Zealous Spirits:

Having avoided a bout of potential drama that could have turned fatally disastrous, Waluigi, Toadette, and the Kruna flew the Koopa Cruiser through the skies above the Nirvana Barrier. Their cloaking device now deactivated and Daisy back to her base state, they arrived at their designated hangar in the Rainbow City Docking Bay and disembarked the airship. At their present location in relation to the Earth, the sun had all but wound down in a bright golden shine underneath a wall of dark blue clouds.

While Bowser, Ramona, Marut, and Athelstan went with Waluigi and Toadette to report to Rosalina; Daisy, Warra, and Neva returned to the Rainbow Suite. Neva let Daisy and Warra head up the stairs first while she stayed back on the main floor by herself for a few moments. She had developed a sickly chill since coming off the Koopa Cruiser that made her feel incredibly uneasy, and she tried to regain her bearings before proceeding up to the top floor.

Neva didn't know what to expect when she knocked on Andrew's door, so the climb up to and the wait behind it felt ages long. It really wasn't, because one second after she knocked, he yelled out, "It's open!"

She came in and saw him staring out his room window. "Hi..." she said.

When he heard her voice, he immediately turned around. "Hey!... How did it go?"

"A lot sure happened," she replied with a little laugh.

An awkward silence ensued. Neither one of them felt sure of what to say to the other. They had not seen one another for over a full forty-eight hour cycle.

"You said you were sick?" asked Neva.

"I was," replied Andrew. "Though mostly out of nervousness."

"It's because of me, right? I know, I'm sorry-"

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted...a lot."

"It's fine. I mean, I get it... I'm weird, I know. You've known me for a while now. I'm whiny and snappy and you must think I'm a total, idiotic, angry little dorky jerk or something like that."

"What – no! Absolutely not! Quit saying that stuff about yourself! No way is that true at all! I don't care about any of that." With a stifled laugh, he added. "I like that about you."

"You do? But...how can you?"

Andrew shook his head, smiling and shrugging. "I don't know. I just do. I don't have any explanation. Do I really need one? I just know that that's a part of you, but that doesn't mean it's bad. And I also like that you're not trying to hide what's a part of you." Looking away, he mumbled, "I mean, it's not like I think it's cute or anything. It's just...endearing, I feel, really..."

"Wow, your face is really turning red!" said Neva.

"Well so is yours!" Andrew snapped.

"But why is yours? Are you really this nervous?"

"I told you, I tend to avoid this kind of thing."

"But why? If you're scared about being vulnerable or weak, please don't be."

"... I kinda am..."

Neva sighed as her spirits lowered. "I just thought that...that we... I would..."

Her voice trailed off. Silence returned, during which the two just stared at one another in much the same way they have several times already. After a while, Neva got a surprise when Andrew walked over to her and embraced her. She hugged him back as hard as she could on impulse, suddenly elated as she laid her head on his chest.

"You didn't think wrong," he said. "I'm just a confused person."

"I don't care about that," she said. "And you smell really nice...like...women's deodorant."

"I prefer using women's deodorant, actually."

"Wowwwww."

"Hey, I'd rather smell like spring breeze or vanilla or cinnamon than some watered down old guy cologne that you can pass off as bootleg ammonia!"

The remark made Neva chortle. But just seconds later, she pulled back and slugged Andrew in the abdomen. No doubt he was surprised to have a fist striking him at that moment, but the force behind it surprised him even more. Her punch made him groan and grimace, but then she went right back to hugging him.

"What was that for?!" Andrew grunted.

"That was for blowing me off the other day!" Neva barked in anger. "I didn't forget about that!"

"Okay, fine, but why so hard?!" he yelled.

Almost like the flick of a light switch, Neva then grinned and asked, "What, did that hurt? Hey, can we have some tea?"

Did that hurt, he growled in thought. I oughta stuff you into a tea cup! You'd probably fit in there!

"Hey! Stupid!" Neva said, squeezing him harder. "Answer me! I want tea!"

Andrew sighed and nodded, shifting to move for the electric kettle. "Yeah, yeah. Of course we can-"

"Wait," Neva quickly said, refusing to let go. "Not yet. I'm comfortable right now."

Warra got out of his nightstand drawer the case with the bracelets from Daisy's mother and handed it to the Kruna of Earth. They left his room and went downstairs to the main floor, then went out into the Rainbow Suite's backyard garden area outside the dining hall. With a potentially heavy storm brewing for the evening and night, no one else was there.

"Something about today made me realize that I have a chance now that I may not have again," said Daisy. "If my mother is out there, regardless of the time period, I should try to find her, whether I want to or not. And I don't know if I want to or not, but sometimes, you just have to do stuff, you know? Maybe she can tell me why she did what she did or why my dad was the way he was for all those years. I mean, I don't even know if I want these answers, but..."

Daisy tossed the case holding her mother's bracelets into the air and applied a thick coating of dirt around it from the gardens. When she clenched her fist shut, the dirt around the bracelet case compressed under a heavy amount of pressure. The bracelets and the case within got smashed and ground into a pulp as Daisy wriggled her closed hand around to crunch the compacted earth. As she opened her palm, the dirt and crushed remnants of the bracelets dropped onto the cobblestone floor. She made one final gesture in order to clean up the mess and shove it into one of the planting areas.

"Then I also realized that I should just try to move forward and let go," said Daisy. "I thought about it hard. I really did. And what happened today with Mario and Luigi got me thinking that holding a grudge is an easy way to self-destruction; and I came close to doing something I would have easily ended up regretting, regardless of the outcome and regardless of their state of mind. Same thing with my parents. When we make it back to our time, I do hope my dad has changed for the better and will go through some personal reform. As for my mom, well...wherever she is, I wish no ill-will on her. If I do ever see her again, I want it to be a fresh start. I don't want it to be me tracking her down just to get answers out of her and end up re-drowning myself in something that almost...you know."

"Yes, I know," said Warra. "But you're okay with the uncertainty about it all that you just cemented?"

Daisy nodded. "I don't have to know everything. I'm not a hundred percent sure on this one, but I feel like it'd be better for me to not know a few select things." She then yawned and stretched under increasing fatigue. "But it could also just be tired talk too. I think I'm gonna call it early tonight. I didn't get enough sleep last night in that tree."

"Well, I'm sure you won't miss anything important that you can't be filled in on tomorrow," said Warra. "Unless you want to come along and hear Athelstan and Rosalina talk about history."

"Oh no – I'll pass on that! Just give me the summary!" Daisy said as they both laughed.

"I'm not sure how much I can translate out of this," Rosalina said. In the Rainbow City L&A, Athelstan, Bowser, Ramona, and Marut had given her and Polari the tablets and documents they had retrieved from the Light Shrine. They waited with Waluigi and Toadette while the two officials of the Comet Observatory continued scanning over the ancient items.

"Definitely predates us, doesn't it?" Polari asked Rosalina.

"It's almost as if this language is a precursor to the Cosmic Dialect we know of," said Rosalina. "And there was no trace of the Gate of Time anywhere in the Great Valley?"

"Nowhere," said Bowser. "Not unless there's some secret subterranean world several hundreds of yards below the surface."

"Surely this is no coincidence," said Polari. "The more I think about it, the more it seems like this light wielder civilization was ages beyond its own time."

"Athelstan, it looks like we have our work cut out for us," said Rosalina. "This is a tall task, for it looks like we're not only going to have to translate these works, but also decipher and log a whole new language altogether. The good thing about it is that I can already see numerous similarities to both the old and modern Cosmic Dialect. I recommend the rest of you Kruna hold tight here in Rainbow City until we get adequate translations of these old texts."

"Unless you wouldn't mind continuing to look for Crystal Tears while Rosalina and Athelstan are handling that?" asked Polari.

"Well, we just got through working with a man down," said Bowser. "Maybe we can do it again. Though it was a close call with Marissa."

"You handled it wonderfully," said Rosalina. "Take the rest of the night and tomorrow off. Given her actions today and her growing suspicion, I'm thinking the next place you look should be at a region far away from where Marissa takes up residence."

"Seems like there's a sense of impatience coming from Marissa," said Ramona. "She kept calm, but it seemed like she'd jump off her trolley at the slightest provocation just from how shirty she was."

"Then searching through the eastern continents for a little while would be your safest option," said Rosalina. "I shall consult the stars for a possible region to scout through for tears on that side of the world."

"Thanks so much for the tea, Andrew," said Neva. The two sat against the side of his bed with cups in their hands, having just finished their drinks. "Not to sound mushy or anything, but I've always looked forward to an evening cup with you ever since the first time you made one for me."

"And what did you use to call it before?" said Andrew. "Boiled leaf juice?"

"Something like that, but I was totally wrong," said Neva. "I'm finding more and more that I've been wrong about a lot of things I used to believe. And you and the others helped me realize that. You don't know how many people have been so mean and rude and nasty to me in general. You guys have been the opposite of that. Especially you. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome, Neva. I'm glad you're with us."

"I'm going to go downstairs to the diner," said Neva. "I didn't get a chance to eat anything all day."

"It's always great having you over," said Andrew. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Neva repeated, getting up. Andrew took her cup and watched her as she went for the door. Just as she put her hand on the knob and opened it, she stopped and turned around.

"On second thought...when I get done, could I stay with you tonight?" asked Neva. "I don't wanna stay in my room by myself."

Andrew paused for a moment, but then happily replied, "Yeah, sure! I usually prefer to sleep alone, but I guess it's okay this time. It can be like a sleepover."

Neva smiled. "Oh, it'll be so great! We can stay up real late and I can show you my book of songs!"

Daisy had tried to get to sleep early for the night, but she felt too antsy. All the fatigue that had built up in her failed to knock her out as she lay there on her bed. She kept thinking about Peach and if she'd be alright wherever she ended up going. Though she had said she felt fine about it after finding out how well Peach had been holding her own for eight years, now she wondered how easy it would be for Marissa to track the former Mushroom Kingdom princess down and execute her. Her mind kept tormenting her with cries of Peach's voice screaming for help.

And even if and when Daisy found Peach, there was no guarantee Daisy could provide her effective aid against possible threats. From what Daisy sensed of Marissa, she noticed a massive power gap between the witch now and the witch of the world eight years prior. There was no telling how much stronger Kokoro may have gotten either. And then there was still the issue with the Dark Sentinel, a robot that they had yet to do anything against other than evade and run from.

Running into the Dark Sentinel was one thing, but getting cornered by it would equate to certain death on account of its defenses. It had a single weak spot in its eye and then an impervious shell that made up the rest of its body. Fighting out of a trap would dictate a need for bursting through its defenses at a moment's notice, and none of the Kruna had demonstrated enough potency to do so. The Kruna were lucky at the Bloodfalls, but it was only a matter of time before the Dark Sentinel would force them into a similar situation again.

Daisy hopped off her back and out of bed, then she got herself ready to head out. The clock read just after eight, and the dip in temperature made for a night just above freezing. In her mind, she had favorable conditions to work with as she exited the Rainbow Suite and headed for the training grounds to the south.

Ramona walked into Andrew's room and saw him sitting on his bed, fiddling with a ball of darkness. "Hi! Sorry we got held up! Are you feeling better?"

"Mostly," Andrew replied, dispersing the ball. "I'm sorry I wasn't there! Neva filled me in on all that happened."

"That's good," said Ramona. "How about we have some tea?"

"Okay! The kettle should still be warm from earlier."

"Oh, you and Neva had some already?"

"Yup!"

"Hmm..."

"What?" Andrew asked.

Ramona shrugged and took a seat next to him. "Nothing. It just seems like you two are together an awful lot recently."

"Well, when I'm not with you, yeah. You can definitely say that."

"That's great. I'm glad that you and her have really hit it off. She needs a friend like you."

Andrew then made an uneasy grin and scratched his head. "Actually...she doesn't just see me as a friend."

Ramona raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

"That's part of what screwed me up the past couple days," he replied, starting to blush like mad. "Before you guys went to the Great Valley, she kinda asked me on a date..."

"Woah," Ramona said in a gasp. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," said Andrew. "I'm still a little blown back by it."

"I'm not surprised by that. You've been so cluelessly oblivious to this kind of stuff that people have made something of a running gag out of it ever since middle school."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Maybe you should take her up on her offer. See what happens."

"You really think I should?"

"Yeah. I mean, you have only known her for a little less than five months...but still. I think she's sweet; even if she might seem ready to bite someone's head off if they poke her. I'd definitely much rather it be her than some random minx."

"You know this kind of thing just feels awkward and weird for me..."

"You feel safe around her, don't you?"

"I don't know for sure yet, but...maybe."

Ramona started stabbing him in his chest with her index finger. "Well maybe it's about time to let that dusty old thing out of its shell so it can breathe!"

"Ow – cut it out!" he yelled in laughter. "I'm too ticklish for you to be doing that!"

"Look, it's just one date," said Ramona. "You're not going to lose your dignity or regress in any way just from one date. In fact, why not tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? You mean the day that's the next time the sun comes up?"

"Yeah, unless the sun just stops working."

"Can I just not? Like, if I don't want to, then I can just say I don't, right?"

"Um...I don't think you should say 'no' to her... You'll be fine! You don't have to be scared!"

"I'm not scared of – you know what, fine! Alright! Stop looking at me like that! I'll ask her when she comes back. You know me better than I do, so I'll just take your word for it."

"That reminds me; I wanted to ask you something since you know me better than I do," said Ramona. "Between when we were kids and now, did it ever seem like I was...like, beyond humanin any way at all? Besides me always wrestling you to the ground-"

"I still don't know how you kept doing that," said Andrew. "You had to have planted bananas in your yard when your dad wasn't looking."

"But seriously, have I ever seemed...superpowered or overpowered or maybe a bit divine?"

"You always had a ton of energy, and you knew how to keep it all tame. Other than that, and your telekinesis, you didn't seem out of the ordinary."

"So who's more powerful?" Ramona then asked.

"I would have to say that I am," replied Andrew. "But you're not far behind. We might even be on par with each other right now, and neither of us have been world-breaking in that respect."

Under the cloudy night sky devoid of moonlight shine, Daisy formed another seismic orb in her right hand and compressed its power. The more she packed it, the more erratic it became with its rumbling. She crossed her arms and then slashed both of her hands through the air as if they were claws, dispersing the seismic energy all along the path her right hand swiped through. Crackling tremors resulted, but they didn't feel like they generated the kind of force Daisy wanted. Either she let the compression loose too early, or she'd have to try a different form of attack.

Almost an hour in, she was the only one at the Elemental Training Grounds. She kept trying maneuvers with her compressed seismic orb, convinced that there was some way to put together and discover a truly unblockable attack. It didn't have to be powerful. She only needed it to burst through an opponent's defense and land an ensuing hit.

Daisy switched to Nova Form, thinking the power boost and the three-fold increase in elemental control could help her unlock something that she could use in both her base and powered-up states. Nothing changed with her development and testing other than a much faster charge and more fluid power flow. On one occasion, she thought about leaving her palm open and just smashing her opposite fist down on the compacted seismic energy. She had no explanation or reasoning behind it other than she had not tried it yet. Of course, such an attack also knocked her back on account of her hit forcing the seismic power out in all directions.

Though that didn't work, it gave her another idea. She kipped up to her feet, made another orb, and got set to do the same thing again. Only this time, she would punch the seismic power, thereby making it explode all in front of her rather than at her too. The technique turned out successful, but she found no way for it to elicit a damaging hit. In battle, the seismic power would only rumble and burst open a defense, but would not provide an immediate followup hit to damage the exposed target.

Do I gotta send it out in two waves? Daisy thought, charging one seismic orb for each hand this time. Both of them got more violent and chaotic as she readied for another attempt at her most recent version of her work-in-progress technique. With a quick dash forward, she led with one seismic orb and let that explode with a simultaneous thrust of her opposite arm to release the other orb right behind the first one.

The two separate explosions of earth power seemed close enough together to be what she was looking for, but she didn't feel happy with it. The whole process felt too cumbersome and drawn out. She already had enough slow-preparation attacks in her Crystal Fist, Crystal Smash, Final Crystal Fist, and Shotgun. She needed something quicker.

This might very well be the trickiest attack I've ever tried to put together, Daisy thought, crescent kicking a seismic orb she tossed up. But then again, I don't think anyone else has ever done something like this before. Definitely not anyone I've encountered...

Another seismic orb she tossed up, smacking it at the ground with a two-handed smash that she followed with a spin kick. That felt too gimmicky. Whatever she came up with had to be simplified and straightforward to lessen the probability of failed hits and therein keep efficiency high.

As Daisy continued experimenting, Bowser and Marut trotted over from up at the entrance of the training grounds. Daisy saw them and put her work on hold, surprised to see them there.

"Nova Form, huh?" said Bowser.

"You got itchy too?" asked Marut.

Daisy grinned and nodded. "Yeah."

"That makes three of us," said Bowser. "Marut and I are feeling particularly inspired after earlier today! We wanted to get an hour or two in out here before the rain comes."

"The sooner we put this witch away, the better!" exclaimed Marut. "What have you been doing here by yourself?"

"I'll show you," replied Daisy, raising up a hand to eye level. "This has really been stumping me..."

Neva and Andrew sat together on his bed as she showed him her book of songs. It was just a couple hours to midnight, and they kept the lights dimmed to a low glow. Neva had a small bag and a blanket she brought over that sat by the nightstand.

"All the other ones are really just talking about hating people and people hating me," Neva said, flipping through the pages until she got to the one she wanted. "I had wrote this one about you, but my thoughts have been so scrambled that I only got a poem-ish verse down. It goes: Time flies away when I am by your side... With you around, I've never felt so alive! Reach out and meet my feelings with your own, when you're around, I'll never be alone! Take me in your arms where I can find home... With you in my life, I don't want to roam. My heart's on fire in my icy shell... I can't explain to you just how hard I fell... And I left it right there."

"How long ago did you write that?" asked Andrew.

"This one was just a few days ago," said Neva. "I had another one from a couple months back that I didn't finish..."

"Wow... I really don't know what to say..."

"Is it too much? Am I coming on too strong? I'm making this weird, aren't I-"

"No, I mean, no one has ever wrote me a poem or a song or anything like that... That's...really awesome of you. It's special..." Andrew paused, staring at her for a moment before he made a decision with himself. "Neva, how about tomorrow, we spend the day together?"

Neva perked up some. "What did you say? You mean on a-"

"Wha- hold on! If it sounds like I'm asking you on a date, it's totally not that at all! I just feel like we should hang out more, and...that's it."

"I'd like that, for sure! Tomorrow."

The clock went past two in the morning when they sat on the bed with their backs against the wall. Neva leaned on Andrew as if he were a huge pillow. They both had got drowsy and seemed liable to fall asleep at a moment's notice.

"... Really, it's the posterior chain where I believe the bulk of our strength comes from," said Andrew. "From the neck down to the calves. That's what I like to refer to as the base from which all our other movements originate. If your front is too strong for your back, then you limit yourself and set yourself up for injury. I actually prefer the inverse and keep myself back-loaded. I have yet to hear about a major injury or mechanical issue being associated with any of the back muscles being too strong. Maybe the lats sometimes – that's the broad fan muscle taking up most of our mid and outer back – but that's only from being a strong internal rotator at the shoulder with most of the frontal muscles."

"You sure know a lot about the body and training," Neva said.

"Yeah!" Andrew replied with a spirited, open-mouthed grin. "Everything in our body works so synergistically, and we don't even have to think about it! We just move and do stuff! Isn't the body totally super awesome?!"

"Sure," she nonchalantly replied, degrading Andrew's smile into a miffed look. She then yawned and hugged him. "You're super warm," she said.

Neva nestled as close to him as she could get. Within minutes, she was out cold in a light snore. Andrew could feel his consciousness fading too as he wondered how she slipped into slumber so quickly.

This is such an awkward way to sleep, Andrew thought as he shut his eyes and put an arm around her. The last thing he caught in his vision before he fell asleep too was the top of Neva's head under his chin. She was so calm and relaxed now as opposed to the irritable, feisty persona she carried by default.

Eh... I didn't intend on being a teddy bear tonight, he thought. I guess I won't complain. Unless she starts drooling...