~ Third Person POV ~

"So... why are you really here?" Ms. D asked Pierre as they walked through the halls in search of the inner sanctum, after walking a good distance through in blissful silence, no questions asked until now.

Pierre had hoped it would stay that way, but of course, it wouldn't. "W-What do you mean?" He replied with a nervous tone, unable to keep his voice calm due to the whole worlds ending thing. "I just wanna help-"

"Pfft, no. You want something specific. What is it?" Ms. D asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Don't bother lying. Being a liar myself, I can almost always tell."

The ancient nervously fidgeted, his posture slightly hunched over as if he was trying to be smaller. For once he felt grateful for the cloak which covered his face. He felt somewhat comforted by it hiding his true feelings. 

However, he could tell she wasn't going to give up until she knew, so minus well save the energy. It wasn't like he had time to be secretive anymore. "I just... I have this... friend. And I don't want anything bad happening to him. I keep getting this feeling that... he'll remember. That he's remembering. And if he remembers... he won't let the heroes kill Countess Tippi. He'll either allow all worlds to be destroyed, which will make him die, or he'll let the heroes kill her and die anyway to be with her. Either way... I don't think it's going to go well. So... I'm here to try to save him," Pierre explained.

Ms. D blinked a few times at his response as if she was trying to understand what he had just said. "Okay, gonna be honest, I didn't get half of what you just said," Ms. D laughed, shrugging. 

"I'm just... trying to save someone important to me." Pierre clarified, sighing.

"Well... is that what he wants?" Ms. D questioned.

Pierre's blue eyes softened slightly as he looked up at her.

"Huh?" He questioned.

"Is that what he wants?" Ms. D repeated. "Does he want you to save him?"

Pierre paused, slightly taken aback. He knew what Blumiere wanted. He had known it all alone. He wanted love. He wanted to be with her. That's all Blumiere had ever wanted. 

He wasn't sure if trying to save his son was selfish or selfless. It was clear before, but it wasn't now.

"I... don't know." Pierre lied, looking down and instantly feeling guilty. "All I know... is that he loves her and he wanted to be with her. No matter the cost. No matter what happened to him, he didn't care. He just wanted to be with her." Pierre explained.

"Hmmm, seems like you've got quite the situation, Blue" Ms. D laughed, causing Pierre to freeze up.

"Please.... don't call me that," Pierre muttered, his voice suddenly much lower and darker.

"Why not?! Your eyes are blue! It's like... your defining feature!" Ms. D argued, gesturing to them.

Noticing his much darker manner, he quickly tried to get back to being peppy again, lightly laughing and smiling even though Ms. D couldn't see it. "I'd like to think of my smile as my defining feature actually..." Pierre trailed off.

"Well, I can only see you smile through your eyes! So...."

"Whatever. J-just don't call me Blue." Pierre laughed, patting her back as they continued walking. 

"Why not?" She wondered aloud.

"It's just... I used to call someone close to me that." Pierre shrugged, trying to make his voice sound less pain-filled and more casual. He had been spending years perfecting it, so he had gotten pretty good at sounding happy.

"Hmm, well okay then. I won't call ya that." Ms. D shrugged, grabbing his arm and forcing him to move again.

Pierre let out a short sigh of relief, then continued looking around with wide eyes at the entire castle. Castle Tippi had been made where his tribe used to reside. In a dimension of darkness. The sky used to be beautiful here, only now all he could see were the black walls and roofs. It was like it had gotten even darker.

This was a dimension he thought he'd never visit again. He hadn't been there since that night. The night he lost his color. The night he lost everything.

Well... not everything. He still had something left. Something to stay alive for. Something to fight for.

"Mr. PrincyPrince will have to go the long way around since my robot won't fit through here, but check this out," Ms. D chuckled, stopping and pulling Pierre to the side. She pointed at a large portrait on the wall, then moved its aside, revealing a secret path. "Nastasia made this so she could get to the inner sanctum faster. That's why she was always like, an hour early. I caught her sneaking through it the other day. We just get in here, then it should be a straight shot to the countess."

Pierre nodded, then carefully stepped in after Ms. D. It was rather dark but super clean. There was nothing to trip over besides his own feet, which was good because he was rather clumsy at times. As they walked, he could hear voices coming from the inner sanctum.

"So..." Pierre trailed off. "I couldn't help but notice that you're the girl in orange."

"Huh?" Ms. D questioned, still walking forward instead of facing to turn him.

"You're the girl in orange. But... Daisy, the hero, is also the girl in orange. So... I'm a little confused," Pierre clarified. "You both match her description from the prophecies perfectly."

"Well, Daisy's kinda like... my alter ego, I guess," Ms. D shrugged. 

"Ah. Well, why are you helping us then? Wouldn't you work for whoever wielded the Dark Prognosticus? Since Daisy is working on the side of light?"

"Well... I did work for the countess. But... the pretty prince broke me out of my stupid forever prison. Plus, he's cute, so I felt like I owed him." Ms. D giggled in response.

Pierre lightly chuckled at her strange logic, when Ms. D suddenly halted, holding her hand in front of him to stop him.

"We're here..." Ms. D muttered. 

Pierre's eyes widened slightly as he pushed past her, seeing another small portrait in front of them. He pressed his ear up to it to indeed, hear voices.

"Just stay still. Don't get involved until we need to," Ms. D commanded, grabbing his shoulder to prevent him from pushing the frame aside and strolling into the scene.

Pierre shakily nodded, continuing to listen in to what was going on outside, nervously biting at his nails again. It was a bad habit he picked up recently, and he couldn't seem to stop.

______

"Ex... Excellent..." Countess Tippi's voice started on the other side of the portrait.

Bleck and the heroes all approach as she kneeled down, clearly beat up and utterly exhausted. Mimi gasped from afar and immediately rushed over to her aid, grabbing her arm and trying to help her up.

"Countess?! Tippi, y-you need to get up. W-we're not done yet," Mimi squeaked, trying to help her up when Tippi waved her away, coughing slightly and looking over at the heroes with... regret in her eyes?

The Countess's eyes softened and she softly smiled at the heroes an almost comforting smile which told them that their journey was almost over. "You have won..." She whispered, voice weak. "Now finish Countess Tippi... finish me and the Chaos Heart will disappear. The prophecy will be undone... your worlds will be saved."

Peach and the heroes all paused, for once truly seeing how helpless Tippi was. She didn't look like a villain right now. She looked like a victim. Someone who needed help.

Bleck slowly approached her, voice calm and steady. "Why... why must it have to end like this...?"

"That's him! I-I hear him!" Pierre chimed on the other side of the wall, pressing his ear to it harder and smiling slightly. "I hear him!"

"SHH!" Ms. D hushed. "They'll hear you."

Countess Tippi looked up at the Pixl, only instead of expressing anger, there was only regret and pain. "Blumiere... When you vanished, I looked for you. I... tried so hard. I hurt so many. I never gave up looking... I searched and searched..." Tippi trailed off, looking down and forcing a small laugh. "....But I never found you. Without you, the world held no meaning or joy to me. There was nothing left for me without you... So I used the forbidden prophecy of the Tribe of Ancients to end all worlds. I wanted to destroy everything that had taken you away from me. I destroyed your tribe... your home... I wanted to destroy everything..."

Pierre's eyes softened at the mention of Blumiere's name. He slowly looked down, remembering all the pain she too had felt when Blumiere was lost the first time. Back then it was easy for him to focus on his own pain, but look at her. She loved him so much that she was willing to end everything for him. It wasn't the right thing to do by any means, but the fact that she loved him was clear as day. Even now, nothing could change that.

And... Pierre knew his son loved her too. More than Blumiere had ever loved him. He knew his son's feelings for her, even before he was a Pixl. Even before the tribe dragged him away. The time he spent with Timpani, those months were perhaps the only months Pierre could ever recall when his son truly seemed happy.

That's what mattered to him. At least now it was. Before, it was easy to put safety over happiness, but he could see now. He could see... love should come first.

"But I'm here now! N-no one can keep us apart anymore... Don't you see?" Bleck asked, sounding hopeful, his memory clearly having returned.

Pierre sighed and slowly pushed the portrait forward, making a small crack he could peer through, secretly watching the heartbreaking scene.

"What are you doing?!" Ms. D questioned in a hushed voice. "They'll see you!"

"I just... want to watch. That's all," Pierre whispered back.

"I...it's too late now," Tippi breathed, looking down in shame. "Countess Tippi has done so much evil... she's hurt so many... It must end." She stated, briefly looking up at the Pixl with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "J-just knowing that you are still alive... And knowing that the world you still live in will continue... It gives me peace. I don't have long to live. You must end my game before The Void destroys all..." She trailed off.

"But...we're finally together again..." Bleck whispered, floating closer.

Pierre's eyes softened, even more, when he looked up above the entire scene and to the corner of the room, where a certain jester was waiting, twirling what looked to be some sort of magic projectile around his finger, eyeing the Countess herself.

His blue eyes went wide, as he looked down at his son and Tippi.

He wasn't about to let them be separated again.

"COUNTESS! LOOK OUT!" Mimi cried as the jester threw the projectile. The Countess quickly turned her head to see it coming for her, then squeezed her eyes shut and looked down, waiting for the blow to hit.

But it didn't. Instead, she heard what sounded like someone teleporting right next to her.

She waited a moment, then opened her eyes to see who, but Pierre, facing her with wide eyes, the projectile having just hit him in the back.

He paused, just standing there for a moment, then brought a shaky hand to his hood, taking it off and showing his face to her.

The once bright, vibrant blue in his eyes had faded to a now dull grey. 

Everyone could see a light smile brush across his now uncloaked face.

"Y-You...?" Tippi questioned, looking up at him with wide eyes, feeling a collection of emotions. 

Pierre just stood there, smiling when he suddenly collapsed to the ground, allowing his eyes to shut, earning gasps from just about everyone in the room.

Peach covered her mouth while King Boo, Mario, and Daisy all gasped.

And Ms. D pushed the portrait to the side, slowly stepping out into the inner sanctum with wide eyes, trying to process what had just happened.

"P...Pierre?" Bleck whispered, floating past Tippi and down to him.

The Pixl's good eye suddenly went wide. Because he remembered. He finally remembered... everything.