Welcome to…chapter 14. Heck yeahs! :D an update!

She felt something touch her nose and sat up quickly, her eyes flashing open. Cora looked down and saw that it was only a leaf; she brushed it off her shirt and stood up.

Ow…how long was I out? She wondered to herself. The girl looked around at the dark trees and decided to keep moving. Hopefully Lyon was doing all right; he was probably wondering where the heck she was.

Cora moved through the trees silently, a hand stroking one of her wings, which felt sore. She then remembered falling forward onto her face and faintly questioned why she was on her back, but shrugged it off. That was no important now, being reunited with her friends was far more important.

The village came into view soon, Cora hesitating at the tree line, coming in from behind one of the dark wood shacks. She reached the back of the building and peered around it, she was relieved to find no lights and a Yoshi standing nearby behind another shack.

"Lyon!" Cora said softly but as loud as possible without drawing too much attention to herself.

The Yoshi was startled and quickly gazed her way, then smiled and waved when he saw it was only Cora. She made her way to where he was, careful to glance around for any sudden movements. Soon they were standing face to face, "I was worried for you Cora." Lyon said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess I tripped and hit my head." Cora smiled. He frowned when he saw the slight but dark mark on her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

He brushed a hand over her forehead lightly, moving some hair out of the way so he could get a better look at it, and then nodded, "Be more careful next time."

Cora nodded in reply, "Ok, now what do we do? Do you think its safe to enter the village again?"

Lyon sighed, "I know it's not safe, but we have no choice, we can't just leave April down there."

"How about you distract them and I fly down the well and see if I can get April out of there." Cora suggested, "The mouth is wide enough that I should be able to fit with my wings."

"Ok." Lyon looked towards the well, "I'll go first, wait until they're chasing me."

Then he was off, Cora waited, feeling in suspense, as she watched him go. She held back a cry of fear for him when the lights came into sight and he began running past buildings towards the forest. When the coast was clear, she began racing towards the well, her heart beat accelerating. Soon she was at the well's side, gazing down into the darkness, her mouth dry as she swallowed. What if she found April…and she was…dead? Could people even die here?

"I'll be brave for you." Cora whispered, "You would look for me no matter what." The girl looked down into the well, her hair falling over one shoulder, the air brushing cold against her ear. Cora took a deep breath and spread out her wings, she flew up, hovering over the opening of the well, then slowly began lowering herself down, her wing tips brushing softly against the stones around her.

00oo00oo

April sat there for what felt like a long time. She was actually beginning to feel bored and began played with a strand of hair. She twisted it between her finger tight, then let it go, and then again. Soon she left the couch and was looking around the room.

The girl found nothing of interest and was heading back to the couch to lounge when the door slipped open, startling her.

Tomas noticed she was off the couch and gave her another wide set grin, "Exploring are we?"

"I was kind of bored I guess." April shrugged lightly and took a seat and watched as the duplighost approached with an armful of what looked like red, white and yellow shrooms and some sort of leafy greens. Yay for vegetables, April thought glumly, and fungus.

Thomas dumped the contents in his arms onto the table and looked her way, "I picked a variety of things for you, I wasn't sure what you would like."

"Oh, well, uh, thanks." April went over to the table and glanced at the food curiously. There was some unfamiliar food items on the table, but some of the shrooms were very fragrant and she felt her stomach grumble softly. It was nice of Tomas to bring her food as well, so hungry or not she was going to try something.

"Here, try this." He picked up an odd looking shroom that was dark blue with little lighter blue specks. April took it from his sheeted hand, gazing down at it curiously. It smelled very good, almost a sweet honey like smell.

April felt herself smile and brought the tiny mushroom up to her mouth and took a bite. The moment her teeth sunk into its damp flesh she tasted a strong mint like taste and then something similar to coconut with a sort of spicy flavor. She chewed it slowly, thoughtfully, and then swallowed. April smiled and took another bite. It was very yummy, way better than any of Lyon's fruit even.

The duplighost watched the girl eat, April completely oblivious to the growing smile on the creature's face.

00oo00oo

Cora landed, feeling chills run down her spine as she stood in cold water. She was in complete darkness and quickly reached for her gem.

"Fila, I need light."

No voice replied, but the gem steadily began to gain a golden hue until it was fully aglow and the area around her was lit. Cora was both relieved and stunned to find that April was nowhere in sight.

"April?" Cora held up her gem and spun around slowly, and then she noticed a tunnel. The girl stepped into it and began walking forward, her eyes alert for any movements ahead.

Lyon ran straight past the trees, deeper into the forests. He found it was much harder than before to lose his pursuers, they were on him like chain chomps. The Yoshi weaved around trees and leaped swiftly over any obstacles in his path, glancing back every few seconds.

The lights made a soft humming sound as they raced after him, which also helped pinpoint the distance between him and them. Once he had glanced back and turned forward again to almost trip over a log.

Lyon was almost hit with a heavy branch after ducking under another and brushed by another low growing tree, branch tips hitting him hard in the shoulder.

He held back a cry of frustration as he hit his elbow against bark; this had to end, this was getting ridiculous. The Yoshi then decided that now was time to take the fight to them, in a rather unique way.

Lyon quickly turned around and faced the ghostly lights that were heading straight for him without hesitation paying no heed to his change of direction. The Yoshi opened his mouth. It was time to try something new; this could possibly not end well. A long pink tongue flew out of his mouth and towards the lights.

At first he thought it wouldn't happen, but then he felt his tongue connect and the weight of his enemy at the end. Feeling triumphant the Yoshi pulled back his tongue and the enemy went down with a deep gulp. The other lights paused and hovered in the air, only a few feet away. Lyon waited, his hand on his stomach. Nothing…

He smiled at the lights in front of him and opened his mouth again. It was gobbling time.

Cora found the door and stood outside it, her hand staring at the knob. Was April in here maybe? Or possibly something else?

The girl placed a hand on the doorknob, which was as cold as the air around her, and paused. She thought she heard someone speak; it was not her friends voice though. Nonetheless, Cora thought, I have to investigate. April could very well be inside.

Cora opened the door slowly, making no sound as it slid open, and peered inside. She immediately saw the back of someone, who was wearing a bed sheet? It didn't take her long to see someone else too.

"April!" The girl cried, feeling almost tearful in relief when she saw her friend.

April looked her way, and Cora was surprised to see that her friend was pretty calm looking, her eyes drooping softly.

"Cora..hey." April's voice was so soft she could barely make it out. The girl was even more confused and shocked when April took a step forward and tumbled onto the floor.

The sheeted thing turned around and Cora's eyes widened in surprise. It was a duplighost! One of the paper Mario enemies!

"Who might you be?" The creature asked her, its voice kind sounding, but its eyes unfriendly.

"What did you do to my friend!" Cora stepped forward, her eyes narrowed.

The duplighost just shrugged, his sheets rippling softly, his jack-a-lantern smile growing larger by the second.

Cora deposited her gem in her pocket, having no need of it in the lit room, and glared at the creature who still kept the same eerie smile on his face.

"You must be the other girl." The mysterious creature said, "Well, you should leave now, April will be safe with me."

"Who are you?" Cora demanded, her body tense.

"Tomas. Don't be concerned about your friend, I will take good care of her."

He took a step towards April, and looked about to kneel down and reach for her but Cora stopped him with a cry, "Get away from her!"

He gave her an amused look and straightened up, "What's the matter? I have taken good care of April, she is only resting."

"I don't trust you, if you're truly good you will respect that and stand aside. I'm taking my friend."

Tomas gave her an almost mocking bow and stepped to the side, still wearing that same unsettling smile.

Cora eyed him cautiously then walked to April. She looked down at her friend and glared at the duplighost, "What did you give her?" April laid unconscious on the ground, her face taking on a pale hue, which worried Cora. Had she been poisoned?

"Nothing but a simple shroom." Tomas picked up a small blue mushroom from the table and held it out to her, "Try it and you will see, it is perfectly edible."

"No thank you." Cora said and kneeled down to tend to her friend, her back to the ghost.

She reached down to try and wake her friend when she felt a chill on her shoulder. Cora looked to see Tomas's sheeted hand on her and stepped away, just as his grip tightened.

Cora was startled and stepped back, the duplighost stumbling forward suddenly and tripping over his own sheet. The girl took several steps back and narrowed her eyes, wings spread out slightly, her muscles tensing.

Tomas got up quickly, his eyes narrowing slightly, but the grin still there, giving him an almost demented look, "April will be just fine. I will do my best to make sure she is happy here."

Cora's eyes widened and she was thinking on his words when he suddenly flew forward. She quickly leaped aside, her shoes slick from well water, causing her to slip and fall onto the floor. Cora quickly reached her feet just as the ghost sent himself flying towards her again.

00oo00oo

Lyon had consumed many of the ghosts and soon the ones left over had made the wise decision to disappear. The Yoshi grinned and began walking towards the village, feeling confident that he could handle more.

It didn't take long for the Yoshi to reach the well, and he gazed down it curiously, "Cora? April?" His voice echoed back at him, and he frowned. Where were they? Had Cora managed to get to April?

The Yoshi had no way of getting into the well like Cora, but he thought about jumping down. It would be terrifying, and the darkness seemed impenetrable, but for his friends he had to try. Lyon took a deep breath and took a few steps back. Here goes nothing…

Cora threw some things at her attacker, who came at her nonstop, throwing his sheeted body at her like a missile. She quickly raced around the table and stood behind it, her eyes on the creature who was now standing at the other side of the room.

Tomas grinned at her and she felt herself gasp in surprise when his form was replaced with that of April. April/Tomas gave her an arrogant smirk and stepped forward, her eyes bright, "Ahh, are you going to hurt me? I thought we were the best of friends! Shame on you."

Cora glared at him as he stepped closer. He looked like an exact replica of April, it was terrifying how much like her he now appeared. She would have been fascinated if she wasn't so angry and scared right now.

Tomas/April then shimmered slightly and his form was replaced with Lyon's. The doppelganger Yoshi grinned at her, "He won't be able to save you. I saw him up there, he was looking for you, isn't that sweet? It's a pity your game is going to end soon."

Cora took a step back, her wings brushing against the wall. What could she do? She was out of items to throw, and her power was limited to only flying! April was the offensive one and she was out cold.

Lyon where are you?

Yay! I did it! ~happy dance~ I have been very stressed about school but I somehow wrote another chapter. ^^ I hope you all enjoyed reading it, feel free to leave a lovely review lol. Thanks to () for being the 30th reviewer :D () and DFKJR (forgive me if I spelled that wrong) are the reason this story was updated. Thanks guys :3 You helped me remember this special little story of mine, and typing definitely helped keep out some stress.