Link wasn't kidding when he said the curse would affect everyone. Everyone started humming something or another along the walk to the Prayer Cave. It was rather funny, especially when the tournament goers hummed a song from some previous incarnation of Link that this Link knew. He'd take out the ocarina and start playing the song with them, making everyone chuckle. Blumiere and Timpani got an awesome harmony going before it devolved into a back-and-forth melody competition that sounded pretty amazing. The group may have smiled, but it never quite reached any of their eyes. They had very little idea of what they had to do, and they also knew that they had a steadily smaller time frame in which to do what needed to be done. Even now, they knew more Voids were hiding in disused areas, and some were even moving to more populated zones.

This was apparent as they entered the Prayer Cave Blumiere had led them to. No one was there. Larger versions of the crystal Luigi had given the couple as a housewarming gift glittered, uncaring.

"Is your sister tuned into the right channel?" Bowser asked frankly.

Blumiere frowned deeper, but said nothing.

Timpani shivered. "This place feels… wrong."

Link grimaced. "It feels like Twilight sent by Zant. Twisted out of shape, bent…"

Blumiere touched one of the walls. His white glove pulled away all dusty.

"Something was here… this place is kept immaculate," he whispered.

Mario saw something out of the corner of his eye. Quickly moving to the side (he did not want a repeat of the tournament gone wrong, despite how nice meeting Pit up there was), he saw that it was something that was alive. He motioned Blumiere over, who floated across the floor to meet him.

Blumiere stopped as if he had slammed too hard on the brakes. Timpani noticed and made her way over, footsteps falling silently to avoid disturbing the atmosphere of the room. She too stopped in her tracks.

"Dad?" she whispered. The unconscious man did not respond. The movement Mario had seen was him slumping to the side.

"We need to get him somewhere safe…" Timpani trailed off, looking at the man who looked very similar to herself. She knew that she actually got most of her traits from her mother, but she looked a lot like her father when she was standing next to him.

Blumiere shook his head, tilting his top hat down. "The safest place is right here. Even the Tribe respects the hallowed ground, though I don't think they'll be able to say much at all."

"Why?" Bowser asked.

"A void was here… there's only one Prayer Cave, and Ariel doesn't lie. It's very possible the members who were here have traded places with your father, Timpani."

"So we pretty much have the two greatest opposers of our marriage gathered in one place? Lovely," Timpani remarked sarcastically. Blumiere shrugged helplessly.

"I guess it had to be done sometime," he suggested.

"Doesn't mean I have to be happy it's happening, much less now, of all times!"

"Um… y'all? I think he's wakin up…" Daisy interrupted.

The entire group watched as the man stirred, grimacing in pain before opening his eyes. His were blue, unlike Timpani's own. When they landed upon his daughter, you could clearly see the disbelief.

"Timpani?" he asked hesitantly, as if afraid of what would happen if he spoke to suddenly or too loudly.

Timpani nodded, conflict in her eyes. Her husband helped solve the issue, gently nudging her in the back with his elbow, giving an encouraging nod when she glanced at him. She walked forward to her father.

"You're alive! Oh, your mother will be ecstatic!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly before putting her down just as soon as he picked her up. "Is your husband around? There's something I need to say to him… no, nothing bad, don't get that look in your eye," he reprimanded as Timpani opened her mouth to protest. He spotted Blumiere and calmly walked over. When he reached the Count, he bowed his head and then bowed to him before standing upright again.

"I can't say I'm sorry about what I said when I screamed that you'd only bring complications, because that's what happened. But I can say I'm sorry that I treated you as if you didn't have feelings… I'm sorry I was so harsh. I hope that you can find it in you to at least have half a decent thought about me." He did sound truly sorry. Years of pondering and debating "what ifs" can bring you some startling conclusions.

Blumiere smiled gently. "You were only looking out for your child. If I was in your position, I probably would've done the same."

"Papa, what inspired the change?" Timpani linked arms with her husband. The rest of the group remained silent and wandered a little bit away, thinking it was a family matter.

"Your mother, primarily. And a stranger she invited into our house… I could've sworn I just saw him… oh! He's over there!" Timpani's dad pointed at Link, who didn't even flinch, staring at something.

"On the list!" the guy in green responded to the unasked questions without looking up.

"He's a bit… odd," Timpani cut off her father before he could ask a question.

"Not a stranger to odd happenings," he replied, shrugging. "Where am I?"

"My home… the Necrealm. Sorry," Blumiere grimaced.

"Oh."

"Something about lifting a curse… I feel like this is a good place to try," Luigi started, trying to start up the conversation again.

"Uh… actually, you guys, that's it. The curse has been lifted. Storm's gone, too," Link said.

"What?"

"You guys didn't notice the big, giant, Twilight Dragon sized tornado inducing, Shadow Beast black clouds behind us?!"

"Obviously not if we're asking about them!" Bowser growled.

"Well, yeah, those were a thing. But a parent's approval? Love is certainly renewable? Any of this ringing a bell? And hey look, a parent, renewable love… sorry Top Hat, your dad's out of the race."

Blumiere muttered some analogy under his breath, probably insulting his father.

A Star plonked on the Count's head, falling from somewhere in the ceiling. A note was attached to it.

"From your sister, Ariel. We left it here for you to use," Timpani read as Blumiere rubbed his head.

Blumiere's father entered at this point, but froze in his tracks.

"Your sister did what?" he demanded quietly. Blumiere glared at him, fire in his eyes, but remained silent.

His father growled and turned around on a dime, startling everyone. Link was the first to recover.

"Where are you going?"

"I told that girl no more prophecies! She wasn't permitted to tell anyone, you see, as her prophecies are more often false than true," the Lord tried to explain.

Link didn't buy it. He waited until the Lord had turned his back, the whipped out his Clawshot, quick as a wink. Pressing the button, he pulled the Lord back by his cape before slamming him on the ground and landing on him with his elbow. He yanked the man back up and roundhouse kicked him into the mud nearby. Blumiere's father was out cold.

"Bullshit," Link stated, putting his equipment away. "Can I throw him again? That was fun… I see why Kirby enjoyed doing that."

"I got it." Blumiere's gem on his cane glowed, his father disappearing in a similar light. "Good riddance. I'll leave the recording here for the council when they show up again." Blumiere detached the crystal, laying it on a shelf conspicuously. He produced an identical gem from his cape and attached it.

Everyone but Timpani stared. Blumiere sighed.

"These gems are just for show. They're like scopes, more for sighting than an actually purpose on my cane. But they have a legitimate use, which is why I carry them around: they can be used as a recording device. They're made by magic, so everyone's looks different, so the council will know who it's from without me leaving a note for them. It will also explain why he's currently sitting in an occupied jail cell."

Timpani's father blinked, but said nothing. The rest of the group just nodded in acceptance; Blumiere usually knew what he was doing when it came to magic.

"So… what now?" Daisy asked, handing the Star to Peach, who put it in her bag.

"Now we leave." Blumiere exited the cave, stopping by one of the rainbow crystals and gazing at it for a few seconds before continuing on, not waiting for anyone.

Timpani's father interrupted the silence. "Why does he have a cake pin in his hat?"

Timpani sighed, smiling without it reaching her eyes. "Inside joke." The gang then left, following their disturbed magician through his lair.

A/N: … Can you tell that I expected it to be a lot more dramatic? It was, originally… there was gonna be a musical scene where everyone's dancing and singing and the storm's in the background and Link is a badass and saves the day…

But the story didn't want to go that way. And sometimes you just gotta respect that and let it happen. I still put in badass Link though. Because his throws in Smash 4 are absolutely hilarious. Seriously, the only reason I have that game is because I loved the humor bits.

Well, Timpani's dad is here along with Blumiere's. Can you tell that I didn't and still don't have names for them? Eh, they won't be here long…

I apologize for the crap writing at the end. I'm not that great at ending these things.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own ideas.