Please forgive the shortness, I wanted to get something out today. I write every day, it's just hard to update every day.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting.

I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that, too

It was a welcome distraction from the gloomy atmosphere, the door opening that is. Both Dean and I looked up, he was probably dreading any more visitors like I was. I think we'd had enough surprises for one lifetime. But it wasn't anyone new, it was two very weary-looking young women coming back into the room. Beside me Dean stood. He and Alicia locked eyes and, in light of everything that happened, I found myself studying the girl as well.

"Dean," She spoke in a thin and fragile voice.

She looked like she'd either been crying or was about to. Nervously she was wiping her hands on her black pants and it was like she was trying to hide behind her massive curls the way she kept her head slightly bowed. Her body language and the fear in her usually sparkling eyes made me uncomfortable so I knew without glancing over that Dean was affected by her obvious fragility. He just stood there, though, his own dark eyes locked with hers.

"I know this is…" Alicia began, then swallowed and said, "I can explain…"

She actually flinched when Dean made purposeful strides towards her and I felt a jolt inside, thinking he was gonna' hurt her. But I should've known better; Dean wasn't like that. He wrapped his arms around the girl and, much more desperately, she did the same to him. Now she really was crying and it got extremely tense and awkward in that room yet again.

"Don't cry, 'Licia." Dean coaxed, rubbing her back. "It's alright."

He glanced at me, sort of helpless, and all I could do was shrug. He wasn't doing too badly, especially since Alicia was starting to calm down.

"It's not alright," Alicia pulled back and said softly. She wiped her face and said, "I haven't been honest with you."

"Oh," Dean winced, still holding her waist. He said, "So you are a um…"

Alicia seemed to be holding her breath.

Dean nodded and said, "Right. Well um, I mean we'll work this out. But…we should probably…go home first."

The face Alicia was making reminded me of those old cartoons where the robot would be like, 'does not compute'. She looked like she couldn't believe what Dean was saying, and he looked like he was incredibly tired. But he had nothing but love for her in his eyes.

Alicia blinked several times, knocking some of the moisture out of her eyes, and nodded.

She took Dean's hands and looked over at Daisy, who had her hip cocked as she leaned in the doorway. Her and Daisy smiled weakly at each other and when Alicia glanced at me I gave her a little wave before she, too, vanished.

Poor Dean.

She could have at least warned him.

"Well." Daisy spoke in preamble as she dropped her hip and hands and sauntered over to me.

I dropped my arms as well and said, "This has been…a very long day. And it's not even noon yet."

"No kidding." Daisy agreed, crossing her arms and tipping her head forward. She glanced around and frowned, asking me, "Where is everybody?"

"King Boo just left," I told her. "He said he'd be back so I guess we have that to look forward to."

"What about that dog Nikolai?"

"He's gone. He took Ludwig with him." I frowned and said, "And I've got a feeling he's not taking him to Sun Fun Island."

"Ludwig?" Daisy frowned, "When did he show up?" She then said, "Oh, you mean his clone?"

"No," I drawled slowly. "I mean Ludwig. That wasn't his clone, it was him."

Daisy frowned and let that sink in, then scoffed irritably and said, "You know, this actually makes a lot of sense."

"How?"

"Well how else could Nikolai have thought to come here?" She reasoned. "I bet Ludwig had a hand in that, somehow."

"I don't know how he could have known you and Alicia were friends but I wouldn't put it past him to sell you out." I mused and then had to tack on, "Again."

"So he's still an asshole." Daisy rolled her eyes, "What else is new? If Nikolai does have something nasty in store for him, it'll be no less than he deserves, I'm sure."

Ouch. That was a bit harsh, but then again I wasn't the one who'd been betrayed not once but twice by the former enforcer. I didn't dare reproach Daisy for her bitter remarks. But I did rub the tops of her shoulders down to her forearms and back up again. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I just want to go back to bed and start this day over," She groaned softly.

I said, "Yeah."

A moment was taken for thought, then I sat down on the table near her and put my arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head on mine and crossed one leg over the other.

"Can you believe Alicia's a witch?" She asked me. "I had no idea."

"Me either," I replied, "But I'm not really surprised. She's too incredible a person to be normal. Like you."

Daisy looked up at me and asked teasingly, "Are you saying I'm abnormal?"

"Attractively so…?" I tried to clean it up and Daisy grinned.

"Ahem."

Both of us turned and saw that King Boo was back. That was sooner than I'd thought. I stood and Daisy hopped down from the table and Boo came over to us. He had something like a book in his hands, a very thin book.

"I found this, along with a brief note," King Boo stated. "Ignatius left it behind."

"What did the note say?" I inquired, and was handed a piece of paper.

While I read over the note—Boo wasn't kidding when he said it was brief—the Lord of Illusions gave the book to my fiancée. The note assured me that Iggy was very sorry for his actions but that he just had to find her, and that he hoped King Boo could forgive him since he never meant to hurt anyone. I think, since he wrote the note, Iggy must have known that what he'd done was wrong, deep down, even if he didn't exactly know how. I looked over at Daisy. She was turning the book over in her hands, rubbing her fingers along the cover.

"What is this?" she asked, opening the thing up.

King Boo said, "It's a tracking device, and not just that but a teleportation device as well."

"Translation?" Daisy blinked over at the king.

He leaned one hand on the table and reminded me how tall and long he was in this form, so unlike his giant bulbous form I used to see him in. King Boo seemed proud as he began to explain the mysterious book.

"It's young Ignatius' creation." He stated, taking it from Daisy and laying it on the table.

It looked like a map, a very broad, yellowish map of the Mushroom World. There was a tiny little spot of red that looked like it may have been flashing, but it could have just been the light hitting it or something.

King Boo pointed to the dot and said, "This indicates the relative location of the Dark King."

"WHAT?!" Daisy blurted, snatching the map back.

The immortal said, "It indicates the—"

"I heard you," Daisy said quickly, "I just can't believe it! Does this actually work?"

"To my knowledge, it does." King Boo shrugged. "Though he's a bit new to magic and sorcery, Ignatius is certainly no novice when it comes to inventions."

"Yeah," I agreed nostalgically.

Daisy was completely ignoring us. She was hunched over the map like it was some sort of Bible, ghosting her fingers over the craggly, papery surface of the book. She touched the dot and the map changed, rearranged itself so that the area with the dot expanded to fill the whole two pages. Bigger now, I could see that the dot was definitely flashing. She breathed in and looked over at me excitedly. I looked to King Boo. He looked like an old man reminiscing on his grandkids as he, too, gazed at the map device. I waved a hand at him to get his attention.

"You said it was a tracking device and a teleportation device?" I reiterated. "How does that work?"

Here King Boo stood to his full height and said, "It's capable of transporting two individuals at a time. You simply hold your finger over the red mark and you'll arrive at its current coordinates."

"Whoa," I remarked, "That's pretty—Daisy no!"

I had to yank the map out of her hands because she had her finger over the dot with the express intention of doing just as Boo had instructed. Without the map in her possession, she looked to me as if clueless about what she'd just been about to do. I gave her an, 'are you serious?', kind of look.

"So you're just gonna' pop in on him?" I asked her incredulously. "Just like that?"

"Why not?" Daisy argued, hands on her hips. "If we take him out now we won't have to worry about him attacking anyone else—"

"Daisy, that's crazy." I cut in. "You don't even know if this thing works and you're all ready to just…beam yourself out there."

Jerking her head towards the sorcerer Daisy said, "He said it works! That's good enough for me."

"He said, 'to his knowledge'," I clarified, gazing down at the woman in front of me.

I really couldn't believe we were even having this argument. Was she out of her mind? It had to be the stress making her temporarily insane. There was no way I was letting her do this.

I said, "Even if we disregard the fact that this thing was created by a thirteen-year-old kid and pretend that it does work, you still don't know where you'll end up."

"Does it matter?" Daisy challenged simply.

"Yeah, it does." I replied. "What if he's in the middle of a meeting with, like, the most evil people in the universe? What if he's surrounded by a ton of powerful allies?"

Daisy frowned but was quiet. I hoped she was seeing my point.

"Your fiancé is right," King Boo sided with me. "It wouldn't do to act too quickly, not where the Dark King is concerned."

"Right," I nodded, but it gave me a weird chill when I looked back and saw King Boo nod back.

Daisy frowned and said, "Well of course we'll use caution but we've gotta' act fast. We've got the opportunity so we should jump on it. I mean, isn't this what we were waiting for? What you and your troops have been training for?"

I frowned uneasily but said, "Yeah but…"

"But what?"

"Nothing."

"I should go."

Only I looked over at Boo when he said that, Daisy was still trying to weed out an explanation for my hesitance via hard staring. I saw the king step backwards and slowly disappear so that my girl and I were alone in the room again.

"Come on." She took my hand. "We need to talk."

"Can't we just go back to bed?"

No. That sharp look was a definite no.

There weren't many sorcerers more magically-apt than his brother and both he and said brother knew it. But what his brother also knew was that he'd arrived. Callian probably sensed him as soon as he appeared at the canyon's rear entrance, that's why he was smiling so smugly when Nikolai strode through the doors that led to the headquarters' dining room. At the head Callian sat, appropriately so considering his title, opening his arms congenially towards his younger and only sibling.

"Look who came—"

"You have something I need." Nikolai announced tersely, not in the mood to be antagonized.

Behind him he dragged one unwilling companion, the unconscious and burlap sack-enshrouded Ludwig Von Koopa.

There were League members at the table, dining with their leader. It was around noon, and it would seem duck was on the menu. Ill-prepared, the meal didn't look at all appetizing but the others were scarfing it down nonetheless.

Disgusting, Nikolai fleetingly appraised. When I take over, this'll be a thing of the past.

But in order to do that, he'd need to 'reconcile' with his headstrong wife, which brought him back to the issue at hand. He needed something from Callian and, by the insufferable smirk, Callian could sense this.

"Nice to see you, too." The older brother drawled, slouching back and asking, "Where's your damn manners, Nikky?"

He has the nerve to speak of manners and he's got this place looking and smelling like a circus, Nikolai fumed.

Callian crossed burly arms and said knowingly, "This little visit wouldn't have anything to do with my darling sister-in-law, now would it?"

Nikolai's narrowed eyes gave him away and Callian laughed. He leaned forward with both elbows on the table and his head in his hands.

Eyes twinkling he said, "Pretty little Katerena: you're still chasing her, aren't you?"

Nikolai didn't deny that he'd been doing that since the day he left the League. Callian shook his head and sat back again.

Disgusted he remarked, "I don't understand you, Nikky. If you want to take over so bad, why don't you just forget about the girl and marry some other woman fool enough to bear you an heir? It'd be much faster."

Yes, Nikolai had thought of that. But he didn't want another woman, he wanted Katerena. Not to mention he didn't have the patience to invest that much time in seducing and deceiving another hapless victim.

"Do you have it or not?" Nikolai irritably demanded.

"Have what?" Callian asked patiently. "What do you want now?"

"The artifact you keep around your neck," Nikolai specified. "You know which one I'm talking about."

"Oh no," Callian grinned. "You're an idiot for even asking. You know I need that."

It's the only thing that grants immunity against offensive magical attacks; I can see why Cal doesn't want to part with it, Nikolai mused, but I need that artifact to bypass Katerena's wards and ensure she doesn't put up too much of a fight.

"What's in the sack?" Callian curiously used his eyes to gesture towards the lump in the burlap bag.

Nikolai donned a smirk of his own and said, "Can't you tell?"

Callian probed the air with a sixth sense, detecting nothing but the magical signatures of the surrounding League members and his brother. But after a little more searching, he latched onto something familiar, another signature, buried deep inside its host. He sobered instantly and stood slowly.

"Is that…who I think it is?" Callian approached the sack with measured steps.

Nikolai blocked his path, standing at the same height as his brother. He was the smug one now as he nodded and tightened his grip on the bag.

"You know who it is." He replied. "And if you want him, give me the artifact."

Cal snorted and said, "What's to stop me from just taking him and not giving you a damn thing?"

Nikolai felt a flare of panic, having not anticipated that, but he acted on the spot and the burlap sack vanished. Callian grabbed him by the flaps of his coat and Nikolai shoved him off.

"Where is he?!" Callian shouted, his features thunderous.

Nikolai brushed his coat off delicately, uncaringly, and said, "He'll be back. As soon as you give me the—"

"Take it!" Callian ripped from his neck a previously invisible lump of ivory, wrapped thrice over with a thin rope material.

He threw it at his brother's face and only his quick instincts allowed Nikolai to catch it before it connected with his nose; judging by its weight, the thing may have done some damage to his alabaster features. He examined it closely, alternating his scrutiny with glares at his brother.

"This isn't a fake, is it?" Nikolai asked dubiously.

Callian sneered, "Oh come now, Nikky, it's not like you'd be able to tell."

"Callian…" Nikolai trailed warningly, upset not so much over the jibe at his lesser abilities but at the fact that he could be getting duped.

Callian said testily, "It's not a fake, Nikolai. It's not as if I actually need the thing. Not all of us are as magically-challenged as…some people." He punctuated the more obvious barb with a cruel smirk.

Nikolai's lip twitched in a feinting glare but his hand also moved and the burlap sack was back. He slid it with his foot over towards Callian and brought the ivory lump around his neck. He started to tell his brother off but saw how greedily Callian was pawing through the folds of the sack, his face alighting and then darkening at the sight of tell-tale blue hair and decided to just leave. He had a feeling things were about to get ugly.

"Your Majesty—"

"Not now."

"But Princess, should we—"

"It's fine." Daisy assured not only the single official, but turned to address the palace at large, "Everything's fine. I have everything under control."

The murmuring finally stopped. It had started as soon as she and I left the meeting room and began heading towards our room, then grew to a loud buzz when a few servants approached her. She smiled at them all after speaking and took my hand.

"I'm going to speak with my fiancé in private." She told them. "Please don't disturb me unless it's an emergency."

The attendants responded in bows and soft words of compliance. Daisy then turned and carted me off with her by the arm with the hand that wasn't gripping the map. I let her lead the way to the tower and, once there, shed my trainers and went over to the bed. I wasn't kidding about going back to sleep. I felt sort of drained.

"No, get up Luigi," Daisy complained, climbing into bed with me.

She sat up on her knees and frowned at me until I sighed and did the same.

"Alright," I said. "Let's talk."

"We need to get ready to leave."

"Daisy, really?" I said. "You wanna' hunt down Bowser today?"

"Of course not," She replied. "We can set out in the morning."

"Daisy." I reached out and stretched my legs on either side of her. "Let's just take an hour to process what's happened."

"We can do that now." She insisted. She listed, "Alicia's a witch, er, she's got special abilities. The snake's got his power back and is on the loose somewhere, and we now have the ability to find out exactly where he is."

"That's not a guarantee," I pointed out, leaning back on my hands.

Daisy said, "It doesn't matter, it's better than taking a shot in the dark. We could go to him, you and me. Right now. We could arm ourselves—"

"He's armed, too." I stated, "With a pair of flamethrowers for hands, in case you forgot."

"He won't be expecting us." Daisy argued. "We'd have the element of surprise."

"That's not enough to even the odds."

"We don't have to worry about odds," Daisy folded her arms and pouted in a decidedly sexy way.

Focus, brain, I chided myself.

"Don't you have those guns?" Daisy inquired. "We could just show up, find him, shoot him in the head and be done with this."

"Um. Right." I remarked.

That sounds really logical, but logic is never infallible when it comes to dealing with Bowser, I thought. If something can go wrong along the way, it will, and I'd rather not be on the wrong side of those fiery fists when things go south.

"It can't be that easy." I said.

Daisy said, "It might be. I think you're overthinking this."

She reached over and picked up the map and I tensed.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere." Daisy said, and was honest about that.

She merely opened it and held it up for emphasis. "This is a great tool, Luigi. A tremendous advantage for us." She proclaimed.

"I realize that." I said.

Truly I did. I was impressed with Iggy for inventing it in the first place, and if it worked, I'd have to wonder how someone like him could have come from someone like Bowser. Iggy was a genius and Bowser, though strong and I guess talented, was not very bright.

"You're right, this is a big help," I said. "But don't you think we're getting ahead of ourselves?"

"Why do you say that?" Daisy asked, setting the map aside. She said, "You get your troops in order and I'll square things away with the Council."

"What do you mean?" I felt a foreboding dread of her answer.

She said, "Well I'm coming with you so I'll have to let them know I'm leaving for an indeterminate amount of time."

"They'll just let you leave?" I asked, hoping there'd be a hindrance.

Daisy said, "Of course. I'm the Princess."

"But don't the people need you here?" I pressed.

"The Council is more than capable of handling things while I'm gone." She said. "Though I will be leaving General Zair to stand in my place."

"What?"

Daisy smirked and said, "Why the surprise?"

Take a wild guess, I challenged, but said, "He's kind of a sadist. Are you sure it's a good idea to leave him in charge?"

"I trust him." She replied. "And besides, that's why the Council exists; for balance of power."

"So you've got this all figured out."

"Is there some reason you don't want me to leave?"

How like her to see exactly why I'd been beating around the bush. I knew she must already know why I didn't want her to go. It was obvious. Yeah, she knew, she was smiling gently and scooting closer to me.

"Luigi, I know you don't want me to get hurt," She began softly. "But there is no way in hell I'm staying here while you go confront the snake."

"I know." I sighed, accepting this.

At least we'll be together, I acknowledged.

I then asked, "Are you ready to face him again?"

"No." Daisy answered after a moment. "But I'll never really be ready. I've just got to do it."

"Do you, like…"

"Do I what?" Daisy prompted.

I didn't want to offend her but I wanted to know the extent of her skills. It was probably a stupid thing to ask, seeing as how she survived being around him more than once. Daisy must've read my face because she rolled her eyes and shoved my shoulder playfully.

"Look, Commander," She feigned a stern tone. "Don't forget I did time in Chai's military. And besides that, I've dealt with the viper before. I know how to make him hurt."

Slightly lower her voice dropped on that last part, and her jovial tone diminished and turned cold and slightly vicious.

"Okay." I smiled awkwardly. "I didn't mean to doubt you."

She shook her head and said, "It's fine. I'll be getting some last minute sessions in with General Zair anyway. And you should probably show me how to use a gun."

"Oh yeah." I responded. "So when do you want to leave?"

"In a week."

"Two weeks."

"…Ten days." Daisy hustled, and on that I was willing to compromise.

I didn't know what kind of training she expected to get in ten days, and with Zair no less, but it was her funeral.

"You really shouldn't rush into this." I advised, "It's not like he's going anywhere. And if he is, we'll know." I glanced at the map pointedly.

Daisy said, "I know, but why wait?"

"So we could be more prepared?" I tried.

"I know what you're saying," Daisy allowed, "But I can't help but wonder what he's doing in the meantime. Who is he hurting? What damage is he causing?"

My, the mental images that line of conversation began to cause. It was silent for a beat in the room as the atmosphere grew heavy and grim. I sighed the longest I had all day and flopped onto my side.

"I have to go break the news to my troops in a couple hours." I announced. "I'm gonna' try and rest until then. I suggest you do the same, Princess."