The morning our two friends wanted to leave, Mario woke early. He yawned, then shook his little buddy gently. "It's-a time to get up."

"What, already?" Link murmured. They climbed out of bed and hurried to get ready. Without waking anyone, they then tiptoed through the sleeping castle.

They had planned to use the servant's exit to go to the stables, but when they came past the kitchen door, a green-haired girl emerged.

Saria smirked. "You didn't plan on sneaking away without saying goodbye, did you?"

"No, of course not!" Mario grinned. "Still helping in the kitchen, sage of the forest?"

"I just prepared a little lunchbox for the two of you," Saria said and gave the plumber a big, green plastic box. "The desert is big, and who knows when you'll be able to get some good food again. I also packed a few sandwiches… made in Mushroom Kingdom style."

"Thanks, Saria!" Link smiled.

Then the king himself appeared. He had a very serious look on his face. "My dear friends," he said. "I feel bad for having to let you go on such a dangerous journey. You only spent a couple of days in my castle, but yet these days were enough that I took you in my heart. Not only for the sake of my daughter, but also for your sakes, I hope that you return safely."

Mario shook hands with King Daltus. "We appreciate your kind words, Your Majesty. Thanks a lot for-a everything!"

Saria suddenly began to sniffle. "My dear," the king said in surprise. "You aren't crying, are you?"

"W-well… it's just that I hate saying goodbye… Link, please make sure you come back in one piece… okay?"

"Um… sure," Link nodded.

Saria smiled and gave him a hug. "Good luck…"

"I wrote a letter to Princess Peach," the king said. "I tried to explain everything to her, and where you are going. I'm also interested in having diplomatic ties with her kingdom, of course. Good luck, my friends! May the goddesses protect you!"

They said their goodbyes and walked outside, to the stables. Yoshi was already up and waking for them.

"Hello, old buddy!" Mario smiled. "You ready for the big trip?"

The green dinosaur nodded enthusiastically. "Yoshi! Yosh yoshi!"

Mario and Link got up on Yoshi's back, and then their green friend carried them away, through the still empty streets of Castle Town, and onto the wide plains of Hyrule.

It was a pleasant morning, and for a while, they simply enjoyed the fresh morning air in their faces. They rode along the road that would lead them to Death Mountain.

When they came past Kakariko village, they could see many Hylians standing next to the road. When they were riding past them, they began waving and shouted: "Hooray! Hooray to the heroes from the Mushroom Kingdom! Hooray for the saviors of our princess!"

And then, the three heroes had reached the narrow valley. The valley Impa had called the 'Valley of Voices'.

It was very dark. To their left and right, the high mountains of the Death Mountain range were towering, like ancient giants made of stone. At the far, far end of the valley, barely visible to their eyes, was a small speck of light, the exit to the Desert of Doubt.

Mario stopped Yoshi, and then he and Link dismounted. Carefully, they took a few steps into the dark valley and listened.

Nothing happened.

Link frowned as he peered into the darkness. But he couldn't see anything.

Finally, he looked up to his friend and commented: "It's so quiet."

Mario nodded and wanted to respond, but then, they were able to hear Link's voice from the left: "It's so quiet." And then from the right. "It's so quiet."

And then, it seemed as if the murmurs were wandering along the steep stone cliffs next to them and along the valley: "It's so quiet. It's so quiet. It's so quiet."

"What's that?" Link gasped and clung to his friend.

"What's that? What's that? What's that?" the voices whispered through the valley.

"Don't worry," Mario said. "That's just an echo."

"Just an echo. Just an echo. Just an echo." They were able to hear.

Link shivered. The echoes sounded much creepier than any echo he had ever heard in his life. Realizing that everything they spoke out loud would turn into an echo, Mario just gesture to Yoshi, signalizing that they should continue. But then, Link's long ears perked up.

"Ssshhh," he whispered. "Do you hear that?"

Mario stopped and turned around. The voices were coming back. And this time, it sounded as if there were dozens of Links that said: "It's so quiet. It's so quiet. It's so quiet."

"Mamma mia," Mario whispered. "The echo's back and has multiplied. This is going to be a fun trip if this keeps up…"

The second echo also came back to them. Just like the first echo, the voices had multiplied: "What's that? What's that? What's that?"

"What do you mean?" Link asked quietly. He was a bit scared.

"Well, imagine what would happen if Yoshi begins to run down the valley. His echo would sound like a whole herd of Yoshis."

The third echo was coming back: "Just an echo. Just an echo. Just an echo."

"But how is this possible?" Link wondered.

"Can't say," Mario shrugged. "Maybe a natural phenomenon…"

"Careful, there it is again," Link gasped.

The voices were returning, and this time, it had multiplied tremendously. "It is so quiet. It is so quiet. It is so quiet." thousands of Links were screaming.

Link grimaced. "What can we do against it? This is getting worse and worse."

"I got-a no idea," Mario said. "I think the best thing we can-a do is to cross this-a valley as fast as-a possible."

Link's question "What's that?" was coming back. But this time they heard a hundred thousand Jims that were yelling on the top of their lungs.

Mario quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a candle. "You got some matches?" he asked. But before Link could reply, he said: "Never mind. I got it." And he took something else from his pockets, something Link recognized as a Fire Flower.

A flash of light later, and Mario was dressed in his white fire outfit. A tiny fireball later, and the candle was burning. The melting wax was running down Mario's glove. He quickly took a few lumps of wax and formed little balls which he stuck into his ears. He then gave some to Link, who repeated his friend's actions.

Then the third echo came back. But this time, they barely heard it. Link nodded, and satisfied, they sat back on Yoshi's saddle. After providing their dinosaur friend with some wax as well, they continued their way.

However, as Mario predicted it, Yoshi's rapid footsteps quickly caused an echo on their own, and in no time, the thundering noise of a Yoshi stampede was echoing through the valley, alongside the voices of Mario and Link.

The two friends had no way of knowing this, but the walls of the valley were arranged in such a matter, that no sound was able to leave it. The sounds could reach the end of the valley and return back to the beginning, but never escape. And every time that happened, the echo caused a new echo. And the more voices there were, the louder they became.

Now someone could easily ask: Why was it so quiet when Mario and Link entered the valley? The answer is that it had rained, only a couple of days before they had come to Hyrule. And every time it rained, the sounds were just washed away by the raindrops. And since that day, nobody had entered the valley up to now.

But now back to our friends who were running through the valley. That meant, it was Yoshi who was running. And he had never run this fast before in his entire life.

Just then, Link took a look back at the entrance, where they had come from… and a cold shiver was running down his spine.

He saw that to their left and right, the rocks had began to fall down from the steep cliffs. If they still stood at the valley entrance, they would be buried by tons of heavy boulders by now. Yoshi's stampede noise and their yelling voices had multiplied to an extent that literally made the canyon collapse. Link hit Mario on the shoulder and gestured backwards.

When Mario realized the danger they were in, he shouted something in Yoshi's ear. And in spite of the wax that was still there, Yoshi understood his friend and accelerated even more.

They didn't know how, but their green friend made it in time. Just before the whole valley collapsed behind them, Yoshi shot out into the vastness of the desert, and a huge cloud of dust rose up into the air.

Yoshi and his two riders landed in the middle of a big sand dune. Coughing, they dug their way out of it and looked back the way they came.

The way back through the mountain was blocked. The whole valley was filled with tons of fallen rocks.

Mario sighed. "Well, that-a was a close call."

"Yeah, Link nodded." But I think no one will ever be able to go through that valley again."

"No," Mario said. "The bad thing about it is: We won't be able to go back either."

Link hadn't even seen it that way yet. "Oh no!" he gasped. "But how are we gonna get back home?"

Mario scratched his head. "Well, it looks-a like we have no choice but to find another way."

"Where are we anyway?" Link asked.

"In the desert," Mario said as he looked around. "Seems like this is it: The Desert of Doubt."

All around them, they could see nothing but sand. Dunes of everlasting sand, with some rubble here and there, and a couple of cacti.

"How did that happen?" Link asked. He was still looking at the collapsed valley.

"My guess is that the echo increased the volume so much that it made the walls collapse," Mario assumed. "I don't think we'd have been able to get out of there without Yoshi's help." And he proudly patted the dinosaur's head.

Yoshi smiled tiredly, then his head plopped back on the soft sand.

"I guess we need to take a rest for now," Mario said. "Yoshi must be pretty tired."

"Yeah," Lin nodded and sat down. "I could use a small rest myself."

So they decided to wait a couple of minutes. Later, Yoshi had recovered, and they continued their way, but this time on foot.

They walked for a while. It was very hot. Link wiped his head. And then, he heard a strange, squawking noise. He looked up.

"Hey, Mario!" he whispered. "Do you see those ugly birds around us?"

"I see them," his plumber friend nodded. "Those are vultures. But-a no need to worry. As long as you're still alive, vultures leave you alone. They wait until you're dead."

"Are you sure?" Link wondered. He didn't like how those creepy birds were looking at them.

"Absolutely," Mario said. "Vultures only feed on carrion, meaning on people and animals that have already died."

"Oh… if you say so."

But somehow, Link wasn't convinced. He had the feeling that those birds would love to eat a tasty young boy as he was…

The sun was rising higher and higher. The heat made the air flicker. Every now and then, they were passing the skeletons of some huge beasts.

It was some time around noon, when Mario suddenly exclaimed: "What?"

"What's up?" Link asked sleepily. The heat was making him tired.

"We must have taken a wrong turn," Mario murmured and gestured ahead.

Link rubbed his eyes. All of a sudden, the huge mountain range they had left behind was in front of them. And Link had been sure that they only had walked straight ahead.

But something was very odd: The mountains weren't really standing on solid ground. They were floating slightly above it.

"What's going on here?" Link asked in a worried voice.

"I dunno," Mario muttered. "Looks-a like we have to turn around…"

But before they could do so, the mountain range vanished, and they couldn't see it either in front of them or behind them. Instead, they saw a beach with palm trees that were swaying in the wind.

Mario's eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of his skull. "Now look at that," he murmured.

"This is a very strange place, Mario," Link commented.

Suddenly, the mountain range reappeared to their left. But this time it was upside down. It was quasi hanging down from the skies.

"Something is wrong here," Mario said and shook his head.

"What shall we do?" Link asked. "If this keeps up, we'll never find the right way."

"I guess the best thing we can do is to just go ahead until we are out of this jumbled mess."

So they kept on walking. But the strange images were getting weirder and weirder. Above their heads, huge icebergs were floating. And they didn't even melt. In front of them, they saw the Eiffel Tower. To their left, a tribe of Shyguys was dancing a tribal dance around a big fire. And to their right, they could see Castle Hyrule.

And then, everything vanished as quickly as it had appeared. But soon enough, something else was appearing.

Mario had hoped that they could at least use the sun as a reference point. But that was impossible, as there were actually three suns in the sky. And then, the strange visions even began to mix with each other. They saw an army of armored soldiers that was fighting a group of schoolgirls. And above that scene, there was a lake. Cows were grazing on its waters.

Mario shook his head again. "If all of this wasn't so confusing, it would almost be funny."

A sailing ship was flying through the air. A big waterfall was coming out of it.

"I don't know…" Link winced. "I don't like this one bit, Mario… I hope this is over soon…"

For a while, they didn't say anything and just walked ahead, through the assortment of strange visions. But then, all of a sudden, Link loudly yelped.

"Mario! Look… look, over there! How can this be? That's… that's Mushroom Island!"

And indeed, not too far from them, they saw their home island, surrounded by the wide ocean. They saw the house of Toad and Toadette, the house of Mario and Luigi and even Princess peach's castle. They saw the princess standing in front of the castle gates. Luigi, the Toads and mailman Pete were next to her. The princess had an envelope in her hand and looked very sad.

"Quick!" Link shouted. "Quick, let's hurry! Peach! Peach, we're back home! We're home! It's me, Link! I'm coming…"

But just when he was only a few distance in front of Mushroom Island, it disappeared into thin air, together with all the other strange images. All around them was nothing but the wide, empty desert.

Link couldn't believe it. But it was the cruel truth. Mushroom Island wasn't there. He felt how a small tear was running down his face, and even Mario had to rub his nose.

Not saying any word, they kept on walking.

But the strangest thing was about to happen. Suddenly, they were standing in front of another green dinosaur, another boy in green clothing and a red-capped man with a bushy mustache.

"This-a is too much!" Mario grumbled. "Are we dreaming?"

They slowly walked ahead. The other group began to walk, too. When Mario turned right, the other plumber turned right as well. Link raised his hand and waved, and the other green-capped boy waved back. Finally, the two groups approached each other. The two Marios and the two Link just wanted to shake hands, when a light breeze blew past them… and the other Mario, Link and Yoshi disappeared.

Link was stunned as he looked at the place where his double had been just a second ago. Suddenly, Mario whistled. "Now I get it!"

"What?" Link asked.

Mario grinned. "You ever heard of the word 'Fata Morgana'?"

"Who's fat?" Link murmured.

"Not fat. Fata Morgana, or mirage. It's a natural phenomenon. Whenever it's so hot that the air begins to flicker, things may appear. Things that aren't really there. Things that are in fact somewhere else.

We even saw ourselves. But then, when the wind blew past us, the air became cooler, and the mirage vanished."

Link was astonished. "Is there anything you don't know, Mario?"

"A lot of things," Mario laughed. He then stopped, frowned and looked down at the ground. "For example, I don't-a know what this is…"

Link looked down as well. "Looks like a trail of footsteps…"

Mario nodded. "It is. Our own footsteps, to be exact. Those crazy mirages made us go in a circle."

"But Mario!" Link shouted in horror. "How will we ever be able to leave this cursed desert?"

"That is-a the question here," Mario muttered.

A giant steamship was hovering in the sky, releasing big, rainbow-colored bubbles. A lighthouse was standing to their left. A whale was performing a headstand on its top. To their left, a big department store with many trees growing from its roof was standing. And behind them, a family of floating, jellyfish-like creatures was doing a lambada dance.

"It's no use," Mario sighed. "We have to wait until the evening. When it's colder, the mirages will vanish for good. We can't go on like this. We'd risk getting even more lost."

"I think you're right," Link nodded. Together, they sat down in the hot sand.

"I'm wondering…" Link murmured.

"What is it, lil' buddy?" Mario asked.

"I mean… back when we saw Mushroom Island… they were looking so sad. I wonder why…"

"Maybe we saw them just when King Daltus' letter arrived," Mario assumed.

Link sighed. "Do you believe… we'll ever see Mushroom Island again?"

Mario smiled and put his arm around Link's shoulder. "I'm-a pretty sure that one day, you, me and Yoshi are-a gonna go back to Mushroom Island."

"You think so?" Link asked hopefully.

"I'm certain of it," Mario winked.

Then he sighed. "Try sleeping a bit, Link. If we want to get out of this desert, we might have to travel all night long."

And a while later, Link and Yoshi actually lay down in the warm sand and began to sleep.

Mario was looking into the distance. Not too far from them, he could see the vultures that had followed them. The carrion birds seemed to be certain that the trio would never find their way out of this hot, endless desert…