Some time after they got back, Mario rises from his nap and is soon sitting on the edge of a roof on the castle, looking out over the castle town. After a moment, he notices someone approaching and looks to see Xildus. "Oh, hey, Xildus."

Xildus sits down next to him, looking out over the castle town as well.

Mario is silent before he looks to him. "Want me to get some ice cream?"

Xildus is silent before nodding, a smile fainting appearing on his beak.

Mario nods and briefly leaves, returning with two bars and handing one to Xildus before sitting back down. He takes a bite and smiles. "...This is the life..."

Xildus nods, taking a bite as well. The two sit there for a while, eating their ice cream and enjoying the view.

Knights are walking about town, searching.

The sun is still rising in the east, creating a peacefull mood, despite the search below.

Mario is silent as he and Xildus sit there, but Mario soon notices the search going on below. After a few moments, he notices that Xildus is looking to him. "...Something's up, isn't it?"

Xildus is silent before nodding sadly.

Mario sighs, finishing his ice cream. "Well, fun while it lasted. Come on." He gets up and heads down toward the garden, Xildus only a few feet behind him at any time.

Upon reaching the garden, Mario approaches one of the Knights. "Hey, is there some sort of trouble?" he asks.

"Lucas and Lexi have escaped, we're searching for them. Keep up your guard." The Knight says.

Mario is silent before nodding. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out," he says before departing.

He walks through the streets of the town, silent before looking to Xildus. "I remember what may come to pass. If Lucas and Lexi end up executed, Mariya will be in danger all over again..."

Xildus nods, silent they reach the wall.

Mario is silent. "...Should I interfere? If I can keep Lucas and Lexi from being executed, then maybe things won't turn out the way they would be. But how? Wait until they're recaptured, and ask for nothing greater than life in prison? Should I go find them myself? But where would they..." He pauses, before looking to Xildus. "Xildus, are you able to open a portal to the World That Never Was?"

Xildus hesitates, but he gives a nod in response.

"Good. Let's go. Maybe we won't succeed, but it wouldn't hurt to try. But, let's keep the whole 'alternate future' thing a secret unless we need to use it to best explain it."

Xildus nods, swiping his wing before a dark portal opens. Together, he and Mario step through before it closes behind them.

{Mario and Xildus to WTNW}

Mario and Xildus soon pop back out of another dark portal, sealing it behind them.

Mario sighs in relief. "That was a bit close..."

The knights have calmed down, perhaps they were realising that Lucas and Lexi were not on the world anymore.

Mario is silent before walking back into the castle. "Well, I guess that's that for now...let's hope it made a difference."

Xildus nods, keeping pace with Mario.

After some time, the Knights stop searching.

Mario and Xildus return to the garden, both sitting down underneath a tree.

Mario sighs, mostly confused about the apparition from The Castle That Never Was. Whatever it was, it resembled Xamira, and something about it disturbed Xildus back there. He decides not to ask now, though. Not so soon.

Mariya walks threw the gardens, tossing an apple, and see's the two. She pats Xildus. "Want this?" She asks Xildus.

Xildus sees the apple and turns away, aching even more.

Mario nods the strange behavior. "Sorry, Mariya," Mario states. "I took Xildus to the World That Never Was because I thought he was homesick...I think I made things worse by accident..."

"Oh I see." Mariya says. She goes to pat him, but stops in the process. "Do what ever you need to cheer him up. If you want, tell Mr. Mcduck the ice creams are on me."

Mario is silent before he looks to Xildus. "...Want an ice cream?"

Xildus says nothing, still lost in thought.

"Cheer up Xildus." Mariya says, petting him. "Did your egg hatch yet?" She asks Mario.

"Hm...not sure," Mario states. "I might want to check." He then gets up and goes toward his room.

A chirp sounds as Mario opens his door, and a chocobo chick is there, on Mario's bed. It looks at him, and chirps again.

Mario blinks, a bit surprised as he sees the chick. He then smiles and goes over, scratching the Chocobo chick behind the ears. "Hey, there."

The chick chirps, and closes its eyes, enjoying being pet.

---

"I'll see you Xildus, Axel is waitign for me." Mariya says, walking away.

Mario chuckles. "Aren't you cute?"

Xildus nods, still seemingly lost in his own world.

The chick simply chirps again. After a bit, it chirps constantly, as if its hungry.

Mario smiles, picking up the chocobo chick. "Let's see what we can find for you, shall we?" He then leaves the room, going for the stables.

Some time later...

Mario soon emerges from the stables, sighing with a smile now that the chocobo chick was safely with the stablehands.

Mario's cell rings, signalling a text message was on it. Once pulled up it says:

Come to the simulation room, asap.

Wierd part was, there was nothing that said who was the sender.

Mario blinks and checks the text, a bit confused by it. However, he goes to investigate. He soon reaches the terminal and looks at it. "...Tron, you there? I was just texted to come here. Any idea what this is about?"

"I'm not sure, would you mind going down and checking out things?" Trons voice says.

Mario nods and goes down to the simulation room. He looks around. So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, the flor beneith shakes, and a pair of doors opens rather quickly. Something seems to be drawing Mario, telling him to go down there.

Mario blinks, surprised by this sudden entrance. After a pause, he steps down into the floor, descending the ramp and long, long spiraling ramp down to the bottom.

At the bottom, there is a door, marked with the Nobody Symbol. It's covered in dust, like no one has been down here for years, decades.

Mario is silent before approaching the door, putting his hand against it. He doesn't expect a reaction, but then again, if anything, perhaps Bleach could help him understand...

Odly, the door opens, to reveal a hallway will numerous cells.

Mario blinks, wondering what he should do. After a moment, he continues down the hall, glancing into the cells as he walks by.

Inside one of the cells, is some armour, but nothing is inside.

Mario is silent, looking at the armor before frowning. What was this place? A prison? He looks around a bit more, trying to see if there was anything else of note.

Nothing else seemed odd out of the ordinary. But why did this place have an eerie feel?

Mario is silent, feeling a weird feeling from this place. On a hunch, he closes his eyes, and when he opens them, he has his Shadow Sight active.

Heart signatures were everywhere, but they were weak, as if they had left years or decades ago. This place couldn't be....

Mario pales slightly, slowing backing out of the area as he pulls out his phone. He then quickly sends a text to Sora: Get to the simulation room ASAP. He then dashes back up the ramps up to the simulation room.

Sora arrives a few minutes later. "What's wrong?" He asks.

Mario takes a moment to catch his breath, then looks back. "There is a set of chambers below the simulation room. I don't know what they were for, but...I could feel the echoes of many hearts that had been there...weak hearts...all over...I think...it might have been..."

Sora looks shocked. "The rest of Ansem's lab..." He mumbles. "It was literally under our feet all these years. Maybe now we can fully shut the place down.

Mario is silent, looking back. "So what will be done?"

"We'll have to figure out someway to lock that place up for good." Sora says. "But for now, the simulation room is off limits to everyone."

Mario nods to show his understanding. "What's weird, though, is that I was told that this was there. I got a text from an unknown sender, and once I got here, the passage opened up."

"That is odd." Sora says. "May I see your phone?" He asks

Mario nods and hands it over after pulling up the particular message.

Sora looks at it. "Huh...." He mumbles. "I'll try to figure out who sent this."

Mario gives a nod. "Alright then. If you need me, I'll be in the gardens." He then turns to leave.

Sora nods, and goes to his office, and goes onto his computer. He sighs, looking threw Mario's phone a bit.

Mario heads to the gardens, sighing before sitting under a tree.

No one else is in the garden, so all is tranquil.

Mario is silent as he contemplates on the underground facility. What horrible things must have been done there...

An hour later, Mariya enters the garden, and see's Mario. "Hey." Mariya says. "Dad has a mission for us."

Mario stirs from his light slumber, looking at her. "A mission?"

Mariya nods. "Common, Dad's waiting to brief us."

Mario nods and rises, yawning slightly before following her.

Mariya walks into Sora's study. "Where's Axel?" She asks, not seeing him.

"I'm sending him on a different mission. I'm sending a trainee with you to this new world: The Five Nations." Sora says. "Mario, if Xildus wishes to come along, he may. And I'm having Tron run a search to see what's wrong with your phone, so if you need to contact me, just use Mariya's."

Mario nods, turning when he hears the door open. It is Xildus, and while he seems better than before, he still seems a little depressed. He seems to be ready for the mission, though.

Mariya sighs. A young girl knight enters and bows. "Elizabeth reporting for duty, sir." She says.

Mariya nods, and opens up a portal of light and steps threw, leaving it open for the others. Elizabeth takes a deep breath and follows Mariya.

{Mariya and Elizabeth to The Five Nations}

Mario nods and enters the portal as well, Xildus following him through it.

{Mario and Xildus to The Five Nations}