-Prologue-

Today, I'm going to tell you a story.

You may remember the catastrophic events that happened only a mere few weeks ago, when the dastardly Count Bleck created the Chaos Heart and used it to create a Void that would rip the dimensions apart. Count Bleck had lost the person most dear to him, the woman he loved that he couldn't be with. Thus, he stole his tribe's most secret and horrible possession, the Dark Prognosticus, and then destroyed his own dimension, the place which forbid his love to a human. Afterwards, he went and searched for a personal army, to help carry out his plans.

He found a bat trapped in a cage, and set her free. She became his first minion.

He found a strong army general, betrayed by his own lieutenant, who became his second minion.

He found a young and powerful shape-shifting Pixl experiment, wandering on her own with no place to go, who became his third minion.

Then there was the fourth.

He came to the count and offered his services, his sentences woven with various and vile similes. The count turned him away, almost seeing something familiar about the strange jester. Once the count read about 'The Dark One' in his prophetic tome, he accepted the mad jester's help.

Little did the count know that the jester would ruin everything.

Soon after the creation of the Chaos Heart, created from a union between a horrible monster king, and a beautiful and fair princess, the Heroes of Light, brave and bold, came and collected pieces of the Purity Heart in hopes of stopping this terrible catastrophe, which was uttered only in fear, known to all as The Void.

With all pieces of the Purity Heart collected, the heroes turned to Castle Bleck. At the end, the battle with the count was fierce and difficult, but the heroes defeated the count.

The very same girl the count fell in love with was turned into a Pixl after she was forbidden from the count's tribe, as it was the only way to save her life, at the cost of her memory.

Through the adventures with the heroes, this girl regained her memory, and did not wish to end the count's life.

Then the evil jester revealed his true intentions and attempted to destroy the count, and the heroes. The girl and the count re-affirmed their love for one another and gave new life to the Pure Hearts, which had been used in the previous battle. The Pure Hearts were used to help the heroes destroy the mad jester, and end his hold on one of their own heroes, the Man in Green. The jester thus released him, and the Chaos Heart, and disappeared.

The only way to save the dimensions and destroy the Chaos Heart now was with true love, and the count and the young girl exchanged their vows and disappeared, saving the dimensions, and destroying the Chaos Heart.

This story, is a story of love... and secrets.

-Chapter One-

"Oh Blumiere? Where are you?" Timpani chuckled to herself. Her husband Blumiere, would sometimes disappear, only to return with a beautiful flower for her, or perhaps a poem he had written.

"There you are!" Indeed, the young man from the Tribe of Darkness was sitting under the oak tree, writing a romantic poem, his white top hat right beside him.

"Yes, my dearest. Your beauty has inspired me to compose another piece of poetry." The young girl smiled as she sat down beside him on the grass, warmed by the beaming sun above.

"Blumiere, I suspect I am not the only reason you are writing?" Timpani asked with a giggle.

"You have found me out. Truly, this place is a paradise."

The 'place' he was referring to was where he and his bride had come to after their union and the destruction of the Chaos Heart. It was truly beautiful with its rolling green hills and flowers of every color in the meadows.

"Yes, this place is really, um... Tres Magnifique" Blumiere chuckled at his wife's attempt to speak french, while it was a good attempt. Timpani joined in the laughter, wondering how her friends back in Flipside were...

A wizard by the name of Merlon was studying at his desk. He often studied now, to fill the absence of his dear friend Tippi.

No... he thought.

He glanced at the Light Prognosticus, the book filled with a hopeful prophecy, sitting soundly on its pedestal.

Lady Timpani is her name, and she must be happy now that she's married to her one true love.

With this thought, he once again resumed his studies.

Outside the wizard's home is a bustling town by the name of Flipside, with the main icon being the large white tower in the middle of town. This tower is special because it holds seven doors that lead to the locations of the Pure Hearts, from Lineland to Outer Space, to even the Underwhere, land of ended games.

Flopside, the town opposite of Flipside, influenced by how one cannot have light without dark, yielded an identical black tower.

However, this tower contained only one door, a door that now leads to an empty and large black castle, located in the center of a dark, lifeless void. This castle, was named Castle Bleck, after its creator and wielder of the Dark Prognosticus, Count Bleck. Of course, Count Bleck is no more, for he became Lord Blumiere once again after his union with his dearest Lady Timpani.

Of course, even with such an interesting architectural structure, Flipside had reverted back to its peaceful, calm existence as it was before the need of the Pure Hearts. The residents had sent the Heroes of Light off with warm cookies and pleasant goodbyes. Mario and Co. left the inter-dimensional town only a week ago, but it already seemed like an eternity.

-At the Mario Bros. house in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom-

"Hey, bro! We're still getting a lot of mail!" Luigi was rummaging through a stack of letters in the living room.

"Huh... looks like another girl wants to go on a date with you!"

Mario was in the shower, humming quietly to himself. These letters were coming everyday, since his tale of universal heroism didn't exactly stay quiet.

"Hey, whaddya know? The princess has invited us to the castle for a party!" Luigi jumped up in excitement, hitting his head on the ceiling.

"OW!" The green-clad plumber felt his head, which was slowly forming a large bump. He had accidentally used his new-found ability, the super jump.

"I really shouldn't use that here... here you go, bro." Luigi nursed his pounding head as he gave his freshly dressed brother the invitation he was holding. Mario read the letter to himself quietly.

"Dear Mario and Luigi,

Tonight at 7 I am hosting a party at the castle to celebrate the salvation of all dimensions. It wouldn't be a proper event without you both. I hope you will both be there!

Love,

Peach"

"Well, what do you think? Should we go?" Luigi asked.

Mario answered immediately, "Oh yeah!" and left to the bedroom to go pick out his best overalls.

"Heh heh... he can never refuse an invitation from Peach, can he?" Luigi said to himself, smiling. Then he left also to go get ready for the party.

Things were going perfectly...

... While everything seemed to go quite peacefully in these dimensions, there was one place where everything would soon fall apart...

Snore...

...

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE- WHAM. "ugh..." That alarm is so loud... sigh. Time to get up...

It was a warm, summer's morning. School was out, and even better, 15-year old Eliza Richards had the whole house to herself.

Both of her parents were both busy in meetings for work today, and her brothers, 11-year old Luke and 8-year old Michael, or "Mike" as he liked to be called, were both at friend's houses. Eliza's friends were all away on family vacations or at summer camps.

Eliza wasn't particularly popular or un-popular, so she didn't have a large amount of friends, but she was very pretty with her long dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, which seemed to make it up, at least a little bit.

Eliza's parents had given her permission to play video games today, after all of her chores were finished. "Okay! Here we go!" Talking to no one in particular, she quickly got up, dressed, and ran downstairs to begin on unloading the dishwasher, watering the garden, and back up to feed her pet hamster, Daisy.

Quickly she wolfed down a small bowl of cereal, and went upstairs to her bedroom, turned on her Wii, and sat down.

"Now I can finish the final boss in Super Paper Mario... Again!" She chuckled to herself. "Even though I already beat the game twice!"

She was really glad she had gotten it when it first came out. The game had only been out for a couple of weeks, but it was already Eliza's favorite game. She especially loved the plot, the love story, suspense, and the traitor, Dimentio, one of the most evil villains of all Mario history.

"ARGH! And one of the hardest bosses!" Tapping quickly on her Wii remote, she went back to her last save point after she lost the final battle. "I guess that's what I get for not paying attention... ha."

She smiled, because she didn't really pay attention after the first time playing a video game.

whoosh.

There was a strange noise behind her. Eliza stood and looked out her window. From her second-story bedroom all she saw was the empty street below, trees dotting the lawns of various houses. The sun was shining brightly today.

"That's strange... nothing's there. Um... It was probably just Daisy..."

WHOOSH.

She heard it again, only much clearer, and closer.

"He-Hello?" She stammered. She was still facing the window. Not expecting anyone to respond, she turned and faced the television to resume playing.

Only, instead of seeing Mario and Tippi in a dark castle, she saw a yellow and purple-clad jester wearing a mask and floating in the air. Instantly he was recognized as Dimentio, the antagonist from her game, though he looked much more realistic.

"Aha ha~" he said, playfully.

"Now, what is a girl like you doing inside on a hot, sunny day? Like a violin inside its case, waiting to be played by the hot, sweaty musician."

Frozen with fright, Eliza could barely say anything. She opened her mouth to scream- "Oh, no, we can't let anyone find out yet..." Dimentio snapped his fingers. "Time to go! Ciao~" A large clear box opened up around Eliza.

Finally finding her voice, she shouted loudly, "NO!"

But her screams were futile, as a strange, spinning sensation came over her. And everything went dark.

The bedroom was quiet now, save for a squealing hamster and the music of a video game.

"Look, Foi... Such a beautiful moon tonight."

"Yes, darling. It really is a wonderful sight."

"It's a little chilly... do you need a blanket?"

"As long as I am in your arms, Pierre... I will never be cold."

"Very well then... Do you have any wishes for the stars tonight?"

"Well, I'm not sure..."

"You don't have to tell me, love... I know what you wish for."

"Do you think it will come true?"

"I sincerely wish that it does."