Cascore's Note: After some writer's block barring me from figuring out how in the world I was going to construct this, the next chapter has arrived. I can't really think of very much else to say today, so I'll just leave it at that. Read on and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
C/N 2.0: Wait, I lied, I did have something else to say regarding a question submitted by Michaiah. The animated movie that the family was viewing in the previous chapter was not based on anything in particular, though I was thinking of "Space Chimps" when I described it. That being said, I've never seen the movie, so I have no idea if it's anything at all alike.
Chapter 12: "A Surprise Summons"
That Friday night, Daisy found that she simply couldn't bring herself to get to sleep. In hopes of retaining plenty of energy so she could perform her best at Sports Day, she attempted to go to bed earlier than usual, opting for a nine o' clock bedtime curfew as opposed to her usual ten thirty or eleven o' clock time slot. The family planned to arrive at the park as soon as it opened to the public the following morning at eight o' clock and Daisy wanted to make absolutely sure she was wide awake and had time to get her blood pumping with some exercise and consume a hearty breakfast to fuel her through the day as flawlessly as possible. But how could she plan to wake up early if she couldn't even get herself to fall asleep in the first place?
As was the case with most exciting events that were only a day away, Daisy found herself feeling too antsy and thinking far too much about the fun to be had to get herself to truly relax and slip off into the slumber that she needed. Tossing and turning in her bed endlessly, failing at attempts to position herself just in the right spot to optimize comfort and increase chances of drifting off to sleep, it would be a full hour before Daisy finally gave up. It was already ten o' clock, the rest of the household had successfully put themselves to rest, and Daisy, deciding that it'd be best to get rid of all this extra energy she contained that prevented her from successfully going to sleep, climb out of her bed with a sigh.
Adorned in a plain orange pajama suit, Daisy stepped over to her bedroom window. There was nothing of particular interest outside. At least, if there was, she wasn't able to see it, for the nearest streetlight was a fair distance away and that night just happened to have a new moon preside over it, providing only a very weak, soft light given off by the few dozen stars Daisy could see. Still, the sky did look somewhat attractive at least. Daisy even spent several moments connecting what stars made themselves viewable to her and making pictures out of them...
Those stars made a sword.
The ones over there created a four leafed clover.
And these ones formed an "L" inside of a circle.
Huh. An "L". Luigi had a green hat with an "L" on it didn't he? What a peculiar thing to do, stitching an "L" onto your own hat. And Mario had an "M" on his red hat. Why in the world would they put the first letters of their names onto their hats? Who knew. It wasn't like it really bothered Daisy anyway. She actually thought it was kinda cute. It gave a rather minor accessory some personality. Heck, that could possibly be a new trend someday; maybe everyone would start putting the first letter of their names on their hats. But if that were to happen, then Mario's and Luigi's hats wouldn't be special anymore. And Daisy liked those hats... Well nevermind then, she hoped they would never become a trend if that was the case.
Why in the world was she thinking about that? She got up to look at the stars because she couldn't sleep and now she was contemplating the uniqueness of a hat. It was amazing what kinds of thoughts would come about when she was trying to occupy herself with something to do so she could fall asleep.
Maybe some physical exertion would serve to work better than idly staring up at the sky. It would certainly be a more direct way to expend this energy and excitement that plagued her body and her mind.
Ensuring that she moved as lightly as she could so she wouldn't disturb her family members that managed to successfully get themselves to sleep, Daisy slowly and carefully opened her bedroom door, stepped through the archway, and tiptoed down the hallway leading to the nearby living room. Slipping her bare feet into the tennis shoes she discarded next to the couch earlier that day, Daisy silently slid the glass partition leading to the backyard out of the way and allowed herself through, instantly greeted by cool, crisp air that only served to further stimulate her senses, making her even more awake than she was just moments ago.
Despite the counterproductive effect of the cold air, Daisy knew that if she could just occupy herself with some kind of activity for a while, she'd be able to get herself exhausted enough to be able to lie down and actually fall asleep. As she looked about, attempting to figure out what to do to toss away some of her energy, she quickly spotted the household's lone soccer ball resting on the lawn, ready and waiting to be kicked around for a while. Appreciating the ball's convenient placement, Daisy stepped over to the spherical object and held it underneath her right foot, looking down at it for a moment, appearing to contemplate what exactly to do with it. She could just dribble it around, but that'd get boring after a while. Maybe she could pretend the fence on the far end of the lawn was a goal. But kicking the ball against it would be pretty loud and she might disturb more people than just her family members.
Hmm... Oh, duh, of course. There was a great way that she could utilize this ball without making a lot of ruckus and without getting easily bored.
Scooping the soccer ball onto the top of her foot, Daisy slowly lifted it into the air, careful to keep it balanced against her foot and the end of her leg. Once she was sure she was able to hold it steady, she quickly dropped her foot down as she rotated her entire body, turning her back to the ball and curling her left leg up, successfully capturing the ball between her calf and her thigh before it had the chance to drop to the ground. With a proud chuckle, Daisy repeated the same action in reverse, recapturing the ball to balance it on her right foot once again.
The grass crunched softly beneath her feet as she hopped over and over again in place, juggling the ball in front of her waist with her legs. After a few seconds, once she could feel herself getting lost in the intricate skill of the footwork, Daisy kicked the ball upward with more strength, allowing it to fly just above her head. She quickly bent backward, looking up to the sky, and allowed the ball to bounce on her forehead softly. Thankfully, she positioned herself just in the right manner so the ball wouldn't bounce away at an angle, granting the desired result of balancing on her forehead for a short while before she allowed it to roll down her body like a a wheel down ramp. Of course, her chest acted as a sort of speed bump, causing the ball to fall away from her several inches. To counter the action though, Daisy quickly spun around and curled her left leg once again, this time kicking the ball back into the air with her heel in order to bring it around to her front. Catching it with her right foot, Daisy returned to her initial position, balancing the ball once again.
She would perform tricks like this for several minutes, occasionally feeling like a one-woman circus as she pulled off more astounding performances (one in particular involving launching the ball high enough into the air to allow her to perform a backflip and kick the ball back upward before it landed). However odd as it felt thinking about how she must have looked as she pulled these stunts, she couldn't deny that doing it was fun and incredibly challenging (it wasn't easy keeping her eye on the flying ball in the darkness of the backyard). She only wished that it were six in the morning and not roughly ten fifteen at night. This would be the perfect way to not only warm up for the day, but to also put on a show for Ilys; Daisy's little cousin simply loved watching her perform acts like this. It was no doubt amongst her greatest joys in the world. But hey, Daisy could always try to imitate her actions that night for the following morning. Despite how flashy it all looked, for her, it really wasn't that difficult to pull off. It just took some focus and some determination. Of course, practice and flexibility never hurt either.
The show went on for roughly fifteen more minutes, the time nearing ten thirty. And, unfortunately, Daisy wasn't feeling tired at all. As a matter of fact, if anything, she was only growing more energetic and more antsy to begin Sports Day... If only the park was open for the event starting at midnight. That would be great...
Her mind was immediately diverted from her energy level issues when she heard a strange sound emanating in the air however. It was a familiar sound, that of a sort of a dull, cushioned reverberation that echoed about as a semi-frequent pace.
She turned her eyes to the sky to see if she could spot anything nearby. Of course, in the darkness it was tough to see anything, but there was no doubt that the sound was getting louder and louder. Daisy could even hear rather faint murmuring accompanying the noise.
"Oh dear oh dear...is this the house? My my my...let me see here... Why, yes there's the family insignia right there on the door mat. Oh goodness, I can't believe it took me so long to find the right place. The king will be furious to hear the summons has been delivered so late... And the prince and his family are sure to be asleep. Oh my oh my oh my..."
That worried, muttering voice...that could only be one person. But what in the world were they doing there so late at night?
Letting the ball back down onto the grass, Daisy left it to rest as she walked off to the left of the backyard patio, approaching a section of the wooden fence that was hinged on to the side of the house in order to let it swing open as a pathway between the front lawn and the rear of the house. She unlatched the fence's small lock and pushed the gateway open, causing its bottom to slide across the grass of the front yard and tip off the nighttime visitor that someone was approaching.
Daisy could hear the meek personality gasp as she stepped out of the backyard and closed the fence behind her. Attracting the gaze of the visitor, Daisy's image prompted a relieved sigh as Daisy herself crossed her arms and spread a bright smile across her lips.
"Lakilulu, what are you doing here so late at night?" Daisy asked, suppressing a gleeful chuckle at the sight of the female Lakitu floating just above the porch of the house.
Flying on a purple cloud that constantly mirrored her own expression of nervousness (its eyes frequently darted around and it always wore a tiny, uncertain frown), Lakilulu sported a purple shell that shared its hue with the cloud and short jet black hair that hardly reached to her shoulders. She also wore a pair of rather thick glasses that she constantly had to adjust, for they were slightly too large to fit her properly.
Lakilulu was the definition of a worrywart. Despite the fact that she'd worked for Daisy's father for nearly two decades, she was constantly afraid that she would completely ruin her ties with the king if she ever messed up a single request, be it as small as fetching him a glass of water or as large as arranging a diplomatic visit to discuss politics with leaders of neighboring lands. Knowing her behavior, the king refrained from asking too much of her at a time, but she was the only individual in all of Sarasaland that he could trust with carrying out such orders issued by him directly. She'd proven herself to be completely trustworthy and loyal time and time again and the king (as well as Daisy) respected her greatly. Yet, thanks to her nature, she always downplayed her own deeds by insisting that she could have done a better job or worked a little faster or made the plans smoother. She was never satisfied with her own work, but both Daisy and the king always felt she did an exceptional job with whatever she was asked to carry out.
Daisy had a particular liking for Lakilulu however. Among her king's assistants, she was easily the most active and generally the most friendly of them all, even though her personality limited her ability with social interactions significantly on certain occasions. Lakilulu was actually the one to suggest that Daisy ask that her father let her attend a public school. It was on one particular evening that Daisy was feeling especially negative about the shelter and utter anti-realism of attending an all-girls private school that she somehow managed to get Lakilulu wrapped up into a conversation about it. Of course, the conversation was largely one sided, for Daisy did more ranting than actual talking as she listed off her points.
In general, people didn't ride limousines to and from school every single day.
In reality, the world wasn't filled with nothing but girls.
In actuality, not everyone was privileged and rich and "perfect".
Going to that private school was just unreal in pretty much every way. How was she supposed to learn about the society she would one day preside over if she was constantly excluded from it? Seriously, knowing about the land you ruled over was an important part of being a queen wasn't it? There had to be some kind of sense of connectivity with the rest of the world if she hoped to run the kingdom in a fashion that would both support it steadily while pleasing the needs and wants of its citizens at the same time. How could she possibly make decisions if she wasn't certain how well they would play out in society?
When she voiced these thoughts to Lakilulu that night so many years ago, the Lakitu lady took in the information with a slightly surprised look on her face. There was the young princess, hardly nine years of age, speaking more wisely than most actual kings and queens that ruled kingdoms without such thoughts or concerns taken into consideration when they made decisions that altered society altogether.
Daisy's speech about living in the real world (the world where cars broke down in the middle of nowhere and people paid rent to live in their apartments and day to day jobs had to be held to make the money needed for survival) to adequately learn how to one day rule it encouraged the usually still-tongued assistant to speak up and suggest that Daisy try to make some kind of compromise with her father so that she may leave the private schooling system she hated so much. Of course, Lakilulu didn't quite expect the negotiations to end in such a low form of confrontation as a bout of wrestling, but, without her input on the matter, it was very possible that Daisy would never have even been granted with the idea of leaving her home at the castle to live with her extended family. And hardly a day went by that she wasn't grateful for Lakilulu's interjection into the matter.
Of course, the friendly love that Daisy felt for the Lakitu didn't do much for the fact that their relationship was largely on a superior/subordinate basis, and Lakilulu constantly observed this almost always whenever speaking with any of Daisy's family (she wouldn't even allow herself to speak to Ilys without constantly referring to her as a "Lady" or a "Madame"). So, as she floated over to Daisy, and even though Daisy gave her a warm, inviting smile, she spoke with an almost mechanical voice, imparting words that sounded as if they were previously rehearsed for this occasion.
"Your Highness the Princess Daisy, your father, His Majesty the King Sarasa, summons you immediately," Lakilulu imparted, causing Daisy to raise a confused eyebrow in response. The Lakitu's incredibly formal speech wasn't what threw her off since it was rare that Lakilulu actually didn't speak like that. Instead, Daisy was more concerned with what could be going on that was so important that her father needed her right away.
"On what grounds does he summon me?" Daisy asked, keeping up the formality of the situation for Lakilulu's sake, since the old assistant disliked speaking with any of the royal family using plain speech.
"A previously scheduled diplomatic visit to the friendly land of the Beanbean Kingdom falls on the date of Saturday, September the twenty-third Your Highness," Lakilulu informed, double-checking her facts as she pulled out an itinerary from within her cloud, straining her eyes to read it in the dark setting. "His Majesty wishes for you to arrive at the castle no later than eight o' clock in the A.M. tomorrow morning. Your Gracefulness and His Highness will then depart for the Beanbean International Airport at nine o' clock in the A.M., scheduled to arrive at the airport at ten o'clock, then at the capitol of the Beanbean Kingdom, the Beanbean Castle Town, at ten thirty, where you will meet Her Majesty the Queen Bean, His Highness the Prince Peasley, and Ambassador the Lady Lima."
Well that was just great... Why the hell hadn't Daisy heard about this trip before? It fell right on top of the one day of the week that she anticipated the most, and she would have to completely skip Sports Day just to go to the Beanbean Kingdom with her father. God, if he was going to make plans that involved taking her away from Toad Town, he should have at least had the courtesy of letting her know beforehand... Of course, she couldn't expect him to tell her. He was just so freaking spastic like that...
"What business do we have in the Beanbean Kingdom?" Daisy asked, her voice growing noticeably testy as she realized that her whole day was just thrown out the window thanks to her father. Trying to disregard the irritation that rang from Daisy's tone upon uttering the question, Lakilulu provided an answer. Unfortunately, it was one that Daisy did not want to hear.
"His Majesty simply states that it is for friendly visiting purposes only. He wishes for you to meet the Beanbean royal family and you are scheduled to remain within the Beanbean Kingdom's borders until seven o' clock Sunday evening, when you will be returning home."
Oh, she simply couldn't believe this. Daisy understood the importance of keeping friendly relations with neighboring kingdoms, and hardly anything was much more friendly than stopping by and paying a personal visit, but couldn't it have come at a better time!? Or could she at least have been informed about it a bit sooner!? Her father apparently failed to realize that she actually had her own life and her own plans. And, of course, he had to butt in at just the wrong time.
"We can't reschedule for another date?" Daisy asked with a voice that sounded whiny just as much as it sounded angry as she dropped her folded arms down to her sides, her lips curling into a slight frown.
"I apologize Your Majesty, His Highness confirmed this date," Lakilulu informed. "It cannot be changed."
Daisy placed her hands on her hips as she glanced over at the front door of the house. Could her father have any worse timing? And was it really necessary that she go and meet the Beanbean royal family the very next day? Couldn't it wait until the following Saturday when she actually didn't have anything planned? God...
It took Daisy several moments to come to terms with the fact that she had to carry through with the plans, whether she particularly wanted to or not. She had to face it, a day in the park playing sports wasn't quite as important as making a diplomatic venture to another kingdom, even if it was just for a simple visit in order to meet the leaders. Friendly ties and relationships with the rulers of neighboring lands was a prominent part of being a leader after all. The scheduled plans of visiting granted birth to friendships and allies that could aid one another in case a time of crisis occurred for one of the kingdoms, such as war breaking out or a famine or anything of the like. And Daisy herself had yet to meet Queen Bean, Prince Peasley, and Lady Lima. If she hoped to make her ascent to the throne one day, it would definitely be vital that the ties her father established with the kingdom were kept strong for when he stepped down from power, and the best way to do that was for Daisy to make friends with them herself.
With a sigh after several seconds of silent contemplation, Daisy gave a small nod, accepting the fact that she would have to give up her day at the park in favor of traveling to the Beanbean Kingdom and meeting the royal family. It most likely wouldn't be as much fun and she felt bad about having to leave her friends behind without any notice, but it was something that had to be done...
It wasn't long before Daisy noticed a black limo pulling up in front of the house's driveway, the driver having apparently gotten even more lost than Lakilulu had while trying to track down the correct location. In an attempt to remain discreet and deter any attention that the automobile might have attracted, the driver promptly turned off the car's engine, shutting the vehicle down and switching off its noticeable headlights. Shortly thereafter, a black shelled Koopa stepped out of the vehicle, bearing a black suit as well as a black top hat, causing him to blend in with the car and the surrounding darkness rather well, despite the yellow hue of his skin. He stepped to the back end of the vehicle and simply stood there, waiting dutifully to open the door for Daisy once she was prepared to step in.
While the Koopa was making his way to the rear of the car, Daisy and Lakilulu could hear someone unlocking the nearby front door. Turning their attention back to the entryway, the door slowly opened and Jeff soon poked his head out, having been woken up by the conversation being held so close to his bedroom window.
Peering out into the front yard, Jeff noticed the presence of the limo immediately and soon witnessed Daisy and Lakilulu staring at him from there standing point in the front yard. With an exhausted yawn, Jeff stepped out of the house, revealing himself to only be wearing a pair of white boxers. Lakilulu immediately diverted her eyes as Daisy felt the sudden urge to smack a palm against her forehead. The prince of Sarasaland was standing on his front porch, yawning and stretching in nothing but boxers, showing off his prized chest and leg hair for the world to see, should it choose to look. She had to admit, the sight was grossly funny in a way, but to think that Jeff simply didn't care that he had three sets of eyes on him as he made this display left no wonder as to why he moved away from the castle as soon as he could. Within its walls, he wouldn't have the freedom to do such a thing and be able to simply shrug it off the next day. His brother would kill him if he could see this.
"Hey, is that you Lakilulu?" Jeff asked from his vantage point at the doorway. Turning to face Jeff out of sheer principle, Lakilulu answered, though she eagerly attempted to keep her eyes diverted from his almost naked visage.
"Yes my Prince," Lakilulu affirmed with a small bow, making Jeff scoff in retaliation. Unlike Daisy, Jeff didn't care about the Lakitu's need to keep up formalities when speaking. He constantly spoke to Lakilulu just the same as he spoke to anyone else, hoping that she would lighten up and just talk back using normal speech. Of course, that had yet to happen. And it was unlikely that it ever would.
"What's my brother got you doing for him this time?" Jeff asked wearily, ruffling the already messy hair on the back of his head.
"My dad planned a father-daughter trip to the Beanbean Kingdom so we can meet the royal family," Daisy informed, taking the burden of speaking to the man from Lakilulu.
"Oh really? Is that so?" Jeff said, beginning to regain his senses as the cold air got to him. "That doesn't sound too bad. Queen Bean and Peasley are pretty decent folks. You might like them. But uh...do you have to go right now or something?" he asked, returning his gaze to the limo waiting in front of the driveway.
"Yeah, Dad wants me back at the castle by tomorrow morning," Daisy answered with a frown, looking over at the limo as well. "And it's not like the drive is very short... So I guess I have to leave tonight."
"Man, talk about a bummer," Jeff muttered as he folded his arms. "You're gonna have to miss Sports Day."
"I know..." Daisy mumbled as she made her way up the patio steps, headed for the door. "I'll just go pack up a few things. I'll try to be quiet so I don't wake anyone up."
"Alright," Jeff retorted as he stepped out of Daisy's way and allowed her into the house. In a few shorts seconds, Lakilulu followed Daisy's path and floated up to the patio as well, but stopped in front of Jeff once she reached him.
"I dearly apologize if the king's summons have come at an inopportune moment," she spoke up as she bowed so low that she threatened to fall out of her cloud. "I should have arrived sooner. It is terribly late for such news."
"Hey, Lulu, don't worry about it alright?" Jeff shrugged the apology off as he referred to Lakilulu by her nickname; a name she desperately wished that none of the royal house would use, for it was informal and beneath them to utter such a thing from their lips. "It's just kind of a downer that she has to miss Sports Day. It's an event that the city holds twice a year and she always loves attending it, so it's not your fault that she doesn't really want to leave."
Even so, that just made Lakilulu the bearer of bad news, hardly an improvement over arriving at an inopportune time. As a matter of fact, it only served to make her feel even worse...
While her uncle attempted to ensure Lakilulu that she did nothing wrong, Daisy lightly stepped her way through the house, headed for her room where she kept a singular red suitcase that she always used whenever traveling back to the castle. Lying the suitcase on its back and unzipping its hatch, Daisy wondered if she should even bring any clothes with her other than some underwear and a pajama suit. If she was to be visiting Beanbean Castle and conversing with royalty for the duration of the trip, it was likely that she would be required to ditch her normal clothes in favor of the dresses that waited for her patiently in the closet of her room back at the castle. Still though, it couldn't hurt to be prepared with some clothes of her own choice.
Glancing through her closet, Daisy picked out a plain orange shirt and a pair of blue jeans, both of which were tighter than her usual choice of clothing, hugging against her body rather snugly as she switched out of her pajamas in favor of wearing these casual clothes for the trip out to Sarasaland. Tossing the pajamas into her suitcase, Daisy looked back into the closet to choose two more outfits, just in case she needed them in order to last for the two days she would be away.
As she scanned the remaining selection of clothing, Daisy could hear tiny footsteps walking up the hallway towards her room. Ceasing her search in favor of discovering who was approaching her bedroom, Daisy turned her gaze to the open doorway. And it wasn't long before the tiny figure made her appearance before Daisy, standing out in the hallway in her white, one piece pajama suit, clutching a doll made in the likeness of a Mole that was about half her own size; her sleeping companion that she held close every single night.
"How come you're all dressed up?" Ilys asked with a tired voice, rubbing her eye with her free hand as she tried to render herself awake, having been stirred from her sleep by the commotion that occurred on the front lawn. Daisy stepped forward to her small cousin and knelt down to her level, stroking a hand down the back of her head in order to smooth down the slightly disrupted hair that poked up a fair bit.
"I have to go out to the castle again Ilys," Daisy informed her baby cousin with a soft voice. "Uncle Sarasa needs me to visit for a while, so I'll be gone until Sunday."
"But what about Sports Day?" Ilys asked with a tiny voice, not wanting to see her cousin leave on yet another trip to see her father. "I thought we were gonna play together all day."
Oooh...Ilys was just deadset on making this difficult for Daisy. She already didn't want to go and have to miss out on this one day of the week she looked forward to for so long, but now Ilys was unknowingly sending her on a guilt trip for having to leave, making Daisy feel as if it were her own fault that her plans to spend the day with her family and her friends was ruined...
"I'm sorry Ilys, I have to go visit my father," Daisy apologized, feeling terrible that she had to depart and leave her cousin behind with no notice at all. "But promise me you'll have fun with Mommy and Daddy tomorrow alright? And when I get back, I want you to tell me all about everything you did on Sports Day, okay? Promise me you'll do that?"
"I promise..." Ilys said halfheartedly, which wasn't nearly enough to convince Daisy that she would carry through with the task. Feeling the need to end the conversation on a light note, Daisy proceeded to egg Ilys on.
"Oh come on Ilys, it doesn't sound like you're gonna keep your promise," Daisy teased her little cousin with a playful voice shortly before beginning a hailstorm of pokes that would turn into a tickling fest of laughter emanating from the young girl. "Promise me you'll have fun? Promise promise promise?"
"I promise!" Ilys spoke out with a squeal of glee, barely managing to penetrate her immense laughter as Daisy tirelessly tickled her into positive submission.
Satisfied with the new energy behind the promise, Daisy discontinued her playful assault and let Ilys catch her breath as well as let out a few left over giggles that stuck within her as a result of the situation. Before Ilys could fully get over the tickling however, she surprised Daisy with a sudden hug around her neck, flinging the stuffed Mole about as she embraced her older cousin lovingly.
"I'm gonna miss you," she whispered into Daisy's ear. But instead of sadness, her voice seemed to be brimming with joy, and Daisy couldn't tell if that was a continuing side effect of the tickling or if she really was just happy at that moment. Either way, Daisy returned the hug tenderly, opting to remain silent for several seconds as she stabilized her own emotions, for underneath the playful act that she just put on moments ago, she was truly distraught about the thought of leaving her little cousin behind. Even if it was only for a couple days.
"I'm gonna miss you too Ilys," Daisy promised, trying to match her enthusiasm, but failing ever so slightly. She didn't give the comment much time to sink in however, fearing that her slightly depressed voice would bring down Ilys's spirits, something she really didn't want to do. So, with a quick kiss on the cheek, Daisy released Ilys from the hug and stood up once more, looking down at her cousin with a nicely feigned smile on her lips. "Now go back to bed. You need all the energy you can get for Sports Day tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am!" Ilys piped up with a gleeful giggle before scuttling down the hallway, dragging the Mole doll at her side for the duration of the trip back to her room. Daisy watched her leave and waited several moments, listening for the sound of a closing door that barred Ilys's room off from the hallway. Once she was sure the little girl was out of earshot, Daisy let out a sigh and returned to her closet, continuing her chore of selecting which clothes would be best for this diplomatic venture should the need to actually wear them arise.
It would be another ten minutes before Daisy was fully packed, having successfully picked out appropriate clothes as well as throwing in her hygienic utensils that she probably wouldn't use either, for her room was still fully equipped with pretty much everything she could need. Still, it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
Packed and ready to head out, Daisy lifted her suitcase and quietly made her way back to the front lawn, where she was met with the tail end of what could be none other than a very strange conversation that probably would have been interesting to listen in on during the course of the dialogue. It was odd how one could easily walk in on a chat a have the first words they hear be "I don't see why motion sensing toilet seats are such a big deal. Who likes having to spend twenty seconds trying to get the things to flush?"
What in the world inspired Jeff to make a comment like that...? Eh, it didn't really matter.
"Alright, I'm ready to go," Daisy cut in as she approached the pair with her suitcase, taking note that Lakilulu bore a rather mortified expression on her face, likely a result of what Jeff just said to her.
Thankful for the princess's appearance on the scene, Lakilulu nodded and shared her farewells with Jeff, who returned them and added that Daisy should tell her father that his brother and his family haven't seen him in a long time, and that they had to schedule a date so they could all get together sometime soon. Keeping her uncle's words in mind, Daisy stepped off the porch and headed out across the pathway alongside the Lakitu assistant. Jeff hung back and waved goodbye to them as the Koopa driver opened the door to allow the pair into the limousine's rear cabin. Once they were in, the driver softly closed the door behind them, not wanting to making too much noise as he did so, and promptly returned to the driver's seat of the vehicle.
Once the limo was running once again and the lights flickered back to life, it pulled away from the house rather slowly, turning down an adjacent street and disappearing from Jeff's view. He soon reentered the house and closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it up before heading back to his bed and his sleeping wife.
And resting on the bottom bunk of a two-level bed in a home clear across town, a certain young man in green pajamas shifted uncomfortably underneath his bedsheets. He had a feeling that the following day would not be quite as good or as fun as he'd hoped, for something rather important to him that would make his day perfect would not be present.