... What's going on, my child? You're not one to look so gloomy.

Eldstar... Truth is, I feel absolutely terrible.

Whys that?

I feel like I just stabbed a lot of people in the back.

You said you wanted to tell them. And you accomplished that, right?

Yeah, but at what cost...?

"Red... Red... Red!"

The words echoed inside of his head until Red finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids. Due to the combination of blinding light, dizziness, and blurred vision, Red slowly turned his head to the side. There, he saw Reader, Destiny, and Taam all standing over him. Their faces softened in relief.

"Red! Thank goodness you came to!" said Destiny, smiling widely. "I was scared that you weren't going to make it back alive!"

Red managed to make an inaudible noise in confusion while slowly fluttering his eyes.

"Professor Gadd said he found you out cold right outside Mother Yoshi's cave. After that, his students, Daisy, and Reader helped bring you back here," Taam explained slowly.

After a moment of silence, Red uttered, "Thank you."

Taam nodded. "I'll be back with some tea," she says before leaving the room. Destiny and Reader watched before averting their attention back to Red, who's vision began to return and the dizziness started to fade. When he was able to collect himself, Red propped himself up in the bed. "I-I'm so sorry for passing out on you guys. That fight got intense."

Destiny shakes her head, "No, it's okay. Just... try to take it easy on yourself, okay? Let your body rest."

Red nodded in agreement. The three sat in silence as Red's mind ran through all the events leading up to the battle. He was slowly able to piece everything together, all but one, small thing that had been on his mind for a bit. He took a deep breath, summoned his courage, then looked over at Destiny. "Hey, Destiny. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Why are people calling you different names?"

Destiny pause and Reader looked up from their hands curiously. Seeing that all eyes and ears were focused on her, she sighed and held her arm, "I... well... My name isn't Destiny."

"It isn't?"

"No... It's... well... My name's actually Daisy." she locked her eyes to her feet in a guilty manner. Red and Reader eyed each other from across the room. "I just wanted to keep my identity a secret because I'm sort of a... runaway princess."

Reader and Red's eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's a long story, so I'll spare you the details," she says.

"W-Wow. You didn't strike me as a princess-type at all," Red comments, "N-No offense to you, of course, Princess."

"Please, just call me Daisy," she abruptly corrects, "Or Destiny. Or both. Just don't refer to me as 'princess'."

"Request honored, Daisy!" Red smiled before tilting his head in confusion, "But wait, why'd you run away from your Kingdom?"

"You wouldn't understand..." Daisy looked down. Her face saddened a little bit and Red nervously twiddles his thumbs.

"Well, if you don't want to tell us, that's completely fine," he says in a loving tone, "It's none of our business, after all."

Reader nodded in agreement, resting a hand on Daisy's shoulder. Daisy looked at them both and smiled softly. "Thank you both. Would you mind keeping this whole thing a secret between us?"

Reader and Red nodded. "My lips are sealed." says Red, "And Reader doesn't talk much anyway, so I don't think we need to worry about them too much."

Daisy chuckled, "Thanks again. You guys are awesome."

As the conversation came to a lighthearted close, Ms. Taam walked in holding a silver plate with three cups filled with steaming hot tea. Underneath the plate was a pretty pink envelope, similar to the one Reader received the day they moved in. "Apologies for the wait! I've got the tea now. Make sure you blow on it because it's SUPER hot!" she said as she handed everyone a cup. After handing Reader the last cup, she lifted the plate and handed them the envelope. "And this came in for you, Reader. Apparently it was so urgent that they rerouted it from your house to here, so I wouldn't delay opening it."

Reader nodded and used their finger to rip an opening, then pulled out the letter. It read...

Dear Reader, Daisy, and young Red,

We want to thank you for your generous amount of help back at the mountain summit. We have important additional follow-up information, so we request your presence here at the castle. Please make haste as soon as you receive this letter.

Yours truly,

Princess Peach Toadstool

"So they want to see us at the castle? I wonder what they found..." Daisy wonders aloud.

"Well, we won't find out by sitting here," Red said. He pushed himself out of his bed while ignoring some of the sharp pains in his arms and lower body. "Lets roll!"

Daisy and Reader nodded. The two of them walked to the castle while Red limped behind as fast as he could. When they arrived, the guards took a quick look at the trio, then escorted them to the throne room. The hushed voices of various guards and some of the Professor's students filled the room as Peach conversed with Toadsworth and Gadd near the thone. The doors shut behind the three, alerting everyone else.

"Ah, you've arrived!" Peach smiled kindly, "Please, come on up."

Reader, Red, and Daisy made their way to the front as instructed. The crowd watches in anticipation.

"First off, I'm happy to see that Red's recovered," Peach starts, smiling, "I was really worried."

"I'm fine, Princess!" Red assures cheerfully, "I'm just a little sore, but I should be okay in a few days."

"Glad to hear it."

"Now with our emotional vows out of the way," Gadd interrupts, "I have something very important to discuss with you three."

"You said you found some follow-up information, yeah?" Daisy mentions. Gadd nodded.

"Exactly. Now, Princess Daisy, you may not like what I'm about to say."

"Just. Daisy."

"Yes, yes, of course. According to the hint written on the back of the wheel that we found, the next piece will be located in Sarasaland."

"What?! You're messing with me!" Daisy screams, her face flushing with anger. Gadd calmly shakes his head. "No, no, no! I need proof. Show me that wheel!"

"If you must." Gadd motions one of his students to carry the wheel over. Daisy hastily took it from their hands and squinted her eyes as she attempted to read the writing. "Is... is this in Italian?! Shit! Mario always has to make things complicated!"

"I-I can read Italian," Red quietly speaks up. Daisy's eyes lit up and she shoved the wheel into Red's hands, begging for him to read it. Red cleared his throat, glanced over the wheel, then began to read the translated text aloud, "This part is required to start, stop, rise, and land - It is located to the east, covered in sand. The leader there may be able to lend a hand - since she rules the one and only Sarasaland."

"No way..." Daisy muttered, "I-I can't go back!"

"Why? What'd you do to anger the steward this time?" Gadd raises a brow. Peach shoots a threatening glare at him, resulting in a change of tone, "Ahem. What I meant to say is, you don't have much of a choice. Mario even recommended you to help out these two here."

"I know, I know... I just... Can't really return right now... Not under these circumstances, anyway..."

"Would you rather be responsible for the world's collapse?"

"No! I... Ugh. Fine. I'll go to Sarasaland." Daisy growls, folding her arms in mild disapproval.

"Splendid!" Gadd claps, "The princess and I shall remain here at the Mushroom Kingdom. Oh, and unless you two want to walk for hours in the boiling hot sun, I suggest that you head over to MK Airlines and hitch a flight over to Sarasaland. Toadsworth already talked to the owner about the outrageous ticket prices, and he said that he can make an exception and let you three fly for free."

"Oh, wow! Tell him we said thanks!" Red smiled widely.

Peach chuckles a bit. "Will do. Well, I bid you three farewell... Oh, Daisy..."

Daisy looked up from her arms, her face still expressing her disappointment. Peach's voice softened a little bit, "I'm dearly sorry that it has to be this way. I hope everything turns out okay for you."

"It isn't your fault, Peachy. It is what it is," Daisy softly smiled, "Though, I guess I'm obligated to thank you for letting me lay low here."

Peach shakes her head. "No thanks needed. I'm just happy to help out my friend."

Daisy smiled and pulled Peach into a hug for a moment, then stepped back to take one final look at her before turning towards Reader and Red. "Let's get going. That starship part isn't going to unbury itself."

...

Hello, everyone! I do want to apologize for not uploading a new chapter last week - some personal issues came up that prevented me from finishing this chapter. I hope you understand!

Please note that this was just a temporary incident, meaning that there will be no changes to the current update schedule.