Alasea hesitated for a moment at the Princess's question, then slowly turned the broken helmet about to show them.

"This and his swords were... all that we could find..." Ileyna said softly, looking over at Alasea for a moment.

Mario and Luigi's eyebrows sank, and their gaze fell to the tile. The babies, being babies, seemed confused.

Princess Peach clasped her hands together tightly. "I...see. I am so sorry for your loss."

"At least he went down fightin'," Matt said. "And that's the best way to go." He took a glance at Helena. She had dried her tears, but man, she looked like she was having a difficult time keeping herself held together.

Princess Peach descended down the little steps to the throne. "R.D. will not be forgotten. We will always remember the actions he took to preserve the Mushroom Kingdom."

"If you don't mind," Matt said, "we'd like to take a bit to rest up before we head on."

Peach smiled warmly. "Of course. The Mushroom Kingdom will supply you with anything you need for your journey."

Later, they found themselves sitting around a table in the cafe, trying to recover from the shock of what had happened. Alasea had finally relinquished the helmet, having set it down atop the satchel, out of sight--they couldn't keep looking at it while they ate.

"... we can't allow this to happen again," Alasea said, sounding incredibly bitter. "We're nothing when we're alone."

"This wasn't our fault," Hugo said. Helena wrapped the Mettaur tight in her arms - she wouldn't even look at the others, just at the Mettaur in her lap. "We can be smarter next time...but I don't want anyone here blaming it on themselves."

"I know," Alasea said quietly. "He did what he had to. But he was alone, and..."

She still couldn't bring herself to say it, despite knowing what had happened. "It wasn't a fight he could win by himself. We can't win if we're alone. We have to stick together... I don't think any of us could bear it if..."

Her hands were trembling, forcing her to put down her drink lest she spill it.

"Re-Tuul is dead."

Matt glanced at Helena. She lifted her head, her eyes creased. "He's so dead. It's only a matter of time now."

"If we knew how to kill him for good," Hugo said.

Helena smacked her claw against the table. "We'll FIND a way. He's dead. End of story."

Alasea nodded. Whatever R.D. and Re-Tuul had been through, it had been personal. But now Re-Tuul had made it personal for all of them. Her hands clenched tightly at the thought, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes again.

"But we have to keep going," Ileyna spoke up. "We can't go after that demon until we've stopped Magister. It's... what he would've wanted."

The girl looked back down at her juice. "It's what he told us to do."

That's for sure. But screw the oath. It was on now. Matt wasn't going to rest until that thing's face was ground into major dead-paste.

Still: "Well...now what? I don't feel like jaunting around just yet."

"We need to sleep," Alasea said. "It was night when we left Hyrule, it was night when we were fighting in Celia's castle, and we went through all this... we need to rest or we're just going to slip up and get ourselves killed."

"Please rephrase that," Matt deadpanned.

Alasea shot an irritated glare at Matt. "I will not," she said, almost growling. "We've already lost... we already lost R.D., and I don't want to lose anyone else. We... have to come to terms with that."

"I guess."

Alasea slumped back into her chair, growing weary. Across the table, Ileyna cringed at the tension in the air.

With a grunt, Matt pushed himself up from his chair. "Come on. Let's walk around. Get some endorphins flowing. It'll help."

"If you say so," Alasea said, roughly pushing herself out of her seat.

They casually toured the castle. Not saying much, just bopping around here and there, real listless. At least none of the other mushroom people lingering in the corridors or running around sweeping floors and handling laundry duties nagged them for anything. Matt knew he would've replied in a very unfriendly way, that's for sure.

Their walk brought them atop the battlements again, overlooking the forest and the town further ahead. A chill wind blew strong, buffeting their clothing. Matt stopped here and slid his hands in his pockets, overlooked everything.

"Let's hold a wake," he finally said.

"A wake?" Alasea asked, clutching her bare arms together in an effort to keep warm.

"Yeah. I didn't get one when I almost bit it. Helena definitely didn't get one when she bit it." Matt turned to face Alasea, trying his best to hold a warm smile. "I figure it's time to change that. Nothing too big, but hell, if he's really gone, we might as well celebrate the good stuff he did."

Alasea looked at Matt for a moment, then looked away, her gaze turning downwards. "That'd be nice," she said quietly. "You know what he'd say about it, though, right?"

"If he doesn't think he deserves one, tough. I'm throwing one for him anyway. He was my friend too, you know."

In spite of it, Alasea grinned. "No, he does. He'd just get all grumpy and say we'd have to get a move on, you know?" she replied, looking back at Matt.

She stepped back a bit and nodded. "A wake might be good."

"We could wait until after this is all over, yeah," Matt said. "I'm just saying that it's gotta be something prim and proper for a change."

Alasea nodded. "We'll need it by then," she said. "Anything to help us recover from this nightmare."

Matt slapped Alasea heartily on the back. "Come on. You can buy me a drink."

As they walked back down to the main castle area, Matt fired up his communicator. "Hugo. Where are you right now?"

"I'm with Helena in one of the guest rooms," the communicator buzzed back. "How long are we staying here?"

"We'll spend the night then hit the road like usual. Tell Helena we're gonna whip up somethin' real nice tonight. Something juicy should help take her mind off things."

"Got it."

Alasea grunted and shot Matt a glare as she rubbed at her back. She waited until he was done on the transceiver before doing anything else, though.

When he finished, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "How about you?" she asked. "How are you holding up?"

Matt put the communicator back in his jacket and slid his hands inside his pants pockets. "I'll be fine. Figure I'll let it out later on. Right now I'm kind of just...here, you know?"

Alasea nodded. "I hope you'll be alright," she said. "We still need a leader."

"Worry not!" Matt declared with a dramatic flare of his hands. "I am still ready and capable for all situations and I will lead us to our goal with maximum success!"

Alasea stifled a giggle, though she was aware it was just an act. "Alright, fearless leader," she said. "Let's get going. I'm freezing to death out here."

They returned to the castle proper. Matt took the opportunity to negotiate replenishing their supplies with Mario and Luigi. Mario promised the group a hefty supply of Super Syrups - claimed it gave you a real "get up and go" feeling, which Matt was only too happy to oblige in.

When Matt returned to the room, Hugo dropped him the news: "The princess invited us to eat with her tonight."

"Good," Matt said. "Didn't feel like cooking."