The tale of Medusa’s end is a short one. At the same time when Pit left the Final Destination, Medusa and her loyal Darknut guardians reached the thorny thicket where the young angel had to crash-land.

She saw the white feathers that were entangled within the thorns. She was able to guess what exactly had happened. She knew how close this place was to the Final Destination. No matter if Pit managed to leave it or not, he had become useless to her. Either way, the game was over for her.

She ordered her Darknuts to stop, but for some reason, they did not obey. She became furious, jumped out of her sedan chair and blocked their way with spread arms. “Stop!” she screamed. “I command you to stop!”

But the armored giants did not listen to her. They kept on walking as if she wasn’t there. Medusa let out one strangled yelp when she disappeared beneath the stomping boots of the metal giants. Only when she drew her last breath, did they finally stop.

Later, the three swordsmen Marth, Ike and Roy arrived with the rest of Pit’s army to see what had happened. They were clueless to how this could have happened, though. They knew the Darknuts moved only through Medusa’s will, but neither of them believed that she would order them to stomp her to death. They thought about it, but came to no conclusion. In the end, they decided that the battle was obviously over. They told the rest of the army so and advised them to go home.

“And what about us?” asked Marth. “We swore an oath to stay at Sir Pit’s side.”

Ike scratched his head. “Well, I guess we have to find him…”

“But… but where should we start searching?” Roy asked.

In the end, they decided to part ways. Each one of them wanted to go into another direction and search for Pit on his own. They wished each other best of luck and parted ways. Many adventures awaited them on their pointless quests, but those are other stories.

The giant, unmoving Darknuts, however, stayed at this place for many years to come, next to the thorny thicket, close to the Final Destination. Rain and snow fell down on them, and over the time, they began to rust and fall apart. In the end, they began to slowly sink into the ground. Travellers began to avoid that place, and it was rumored that the place became cursed.

As Sandbag had told him, Pit had crossed Icicle Mountain. His wings were still torn by the thorns, and after he had begun his climb up the steep mountain cliffs, the icy winds that blew around the peak ruffled them up even more. A couple of times, he believed he wouldn’t make it and collapsed in the cold. One time, he even believed he had begun to hallucinate, as he saw two eskimos in colorful parkas chasing a strange bird that held an eggplant in its talons…

Somehow, he managed not only to survive, but also to descend the mountain on the other side. When he finally made it, he didn’t look much like a messenger of the heavens, even less like a king. His toga was torn up, his wings were missing most of their feathers, his eyes were red and his skin was smeared with dirt and sweat.

But he kept on walking.

While he was walking, he stared at the strange scenery in front of him. Everything was flat and white, as if he was walking on a big sheet of paper. Here and there, he could see a couple of trees and shrubs… but they looked as if someone had drawn them with a pencil. A starlight sky was up above him, and colorful stars were falling from the sky.

Then, he came past a single monitor that was floating in the air. It showed nothing but a black image with a few, yellow words on it:

‘Now entering: Pit’

He blinked and shook his head. Apparently, that monitor was able to recognize him somehow. He wondered if there was something else, but the image on the monitor did not change. There also were no buttons or switches, so he just left it alone and continued on his way.

He then reached a house that was standing in the middle of the strange trees. Like them, it also looked like someone had drawn it with a pencil… but this time, he was able to see it. However, while it resembled a pencil, it was actually a black, floating stylus. It was floating in the air, above the house, and was almost constantly drawing. Sometimes, it would draw an additional window, and then a chimney on the roof. Sometimes, it would even erase a wall and draw a new one, making the house bigger than before. But as quick as the objects were drawn, they disappeared again. Sometimes, the stylus would also draw something else, such as an additional tree, a seesaw or a little sheep with stick-legs that aimlessly walked around in front of the house, before it disappeared.

While he was approaching the house and the floating stylus, he heard a female, melodic voice coming from inside. It was singing the most beautiful song he had heard in his life, even though he could understand no words. In spite of the surrealness of the area, this welcoming song was drawing him closer. He saw a warm light from within the house. When he was standing in front of the main door, he hesitated and looked up to the stylus. It continued to draw and erase as if he wasn’t even there. Finally, he took a deep breath and knocked.

“Please come in,” the voice said.

He opened the door and found himself in a cozy room. A big lamp hanging from the ceiling illuminated the whole room. In the middle, there was a round table with several chairs standing around. On several plates and bowls, Pit saw all kinds of food. Sitting at the table was a tall, beautiful woman in a pale, blue dress. She was holding a star-tipped wand and had a small, silver crown on her head. She smiled at him. An aura of peacefulness and serinity seemed to surround her, and her eyes looked very motherly.

“Welcome to the PictoChat, my dear boy,” she said. “Please, have a seat and eat something. You must be starved.”

“Excuse me,” Pit murmured. “Are you waiting for a guest? Because I just came here by chance.”

“Really?” the woman smiled. “I don’t mind. You can sit down either way, it’s been so long since I had a guest. Please, eat as much as you want, while I’m going to tell you a little story.”

So Pit sat down and took an apple from a bowl. Before he took a bite, however, he looked at her and asked: “And you? Aren’t you hungry?”

She laughed. “Well, if you insist, I will eat something as well.” She stood up and walked over to a small cupboard, from which she took another bowl. But this one was full of colorful stars, the same ones Pit had seen falling from the sky outside. She put the bowl on the table, sat down again and took a big bite. “Hmmm,” she said. “Delicious!”

Pit was so perplexed that he almost forgot to eat. He never knew that stars were edible.

“Excuse me,” she giggled. “But Star Bits are the only thing I eat. It’s also the only thing my children, the Luma, eat.”

“Aren’t your children at home?” Pit asked.

She smiled at him sadly. “No,” she sighed. “But that’s a long story. However, I have another story to tell you first. Don’t you want to hear it?”

Pit nodded and continued to eat.

“A long time ago,” she began. “Our dear queen fell ill. But only a human child was able to help her, by finding out her one true name. But humans didn’t come to Nintendopia anymore, and no one knew why. And if she had died, it would have been the end of all of Nintendopia. But then, one day, a little boy came to her. He found out her name, Palutena, and therefore, he cured her of her sickness. In return, she awarded the little boy with precious gifts. One of the gifts was the Star Rod, which was able to make all of his wishes come true. Our little boy then began a long journey and made one wish after the other, all of which came true. And he did not only have good wishes, but also bad ones, because Palutena does not make any difference between both. Even when her palace on Mt. Olympus was destroyed, she did nothing to prevent it. However, with every wish the little boy had, he lost more and more of his memories of the world he had come from. But he didn’t mind, since he didn’t really want to go back there. So he kept on wishing, until he used up nearly all of his wishes. And without memories, no one can wish for anything. Now he was in danger, as he had almonst no wish left, and he still didn’t know what he really wanted. And that meant that he would never find his way back into his own world. But then he managed to reach the PictoChat, a place where he would stay until he remembered, what he really wanted.

At that point, she stopped talking, as she saw that Pit had stopped eating. He was holding a slice of cake and stared at her, his mouth open.

She smiled. “If you don’t like strawberry cake, try the apple pie.”

“What? Oh no, it’s really good!”

“Well, everything’s fine then,” she smiled. “By the way, I forgot to tell you the name of the little boy from the story. Many people just called him ‘The Savior’ or ‘Palutena’s Champion’. But his true name was Pit.”

Pit quickly swallowed the rest of the cake slice, then he coughed and said: “Th-that’s my name! I’m Pit!”

She smiled. “See?” She didn’t seem to be surprised at all.

“By the way, I haven’t told you my name yet. I am Princess Rosalina… the Star Mother.”

“Star… Mother?” Pit wondered.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Every star begins its life as a Luma… and I am the mother of all Lumas. However, most of my children are grown now, and I’ve been alone for some time… that’s why I’m so happy you’ve come!” She laughed and took a napkin, wiping some cake bits from his mouth. “Here, let me clean your face.”

Pit blushed. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable. “I’m not a kid anymore…” he protested.

“But why not?” she smiled. “That’s one of the most wonderful things in life, isn’t it?”

Pit did not know how to react. He just knew that it somehow felt… good to have someone who took care of him.

After some time, Rosalina said: “Well, I guess we should go to the other room. Looks like he has a surprise for us.”

“Who?” Pit asked.

“The Stylus. He has a mind of his own, you know? And he sometimes likes to surprise me with changes he made to the house.”

Pit then noticed that the room had become a bit bigger. And that door over there… that hadn’t been there before, had it?

“Well, let’s go!” Rosalina sighed as she stood up. “He can be stubborn. It’s best to just do what he wants. And most of the time, he really cares.”

Pit followed her through the new door the Stylus had apparently drawn without him noticing it. Behind it, they found another room… but this room was full of toys and furniture… but the furniture was much bigger than before. The chairs were so big that Pit nearly couldn’t climb up to sit on it.

“Why, would you look at that?” Rosalina smirked. “He really has outdone himself this time. He created a room that looks like how it would look to a small child.”

“But why did he do it?” Pit wondered.

“Is that so hard to figure out?” she asked. “He likes you. As do I. We both are happy to have you as a guest.”

“Then… you don’t get visitors pretty often?”

“Never,” she sighed sadly. “From the day on that my last Luma child left this house, the Stylus and I have been by ourselves.”

Pit looked around. “You know, this room is pretty big. You wouldn’t think there was so much place inside the house.”

“Every house the Stylus draws is bigger on the inside,” Rosalina smiled.

Pit was beginning to feel a bit tired. But he didn’t want to go to sleep yet, so he asked her: “If you are the mother of the stars… who was your mother?”

“My mother was the Princess Rosalina before me,” she explained gently.

“But… does that mean you had the same name?”

“No,” she giggled, as if he had said something silly. “She was Princess Rosalina, and after her time had come, I became the new Princess Rosalina.”

Pit yawned. “I… don’t think I understand…”

“It’s easy. See, every time a Rosalina realized that her time has come, she appoints one of her Luma children to become the new Rosalina. Then her body turns into light and she searches her place among the stars. Then the little Luma she chose becomes the new Rosalina. Easy as that.”

Pit wasn’t sure if he heard the last thing she said. He had began to doze off, and his head slowly sank down to the table. When he began to softly snore, Rosalina picked him up and gently put him to bed. Again, she sang a beautiful song that had no clear words, but was a sweet lullaby nevertheless, and he peacefully sank into a silent slumber…

Pit was Princess Rosalina’s guest for many weeks to come. Summer came, and after summer, fall. Pit nearly forgot about his worries and that he had nearly been crowned Nintendopia’s king a couple of months ago. He simply enjoyed the carefreeness of a small child, and let himself be spoiled by Rosalina.

The Stylus also did his part of bringing amusement and joy to Pit. He drew toys, playrooms, carousels, and many other things. And on certain, pleasant evenings, he and Rosalina sat on the balcony and watched the stars. She told him of her children, the Lumas, who had now become stars and planets themselves, while all around them, the Star Bits were falling down to Earth. Pit also told her many stories. He told her about Entei, Samus, Medusa and his friend Link, who was now injured because of him… or maybe even dead.

“I messed up with everything,” he sighed. “I think I misunderstood everything Palutena told me. I misused all of her presents and thereby brought so much harm over Nintendopia.”

“I don’t think so,” she said softly. “You just followed your wishes. And not every path that is made of wishes leads you straight ahead. You took many detours, but it was YOUR way. You are one of those that can go back only after having found the Fountain of Dreams, the most secret of all places.”

Pit was quiet for a moment, then he asked: “Can you tell me how to get there?”

“The Fountain of Dreams is situated next to Nintendopia’s borders.”

”But Nintendopia has no borders!”

“Yes, it has, but the borders are not at the outside, but on the inside. The place from where Palutena gets all her powers, but where she can’t go herself.”

“Isn’t it too late for me to get there?” Pit murmured, not feeling very confident.

“There is only one wish you can use to get there: Your last one.”

Pit was a bit scared. “Every wish I made took something from me… made me forget something. Will it happen again when I make my last wish?”

She nodded.

“But I don’t really notice any difference. Do I have to forget everything? Lose everything?”

“Nothing is lost,” she whispered while softly stroking his hair. “It just transforms into something different.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t stay here…” he murmured. “Maybe I should hurry.”

“Most things need their time,” she explained. “You will know when your last wish comes to the surface. Sleep now! Everything will be fine.”

Neither of them knew that by now, Pit’s newest wish had already began to manifest deep within his heart. He just didn’t realize it.

He wanted to find his own place in the world. A place where he could someone to love, and someone who would love him back.

Pit began to feel sleepy again, but he still had a question: “Rosalina… what is it that I must forget to find my last wish?”

“Your father and mother,” she whispered.

Pit thought about it. “Father and mother?” But those two words didn’t mean anything to him anymore. He didn’t know what they meant.

A single tear came out of Rosalina’s eye. “You will have to leave me pretty soon. Your final wish will guide you. Don’t lose sight of it…”

She put him to bed. “Don’t worry anymore. Also, don’t worry about me either. Not now and not tomorrow morning. Everything is right as it is. Good night, dear little Pit!”

“Good night, Princess Rosalina…” he murmured before he fell asleep.

The next morning, when he looked out of the window, he saw that everything was still white and flat as paper. But it wasn’t the same ground as before. The whole floor of the PictoChat was covered with a thin layer of snow, as were the pencil-drawn trees outside. It had become winter over night.

Pit went to say Rosalina goodbye, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. He just saw a little, yellow creature that was shaped like a puffy, little star. It was lying in a little crib and snoozed peacefully.

He somehow knew that this was Rosalina’s daughter.

He walked outside. For once, nothing about the house or the PictoChat was changing at all. The Stylus was hovering next to the house, motionless. Pit looked up into the starlight sky, where he could see a new, bright star that was hovering directly over the house.

He waved to the star, and a tear was also running down his cheek. “Goodbye,” he whispered. “And thank you for everything.”

And he left the PictoChat behind, knowing that a new Rosalina would soon be there.

It was very cold.