Chapter 3: The Council of Merlons

Mario, Timpani, and Blumiere were surrounded by darkness for a brief second after Merlimbus snapped her fingers. Before anybody could comment on the strange amount of darkness, a bright flash blinded the trio before they landed in the Mushroom Kingdom. The three heroes landed face-down in a soft patch of grass. "That wasn't the type of landing that I was expecting," coughed Blumiere as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Where are we Mario?" asked Timpani as her husband helped her to her feet. Mario stood up and brushed the dirt off of his overalls. He could see his and Luigi's house right in front of him. He signaled to the lovebirds and began walking.

"Who's house is this?" pondered Blumiere. The three continued walking until they reached the front of the yard. Timpani and Blumiere looked up to see a sign that read, "MARIO"

"Oh!" realized Timpani, "This is your house! So this is the place that has the most love in your heart."

"What's the special thing about your backyard?" wondered Blumiere. Mario chuckled and rubbed his wedding band.

"Is the backyard where you proposed?" questioned Timpani. Mario smiled and nodded his head yes.

"I'm sure that you had a wonderful plan for proposing," laughed Blumiere. The three walked over to the warp pipe that led to Toad Town. Mario wanted to tell how he proposed to Peach, but he had to see what had happened to Toad Town since he had last been there before he could go into more detail. Mario jumped on top of the pipe and signaled to his partners. Blumiere looked a tad bit concerned about going down a pipe.

"We went through several pipes during our adventure," assured Timpani, "It will be fine dear."

"If you say so," sighed Blumiere. Mario went down the pipe first, then Timpani, and finally Blumiere. The pipe spat the trio out in front of the Toad Town gate. "That was an interesting experience," giggled Blumiere as he stepped off of the green pipe. Mario's eyes scanned the surrounding area. The silence was deafening. Mario did not see anything that could cause trouble so he started walking slowly. Timpani and Blumiere followed suit.

"What do you think happened to everyone?" whispered Timpani.

"Dimentio probably had something to do with it," replied Blumiere. Mario was leading the two towards the star gate that lead to Peach's Castle.

"Where are we going?" pondered Timpani. Mario explained how he thought there was one person who could help them. The three eventually arrived in the area with the star gate. The Star Gate was black and white instead of yellow and blue. That did not matter to Mario at the moment. His destination was the blue house with the spinning roof.

"That is certainly an interesting home," remarked Blumiere. Mario walked up to the door and grabbed the door knob. To his surprise, the door was unlocked, so the three entered the fortune teller's home. Nobody was home, which both perplexed and worried Mario.

"This is strange," stated Timpani, "I swear I hear voices talking." Mario and Blumiere stopped what they were doing and tried to listen for the voices that Timpani had mention.

"I'm not hearing anything, darling," told Blumiere.

"There must be some sort of hidden room," asserted Timpani as she started looking around the room. Mario had been in Merlon's home a few times, but had never heard mention of a hidden room. Timpani scanned the room for a few seconds before looking eyes with the crystal ball. She walked over to the fortune telling device. She stuck her hands and clasped the sphere. A light bulb went off in Lady Timpani's mind. She twisted the ball, resulting in the room shaking slightly. The back wall revealed a doorway.

"How did you do that!" exclaimed Blumiere, "That was amazing!"

"I guess my time as a Pixl stuck with me," smiled Timpani, "Maybe that's why I heard the voices and you two didn't" Mario chuckled at the chemistry between Timpani and Blumiere. The plumber walked over to the revealed door and opened it. The door led to a set of stairs that led down.

"Perhaps this Merlon of the Mushroom Kingdom is waiting for us down there," suggested Blumiere. Mario nodded and led the way down the staircase. There were a few turns on this incredibly long staircase. The trio made sure to be quiet just in case this was a trick from Dimentio. Eventually Mario and Blumiere could start hearing the voices that Timpani had mentioned early. The stairwell was dark, but soon enough, light from the bottom helped the three see their surroundings better. Before Mario, Timpani, and Blumiere entered the room at the bottom of the stairs, they decided to listen to the voice's conversation.

"It seems we are in quite the pickle," one voice stated.

"We know what we need to defeat that scoundrel, but we don't have the man power to do it," sighed another voice.

"Without the heroes, all worlds are going to fall to ruin," grumbled a third voice. Mario heard enough so he finished walking down the stairs and walked into the room. Timpani and Blumiere followed behind him. Mario saw a large table with a few chairs around it. Sitting in those chairs was, the Merlon from the Mushroom Kingdom, Merle from the Mushroom Kingdom, and Merlon from Rougeport.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed RP Merlon, "It's Mario!"

"And two other individuals who I have no idea who they are!" added Merle.

"Mario!" gasped MK Merlon, "I can't believe you're okay!"

"Uhhh," stammered Timpani, "What exactly is going on here?"

"Merlon from Flipside brought us here!" explained RP Merlon, "He was worried about the crisis at Shooting Star Summit, so he assembled the Council of Merlons."

"We are trying to find a way to stop Dimentio," sighed Merle, "With our combined experience we should be able to find a way to help both the Star Spirits and the Pure Hearts."

"You don't say," remarked Blumiere.

"Now that Mario is here we now have a fighting chance!" stated MK Merlon, "By the way, who are your new friends, Mario?"

"I'm Timpani and this is my husband Blumiere," answered Timpani, "We happen to be old friends of his."

"Mario ended up in our dimension after Dimentio corrupted all of the heroes," added Blumiere, "After he explained the situation, we joined his party."

"Interesting," thought MK Merlon, "Well, I must thank you for helping getting Mario to us."

"No problem," replied Blumiere.

"Speaking of old friends," wondered Timpani, "Where is the Merlon from Flipside."

"He's in that room over there," pointed Merle. There was a door in the far right corner of the room. "He's research possible locations of the Pure Hearts," explained Merle.

"Hey, Flipside Merlon!" shouted RP Merlon, "Could you come out here!"

"Certainly," called FS Merlon from the room. The door opened, revealing a person in blue robes holding a large stack of books. FS Merlon stumbled his way to the table and managed to set the books down. "Sorry gentlemen," sighed Merlon, "I'm not making much progress. There's so many possibilities for both the Star Spirits and the Pure Hearts. I wish Tippi was here, she was great with sensing Pure Hearts."

"Uhh," choked Timpani, "Merlon." Merlon looked over from his stack of books. His eyes widened spectacularly. He immediately recognized her voice. FS Merlon quickly walked across the room.

"Tipp... I mean Lady Timpani," stuttered FS Merlon, "Is that you!" Tears began to form in Merlon's eyes.

"Yes it is," smiled Timpani who also had tears in her eyes. Merlon smiled brightly.

"My goodness!" cried FS Merlon, "Look at you! You're human again!"

"Yeah," said Timpani as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "That's thanks to Blumiere and the Pure Hearts." Merlon looked to Timpani's sides.

FS Merlon chuckled, "Ah Mario, how are you doing. It seems you are the only hero that wasn't corrupted by Dimentio's Chaos Rod. Count Ble... or Blumiere, thank you for taking good care of her."

"She matters so much to me, it's not a problem," grinned Blumiere.

"Anyways," coughed MK Merlon, "We still have 7 Star Spirits and 8 Pure Hearts to find."

"Actually," object FS Merlon, "Now that Timpani's here, we can start locating Pure Hearts."

"What!" exclaimed Timpani, "But I'm not a Pixl anymore!"

"Oh ho ho!" laughed Merlon, "That is quite the contrary! Your entire being was turned into a Pixl, which includes your soul! We can work together to re-spark your Pixl abilities!"

"Really!?" gasped Timpani.

"Yes!" smiled FS Merlon.

"This is quite the turn of events!" added Blumiere. Mario was quite surprised by the revelation as well.

"Well," stated FS Merlon, "Let's get to it!" The Council of Merlons and the trio of heroes began moving the tables to the walls of the room. RP Merlon, MK Merlon, and Merle began looking through the books that FS Merlon had brought out earlier. Mario and Blumiere sat next to each other on one of the tables as Timpani and FS Merlon stood in the middle of room.

"Are you sure this will work Merlon?" asked MK Merlon as he looked up from a book.

"I'm positive," assured FS Merlon, "Okay Timpani, are you ready?"

"I guess so," gulped Timpani. Timpani put her hands on her chest and closed her eyes. Merlon began saying something in the language of ancients. He slowly walked circles around Timpani, who's dress began fluttering in a magically breeze.

"Woah," gasped Blumiere, "What a lady." As Merlon got further into his incantation, Timpani's dress began flashing rainbow colors. Merlon reached the end of his spell and snapped his fingers. Timpani's hands fell to her sides and she looked up. Her eyes opened, revealing a bright light. The pulsing stopped as Timpani fell to the floor.

"Darling!" shouted Blumiere as he rushed to her side, "Are you alright."

"I'm fine," sighed Timpani as she paused for a moment, "Dear, I saw a Pure Heart!"

"That's great!" cheered MK Merlon.

"Well," grumbled FS Merlon, "It's not the most great."

"Why not?" questioned RP Merlon.

"The spell only temporarily brought back her Pixl abilities," explained FS Merlon, "We'll have to try and restrengthen her Pixl powers before she can easily locate the other Pure Hearts."

"Oh," stated Merle, "That's not too bad." Mario joined Blumiere at Timpani's side. The plumber asked where she saw the Pure Heart.

"It was the yellow one," detailed Timpani, "It was in some sort of stone fortress. There's a large large case and a bunch of moving staircases as well. There's some sort of walkway at the top as well. The Pure Heart mentioned something about a village of koopas." A light bulb went off in Mario's head.

"That sounds like the Koopa Bros. Fortress," suggested MK Merlon.

"Where is that?" asked Blumiere.

"It's down Pleasant Path, and near Koopa Village," added Merle, "It's gotta be where the Pure Heart is!"

"Well then heroes," told FS Merlon, "You better start heading there immediately."

"Okay!" smiled Timpani and Blumiere. Mario nodded his head and clenched his fists.

"But be warned," advised MK Merlon, "Dimentio has corrupted many of the Townspeople. I'm sure if you fight them and win, they should turn back to normal."

"Thanks, Merlon," thanked Timpani.

"We've got a long road ahead of us," sighed Blumiere as he and his wife started climbing the stairs. Before Mario could exit the room, MK Merlon stopped him.

"Mario," stated Merlon, "The spirits are telling me that someone else did not get corrupted when Dimentio attacked you that night." Mario tilted his head in confusion. "The spirits do not know who it is, but be on the look out for one of your friends," advised Merlon. Mario nodded to the fortune teller and ran to join his partners. Once again Mario was on a quest to save the worlds.

AN: MK stands for Mushroom Kingdom, RP stands for Rougeport, and FS stands for Flipside. Thank you for reading and let me know what you think.