Chapter 8: Discovering The Triforce Powers

Peach Castle had been completely revivified. After the desperate struggle between the Toad Brigade, the enemy Koopa Troop and the X-Naut armies, Link and the others had finally emerged victorious. The red and blue guards were no longer clashing with Koopas, Goombas, and X-Naut grunts. The Toad Brigade executives had finally ceased their valiant efforts in fighting against the elite enemy forces. And after Link's magnificent display, Captain Toad's fight with the enemy commander, Kammy Koopa, had concluded with the old magikoopa running for the hills, so to speak.

Things were looking better in Mushroom City, as well. Emergency responders were currently working hurriedly at the scene. They had finished setting up barriers around the collapsed structures and closing off the appropriate streets so that the general public could return to the city en masse. They were all completely unaware, however, that Bowser was still trapped beneath that large building that had collapsed within the Eastern District.

As for Wario, Waluigi, Grodus, and Pauline, it was not certain where they were now. Some citizens claim to have seen an all red blimp or two flying towards Sarasaland, but there was nothing concrete to support such a claim.

Link, Luigi, Navi, Rosalina, and Daisy were gathered on the stone bridge before Peach Castle with the Toad Brigade Executives, as well as Captain Toad. Toadsworth had recently come out to join them as well, who apparently had been taking his afternoon nap throughout the entire duration of the battle. The red and blue guards were stationed at each side of the bridge, specifically along the dirt path and against the picket fence that bordered the castles sparkling blue moat.

Link was certainly the life of the party, as everyone was currently gathered around him and asking questions like gawking paparazzi.

"Link, that was absolutely incredible!" Daisy praised, her hands together beneath her chin in admiration.

"Like, that was totally the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Lana T. cooed, her fists clenched at her face in excitement as she hunched close to him. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"I would be honoured if you would spar with me sometime." Katan T. praised, bowing humbly before the Hylian swordsman.

Link was backing up with his hands held up in happy protest, an uneasy but polite expression on his face.

"I've never seen anything like that!" Luigi added, with a hand. "What did you do?"

"You're amazing!" Captain Toad eagerly added, with a hearty fist. "I was sure you were a goner the moment you forfeit your sword!"

"I say, I wish I had seen it!" Toadsworth added, rather riled up. "By the sounds of it, it was utterly magnificent! Yes, quite magnificent indeed."

"Hahaha! Everyone, please!" Link halted, waving his hands in protest. "It's not a big deal, I assure you."

Much to his dismay, his genuine modesty had only encouraged everyone to continue to insist on their praise and admiration for him. Rosalina, who was leaning against the stone rail of the bridge, watched silently with calm eyes of admiration.

"Looks like we're late!" Mario suddenly added.

Everyone directed their attention towards Castle Road, and saw that Mario and Peach had arrived. Peach was holding the Geno doll, which was currently lifeless.

"It's Mario and Peach!" Navi cheered, flying forward with glee.

"Princess!" Toadsworth hollered, running towards her. "It's great to see you back again, safe and sound."

"Big bro!" Luigi cheered, running to his brother.

"Luigi!" Mario exclaimed, standing there waiting to accept the incoming brotherly hug. He patted Luigi on the back, then the two of them gave each other a high-five. "Good to see you again!"

"It's a bit of a story." Luigi laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"I can't wait to hear all about it." Mario smiled, with a nod. His stomach suddenly grumbled violently, which he examined in alarm. "Mamma mia... Perhaps over some dinner?"

"Hello, Toadsworth." Peach greeted. She directed her attention to Daisy, who had just then arrived near her. "Sorry we are late. I did not see your text message, since we were so tied up with fighting Bowser."

"F-F-F..." Toadsworth stuttered, his arms flailing wildly with his jaw dropped.

"Oops!" Peach exclaimed, covering her mouth with her fingertips.

Daisy stuck her fingers in her ears with an irritated expression.

"FIGHTING BOWSER?!" Toadsworth cried, the majority of the group waving their arms in comedic astonishment.

"W-Well, it was Mario doing the fighting, of course." Peach softly lied, with a guilty expression.

"Hey! Where's my credit?!" Geno squeaked, suddenly coming to life in Peach's arms.

Everyone had widened eyes and dropped jaws of utter astonishment as they watched Geno wiggle free from Peach's grasp.

"Oh?" Peach weakly barked, freeing him.

Geno landed in a spectacular pose. He kept his arms raised as he faced the group. "Ta-da!" He sang.

There was a stunned silence, which Daisy had eventually broke. Her expression was a mix of confusion and disgust. "What the... hell?"

"Hey, now that's not very nice." Geno lectured, finger waving at her. "I have feelings too, you know. How would you feel if that's what I said to you?"

True as that may be, Daisy had only said what was pretty much on everyones mind. Toadsworth appeared to be too busy fuming over Peach's comment in the background to notice what was happening.

"Well sorry, but... you're a talking doll?" Daisy countered, remaining skeptical.

"Wait a minute." Link intervened, stepping forward through the stunned crowd of Toad Brigade members. "I recognize that voice."

Rosalina's eyes lit up as well. She moved forward to get a better look, stopping near Link. Geno's maroon eyes rolled up and around once curiously as they all examined him.

"Hey, yeah!" She added. "You're the one from the trials, right?"

"The trials?" Daisy barked, unable to comprehend.

"Remember what Link had told us this morning, Daisy?" Peach softly reminded, with a hand.

"Oh, riiiight." Daisy sang, Luigi shaking his head in hopeless confusion. "I remember now."

"Remember what?" Luigi intervened, scratching his head.

"So you're the voice that was guiding them through the trials?" Daisy elaborated, ignoring Luigi. "That strange, mysterious light?"

"Umm, can someone maybe fill me in?" Luigi pleaded, surveying the preoccupied group. "Please?"

Mario took him aside to explain the entire ordeal which the others had been subjected to that morning during breakfast. The Toad Brigade members, who were not present at their breakfast, listened in as well. Toadsworth was still stomping back and forth across the wooden bridge, squashing his rage. Daisy, Rosalina, Navi, and Link were listening both intently and skeptically to the Geno doll, whom Peach was standing behind.

"Yup! It's me, alright!" Geno assured, spreading his arms as if to present himself, with his left wooden boot balancing on the heel. "What do you think?"

"This doll is the vessel you've chosen?" Link questioned, placing his hand on his chin in thought.

"Mm-hm." Geno confirmed, with a nod. "What's with that look? Were you maybe expecting an empty suit of armour, or something?"

"Er, no, not necessarily." Link replied, with his hands weakly raised in protest.

"Well I was expecting something a lot more feminine, that's for sure." Rosalina confessed, apparently offended.

"Feminine?" Geno acknowledged, raising on his tip toes for a moment with a wooden hand to his chin. His maroon eyes rolled around once as he thought. "But I'm a boy!"

The sound of a knockout bell ringing three times rang throughout the entire scene as Rosalina stood there, blue in the face with her jaw dropped in utter disbelief. The background was a pink, beating heart that suddenly split in two. The scene returned to normal, save for the fact that Rosalina was now slouching heavily with a storm cloud hovering over her despair stricken form.

"A... boy?" She softly cried, her expression one of utter disappointment.

"Yeah." Geno assured, with a shrug. "Didn't I say so before?"

Geno was suddenly stiff as a board and trembling as a giant angry Rosalina swallowed the whole background, pointing at him with a large finger, and lecturing him with a great pout. "NO, AND YOU SHOULD HAVE SOONER!"

"Hahaha!" Link laughed, raising a cup of sake that he had poured for himself. "Well, cheers! It's a pleasure to have finally met you, uhh-"

"Hey yeah, I don't even think we've introduced ourselves." Daisy intervened, with a hand on her hip. "I'm Daisy."

"Daisy. Nice to meet you." Geno greeted, with a nod. He placed a finger on his chin in thought. "Umm. My name is actually quite hard to pronounce, so you can call me Geno, after the doll."

"Geno." Daisy acknowledged, Link nodding and Rosalina facing away with folded arms of disapproval. He directed his attention to Navi, who had been silent this entire time. "Say, aren't you a fairy?"

"O-Oh?" Navi softly barked, as she was suddenly the center of attention. "Yes, that's right. I'm Navi. Navi the fairy."

"She's my partner in crime." Link grinned jokingly. "A bit of a party pooper, but I'm lucky to have her nonetheless."

"I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose." Navi replied, speaking with a much more professional tone of voice, as the shy types typically do during an introduction.

"That's amazing!" Geno awed, spreading his wooden arms in astonishment. "I honestly believed that all fairies had gone extinct long ago!"

"W-Well, it's a bit of a story." Navi smiled, her arms shyly behind her back.

"Perhaps we could continue this discussion over some dinner?" Peach politely intruded, with a hand.

"Oh yeah, I am starving!" Luigi added, with pleading hands. "I can't remember the last decent meal I had!"

And with that, the group exchanged a few parting words with the Toad Brigade and then proceeded to make their way into the Castle dinning hall for an evening meal. It was only at this point that Toadsworth had snapped out of his rage, and begrudgingly decided to join them for dinner.

The chefs had prepared a standard course for Mario and his friends. Link had opted to remain seated with his friends for dinner, but promised the chefs that he would happily help them next time. They smiled at him and thanked him, but insisted that he does not need to feel obligated to help.

The seating arrangements were as follows. On the left side of the table, from front to back, sat Rosalina, Link, Daisy, Toadsworth, and Peach at the tables end. On the right side of the table, from front to back, sat Luigi, Geno, Navi, and Mario.

Everyone but Mario and Luigi had modest portions. Mario and Luigi took advantage of the fact that they basically had the entire right side of the table to use as room for more dishes. Geno darted his maroon eyes back and forth between Mario and Luigi while sitting complacently in his own chair positioned between the two.

"Boy, they sure can eat!" Geno acknowledged loudly, as he had nothing else to do but observe and comment.

"Hey pal!" Mario retorted, tearing some meat off of a drumstick before pointing it at him. "*chomp, chomp* I used a lot of my energy during that fight with Bowser. I need to eat if I want my strength back."

"*sluuuuuuurp*" Luigi added, a heavenly expression on his face as he sucked up some delicious spaghetti. It had aged parmesan grated on it, which gave it a real pungent, salty flavour. He swallowed it happily. "Oh, it feels like forever since I've eaten something so delicious."

"So Link, Navi." Peach summoned, gently placing her tea upon the cup plate set before her. "How about you tell us a little bit more about yourselves?"

Link set down his fork and knife gently, and then dabbed his mouth with a white felt napkin. He placed his hands together, sitting back in his chair while looking at Peach with pensive blue eyes.

"Certainly." Link accepted. "What is it that you would like to know?"

"Mm!" Luigi suddenly cried, his eyes lit up as he raced to swallow a mouthful of pasta. He swallowed it, and a big bulge plunged down his throat. He pointed at Link with a fork. "Tell em' about the crazy attack you did!"

"Attack?" Geno acknowledged, his maroon eyes rolling once in curious thought. He shrugged. "What attack?"

"Well, it's not really an attack..." Link softly corrected. "Rather, it's what's called a Triforce Power."

Mario was surprised to find himself suddenly deeply captivated. He was listening intently to Link now, rather than eating.

"A Triforce Power?" He questioned. "What's that?"

"Wait, you don't even know what Triforce Powers are?" Geno cried. "That's absurd! You're one of the chosen Three!"

"Yeah well, I figured that out myself yesterday, so go easy on me alright?" Mario growled.

"I don't know either..." Rosalina softly added, with an oddly devious smile.

"What?!" Geno shrieked. "But you're the... ugggggh!"

"I say, what's all the fuss about?" Toadsworth piped, as if he had only heard the last three words of the entire conversation.

Surprisingly, Toadsworth did not have a notable reaction upon discovering that Geno was alive. Upon seeing him, he muttered something along the lines of: "Oh, I've seen much crazier things back in my day. Yes, the craziness..."

"Triforce Powers." Link proceeded to explain. "Are divided into three main categories. Wisdom, Courage, and Power."

"That's right." Geno confirmed, with a nod. "One of you, at least, is reasonably prepared."

"Wisdom, Courage, and Power." Mario recollected, counting them with three fingers. "Okay."

"The Triforce of Wisdom." Link continued, the background behind him now a starry night sky with the lovely blue haired Goddess Nayru on the bottom left. She had a serene expression on her face, and her hair was flowing freely passed her shoulders. "Is the power of the Goddess Nayru, who in Hylian lore is the Goddess of Wisdom."

"The Triforce of Wisdom is extrasensory power." Link explained, with a single finger raised. "Someone with this ability can sense incoming danger."

"Oh!" Daisy piped up, her eyes widened in surprise. "Rosalina! Rosalina can totally do that!"

{A red magikoopa had sent another fiery orb Rosalina's way. Rosalina was about to use her magical barrier once again, but suddenly her head started pounding for a brief flash. She brought her right hand up to her forehead, swaying to the side in a disorderly manner. She had just barely dodged the flaming attack that was now raging arrogantly on the grassy field. On the back of her right hand, the Triforce was glowing dimly. The bottom left triangle however, was shining brightly as her head ached. Daisy turned and noticed that Rosalina was having some trouble.

"Hey! Are you alright?" She beckoned her from afar.

"S-Something is coming!" Rosalina warned, her serious tone laced with fear.}

"Wow, really?" Luigi gawked. He then placed his hand on his chin in thought. "Wait a second... yeah, I remember! The same thing happened the other day, before Link had arrived! When we were all arguing in the Royal Lounge!"

{"How on earth is that even possible?" Daisy refuted, pointing a finger of reason. "She's been soaring through space, unconscious, for the last 1,000 years, remember? Meeting Mario before now would be impossible!"

"Oh yeah, true." Mario sang, looking downward while scratching the back of his head in confusion.

Then, Rosalina collapsed. The room silenced.

"P-Princess!" Peach gasped, her hands on her face in shock, eyes widened.

"W-Whoa!" Daisy gasped, her eyes widened also. "Hey, what happened? Are you okay?"

Mario and Luigi were already helping her to a stand. Everyone gasped as they saw that something was glowing on the back of her right hand. As it emit golden light, it gave off heavenly tones in the otherwise silent room.

"What is that!" Peach awed while leaning slightly forward, pointing a finger in fascination.

Upon closer inspection, it was three golden triangles, positioned in such a way that they created an inverted triangle in the center. It appeared that the bottom left triangle was glowing the brightest. Rosalina emit a soft groan as her eyes opened again.

"Hey, are you okay?" Mario asked.

"What the heck is going on with your hand?" Daisy persisted, pointing a finger.

"Ungh..." Rosalina groaned, bringing a hand to her head. She could stand now. "My head..."

"Take it easy, take it easy." Luigi eased, anxious that she may over exert herself.

"Are you alright?" Peach inquired, with a soft expression.

"Dont... ask me how, but..." Rosalina started, pausing to grit her teeth from the pain. "I can sense a powerful presence approaching."}

"Hey, so I have a Triforce Power?" Rosalina smiled gleefully. She had fists on her hips in pride, as different coloured bold hash lines blinked over her head to animate her joy. "Yay! How cool is that!"

"Oh, right on! Great job, Rosalina!" Geno praised.

Rosalina stared down Geno with a sulking expression of disapproval.

"I guess she's still mad at me?" Geno sighed, looking downward hopelessly.

"That is correct, Rosalina." Link confirmed, with a nod. "I also had made note of this during our first encounter."

{"You are considered a threat." Katan T. warned, his eyes as sharp as his blade.

"Yes, I understand. You are very diligent, and for that I admire you. But please, I mean you no harm. You may lower your blade." Link assured, looking at Katan T. He then looked up at the roof of the castle. "And you. You will not be needing that cannon that you have prepared."

"Gwah!" Captain Toad cried, peeking from behind the central tower on the roof of Peach Castle. There indeed was a loaded cannon stationed behind it. "He knew I was here! But how?"}

{"I have decided to trust him." Peach declared, her hands together and arms in a V formation. "Please, lower your weapon."

Katan T. lowered his blade slowly. He sheathed the weapon, closing his eyes and folding his arms to conclude the withdraw.

"Ungh…" Rosalina groaned, her head pounding slightly from the powerful presence before her. She placed a hand on her head, her eyes closed and teeth weakly clenched.

"I see you possess similar powers." Link noted, nodding at Rosalina. "Although it would appear that you have not yet mastered them."

"What?" Rosalina acknowledged, unsure of what exactly he meant by that. "Powers?"

"That's right." Link nodded, with a closed eyed smirk. He had poured himself another cup of sake.}

"So both you and Rosalina have that particular Triforce Power?" Mario clarified. "The Triforce... of Wisdom, right?"

"I'm going to read your mind..." Rosalina warned, leaning forward and staring at Mario with large, cyan eyes.

Mario suddenly leaned back with clenched teeth, shaking his head no with his hands raised in protest.

"You're thinking of..." Rosalina sang with closed eyes, fingertips of her index fingers at each temple. Her eyes suddenly opened wildly. "Toadsworths underwear!"

"WHAAAAT?!" Mario cried, hands on his head in horror. Everyone else had comedic expressions of surprise as well. Mario's face was red hot. "I AM NOT!"

"I say, what is all of this nonsense!" Toadsworth growled, looking up from his dinner in irritated confusion. "This is quite foolhardy indeed!"

"Hahaha!" Link guffawed. "Yes, well, rest assured, the Triforce of Wisdom does not grant you the ability to read minds."

"Why you..." Mario growled, Rosalina snickering into her hands deviously.

"Back to your question, Mario." Link continued, gathering everyones attention once again. "That's right. Rosalina and I do each possess this Triforce of Wisdom ability. However."

"A Triforce Power is not something that you simply possess, and that's the end of that." Link proceeded to explain, as everyone listened with absorbing interest. "It's something that you must develop, something you must hone. And it takes a very, very long time to develop properly."

"That's correct." Geno confirmed, with a nod. "For example, someone inexperienced with their Triforce of Wisdom ability might sense something very dangerous approaching without being able to control it. Whereas someone very experienced with this ability might be able to go as far as to predict enemy attacks in the middle of a fight."

"Alright, okay." Mario acknowledged, excitedly. He spoke with a revivified expression. "So how exactly do you go about getting once of these Triforce Powers?"

"And how do you make them better." Rosalina lazily added, a finger on her chin in thought.

"From what I understand, Triforce Powers are gifts from the Goddesses." Geno explained. "You're essentially born with them, although they may awaken within you at any time."

"Really?!" Mario heartily acknowledged. He looked at the palms of his gloved hands. "Mamma mia, I sure hope that I have one. They sound like they would really give you an edge."

"Oh, you probably have at least one." Geno hypothesized, nodding with folded arms. "Although I can't say for sure."

"As for your question, Rosalina." Link summoned, regaining her attention. "It's simple. Practice using it. Although to get good takes rigorous training, and personal development."

"Aww, really?" Rosalina frowned, slumping with a sulking expression. "What a pain."

"You have a wonderful gift, Rosalina." Geno added in admiration. "You should nurture it!"

Rosalina stared down Geno with a sulking expression of disapproval.

"Yup. She's still mad at me." Geno sighed, looking downward hopelessly.

"That's all good and everything, but hurry up and tell them about what you did earlier!" Daisy demanded, rather riled up.

"Oh, right!" Luigi added, equally excited over it. "That big, green pulse that took out an entire army in a few seconds! Mario and Peach, you sure missed out on that!"

"What?!" Mario gawked, gripping the table in astonishment. "An entire army in a few seconds? That sounds incredible!"

"Is this true?" Peach inquired, with a hand.

"You better believe it!" Luigi and Daisy each exclaimed in unison.

"Wait a minute..." Geno hushed, raising a wooden hand. He took a moment to ponder deeply. "That sounds an awful lot like the Triforce of Courage ability!"

"Hahaha!" Link laughed, having finished his dinner during the brief respite he had. "Yes, well. I suppose this is a better segue than any for an explanation on the next Triforce Power."

It had started to rain. Large raindrops gently splattered against the tall windows of the dining hall, which were too high up from the moat below for anyone to peer in through from ground level. For the most part, everyone had finished eating by this point.

"The Triforce of Courage." Link proceeded to explain, the background behind him was now a starry night sky with the lovely green haired Goddess Farore on the bottom right. She had a joyful expression on her face, and her green hair was up in two modest buns with her bangs parted in the middle. "Is the power of the Goddess Farore, who in Hylian lore is the Goddess of Courage."

"Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom. And Farore, the Goddess of Courage." Mario recalled, trying his best to keep it all straight.

"Good!" Link confirmed, with a nod. "The Triforce of Courage grants one the ability to intimidate your opponent."

"Intimidate?" Peach inquired, with a look of curiousity.

"Mm." Link nodded with closed eyes, not facing her. "This ability can be used to drain the courage from your opponent."

"So basically... you can make an opponent run away scared?" Mario surmised, scratching his head in thought.

"That's one possibility, yes." Link assured.

"But that's nothing like what happened!" Daisy refuted, pointing a finger of reason with her hand on her hip. Everyone was listening intently to her as she continued her thought. "The Koopa Troop and the X-Nauts... when you hit them with that green wave, they... they froze in place, like statues, and then... and then they all fell down and died!"

"What?" Mario gawked, directing his attention to Link.

Everyone else had faced Link again. Link had taken a drink of sake, then set it down on his sake cup placed before him. His eyes were closed.

"Yes, well." He continued. "The larger the difference in strength between the user and the victim, the more potent the effect it will have."

"Sooo..." Mario sang, scratching his head in perplexity. "If you used this Triforce of Courage ability on someone as strong as you, you might not intimidate them very much. But if you use it on someone who is a lot weaker..."

"Correct." Link confirmed, looking at Mario with open eyes. "They could die."

There was a silence.

"It's by no means a power one should use lightly." Link cautioned, breaking the silence.

"Wait a minute, so you possess the Triforce of Courage ability?" Geno gawked, leaning forward with his wooden hands against the white table cloth.

"I do." Link confirmed, with a nod.

"B-But..." Geno continued, his maroon eyes trembling. He sunk back into his seat while still in deep thought. "That's... that's very hard to believe."

"Why?" Daisy challenged, with a hand.

"Because... well, you see..." Geno started, everyones attention now focused on him. "Nobody is supposed to possess that power. It's something that is only spoken of in the legends."

"What? Nobody?" Navi gawked, apparently stunned by the claim. "But Master Link has always had this ability."

"If that's true, then..." Geno paused for a brief moment. "He may very well be the only one."

Everyone faced Link admirably. There was a silence. Eventually, Mario broke it.

"Oh-ho, man!" Mario cheered, clenching his fists tight in excitement. "What an ally we've found! With an ability like that, we'll be able to wipe out Grodus's entire army in seconds flat!"

"Well it's not that simple, you see." Link quickly countered, with a hand. "Your opponent needs to be much weaker in order for the effect to be so strong that they die. The more typical scenario is that they either retreat or surrender."

"Oh, okay." Mario acknowledged, somewhat bummed out. "Still, that's one hell of an ability."

"So what about the last Triforce Power?" Daisy questioned. "Do you have that one, too?"

"That would be the Triforce of Power." Link had proceeded to explain once again. The background behind him was once again a starry night sky now with the lovely red haired and dark skinned Goddess Din positioned top and center. She had a confident expression on her face, and her red hair was in a large ponytail that reached her waist. Her ponytail was held with a gold bangle, and she had spiky streaks of hair that bordered her face. With all three Goddesses in position, the Triforce formed over them with a pleasant hum. "Is the power of the Goddess Din, who in Hylian lore is the Goddess of Power."

"Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom... Farore, the Goddess of Courage, and Din, the Goddess of Power." Mario recalled, counting with his fingers. He looked up happily. "Did I get that right?"

"Yes!" Link confirmed, with a smile. "Now, as for the Triforce of Power, I actually do not possess that ability."

"You don't?" Luigi gawked, apparently surprised.

"Nay." Link declined, shaking his head. "Furthermore, I do not know the details of this particular ability."

"Wow." Daisy nodded, with a mildly impressed expression. "So there are some things that are even beyond your knowledge, Link. Who would have thought?"

"There are quite a number of things that could go on that list, actually." Link humbly countered.

"What about you, Geno?" Navi shyly inquired, with her hands behind her back. "Do you know anything about the Triforce of Power ability?"

"Mm, nothing concrete, unfortunately." Geno declined, with a frown. "Very few people possess that ability. Although I suspect that it has something to do with augmenting basic stats, like attack, or defense."

"I see." Navi softly acknowledged. There was a pause.

"At any rate." Link started, breaking the silence. "Princess Peach, you were originally asking about us. We got a little side tracked here with the Triforce Powers."

"That's okay." Peach nodded, with a pleasant closed eyed smile.

"Well, what would you like to know?" Link offered, with a hand.

Everyone was surprised to hear Rosalina suddenly answer the question with an engaging tone in her voice.

"How about you elaborate a little bit on what you told me in private back in the trials?" Rosalina suggested firmly, her arms folded.

"What?" Link softly gasped, unsure of what she meant.

"Oooh, in private?" Daisy cooed, with a curious expression. "Do tell what happened, Link."

"You guys weren't kissin', were ya?" Luigi softly growled, folding his arms with an expression of disapproval. "If you guys were kissin', I don't wanna hear about it!"

Everyone suddenly shot glances between Rosalina and Link in curious alarm. Rosalina went bright red.

"What?" Link barked, with his hands weakly raised in protest. "No, no, it's nothing like that!"

"You idiot!" Rosalina growled with a crimson blush, pulling back on a spoon full of mashed potatoes and launching it at Luigi.

"Eyuck!" Luigi cried, as the mashed potato bomb splat against his nose with a squashy sound effect.

"Heh heh, nice one Rosalina!" Geno congratulated, clapping happily.

"Thank you, Gena." Rosalina accepted with closed eyes, a pompous expression on her face.

"GENA?!" Geno cried with an expression of alarm, his hands raised in protest. "So now you're just going to pretend that I'm a girl?!"

"Focus!" Daisy ordered, clapping loudly to gather everyones attention again.

"Hahaha!" Link guffawed. He revealed an unopened bottle of Chateau Romani, his favourite type of sake. "Yes, well. Perhaps we should migrate to somewhere more comfortable. This is going to be a bit of a story."