Elodie was loath to emerge from the memory. It was certainly one of the happiest of her lifetime, second only to the births of Rosalina and Tobias. When she realized that she was no longer in her subconscious, and in fact a spirit once more in the real world, she could not help but close her eyes in defeat.

Her silence was noted.

"Elodie?" asked her champion's voice.

The spirit merely floated down to meet him and gloomily said, "Hello again, Mario…"

He instantly picked up on her sadness. "What is wrong?"

But she did not quite have the heart to answer. She missed Arthur… the thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye, it was true, but the four years she had spent after he and all their friends were trapped had lasted a lifetime. It was only thanks to her son that she remained sane throughout their losses, including that of her daughter.

She was ready for the quest to be over, so she might see them all again.

Elodie, however, knew she could not say this. And so she only replied, "I awoke from the memories of one of my happiest moments…"

Mario and his companions were quiet for a while. Elodie didn't wish to make them uncomfortable, so she sighed and added, "It is all right. You and your friends remind me why I fight, Mario. You give me hope, particularly after how you have proven yourself thus far. I… am very proud of you."

She smiled then and opened her eyes only to find herself in an odd structure. It was nothing like she'd ever seen before… she was used to stone walls and wooden doors, but this place was nothing like that. It was brightly colored; clearly not stone. There were long wooden benches arranged in a square, facing the center of the room. Garish lights flashed at her in bright colors of pink, blue, and green… but then Elodie turned to her left and choked.

"M-Mario," she gasped, lurching away from the horrid contraption that stood in front of her. "What… is that?"

It looked almost like a torture device, made of a glaring bronze material, and was taller than three people combined. Sinister green glows in glass tubes assaulted her eyes; although she was a spirit, Elodie could almost feel the heat it emanated while running. Based on the hole in the floor, it appeared its normal hiding place was underneath the arena's panels, of all places. Elodie shuddered to think of what it was used for.

Mario noticed her discomfort and instead of answering, said, "Elodie, come away from there. It will not hurt you, but perhaps some distance will make you feel better."

Elodie did not contest. She floated down to the ground and was suddenly aware of a companion that she had not before met—a spunky young man with a green mohawk.

"Greetings," she said aloud to the young man, a smile finding her face. Then, turning to Mario, she added, "I see you have found another companion. It appears you are very amiable, my champion."

Mario chuckled, but it was the young man who piped up. "Yo! I'm here for the Great Gonzales! He saved my hide, and now I've gotta pay him back."

Glancing at Mario, Elodie repeated, "The Great Gonzales?"

He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "It's… a long story."

"Somehow I doubt that is the half of it," she sighed, glancing around hopelessly at the perturbingly bright place. She could not say she liked it at all—while her castle had been gloomy at times, it was undoubtedly much less alarming than this place was.

Turning back to Mario, she asked, hoping that he had forgotten the question she had left unanswered the last time they spoke, "What would you have me answer, with the little time I am given in this world?"

Mario's eyebrows furrowed together—a trait that Elodie was coming to interpret as deep thought. After a moment, he murmured, "How are the Crystal Stars going to lead me to Princess Peach?"

Elodie paused, relieved by the fact that she would not have to reveal the existence of the demon, and yet troubled by the fact that she did not know the answer to his new question. After a moment, she replied, "Let me tell you of the woman who took your close one. Her name is Beldam. She is a being of shadow, a sorceress, and she has two sisters by name of Marilyn and Vivian. I caution you against all three of them, for they are dangerous and—"

"Hey!" interrupted Goombella. "We already fought them, and Peach wasn't with them!"

The spirit blinked. "You did? When?"

Mario told her of their encounter in the Boggly Wood. The three sisters were to try and steal the Map from Mario's possession—they ended up getting into a scrap, which Elodie's champion had won.

Elodie exhaled slowly, equally surprised and impressed by this development. Most who had crossed paths with Beldam, the demon's most devoted servant, were never seen or heard from again.

"Well," she said, not bothering to conceal her glee at the thought of Mario trouncing Beldam in combat, "I doubt you will see the last of them, Mario. They are shades: it will take more than a single fight to guarantee their defeat."

Mario groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead.

"But it was Beldam who took your princess," resumed Elodie, knowing she had to return to the topic at hand. "I find it likely that Beldam is serving a new master at this moment; one whose goals she either finds admirable, or can twist to her own agenda."

Madame Flurrie pursed her lips at this statement. "A new master? Do you mean to tell me that Beldam is not acting of her own accord?"

Elodie bit her lip, never mind that she couldn't actually feel it, knowing that sooner or later, Mario and his friends needed to be alerted to the demon's existence. Now that he had three of the seven Crystal Stars in his hands… it would be prudent to allude to what waited for him in the weeks to come.

"When I was alive, Beldam and her sisters served a powerful being," Elodie said carefully. "Beldam especially was… devoted to her. It was this mistress of hers that created the Crystal Stars. My friends and I stood against them."

"If what you say is true, and Beldam was the one who kidnapped Princess Peach, t-then we know who she's serving now!" Koops piped up, standing taller than he had when last Elodie had seen him. "We've had word from the princess; she's been taken captive by a group called the X-Nauts."

Although she was intrigued by this news, the primary emotion Elodie was feeling was concern. She could not escape the recollection that Peach had been abducted thanks to her own failing power.

"Is she well?" asked Elodie, hoping beyond hope that the answer would be yes.

"Well enough, it seems," Mario answered. "I don't know much about her welfare. All I know for certain is that she's been captured again."

"Again?"

Mario chuckled, a humorless sound. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened."

Elodie narrowed her eyes, surprised by the bitter bite to his voice. She wondered if perhaps he was performing Princess Peach's rescue more-so out of obligation rather than passion… but even as she looked at him, in the depths of his eyes she could see immense worry and care.

"It is lucky you are able to hear from her," said Elodie calmly, reaching out and squeezing Mario's shoulder despite knowing he wouldn't feel it. "But I am sorry—I do not know of this group, the X-Nauts. They were not around when I drew breath."

"I feared as much," sighed Mario, rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose that leaves us with the task of gathering more Crystal Stars, then."

Another reign of disquiet settled over the horrendous arena. Elodie longed to be rid of it, and was about to say as much—

"Are you… not fading yet?" asked Goombella, apparently as astonished as Elodie herself was.

"I do not believe so," came the answer, as Elodie gazed at her ethereal hand. She did not feel tired, or feel less connected to the world of the living… she figured that her power was beginning to be returned to her through the deeds of her champion. "It seems as though I shall be here for a while longer."

Perhaps it was Elodie's imagination, but she could've sworn Mario was grinning as he suggested, "Perhaps you should come outside, then, and see some of the world that has appeared during your absence."

And Elodie, desperate to be out of the fluorescent lights, immediately obliged.

So it was that Mario and his friends left the building, with Elodie trailing behind them. She hoped that she wouldn't gather too much attention, seeing as she was a spirit—but the moment they exited the doors, she knew her fears wouldn't come to life.

It appeared that the arena had been built upon a floating city in the sky; Elodie had never read of such a place in her journals or books while she'd been alive. The first thing that ran through her mind was that the Gold Star must've been stolen from its original resting place and taken here: the second was that there were dozens and dozens of people, all of which were so preoccupied with what they were doing, they were hardly paying attention to anyone else.

For the first time since she'd awakened, Elodie was able to truly note the difference in one thousand years. Everything was startling; people were shouting, wearing trousers and light shirts, screaming and cheering in a manner that any nobleman or woman would've been shamed endlessly for during her time. People were eating confections in the streets, seemingly careless to everything going around, and there were stores and shops everywhere she looked.

"This is… very different," Elodie heard herself say. "For lack of a better expression: it certainly makes me feel old."

Goombella and Flurrie giggled at this; Mario too cracked a crooked smile.

"You don't look a day over a thousand and twenty years old," he said, smirking.

Elodie shot him a mockingly affronted look. "How kind of you, Mario."

He laughed aloud once more; she recalled how he'd done so in the Great Tree at Boggly Wood.

But then, before she could ask anything of him for once—whether it was how he obtained the Gold Star, the name of his newest companion, or how he'd come to make any of the others' acquaintances—there was a twinge in Elodie's chest, a feeling she was only too familiar with by this point.

Her time was once again growing short. The five adventurers assembled before her seemed to recognize this as well.

"Do you have any other questions?" she asked, looking them over.

"You seemed to have history with that Beldam woman," said Koops, rocking back and forth on his toes.

Elodie scowled, though not at the young man: at her memories.

"I ask you this, Mario, as a favor to me: if and when you are able, destroy her. Ensure that her days on this earth are ended, once and for all."

Mario nodded. "I will, for myself as much as you. Why do you hate her?"

The sky outside the city turned dark: a thundercloud birthed a bolt of lightning, one that traveled dangerously close to where they flew. Everyone jumped as they looked upon Elodie, who was now angrier than anyone had yet seen.

"She is the one who took my son from me," spat Elodie, her fists clenched and her hate newly remembered. "After Arthur and my friends had been trapped, my daughter disappeared: my son was all I had. Beldam is the bitch who ended my life."

And with that, Elodie gasped sharply, forced once more into fitful sleep.