that this really belongs to that dent." Moon replied.

Juliet, Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle watched in amazement as Moon bent down to place the jewel into the dent. It fit right into place, as if it was really meant to be there. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the door that had led them to the confusing labyrinth of endless hallways.

"It came from that door that we took." Moon said, stating the obvious.

"I wonder what just happened. Let's check it out." Pit said.

The five ran toward the door and entered. Behind the door was a single straight and short hallway, with the door at the very end.

"I can't believe this. This wasn't like a while ago." Juliet said.

Moon looked down.

"I'm not sure why he bothered confusing us. But then again, with everything we've gone through, everything we saw deceived us. Maybe it's best if we try to look beyond what we normally see." Moon said.

"What do you mean?" Dark Pit asked.

"Back on Yoshi's Island, there were so many eyes, yet if we looked hard, only several of them can help defeat that monster. At World Seven, when I fell into that illusion, it seemed so real I could almost believe it. At the Mansion, when King Boo showed all those images of my mother and everyone else suffer, they looked so real I almost thought off giving up. It was so real it made Danielle fall into her trance and give up." Moon replied.

Danielle flinched, pricked by the memory. Moon gestured to the door waiting evidently at the end.

"And now this. When we came as is, we only got confused because it only made us walk in circles, just like back in World Eight. But when we got back to whence we came, and looked hard, we found a totally different way behind that door. I guess after everything we got ourselves into, it would make better sense if we try to look beyond our plain sight. If we treated all this with a 'what you see is what you get' attitude, we'll be sure to fall into a trap sooner or later, or worse, take a quick trip to the dungeon together with everyone else." Moon explained.

"But what do we do now, Moon?" Juliet asked.

They still hadn't moved so much as an inch closer toward the door at the end of the hallway.

"Well, I did say we need to be careful, but I guess there are times when we need to see what will happen next." Moon replied.

Danielle grinned

"Don't worry, we're with you all the way." Danielle said.

Moon smiled.

"You've always been. Now let's go." Moon said.


"Location: Fates Continent, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, March 21st 2017"

It was a tearful night in both the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido. The King and Queen of Valla had vanished overnight, it seemed. Xander and Ryoma were terrified when the news came, and they scattered to hurry to Valla to see what had occurred, but that itself was a hard thing to do, since they were Kings of very powerful nations that need them at any given time. So they had to send someone else to oversee Valla and get information for them.

Sadly no information seemed to be given. It was just plain and simple that Corrin and Camilla had disappeared.


Xander sat upon his throne with a heartache. His younger brother and sister wouldn't just leave, would they? No, that was impossible. He hung his head and decided to go find Felicia, since he needed someone to talk to about the matter. He found her training a new Nohrian recruit.

"Felicia?" Xander asked with heartache heavy in his words.

She knew him well and looked at him with concern. She dismissed the training for the day and then followed her husband to the throne room of Castle Krakenburg.

"Is this about Corrin's disappearance? You don't expect me to believe he would just vanish, would you?" Felicia asked.

"I don't believe it either, Felicia, but he just vanished with Camilla and there wasn't any other information at the time. What am I to think?" Xander asked.

"Corrin isn't the type to leave his station, but we will find him, I know we will." Felicia replied.

She held his hands and kissed him.


Ryoma was busy taking care of business with his own kingdom when Saizo left him a letter. He read it, even though he knew exactly what it was.

Lord Corrin is gone, Lord Ryoma. Lady Camilla is gone as well.

He sighed and decided to go to see his wife at Castle Shirasagi. Hana wore a simple white kimono that was mixed with white and her hair was in a bun, and she smiled when she heard the door slide open and looked up to see Ryoma.

"How rare of you to visit. You usually sent a message before you arrive, my love." Hana said.

She had a massive embrace with her husband and then let go.

"Now, why are you here?" Hana asked.

"Corrin is missing." Ryoma replied, rather bluntly.

Hana raised an eyebrow.

"Your kidding." Hana said.

He handed her Saizo's note.

"He didn't run away, though. Corrin isn't that type of person, we all can agree with that." Ryoma said.

Hana begun to smile.

"I know he isn't, so we'll just to have to get him back to Valla, right?" Hana asked.

Ryoma nodded, but Hana knew she had to stay close to her son.

"Please bring him back safely. I sadly can't go with you, since I need to be with Shiro." Hana said.

Ryoma just agreed and left the room.


Note: These are the pairings for the Fire Emblem: Fates characters, so everyone knows who's paired with who:

Corrin/Camilla

Laslow/Azura

Takumi/Oboro

Elise/Odin

Jakob/Mozu

Xander/Felicia

Keaton/Nyx

Saizo/Kagero

Ryoma/Hana

Subaki/Selena

Silas/Sakura

Kaze/Rinkah

Azama/Effie

Hinata/Hinoka

Kaden/Peri

Leo/Beruka

Niles/Setsuna

Arthur/Charlotte

Hayato/Orochi

Benny/Scarlet (Even though they can't support, I'm pairing them up because Benny can't be paired up with anymore females, and I don't want Ignatius to be the only child to not exist)