Mario and Luigi

The Shaman of Shadows

Area 2: Chimney Mountain

2-5: The Secret of the Wheezing Wizard

*E. Gadd's Laboratory*

After waking from a quick snooze and having a hearty meal, Luigi stood over Gadd's shoulder. "I know you're eager to hear the messages, but give me a little more time, please! Some of these messages are hard to hear!"

Luigi nodded and Mario and the Three Musty Fears vanished into Luigi's shadow. Luigi left Gadd and went to see Merlon"Oh, Luigi! Glad you stopped by. I discovered some things about the Wheezing Wizard! Most importantly, his name!" Merlon asked with high hopes.

"Oh, what is it?!" Luigi asked eagerly.

"A long time ago, a pyromancer named Merlyre taught many generations of pyromancers," Merlon began. "He was a respected educator and he was very strict. Many students felt he was too strict at times. He is the only wizard in this book that is mentioned as having a breathing problem. From what I read, he was born with it. The book says he managed to solve the issue for the most part but it doesn't say how!"

"That's so frustrating!" Merlessa whined. "That's the detail we need to know the most!"

"Either way, if this puppet is Merlyre then he's sure to have many powerful fire spells in his arsenal!" Merlon claimed.

"Fire magic is fairly quick and can obviously continue to bring you harm even after you're struck! I'm afraid that stopping, dropping, and rolling won't help you against a Pyromancer...," Merlessa added.

"As long as you focus, you should be fine! Besides, you Mario Brothers have dealt with fiery foes plenty of times before, so I'm sure this won't take long!" Merlon claimed with a smile.

"Thanks for the tips!" Luigi said as he excused himself. They waved him off as he went.

Luigi went to Merlicity's Shop, "Hello again, handsome! What can I help you with today?" she said coyly.

"Hello, I would like those Super Boots please!" Luigi said as he handed over the necessary Wizard Coins.

"Here you are, my fine man!" Merlicity said perkily. "Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you!" Luigi said as he took the shiny blue and silver colored Super Boots.

"Have a nice day and do visit again soon!" Merlicity said cheerfully.

Outside, Luigi looked at the Super Boots in awe, "These are really nice boots!"

Mario appeared, "Well, hurry and equip those Luigi, they are way better than those crummy Zoom Shoes you're wearing! I hate those shoes, they have no traction at all!"

Luigi put on the Super Boots, "Wow, such comfort!"

"That's what I'm talkin' about, Weeg! I give this Wheezing Wizard five minutes tops!" Mario claimed confidently.

"Well then, let's go!" Luigi said as he blew on the Warp Whistle.

*Foundry of Arts and Crafts*

The magical winds carried Luigi to a flight of steps that led out of the Clay Pits and up to a large building. He was taken aback by the addition of extra heat in the air. "Wow, it's like walking into Bowser's Castle out here!" Luigi noted.

"Is it that hot out here, bro?" Mario said as he looked around. Something then caught his eye. "Bro, look! The Clay Pit is drying up! There are cracks in the ground everywhere!"

"Mama Mia!" Luigi said as he saw the drought.

"Weeg, we gotta stop this guy as fast as we can before his curse burns this place to the ground and destroys these people's livelihoods!" Mario urged as he flailed his arms about.

"Okie dokie, here I go!" Luigi said as he traversed the steps and onto the porch. The place was beautifully carved from fired stone and its roof was supported by tall columns. The facility was built into the base of Mt. Chimney. Luigi found the doors to be open and he peeked inside with his Thunderhand, "Hello?" he said nervously as he let himself in.

The place was dark, but he could see that the entranceway was rectangular. It seemed to follow all the way into the volcano. On the opposite side of Luigi's current position stood a massive red-bolted set of double doors. They had two large locks on them.

The east and west sides were lined with several doors that mirrored each other. Luigi entered the first door to his right. This room was a room filled with precious blown glass sculptures as well as many plain glass sheets that were waiting to become works of art. Luigi was taken with the wonderful glass figurines and vases. Then, one by one, they levitated into the air.

"Here they come, bro!" Mario said urgently.

Ghostly voices cackled quietly as the glass objects began bolting for Luigi. He effortlessly dodged a large glass vase and it shattered against a wall. A ghost appeared over the shards and laughed heartily as Luigi turned and shined his Thunderhand on it. He disposed of the spirit easily enough. Luigi turned his head instantly to find a statue flying right towards him. He performed a backflip and it smashed into the wall. It was followed by another round of vases and two more ghosts appeared. Luigi caught them both simultaneously and as soon as he did, a trio of ghost wizards appeared. They began throwing fireballs his way. Luigi dodged and the fireballs melted any glass objects they came into contact with. With a skip and a hop, Luigi disposed of each ghostly wizard one after the other. After the last one vanished into the Poltergust, the lights in the room came on and a fire in the red brick fireplace came to life. Luigi proceeded through two other manufacturing rooms that were nearly identical to the first. When he cleared the third room he used a key to open a large door. This door led to a strange dark room.

Many boxes could be seen stacked onto one another. Many tools and measuring equipment were neatly placed on work benches and a large cauldron was placed at the center of the room. Luigi examined one of the crates and its contents. A pretty, shiny sand sifted through his fingers. Greaper emerged, "Oh, crystal sand! This room must be where the pyromancers made sheets of crystal glass. That cauldron must have been used with fire magic to melt the sand and then they would pour the molten contents into a standard mold. Hmm, I feel something strange... I don't think we're alone in this room...!"

Luigi readied himself as his brother took a position at his side. The cauldron began to shake and spikes of multi-colored stained glass emerged and levitated into the air. "Look out, Weeg, it's a Pulsar of some kind! It must be another one of these crazy 'art projects' like that Blargg!" Mario warned.

Boo chimed in, "I wouldn't physically attack that thing if I were you...! Just some advice!"

"Well, not with your hands anyway!" Dry Bones added.

Luigi took his brother's hammer, "I'll just smash it into shards and then clean up the mess!" he said as the 'art project' charged him. Luigi swung at the stained glass Pulsar with all his might and it shattered into countless shards. Luigi then readied his Poltergust to start sucking up the debris. Unfortunately, he didn't get enough as the creature reformed and retaliated with a Will-O-Wisp spell. Luigi comically dodged with a shout as he was flung behind a stack of crates.

"That was a close call!" Mario said as he peered around the corner to see a smaller version of the monster search diligently for them.

"Yeah, it looks like it had a counterattack!" Luigi huffed as he began sneaking through isles of boxes hoping to make a sneak attack. After a few moments of careful stalking, Luigi finally caught the creature from behind and shattered it again. He quickly scooped up as many shards as he could before it reassembled itself. Now only a third of its size, the monster countered Luigi's attack with an ice spell that would have landed a chunk of ice on him if he hadn't moved. Swiftly, Luigi was able to escape with a well-timed dive. Quickly he recovered and hid amongst the boxes again. The monster was much faster this time and Luigi had a hard time chasing it down. It even managed to sneak up on him a few times and attempt to cast an Electrocute spell or one of the previous spells it had used. With some quick timing, Luigi finally snuck up and struck the monster down. Thankfully, he scooped up every last shard of the creature and the lights came on. "I did it!" Luigi said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Now that the lights were on, he could inspect the room peacefully. On the main work bench lay a sparkling object and its glint caught the plumber's eye. He approached the workbench and saw that it was a beautifully crafted crystal glass key.

"Oh, how much you wanna bet that key is one of the ones we need to open those big doors back in the main hall?" Mario deduced.

"Yeah, and I'll bet the other is stored in the other wing of the Foundry!" Luigi said as he stored the key safely away. He quickly left the area and returned to the main hall.

Luigi entered the left wing of the Foundry and found it to be a similar room as the ones on the other side. However, this room was nothing more than a massive rectangle in shape and the lights were already on. He pondered about the convenience but quickly decided to use his luck to his advantage and search the room. The room was filled with clay pottery that was fired and a massive kiln sat coldly at the back of the room. No matter how much he searched, however, he could not find anything that resembled a key. Greaper appeared, "Hey, you know how that other key was made from glass right? Well, why don't we just make a duplicate from some of the clay in here? There are some blocks in here too, so I'll bet one of them has a Fire Flower you can use to fire the clay key into a stone one. "Let's give it a try!" he suggested.

"Okie dokie!" Luigi agreed as he scooped up a handful of clay and molded it into a copy of the glass key he already had.

"There, that looks good!" Boo said with a smile.

"Yeah, you're good at this!" Dry Bones rattled.

"You see, my bro's got this!" Mario praised. "Now let's find a Fire Flower and turn this key into a more useful state!"

"Oh, yeah!" Luigi said as he went searching the blocks for a Fire Flower. After hitting some of them, a Fire Flower did indeed pop out. But before he could grab it, the lights went out and a mysterious force levitated the flower. The cackle of a Boo could be heard. "Oh no...," Luigi moaned as he switched on his Dark Light and began chasing the Boo. He dodged its attempts to throw pottery at him and jump-scare him with the help of other ghosts, but after some fancy footwork, he bathed the Boo with the device and it appeared with distress.

It announced itself, "I'm Boogeois and I am a famous sculptor among Boos!" he said proudly. Luigi promptly began sucking the Boo into the Poltergust and it managed to escape by throwing a vase into his air stream. He easily caught up to Boogeois and captured him this time. He took the Fire Flower as the lights came on. Luigi used the Fire Flower's power to quickly fire the clay key into a stone one and he rejoiced triumphantly. "Alright bro, let's open those doors!" Mario said confidently. Luigi agreed as they returned to the main hall.

Luigi placed both keys into their respective locks and turned them. They opened the locks and they fell to the floor. Luigi felt the door as he pushed on it and realized it was quite warm. He entered and found himself inside Mt. Chimney. He looked around in awe as the whole place was built as a magical metalworks plant. Massive cauldrons held molten metal that moved magically through the air. The center of the volcano had a rectangular platform that sat like an isle in the middle of molten metal. Lining it were large black anvils, five to the right and another five to the left. Magical mallets pounded away at formless metal upon them.

"So where's this Wheezing Wizard?" Greaper said as he materialized.

"Maybe if we cause a ruckus he'll come out of hiding?" Boo suggested curiously.

"That's a great idea, let's dump some of these cauldrons, that should make him mad! Merlon said he didn't like horseplay after all!" Dry Bones added further.

Luigi saw that there were two large vats of molten metal that levitated back and forth around the volcano pouring molten metal into molds. He leaped to a large wooden beam that stuck out of the side of the volcanic rock and then jumped to a scale that began to drop as there was no counterweight. He let the scale drop some before he jumped to the other side of it and up to a row of blocks. He waited until one of the vats levitated by and kicked his Boney Beetle Shell at it which caused it to tip and dump its contents all over the molds instead of into them. Luigi then jumped back down and went to the other side where he jumped up a craggy wall, then to a pillar, then to some more blocks as he waited for the other vat to pass by. He repeated himself and dumped the molten materials all over the molds. Satisfied, Luigi jumped down to the anvils where he sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow. Then suddenly, the magical hammers ceased work and a pillar of flames erupted from thin air right in front of him. When the flames died down a wizard stood before him.

"So you think it's funny to mess up someone's artwork?" he said with a gravelly voice that was accompanied by a slight wheeze. He wore dark robes with red and yellow accents that resembled flames. His crystal ball hung around his neck and his angry yellow eyes matched its gleam. He had a very thin mustache and a pointy little beard. He held one hand behind his back while the other held onto the base of a very long smoker's pipe. Like Merlana, he seemed to be void of the typical undead features and seemed intact.

Mario appeared next to his brother, "We needed to get you out of hiding somehow!"

The wizard seemed unalarmed, "I wasn't hiding, you merely needed to call my name, not wreck my works! Hooligans!"

"Everyone has been calling you the 'Wheezing Wizard'," Luigi claimed.

He scoffed, "Tch, that is merely a nickname that has stuck with me for many years. You may call me, Merlyre. And what about you, what do you call yourself?"

"I'm Luigi and this shadow here is my brother Mario!" Luigi claimed. "He's not himself at the moment..."

"Merlon was right! His name is Merlyre!" Mario said tauntingly. "We're here to shut this place down!"

"Oh?" Merlyre said as his eyes widened.

"That's right, my brother here is gonna stomp out your fires and turn you into dust!" Mario said as he began to build up Luigi. Luigi began to panic as he quietly tried to hush his brother.

"Is that so? Well, before that, allow me one question. How is it that you are even in this room? Shouldn't you be blistering and burning due to the heat?" Merlyre asked curiously.

"My bro's built out of some tough stuff, like super tough! You have no idea!" Mario continued as his brother tried to keep him quiet.

"Well, there's no arguing with the proof! I will acknowledge your 'toughness' for a human! I must say, you actually have me intrigued! How much heat can he stand?" Merlyre said as his facial features gleamed with the orange light of fire. He exhaled a massive fireball at Luigi who countered it with his own fireball. His face changed after spewing the fireball. He now showed his undead traits.

Luigi then quickly remembered he had the power of the Fire Flower and realized he was at a disadvantage. "Uh-oh, I can't use fire here!" he said aloud to himself.

Merlyre laughed softly, "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I don't believe that fire will serve you well against someone like me, he finished as he raised his left index finger above his head. "Let's try a 'Mega Drain' spell!" he said followed by a chant.

Mario turned to Luigi, "Weeg look out, that spell!" he was cut off as the red beam of light swiped by Luigi who tried to block it. It instantly removed his Fire Flower power and caused a little bit of damage.

"Surprised?" Merlyre asked with a raised brow. "You didn't think that Fire Flower was going to help you, did you?"

Thinking quickly, Luigi found that there were four '!' Blocks floating above the four corners of the platform. Merlyre began spewing fireballs from his mouth and Luigi worked hard to dodge. He slid on the ground and hid behind one of the anvils. "I hope whatever's in those blocks is helpful!" Luigi said as he quietly moved to the closest corner. He heard Merlyre's footsteps slowly moving in as he did so. He quickly jumped and hit the block revealing an Ice Flower.

Merlyre caught Luigi in his burning gaze, "There you are!"

Luigi quickly grabbed the Ice Flower and absorbed its power, transforming him into Ice Luigi. "I'll turn you into a popsicle!" Luigi said as he held a snowball.

Merlyre laughed, "Do you really think you can put out my flames with that little fire extinguisher?"

Luigi smiled with a newfound confidence, "If you're so sure, then why did you seal them away?" he said with a taunting tone.

"Huh? Seal them away? I did no such thing! A thing like that is of no concern to me!" Merlyre claimed with what seemed to be a truthful statement.

"We'll see about that! I heard you can't stand the cold!" Luigi said as he leaped into the air and fired off a number of ice balls.

Merlyre didn't bother to retaliate and he took the ice balls head-on. His feet and shins were trapped in ice. Then a reaction occurred as Merlyre's eyes gleamed, "As a matter of fact, I do happen to dislike the cold, but like any good educator, I am prepared for such things!" he said as he conjured a sphere of flames above his head that resembled the sun. "Every time some goofball hits me with an offensive ice elemental technique, I counterattack with the strongest fire spell imaginable! My 'Corona' spell with flash burn you into ash!"

"JUMP BRO, LIKE REALLY HIGH!" Mario shouted in warning.

The Corona spell enveloped everything in bright sun-like rays as they circled the inside of the volcano. The spell concluded and Merlyre inhaled deeply as he took a drag off his pipe. He placed more of a strange substance into his pipe he pulled from a small pouch at his side. "Ah, another miscreant taken care of. Now..., wait where are his ashes?" he asked himself quietly.

"Whew, that was close, Weeg!" Mario said as Luigi flutter-kicked high in the air. "That High Jump took us pretty high into Mt. Chimney! Those Super Boots were a great investment!"

"Yeah, but I lost the Ice Flower power, now what?" Luigi said losing concentration.

"Since he can do that nasty counterspell, I say you just jump on him, then punch him in the face a thousand times, that should do it!" Mario said comically.

"Here I go!" Luigi said as he descended and landed right on top of Merlyre's head with a powerful stomp. Another reaction occurred as Luigi was catapulted away by a wall of flames. Luigi recovered in midair as he put out the flames on his clothes.

Merlyre could be seen standing back up behind the wall of fire and his glowing eyes could be seen through the flames. The flames died down and Merlyre took another puff from his pipe, "I didn't like roughhousing in my classrooms and I don't care for it here! You 'muscle types' are all alike! You think you can beat someone into the ground because they are weaker than you! Well then, try another punch or kick and see if you can get past my Flame Wall counterspell! In the meantime, try dodging a flurry of Flame Stones!" Merlyre said as he began a chant. Enormous boulders of flame fell from the sky and Luigi worked hard to avoid them. After he was done with that spell, he began spewing fire breath again. Luigi could do nothing but run from Merlyre as he had a counter for nearly everything and a seemingly endless medley of powerful fire spells.

Luigi used his agility to hide himself from Merlyre's sights and hide behind an anvil. Mario appeared and he seemed irritated. Luigi whispered to him, "Well, bro, it's been more than five minutes and he's hardly bothered by me being here!" he said in dismay.

"Meh, okay so that was a bad call on my part...," Mario said apologetically.

Greaper appeared in a fury, "This is nonsense! I don't care who this guy thinks he is! How can he so effortlessly use so many fire spells in succession like that and not be completely drained!"

Boo added, "Yeah, Fire spells are expensive and Pyromancers don't have that kind of stamina!"

Dry Bones followed, "This looks really bad doesn't it..."

Luigi heard Merlyre's footsteps and he began to switch places. Unfortunately, Merlyre caught him. "There you are, you are a slippery one!" he said as he breathed fire again. Luigi jumped out of the way and met him in the middle.

"Hey!" Luigi called out, Merlyre paused. "How can you cast so many spells at once? Aren't you exhausted?"

Merlyre replenished his pipe's contents. He took a deep breath from it and exhaled the thick white vapor with a chuckle. "So you want to know?" he said taking another puff from the pipe.

"Yeah, and isn't smoking a bad habit? Especially for someone who already has breathing problems?" Luigi said frustrated.

Merlyre scoffed, "Hmph, leave it to a human to be so clueless! Sure smoking is a bad habit if you sit there and smoke toxic plants! Do you really think I have tobacco in this pipe? No, I have no such thing. This pipe is filled with a very special mixture of herbs that promote healthy breathing when the vapors are inhaled. It is like burning a candle or incense. These healing herbs allowed me to breathe when I was alive back in the day. However, I took it a step further. After some experimentation, I found that I could add a very healthy herb to the mix that constantly regenerates my magical power!"

"So that's how he's doing it!" Greaper whispered.

"Yeah, and it looks like he's loaded up on the stuff too! Check out all those pouches around his waist!" Boo pointed out.

"Yeah, he'd never run out if we just keep attacking him...," Dry Bones added.

"Luigi we need to think of something fast or this guy's gonna cook your goose!" Mario said with urgency.

Luigi smiled, "I just thought of something, bro. I'm gonna stop this guy!" he said as he adjusted his cap. Luigi then took off running and Merlyre laughed as he began using his fire-breathing spells again. Luigi dodged and leaped over Merlyre and hit one of the other blocks granting him another Ice Flower.

He took the Ice Flower, "What good will that do you? Did you not learn your lesson? Shall I teach you again?" Merlyre taunted.

However, Luigi did not fire any ice balls and instead chose close range again. Merlyre confidently allowed Luigi to try physically attacking him, but a punch never came and this stunned Merlyre for a second as Luigi instead, held up the nozzle of the Poltergust and used its suction to scoop up all of Merlyre's medicine pouches. "What the, why you dirty little thief! I'll burn you until your bones crack!" he said as he conjured another Flame Stone. Before it hit, Luigi concentrated one ice ball and aimed it at Merlyre's pipe. He successfully hit the pipe and it froze in a block of ice and slid around the floor. However, the Flame Stone hit Luigi dead-on robbing him of his ice power and causing considerable damage.

Merlyre became very angry and he wheezed, "YOU BRUTE! Bah, never mind, you're mine!" he said as he cast Corona, this time willingly, rather than a counter.

"LUIGI!" cried Mario as Luigi dived behind an anvil.

Luigi was still safe. He quickly chugged the Crystalline Elixir that he bought from Merlicity. It allowed him to survive Merlyre's spell. He was now more angry than frightened. Merlyre rushed to pick up his defrosted pipe and desperately tried to relight its contents. Luigi got up into a kneeling pose with both hands on the floor in front of him, "Bro, there's only one technique I can use now...," Luigi said as he concentrated with his eyes closed.

"Hey, I know that pose! You're gonna use the 'Super Jump', aren't you?" Mario said with a smile. "Get'im, Weeg! Give this puppet a taste of pasta power!"

Merlyre appeared behind him, "Ah, there you are! This is the end!" he said as his face glowed. "BURN!" he shouted as he breathed flames that were meant to envelop Luigi. The flames died revealing nothing, not even ash. "Oh no, did he jump again?!" he said as he looked up and witnessed Luigi come barreling toward him with his feet aimed right at him. Merlyre spewed a fireball, but Luigi stomped on it and rebounded to a wall leaving a crater in the side of the volcano. He then rebounded again as another fireball narrowly missed him. Merlyre tried desperately to hit Luigi with his fireballs as Luigi jumped around Mt. Chimney leaving a sound not unlike the rumble of thunder every time Luigi landed on a spot. Then suddenly, Merlyre found himself exhausted, the contents of his pipe empty. With no more magic, he looked above him and he saw nothing but the soles of Luigi's Super Boots. Luigi crushed Merlyre and continued to jump on him with unimaginably powerful jumps. Eventually, Luigi's attack came to an end as he stepped off of the pile of rubble that was the pulverized wizard.

Luigi knelt trying to catch his breath as Mario appeared, "Way to go, Weeg! All 100 jumps! Even if all of them didn't hit him, I think the 73 that did, should be enough!" he praised.

Luigi then got to his feet as he approached the broken wizard. Merlyre moaned and Luigi prepared for the worst However, no retaliation came. Only the zombified wizard's pitiful voice. "Well..., that was some... attack...," he tried to laugh. He wheezed heavily as he spoke more, "You know something...? I'm not truly Merlyre... I'm just a construct... that was made using ashes from his grave... and clay... I cursed this land... because deep inside those ashes... there was resentment... for those who could breathe... Other sorrows existed as well... His remains had such regret for that boy. Merloom, was it? He felt that he had failed the boy... He became... dismayed when students like him... used their natural gifts... for wicked purposes... or not at all...," Merlyre's tears fell from his eyes and evaporated on the floor. "But you... have shown this old teacher something... You're someone... with something special... and you try your best... with that gift... You were... a good student... when you were young... weren't you...? Do something for me will you...? Scoop up this wizard's remains... and give him back his honor... make sure the people know... who he... truly... was...," he said with his final breath as he began turning into ash and an old robe.

Luigi had a solemn expression on his face as he bent down and grasped the robe in his hand. "Bro, this robe must be centuries old...," he said sadly. "When did the people we defeat in battle have such hardships?"

Mario placed his shadowy hand on Luigi's shoulder, "It happens sometimes, bro. Not everyone we fight will have a truly evil heart. Come on, let's get this over with."

Luigi took the Poltergust and sucked up Merlyre's remains and with it, the curse he laid upon the land of the Pyromancers. The Poltergust gave him a wink of approval when it had finished. The fog had lifted. With that, Luigi left Mt. Chimney and returned to the Pyromancer's village.

*Village of the Pyromancers*

The Pyromancers celebrated with a festival of fire. They danced as they twirled fire rods and did other pyrotechnic tricks with their wizardry. The village elder thanked Luigi deeply with tears in his eyes as everyone's passion returned and the atmosphere was clear and breathable again. No cracks in the ground remained and Mt. Chimney was calm. Only Merloom's cursed black sky remained overhead. Luigi let the elder in on the story in private and he seemed relieved that the old teacher Merlyre had been put to rest.

"You know, when you were inside Mt. Chimney, we heard a peculiar rumble. It was like thunder and that was when we knew that the Green Thunder was chastising the evil within the volcano...," the elder said with hope in his voice. "But I never anticipated that the Wheezing Wizard was a ghost of such a unique wizard from our past! I am still astonished!" he continued.

Mario whispered to Luigi from behind, "Green Thunder, huh? I guess that Super Jump really cemented that title for you, Weeg!"

Luigi blushed from all the praise, "I suppose so!" he said as he scratched his cheek with his index finger.

Luigi was approached by the Pyromancers that he had helped along the way. Merlash came from the crowd, "Thanks again for the help, Sonny! I guess you managed to find the Ice Flowers, huh?" he laughed heartily as he took a drink of water.

Merlerin and her family also found him. She spoke with joy in her voice, "My who would have thought I was being aided by a figure of prophecy!"

"Yes, my wife and I feel deeply honored and lucky to have been visited and even assisted by you!" Merlsius claimed.

Merleit jumped in a playful manner, "I helped a hero! Woo!" she cheered happily.

Then, the elder quieted down the people, and made an announcement, "My fellow Pyromancers! The day draws near! The Green Thunder has broken the curse upon Mt. Chimney and its destruction will soon be upon us!"

"HUH?!" Luigi and the others gasped.

The elder continued, "The scriptures of the old world state that when the flames of Mt. Chimney go cold, its destruction draws near! Tonight we shall celebrate! However, afterward, we must prepare to leave Mage Land!"

Mario and Luigi were awestruck. Greaper complained, "What is going on here?! This elder is just as mad as the last! How can they sit here and call you a hero when they claim their home will inevitably be destroyed?!"

"I know! This is so confusing!" Dry Bones followed.

"I can't tell heads from tails over this!" Boo claimed as he spun upside down.

"Come on, Weeg, these people are gonna celebrate for a while," Mario began. "I think it's time we ask Merlon about this prophecy business! Something isn't adding up!"

*Village of Ghosts*

"Oyamaa, Luigi! Thanks to all your hard work, the wizard Merlyre can rest in peace!" Gadd said as he gazed at Merlyre's respectable portrait.

"He looks much better now!" Luigi said with a smile.

Mario appeared, "Excuse us for a moment Gadd, we need to have a word with Merlon."

Luigi approached Merlon and Merlessa who were overjoyed at his accomplishment, "Way to go, Luigi! Merlyre is at rest and the pyromancers can breathe again!"

"Thanks, Merlon!" Luigi stammered, quickly changing the subject. "But, something's still amiss!"

"What do you mean?" Merlon asked quizzically.

"The last two village elders said that they need to prepare to leave Mage Land! They still believe it's going to be destroyed! They were even happy about it!"

Merlon and Merlessa were stumped, "Hmm, that is rather strange! Perhaps more study is in order!" Merlessa said curiously.

"Ah, allow us some time, maybe we can stumble upon what they are talking about!" Merlon began. "Maybe there's some folklore about Merloom we are still missing that would help us build a more concise point of view!"

Not happy with that answer, the brothers excused themselves. Gadd called back to them, "Oyamaa before you boys rest! How about a ghost story? I finished translating the Hint Block messages!"

Intrigued, they crowded around and Gadd played the message. A young boy's voice could be heard, "...Um, how does my drawing look, Sir?" he asked.

"This is, scary," said Merlyre. "Who are these black figures in this drawing?"

"They're my friends! They teach me things!" said the boy eerily.

A sound of flames igniting could be heard and the boy gasped. Merlyre responded before the boy could speak, "If these are shadow spirits, cease talking to them at once!"

"But, why?!" the boy said angrily.

"Shadow Spirits have nothing good to teach! Now, get back to work Merloom! Class is far from over!" Merlyre claimed strictly.

Merloom could be heard grumbling as an eerie voice whispered to him, "What a lousy teacher. He should respect the artwork of others."

"Hmph, that old man is so rigid! I'll show him!" Merloom said with an evil giggle.

"Yes, let us teach you all about art!" said the whispers.

The Three Musty Fears recoiled, "That wasn't King Boo!" Boo said.

Greaper seemed frightened, "I'm a ghost and I shivered!"

"I couldn't keep myself from rattling!" Dry Bones added.

Mario mused, "I wonder who that was. Whoever they were, I wonder if Merloom was driven down his path by them."

"That's quite sad," Luigi lamented.

"It would appear Merloom had an interest in dark things at a young age. Perhaps that interest attracted some Shadow Spirits," Gadd claimed. "It's too bad Merlyre was too strict and couldn't have told the boy more softly and with better reasoning!"

"Now we know why Merlyre felt like he failed Merloom," Luigi said sadly.

"Let's get some rest, bro, we still got quite a journey ahead of us," Mario encouraged softly.

*End of Chapter*