Tim had prolonged his stay so he could finish writing the story, which only took him a day, since he wrote nearly non-stop. He had already heard the last tale from the storyteller and remembered it now as he wrote the final words.
"The heroes knew the seal might not last forever and they sought to make the Crystal Stars available to one who might need them. So, before going to their individual dooms, they made a map to all the stars. And to prevent an evil force from misusing this map they placed it in a box that could only be opened by the pure of heart…"
There was nothing to elaborate on in this tale, so those became the final words of this story. As he closed the book and looked up, only to see a princess in a pink dress walk by. He recognized her immediately. 'What is Princess Peach doing in Rougeport?' he asked himself.
"Finally! I have a minute without Toadsworth watching over me! He's so paranoid!" she said "I come all the way here on holiday…only to be stuck with Toadsworth! It's so stifling!"
Tim kept listening, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Once in a while I'd like to get the chance to look around on my own and see what I want." The Princess said, looking around. She frowned. "But…now that I'm doing it, all I see is that this town has a very…umm…distinct flavor…"
Tim frowned at this comment, he happened to like Rougeport. But this was the Princess, and she probably wasn't used to living anywhere like this.
"Oh missy… missy…" another voice said. Tim turned and noticed a strange cloaked merchant, who had a carpet spread out in front of her and piled up with trinkets. 'When did she get here?' he thought 'she certainly wasn't here earlier. Though, then again, neither was the princess that I remember…'
The Princess gasped and looked around, noticing the merchant. "Do you mean…me?" she asked.
"Yes, you, Missy!" the merchant said "Won't you buy something? I have a wide assortment of knickknacks and doodads!"
"Oh! Well… Umm…" the Princess seemed to be thinking hard about this. Her eyes lit up when she noticed something. "Well that's a pretty box!" she exclaimed "what's inside it?"
The merchant picked up the box in question and replied, "It is said that this box holds a map that shows where a legendary treasure sleeps…"
Tim was taken aback by this, a map? A map to a treasure… and he had just heard about a Magical Map too. A map that lead to the Crystal Stars
"But the box has a magic lock on it that will only open for the pure and noble heart" the merchant said.
"What?" Tim whispered, opening his book and looking at the last words of the tale.
"And to prevent an evil force from misusing this map they placed it in a box that could only be opened by the pure of heart…"
"No way" he whispered. But he realized now, that he wasn't done writing, and he wasn't done in Rougeport either. He waited for the two to stop talking before running to the docks and talking to the captain of his ship.
"Tell my parents that I won't be coming home any time soon. I think I've found a way to make a living here" Tim told the captain with a grin as the ship left the docks. He knew now that the Legend of the Thousand Year Door definitely wasn't finished, and really had merely just begun another chapter.
one more chapter, and then this story will be done