Eternally Never Yours

by EchoEternal

Slash-fic, M/M. A hopeless romantic wonders if he'll ever have what it takes to end a tedious charade. Tired of the lies and secrets, he writes to his beloved about what they can never have. From there, the rest spirals out of his control. Rated T, just in case.

46. Chapter 46

Hello again! As it turns out, I'm not very good at writing short chapter updates, and there was more that I wanted to add for Peach and Luigi's latest arc than I realized. That is the reason that I wanted to split the chapter, though, so regarding that, the right call was made. Between last chapter and this one, there was over 30,000 words added! Checking it over, it turns out that this will take over as the second longest chapter of the story. So, lots to follow!

As of writing, the pandemic virus outbreak is ongoing, and I've been home long enough to write out another fanfic chapter in a short span of time. That's a bit of a rarity these days for me, so I'm happy to deliver! (If only times were better.)

Anyway, it's time to conclude the latest arc in Star Hill, so let's get into that. Read on and enjoy!

...

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[Peach]

A soft but long rumble rang out in the distance, and I glanced around at the Celestial Valley. It was preparing to transform again, and we were still waiting on everyone to regroup.

"Hey, I've got them!"

Pauline returned to the starting point, indicated by the hollow tracing of the runes in the ground, with Luigi and Yoshi trailing behind her. My mouth opened to question them, but Merle hurried over to them.

"Oh, thank the Stars! I thought something had happened to you two." He sighed in relief and perked back up. "Princess Peach would have been most displeased to lose her allies here."

"Sorry to worry you. It was a bit careless of us." Luigi turned his attention to me and waved slightly. My shoulders fell, and I couldn't bring myself to press him. "We're ready whenever you guys are."

"Since the valley is transforming now, I would imagine it's ready as well," I noted. "Be ready for anything coming."

From beneath us, the plateau rose back from below the ground's surface, each of its runes glowing. With a heavy surge, it sprang from the earth, and we flew up a ways into the air.

"Can we ever not do this?!" Luigi gripped at the ground, with Yoshi leaning over him to steady both of them.

"Princess!"

"Toadette!" My hand shot out and I grabbed onto her. She seemed fine, perhaps just afraid. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, thanks to you!" She smiled up to me.

"Of course."

Our platform steadied momentarily, and everyone pushed up from the ground as we slowly stood up…besides Merle, who seemed oddly comfortable with the stone's launch. He waited for his son, who steadied himself, perhaps not at the level his father was. Still, he was…very capable, for one so young…

Spiraling around, I watched as stones launched up from the ground beneath us. They flew up, forming around the main platform, making several smaller land patches across from it. Though they mostly connected to one another and were not spaced out too far, not every one of them seemed to bridge back to our platform, with at least two a slight gap from us. Jumping would likely be required.

Checking back below as the stones flew up, I noticed we weren't particularly high from the valley, though, it was still quite a drop, should we fall. Still, something besides the height made the view oddly breathtaking, as I viewed the mountainsides on either side, barely spotting a little house on one side, and a cave opening along the other. Looking out through the valley, I could actually see the ocean in the distance.

"This one may take a moment," informed Merle, as he folded his arms behind his back. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting this one so soon…"

"Is it difficult?"

"A bit trickier," he cautioned. "Merlow's only tried this formation once."

Glancing at him, Merlow's eyes twitched a bit, but he forced himself into a glare at the rising rocks. The trial formed into an odd arena as it completed its transformation, with shards from the star stones rising up and creating…I suppose jars that floated overhead.

"Give it just a moment more to settle," instructed Merle. "Starting early might make this set-up crumble on us."

"Crumble?!"

"Luigi, it'll be fine," I insisted. It better be.

Turning from the Shamans, I raised an eyebrow to Rosalina, who had withdrawn one of the books we had taken from my castle. She monitored the building arena, but mostly flipped through the pages, her visible eye scanning each as she searched through the book.

"Rosalina?" I approached her. "What are you looking for?"

"More information about this Celestial Valley." She winced as a rock slammed into the formation behind us, exhaling with a bit of annoyance. "There does not appear to be a lot of information regarding it in this book, though I was hoping to check over more in the others."

"If that one's about Star Hill, it would more likely—"

"Be here, yes, I agree." She shook her head, brushing some of her hair from over her hidden eye, but it soon fell back over. "But there doesn't appear to be much."

"We don't let outsiders hear much about it," interjected Merlow. We both jerked our heads back and turned to him. "It's…not for them."

"What my son means is that visitors are normally not privy to such a location," translated Merle. "This is normally considered a more dangerous location…not one that I would recommend to the couples and travelers that normally come for sight-seeing, which is the information they normally include for those texts, if I'm not mistaken."

"That makes sense," admitted Rosalina, as she closed the book. "My apologies, I suppose I was just curious to know more."

"This is a very curious location," agreed Merle. "Even I don't know everything about it, and I've trained here multiple times." He tugged on his mustache. "My father would know more about the ancient magic of Star Hill, but he never tells me everything, so…"

"Why would he keep information about your homeland from you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Princess Peach." Though he seemed a bit bothered, Merle still chuckled over it, perhaps a little more forced than usual.

"Dad, I think it's finished," noted Merlow, as the last stones smacked and clicked into place.

"Oh! Perfect." Merle released his hands from behind his back. "Now, there are four jars that balance overhead from us, so, what I will tell you is that each one needs to be filled."

"By those, right?"

Everyone looked to Daisy, who pointed and waved her hand at the small star shards that formed above the different plateaus around us. Merle nodded.

"So, we just collect and fill them in," I reiterated. "Sounds simple enough." Merle's eyes seemed to lower as I paused. "…It's not going to be, is it?"

"Unlikely."

Studying for a moment, I watched as the star shards flickered, and zipped away from their starting locations. They soared around the stages, like little creatures in their own right, floating and flickering around and about.

"We have to catch them, then," realized Rosalina. She chuckled. "How adorable. It reminds me of playing with the Lumas."

"It won't be cute for long," grimly warned Merlow. "Wait until we get started."

"Well, no use in waiting around," called Daisy, as she slammed her Regal Rings to reform her crystal gauntlets. "Let's go!"

She ran across the main plateau and jumped over the gap for the platform on the east. Sprinting up the steps, Daisy leapt at one of the star shards, but it flew away from her before she could snag it. Another zipped in next to her and she grabbed it before it could dart off.

"Ha! I got one!" Everyone waited as Daisy stood there, and her grin slowly faded. "Uh. Is it…does it do something?" She hopped back over the gap and to the main plateau, gazing at the jar above. "Can I just…lift it up…?" She held the shard up, but it jittered in her hand, almost taking off on her. "Whoa, no you don't!"

"We need to take the essence out from them," I guessed. Looking to Merle and Merlow, they nodded. "So…we just break them?"

"Can do!"

Daisy took the shard back down to her, and held it in both hands. She broke it open, as the pieces scattered from her…only to reform over her and fly away.

"…What?!" Daisy groaned. "Come on, that's so unfair!"

"Perhaps we need to use magic to shatter them," hypothesized Rosalina, "which will channel their essence into those jars above?"

"Sounds—"

"Yeah, that's it." Merlow looked to his father, who lowered his eyes at his son. "What? If we wait for them to guess every single part of the lesson out, we'll be here forever."

"Ah, well, that's…ok, that's fair," relented Merle. "Princess?"

"Between us, we can cover a lot of ground, so we should spread out," I determined. "Rosalina, take the north. Daisy, you go south. I'll take east, and you two can take the west." Pausing, I rubbed behind my head. "Is…that ok?"

"Works for me!" Daisy hurried off. "Let's smash!"

"Her energy is delightfully infectious," murmured Rosalina. With a small laugh, she drifted to the northern area.

"Do you need us to do anything, Princess?" I turned to Toadette, who stood before the others. "We shouldn't wait in the middle and get the way, right?"

"Hmm."

"If it takes magic to shatter the shards, I don't see how we can do much," assessed Birdo. "Unless you want each of us catching these things and then tossing them to get broken apart, which…wait."

"That could work, thank you." I smirked as Birdo held her head. "Luigi, help Daisy. Yoshi, Birdo, with Rosalina. Pauline, the Shamans, and Toadette, you're with me."

"Of course, Princess!"

"You got it!"

"Sure, sure."

Each of us split up, as we hurried off to our respective platforms. Hopping over the gap, I spun back, and waited as Toadette jumped across easily. Exhaling, I hurried up the stone steps, and loosened my grip on my scepter, letting it out more.

"Stay a little closer to the inside, but maybe a little off toward the south side," I directed Toadette. "If I move across the middle, I'll try to keep north so I don't crash into you."

"Ok!"

"And don't go near the edges, even if one slips away," I continued. "There's no need for you to jump off, and I don't want you to slide off either, so stay back from the ends entirely."

"Yes, Princess!"

"Good." Lifting my Royal Scepter, I rubbed the head to get it to glow. "Let's do this."

Stepping towards the east most portion, I spotted a shard soar up. Pointing my rod out, I fired a pink beam of light to break it. In the burst, sparkling energy flowed from the sky, and I kept my attention on it, directing it with my scepter and pointing to the floating jar closest to me.

As it neared the edge of my platform, though, it slowed. My shoulders dropped, and I gazed ahead as Merlow ran down the hill from his plateau, guiding the essence back to the middle.

Following him, I hopped back across, guiding my star energy over. Lifting my scepter and pointing it to the jar, the essence flowed from around me and inside its container.

Daisy and Rosalina returned to the middle as well, following what they had likely watched from us. Nodding to them as they filled their jars, I jumped back over.

"Princess! I almost got one!"

Toadette hopped up, flailing her arms as she reached for a shard. It floated just above her jump height, remaining from her grasp.

"Aw…"

"It's fine, Toadette," I insisted. "I'm not sure if you should even touch those without gloves or something."

"But I'm the only one without anything to grab them then," realized Toadette. "Luigi has gloves, Yoshi and Birdo launch eggs, and Pauline has her little toy people." She sank down. "I'm useless."

"That's not true, Toadette," I eased. "These are designed as trials for magic users." I smiled to her. "Just leave it to me, and we'll be done shortly."

"Ok…"

Waiting for a moment, as I watched four shards line up together, I whipped out a stream of light, and shattered each one. Twirling the energy around my rod, I hurried back to the middle.

Merle walked back over as Merlow rushed across, both guiding energy, though Merlow carried more in the space between his hands. As it stored into their jar, Merlow raced off, though Merle watched him, not moving as quickly.

I lifted my scepter to the jar, as it filled the container with more energy. Daisy ran over, letting the essence flow from her gauntlets and into the jar.

"Good work," complimented Merle. "However, a key factor is that we need to keep these balanced."

"Wait, what?" I twisted back to him. "What happens if we don't?"

"Well—"

Just as Rosalina returned to the middle, a rumble shook the arena around us. She looked around, and we each watched as the outer platforms slowly rotated around. Stones shifted from place and darted around, rearranging themselves.

"Another transformation."

"Couldn't you have warned us about that?!"

"It detracts from the lesson," revealed Merle. "This one requires quick action and quick thought." He rubbed behind his head. "I wasn't expecting your friends to join in, though."

Spinning back as the whole area rotated around, my eyes widened as Toadette wailed, grabbing at the ground. Some of the stones now formed pillars around the edges for her section, moving behind Daisy's direction.

Before me was Rosalina's previous location from the north, with Yoshi and Birdo slumped over, wildly looking around. Platforms floated around them, with shards flying around them and the air.

"If you could, Rosalina, send Merlow back by me, once he collects his shards." Undeterred after surveying the changed arena, Merle simply walked back to his new location.

"We'll have to try to keep our efforts balanced," was all I could tell the others. They hesitantly nodded as I turned away, running to the northern, or, new eastern section.

The space between this and the main platform thinned out, but it was still a bit better than leaping across each interval. I dashed across as Yoshi and Birdo pushed themselves up from the ground.

"Are you two ok?"

"For now," managed Yoshi.

"Just save that question for after the whole training thing," decided Birdo, and I couldn't argue with that.

With a steady breath in and out, I look around at the shards darting around the platform. Hurrying to the nearest floating platform, I take just a brief look down at the valley below before jumping over the edge.

Landing atop the floating platform, I withdraw a fireball from my scepter, blasting at a shard. Rather than collecting its essence right away, I jump for the next platform.

Whipping out a stream of water, I slash it across the next three shards that dance around me, and vault off, back to the east's main platform.

As I pick my head up, I check for the others in the center. None of them had raced over yet, though I noticed that Merlow had rejoined his father on my opposite side. Either they deduced my same strategy, or started following my example, as everyone started shattering shards before moving back to the middle.

Yoshi and Birdo hurried around the edge of stage, tossing eggs at shards to fell them from the sky. As they dropped to the ground, I pointed my wand out, forcing stalagmites from the ground to shatter them as they fell.

Running to the southern edge, I leapt onto the first platform, and jumped up higher to the second. Twirling my Royal Scepter around between my hands, I generated a small wind tunnel.

With a pivot to the last platform, my gust spiked the remaining shards crashing down to the platform.

Raising my scepter, I wandered around the stage, channeling the energy around. Making my way toward the center, I felt a rough jerk, and stumbled to the ground. Yoshi and Birdo hurried over as I pushed myself up, and I stared to the middle.

"Merlow!"

Looking up, I noticed that the younger Shaman hadn't waited like I anticipated, and had guided his shattered energy in too soon. The rest of us returned hastily to the middle, but I looked back, spotting Yoshi and Birdo kneeling to grab at the shifting stones.

Once more, the outer arena rotated around, and I bit my lip as they spiraled. We still hadn't collected the rest of the shards, though I'm positive I've gained a lot.

Waiting a moment as Daisy and Rosalina returned to the very center, we each nodded and stored our energies into the containers overhead. Each one filled up more than half way, which meant that we were definitely close. Mine seemed a bit higher than the others, while Merlow and Merle's fell behind the rest.

"There shouldn't be much remaining," noted Merle, though he shot a look to his son, who slouched down. "I apologize about your friends getting caught up in this, Princess Peach, but we're almost there."

Glancing back as the arenas slowed once again, I turned back to him and nodded. "They're a tough group. I think we'll manage." Honestly, I wasn't pleased by what they were enduring, but I didn't want to dump more on Merlow than I imagined his father was putting on him.

Everyone returned to our respective sections, and I skipped across three platforms to the latest eastern plateau.

The shape of this one was almost too fitting for Rosalina: the main platform was big enough for Pauline and I to be on, but each part that jutted out from it thinned out at the end, with five points making a star-shape.

Not spotting any shards floating around, I walked over to my mayor friend and leaned down, holding my hand out.

"Pauline, how are you holding up?"

"…Surprisingly better than I expected?" Pauline took my hand, stood up, and dusted herself off. "This kind of feels like one of those tilt-a-whirl rides. Oh, or those weird ones where you're forced back against the wall on the inside, and you go up and down while you're plastered to the wall!" She smiled as I blankly stared at her, and slowly her smile faded. "You know, the ones that operate with centrifugal force? And the gravity is off-set so you can't move well…?" I tilted my head as Pauline sighed. "Ok, I'm taking all of you to a New Donk carnival. Remind me to organize one when this is all over."

"Um. Ok."

"Oh, hey!" Pauline pointed past me to the northwest. "Shiny! Shard thingy!"

Spotting it, I raced after it, but it flew off before I could near it. Pauline hurried to another point of the platform, but the shard darted off again. We returned to the center, and gazed up, as it hovered over us.

"It looks bigger than the others did before," noted Pauline.

"Why is it just sitting there…?"

"Maybe this is the more magical part of the challenge?" Pauline shrugged when I looked at her. "You probably have to create something to get up there."

"Create…oh. Light. Of course."

Stepping back and waving Pauline out of the way, I pointed my Royal Scepter forward, generating light platforms into a sort of spiral staircase.

Racing up and jumping across each step to the next, I climbed to the top near the shard. It floated back, but I jabbed my rod forward, and broke it open with a burst of light.

Gathering the essence around my wand, I down, using a spell to float my way back down to the ground. Pauline watched for a moment, but then glanced away, holding her hand to her face.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just, uh…" Pauline glanced back to me, still covering her face. "I, ah, feel a sneeze coming on, but it's…not coming."

"Just tilt your head up and it should come out."

"Wait, that works?" Pauline's hand moved just a bit and she covered her rosy cheeks back up quickly. "Um, ok, thanks."

"Do you need—?"

"Uh, you need to go get that stuff in the jar, right?" She looked past me. "Daisy and Rosalina are already putting theirs back in."

"What?!"

Twisting around and seeing the two doing so, I rushed back across the platforms. Merlow hurried over with me, and poured his energy through into his jar, as I quickly forced mine up as well. It filled to the top, matching Daisy and Rosalina's, but Merlow's hadn't quite filled up that quickly.

Listening to the arena spin behind us, I winced, and bit my cheek. I should've timed it better to match Merlow's pouring. His didn't even fill completely to the top, but I spotted a shard floating nearby.

"Merlow, you were much too slow," chastised Merle.

"What?!"

"Didn't your grandfather drill that into you from the last visit? You should have filled that up to match the other princesses."

"But I—"

"It's fine, son, but you'll need to improve in the future." He brushed at his mustache. "I'll let your grandfather know to work with you more closely on your next visit with him."

"But—"

"Don't worry, it'll end soon enough." Merle sighed. "I just feel bad that Peach's friends got spun around again before this ended."

Watching as Merlow seethed, glaring at his father, I stepped forward. "Actually—"

"Oh, I know, they're hardy folks, Princess Peach," relented Merle. "I just wish they didn't have to endure an additional punishment for our mistakes."

Eying the nearby shard, I swept a beam at it, and broke it open. "We just might have missed this one."

"That came to the middle?" Merle sighed and shook his head. "Merlow—"

"Ok, Dad, I screwed up royally, thanks!"

"Son—"

"No, Peach got it—Princess Peach," he quickly corrected. "So, we're fine now, all fixed." He glared at me. "Just add it in." Doing so, I guided the remaining essence to his jar. "Super."

The arenas behind us halted before the whole thing slowly descended back down. Wobbling, the other five slowly made their return to the middle, and I helped Luigi steady himself as he came over.

"Why…is this magic stuff…not simple?"

"What fun would that be?" I smirked as he glared at me. "At least it's over."

We both yelped as the main plateau dropped back down to the earth, quicker than either of us expected. It slammed back into the valley and a heavy cloud rushed across the land nearest us. As we regained our balance, I checked over the land, noticing that the trees from earlier had disappeared, though the valley still looked different from before. I couldn't quite spot the river as we had found it before.

"Don't!"

"Wait, Merlow!"

Picking my head up, I watched as the younger Shaman darted off from our group. Merle chased after him, but a rush of ice surged from the ground, cutting his pursuit off.

"Merlow, son, come back!"

Slouching, Merle sighed and shook his head, tugging his hood down tighter over his head. He reached within it and rolled his hands around, muttering quietly to himself, as I walked over.

Pointing my Royal Scepter out, it launched a heavy fireball to shatter the ice. Waiting a moment, I looked to Merle, who didn't move.

"Stars above, what did I do wrong to deserve this…?"

"Don't you want to go after him?"

"To tell you the truth, I feel as though I'll make it worse," admitted Merle. It was odd hearing…either distress or misery in his tone. "Perhaps, if I give him a minute first…"

"Or maybe I should go."

"You what?"

Not giving him the chance to figure that out, I chased off after Merlow, hurrying from the plateau and off along the valley.

Similar to before, the area was mostly grassy, though more stones were along the pathways. In fact, unlike when we first arrived, there didn't appear to be a distinctive path, mostly just patches of dirt between the fields of violet grass.

Surveying the land as I pushed past a few boulders, I turned around one, and spotted the boy, holding himself together against another rock. He wasn't even looking at me, and I watched as stones levitated from the ground behind him, dancing about in the air. Thunder boomed overhead, and I gazed up to see if we had any rain coming, or if it was his doing.

Returning my attention back down, though, I slowly made my way to Merlow. Ice burst from the ground, but I walked around it. As long as fire didn't come next, I think I could handle this.

"Hey." I clasped my hands together as I approached him. "Can we talk, just us?"

"Great." He sighed loudly, slowly turning to me. "What, did my father send you after me?"

"No, no he seemed a bit frustrated, like you." Lowering my eyes at the ground, I gazed down at my hands, neatly entwined together. "Like me."

"What?"

"Frustrated, struggling, I can relate to all of that." My eyes narrowed on my hands. "I know what it's like."

"You couldn't possibly have any idea what it's like," he snapped. "You're a princess, and you've been raised in the lap of luxury, without ever having to want for anything ever."

"If it's class, then no, I can't really relate." Slowly, I picked my head up to him, as he glared at me. "The parts I'm relating to are your inability to live up to your parent's expectations, feeling an eclipsing pressure to rise and meet them when your best efforts hardly fulfill any of their criteria for how good you are at what they expect you to be."

"…Um…"

"We both failed to achieve the standards that our parents held us to."

"Oh." Merlow's expression relaxed and he picked himself up a bit. "You…had that problem too?"

"Just about every day growing up."

"But…you've become the princess of your kingdom." Merlow lowered his head a bit, as his hair drooped lower. "You've at least reached your goal."

"Not even remotely in the manner that would have satisfied my parents, honestly." My grip tightened between my hands, and they shook a bit. "I never was the pretty, perfect little princess that my family always expected me to be. They wanted me to be capable of so much more than I actually am. Flawless at politics, tactically gifted at war and combat, sharp minded, delicately and elegantly poised, well versed in both history and arts, neither thin nor fat, and somehow still a darling to my people at large across the entire Mushroom Kingdom." I scoffed. "Even why I'm here now, learning more on magic, they always considered that a failing of mine too."

Merlow picked his head back up and blinked. "Wow, really?"

"Yes."

"That's…that's a lot to live up to. Even now."

"It has been." My eyes lowered once again. "After a while, I realized that trying to deliver each and every expectation to reality was an impossibility. Trying to shape myself in this crystal clear image that my parents expected me to become was just entirely unbearable." Forcing my hands apart, I threw them to my sides. "So, I stopped trying to do every last thing they wanted, and lived as I could do right by me."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"But…but didn't…?" He glanced down and twiddled his fingers.

"Ultimately, yes, I did skimp out on important developments for myself." My hair slipped a bit past my face. "Not analyzing war strategies well never helped me when I needed to defend my kingdom. Hence Bowser's efforts proving fruitful whenever he chose to kidnap me." I folded my arms and shifted my weight back. "I ended up learning some mixture of arts, history, and magic, but never became profusely versed in any of them. Trying to be that image my parents had for me, I never developed an entirely genuine relationship with the kingdom, not even with my own people, and sometimes fall back on a council to help me decide many things that I perhaps should be able to decide for myself." My shoulders fell as I pursed my lips for a moment. "So, I'm far from a perfect princess in numerous ways." Brushing my hair back, I gazed back up to the young Shaman. "But, I refuse to ever let that stop me."

"Huh." Merlow waited for a moment, his eyes widened with wonder and awe from the recounting of my life so far. "Everyone still sings about you with such high praises in the Mushroom Kingdom, so…it sounds like you overcame everything anyway."

"Not quite everything, but I battle back against my shortcomings." I smiled to him. "Hence my being here, and wanting to improve."

"Yeah, that…makes a lot of sense." His eyes lowered again. "But, still, you're really capable of so much. I…I don't feel like I am."

"You're still young," I reminded him. He picked up a bit, shooting me a perturbed glower. "That's not an insult, it's a fact. You have plenty of time left to fully develop yourself." Merlow relaxed as I folded my arms again. "Your father and grandfather expect a lot, and you do have some effort you need to put in to learn everything." I shook my head. "But you don't have to transform into a master magician overnight. You have a lot of time yet to grow."

"They don't treat it like I do."

"That's because they want to rush you along," I assessed. "Your father seems a bit of a panic over you, and he wants you to be capable of defending yourself. From how your grandfather sounds, he projects a splendid image to live up to, probably trying to get you to be more like him."

"…Sounds about right."

"See, I do get it." A slight giggle escaped him, but he quickly recomposed himself. Still, I smirked. "For your own benefit, try to learn as much as you can now, because it's harder to find time when you're older." I wagged my finger back and forth. "But, don't overwork yourself just because your elders want you to. You go at the pace that suits you, and learn what you can for yourself, not to please them."

"…Ok. Yeah, ok, that sounds great!" Merlow perked up for a moment, and there was a bit of confidence that flickered in his eyes. But it disappeared as he sulked once more. "But…but what if I can't…?" He exhaled and shuddered. "What if I can't be any kind of useful oracle or Shaman?"

"Then you figure it out as you go, and become whatever you can anyway." I lifted a thumb up to him. "Trust me, things find a way of working out." He hesitated a moment before he nodded. "Come on, let's regroup with the others, before the valley morphs into something else again."

Turning back, I started along, and Merlow quickly darted after me, shuffling to match my pace. I gazed down to him as he looked up, though his hood still hung over his head.

"Thank you, Princess Peach." His eyes glistened a bit; perhaps he smiled back to me. "You've helped me out a lot."

"You're welcome, Merlow."

Slowly coming to a halt, I hesitated and glanced around. I hadn't laid out a path to make my way back to the others, and doing so apparently didn't occur to me until this very moment.

Merlow stepped ahead of me, and held his hand out. A gust of wind blew from around us, pushing back on his midnight blue cloak a bit. A light shined from his raised hand, and soared into the air, glimmering as it reached a peak.

Another light soared up a slight distance away, and Merlow started after it. He twisted back a moment, and waved me after him.

"That was my dad, come on," he urged.

Following after him, Merlow guided me around the stones and through the grassy field. In a short matter of time, we returned back to the group. Merle hurried over and grabbed his son tightly into his arms.

"Dad, I'm sorry—"

"No, no, I am." He cupped his hand over his son's hood. "I'm trying my best, son. It's just difficult, given what we need from you."

"Yeah, I know." Merlow leaned back as his father slowly pulled from him. "I'll try harder."

"It's ok, you're still learning too," soothed his father.

"And now you're embarrassing me again…"

"Sorry." He patted his son and pulled back from him, gazing up to me. "Thank you very much, Princess Peach."

"Don't mention it." I shrugged. "I just kept him company for a minute."

Merlow glanced back at me as I smiled to him, and he nodded. Merle cleared his throat and turned back to everyone else.

"All right, if I'm not mistaken—"

The rumbling of Celestial Valley cut him off, as the land quaked around us. I carefully made my way back over to everyone, tightening my grip on my Royal Scepter.

"Ok, well, that's good timing," decided Merle. "Next trial is coming up, then."

Swift as the wind blew, the dirt and earth surged up around us. Rocks rolled from the valley and mountainsides around us, gathering up around us. Pebbles shot out, a few whipped at me, but nothing too rough yet. Still, more of the earth burst up from below, spiraling into a vortex as it obscured the view of the valley, and darkened the world.

Together, the five of us cast barriers around our group, as the hurricane of land erupted around us, casing us within the inside of it. I tried to focus on something, anything, but the rapid swirling of the land over us pressed on, with everything blurring together as it crashed by.

Daisy tried to shout to me, but over the roar of the ripping land, I couldn't quite make out a single word. I shook my head and tapped at my ear, and she quieted, returning her attention to the storm around us.

Time seemed to blend together as the earth raged, but just after I gave up on counting, the mess outside seemed to slow. Shifting my eyes, I watched as stones lined up along the sides, with newly formed stalactites pouring from overhead; I hadn't even noticed the water seep in. The dirt washed over everything, from the roof to the walls, before settling down beneath us.

For a moment, the land quieted, and we inspected the cave surrounding us.

Dispelling our barriers, we spread out from one another, glancing at the cavern. Tapping my scepter, I lit it up, as Rosalina did the same with her wand. Daisy flicked her rings, and the gems on them began to glow. Merle created a small light before him, while Merlow lit a tiny ember between his hands. Even Pauline produced a flashlight, and handed a second one to Luigi.

"Well, this…was unexpected," assessed Merle. "For this trial, we need to escape the cave." He checked down at the ground, and the runes beneath us faded away. "No more starting point to maintain."

"But what if we get lost?" Yoshi rubbed behind his neck. "We no longer have a place to regroup if need be."

"Correct, unfortunately," concurred Merle. "Ah…this one is a bit more advanced…"

"Just getting out of a cave is tricky?" Pauline placed a hand on her hip. "You guys can bend the very world around us, can't you? Just blast a way through the cave."

"Hey, that's a good idea," agreed Daisy. "Hang on!"

"Wait!"

Daisy pulled back her hand and threw her fist forward. A rumble emitted from her gauntlet, as an energy wave rushed from her and into the cavern's wall.

Upon hitting the wall, the energy stalled, as a dust cloud puffed from the impact. Slowly, the dust seemed to reverse back to the energy, which rippled and flooded back at Daisy, firing her back.

"No!"

Casting up a mound of snow, my grip tightened as Daisy crashed into it. She sank below the snow bank, but popped back up quickly after.

"Ok, so, that sucked." Daisy coughed and clutched her chest. "What gives this time?"

"There's a glamour that will repel quick escape attempts," revealed Merle. "We can't just blast our way from the cave, as that would defeat lessons on honing our powers."

"But if we can't use magic to break out from the cave, then what do we do?" I folded my arms. "Is there a quick method to use for finding a wind direction? Should we summon a leaf and see which way the wind takes it?"

"Considering the method of morphing that went over the land, I don't believe that we'll have a natural source of air," Merle explained.

"Doesn't that mean we'll be suffocating soon?"

"Presumably," admitted Merle. "That wouldn't be ideal."

"Weren't these supposed to not be that dangerous?!"

"Well, how did we manage to survive getting in here?" Everyone stared blankly at him. "…Through magic, very good, everyone!"

"Using wind spells can't help us breathe," snapped Daisy.

"Actually, there are ways to assist with generating air and snuffing it out, when needed," elucidated Merlow. We redirected our attention to him. "…What?"

"In his eloquence," joked Merle, "my son is right. Channeling air spells will allow us to generate it between us and our guests."

"What, do we just cast air into one another's lungs?" Daisy placed her hands on her hips.

"Put simply."

"That's a thing?"

"It takes a large amount of concentration," admitted Merle. "In fact, since we have partners with us, we'll need to rely on them to guide us, while we channel this energy into them." He scratched behind his head. "…This actually is a bit easier when it's just the spell casters going through the trial, but it's the same process."

"So you're telling us that we need to concentrate as we basically funnel wind between ourselves and our allies," I reiterated. "…Air doesn't work that way, given that we don't have oxygen sources."

"What's around us?"

"A cave."

"Made from…?"

"…Dirt and rocks?"

"From the Celestial Valley's earth, oh, yes! That's correct." Merle chuckled. "We have plants intermingled into the cave itself."

"How the hell were we supposed to figure that out?!" Daisy smacked a palm to her head.

"Truthfully, I might have overestimated your awareness to it, I do admit to fault there." Merle stroked his mustache. "Come to think of it, I didn't realize we would reach this trial at all. Merlow, have you gone through this before?"

"No, but Merlee and Merluvlee told me about it." Merlow glanced at the ground, holding his hand out, and siring…some vine plant from the ground. "Devil's ivy should help us out. I noticed it while I stormed off before. And…my sisters told me about it."

"Very clever, son! And help from your sisters is completely fine." Merle nodded. "Plants can help us generate oxygen, obviously not enough of it, but it will help us last longer through our journey out of this cave."

"But which way will lead us out?" I gripped at my dress. "How can we solve that?"

"You're not going to like my suggestion," warned Merle. "But, given that we will be encountering paths that will branch out—"

"Oh no."

"We'll need to split up."

"That's a terrible idea," jumped in Luigi. "We'll get ourselves killed!"

"…From…?"

"Staying in here!" Luigi grasped at his head. "One of us ends up going the wrong way, and we're doomed!"

"That's why we'll need to be connected regardless." Merle produced five small crystal balls from his robes. "These will allow us to connect to one another."

"We can't use crystal balls," contested Merlow this time. "That's an oracle thing."

"Your grandfather enchanted these specifically for today's lessons."

"Did he look into the future?"

"No idea."

"Couldn't he have warned us?"

"That would've been nice, wouldn't it?"

"How will these work, then?" My grip tightened on my scepter, more than a little fed up from this.

"My apologies." Merle cleared his throat. "Merely channel a small portion of energy into the crystal ball, and it should work. These five are specifically enchanted to work together and we'll all be able to stay in touch." He handed them out to his son, Daisy, and Rosalina. "Whoever finds the exit first can contact the others, and we'll be able to make our way together."

"If we go separate ways, won't that take too long?" Taking my small crystal ball, I waited as Merle lowered his eyes. "…Magic literally cannot be the answer to everything."

"Except during magic training, where it is!"

"You're enjoying this a little too much, Dad."

"I don't get out enough," muttered Merle. He clasped his hands together. "Right, so, each of us will pair off with someone that can't use magic, and we'll guide them with us out from the cave."

"But I am unable to perform this kind of magic," reminded Rosalina. "Using Cosmic magic, I could, but creating the Natural magic needed here—"

"Yes, I did forget about that," realized Merle. "Ok, you will remain with me, and we'll have two guests venture forth with us. I'll focus on keeping each of us alive, you'll guide us, and hopefully we won't find more than four paths to travel along." Merle folded his arms. "Considering that there are five of us, though…oh, but the gate should've accounted for this, we'll be fine!"

"The longer we take, the less air we're going to have," pointed out Birdo. "We've probably wasted a lot of it, so can we just get going?"

"She's right!" Merle nodded to her. "Why don't you come along with us? We'll take you, and…well, I might as well take you two." He pointed to both Birdo and Yoshi. "You two tend to pair up anyway, right?"

"We're good friends, yeah," chimed in Yoshi.

"Splendid. Merlow, you'll pick last." His son lifted his head, but his father waved him off. "Normally, I would have, but given our situation, that's why I went first. Princess Daisy?"

"Uh…I'll go with…Pauline!" Daisy grinned to her. "We haven't hung out for a bit yet!"

"Toadette normally accompanies me, so it's best if she continues to," I decided. "That leaves Luigi with you, Merlow."

"Neat, I was actually going to pick him anyway," he revealed.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you're a big hero, right? You and your brother?"

"Um. Well, I don't know about 'big,' but I suppose?"

"He's very modest; you're in good hands," I reassured. Luigi turned to me. "Oh, stop, Merlow's talented too; you'll both be fine."

"Wonderful!" Merle channeled a stream of air between his hands. "Let's be on our way, then! Rosalina, select our first path, left or right."

"Hm…I suppose right," she decided.

"Very good. Merlow, you and Luigi will come with us down that way." He turned to us. "Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, you'll take your teams and venture the left path. Remember, if you find an exit, contact everyone else." He tapped on the ball, which lit up with a swirling glow. "Remember," his voice echoed from each crystal ball, "these work between all of us, so we'll all hear where to go next." Merle flicked his crystal ball, and its light faded. "Now then, let's be on our way."

Separating into our respective teams, I turned and followed our respective path, and listened to Daisy, Pauline, and Toadette trail behind me. Glancing back, I watched the Shamans disappear in the distance with my friends.

"Come on, Peach," urged Daisy. "Let's find the way out and get on with this!"

Twisting her rings around, one after the other, Daisy created a swirl of air. She turned to Pauline, who held her flashlight up for us to follow.

Lowering my scepter and twisting it between my hands, I created a small wind funnel as well, and eyed Toadette. She smiled up to me and nodded. Gazing down the tunnel before us, I pointed out my rod and pulled up, forcing the vines to emerge.

Together, the four of us traveled deeper into the cave, hopefully working toward a way out. For a little while, I decided to remain quiet, in hopes to preserve the air that I would need to breathe. Though, truth be told, I hadn't felt a crushing need for air in quite some time. Strange.

"Peach, this whole thing is super weird." Daisy walked forward, glancing around the cave. "Remind me to never let you talk me into learning more magic ever again."

"Next time, we won't come to the cave that'll kill us," I joked.

"This doesn't seem too bad so far," insisted Toadette. "Plus, we've got a great team here, so, as long as we're together, we should be ok!"

"Good attitude, Toadette," cheered Daisy. "I think we'll be great together! We just have to stay positive, and things will work out."

"Still, I seriously have a bone to pick with the sciences regarding all of this," murmured Pauline, staring down at the plants. "I'm pretty sure that this shouldn't be keeping us alive, in conjunction with…a tiny gust?" She shook her head. "This definitely doesn't make sense."

"Honestly, I do agree," admitted Daisy. "At the same time, if it works, I'm not going to think that hard about it."

"But…" Pauline shrugged. "Oh well. In a land where Super Mushrooms make you bigger and flowers help you shoot fire, I shouldn't really question much."

"That's true."

"Princess, how many more of these tests do you think you'll go through?" Toadette looked up to me. "We've been through a few already, haven't we?"

"We'll get Merle to let us leave soon, Toadette," I assured her. "This has helped me learn more about magic overall, but I don't feel like my control has improved as I thought it would."

"You certainly seem more powerful," pointed out Pauline. "Before on the Mountains, you were casting more spells, but it seemed to take a heavier strain on you." She shrugged. "Here, though, it doesn't seem to be eating away at you as much."

"Maybe I'm just not showing it," I admitted. "With that last trial, I felt myself make a few mistakes, and I think that I threw off the jars in the middle, not Merlow."

"Really?" Daisy scratched her head. "I totally would've blamed the kid. You were basically compensating for him by the end."

"Somewhat, but…I'm not entirely sure."

"As always, I think you're doing wonderful, Princess," insisted Toadette. "You're doing so much to help restore the Mushroom Kingdom." She beamed up to me. "I can't recall the last monarchs that came to Star Hill to increase their understanding of magic, nor their knowledge of the land itself. And you did both!"

"Well, I guess that is something," I conceded.

"See? Toadette's got a great outlook for you, Peach." Daisy patted my shoulder. "You just need to keep your spirits up and persevere!"

"Yeah!" Toadette lightly clapped.

"Gosh, you know, I wish I had a retainer that was such a steadfast and strong source of positivity," murmured Daisy. "Mine aren't even really as active as I am." She sighed. "Come to think of it, a lot of my kingdom is a bit…well, no one really has the same energy that I do."

"Is that why you have so much?" Toadette turned her attention to Daisy.

"Never really thought about it before, but yeah, I guess so." She tapped on her cheek, and pondered it over. "Gosh, I really think I need to work on Sarasaland's quality of life."

"If you'd like, I'm more than happy to help after all of this," I offered. "I'll send some more Toads over—"

"Oh, Peach, please!" Daisy laughed and shook her head. "Your Toads outshine the rest of my kingdom's inhabitants every time they arrive to help."

"We tend to do our best!" Toadette giggled as Daisy smiled down to her.

"Most definitely."

"Uh, girls?" Pauline pointed ahead. "We've got trouble."

We looked ahead to find a split in our path, which would force us apart. Sighing, I turned to Daisy, who grumbled and folded her arms.

"This sucks."

"Agreed." I glanced at the diverging tunnels. "Which path would you like?"

"Doesn't really matter." Daisy shrugged. "I'm on the right, so Pauline and I might as well follow that."

"Sounds good." I nodded as Toadette and I took the left side. "Good luck."

"To you two too!" Daisy laughed. "Had to try it."

"If you didn't, I would have," joked Pauline.

"Ok, now, let's do this."

Daisy brushed her hand over her right ring, pulled her arm back, and threw an uppercut forward. Vines burst from the ground, and Pauline checked ahead through their pathway, nodding.

"Looks good so far." She waved to Toadette and I as Daisy sprinted along. "Take care!"

We waved as they ventured onward. Turning back to my tunnel, I pointed my rod forward, and forced vines out as I had before. Glancing down to Toadette, who gazed up at me, we nodded and pressed ahead.

As we continued ahead, I lit my wand back up, while the air seemed to get thinner. Passing my small wind strip along, I sent it around Toadette, as she breathed in from the devil's ivy and the air. Pulling it back to me, it coolly rushed around my face as I inhaled deeply, and then exhaled.

"Not so bad at all," piped up Toadette. I shook my head, not wanting to struggle with air as we continued.

The further into the cavern we traveled, however, the darker it became. Even with my scepter lighting some of the path ahead, it was getting too difficult to see. Simultaneously, the air became thinner along our path, and I found myself whipping the air between Toadette and I at an increasingly quickened pace. Generating too much would end up blasted across our faces and only waste time and energy.

Shifting my eyes around, though, I couldn't see a way out in sight. Thrusting my wand forward, I fired a ray of light ahead of us. Nothing but endless cave continued.

Beside me, Toadette coughed. She already had the air around her.

"Princess…?" She gazed up at me. "I think…we went the wrong way."

Tightening my lips together, I stared ahead. If we kept going to nothingness, we could end up suffering even more. Waiting here wouldn't do much good either. Checking Toadette again, she pointed at the air around her head, and I pulled it back around me.

"Let's go back," I decided.

Just as we turned, however, my beam of light raced past me, and I was shoved into the floor. The impact caused stalactites to crash down from overhead, and more of the earth crumbled before us.

"Oh no!" Toadette gasped, clutching her neck, and we backed away from the crumbling cave.

Glaring ahead as the dust settled, our path back was now blocked. The way forward presumably went on without end. We were short on air and on time.

Tapping at my crystal ball, I held it close to my face.

"Dead end," I whispered into it.

"Is that you, Princess Peach?" Rosalina's voice sounded. "What was that?"

"Trapped," I forced out.

"To get through this, Princess Peach, you need to consider the type of trial," reasoned Merle. "First, we dealt with the land itself. Next, we were as high as light of the sky. Now, we're deep in the caves."

"Can't…use Dark…"

"Peach?! Peach, hang on!" Daisy's voice echoed out. "We haven't needed a Dark spell yet over here. Merle, isn't there another way?"

"There are several solutions, but I don't have enough time to run by them all," he quickly fired out. "Princess Peach, remember, Dark allows…distortion of properties. Use that…reshape…blocking…path."

"Huh?"

"Dad, I…think…she's…"

Shaking my head, I dropped my ball and clutched it tightly. Everything felt faint…but I squeezed my eyes shut. Forcing them back open, I hurled another spell to blast at the crumbled cavern returning back the way we came. But it rebounded, and I sidestepped the first that flew at me. Something skidded beside me, so I fired out another spell, but it returned and smashed me back down.

With a groan, I gripped at my head. Looking to my side just a bit back, Toadette had slumped down against the cave's wall. Her eyes slowly closed at she looked at me.

"No…!"

Panicked, I tried to rush the wind from around me over to her, but it dissipated in front of my eyes. Pushing myself up, I tried to move my Royal Scepter around to make another wind funnel, but I couldn't move it around the right way.

Crawling over to Toadette, I clutched at my chest. I couldn't let her die here…not Toadette, not one of my Toads…no, no, no…

My eyes lowered as I neared her, and I spotted the crystal ball in her hand. Grabbing onto her hand, I pulled myself closer to her, and tried to lift myself back up. Slowly, my eyes grew heavy as a faint purple aura danced around us.

"…Get her…can't do…something…!"

Shaking my head, the muffled shouting roused me back up. I forced myself up, and spotted the colors of the Celestial Valley back around me. I looked around, as my eyes readjusted to the brighter setting. Everyone was gathered together, as Merle lowered his arms, the purple glow had faded around them.

Twisting back, I yelped and dove back down for Toadette. I cupped her face and shook her little body.

"Toadette?! Toadette!"

"…Huh…?"

Slightly stirring, Toadette moved her head. She opened her eyes a bit, looked at me, smiled, and rolled back over.

"No, Toadette!"

"Stand back." Merle pushed between us. "Princess Peach, please, just move away for a moment."

"But…!"

Pushing me back a bit, Merle brought his hands against Toadette's shoulders. He murmured an incantation as a rush of wind flew around her. Gasping out and breathing in, Toadette hacked and coughed, grabbing at her body and heaving against the ground. Merle winced and twisted away from her, stepping back.

"That could've killed them!" Daisy stormed over, pointing her fist at Merle. "Are you out of your mind with these…these stupid tests?!"

"This wasn't by my design," defended Merle. "The only thing that I engineered was the escape spell itself, which worked so quickly because Merlow and Luigi were able to reach the exit."

"Why didn't you have more contingencies in place?!"

"Because this valley is impossible to completely comprehend, and that's the danger of it!" Merle buried his hands within his hood. "I did warn you, and I gave you the option of proceeding—"

"There's no way that was enough of one!"

"Daisy, please."

She jerked back at my voice, and stared back at me. I rubbed my hands over my face and picked myself back up.

"How…how easy would it have been if I could use Dark magic?"

"…You would have had a multitude of options," revealed Merle. "By increasing the size and amount of the plants, that would've given you more to help with the air. Decreasing the size of the cave's rocks was what I was trying to suggest to you, but you didn't seem to hear my instructions." He yanked on his mustache and shook his head. "If you're very capable, there are ways to alter your need for air at all, but that would be far too advanced. To compensate, you could have hexed yourself into a state to trick your mind into needing less air." He sighed. "Perhaps I should have made sure you were capable of such magic."

"But…I am…"

"Then why didn't you use any?!"

"I thought…you meant for me to…" I gazed at Toadette, as Birdo helped her back up from the ground.

"…What?" Merle glanced at Toadette and then whipped back around to me. "I told you earlier! Dark spells like that are too advanced!" He shook his head. "And taking her life is a horrid suggestion! I would never advise that! If anything, I would've told you to take the life force from the plants themselves, not your friend!"

Dragging my hand over my face, I shook my head. Looking past it and down to Toadette, who seemed to perk up as Birdo chattered to her, I closed my eyes.

The spell that I used to attack at the fallen rocks…the first rebound is what hit her and took the remaining wind out of her. I caused her state like that.

Forcing my eyes back open, I grasped the hair at the top of my head. Merle's eyes flickered and he tilted around, trying to get a better look at me.

"Princess Peach?"

"That was my fault…"

"Stars above, no, this wasn't a simple trial—"

"Not that." My shoulders slumped and I looked again to Toadette. "She was in such a bad state because I…because I tried to…"

"…A spell that rebounded?"

"Yes."

"But I warned you in the beginning—"

"Right, you did." I lowered my head. "And…and I didn't listen…"

"You panicked—"

"A bit, but I should have had that much under control," I argued. "And I should have stopped when the first one came back at me…"

"Wait, you tried that multiple times?" His eyes widened as I nodded. "Princess Peach, no disrespect, but that much was foolish."

"It was. I was. And that nearly cost me someone very dear to me." I shook my head. "We should take a break, but I need to get back to training myself."

"Hold on, you want to continue? After that?"

"Scary as it was, that cave taught me that I'm not properly restraining my powers, and that's what I need the most." I picked my head back up, and gazed into his bright yellow eyes. "I need to learn at least some restraint before I leave here."

"Versatility would be my recommendation, but…as you wish."

Merle turned back to everyone, announcing the break, and my desire to continue, which I nodded to confirm, in spite of Daisy's protests. Whatever else they were talking about, though, I didn't quite focus on, as I gazed behind me, taking another good look at the dark cavern mouth that we were pulled from.

I need to do better. The Mushroom Kingdom needs better.

---

[Luigi]

Peach seemed to zone out after Merle called for the break, but when I went over to her, she forced herself up from the ground.

"Hang on, Peach—"

"Don't worry, I want this." She shook her head. "I just need a minute."

Walking off along the valley's grass fields, I watched as she disappeared behind a tree. Toadette and Daisy hurried off after her. Part of me wanted to go as well, but I imagined that three might already be overkill for Peach at the moment.

Turning back around, I watched as Pauline talked with Yoshi and Birdo. Merlow seemed to have walked off as well, though his father didn't seem very concerned. In fact, he was talking with Rosalina a little further off.

Checking on the others for a moment, I made my way over to them. They would likely know that I'm there, but I was too curious to ignore their conversation. Though, perhaps if I act as though I'm resting…

Sitting on the ground, behind a star stone, I listened as they carried on.

"Again, I must thank you for helping us get through the cave," came Rosalina's voice. "Without you, I would have needed to figure out a way through with Cosmic magic."

"Difficult when you're on the planets, right?"

"It works differently." Rosalina sighed. "Not that I'm incapable of action, but it can be…limiting, I suppose."

"Makes sense." Merle must have stepped over a leaf, maybe shifting his weight. "I feel as though using meteors in space can be almost instantaneous, provided they're nearby."

"Usually. Even when they're not, it doesn't take quite as long."

"Quite remarkable," murmured Merle.

"Am I keeping you from your son?"

"Hm? Oh, no, he's fine." Merle sighed. "He wanted to take a minute to think to himself and hurried off before I could ask about it."

"Ah."

"Some days, it's very difficult keeping up with him," admitted Merle. "He's so very different from my daughters. Those two, they're so very active and excitable. It's sometimes harder to get them to sit still." His weight must have shifted again, and I glanced past the stone, but couldn't see much, just his feet. "Merlow, he would rather lock himself away from the world outright. Keeping up with the girls, impossible. Getting Merlow to join in, harder still."

Rosalina chuckled. "Children have very different temperaments, and it can be quite a struggle to adjust yourself for handling each one."

"Do you have any children?"

"Many."

"More than three?"

"Oh yes."

"Stars!" Merle took a step back. "How can you possibly keep up with them? I can barely handle three!"

"Admittedly, my children can be quite a handful," joked Rosalina. "But, I love them dearly, and do all that I can to help them whenever they need me, no matter what." She sighed. "Perhaps, the best that parents can do…would be offering the children unconditional love and support. Even when it goes against your core, if your child needs you, then it's your duty to give all of your love to them."

"Wholeheartedly, I agree." Merle chuckled. "I would do anything for my children. Keeping up with them, it's very challenging, but I'll look to follow your advice as best as I can." I slid out just a bit more, catching his hand twirling his mustache around his finger, but I ducked back behind the stone. "Can you give me any advice in particular for teenagers?"

"Oh, well…I do not believe my advice would work well for you."

"Why not?"

"My children grow up much faster than yours do."

"Really?" Merle hummed lowly, perhaps trying to understand. "Is that because they're influenced by a different kind of Cosmic magic, or does it have to do with something in space?"

"Well, they are from space."

"Huh?"

"My children are Lumas, star children that are born among the galaxies." She lightly giggled. "I have made it my mission to find them and raise them as best as I can, until they are ready to transform and find their greater purpose in the universe."

"So, they're not actually your children."

"Pardon?"

"These creatures sound more like your charges, those that you've sworn yourself to protecting," contested Merle. "Therefore, it's a significantly different perspective for you, and it's not quite a parallel to parenting."

"On the contrary, I find them entirely similar, and view myself as their mother," insisted Rosalina. "My Lumas mean everything to me, and I do all that I can to raise them and help them develop as best as they can."

"Surely, it's more as though they are your subjects, and that you lead them," Merle detracted. "Considering that you mentioned that they are many, and that they grow differently from my own, they're very different, and your attachment to them must be fleeting as they grow."

"Not at all," maintained Rosalina, and I'm impressed that her voice didn't seem to indicate offense. "I raise them the same as you would yours."

"Really?"

"Do you not tuck your children into bed? Do you not read them stories?" Rosalina sighed. "I would imagine that you take care of them when they are ill. You worry constantly over them, on almost all regards. Every day, you try to see how they are, do all you can to check in on them, feed them, teach them, hold them when they cry, laugh together with them, and offer your very life to help theirs." I pulled around the other side of the star stone as Rosalina shook her head. "Maybe it is not entirely the same, but I love the Lumas as though they are my children, and so they are."

"…Forgive me," relented Merle, and he bowed his head. "I meant no offense, and you are right. Even if they are adopted, and even if they lead different lives than those of more earthly beings, they are nevertheless your children." Merle nodded and I dropped back behind the stone. "I must admit, I find you perhaps the most intriguing among your friends, and now perhaps more so! A cosmic mother to creatures born from the stars…quite incredible."

"You should find yourself so as well," claimed Rosalina. "After all, you manage three children who are to grow into powerful sorcerers, such as yourself."

"Ah, that's not quite how I'd…" Merle cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose you could put it in that regard."

"Of course. And you deal with all kinds of uncharted territories on a daily basis," reminded Rosalina. "Your world, your way of life, it's very different than most others on this planet. It is…removed, and yet, follows its own system." Rosalina hummed a bit. "Even when you think you can abide by what you develop, new challenges and obstacles appear before you. My friends and I merely appeared before you, and instead of focusing on your son, you were given three additional students, and five of their friends as well." Merle tapped his foot a bit. "I would imagine that's plenty of dedicated effort to handle as you do, and it's marvelous that you're able to."

"Princess Rosalina, you flatter me," joked Merle. "I have never looked at it on that level."

"Perhaps you should going forward," suggested Rosalina. "Your efforts should not be made less than what they are. And being a parent is one of life's greatest challenges, as well as potentially one of its best rewards."

"Too true. Now that you mention it, I've gotten a bit worried about Merlow. I was expecting him to have returned already." Merle sighed. "He likes to practice odd kinds of magic when he's alone. It worries me, but I…I'll keep an open mind. Thank you for your wisdom, Rosalina."

"And thank you for yours."

"Merlow must not be too far off…I'll go search for him, if you'll excuse me."

"Please, of course."

Merle walked off from where they had conversed. Waiting a moment, I wondered which way Rosalina would decide to go.

"Luigi?" Busted. "You may come out now."

Pulling myself up from behind the stone, I peeked out from behind it, as Rosalina studied me for a moment. She simply smiled to me, and I pulled myself out from behind the rock.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." She drifted over to me, and rested her hand on my shoulder. "You know, perhaps the next time such a discussion occurs, I'd like to invite you to add your input."

"But…I don't have kids."

"Yet you have family," maintained Rosalina. "And anyone with family, or friends and other loved ones, is welcome to give advice on how they best build and foster relationships with those they cherish…their special ones…"

"Well, I…I guess so."

"Until next time, then." Rosalina drifted away from me. "I have a feeling that he's looking for your attention."

When I raised my eyebrow, she subtly pointed ahead, as Yoshi wandered around near us. He seemed to be trying to keep his attention elsewhere, but I noticed his eyes checking us periodically. Well, me; he was clearly not watching as Rosalina moved from his line of view. She giggled, which made Yoshi jump, and she flew off, heading towards Pauline and Birdo.

He watched them for a moment, but returned his attention to me, smiling a bit. Folding my hands behind my head, I smirked back to him, as he ambled over.

"So…Merle pretty much had our whole trip through the cave managed nicely," started Yoshi. "How did his son do?"

"Pretty well, actually." I shrugged. "He seems talented enough, though, he's not very social."

"No, he doesn't seem to be."

We waited for a moment while Yoshi rocked back and forth on his feet. I scratched my head as he glanced behind him, frowning as he noticed the other three watching us.

"If they weren't staring at us, I'd like to talk more about…things," mumbled Yoshi.

"We still can."

"Um, it's…personal stuff," admitted Yoshi, as his cheeks turned red. "And I don't want to do something stupid for them to giggle over, like wag my tail or hug you or anything else they might enjoy too much."

"They wouldn't…" I peeked up at Pauline, who grinned as she made eye contact. "Ok, point taken."

"Would you want to wander off for a little bit, maybe go for a short walk?" Yoshi turned to the grass and gazed out to the Celestial Valley. "Star Hill is such a beautiful place, and I'd like to enjoy it more with you." He twisted back to me. "Uh. I mean if you want, that is." He twirled his fingers around each other. "Not that we need to, you know, go together, just—" Pauline softly gasped, and tapped at Birdo, who nodded. "…On second thought, maybe not."

"Today doesn't have to be our last trip here," I offered. "If you'd like, we can come back some day, and maybe find somewhere a little, um, calmer to enjoy the scenery."

"Oh, yeah, I…I forgot how rough this part of Star Hill is," realized Yoshi. "Hey, after all of this, though, you did mention helping out." His eyes lifted to meet mine. "You mean that you'll come to my island, right?"

"Of course."

"Ok, great!" He glanced behind him, then back to me. "Not that, you know, it's a big deal if you're physically there, because your support is what matters—"

"Yoshi?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't need to play it cool."

"Actually, I'm still trying to contain myself," he confessed. "I…I don't think I can play anything very cool at all."

"Ah." I chuckled. "That's kind of cute, I admit. It means you're really sincere."

"Do you really think so?!"

"Yep." I smiled. "You're probably the most so of us all."

"Wow…thanks, Luigi!" He broadly beamed to me. "I always thought that about you, really!"

"Me? Nah, I'm not always—"

"But you strive to be, and I think that's what matters the most!"

"Ha, well…" I caved and winkd to him. "Thank you, Yoshi." His blush only seemed to deepen. It was…cute, really.

"Ah, ha, so…I was also wondering—"

"Peach, you're back!"

We twisted around as Peach walked back over to the ladies, her arms folded. She murmured to Rosalina about something, and she pointed behind her. Noticing that Daisy and Toadette weren't back yet, I got a little worried.

"Did Peach mention what happened with her?"

"No, I don't feel like she'd talk to me in particular about it," I admitted. "But that's nothing new." I placed my hand on Yoshi's shoulder, getting his attention back. "Was there anything else you wanted to go over?"

"There, uh, prob-probably a few, several things…um." Yoshi slowly turned his head back, but Rosalina followed Peach off, and Birdo got Pauline's attention back on us. "And…the moment is gone."

"Let's save it for later, then."

"Yeah." He scratched his nose for a moment. "Actually, there's something that I wanted to talk to Birdo about, now that I'm thinking of it."

"Well, let's go break up their little chatter party," I joked.

"Sounds like a plan."

As Yoshi and I approached Birdo and Pauline, however, Toadette reappeared. Birdo hurried over to her, and Yoshi followed her. I waited by Pauline as they followed Toadette away from the area again.

"Gosh, everyone keeps running off, and we're not going to be able to find each other," complained Pauline. "We could at least try waiting together like a solid group."

"Yeah, that would be nice." I folded my arms and waited for a moment. Glancing at Pauline, she raised an eyebrow at me, and her grin slowly returned to her face. Nope, before she gets to pry at that, I've got something else important to go over. "Actually, Pauline? Can I, uh, talk to you about something?"

"Always, Luigi!"

"Something not regarding Yoshi."

"Disappointing, but keep going."

"Right, so…" I rubbed my hand behind my head. While I was told not to mention all of the details, I could tell her some of it. "Earlier, during the first break, Merle found me and told me that those who are Kingdom-born…um, those born within the Mushroom Kingdom, that is."

"Kind of figured, shockingly," teased Pauline. "Continue."

"Ok. So, those who are Kingdom-born are capable of learning magic—"

"Shut up." Pauline clasped her hands over her mouth, bouncing a bit. "Oh my gosh, are you able to learn magic?!"

"Maybe, if I practice at some point, I guess."

"Then why didn't you join in sooner?!" Pauline tossed her hair back and placed her hands on her hips. "Luigi, learning that would have been incredible!"

"Sure, I can understand the excitement about it," I agreed. "But, the thing is…I declined his offer."

"Seriously?"

"It's just…with magic, it's a very demanding process to learn everything," I rationalized. "Not only are there multiple types, but the magic itself takes a hefty toll on the users. You've seen that first-hand." Sucking in her cheek, Pauline nodded to me. "Peach is still trying to learn how to best control her power. It can really consume her, and I don't think she's alone with it. Bowser's forces tend to tap into magic as well, and they favor abusing Dark magic." My shoulders slumped down. "It's not like I want to deny ever considering it, but I don't want to be…I don't know, I don't want to be corrupted, or power mad, or…something worse…"

My hand went around to my cap brim and I pulled it down over my head a little more. I stared down for a moment, but glanced up after Pauline didn't respond right away. She pressed her hands together before her face, with her index and middle fingers together before her mouth and nose. She exhaled and lowered her hands, letting her hair droop past her face.

"Your stance makes sense," she decided. "The thought of learning something new and beyond comprehension excited me, and I was jealous that you were able to. And then totally lost and annoyed that you weren't going through with it." Pauline brushed her brunette hair past her face, tossing it back again. "But, how you just broke it down, that makes sense why you'd be apprehensive on the matter. We've seen how it goes, so…you're probably in the right with your choice."

"…But…?"

"Nothing. But nothing." Pauline shrugged. "I respect your decision on it, and though I find it super exciting, to the point that I would have blindly accepted if I were you…I think it's probably better that you didn't."

"Oh." A small smile managed to curl up on me. "Thank you, Pauline."

"Yeah, but…" She frowned and lowered her eyes, staring at the ground. "There might come a day where you don't have a choice." Pauline wrapped her hand around her arm, looking away. "We could get into serious trouble, and I know we've got three princesses totally capable of it, but…" She returned her attention to me. "It's not a guarantee that they'll be enough."

"…That's a good counterpoint," I admitted. "Hopefully, we won't get to that, but…I think you're right too." My head hung and I shook it. "There's no easy answer to this, is there?"

"Sadly, no." Pauline rested her hands on my shoulders. "But, no matter what, you've got my support, Luigi. I believe in you, regardless of which choice you make or what ends up happening to us."

"…Thank you again, Pauline." I forced a smile for her. "I hope that nothing major comes of this."

"Hopefully not."

"Oh, and, um…would you be able to keep this between us?"

"Didn't think anyone would be interested in hearing, but I won't tell regardless," she promised.

"Good, thanks."

"So…should we go try and round everyone else up, bring them back over here?"

"That might be a good idea, yeah."

"Neat. Who should we hunt down first?"

Before either of us could decide on that, Merle returned with his son Merlow. They shuffled back in and neared us, as Yoshi returned with Birdo and Toadette.

"Guess that just leaves…" Pauline turned around as Peach returned with Daisy and Rosalina. "Huh. That conveniently worked out well."

Peach kept her scepter lowered, as she approached Merle. She brushed her hair back and the Shaman cupped his hands together as she walked up to him. Nothing about her appeared to be in distress like I assumed she was before; she was calm.

"May I help you, Princess Peach?"

"My friends and I wish to resume training," declared Peach, "and I talked it over to make sure that Toadette would be all right with it, which she agreed to."

"After everything, you're certain?"

"Yes." Her grip on the wand tightened. "But before we do, I want to be tested individually." Peach stared down at her rod. "I want to do better with this."

"How would you like to have that tested?"

"Just a rally," decided Peach. "But with the twist that practice targets are around me."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I want seven of those." Peach lifted her head up. "The rest of you will have a spell that we bat back and forth. I want two targets for me to aim for, one large and one small."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense, in a match against…wait, you want to face all four of us?"

"Yes."

"So, you want to take on each of us while we defend two targets, and you'll have seven."

"The match ends in victory only when I defeat the larger target," determined Peach. "If I lose any of my targets or take down the small one of yours, the match ends in defeat." She twisted her rod and lifted it up. "And I want this rally spell to get tougher the longer we bat it back and forth."

"…Practicing for a showdown with Bowser won't be your only scenario to face, if the cave didn't teach you already," warned Merle. "You'll face other challenges in the world."

"True, I'm aware of that," Peach admitted. "But that's all the more reason that I want this one: I need to make sure that I'm at least capable of defending my friends in combat, and when my focus is divided. We can block the spell, but it must be kept in a rally."

"Am I correct to assume your friends already agreed to this?"

"You are."

"Merlow?" His son nodded. Merle stroked his long blonde mustache. "Well then, who am I to deny you such a challenge?" He bowed his head. "As you wish, Princess Peach."

My heart sank as Merle motioned each of us to move aside. The war between Peach and Bowser is ongoing, and I understand that she's practicing for a battle against him. But…given that he's with Mario…

Lifting his hand, Merle raised wooden trunks from the ground. His hands lit up in a dark energy, and he moved his fingers about, first morphing the shapes between the two targets behind him, and then spun around, doing the same to the seven across from him. As Merle dropped his arms, I glanced over the training dummies; they weren't exactly masterful works of art with actual details, but they did manage to capture at least each of our shapes pretty well.

Rosalina and Daisy lined up alongside Merle and Merlow, as Peach took the side opposite to them. Yoshi and Pauline joined me along the side, with Birdo and Toadette lining up beside them.

"Are you ready, Princess Peach?" She nodded to Merle. "Everyone?" His team nodded as well. "Very well."

Merle crafted a small ball of light between his hands. Daisy twisted her rings. Merlow crouched down and flexed his hands. Rosalina cupped her wand close to her. Opposite to all of them, Peach inhaled, held it for a moment, and slowly exhaled. She held her fist out, Royal Scepter in hand.

Lifting his light orb with one hand, Merle pulled back and lobbed it forward. Peach sliced back with her wand, knocking it back to her opposition.

Daisy sprinted over to smack it back. As it flew from her, she twisted her ring and narrowed her eyes on the ball, and it expanded a bit in size.

Spinning her wand around, Peach fired a gust to blast the spell back to the other side. Merlow caught it between his hands, charged it to increase its size, and forced it back to Peach at a quicker speed.

She rallied it back and forth, with Rosalina using a launch star to send it back, followed by Daisy again, and then Merlow once more. They began knocking the ball around the field, forcing Peach to race around in order to return it. So far, she hadn't been able to get it past any of the others. Thankfully, she had kept up blocking it from getting past her.

"Now that we've gotten a good rally going," called Merle, "let's try actually aiming."

"What?"

Gripping her wand with two hands, Peach blasted the spell back to the other side. Merle merely walked forward, lifting his hand up. Stretching his fingers out, he expanded the orb's size even more, and it had to be bigger than me, than any of us, by this point.

He forced it down to the far left, and Peach drove herself over that way. Her expression seemed maddened by now, desperate, as she lined herself in front of the Toadette looking dummy. Generating a light barrier, she caught the ball against it.

Bouncing it back, she dropped her arms and panted heavily. Brushing her hair back, Peach's eyes widened, as Merlow kept the orb from blasting the bigger target. Launching it back out with both hands, he threw it towards the right.

Peach eyed the spell as she darted back over, and stopped it from crashing into the Pauline-shaped target. Skidding back, Peach made a light pillar to smack the ball back towards the others.

It flew past Daisy and Rosalina, and Merlow was too far off to reach it. Merle, on the other hand, had lined up just before the Bowser target.

Again, he only lifted one hand, but this time used the other hand to expand his spell. His eyes lowered, as he pointed it down the middle. The spell had lobbed out at a bit of a sluggish pace, but it sped up as it approached.

"Now," called Merle.

Daisy hurried forward, and pounded the earth, with a hefty slab launching the spell upward. Merlow expanded the spell's energy even more than his father had, and it crackled with bolts and beams circling it. Rosalina lifted herself to the air, created another launch star above it, and rocketed the spell down to Peach's side.

As I watched the spell come crashing down before my look-a-like target in the middle, I shielded my eyes a bit from the brightness of the spell. Peach lifted her scepter, as a net of light emitted from it, and wrapped around the ball. Its power forced her back even still, and she crashed into my dummy, though it remained standing.

With a mighty shout, Peach slammed down with her scepter, forcing the spell back across the field. It crackled with ferocious power, as the others dashed aside to avoid getting hit by it.

Merle waited for a moment though, and placed one hand against Bowser's target. He plucked it from the earth, and warped himself aside through a dark portal. The Mario shaped target remained as the spell neared.

"No!"

Gasping out, Peach swung forward with her rod, trying to catch the massive orb from across the way. Whatever spell she would've used, it was impossible to reach it in time.

With a heavy burst, the Mario target was fried and destroyed.

For a moment, Peach stared ahead, taking in her loss. Slowly, she sank down to her knees, and forced her hands forward as she hit the dirt. Her eyes twitched, but she still barely held herself up.

Snapping his fingers, Merle made his targets sink back into the earth. He walked over to Peach, arms behind his back. She pushed herself back onto her knees, and slowly looked up at him.

"You made a good effort, and you technically kept each of your friends safe," he congratulated. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "But the goal was easily set against you by only concentrating on one target."

"That was the point," Peach hollowly returned.

"True, but we merely indulged your scenario. If you think a conflict with Bowser will be so simplistic, you're in for a very rude awakening." He opened his eyes and shook his head. "Perhaps, Princess, you have other methods to explore and readjust how you're trained."

"This was just to practice defending my allies, which I still failed," confessed Peach. "As it stands, I will still consider Mario my ally." She sighed as her hair drooped past her face. "Direct confrontation is probably not the best choice, but one way or another, it is inevitable. I need to make certain that I am fully prepared when that time comes."

"Sounds to be an impossible task," cautioned Merle.

"Maybe it is," she admitted. "But with your help, I could…"

Peach stopped talking altogether, and stared down at her Royal Scepter. I raised an eyebrow as the heart-shaped head flickered with a red light.

"Something is wrong back at my castle," managed Peach. She shook her head, and cleared her throat. "The castle, something is wrong, an attack from Bowser, likely." Peach rose up and spun around to face us. "We need to get back there immediately."

"How do you—?"

"This is a distress signal," she revealed as she showed her scepter. "Either Toadsworth or someone else high ranking can activate it when they need me back." Peach dropped her arm and stared at me. The alarm in her eyes alone was consuming. "I need to get back to my castle and my people."

"Training will conclude here, then," realized Merle. "Very well, let's return to the gate first. We don't need to get lost in Celestial Valley."

"How do we get back?"

Merle pressed his hands together and closed his eyes. Very faintly, I could hear him murmur a kind of incantation. A shadow expanded from him, as Merlow pulled and pushed everyone closer together. It opened beneath us as Merle pulled his hands apart, and we dropped through it.

Dropping from outside of the valley's gate, everyone plopped down and looked about, exchanging puzzled expressions. For the first time, I believe, Merle dropped down to the ground himself, as Merlow attended him.

"Princess Peach, it was an honor, but please proceed with caution for this war," advised Merle. "Keep in mind what you learned here, but keep your mind open as well."

"As best as I can, I will," promised Peach. "Rosalina?"

"Ah, we return. Of course." She giggled, summoning her launch star. "I hope everyone is prepared this time."

With a sigh, I squeezed my eyes shut and heaved out. Yoshi cupped one hand while Toadette clutched at my leg. Opening my eyes back up, the grand outline of the blue star surrounded us and spiraled around. The gravity lifted us back off of the ground. Merle and Peach pointed out the direction that Rosalina needed to launch us in, and she smiled.

"Here we go! Whoo!"

With a pop and a burst, we rocketed from Star Hill's violet mountain trails, leaving the two Shamans behind. I wailed as we sailed high into the sky and through the clouds and stars, with only the ocean below us.

The flight wasn't all that I was afraid of though. As we soared off from Star Hill, my heart sank, knowing that we were returning to a raging conflict.

---

[Afterwards]

Near the peak of Shooting Star Summit, Merle and Merlow returned to their house. Merlow hesitated outside, glancing further up the hill that led on to the summit. His father opened the door, went in, but stopped as he noticed his son waiting under the front's overhang.

"Merlow?" Merle stepped back toward his son. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" He blinked and shook his head, returning his attention to his father. "Oh, yeah, I just…it's nothing."

Merle nodded, though took a moment to watch his son as he walked upstairs. His sisters poked their heads out from their room, while Merlon approached from the kitchen.

"Well, I was going to call you about being home, but I guess that works out." Merle chuckled while Merlon folded his arms. Merle slowly stopped and his eyes lowered as he looked at Merlon. "…Is something the matter, Father?"

"Training took much longer than it usually does," noted Merlon. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, of course." Merle snapped his fingers. "In fact, even better than that! Today, your prediction came true."

"A…favorable one?"

"Princess Peach came with us to the Celestial Valley!" Merle's eyes twinkled. "Isn't that grand?"

"…What?"

"Remember, your vision with Peach," reminded Merle. "With…Luigi? She trained with her friends while we were—"

"How many?" Merlon tugged at his ivory mustache as he focused on his son, who blinked and slightly shook his head. "How many were there with you?"

"Uh…eight of them, so ten of us total."

"Come with me. Now."

Merlon glanced up as Merlow and his sisters watched him disappear to the basement. Merle sighed and shook his head, and gazed up to his three children.

"It shouldn't be anything to worry about, kids." Merle waved his hand and made his way for the basement. "Just wait up there, and I'll go speak with your grandfather."

Entering the basement, Merle closed the door behind him. Merlow walked towards the steps, but both Merlee and Merluvlee grabbed onto him.

"But—"

"They'll hear the steps creak," pointed out Merlee.

"Luckily, we have an alternative," offered Merluvlee.

"Won't Grandfather sense magic?" Merlow tugged at his midnight blue clock, tightening it over his robes. "We can't risk opening a portal."

"That's why we're just silencing our steps."

Each of the sisters lit their hands in a dark aura, and waved them over their feet. They winked to one another, and Merluvlee snatched Merlow's robes, picking them up.

"Hey come on!"

"Oh, relax." Merluvlee rolled her eyes. "Your clothes are too long."

"They're not…that bad…"

Merlee waved her hands over Merlow's feet, and he threw his cloak back over it. His sisters carefully made their way to the steps, testing it. Not a creak.

"Perfect," determined Merlee. "Come on."

The three siblings descended and hurried to the basement door. Merlow lit his hand in a dark aura, and flicked the knob. Merlee carefully tested the knob, making sure it was loose to the turn. Merluvlee waved her hand to the door's hinges, and they gently opened it up.

Making their way down the first few steps, the siblings waited, huddled together still near the door. Merluvlee lit up her hand in a bright aura, and swayed it back and forth over the stones. A few shimmered from its light, in a blue aura instead of the yellow that appeared for the others.

Silencing the steps with her previous spell, Merlee nodded and Merlow tapped the stones. The soundless staircase shifted and the siblings ventured down a bit more.

In the basement, Merlon hurried to his bookshelf, and withdrew a mulberry colored diary. He dropped it down on his desk, and quickly flipped through the pages.

"You mentioned which of Peach's friends again?"

"Luigi—"

"Of course he was there." Merlon waved his hand, still focused on checking his journal. "The others, please, who?"

"Princess Daisy of Sarasaland. New Donk City's Mayor Pauline. The Guardian of the Comet Observatory, Princess Rosalina." Merle paused as Merlon continued his search, but then glanced up. "…What?"

"The others?"

"They matter much?" Merle shrugged. "One was just Peach's servant."

"Female?"

"…Yes." Merle picked at his mustache. "One of her top retainers, I would imagine. Toadette."

"Her instead of Toad or Toadsworth…yes." Merlon scrolled down the lines of his current page. "The last are Yoshi and Birdo, correct?"

"You're right, of course, but why do they matter?"

"It's critical that I've got the details on this scenario correct, and who is with Peach is what is of high importance to which future I saw," elucidated Merlon. "If it's Toadette instead of Toad, then she should not have been here this early." He scoured across his page, and nodded. "Yes, this one has the entry on her travels with them. Toadette is definitely part of their group in this one, and she shouldn't have trained with you this early on."

"Father, that's my point," carried on Merle. "Most scenarios predicted that Peach wouldn't have come during the greater conflicts for the Mushroom Kingdom." He paused and tilted his head. "…Wait, the future with Toad instead of Toadette has a different group of companions with Peach? I thought her servants were the main variable."

"They were the easiest to follow, with Toadette's appearances having the highest odds and Toadsworth's being the lowest," murmured Merlon. "The others just help me follow it to the fullest, though yes, you named the noteworthy players first. Luigi is just always…" Merlon narrowed his eyes while studying his book. "But then…"

He shook his head, and closed the book. Tugging a similar diary from the shelf, he hesitated and pulled on a third. Placing down the books, he drummed at the cerulean one, while picking at the russet journal.

"Isn't this good news that I've brought?" Merle folded his arms. "This means that your predictions weren't quite correct, doesn't it?"

"The current set that I've been following isn't, no." Merlon shook his head. "I was expecting some deviations, but not for her training event." He looked back up at his son. "Did you deal with the cave trial?"

"Horrifically, but yes, we had that one come up." Merle sighed. "You could have warned me more about that if you knew it would come up—"

"Merle, you know as well as I do that I can't be certain."

"But everything else has mostly lined up within reason until now." Merle dropped his arms. "Even the trials, we made it through three of them before Peach called for a brief skirmish, and then was summoned away."

"Wasn't it just the volley this time?"

"What? Oh, yes, that." Merle shook his head. "Does it matter?"

"Well, either you essentially played a game against her, or actually had a battle, so yes, that matters." Merlon buried his head in his hands, as his hood hung over him. "Her arrival should have been after she reclaimed the seventh fortress, not before."

"But this is still all the more to my point!" Merle leaned on the desk as Merlon lifted his head back up. "Perhaps your prediction ended up differently because you were not the one to meet her yet. Only Merlow and I did."

"…Yes, that could be it…" Merlon massaged his temples. "She was supposed to meet me prior to that training." He paused and refocused his attention on his son. "Which hamlet?"

"What?"

"Where did you intervene for her, which hamlet?"

"Oh, Chieftain Lu's."

"Not Vi's?"

"No."

"That's wrong as well, then…" Merlon shook his head. "But it lines up with another…"

"What if it doesn't align with any of them outright because those futures aren't the ones that we follow?" Merle pushed up from the desk. "Maybe your predictions are off because you weren't there for specific events that you should have attended prior in some capacity, and because of that, we're not following what you saw?" He cupped his hands together. "It could be that something changed."

"…Did Merlow fail any trial?" Merlon stared as Merle deflated. "Was it the second?" He waited when his son didn't answer. "Was his partner in the cave Luigi?"

"It was Luigi, yes."

Merlon leaned back and covered his eyes. Merle sighed and pivoted away from his father, walking a few steps toward the stairs. Squeezing tightly, the children back up as they spotted their father's cloak.

"If those two events happened, then he's still set on his same path," determined Merlon. "And I'm still on mine."

"That can't be right," insisted Merle. "It was different."

"My prophecies are not absolute, Merle," reminded Merlon. "I see many futures, and I've tried following this one in particular—"

"It was different!"

Both quieted at Merle's shout, and Merlon gazed at his son. Merle's eyes wavered as he dragged his hands against his hood.

"If we remain on this path," forced out Merle. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced them back open. "You and Merlow…"

"Yes." Merlon checked at his notebooks, his hand gliding over each one. "And not just what happens to us. The entire Mushroom Kingdom will face much peril and devastation should this path continue."

"You've told me that we're too far along for it to change," recalled Merle. "If that's the case…"

"Then we face future as we know it to unfold." Merlon tugged on his mustache. "Should Merlow learn enough though—"

"Don't bring that up."

"It's just that he can—"

"Don't." Merle shook his head, and kept doing so as he paced around. "This can't be happening. This can't be, not again…not again…"

"This is bigger than just the two of us, my son." Merlon stepped away from his books and around the desk. He approached Merle and held him to a stop. "But what little we can do can still determine what follows. That much is in our control, and we can decide which fate we follow." He gently shook his son's shoulders. "Remember, what I see, all that I see, is never absolute."

"…But your success rate is much too high, Father." Merle took his father's hands from his shoulders. "Nothing's changed."

"Merle…"

"Which of them?"

"What?" Merlon tilted his head as his son glanced back.

"Which one of them is here?"

"…All three."

Merle deeply sighed, and the three children raced back upstairs. He turned back as Merlon caught his hand.

"Go easy on them." Merlon lowered his head. "I wanted to ask Merlow about training, but now…"

"Anything might be better." Merle grasped at his mustache and pulled hard. "I'll do what I can to explain what they'll understand."

"It shouldn't be difficult." Merlon gazed up the walls of the basement, past his bookshelves filled with texts, scrolls, and vials. "Just let them know some truths: the war for the Mushroom Kingdom has critical boiling points that we're racing towards."

"And everything has happened so far?" Merle watched his father. "The Koopalings, you mentioned Mario had called—"

"He likely already raided Peach's Castle with Bowser to rescue them." Merlon reached to his mustache, but his fingers twitched before he could stroke it. "I wonder if Toadsworth survived that encounter."

"Perhaps you should call Mario about that?"

"…I fear that I will know the answer regardless, soon enough…" Merlon shook his head and dropped his gaze back to his son. "Enough. Let's attend the children. They need us, and you especially."

Merle winced, but nodded. He made his way up the stairs, seeking to emerge from the basement.

Merlon started up after him, but paused for a moment. He surveyed his journals on his desk, and eyed them carefully.

"Which parts will line up with us…our lives…?" He closed his eyes. "Stars, guide us."

Slowly opening his eyes again, Merlon pulled himself up with the railing, and quietly returned upstairs. On his desk, the three recordings of his prophecies remained.

---

...

Oh my gosh, we made it. Celestial Valley's arc for Star Hill is concluded at last! This certainly isn't the end for Star Hill, but the main plot will move away from there for now.

Peach's main reason for being there was to gain more understanding of magic, as well as learn about controlling it better. Though her time was cut short (at least for her), she did gain a valuable understanding that deepens her abilities. We'll see if she brings it forward with her. It's important to not only see her growth from her personal development, but through Luigi's eyes too; he's better at seeing her strain than she is.

Hopefully Merlow and Merle feel a little more fleshed out. I have a special adoration for Merlon's family, and I've really enjoyed including them for this story. I hope you've enjoyed their involvement so far!

But now, with Merlon back in at the end...he's seen many futures after all. What does he have recorded in those journals of his? Something that doesn't seem to bode well for his family, that much is certain. And even what's terrible for them, only worse can unfold for the Mushroom Kingdom. What else is riding on the outcome of Bowser and Peach's conflict? What has Merlon seen? But...more on that at a later date.

Once again, feedback is deeply appreciated, so please feel free to comment about the story! I still check its ranks accordingly against the respective archive, but we've been dropping on most fronts, so I can't tout that like I used to. As long as I can hear that folks are still enjoying the story, that's what matters the most to me!

The next chapter after this one will take some time, but we'll be going back to Bowser and Mario once again. They're very overdue, and I'm definitely looking forward to returning to them. I wonder, what other matters and events will unfold at Bowser's Castle coming up? Will all be well after their rescue of the Koopalings? Speaking of, I wonder who called Peach back home? Questions to mull over for the future!

Thank you for reading and continued support for the fanfic! And, most definitely, thank you very much for your patience. It will take some time, but there is still more story to come. Please feel free to check back in every so often. In the meantime, I wish you all well, and hope you all stay safe and healthy! Please take care and hang in there.