It's the weekend and I'm back :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Mario or its franchise. It belongs to Nintendo and its creators.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Now that I was with him 24/7, I started to covet the times where I didn't have to deal with the conceited young enforcer. Between his condescending remarks and his general caustic personality, I was already tired of him.

And this was day one.

Now he and I were in his palace, er, Daisy's palace. From the way he walked the halls you'd think he owned the place. But I suppose that was the point, he did have to present that image around here.

When he and I got to the unction in the hall, one of the women on Chai Kingdom's advisory council came hurrying over to us. She didn't spare me a glance, I was just Ludwig's ward after all; as much as I protested that cover, he insisted that people would buy it. He wasn't wrong, which worried me more than anything, seeing as how I was older and taller by just a bit.

I stepped to the side while this woman addressed the blue-haired royal. He crossed his arms and regarded her as if he just didn't have the time for whatever she had to say. I guess that's the way he acted around everyone.

"Your Majesty, sir," She began, "King Koopa is here in the dining hall. He wants to speak with you, sir. Now."

"Now?" Ludwig frowned. "What the hell does he want?"

The narrowing of his sharp green eyes was the closest expression of surprise that would ever grace his pale face.

The woman nodded, "Perhaps he'd like to-"

"Penelope."

"...Sir?" The advisor spoke in response.

"That was a rhetorical question."

This Penelope person, the latest victim of Ludwig's curt behavior, had the good sense to dismiss herself as she flushed embarrassedly and made off down another corridor, in the opposite direction. I turned to the new ruler and watched him pace. He tapped his finger on his folded arm and scowled. There were things I'd like to ask but I was tired of getting snapped at, so I just stared at the distressed young man.

"He must be serious," Ludwig began, "If he's hauled ass all the way to Chai. You'll have to excuse me."

"No way," I said, "I'm going with you."

"I think not; if he sees you we're both in trouble."

"So I'll stay out of sight."

"Think you can do that?"

"You're insinuating I can't?"

"I'm asking a question." He claimed, "Nothing more."

I sighed and said, "Just go. I'll be at the door."

Ludwig needed no further prompting. He strode ahead of me into the dining room and left the ornate door open behind him. I slid it almost all the way closed, with just a slim crack between the hinge and the wall. Through that window I peeked and had to smile. It was at the head of the table that the Dark King had chosen to sit and so, not to be shown up in his 'own' palace, Ludwig sat not to the left or right, but at the opposite end of the table. There were six empty seats on both sides that separated the two dominant males. At this gesture, Bowser only smirked.

"Ludwig," He stated in greeting.

If I didn't know him as well as I did, I might have mistaken that curt nod as platonic or, at most, even mildly friendly. But I did know Ludwig and I had picked up on his strong feelings of hatred and bitterness for the Dark King, who he never once called by name, so I did notice that level of restraint he was demonstrating right then. The young man sat stiff with a hidden sort of anger brimming behind that cool, passive facade.

"Did you want something?" The former enforcer asked.

Bowser's jaw twitched but he otherwise didn't acknowledge Ludwig's tone, one which bordered on insolence.

The king said, "A few days ago I received a disturbing report; a company of soldiers I sent to destroy the plumber's kingdom were slain."

"By Mario?" Ludwig asked with intrigue.

"As if," Bowser scoffed, "None of the Koopas could tell me who'd done them in since they were busy lying dead."

"Interesting." Ludwig murmured.

"What's really interesting," The king said, "Is that my magicians can't figure out what kind of poison killed all my men."

"Really?" Ludwig tilted his head, "I'd say it must be a mighty complex solution, then."

You'd know, you're the one who made it, I thought to myself. Sometimes he could be so full of himself.

Bowser shrugged and said, "Perhaps so."

"So who do you think is responsible for this attack?" The younger male asked, "Who, among your many enemies, would be so bold?"

"If I knew that, they'd be dead by now," Bowser growled.

Ludwig murmured, "I'm sure."

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

Again, the young man clearly felt he was superior to everyone around him; the Dark King was no exception.

Bowser said, "I'll get to the bottom of whoever did this soon enough."

He didn't hear Ludwig's soft snort, much to my amazement.

He continued with, "But in lieu of this unforeseen attack, I think it's high time we join forces."

"My soldiers are mere men, mortals." Ludwig argued in that half-hearted way of his, "Most of them not yet finished with their training."

"That's quite a thing to hear, considering your great will." Bowser stated, "I would have thought you had them up to par by now."

Something in Ludwig's countenance noticeably smarted at those words. He smoothed that hardness from his emerald eyes, though.

"No matter," Bowser said abruptly, "You and I will lead our troops to that wretched kingdom and rule out any chance of being gainsaid."

The finality in his voice left no room for negotiation, I realized. He was adamant about this. Ludwig would either have to concede with his wishes or make a damn good excuse as to why this wouldn't be possible. The young royal I've come to know wasn't in the habit of doing things the hard or complicated way, so it was no surprise to me when he merely shrugged and replied in the affirmative.

"If you insist," Was his lackadaisical response.

"And I do." Bowser spoke, "As soon as I get another platoon of men together by the end of this week, I'll couple my forces with yours and we'll sack the Mushroom Kingdom."

Anytime he said 'Mushroom Kingdom' and not any other derisive nickname for the place, I'd be willing to bet he was serious. This was not good at all. By the way Ludwig still sat there unfazed, I presumed he was already a step ahead, as per usual. That did calm me.

He's a brilliant tactician, I'll give him that.

"At this rate you'll get yourself killed before you even set foot on the battlefield."

This and other such pleasant words of encouragement were what I'd been hearing all day, as of early this morning, and here it was nearly evening. I knew I wasn't the most professional of fighters and with a sword I was no master, but I didn't think I was that bad. Apparently I was, according to Ludwig. He'd started training me himself the very next day after the Dark King's visit since I insisted on joining him when he left for the Mushroom Kingdom at the end of the week.

"If that's your best," the royal sniffed, "then you and your girlfriend and the princess are all doomed."

"Why are you so negative?" I finally snapped.

In the field behind the palace I dropped my arms by my side and wiped one of them over my sweaty forehead on the way down. I was sick and tired of hearing him insult me. If he thought it was helping or giving me motivation, he was wrong. It was just making me want to resort to the 'teachings' I learned from the streets of Brooklyn back in my last year of high school and beat the living hell out of him.

Not to mention it's hot out here, I thought.

The ninety-something degree weather had not lessened by much even though the sun was going down. That was also contributing to my poor mood.

"I'm not being negative," Ludwig answered me, crossing his arms, "I'm being real."

"Real negative," I countered.

"Realistic." He corrected, "False hope and sugar-coated positivity has never been my thing, and there's no room for any of that. We have five days to get you in fighting form, unless you want to go out there unprepared and get slaughtered."

I sighed. "Whatever."

To me, there were ways where Ludwig could teach me without being such a jerk, but this was just the way he was, I had to accept that if I wanted to be progressive in this operation. That's what mattered, seeing the mission through. I brought my fists up and stood with my weight balanced on both feet.

"Good form," Ludwig praised.

I narrowed my eyes. "But?"

"But form is not your problem; you lack speed and your depth perception is off, that's why your strikes have so little force behind them."

And there it was. He just couldn't give me a single good word without backing it up with more criticism. Well, it's a good thing I'm not aiming to please him, God knows that'll never happen.

"So what should I do?" I asked wearily.

"Get better."

"Of course," I muttered.

Ludwig came at me swiftly and I did what I'd been doing all day; dodging and evading. I tried to get on the offense by stepping around him and going for his-

"Too slow," He chided as he grabbed my arm at the elbow and yanked me towards him.

He twisted my arm behind me and knocked the front of his boot into the back of my leg. In an instant he had me pinned with his weight pressed into the middle of my spine. He used his forearm to

"How are you gonna' protect that girl from down here on your knees?"

That was it. I wrestled him until I was back on my feet and went at him. I didn't bother looking for an opening, I just came at him steadily with my hands balled into fists. He was quicker than me, though, blocking every single one of my hits and wearing a smirk the entire time. Too soon the tables were turned again and it was him who was driving me backwards. Just when he thought he had me, I deliberately started taking his hits and when he realized what I was doing, it was too late.

I grabbed his arm like he'd done to me and yanked hard. So hard I pulled his arm out the socket. I didn't mean to go that far, but I was real mad, I had to admit.

"Sorry," I told him.

He didn't even flinch as he took his limb and shoved it back in place with a practiced ease that made me envy him that much more. Really, he was remarkable. If only his attitude were just as awe-inspiring.

Well it is, just not in the good kind of way

"Don't be sorry," He told me. "That was good, you stopped holding back. You're learning after all."

"Thanks?"

"You still have a long way to go." He said. "Tomorrow I have things to do, so I'll have one of my generals go over sword work with you until I'm available. Time is of the utmost importance so treat every training session-"

"-Ludwig, people I care about are in constant danger every day; you don't have to keep reminding me to take things seriously."

He stared at me and said, "You take the wrong things too seriously. When it comes down to it, it's not about the 'people you care about'. It's about the outcome of this war."

Inside I cringed at that. I didn't like to hear him talk like this because it made it seem like he didn't care about individual losses. He may be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure a certain means to an end, but I had to be honest; my main priority was and always would be Daisy.

Daisy had never feared for her life so much as she did this night.

All day she'd been on edge, having not seen the three magicians at all. That was disconcerting because of how hard they'd been badgering her. Plus, Peach had told her earlier that they had orders to investigate her. All of this, coupled with their sudden backing off, let her know that something was up and it wasn't good.

How right she'd been.

It was late. She was asleep with red eyes, having felt the absence of her friend Pepita particularly strongly tonight. She and the other girls had been startled beyond belief when the double doors suddenly banged open and there stood those evil, malignant old men, their hands outstretched and their eyes blazing. She had no doubt in her mind; she'd been found out.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mistress had demanded.

They offered her and all others no explanation as they stormed into the room and grabbed Daisy from her cot. They'd dragged her nearly out the doors when she felt someone tug on her other arm, the one that wasn't stuck in a vice grip; it was Mistress.

The woman had tears in those slant brown eyes but her back was erect and her voice was strong when she addressed the three taller males.

"No!" She had declared in a steely tone. "You aren't taking her, not this one."

The wicked men had shared a glance then, then one of them tapped their fingers to the short woman's forehead: her eyes rolled back and she fell limp to the floor. Daisy wanted to cry out for the injustice against the woman who'd taken to her so well but she was mute and could not. The girls who came towards their mistress hadn't come so soon as to prevent the woman's head from thudding against the cold ground. Daisy hoped hard that no trauma or serious injury would come to her but honestly, she had herself to worry about.

They had taken her without a word down to the dungeons where she was now. Into a cell she'd been thrown with one magician as her guard. The other two had went to fetch the king.

She was scared out of her mind.

In that dark cell there was a metal bench of a bed, hanging by two chains on either side onto the wall. She was too afraid to sit down, too afraid to do anything but bite down on her lip and hold her arms tightly around herself. She was cold, too, that was part of the reason she was shivering in her plain white nightgown. She didn't know why it was so freezing cold down here or why the gown only reached the middle of her thighs and the caps of her sleeves.

Less fabric must mean less money, and who wants to spend money on servants? she mused. Musing almost kept her heart pumping at a reasonable pace.

But then the door at the top of the stairs swung open and the organ got all jacked up again. Coming down the flight of sooty steps was the king himself, with the two magicians who'd summoned him. He was hurrying to the cell, much to Daisy's dismay.

Out of some last ditch effort to protect herself from the coming menace, she tried to back away from the bars of the cell and tuck herself in the corner of the small space.

"It is a matter most urgent, my king."

"It demands your attention, even at this late hour."

Daisy heard those voices but tried to block them out.

Bowser was shirtless and wet when he stepped inside the open cell. One of the magicians came and shoved her to the forefront of the room so that she was directly in front of the king. She was then forced to her knees. It was of her own volition, however, that she kept her head bowed.

Perhaps he won't recognize me this way, she hoped piteously.

And he didn't.

"A fucking maid?" He barked, "You called me down here for a maid? What, did she steal a breadstick? Fail to meet her doorknob-polishing quota?"

"You don't understand," One of the magicians explained.

"Then enlighten me, damn it. I don't have all night."

The old man who was holding her down said, "This is the girl you ordered us to investigate, Your Majesty."

"We've discovered that she's not who she says she is."

"How so?" Bowser asked.

"For one, she isn't mute."

A hand weighed down on the crown of her head and she could see a faint blue light stem from it; he'd removed the charm. She could just feel it. Her body had reacted to that magic, her throat no longer felt so tight and irritatingly not-normal anymore.

Her vision blurred and those bare feet she was staring at began to swell and bloat behind the veil of her blooming tears.

"I see." The king stated. "What else have you found?"

"She's donning a henge."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"She's wearing a disguise." one magician supplied.

"A magical disguise." another added.

His Majesty said, "Show me."

Those tears jumped down her cheeks when Daisy was yanked to her feet. She refused to let her eyes linger but she did catch a glimpse of the king. He was dripping wet and highly agitated.

That was probably due to the fact that he'd pulled an especially long day and was in the shower winding down when his court interrupted him.

The wicked magician again touched his gnarled hand to the top of her head and this time her whole being reacted. She felt her scalp tingle as blonde locks became darker, fuller, longer and tickled her cheeks on their way down her shoulders. Her chest expanded to its usual size, a problem for the gown that was made for one who wasn't quite as endowed, and that part of her body was tender and sore. Her skin lost its pallid paleness and darkened to a tan glowing sort of hue, and her eyes stung for a second as they no doubt changed colors. Daisy shuddered as the henge wore off and left her feeling more exposed than a newly shorn sheep.

Sheep. Yeah. That's what I feel like, and the Dark King is a nasty fox if I ever saw one, she thought.

She blinked and couldn't stop biting down on the edge of her bottom lip. Her head was down but not for long because Bowser stepped over to her, gripped her chin delicately between his thumb and index finger. He fixed his eyes on hers for a moment and she watched him appraise her.

"We don't yet know if she's a spy, Highness."

"But she is certainly hiding a lot."

Bowser rubbed his thumb over her cheek and murmured, "I see."

The king dropped his hands and circled her slowly. Daisy stood stock-still while he did, her blood rushing in her ears and starting to ooze from that puncture she'd driven into the flesh of her lip with the incessant pressure she'd put on it. He got back around to the front of her and pulled a clump of her hair through his fingers. With his eyes on the brunette follicles, he addressed his court.

"Take good care of her until I return." He told them, "Three meals a day no interrogations. Your investigation ends now."

"Of course, Majesty."

"And one more thing," He stated, "If I come back and there is so much as a single scratch or bruise is on her person..."

He let her hair go and faced the three magicians solemnly.

"It'll be the end of you."

A/N: This is ridiculously short but I have TMJ and it is a lot more cumbersome than you'd think, it really does affect how much I can write. For you guys, I still try so yes, since it's the weekend, there will be daily chapters.

As you can see, things have heated up, or in other words: shit just got real (lol I know, the language)

Yes, Daisy has really been found out. This is not a dream or anything, it really happened. Sorry Daisy. It was only a matter of time. But she is an incredibly strong girl and a fighter.

Leave your reviews, I love them, and stay tuned to see what happens next! As always, thanks for reading. Until next time!

~DymondGold~