Mario got up and rubbed his head. He looked around. He was in the woods, the trees leaving little to no sunny spots. He checked around for Olivia, but she was nowhere to be found.

He jumped to his feet. "Olivia!"

"I'm over here!" Her voice was muffled.

Mario followed the sound of her voice until a tree came into view, along with a gaping hole.

"Um, there's a hole," Mario told the tree, pointing down the hole.

"I hoped I wouldn't have to use this," Olivia responded. "I stole this from my brother, but it's yours now. Catch!"

Something fell from the tree and Mario caught it. "A...bag?"

"It's a confetti bag! You can use confetti to repair Non-bottomless holes such as that one!"

"That name is really specific."

"It lives up to it's name-OW! Mario, I'm being pecked by a bird. Please help."

"Where do I get confetti? It's not like I have any paper to cut up. Or any scissors for that matter."

"I don't know. OW! Just try hitting things and see what-OW!-happens!" The leaves rustled. "Stop it bird! I'm not food! Hey, don't take my crown!"

Mario walked over to a tree nearby and hammered it. Colorful confetti fell from its leaves. Mario went to touch it, but they were automatically sucked into the bag. He did it a few more times until it stopped sucking the confetti up. He went back over to the hole.

"What do I-a do now?"

"Toss it at the hole! It should repair itself!"

Mario tossed three handfuls of confetti at the hole, and it transformed back into grass. Mario walked over to the tree. He brought out his hammer and wacked the tree. The leaves rustled, and he heard a bird fly away.

"Thanks! You freed me from the bird!"

Mario hammered the tree again.

"Ah! My crown!"

He hammered it a third time.

Olivia fell out of the tree, covered with peck marks and holding her crown. Mario picked her up, and she put her crown back on. She gently flew out of Mario's hand.

"Thank you, Mario!"

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts."

"Although we're origami paper, we are surprisingly durable!" She looked around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. I did see a Magic Circle back that way though."

"Great, we'll head there next!"

Mario led Olivia to the Magic Circle. Mario used it to push over a tree to create a bridge across a chasm. He crossed, Olivia back inside his pocket again. Mario spotted a ?-block. Olivia exited his pocket.

"What's that? It looks funny."

"That's an item block. It gives you stuff." Mario jumped up and hit it. A Mushroom popped out of it. "Eugh." He pocketed it.

"Why are you taking it if you don't like it?"

"As an adult, I do things even if I hate it."

Olivia gave him a perplexed look, then followed after him.

Mario stopped his trek when he reached the top of a hill. Olivia looked where Mario's gaze was. Peach's castle was in the distance, covered in streamers.

"Oh...that's the castle we were just on. Wow, Olly got powerful very quickly."

"He mentioned origami magic?"

"He's talking about Fold of Life."

"What's that?"

"I don't know myself. Only Olly and our creator does. That's how you can use the Magic Circles. I channel some of my abilities to you so you can use them. You won't be able to use the Magic Circles without me."

"What do you mean by 'he got powerful very quickly?'"

Olivia looked at the floor. "He...was pretty powerful when I was folded, but I overheard him say that he was still struggling with his Fold of Life." She looked back up at the castle. "And now look at him. He lifted up an entire castle and summoned streamers from nothing. I'm afraid he'd be too powerful to stop by the time we reach him."

"About that shadow in the room with him..."

"I don't quite know what that was. I've never seen it before, and it didn't leave with him. It wasn't even in the room when we entered, now that I think about it. Maybe we could ask Bowser what it was when we meet him again?" She looked back down at the floor.

"Are you okay?"

She smiled at him. "I'm fine! I'm sure that this isn't a big deal, and it will end without me and my brother having to fight!"

"Is that what's bothering you?"

She turned towards him. "Nothing's bothering me, Mario. I appreciate your concerns." She started off. "We should probably start heading back to the town if we want to stop my brother anytime soon."

Mario stopped her by putting a hand on her. "If anything is bothering you, you can come talk to me, okay?"

"But nothing's bothering me, so you shouldn't have to worry. Let's-a go."

"Yeah..."