Chapter 3

Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Luigi walked down the stairs, into the kitchen of the brothers' household. The sun shone brightly through the windows. It looked like a nice day outside, but he hissed and closed the curtains, blocking the awful Monday morning sunlight. Luigi was never one for mornings, or Mondays. He would rather be locked in time, forced to remain in the night's comforting darkness. He tiredly reached for a mug in the cupboard. Setting it down, he closed the cupboard door. Blinking a few times to keep himself awake, he finally let his tiredness get the best of him and rested his forehead on the wooden cupboard door, drifting back to sleep.

A door shifted open and made a small creaking noise. Shuffling was heard at first, then a soft grunting. A small gasp sounded and then something fell. Luigi snapped back to reality, blinking a few times. His vision was blurred slightly, but he could still see well enough to identify the fallen item. He walked over to the pantry doors, which were slightly opened and stared at the fallen bag of chips. "How did you get down here?" He picked up the colorful bag and set it back up on one of the wooden shelves. "Stay." He snickered.

Yoshi tugged at his pants, whining.

"Huh? You…you want this?"

Yoshi nodded vigorously. He outstretched his arms and opened and closed his hands. Luigi lamely tossed him the chips and Yoshi giggled with glee. "You know, I don't remember letting you in here last night…" He recalled.

Yoshi munched away happily on the chips.

"...Wait a second, how did you get in here?"

Yoshi paused, tilting his head at his friend's question. After looking around the kitchen one last time, Yoshi pointed to a big hole in the window by the sink. Luigi stared wide-eyed at the broken window. He stepped back and called up the stairs.

"MARIO!"

Minutes later, the brothers were both bickering over the events that happened the night before.

"I'm telling you, he got in here last night by breaking that window." Luigi explained sternly, pointing at the broken window.

"It could have been the wind." Mario replied.

Luigi groaned. "You always think that whatever happens is the wind!"

"Maybe it was! Wind can do that, you know."

Luigi sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then how do you explain the 50-pound dinosaur in our kitchen?!"

"The wind can do many things, Luigi."

"GAH!"

Just as Luigi was getting ready to scold his brother at the top of his lungs, someone knocked at the front door. "I'm betting that was the wind too." Luigi sneered. Mario rolled his eyes. He tugged at the hem of his red shirt and walked over to the door. Faint mumbling could be heard outside. The person had a natural British accent, which Mario easily recognized at Toadsworth. Toadsworth was the royal advisor to Princess Peach and her caretaker. Mario always thought of the old man as a nanny with no home to go back to and he paid the price for calling him a "grandpa" on numerous occasions. Toadsworth wasn't fond of the plumber, but he dealt with it.

Mario opened the door just a crack so he could rudely say, "No one's home!" but Toadsworth pushed the door open wider. His mumbling was soon turning into a rant.

"…And she dares to defy ME, her royal advisor and her caretaker and she dare defy her KINGDOM!" Toadsworth sharply turned around to face Mario, "And YOU!" He wagged a bony finger at the man, "She trusts YOU! I'll never understand that girl."

Luigi breathed inwardly, thinking hard about Toadsworth's rant. "Uhh…can you explain?"

"Glad to!" He exclaimed, huffing once more. "Last night, around the hour of one, the princesses left the castle," He glared at Mario, "Unguarded." Mario shrugged. Toadsworth continued, "This morning, I received a letter explaining their sudden disappearance. Let me just tell you that I am not too pleased with the contents of that bloody letter, but…" His tone changed back to a mumble, "I suppose you will be."

Toadsworth gave Mario the letter, pointing to a certain paragraph. Mario sighed and read some parts aloud. "I will be gone for an estimated two months and have no expectations that I will return any sooner…the kingdom will be given to a trustworthy person until I return…I advise that Toadsworth keep a good eye on him…the kingdom is temporarily given to my protector and good friend, Mario…"

The room was silent. Mario read over the sentence a couple of times, as if it were going to change at any minute. Toadsworth huffed once again, "Rubbish. Absolute rubbish."

The brothers stared at him. He cleared his throat and managed a fake smile. "I mean, it's wonderful. You get to try your hand at royalty…Master Mario." He despised saying those very words, but he had learned to deal with that as well.

"The kingdom is mine?"

"Temporarily," Toadsworth quickly added, "Only for the estimated two months."

"Yeah, but it's still mine."

Luigi sighed. "So I'll be under the rule of my own brother…for two months. Great, just great."

"Oh please," Mario rolled his eyes, "You're overreacting."

"Overreacting?" Luigi scoffed, "That's not overreacting." He raised his voice, "This is overreacting!"

Toadsworth spoke softly, "Boys…"

"You're such a drama queen."

"A drama queen?" Luigi looked back at Yoshi, "I'm not the one who doesn't care that A DINOSAUR IS IN OUR KITCHEN!"

"My point exactly."

Toadsworth now had a stern tone in his voice, "Boys."

"Do you not care that our window is broken? Do you think that everything is going perfectly because you're going to rule the kingdom?"

"Well, it's an honor but it doesn't change the way I feel about a broken window. I'll fix it later."

"LATER?! WHEN IS LATER?"

"When I get around to it. Stop yelling."

"How about I stop yelling when I get around to it?! I'll stop yelling later!"

"Stop!"

"I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU…"

"BOYS!"

The argument subsided and the room was quiet once again. Toadsworth snatched the letter out of Mario's hands angrily. He scanned over the letter. The brothers glared at each other. It was common for them to have arguments now and they would always end the same. Luigi would always storm out of the house, thinking that Mario would try to apologize to him, but Luigi would always return. He would fake that he forgot something, while still acting like he was mad. The next day, they would be all buddy-buddy again.

"Aha!" Toadsworth broke their train of thought. "It says here that the king will need a messenger to travel back and forth between Sarasaland and here to deliver any important messages. This person would have to be able to travel back and forth in a day, so it would have to be an experienced traveler."

Yoshi shot up and his tail wagged with glee.

Luigi looked back at Yoshi, considering whether or not he should reply. Yoshi trotted calmly over to him and nudged his head under Luigi's hand. Yoshi cooed, trying to sound like a house cat. "Well…I do have some experience riding. I could be able to travel between kingdoms in a day, but Sarasaland is the desert. It's all the way across the kingdom."

Toadsworth walked out the door. "Then you better get going."

Mario and Luigi followed after Toadsworth. Yoshi took one last glance around the house. He sniffed around the kitchen, looking for more treats. He trotted outside with a handful of ripe apples.

"So," Mario clapped his hands, "Is there a fancy escort or something?"

Toadsworth smirked. "Yes, there is indeed a fancy escort."

"And who would they be?"

"Your legs," Toadsworth snickered. "Come now. There's no time to goof-off. Much work is needed to be done…Master Mario."

The village ahead of them was bustling with busy bodies. Everyone was awake and ready to start the day. Toadsworth stopped Luigi as he steadied himself on Yoshi's saddle. "Before I forget," He heaved the luggage over to Luigi, "This is the princess'. This is also your first mission, so don't mess it up."

Luigi set the luggage in front of him and tied the reins around his hands. Not in the mood for a farewell, he signaled for Yoshi to speed ahead and they were soon off towards the north. Mario watched his brother dash past the herds of people in the village. Toadsworth trudged away from him. "COME BOY!" Mario blinked and looked over at Toadsworth. The two made their steady way to the castle.

"Sir! Sir! There's a stranger approaching the castle. We're not sure if it's hostile or not." A guard announced. His voice echoed off the marble walls of the throne room.

The king nodded. "Leave it be."

"Yes, your highness." The guard bowed and left the room in a hurry.

Daisy's eyes shifted. "Wait, but Daddy, what if it's an enemy?"

"Now, child…"

"They could attack the kingdom."

"I said to leave them be."

"Something horrible could happen."

"I said to leave it be."

Daisy's argument subsided with a sigh. Peach glared at her friend as if to say why bother to argue? Daisy couldn't fully answer that question, but she knew that she's been worried for her father ever since she got the news. If she could, she would bubble wrap the entire castle just for her father's protection.

"Well," Peach started, "I suppose I will take Daisy to the study and start our lessons."

"Very well." The king agreed.

Daisy froze. "Lessons? Now? Uh, can we take a lunch break first?"

"Come on, Daisy." Peach took Daisy by the arm and led her out of the throne room. Daisy tried to fight Peach's grip, but it was no use. She could see that Peach was excited to start the lessons, but Daisy obviously wasn't too pleased.

"Princess Lessons." Daisy repeated, sighing heavily out of her nose. She sat in one of the comfy leather chairs by the mantel.

Peach closed the huge study doors and brushed her fingers through her blonde hair. "Yes, Princess Lessons. Don't worry, dearest. It's not complete torture. "

Daisy arched an eyebrow at Peach's emphasis on the word complete. "Yeah well, I've been a princess for my entire life. I'm sure I'm fine."

Peach opened her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. She came to another idea and smiled. "Very well then. Please tell me how long a grand dining table is."

"Huh?"

"And do tell me the very point where a princess is to put her crown on her head."

"Wait…"

"And be so kind as to inform me as to when a princess is to have her tea."

"Uh…noon?"

"Oh, and I can't forget when a princess is to have the royal ball to find a suitor. Do tell how old a princess should be when that happens."

"I don't know. 25?"

"Aha!" Peach exclaimed victoriously. "See? You do not know the full ins and outs of being a true princess."

"Does it matter?"

"Very much!" Peach nodded. "Now, sit up straight in that chair. Do not drape your legs over the arm. It's vulgar. With me, you are not Daisy; you are Princess Daisy Diana Sarasa."

"Ugh, don't say my middle name."

"Do not groan at me."

"Fine."

"Do not huff at me either."

"…Okay."

"Speak formally."

Daisy shot up with rage. She grit her teeth, but held back her fury. "I will not groan or huff at you." She managed.

"And who am I?"

Daisy cringed again. "Princess Peach…Toadstool."

"Thank you." Peach turned away looking for a book on one of the large bookshelves.

Daisy crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't get why I have a stupid middle name but she doesn't," She mumbled hoarsely.

Outside of the castle, guards stood tall as Luigi hopped down from Yoshi. He was mumbling to himself as he untied the reins from his hands. "Be the messenger boy, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Traveling to and from kingdoms in a day. I said I had experience and they think that I'll be fine. Go ahead, Luigi. Don't mess up, Luigi. You can't tell me what to do."

"Oi!" A guard called in a horribly managed accent.

Luigi turned around.

"Stop talkin' to yerself, ya big brute! I can hear ya all the way in Timbuktu!" The two guards laughed haughtily at the first guard's remark.

Yoshi was led towards the stables while Luigi made his way inside the castle. "So are you here on business?" Another guard asked.

"Y-you could say that."

"He's here to talk to himself," The other guard snickered, "That's what he's here for, lad. He's a crazy one, I tell ya. I see it in his eyes."

"He's not crazy," The second guard replied softly, "He's just…" The guard hesitated for the right word.

"An idiot."

"A wing-nut."

"One-too many shots of ye old ale."

The guards snickered. Luigi stopped in the middle of the main hall. This wasn't the first time he had been called crazy before, but it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Oh! You must be the messenger boy!" Toadette scurried into the room.

Luigi nodded. He was shocked that his temporary title had already passed quickly through the castle.

"Well then, we can't have you standing here forever! Come with me, you need to address yourself to the king at once." She took his hand and opened the large doors of the throne room. "Your highness,"

The king finished talking to a servant in a hushed tone and sent her on her way. She bowed clumsily and left the room. The king turned around to face Toadette and Luigi. "Ah! I've been expecting you, my boy. The mail system never fails!" The king walked weakly over to them. His cane made a light tapping sound on the marble floors. "Toadette, please bring the girls down."

Toadette nodded and ran out of the room towards the marble staircase. Luigi looked around the throne room in awe. "I-I'm guessing that the stain glass windows represent some kind of history…" He said shyly.

"Clever. Yes, they represent every important event that has occurred over the past thousand years. For example, this window here represents the day of creation." He pointed to a window that was vibrantly colored. "The bright colors represent the beginning rays of hope that lit up the world. Then the next window describes the kingdom's creation. Dozens of years were spent on building this very castle and the pyramids of protection that surround it." The king turned away politely and had a small coughing fit.

"Don't anger yourself, Daisy." Peach's voice sounded.

"I'M NOT ANGERY!"

Daisy pushed the throne room doors open with such a force that the guards had backed a safe distance away from the grand doors. The princesses stopped in the middle of the throne room. Daisy blinked as she saw Luigi. Of all people to come to the castle, it had to be him? "Luigi," Peach noticed the hard expression on Daisy's face, "Umm…exactly why are you here…exactly?"

"I'm…I'm the…"

Toadette piped up, "The messenger boy. And he has your luggage."

Peach softly thanked him. Daisy cleared her throat, squinting with anger. "The last thing I need is more people in this castle."

"Child…" The king tried to console her.

"No, Daddy. He just wants to figure out why I left and tell the whole kingdom. Yeah well, I've read enough blackmail stories to know how this works out. He's going to act all nice around us while he also tries to snoop through my family history. It's not going to work this time, messenger boy! I'm smarter than you!" And with great gusto, Daisy huffed out of the room and returned to the study.

"I'm sorry, Luigi. She's been acting up lately." Peach explained sheepishly. She took her luggage and followed after Daisy.

"I do not know what has gotten into that girl," The king shook his head, "Her mother was never like this."

"I-I'm sure if-if you give her some time…she'll grow out of it…I think."

The king laughed a bit, but then coughed. "Her stubbornness is what she prizes most." He coughed, "She won't grow onto anyone easily."

Luigi was soon escorted to his room. He would have to return to The Mushroom Kingdom tomorrow for a report on the princess and to return to Sarasaland with a report on The Mushroom Kingdom. Nightfall crept around the castle, slowly engulfing it in darkness. The sky was soon peppered with twinkling stars and the hot desert air turned into a chilled breeze. It was ten o'clock at night, the time when the castle prepared for bed. Luigi stepped outside the castle to check on Yoshi.

The few Yoshis chained loosely to the stables were soundly asleep. Luigi tossed an apple in the air and caught it a few times. As he neared the stables, he stepped back, startled by the princess. The apple dropped to the floor. "P-princess! I-I didn't mean to…"

Daisy glared at him, but opened the stable gates. She patted a Yoshi's head and filled its water bucket. "It's late, messenger boy. You should be asleep."

"I-I think I could say the same for you."

Daisy gave him a cold glare. She turned away and continued. "You're a while away from home, aren't you?"

"Yes…"

"Well," She mused and turned around with a sincere smile on her face, "Let me just remind you that you are NOT in the same kingdom." Her sweet tone turned into a hiss. "Whatever my Daddy says goes, alright?" She stepped closer to him, "So that means no stealing," She poked his chest, "No blackmailing," She poked his chest harder, "And NO funny business." He recoiled. "Got that, messenger boy?"

He nodded meekly, but then stared her in the eye. "But what happened…before? At the party…you were different."

Daisy scoffed. She had half the mind to strike him and half the mind to leave him in the cold. She held back her hand, but kept it ready to strike. "People change, messenger boy. Sometimes it's for the best. What happened, happened but that was the past and this is now. Don't keep your head in the clouds…" She closed the stable gates. "You'll get lost."

The still night played the major role in the ambiance while the two stared quietly at each other. They did not speak for what seemed like hours, but was truly minutes. After mentally preparing himself to speak, Luigi opened his mouth, but Daisy interjected. "It's late, messenger boy. Have fun sleeping in the stables."

"The stables?"

"There's no way that I'm letting my guard down and let you sleep in the castle." She crossed her arms. Considering whether she should say goodnight, she simply breathed inwardly and strode towards the back castle doors.

She can't be serious, he thought. He twisted the golden door knob, but it was locked. He tugged helplessly at it, but the results did not change. Luigi sighed and walked back to the stables. The rusty gates opened with a shrill creak. He sat down next to Yoshi, resting his back on a bale of hay. Yoshi nudged himself next to his friend and cooed in his sleep. Luigi slowly bobbed off to sleep.

Daisy looked out her room's balcony. The stables were visible from there and she saw Luigi foolishly sleep in the stables when he could have just walked around the castle and entered through the front doors. Maybe he just took what the princess said seriously. She was partly joking about sleeping in the stables. She rested her elbow on the rim of the balcony and her chin on her palm. Daisy kept her eyes on the stables, replaying the previous night's events. A smile formed on her face. Blinking a few times, she snapped out of it. "Pull yourself together, girl." She looked over at the grandfather clock ticking in her room. Daisy closed the white balcony curtains and readied herself for bed.

How long has it been? I seriously couldn't believe that I let everyone hang like that. Oh well, the story is back up and ready to rock! I'm eventually going to return to this story with the remastered version, since I felt Disney vibes coming from this story, so that'll be out in a long while.

Like it? Hate it? You tell me!

Welp everyone, sorry for the horrible delay in this story, but it's coming back! I made this chapter a bit longer since I owe you all one. And sorry for any misspellings I may have over-looked (PICK-IT RUSHED AGAIN! FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUDGE) And I messed up with the chapter numbers, but like that matters. *gets pelt with tomatoes* Everybody's a critic...

Click my profile for more stories by me! Leave a comment, review, favorite, follow, PM me if you want to know anything and as always, I will see YOU...in the next update! (which will hopefully be soon) BYE-BYE!