"Peasley?" Luigi asked.
"Yes, you know him?" Daisy asked in return.
"Kinda, he always comes and finds me when Mario forces me to attend some kind of royal event." Luigi replied.
Daisy chuckled and said "He probably noticed that you also don't want to be there."
"Also? Prince Peasley doesn't like attending royal things?" Luigi questioned confused.
"Nope. He's just really good at hiding it, once again, his flashy personality comes in handy with those kind of events." Daisy explained. "He'd do anything to avoid talking to royal assholes, which I totally understand. He's one of the few royals I honestly like." she added.
"How do you know him?" Luigi asked, feeling a sting of jealousy.
Yoshi smirked, noticing the jealous tone Luigi rarely had in his voice.
Daisy gave Luigi a look that said 'seriously?' and responded "You think I like attending royal events? If I can't manage to escape going to them, I most of the time try hiding somewhere, like a balcony or something. Peasley always seems to find me though, he's probably trying to get away from all the royal bullshit too." Daisy's gaze softened as she looked Luigi in the eyes and said "So, yes, I've known Peasley basically my whole life, considering that we're both always hiding from all the royal stuff."
"I guess that makes sense." Luigi answered, feeling less jealous.
The nurse that helped the Toad Daisy brought in came back into the room and said to Daisy "His nose is broken, it's going to take a while to get fully healed."
"Thank you, nurse." Daisy said while the nurse took her leave again.
"Jesus." Yoshi said after the nurse was gone. "He needs to get his act together." he added.
"This has been going on for way too long now, we've got to have an intervention or some shit." Luigi said while wavering his hands around.
"I still don't get why he showed up at my door, he knows that Hiro isn't home at the moment." Yoshi stated.
At Daisy's confused look, Luigi explained "Mario showed up at Yoshi's house early this morning. Mario's good friends with Hiro, Yoshi's older brother."
"But Hiro is out visiting our parents at Yoshi's Island and Mario knew that." Yoshi added.
Daisy nodded and asked "Has Hiro mentioned anything about Mario not being himself lately?"
Yoshi thought for a moment and replied "Now that you say so, yes he has, he mentioned a couple months ago that Mario was acting more like an asshole than usual."
"Couple months ago..." Daisy murmured while thinking. "That's around the same time Bowser went apeshit and kidnapped me." she added.
"You think it's related?" Luigi asked, joining Daisy's thinking.
"I'm around 86 percent sure that those two acting out of character is related." another voice, coming from the doorway, said.
The three turned their heads and saw Peasley standing by the door.
"Has no one told you eavesdropping is rude?" Daisy asked the Beanian jokingly.
Peasley flashed a smile and said "A Sarasa scolding me for being, quote on quote, rude? That's new."
Peasley and Daisy both laughed and gave each other a hug.
"Shouldn't you be kissing my hand, you know, the royal thing to do?" Daisy joked.
"I'd rather be kissing your ass." Peasley joked back.
Both royals laughed loudly as Luigi and Yoshi looked confused at the two.
"You've got to excuse us, it's not like Toadsworth or some other royal is around to scold us." Peasley explained.
"Gotta let loose sometimes." Daisy added.
"Good to see you again, Luigi." Peasley said while looking towards Luigi.
"Good to see you too." Luigi said.
Peasley looked at Yoshi and said "I don't believe we've met yet."
"I'm Yoshi." Yoshi said while awkwardly bowing "Nice to meet you, your highness." he added.
"Oh, nonsense! None of that, Yoshi, a simple handshake will suffice." Peasley explained while holding out his hand.
Yoshi took his hand and shook it. "My apologies." he said.
"You don't have to apologize, I'm not like some stuck up royal you might've met around here." Peasley said.
"Pretty sure it's just all the princes and kings that are stuck up." Daisy said teasingly.
"Very funny, Sarasa. Enough joking around, I'm here on business." Peasley said.
"You joined in on our conversation earlier? About the Mario and Bowser thing being connected?" Luigi said.
"Yes, that's why I'm here. We've also noticed Bowser going insane, especially with kidnapping you, you alright, darling?" Peasley explained while looking at Daisy.
Daisy rolled her eyes and replied "Nothing I can't handle."
Peasley nodded and continued "Word's going around all the way to my kingdom that there's trouble in paradise between Mario and Princess Peach. What I could make of it is that Mario's acting all different, needy and irrational. Same thing with Bowser, which is why I came here to confirm that with you." He looked at Daisy as he said "Has Bowser been acting like that too?"
"Yes." Daisy replied "Well, he's just not the same old Bowser, he's totally different, but he rarely speaks, which isn't what is going on with Mario." she added.
Peasley nodded and said "I still suspect that those two things are related."
"Do you know anything else? Some other weird things going on?" Daisy asked.
"No, that's also why I came here, hoping to find out some more things." Peasley answered.
"Pretty sure Peach will let you stay as long as you want to." Luigi stated.
"Yeah, she won't mind, she'll probably want all the help we can get." Daisy added.
"I'll go get my room settled then, if I can find the princess." Peasley said.
"Knowing you, you probably brought like ten suitcases." Daisy joked.
"I'll let you know that I brought seven suitcases only, Sarasa." Peasley responded while leaving the room quickly.
"Seven? Jeez." Daisy said, but Peasley couldn't hear it anymore.
"I should try to make my way back home, now that these painkillers are working." Yoshi said while getting up.
"You sure you don't want me driving you back? Or I could ask one of Peaches drivers to bring you home?" Luigi asked.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Yoshi replied while walking out of the door, leaving Luigi and Daisy alone.
Once Daisy was sure Yoshi was gone, she teased Luigi "Jealous already, huh?"
Luigi blushed a bit as he replied "I don't know what you're talking about."
Daisy giggled while Luigi's blush deepened.
"Don't worry Peasley, you can stay as long as you want to." Peach said while leading Peasley to a guest room. "I'm guessing you brought a lot of stuff, as usual, so I'm giving you a bigger guest room, but don't tell the other guests." she added.
Peasley laughed and said "Don't worry princess, it'll be our little secret." He put two of the suitcases that he already carried up to his room down in the room. He tried to leave to get his other suitcases, but Peach stopped him.
"My servants will bring up your other suitcases, don't worry about it." Peach said.
"Thank you, princess." Peasley answered. "And if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, you know where to find me." he added.
Peach nodded and replied "I know." while leaving the room. Like your nosy ass doesn't already know everything. Peach thought.
Peasley sat down on the bed and rested his head against the headboard. "Now let's dive into this whole thing." Peasley said to himself while grabbing his notepad.
Three months had passed since Peasley's arrival, and so far there was no progress in his research, which annoyed him dearly. The only information he got he already knew, or what he suspected was confirmed by reliable sources. He liked to know everything and anything about everyone. As Daisy would say, I always know all the tea. Peasley thought to himself while grinning. He was surprised when he found out from Daisy's brother, Valerian, that Luigi and Daisy were going out. He made it very known to both of his friends that they should've told him immediately when he arrived, as he only found out a couple days after arriving at the castle. I'm still surprised that Daisy said yes to a man. he thought while chuckling. But he does think that the two of them are cute together, they even officially became boyfriend and girlfriend a week after I arrived, much to Mario's dismay. Normally Mario would be happy for his brother, no matter who he was going out with, even if he didn't like the person, considering that Luigi doesn't just ask any person out. Peasley thought. He was happy for both of his friends, because neither are the dating type, which means that this is serious. He could already see their wedding in front of him. Maybe, just maybe I'm getting a bit ahead. Peasley thought while smiling brightly to himself. Meanwhile Mario's mood keeps on getting worse and worse and it's been taking its toll on his and Peaches relationship even more. Peasley grew sad for his friends, especially the princess, Peach is such a romantic and to see her own relationship like this while Daisy's relationship is blooming, it saddens her deeply, even though she's very happy for her best friends. Bowser has been quiet ever since Daisy escaped his wrath. Peasley thought. It stresses him out even more than when Bowser is actually up to something. All of this is so out of place, normally when Bowser is struck down, he strikes back immediately without thinking because of his temper. he thought. The Sarasalandian army, the Mushroom Kingdom army and the Beanian army have all been working together to try and find out more, but to no avail. In all the kingdoms, fractions of their armies are working together, staking out every inch of their kingdoms. There are also people undercover patrolling around in the other kingdoms, providing as much information as they can. This not knowing anything and not being able to do anything about it sucks. Peasley thought. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Peasley asked.
"It's Daisy, can I come in?" Daisy asked in return.
"Darling, you can always come in." Peasley replied.
"Let me reform my sentence. Are you decent?" Daisy answered.
Peasley chuckled and said "Yes, I am decent."
Daisy opened the door to his room, walked inside and closed the door behind her again.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Daisy?" Peasley asked overly royal.
Daisy rolled her eyes and asked "Were you busy with anything?"
"Just thinking about stuff, and how nothing has happened these past three months." Peasley sighed. Then he turned to Daisy, smirked and said "Besides your relationship of course."
"Yeah, about that, do you think we're going too fast?" Daisy asked concerned.
"Is that why you came here? To talk about your relationship?" Peasley asked in return.
"Yes." Daisy responded.
Peasley sat up on his bed and patted on the spot next to him. "Take a seat, why do you think you're moving too fast? Did Luigi say something?" he said.
Daisy sat down next to Peasley and replied "No, Luigi didn't say anything, and I don't get a vibe from him that we're going too fast either."
"Do you think or feel that your relationship is going too fast?" Peasley questioned the princess.
"No, I don't think so." Daisy responded.
"Then you're not going too fast." Peasley concluded.
"But I've never been in a relationship before, so how should I know?" Daisy stated.
Something clicked inside Peasley's brain. He sighed, rolled his eyes and asked "Did Peach tell you that you're going too fast?"
"That obvious?" Daisy answered.
"Daisy, in case you haven't noticed, which I doubt you wouldn't have, Peach is the biggest prude in the existence of prudes." Peasley said.
"I know, that's why I came to you." Daisy replied.
Peasley did a mocking shocked face, put his hand on his heart and asked jokingly "Are you calling me a whore?"
Daisy punched Peasley in the shoulder and said "Shut up, you know what I mean, you've fooled around, but that doesn't make you a whore. I think."
"Thanks for barely being sure that I'm not a whore, what a compliment." Peasley joked.
Daisy ignored Peasley's joke and continued "But still, you haven't been in a serious, committed relationship either, Peasley, only Peach has." Daisy put her face in her hands and mumbled "I don't know what to think."
Peasley removed Daisy's hands from her face and forced her to look at him as he firmly said "Daisy, you said that neither you nor Luigi feel that you're going too fast."
"Well, yeah." Daisy said.
"Then you're not going too fast." Peasley stated again.
"But Peach-" Daisy started, but Peasley interrupted.
"Is a massive prude, she's basically a fucking nun." Peasley interjected.
Daisy giggled and said "Yeah, she is, but still."
"Daisy, as long as you and Luigi are comfortable with doing what you're doing, then there is nothing wrong with that." Peasley lectured. "And if you're trying something new, and either of you grow uncomfortable, then just stop. It's nothing to be ashamed about, and both of you would understand each other as neither of you have done much in the dating department." he added.
"I guess you're right." Daisy said, still a bit unsure.
"No offense, but look at Mario and Peach, it's not like their relationship is to die for." Peasley said a bit more quietly.
"Peasley, you're shady." Daisy responded while giggling.
"We're all thinking it, I'm just saying it." Peasley answered.
"Maybe, maybe." Daisy replied jokingly.
"Anyways, how much have you two done, huh?" Peasley asked while a smirk formed on his face.
"Peasley, you pervert!" Daisy responded.
"Ow, come on Daisy, give me some tea, it's been so boring in this castle, the only interesting thing around here is you two virgins getting together." Peasley answered smug.
"I still regret telling you that." Daisy said while rolling her eyes.
"Nothing to be ashamed of girly, normally us royals are supposed to wait till marriage." Peasley said, after which they both burst out in laughter.
"I ain't Peach." Daisy said after some laughing.
"Exactly, don't let her telling you you're going too fast get into your head." Peasley said.
"I think she's just trying to look out for me, in her own prude ways." Daisy answered.
"Probably." Peasley responded "Now, give me some tea." he added.
"Gosh, you're so annoying, we haven't gone past tongue kissing." Daisy replied annoyed.
"Frenching can be pretty heated, Daisy, nothing else going on?" Peasley insisted.
"Peach literally called me a harlot after I said that." Daisy mumbled.
Peasley burst out in laughter while Daisy pouted. "Her 'bad words' vocabulary is so old school." he said after a while.
"I didn't even know what the word meant. I had to Google it." Daisy grumbled.
Peasley chuckled once more and insisted "So, nothing else?"
Daisy looked him straight in the eyes, annoyed, and said "Besides some feeling each other up while 'Frenching', no."
"Told ya, Frenching is heating things up." Peasley said triumphantly.
"Oh, shush." Daisy said while rolling her eyes again.
"I'm surprised Luigi doesn't get a hard on when you're close to each other, Frenching and stuff." Peasley wondered while laying back down on his bed.
"I never said he didn't." Daisy replied before she realized she did. She mentally cursed when she realized.
Peasley shot up again and said "Hold on, girly, you left the most important part out!"
"Of course you are thinking about dick." Daisy answered.
Peasley looked at Daisy with a fake shocked expression again and said "Do I have to remind you that I swing both ways, not just dick, also vag."
Daisy's expression grew sour as she said "Eww, don't say it like that."
"How? Vag?" Peasley asked confused.
"Yes, like that, it sounds awful." Daisy replied.
"Well, what would you want me to say?" Peasley responded.
"I don't know, literally anything else." Daisy replied "Stick to pussy or something." she added.
"Alright then, pussy expert." Peasley joked. "Now back to Luigi getting a hard on." he said seriously.
"Peasley, seriously, it's not a big deal, what is it with you men and making a big deal out of getting a stiffy one." Daisy answered confused.
"Luigi made a big deal out of it?" Peasley asked.
"Yes, he always gets so embarrassed about it, you should've seen him the first time he realized that I realized it." Daisy responded.
"He thought you didn't notice?" Peasley said.
"It happened like two or three times before that time he realized that I saw. I pretended not to see, and it worked a couple of times, but um, you know how obvious my facial expressions can be when I'm not forcing them away." Daisy explained.
"Very obvious." Peasley laughed.
"It's not like you can look next to it." Daisy mumbled.
"Ooh, he's big?" Peasley asked curiously.
"Peasley!" Daisy yelled while turning red.
Peasley burst out in laughter once again while Daisy died of embarrassment. "Is he?" Peasley asked eventually.
"How am I supposed to know? I've never seen a dick before." Daisy replied annoyed, still red.
"From the sounds of it, the 'bulge' is very noticeable, meaning he probably is." Peasley concluded out loud.
"You're making me very uncomfortable, stop now." Daisy said.
"Alright, alright, I keep forgetting your only close friend is a prude and you're not used to these kind of conversations." Peasley said.
"Pretty sure 'these kind of conversations' are not normal." Daisy responded. "I'd like to be saved from this conversation." she added.
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. "Prince Peasley? Are you in there?" a voice, sounding like one of Peaches servants, asked.
"Yes, princess Daisy is in here too, is this something urgent?" Peasley asked, wanting to continue their conversation.
"If it isn't urgent we'll gladly listen too!" Daisy added quickly, wanting this conversation to be over.
"You're both required in the war room, it's urgent." the Toad servant replied, ignoring their banter.
"We'll be there!" Daisy said while getting off the bed.
"We're continuing this conversation, Sarasa." Peasley said while also getting up from the bed.
"No we're not." Daisy said while sprinting out of the room.
"Okay, so, let me get this straight. This location might provide us with some more information?" Valerian asked the Sarasalandian soldier, who was undercover in the Darklands.
"Yes, the few times that Bowser leaves his castle, he goes to this area." the soldier replied, while pointing at a map that was lit up on the table.
"It's more than we've heard in the last three months." Peasley concluded.
"Let's have a stake out somewhere near the place." Daisy suggested.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Luigi asked concerned.
"If we narrow it down to the four of us, with some trusted soldiers, Peasley can do his magic juju." Daisy replied.
"Magic juju?" Luigi said confused.
"What the commander means is that I can use my magic to make us invisible to the world, but not to each other." Peasley responded.
"Doesn't that use a lot of magic, Peasley? Especially when you're also cancelling out noise?" Peach asked, also concerned.
"Maybe a couple of years ago it would've been, but now I've mastered these specific kind of spells, and I also have an amulet which strengthens my abilities." Peasley explained.
Peach nodded, thinking it over and said "Okay, don't tell Mario about this little mission."
"Where is Mario, anyways?" Luigi asked.
"He stormed off somewhere after a disagreement." Peach answered quickly.
"As usual." Luigi mumbled. None of them had told Peach that Mario acting this way might have something to do with Bowser acting differently, as they would not want to disappoint Peach if Mario was just acting this way out of himself.
"I'll select some soldiers to accompany us." Valerian said.
"I'll draw up a list of stuff we need to bring along and distribute it to the soldiers when you're done selecting them." Daisy chimed in.
"I will start packing some necessities already." Peasley said.
"Don't pack too much." Valerian, Daisy and Peach said at the same time.
"I'm feeling very attacked." Peasley said while wavering his hands as to stop tears from falling.
"I'll also start packing already." Luigi said while dragging the overdramatic Peasley out of the war room.
When it was just Valerian, Daisy and Peach left in the war room, Peach said "Please be careful, I do not want any kidnappings to happen."
"You're one to talk about kidnappings." Daisy scoffed while Valerian started laughing.
"You know what I mean, I'll always worry about you all." Peach answered "Please send me at least once a day a message." she added.
"We'll see what we can do, Peaches, but you know us, we'll always be fine." Valerian replied.
"You know how tough us Sarasa's are, we're trained for these kind of things." Daisy added.
"That doesn't mean that I won't worry about my friends." Peach said while throwing herself at the two siblings, crushing them together. After a minute or two, she let go.
"You really had to do that?" Daisy asked annoyed.
"I know you're not 'touchy feely', Daize, but you are just that with Luigi, so a simple hug for me is the least you can do." Peach stated.
"That's different." Daisy insisted.
"Different how?" Peach asked.
"I love him romantically, while I love you in a friendly way." Daisy responded.
"Did you just say that you love Luigi?" both Peach and Valerian asked at the same time.
Daisy's face burned up as she said "I, em, shut up! This list is done, here." she handed the list to Peach while basically running to the door. "You distribute the list to whoever comes along." she said before closing the door.
Daisy was finally done packing everything she needed and as she was about to bring her stuff downstairs, she ran into Luigi.
"Hey, are you done with packing everything?" Luigi asked, seeing the bags.
"Yeah, I was about to carry my belongings downstairs. Are you already done with doing that?" Daisy replied.
"Yes, I just finished bringing everything down and was about to come and ask if you wanted any help." Luigi answered.
"You don't have to carry these, I'll do it myself. You just came from downstairs, you must be tired." Daisy said.
"I used the elevator anyways, so I will help you, wether you like it or not." Luigi reasoned while grabbing some of Daisy's bags.
Daisy rolled her eyes as she knew that Luigi was about as stubborn as she is, and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Luigi saw Daisy's mental reaction, and added "This way we'll only have to go downstairs once."
"Let's go." Daisy said once they had all her bags. They made their way to the elevator and went downstairs to join the others. They put Daisy's bags down next to Luigi's.
"There you two are, do we have everything and everyone?" Valerian asked.
A soldier raised its hand, as to say something. Valerian nodded at him and he said "Commander, we have everything on the list, except for the right amount of tents."
"It turns out we have a shortage on tents, someone who did the inventory forgot to calculate that we lost a lot of tents during a heavy storm on a mission." another soldier added.
Valerian nodded and asked Peach "Is there anything we can do on short notice?"
"I'm afraid not, but they're two person tents, sharing a tent will weigh out the shortage." Peach reasoned.
"Good, we'll do just that." Valerian answered.
"We'll take up less space too, makes it less obvious that there is a hidden barrier." Peasley added.
"It's settled then, we'll leave once nightfall hits, that way it won't be that obvious that we're traveling around for a mission." Daisy stated, to which everyone agreed.