Hey again everybody, thanks so much for the reviews!!! I love reviews, makes me happy; anyway special thanks to my bro. Spyrothetitan for reviewing for every chapter. (You're the best kid!) And special thanks to my new reviewer Rattle and Hum, took your editing advice, hope this lives up to your advice! Anyway enjoy everyone!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for King Thorne, Chizer and Hyacinth (wow OCs amazing!). Nintendo owns all the others and I am no way associated with the company.
Chapter 7: Dreams under Cherry Blossom Trees
Daisy stares out from her balcony at the town, Floral Villa, lying nearby the castle. She sighs as she watches the villagers varying from chibobos, mekabons, nokobons, and gaos happily plodding along their daily lives. I wish I was down there instead of in here. She walks back into her room and flops down on her full size bed almost engulfed with small yellow pillows that accent the dark orange comforter. Maybe if I pile all the pillows up I can hide underneath them and not be noticed, she thinks hopefully. She sighs knowing that it would never work and gets back up deciding to face the music. Sitting down at her vanity, she brushes her hair then fixes her crown so it sits properly on her head and finishes off by applying a new layer of her favorite tangerine flavored lip gloss. Time to make some prissy princes cry, she encourages herself as she smirks evilly. She leaves her room and heads downstairs toward the throne room.
The room is massive, giving a visitor the feeling of being small and insignificant. The royal colors are displayed with banners that dangle from the rails of the second floor observation walkway that covers the parameter of the room. A long red carpet leads up to a lone ornate throne made of deep honey oak and carved with various motifs of trees loosing their leaves in the breeze; sitting upon the throne is Thorne Floral, the king of Sarsaraland. He sits slouched over leaning on the arm of his chair with his cheek resting upon his hand. As Daisy approaches he readjusts and sits up straight with a stern look on his face and puffs out his chest in attempt to be intimidating. "Good Morning Dad," Daisy greets without flinching.
"Morning Daisy," he replies, "I hope you got plenty of rest, it is going to a big day."
"I know; I have so much I plan on doing! I'm going to go into town and get some supplies then I'm going to work in the garden," Daisy begins ignoring what her father had planned with the intent to annoy him.
"Daisy," the king interrupts with a fierce look in his deep blue eyes, similar to the princess's own. "You know what I am getting at."
"Maybe," Daisy stubbornly mocks. Thorne sighs heavily, irritated at his daughter's tenacity.
"The princes are coming today and I expect you to courteous to all of them."
"And if I am not? I warned you in the beginning that I did not want to along with this Dad, so why should I bother to be on my best behavior and encourage these men to bother trying to win me over."
"Because you are a princess and thus you will be married to a prince or at least a man with a noble title," King Floral decrees.
"Why? Peach doesn't have to marry a stupid prince why must I," Daisy angrily inquires.
"You are not Princess Toadstool and this is not the Mushroom Kingdom; we have traditions here and one of them is princesses marry noblemen!"
"Grandma didn't marry a prince and she was still queen!"
"Your grandmother is a different story," Thorne tries to elude the conversation.
"Really how? I would love to know!"
"There were no princes available at the time! She had no other choice."
"Yeah and grandpa made a great king although he was only a merchant didn't he? So why can't I just find a suitable man no matter if a title comes attached or not?"
"Because you need a stable man with experience in leading a nation and well because I said so," King Floral declares.
"Oh please, I don't need a prince to tell me how to run a kingdom," Daisy scoffs.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn," Thorne crossly asks. "Your mother was never this headstrong."
"No she wasn't; I got it from you," Daisy quips.
"Young lady, you can be as bullheaded and rude as you wish, but it will not overturn my decision. Those men are coming here and you will eventually choose one to be your beau and hopefully someday husband. That is final."
"Well your majesty, that might be your intention, but there is no guarantee that it will be the case. Now if will excuse me I am going out to my garden. Call me whenever your guests arrive," Daisy stubbornly affirms then stomps out of the throne room.
He watches her leave then rubs his temples in frustration, What am I going to do with that girl? He brushes a hair away from his eyes and back into the rest of his salt and pepper hair when his vizier, a chibobo, comes in.
"Sir, the guests will be here within two hours as they just got on the train in Poshley Heights," the goomba like vizier informs.
"Thank you Chizer," the king thanks as he rises from his chair. "I think I'll take a walk around the Villa before they arrive," with that he leaves the castle and heads toward the small town mere feet beyond his castle gates.
Daisy stomps off out the back door of the castle and into the courtyard which is a garden in itself. Down the steps, lies a large pond in which lily pads flourish at the edges displaying their beautiful spiky flowers. At the opposite end of the pond a large willow tree stands, its overhanging branches skim the top of the water causing constant ripples in the usually calm pond. On either side of the pond, lie two large areas both full of flowers and bushes that set along the perimeter. Off in the left section of the garden veering away from the village is a small path that leads to the side of the castle and Daisy's personal garden. She brushes past the numerous white forsythia bushes and onto the trail leading to what she considered her sanctuary. She emerges into her garden a minute later and heaves a sigh of relief, feeling like she had finally found a place where she could not be disturbed. It is a smaller garden compared to the courtyard, but spacious enough for her personally use. In front of the enclosing yellow forsythia bushes are various yellow, red, and white flowers from tulips, roses and lilies, sprinkled around in a random fashion. The only flower that is concentrated in one spot is of course the daisies which are all situated underneath the only tree within her garden, a cherry blossom tree. It had begun to bloom a week ago, showering the ground with many of its white and pale pink petals. Daisy takes a deep breath and sits down underneath the tree enjoying the fragrance of the blossoms and the quiet seclusion away from the busyness of the castle in preparation for their 'guests'. Guests indeed, she sarcastically thinks wishing the whole mess would just disappear. She leans back against the tree and closes her eyes, allowing her mind to wonder.
She opens her eyes finding herself in a new place, Peach's garden. How did I get here, raising to her feet she also realizes that she is no longer in her yellow and orange dress, but a white wedding gown with a veil lying back on her hair and elbow length gloves on her arms. Ah come on you have got to be kidding me! How long was I out, blast it all! She makes her way up to the main part of the courtyard where the fountain is running; tables and chairs line the outer edge of the cement patio and numerous decorations including lights hang from wires all connecting to a spot above the courtyard door on the castle. It is a very nice elaborate set up which the Sarsaraland princess found really beautiful, but could not to notice that no one is around. Where did they all go? She enters the castle and slowly makes her way down the hallway toward the foyer where she heard people talking. Pushing open the door, she finds everyone standing in the foyer having their little separate conversations when Peach appears out of no where standing next to her in a slim lavender dress.
"Hey there's the future queen of Sarsaraland! Where have you been? Your dad has been waiting to talk to you; come on follow me," Peach grabs Daisy's hand and leads her over to her father who is standing next to Mario and Luigi, all three of them dressed up in tuxedos. As Peach drags her closer, Daisy notices her father smiling and shaking Luigi's hand.
Maybe this isn't so bad…Daisy smiles as she stops in front of her father. He looks at her and holds out his arms for a hug.
"My beautiful daughter, it's about time! I am so proud of you," he praises as he embraces her tightly then he releases her and takes a step back. "You look exactly like your mother did on our wedding day, absolutely perfect."
"Thanks Dad," Daisy blushes as she plays with her dress. She looks up at Luigi who blushes at her gaze causing her to break into a smile; she takes a step toward him when a pair of long, lanky arms wraps themselves around her midsection. Huh?
"There's the man of the hour, the future king of Sarsaraland! Aww, don't they make such a cute couple," King Floral compliments. Daisy looks at him confused then turns back to Luigi who stares dejectedly at the floor.
What? What? What? Finally she turns her head back to identify the owner of the arms that are clasped around her. Her eyes widen the messy brown hair, crooked nose, bent mustache, and the signature purple hat. "Waluigi!"
"Hey sweetie, can't wait for us to move in together, but first even better will be our honeymoon on the Daisy Cruiser. Won't that be fun honey," he notes happily. Daisy's mouth drops open and her eye begins to twitch, unable to cope with the circumstances. She brings her hands clinched up to her cheeks and tightly shuts her eyes as she screams in horror.
She quickly sits upright and rocks over too far, ending up landing face first in the grass. "What? What?" She looks around, finding herself back in her garden underneath the cherry blossom tree. Laughing out of relief, she stands up and shakes off the chills. "I hate this stupid arrangement," she flatly states to no one. "Now I'm getting nightmares or daymares? Is that even possible? Stupid marriage expectations," she mumbles to herself then she hears her name being called.
"Daisy sweetie where are you," an elderly woman's voice calls out.
"I'm back here Grandma Hyacinth," Daisy calls back as she smiles. An elderly woman in a sky blue dress suit and matching hat comes in the garden off the trail. "Hi Grandma, how are you today," Daisy asks as she hugs the older woman.
"Oh I am wonderful, I'm more worried about you though my dear! Your father told me about your 'discussion' earlier," Hyacinth notes, emphasizing the word 'discussion'. "You do understand he is trying to do what is best for you, right?"
"Yes grandma," Daisy smiles knowing that she would stand up for her father, her son, until the end of time.
"Well good because I think you should go a little easier on him especially since, well…"
"The princes are here I take it," Daisy assumes while rolling her eyes.
"Please be nice," Hyacinth pleads, "give them a chance." Daisy grudgingly agrees causing the older Floral to smile then they make their way back to the front of the castle.
"Mario we have been walking around here for two hours and still haven't seen a sign of Kamek; don't you think we should look elsewhere," Luigi suggests as they pass by the port for the twentieth time.
"Yoshi said he was here and this is where we will find him," Mario determinedly states as he continues to walk until a door opens and smacks into him. "Oww," Mario groans then looks up to see what opened the door, "Mama Mia! Merlon!"
The blue caped wizard smiles, "Mario, I was wondering when you would be back; I foresaw your return to Rogueport in a dream I had last week."
"Really? Wow, Merlon you are good, but anyway," Mario motions to his brother who is standing farther back, slightly afraid of the wizard. "This is my brother Luigi, he is here to help me find the…"
"Sapphire Star," Merlon finishes. "Yes I saw all of this; please come inside and I will give you the answers you seek." Merlon motions toward the open door and the plumbers step inside. The house is dark, the only source of light coming from a crystal ball on a round table in the middle of the room. The wizard closes the door behind him then walks behind the table and sits down in a wood chair. "Now tell me what you seek and I shall tell you where to go."
"We are looking for the fifth star crystal and the Sapphire Star," Mario quickly replies, knowing how Merlon works. The white mustached wizard bows his head in concentration and mumbles to himself as the crystal ball flashes light of differing colors.
"Mario, are you sure he knows what he is doing," Luigi cautiously asks.
"Yes Luigi, Merlon has helped me numerous times in the past and has never steered me wrong. Trust me, this will cut out a lot of work," Mario reassures his younger brother. Merlon suddenly snaps his head up and apprehensively glances at the brothers. "What is it Merlon?"
"I fear there is not much time, you must act quickly," the wizard warns. "The magikoopa minion of the Koopa King is progressing rapidly in his quest. He already knows the location of both gems you seek. The Sapphire Star lies above Twilight Town finding a home floating within the dark shadows. As for the star crystal, it is residing within a bright metropolis with many colored lights and tall buildings. A place I have never seen before, the star crystal is above the rest of the city in an arena like building with a man similar looking to you Mario. That is all I can see," Merlon notes.
Mario looks down at the ground, scratching his chin in thought, "I think I know where the star crystal is, but the Sapphire Star confuses me. I mean it's in Twilight Town, but where in the town?"
"Well, let's see," Luigi starts also scratching his chin in thought, "he said 'finding a home floating in the shadows'… does he normally note that stars float?"
"Not usually," Mario responds then looks over at Merlon. "Was that intentional?"
"That is what I see, that is what I have described," Merlon responds mysteriously.
"Yeah," Mario notes confused and a little irked.
"May I emphasize the need for swiftness," Merlon notes again, "As the koopa draws close to his first target and his minions the second."
"Great, there is no way we can be in two places at once," Mario exclaims.
"Not to mention we don't even know where the second location is," Luigi adds.
"A splitting I propose," Merlon inserts.
"Splitting up," Mario conjures with concern, "but, I don't want to send Luigi off alone."
"There is no other choice if you wish to guarantee the safety of the kingdom," Merlon warns.
"I'll be fine," Luigi shakily assures. "You know this place better than I do anyway, so there is a better chance of you getting to the star before me."
"I know but, like you said we don't know where this place is that an arena rests above the city with a guy that looks like me…." Mario pauses then exclaims, "Eureka!" Luigi looks at his brother in shock as Mario grabs his younger brother's suspender straps. "I got it! It's Wario! The man who looks like me is Wario! He lives with the WarioWare crew part of the time when he's not in the kingdom!"
"Okay, but where is this 'WarioWare'," Luigi asks doubtfully.
"Diamond City! I don't know where that is, but you could probably ask for directions," Mario exclaims excitedly once more, but then comes back down as he looks at his brother. "Do you think you can make it there in time? I hate to send you out there alone, without a clear idea where to go," he notes in his big brotherly tone.
"I'll be okay," Luigi reassures. "You heard what Merlon said! Now go get that star!" Mario nods affirmatively and turns to run out the door when he stops and turns back to his brother.
"Be careful for my sake," Mario notes as he hugs his brother then flies out the door.