The corners of my vision were black. My ears were ringing as I slowly woke up. I was lying in the middle of the strange pentagram. 

Ugh... my head hurt so bad. What the heck even happened?

My day kept getting weirder and weirder. 

I sat up, then quickly moved out of the circle, scrambling over to the doorway and picking up the flashlight I had dropped, and flicking it on.

I didn't care about finding the count anymore. All I wanted was an exit. A way out or something. Some way to escape. And the only way to find that was to press on.

I walked down the hall and explored more of the unfamiliar scenery, heading down a set of stairs. At the base of the stairs, there was a small table with a guitar placed on it as well as three candles. The words, HE WILL SET US FREE, were written on the wall behind the small setup.

I nervously swallowed. "Oh, that's not unsettling at all," I sarcastically breathed, bringing my eyes to the small tape recorder placed next to the guitar. 

Silently wondering if it was another recording of Mario complaining about his job as a hero, I hit play.

"He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me... The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray you hear me. Those old songs, yes, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace. But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?"

- Dimentio

I tensed up slightly, gently grabbing the radio and looking down at the label, just to make sure I was reading it right.

"I said... can I get an amen?" A chilling voice whispered in my ear. 

I gasped and quickly turned around.

I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. My pulse had accelerated rapidly.

But no one was there...

Was I hearing things?

Candles were placed along the walls, each making my shadows flicker and dance. There were drawings of mysterious pentagrams everywhere.

I didn't like this. Not at all. I just wanted to leave. Was that too much to ask? I didn't want any trouble.

I continued down an endless number of halls. Occasionally I noticed shelves that contained only one item.

Bacon soup.

Weird... Bacon soup. Seemed so random. Why was it familiar...?

Oh, right!! Brooks liked bacon soup! I specifically remembered coming up with that!

Why was the bacon soup here, though? I wasn't aware Castle Bleck had any. Truth be told, I wasn't even aware that bacon soup actually existed. I kinda thought it was something I made up.

"Just find the exit and get out of here," I murmured to myself. "It's just a castle. There's no need to be afraid. Don't be a coward."

I continued down the hall, when I passed a large sign that said, "Music Department." I didn't know we had a music department in Castle Bleck.

Although, it wasn't the most shocking thing I had found that day. If I was learning anything, it was that Castle Bleck wasn't what I thought it was. Not anymore, at least. 

Next to the sign, another tape recorder. Curious, I pressed play.

"So first the count lies to our faces about his plans. Then he brainwashes yet another innocent soul into helping us. What, were we not enough? Three times last week the new guy showed up at my door, claiming he wanted to understand me or... whatever. Great, as if I wasn't busy enough, now I have this idiot to deal with. He's in and out all day. Thanks, Bleck. Just what I needed. More distractions. No more songwriting time for me, I suppose."

- Dimentio

I frowned, pressing play once again so I could listen to his voice just once more. Just to be sure.

Yep, it was most definitely him. Though, his voice seemed slightly different that the other tape I heard coming from him. He sounded more like the Dimentio I knew. The other tape... there was something awfully unsettling about it. It was like they were recorded at different times. I wasn't sure which one was more recent.

Though, what he was saying in this tape confused me as well. What plan was he talking about-

Wait...

That's right. The count promised us all that he'd destroy everything using the void to create a perfect world.

I looked around myself, silently wondering what the heck happened. I couldn't really remember what went down, honestly. Did the count lose? This didn't look like a perfect world to me. It looked... well, I'm not really sure how to describe what it looked like.

And songwriting... I didn't know Dimentio wrote songs. He probably did it in his free time, just like how I would draw in MY free time. Would that explain what this place was? Did he have this secret space all to himself?

I shrugged the thoughts off. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Count Bleck allowing Dimentio to occupy such a huge part of the castle for something like that. This whole area had to be new. This all had to be because of something that happened. Maybe something went wrong with the prophecy, creating this big mess. Was that why I was seemingly all alone? Was that why I couldn't remember where I was before this?

I stepped into what looked like a large recording studio filled with stacks and stacks of sheet music. I couldn't help but gawk while looking everything over. They each were incredibly detailed. Did Dimentio compose all of these?! When did he have the time to do this?!

There was also a variety of different instruments scattered around the room. Guitars, pianos, trumpets, cellos, violins, flutes, clarinets, trombones, harps, and countless more. I doubted Dimentio knew how to play them all.

Then again, I didn't really know the guy all that well. He had always been so confusing to me.

I gently brushed my fingers over the dusty piano. The keys were slightly sticky. Inky fingerprints covered them. 

I stepped into one of the smaller recording booths, which only had a mic. It was probably designed for singing. I couldn't help but silently chuckle at the thought, before picking up another tape recorder and pressing play.

I expected to hear Dimentio's voice once again, so I was somewhat surprised to hear the voice that greeted me.

"It may only be my second month working for Count Bleck, but I can already tell I'm gonna love it here! People really seem to enjoy my angel-like voice. County says I'm even as pretty as an angel. It made me smile. This is the first time I really felt a connection with the people around me. I feel like the term "angel," is, like, a part of me. Ya know? Gosh, I must sound silly..."

- Mimi

Her voice was just as sweet and childish as I remembered. She sounded excited and youthful. So lively.

I wondered where she was now. 

Did everyone record their thoughts using these tapes? I certainly couldn't remember ever doing such a thing. What, did people just use audio journals? Was that something everyone did that I wasn't aware of? 

Next to where the tape had been set was a poster of "Angel." The character I had designed. The poster was labeled, "An angel sent from above." It looked cute, I supposed. Though I was curious as to who was making all these posters. Did someone get their hands on my journal? Why were they so obsessed with Inky and Angel? I had hundreds of other random drawings too, but I had yet to see any of them lying around. 

I made my way out of the recording booth and into a room with a single projector in it. Next to the picture, ANOTHER tape recorder. I didn't even hesitate before pressing play.

"Ever since the Count has asked me to look into using projectors to show my schedules to the surge of newly brainwashed minions, the same strange thing has happened. I'll be up here in my room, working on the next week's schedule and cueing up my projector, when suddenly Dimentio just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. Yeah, he tells me to wait in the hall. Then I hear him start up my projector, and he dashes from the projection booth and down to his little recording studio as if a demon was chasing behind. A few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Dimentio doesn't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird. I got half a mind to talk to the count about all this, I really do. But then again, I have to admit. The count's got his own peculiarities."

- Nastasia

So it seems Dimentio DID have a place to record music before all of this. However, hearing that tape didn't really answer any of the questions I had. If anything, it left room for MORE confusion. I was having a hard time putting all the metaphorical puzzle pieces I had found together.

I felt like I had a bunch of random information, but nothing to do with it. Maybe this was all just a really weird dream. It FELT like I was dreaming if I was being honest.

However, I knew I wasn't. I could tell what was going on was real. I could feel the sticky ink that had seeped through my gloves and onto my hands. I could feel the flashlight in my hand. My dreams were never quite this detailed. 

Besides, I don't think that this is something my mind would have been able to come up with. 

I clicked the power button on the projector to turn it on, only to be met with a blank reel. 

"What am I even doing?" I asked, turning the projector off. It didn't matter what all the audio recordings meant. All that mattered was finding an exit.

I continued walking around. There were a few burst pipes dripping ink. I wondered if there was any water or normal liquids that aren't black and creepy around.

I found another small recording booth with another tape recorder inside. I pressed play, hoping that maybe one of these will have directions to the exit or something.

"So I go to get my wrench from the closet the other day and guess what? I can't find my stupid keys. It's like they disappeared into thin air or something. All I can think of is that they must have fallen in one of the garbage cans as I was making my rounds last week. I just hope nobody tells my bro. Because if Luigi finds out I lost my keys again, I'm outta here."

- Mario

I could definitely tell that this was an older tape. Judging by the context, I could assume that it was recorded during the hero's days as a regular plumber. 

"UGH, this is so FRUSTRATING!" I hissed, clenching my fists. NONE of those tape recordings were helping me. Was this how I was going to spend the rest of my life? Trapped under Castle Bleck surrounded by ink and random tape recordings that only confused me more.

Next to the tape recording on the wall were the words, IT'S TIME TO BELIEVE, written in bold black letters.

Believe what exactly?! Believe that I was trapped? Believe that something strange was going on? Believe that maybe I was lucid dreaming?!

I let out a sigh, trying to think about the situation I was in. Everything had a reason. Maybe there was a reason behind these tape recordings too. I just wasn't seeing it...

Now that I thought about it, the tape recording from Mario that I listened to earlier was kinda a clue for summoning whatever that strange, inky monster was. No, it wasn't a good clue, but it was still something. After all, Mario had said that Merlon made each of the three heroes that were present donate one item in order to "appease the gods," or whatever he said. The parasol was probably from Princess Peach. The spiked collar, obviously Bowser. And the wrench... that must have been from Mario. NOT me. 

Maybe there was a clue in this recording. Mario was claiming to have lost his keys. He mentioned that they might have fallen into a garbage can or something. Yes, I was aware that he would likely never have been anywhere down here, but maybe the audio was drawing some strange kind of parallel between what happened back then to what was happening right now.

Or maybe I was thinking about this too much. Either way, I decided to search all the trash bins. I found myself back in the room filled to the brim with instruments when I finally found a small set of keys sitting at the bottom of one of the trash bins.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. I couldn't believe that my theory was right.

If that theory was right, then maybe all the audio clips were secretly trying to give me clues. Or maybe it was just Mario's. After all, Dimentio's, Mimi's, and Nastasia's didn't really say anything that I could have interpreted as a clue. At least as far as I was aware.

 I just had to find out what door the keys unlocked. Mario's tape said something about a closet, so perhaps something like that. I checked almost all the doors. Most were unlocked and led to different recording booths. However, at the end of the hall, I finally found a locked door. Being filled with hope, I used the keys I found to unlock it and rushed inside.

Instead of finding the exit I had been so desperately searching for, the room was simply what Mario described. A closet. I clenched my fists in frustration. There was nothing in there besides some cans of bacon soup, some brooms, some tools, and another tape recorder.

Frustrated, I pressed play, hoping that it would be Mario with another hint.

"The count came to me today with a rather... odd request. He asked me about my music. I couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. I hid my love for the arts fairly well from him, so I couldn't tell why he was asking. He asked me what music was to me. I pondered for a moment, debating whether or not I should speak the truth. I saw no harm in it. Music is my everything. My mind and spirit. My soul. My purpose. The count then asked if I ever considered pursuing it. HA. I gave him a hard NO. The last thing I wanted was for someone else to be making a living off of MY ART. I don't want music to become like a job or a chore to me. I just want it to be what it is. Music. The count sighed, then turned away, thanking me for the distraction... I don't know why, but he seemed sincere for a moment. He didn't seem like the Count I knew. It got me thinking for a moment... Can I really do this?"

-Dimentio

"What-" I started, when something hard hit my head. 

My vision quickly blurred. 

I collapsed to the floor, my ears ringing.

Through my blurred vision, I could see the silhouette of someone standing over me. Though I couldn't really process anything aside from the shapes and colors.

"Rest your head... it's time for bed..." he whispered.

I knew the voice.

Everything went dark once again.