Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

by geddiknight

As it feels like the worst is behind her, Now-Queen Peach resumes rule of the Mushroom Kingdom. Sadly, due to the costs of having upheld the Ultimate DoubleDash Tournament, everything seems to only be getting worse. With Rates of Violence reaching new highs and rates of approval dropping by the day, can Queen Peach handle her self-inflicted destruction? (Now rated M)

23. Return

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

Return

A/N: This chapter will start back on Earth, going back to Peach's situation.

March 16, Late Evening

This was hopefully Peach's last sleep on Earth before she could return home. Ellis and her mother arrived back from the last drive of the night. It wasn't bedtime for her yet but the night was getting late and the sky was pitch-black. Peach remained inside Ellis' room for most of the time spent alone in the house, hoping that the girl would return there once she got home. There was her computer still on to entertain her, but she didn't know much to do on there and felt anxious in case she saved over something that Ellis wanted.

The others soon returned home and Peach could hear their arrival. She rushed back up to Ellis' room and waited for her there when she got inside. She heard a brief conversation between her and her mother when they entered the house, hearing that Ellis wanted to go upstairs and her mother decided to stay downstairs to watch some more things on the television. Peach hid herself behind the bed in her room as Ellis walked up the stairs, patiently waiting for her arrival. Ellis opened up her bedroom door, went inside and then left it ajar behind her.

"My phone?" Ellis demanded, reminding her of her possession of it. "What's the plan with you then?" She asked her as she handed over the phone.

"I've got a transport car… like a taxi… coming to this road tomorrow morning. You'll probably be in school by then. It's at around ten in the morning I think, a little earlier." Peach replied, walking back around the other side of the bed to make sure she was out of sight from the corridor outside.

"Oh… lower your voice a lot as well." Ellis reminded as she started to whisper. "We're not alone in the house remember." She walked over to her computer desk and placed her phone down. "Where are you going again? The airport?"

"LCY." Peach mentioned as she watched Ellis work her internet browser. "I've been told the drive is a little less than an hour." Ellis searched up the directions towards the airport on her computer, seeing that the journey was going to be approximately that length of time, though it may be different when the transport leaves at ten in the morning. "I'll be getting on a private plane thanks to my friends over here and I'll be heading straight to Brooklyn when I land. I expect to be brought back to the Mushroom Kingdom by tomorrow night." Ellis nodded a few times listening to Peach. She watched as she used Google maps to navigate all the way to Brooklyn in New York City.

"Would you be able to pinpoint me where this so-called pipe that Rynmar talked to me about in the car is?" Ellis moved her chair back slightly and presented the computer to Peach, allowing her to get close to it to look at the map. She didn't properly understand what she was seeing on the computer but then figured it out to be a bird's-eye view of the New York City area.

"It's around here." Peach spent a few seconds navigating and zooming in to an area on the edge of the Brooklyn island coastal area on the western side, very close to Brooklyn Bridge. "It's so out of the way and secret to get to that nobody knows how to get to it really, or to make use of it." She smiled. "Is there any I could see what it really looks like from above? You know without these messy features." Ellis leaned in and changed the maps mode to satellite view, amazing Peach. "Wow. It's deep in that place there but it's under all this greenery." The two were happy with looking at the screen but suddenly started to hear footsteps creaking on the floorboards as they could hear someone walking upstairs.

"Quick, behind the bed now!" Ellis whispered loudly and occupied the seat at the desk. Peach quietly but quickly went onto the floor beside the far side of the bed, trying to tuck herself under the bed as well with the little space there was. Ellis' mother walked down the upstairs hallway and turned to head to her room, carrying a neat pile of washed and dried clothes.

"This is your set. Hang this all up when you've got the time." Ellis' mum placed her pile of clothes onto the near side of the bed and turned to face Ellis and the computer. Peach remained frozen and silent, trying to breath quietly or hold her breath if it was too loud. "What have you got up on there? Is that New York?" She walked over to have a closer look.

"…Have you ever been to New York, mum?" Ellis asked with initial hesitation. "I've been… somewhat curious of it. Maybe in a few years, right? Would love to go shopping there!"

"'Thought you were more of a California girl?" Her mum wondered, happy with her wishes though.

"Well, we'll see."

"Anyways, dinner's nearly ready. Make sure you put these away tonight, okay?" Her mum smiled back at her one more time before leaving the room, thankfully catching no glimpses of Peach hidden beside the bed.

"Sure. Easy stuff." Ellis said back to her mum as she left, looking back to her computer. It was not until they could hear the footsteps of her mum walking back down the stairs did Peach start to move again. She leaned her head up and looked across the bed, seeing Ellis still on the computer.

"That was close." Peach whispered, giggling. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I'll see if I can get you some snacks from after dinner in case you're hungry. I bet you're going to be very hungry tomorrow."

"Oh that's okay!" Peach smiled. "I had a couple of things while you lot were all gone on that drive. I made sure not to have too much of the same thing in case your mother would grow suspicious of something."

"Ok, right." Ellis went back to her computer. "I'm sorry I can't offer you that much anymore in terms of hospitality. It's the best you're gonna get I'm afraid."

"Don't worry about it." Peach got up and sat on the bed, being close to Ellis. "It will all be sorted once I get back home… Obviously I've got a lot to deal with in terms of how the land's been operating while I've been gone, but if I can open that portal again for the one at school, I'll bring you over properly."

When it was time for Ellis to go downstairs for her dinner with her mother, Peach was left alone in the room again with almost nothing but her computer. Again, she felt anxious to use it for her own interests, so this left her extremely bored. There were many books in her room as well, which allowed her to read some fiction, but she felt disinterested in the idea of reading something for the sake of reading. Ellis didn't actually come upstairs immediately from after her dinner as well. She stayed downstairs to watch television with her mother and talk about other things. Peach was left in the room for the remainder of the evening alone. Now she felt forced to use the computer to occupy her time, finding enjoyment in pre-installed games on the computer. Solitaire, Minesweeper and other games like those were what occupied her time for the rest of the evening. Another thing she did in this time was a good act of kindness; taking Ellis' clothes pile and putting all of the things away in her cupboards and hanging them up on hangers. She knew by now where most of her clothes went so she took it upon herself to save Ellis the time doing it herself. There was only one more thing for Ellis to do before going to bed now, and that was to wash herself in the bathroom. This was the only thing that she felt discomforted to do knowing that she technically had a stranger staying in her bedroom all this time. When she finally came back upstairs and realised this, Peach was still in her room occupying her computer without any thought of it in mind.

"Hey, umm… never mind." Ellis walked over to her bed and lied down on it, sighing and looking up to the ceiling.

"What's the matter?" Peach turned the chair and looked back at her on the bed. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine. I was just debating showering but I guess it wouldn't really work with me drying myself in here while you're confined to my bedroom."

"Do you want me to-?"

"Oh, no… no." Ellis shook her head to the idea of Peach offering solutions and ways to avoid the possible discomfort she'd have from getting undressed and showered with Peach in this room. "I'll just miss it tonight. Besides, look at you… two or three days without it and you're still looking fine."

"Yes, but I don't smell very good." Peach realised. "You'll love all of my fragrances I've got back at the castle. I mean, a lot of them are outsourced from these lands with the help of the friends I've got here." The two both laughed and then realised immediately that they had to stay quiet.

"Hey, you know what. I'll do one more thing before I go to bed." Ellis got off of the bed and grabbed her phone. "Do you want Rynmar to do anything for you?"

"Not really, he's done enough for me for now. I guess we could call him anyway to see how he's doing?" Peach wondered as she noticed Ellis pick up her phone. The two remained quiet for another brief time as Ellis' mum started coming up the stairs again.

"I've got another early start tomorrow honey so you'll have to see yourself out for school again, okay?" Her mum called through the hall.

"Sure thing mum!" Ellis raised her voice to respond back to her.

"Goodnight, hun!"

"Goodnight!" The two heard her mum close her bedroom door. "Anyways… let's call him." She searched for his contact and started a call, hearing the beeping noise for pending ringing. Peach and Ellis leaned closely to each other to hear over the phone before she made it go to speaker.

…

No answer.

"Hmm, strange." Ellis tried calling him again and the two waited for another minute in hopes that he would pick up. He didn't.

"Maybe he's already asleep." Peach suggested, to which Ellis could only smirk.

"Maybe… Maybe he's back in that other world." She looked back at Peach and gave her that thought.

"He wouldn't do that, surely?" Peach wondered, showing a little bit of concern for him. "From my time alone with him, he made it clear to me that he would only do what I asked for him to do for now. Plus, he's got to conserve the charge on that device so he can't be hopping in and out so frequently. Otherwise, I'll have to fix another mess." They both sighed, feeling rather put off that last opportune event of the night. "Well… I guess I'll have to go to bed then. It's not like I've got anything else to do. I've just got to be around for when the transport arrives. I'll be the only one in the house for that at the time, right?" Ellis nodded back to her.

"Yeah. I'll be off at school and my mum will have already left for work a few hours prior. Anyways, when I get to school I can always chase up Rynmar and see what he was up to just now. I mean, it's not likely that he went over to the Mushroom Kingdom or wherever he might be there, but I guess even if it was… it wouldn't be worth it to tell you because I wouldn't be able to tell you. You'll be at the airport and flying over to America." Peach was happy for her interest of help regardless, patting her on the shoulder.

"It may take me a few days to finally reach out to you via Rynmar or my own journeys through the portal back to this house. First I've got to check the whole Kingdom's still in order and that everyone's doing the right thing. Then I'll have to see how my beloved Mario is doing and the others, Princess Daisy and Luigi and the Toads… then maybe I'll be able to come back here or get Rynmar to bring you over. The thing is… I just realised… to get you across I need that portal open, and Duncan's stolen the key to open it."

"Oh great." Ellis laughed. "So what you're saying is, by the time I get a chance to go over, your work with me and Rynmar will be done so I won't have a need to go over."

"Don't think of it like that. Even if we do solve this problem and bring your friends home, you will have definitely earned the right to come to these lands. You'll get your own device too someday. Someone like you who has already offered… all of this to me…" Peach showed her gratification to Ellis by just looking around the room. The place to sleep, the place to eat, the place to stay during the day was all because of her and Rynmar's assistance. "…all this. You deserve it. You will have Free Passage when you come across. You'll be allowed to go anywhere you want, and by the time you come across, the place will be in its best of days. I promise." Peach assured her and started to nudge herself off of the bed and down to the sheets and clothes, reminding herself where she was sleeping tonight. "The best is yet to come, young girl."

"So you'll show me your best things and treat me like I'm a princess too?"

"Oh baby girl, you're already a princess in my eyes." Peach winked. "You'll have nothing to worry about. I'll make you and your mother not have to worry about anything for the rest of your lives."

"I'll keep your word for it! Just going to the bathroom." Ellis got off of the bed and walked over to the bathroom to brush her teeth and go to the toilet before heading to bed. She came back a few minutes later, closing the door slightly and turning off her bedroom light, using only her phone and the dimmest of light coming from outside the curtain-pulled windows.

"Goodnight, Peach."

"Goodnight, Ellis."

…

Also Late Evening

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

With Daisy still the current governor of the castle, she had free movement to go wherever she wanted in it. This evening, she was expecting a visitor from all the way up in the northeast in Diamond City, Mona, the former princess who abdicated and became betrothed through the love of a renowned hustler. Not much had been heard from Wario or Waluigi in recent times, but it meant they were doing the best thing of leaving themselves out of current affairs. It was the least they could do now that the events of the Double Dash tournament were over. This was the only time someone affiliated with them returned to Mushroom City, and it was on request from Princess Daisy. Being informed of her near-imminent arrival, Daisy made her way down to the ground floor and walked to the front doors of the castle, ready to accompany and welcome the girl to the grounds.

"Daisy!" There she was, standing just outside the doors as they opened, accompanied by a few castle guards. The princess of the castle smiled as she greeted her old friend.

"I take it you're happy with just 'Mona' then?" The two approached each other just inside the castle and gave a big hug.

"Yes, yes. I have no time with titles any more as you can see." Mona, still delighted, showed herself in to the halls and skipped along them with Daisy. After a few seconds though, Mona stopped. They hadn't even reached any stairs or places of interest yet; she only needed this time to realise how bleak and empty the place has become. While it still looked majestic and always looked after by the castle staff, the emptiness was easily sensed by Mona, putting her off a little bit.

"…It feels better at the top! Just like before!" Daisy suggested going straight up to the upper levels. "I think I can… be more myself up there. It's like a second home to me."

"Have you spent more time here this year than in Sarasaland?" Mona wondered as the two changed courses on the ground floor to head towards the nearest elevator. The intention was definitely to go all the way up to the top three floors. Definitely not the highest floor; she didn't need to go into a bedroom to worry about things there, a lounge was way more fitting.

"I don't really know actually."

The lack of engagement the two had with each other over the past few months was easily shown through their time in the elevator. Not a word was spoken between the two while they were confined to the small space going all the way up to the nineteenth floor. It was only when they reached the deluxe lounge did both of them feel comfortable again. The nice fire put up for them, the warmness of the room's wall colours, the dinner for them ready to be delivered for them to hand-pick at, all to make themselves feel better. Mona could already tell that Daisy was missing Peach and Mario, and she wanted to know what's really going on with her.

"So, what would you like to talk about first?" Mona asked in a slightly awkward manner before sitting down on one of the deluxe sofas. "The streets didn't feel very kind to me when I was passing through. The whole southern land feels different now." Daisy decided to sit in a seat very close to Mona, trying to keep herself composed.

"I don't know what to do while she's gone. I don't know how long she is gone for… and I don't know how to run these lands in her absence. I feel… lost. Defeated." Daisy was showing a side not usually seen by most, and it didn't do Mona any favours either. She knew she was asked for here to be of some sort of moral support, but matters on this level were something she could never manage herself even in the days before the Years of Peace.

"I'm sorry Daisy… there's almost nothing I can do to fix these things. I can be here for you and by your side, but that's about it. If you want someone who has more strength in governance, you should try asking someone like Pauline or Éclair. At least they are still in charge of something. I mean… I know that Pauline might be busy with her own city and the borders, but what about Éclair?" Her suggestion brightened up Daisy's mood a little bit. "Why don't you give her a call?"

Silently, Daisy shuffled herself across the sofa and reached for the phone atop a small table. The number to reach out to call Éclair personally was remembered in her mind as Daisy dialled it up without hesitation. She presented the phone to Mona so they could both listen.

"Princess Éclair." Delight for both Daisy and Mona as they could hear the voice from the other end.

"Hey! It's Daisy, have you got a few minutes?" Her eagerness and desperate need for help was easily shown to Mona as she looked at Daisy, clenching her fists while the phone was on the sofa between them.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Great, err… it's about Peach and her leave of absence. It's been quite some time now and I'm starting to get anxious because things are not going so well here… I just wanted to ask if you-."

"Sorry Princess Daisy I will be with you in just a moment." Éclair abruptly interrupted her while she was worrying about her problems. The phone was still on the line and the two were still able to hear her, but she was noticeably distant from her phone. "What's going on? - …Who is here? - …You're telling me there's- … I'll be with you soon Daisy."

"That doesn't sound good." Mona said to Daisy as the two were left with their own many possible assumptions as to what could have possibly happened in the Wuhu Capital. Daisy sunk down into a deep miserable state on the sofa, leaning her head against the side and closing her eyes.

"I don't know what it is I'm doing but nothing's working. How does Peach do it? It feels terrible to manage, and worse to manage it poorly!" Daisy was almost beginning to tear up, but Mona realised there was one use of her being here: to console her.

"I don't think this is your fault at all!" Mona hugged Daisy and kept her close, observing the phone noise. "I think these times might be almost worse than any we've seen before in our adult lives." The two kept listening to the background noise from the phone left on the line. They started to hear lots of banging sounds and inaudible dialogue. Eventually, this dialogue became clear to them but the words being heard didn't sound like they were spoken in the common language. Daisy heard a few words and thought that it could possibly be old Koopish, which in those parts of the Kingdom would almost certainly be a bad sign. Noises of gunfire could also soon be heard, frightening both Daisy and Mona until the phone line eventually ended. No words from Éclair were ever heard on the phone after her abrupt departure.

"…Shouldn't we send for aid? We need to-."

"Don't." Mona's panic wasn't reciprocated by Daisy. Instead she remained lying on the sofa with her eyes almost closed. He preferred to lay there dozing away while a possible breakout of violence erupted in the Wuhu Capital. "We can't."

"Are you crazy?" Mona looked back at her confused. While Daisy wasn't showing her face to her, she was pulling a grin against the sofa back as she finally saw a sense of governance and authority in Mona when the chance came. Noble and respectable from her, but for her own doubts she refused to let her do so.

"She'll be back. She knows how to run a kingdom unlike me." Mona rushed towards Daisy and pulled her up from the sofa, getting her to sit up straight.

"What has gone in to you Princess Daisy?" She slapped her cheeks a few times. "This is not the jolly princess Daisy I used to remember."

"Of course it isn't!" Her eyes widened as Daisy snapped back at her. She immediately woke up from her apparent tiredness and stood up, staring Mona straight in the eyes, level in height. "You've not seen us for years! You've not had to deal with these increasing levels of responsibility! All because you decided to fuck off and make out with Wario. No offence to him but he probably doesn't even care about our struggles now."

"Maybe so, because you and Peach have stopped breathing over his shoulder!" The two kept repeatedly shouting to each other in argument.

"I bet now he would be happy to hear about what's happened to Mario."

"No he wouldn't!" Mona shouted louder than usual to stop Daisy from speaking. She knew she went too far. "Wario was his rival, not his enemy. He didn't hate him, he respected him, and I'm sure they saw it the same way. Wario will be heartbroken just as much as you and I are if he found out about it. Back to the matter at hand though, would Mario be like you and not bother to do anything about it when a fellow princess is in danger? We need to send help!"

"Fine." Daisy hesitated after a few seconds of understanding. "Send a message to the Brigade. I'm staying here." Mona noticed that Daisy was starting to tear up before leaving to go to the other phone on the wall to reach out to the Brigade directly. Daisy almost lost balance and fell back down to the sofa, trying her best not to break down and cry. "What has become of me? I sit here in the finest of towers… indulging on the greatest of things… and what have I to show for it? Absence in the time of need?" She spoke softly to herself while Mona was halfway across the room. Daisy took her shoes off, fiddling with her feet and scratching her neck as all her bothers coalesced into one big ball of woe. "I'm… pathetic."

Mona felt like she was in no place to say any comment to Daisy about the way she was right now. Not having any proper responsibilities for the past four and a half years gave her a luxurious life without anything to show that she earned it. Every bit of order to the Mushroom Kingdom was partially because of Peach and to some extent Daisy. Seeing her like this only made her more understanding as to why it could carry a lot on her back. With Peach gone it made perfect sense as to why one would struggle so much on this alone. She couldn't even bring the council together without Peach's help. All other Toads operating in the council were absent this evening as their workload was supposedly finished for the day. Mona at least still had some experience from when she had some governing power back in the day and was able to reach out to some of the Toad Brigade to ensure that aid was going westwards towards the Wuhu capital, though realistically speaking these matters would be dealt by the Wuhu police force themselves. The Wuhu capital at least had more than enough of a force to deal with matters like this, so she and Daisy thought. A little help to a friend in need would never hurt though.

"Some aid is heading to Wuhu. They'll do what they can but hopefully those working together with the police in Wuhu will be able to sort out the scare that we just heard on the phone there." Mona returned to Daisy, seeing her still curled up in a ball on the sofa, trying her best not to cry. Daisy said nothing back; she didn't even turn her head. Her face was partially visible to her and it was still red from the suffering and sadness she's still enduring. "I don't really know what to do now, but I think you should sleep it off… or do something to take your mind off it and then go to sleep. It's not healthy to go to sleep when angry or sad. That's what Kat and Ana would always tell us."

"What are those two up to nowadays?" Daisy asked, trying to distract herself. "The sisters." Mona stopped and looked back at Daisy. She went to sit down on the sofa opposite.

"Well… They did briefly move to the capital for their business – came up a few times for the races and to see friends – now they're up for good again because they too are afraid of how unsafe the place has become. Diamond City is thriving again and I don't blame them for coming back." She said. Daisy wiped her face and turned to Mona, feeling slightly better.

"That's good." She grinned, still looking visibly upset though. "You know, a lot of places are probably doing a little better. I've heard so much about people moving out of the capital. Apparently people are moving out of Sarasaland as well because they fear that something might happen there too."

Mona realised something about Daisy's words. "What if it's good that this is happening? Maybe we should be distributing out the population instead of having the absolute majority in the capital and the big cities."

"What do you mean?" Daisy seemed somewhat interested.

"If all the cities are distributed, still working under one big economy – like Delfino – there's going to be less of a chance something bad happens in the bigger cities, and the smaller cities will have more funding and more people so they're to some degree less likely to have bad things because of more enforcement. Hey, I thought I'd be useless but that doesn't sound so bad on paper, right? I mean look at Delfino, the capital's not that populated compared to its supposed status of being a capital city. You've got Seven Farms and Coconut Town… and there's millions that live along the south coast and I can't even name a big city in that area anyway." While Mona's idea did sound plausible and probably better for the people in the long term, Daisy struggled to figure how it would all work economically. One would have to factor in the entire infrastructure already built in the capital city soon to be going to waste. Was it just the inner city that would have depopulation or all of the surrounding suburbs in the greater metropolitan area? Would they all want to leave to another town or city anyway? The other problem she thought of instantly was whether these inhabitants in smaller towns would want more people coming in, and in order for that to happen there would need to be a lot more construction to make the cities larger. The interests of the general public are not as easy to satisfy as it seems. Daisy gave this a bit of thought and figured that it would be best to see what the interests of the people want at first. If they want to move elsewhere they are more than welcome to do so. The only matter of concern she had was for the alarming increase of people against the crown. This is a matter that only Peach could sort out, but she's not even here to do so.

"It's… certainly a possibility." Daisy said with hesitation, stressing her uncertainty to go through with the idea. "I think it will be difficult to force this but it seems like the interests of the people are going towards this way anyway. Look at Toad Town, this place is almost empty now. I think the only way we can force people to the suburbs is if we have a metropolitan evacuation, but there is no need for that now and I don't think there ever will be a need for it. We're not at war, we're just facing a bit of scare, that's all… and… a national disaster that is the death of their beloved hero." Eventually, one thought would lead to another and they would all end up bringing up the worst things in her mind again. This time it was different though. Daisy caught on to this quickly and knew this would be in her head. She was still upset and deeply disheartened on the inside, but some mental thing inside her was trying to get her to stop crying about it. "I need some air." She got up and took her drink with her, heading towards the balcony on the floor just beyond the corridors and opened up the nineteenth floor doors on the western wing. Mona followed and the two both saw a dark night sky. It was a mostly clear night, there were a few clouds here and there but the temperature was still enough to feel like a nice summer evening.

"You don't get this anywhere else in the lands." Mona was relieved to feel the breeze from all the way up the top of the castle. "I missed this." She smiled as she looked back at Daisy, hoping she was cheering up. "All those times we shared when we were kids… all of the meetings we used to have here when we were all called to come down south, those were the days. The teenage years, the two-thousands, they were the best."

"I want the feeling of those days to come back, but there're just too many things in the way." Daisy sighed as she rested her arms on the decorated ratings of the balcony. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss when Bowser was our biggest threat. Looking back at it now he was hardly a threat; he was just a separate government wanting Peach for power."

"He was right about a few things too. The one time I spoke with him in all these years I remember him saying that he knew worse people than him. Perhaps he was right about that too all along." Mona watched as Daisy had another sip from her drink and swashed around what was left in the glass.

"Bowser's left alone in his castle, Koopak… I've not even heard from him in ages, it's like everything prior to this year is gone and replaced with something worse."

"The time I was with Bowser, it was something he had with Wario and I was there with him prior. I remember him talking to Wario about this other Koopa who was apparently worse than him, never heard about the guy since though." Mona continued, trying to keep Daisy distracted.

"You want to know something about Mario?" Daisy turned and walked away from the edge of the balcony, sitting down on a chair next to the windows of the nineteenth floor. "The last thing that Mario saw with a camera he had attached to him that night was a giant Koopa, almost the same size of Bowser." Midway through her speech, Daisy realised that Mona most likely knows nothing about Mario's incident, so she felt she had to cue her in. "You see, we were having this search operation in the northwest because we found a lead towards the Rainbow Road attacks, and we basically found what we believe to be the person responsible for allowing it all to happen, and it was as I said this really big Koopa, worse than Bowser I guess. It was the last thing we saw and perhaps it was the last thing Mario saw." Daisy paused for a few seconds in mourning. "Toadheim says it's not confirmed that Mario is dead since we have no sufficient evidence to prove this, but if he is… that Koopa is surely his killer. We will not rest until that Koopa is dead. All we know is that he is called Raiyon… and he got away!" Daisy cried.

"This is concerning. We'll do our best to help search for him too, and Mario should he still be alive." Mona tried to comfort Daisy again. "My heart breaks for Luigi as well, it must be so difficult for him, and Peach… well she doesn't know yet, does she?"

"I don't know what's going to happen the day she does. All I know is that wherever she is right now, she's doing fine. I know this. She's on Earth and trying to get back but the portal she took to get to Earth is closed. It's not the same portal as the great pipe, it's one that was manually created by Tom and works with a key, and Duncan has this key. We're looking for Duncan just as much as we're looking for Raiyon, and guess what? He was there that night too, and he fucking got away as well!"

"And I'm guessing you have no leads to either of those two?" Mona assumed, receiving a nod back from Daisy. She understood now that the situation with their original plans was put at a standstill and it seemed that this could only be resumed if Peach was here, and that in itself needed Duncan to be found. The worst case scenario that she could think of was that Peach would never return, and that some sort of reform was needed. It would be bound to happen eventually once the general public catch on to the prolonged leave of absence Peach was currently undertaking on Earth.

"Muji might be able to help about it, but even he's super busy with everything. He's at New Donk City with Pauline already dealing with the threat beyond the mountains. I don't think it will be easy to tell him to come down here." The two went silent for a brief moment, both not sure what to say next if there was anything else to say. At least they were still able to enjoy the cool breeze and the silence from being this high up– that was, until they started to hear noise coming from all the way down outside the castle. Mona walked over after noticing that Daisy was either disinterested in it or not listening to it at all. She peered over the edge and while it was difficult to see anything nineteen floors above, she could spot several Toad castle-guard heads speaking in a circle with what looked like a human in the middle of the circle.

"There's a human down by the entrance to the castle, Daisy." Mona tried to inform her. "They're sending him away, forcefully."

"Don't worry about that guy." Daisy said back to her, assuming she knew who it was. "He was some recruit who betrayed me. I don't want to see him again. He'll never step foot in this castle again."

"Betrayal in what way?" Mona sounded concerned.

"Oh, nothing serious. I don't think betrayal is the right word. He just stepped over his line given warnings."

"But he's human." Mona was still concerned. "I've never heard of this one before, isn't this one of the ones you were talking about being a bad person that was wanted?"

"No, not the same." Daisy shook her head, assuring Mona that it was nothing to be bothered about. "What I do know is that we have special operatives working with me to search for the wanted humans. They'll be returned to us soon. While I don't really know where they are, they do and that's what matters. I think I might be just fine not to worry about anything else tonight and stay lying down here. This breeze is doing me favours." Mona was somewhat relieved about this. Seeing Daisy not visibly upset anymore and putting her worried thoughts aside was a step in the right direction. After all, there wasn't really that much they could do about the Peach situation. Even if they sent someone across the pipe to Brooklyn, how could anyone in these lands know where Peach was? Peach is trapped in a different portal, halfway across Earth to her and Daisy's knowledge.

"I can't say I disagree." Mona felt glad to take it in as well. She walked and sat on the sofa on the opposite side with it being so large that the two could stretch out their legs and still not touch each other. Some floors of the castle had their outdoor balcony area which spanned most sides of the castle. The exceptions being the floors that had the decorative windows and tiling on some sides, such as the glass painting of Peach that had survived many years and all the countless renovations and redesigns of the castle. One thing that all the humans from Earth realised when visiting Peach's castle – whether it be their first time, second time, or any other time – was that the size and shape of it was completely different to how Shigeru interpreted it for the games. While it still had the four towers on each corner, every part of the castle was raised significantly higher to accommodate the twenty floors, and the central roof parts were more levelled. On top of this, balconies existed on most sides. Looking down from the balcony on the nineteenth floor showed how different the place was with everything below seeming tiny. It didn't compare much to the skyscrapers in Mushroom City either. The commercialisation and modernisation of Mushroom City showed buildings with even more floors than the castle. "Are you going to stay here all evening?" Mona asked, wondering if Daisy had any more intentions for the evening.

"Maybe. What else is there to do?" Daisy shrugged. "I can't disturb Luigi, the Toads are gone, Éclair is… occupied, and Rosalina's gone. When you have this much responsibility, you don't really have a lot of time for friends, which means I don't really have a lot of friends, really. All I really have nowadays is Peach. I'm glad that I've got you here tonight. Even if you don't feel the same way I do, that's okay with me."

Mona smiled, flattered by the princess's words. "You've got friends. We're all just distant. The six of us that remain, we've always stayed friends. Ever since Madison passed away, we've tried our best to stay close, right? I mean… four of us have at least. I'm going to be honest with you, besides that phone call, that's the most I've heard from Éclair in at least a year, and Rose? Well… I don't even know if she's alive, let alone where she is. We really should have stayed in touch more."

"I don't blame you. I know we all caught on to Peach realising that she was always better off than Bowser in their rivalry, so there was no reason to really stay close to one another. We all moved on." Daisy recalled. "I'll still not forget when it all ended between them." Mona leaned in closer to listen to Daisy, knowing that she was going to story her on that special time: January 2nd, 2015.

"We had caught Bowser for good on Wuhu Island. It was probably the best ever thing that Zane could have done for us, and it was all unintentional. You remember Wuhu Island on New Years', right? Vaguely? Well, we had him surrounded and had him taken back to his castle to wait for his trial for all of the crimes he committed against Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom. On the way, Peach and I had different ideas in mind. We too were being taken back to the Mushroom Kingdom via a helicopter and Peach had proposed to me the idea to make the capture of Bowser 'cause one of the greatest events in history and except for the ending I have to admit those two months were probably the best days of my entire life. To race everyone on such a level and to the biggest audience in the world felt tremendous, almost impossible really." Daisy lied back and reminisced it all. "Good times…" Mona looked back at her, helplessly agreeing because even though she wasn't that much in to racing and she wasn't participating, she definitely loved the thrill and competition that even the fans in Diamond City took part in. So many of her friends back home were either rooting for Wario and Waluigi or the Mario brothers. Nobody ever thought it would be such a tight finish, and it was such a shame it was spoiled by the power shutout. It was truly surprising to Mona how despite the Mushroom Accords screwing over some groups of people around the same time, the Double Dash tournament while served as a trial for Bowser's fate, was a way to sort of unite all of the southern lands and cultures through racing. Koopas that used to work for Bowser and Toads working for the Mushroom Kingdom government would have settled aside their differences and integrated with one another while this event was going on. It ended up being the best of both worlds for them on this matter as Bowser is still alive today and he's not bothering people anymore. To them, it's the north that's the problem now. Perhaps it always has been.

"I've got to admit, I wished I could have seen what the final ceremony of the Double Dash tournament would have been like if not for that attack." Mona said to Daisy.

"I do too." She agreed fully. "I really love racing, even if it's on my own. I actually prefer it that way. It's so adrenaline inducing and competitive, especially when you're playing amongst the best." Mona raised an eyebrow; Daisy's interests reminded her of something else.

"Interesting. You know, Pauline told me about something the other day. Apparently there was going to be an idea of bringing all those good players together for a few races or a tournament."

"Oh, really? I never heard about that." Daisy seemed very interested about what was to be said.

"Yeah she said she was talking about it with Rosalina, bringing the best players which I'm going to assume are you and Peach and Funky Kong and that lot. She also mentioned people like… well, I guess the names mentioned wouldn't bode well with us nowadays."

"What kind of names?" Her bright tone that was her voice before seemingly tuned down significantly.

"People like Zane and Marrec, but also Duncan and Tobias." Mona sighed, realising that so much has happened in the past week that she's been pretty much out of the loop for, that it's difficult for her to even process the way her friends see people now.

"Right. It's a shame. I've raced against some of them before. I've never raced against Duncan or Tobias but apparently Rosalina said that Duncan is probably the best one of them all. It's a shame how what we used to see as our biggest competition turn out to just be another… piece-of-shit psycho shitter, murderer even." They both shook their heads in agreement with one another. They couldn't trust any outsider any more, only the true natives and the princesses. Mona felt that with the dangers in the north being more concerning, Pauline's presence in a city so close to the mountains may be a risk for her safety. It was a thought for tomorrow to reach out to her, maybe it would be better to bring her to the south now that she was here too.

The two didn't need to say anything to each other now. Daisy and Mona were more than happy with just lying down on the sofa mats and looking out to the dark night sky, which had now cleared up as well.

"I don't want tomorrow to come now." Daisy chuckled. "I like being out here. Sitting and drinking with my real friends, taking in the nice breeze and… not having to worry about major responsibilities."

Mona thought of something to bring to her mind, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I do have one possible thing you could do that might solve that, even in the long run." Daisy sat up a little and looked over to her. "I don't know if there's an actual term for this that they use on Earth, but basically do what I do and sort of put it aside."

"Abdication?" Daisy had that come to her mind. "I think that might be the word you're looking for… and No! I can't just give all of the responsibility to Peach. I mean she does enough as it is and I'm pretty much the only person she's got to share some of the load."

Mona quickly tried to talk over her, getting straight to her point. "I don't mean just you. I mean Peach as well. If it really is getting too difficult for both of you to handle, and if what you say is true about the people becoming against the crown… then maybe step down from it. Give the Toads the responsibility, if that's what they think is best for them." Daisy was still concerned with her point but Mona wanted to put it across as best as she could. "I know that we've lived here all of our lives and it's probably not what our mothers and fathers would have wanted, but in these times, maybe it's best to do this. After all, we're humans. We're not Toads or Koopas and we never will be. Only they will know what is best for them as they are the Toads and the Koopas, not us." She still didn't seem fully convinced. Again, it was something to decide on if or when Peach returned. Even if she did make a decision to give up her role now, the local governments in the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland would probably be able to work with it themselves. The Delfino Kingdom has endured this for a few years now and things there have been going relatively better than in the Mushroom Kingdom. With no direct borders to the north with the disputed lands in the way, they've been out of any possible danger and the only problems they've had to deal with have been problems concerning Uldersal or Blockfort, which has mainly been a royal matter.

"Again, I don't know what to say." Daisy looked back at Mona after looking at the floor for so long thinking about it.

"You can always sleep on it." Mona replied feeling assured that Daisy would hopefully make the right decision in her eyes someday. She could see in the way she wasn't her usual self that this stress ever since Rainbow Road has been taking a toll on her. "I'm guessing you'll want me in one of the High Guest chambers tonight? I told Wario and Five that there's a chance I'd be staying the night. After seeing how things are I'm pretty much certain that this is going to be the case."

As the night started to pass, the outside breeze started to get colder, to the point where they both realised that they couldn't sleep out here without catching a cold chill. Soon they knew it was time to go inside. "Sure. I'll show you to your room in a minute." Daisy got up upon realising this, feeling it was now time to go back inside. Perhaps it was time to return to the fireplace and the drinks. It wasn't time to sleep yet, but with the seasons passing by the day, the days were getting shorter. Mona followed and the two went back inside, feeling a wave of heat from indoors. Daisy walked over back into the deluxe lounge and reached for another glass, as she was pouring her own drink, the two heard a knock on the doors coming from the hallways. The knock was repetitive, and seemingly urgent. Mona nodded to Daisy, assuring her that she'd open up the door. On the other side was Toadheim, accompanied by a few other workers in his department.

"Daisy?" Toadheim raised his voice, trying to get her attention. Him being this loud was a rarity. "I think you might want to look at this, and by might want to, you need to, actually." The Toad was holding a tablet device and a wire, rushing over towards one of the nearest televisions inside the lounge and plugging the wire connecting the tablet to the larger screen. "I don't know if you've heard about this yet, but it's made the news." What everyone was now seeing on the larger screen was a Wuhu-based news network reporting on a terrible matter; the disappearance of Princess Éclair. Daisy kept her eyes focused listening to the TV, hearing that the disappearance of the girl was most likely due to a planned kidnapping. The news reporter stated that apparently a large band of Koopas snuck their way into the castle and killed a few guards on their way to Éclair. Footage from cameras show that Princess Éclair was captured by them and is still presumed alive, but is no longer in the bounds of her castle. Footage also shows what some of these Koopas looked like, including their leader who was in possession of magical abilities. Daisy looked at the photos and video footage of the Koopa leader, bearing a striking resemblance to the last Koopa that Mario saw that night.

"That's him. That's Raiyon." Daisy pointed to the television screen. "That's the fucking Koopa that got Mario!" She shouted. "Track him down! Track that fucking Koopa down!" Toadheim nodded and ordered his department out of the room to return to their office floor. Daisy turned back to Mona with a worrying upset look. "See what I mean? This wouldn't have happened if Peach was here! If she abdicated, do you think the Toads would be able to prevent things like this happening?"

Mona hesitated. "You know, things like this wouldn't happen in the first place, right?" Daisy first questioned in her mind if that was something Mona intended to say out loud. What came next was the fury and rage of hearing said stupid comment. How dare Mona say such a thing to her in the heat of distress? Daisy's head started to shake about, trying to contain the rage. Her eye twitched and her shoulders were raised and locked. After a few more seconds, she tried to relieve the stress, lowering her voice and frustration.

"I don't want to hear anything more." She too hesitated now. "Toadheim, please show Mona to her chambers for the night. Do not put her in the same one that used to be used by Rynmar. This night is over. I'm going to bed." She clenched her drink glass, almost tempted to throw it on the floor and shatter it as a way to release her rage and frustration, but she remained composed. She placed it onto the table by the side of the sofa, not necessarily with ease, but at least it wasn't being broken. She stormed off next, leaving Mona with no choice but to follow Toadheim out of the lounge in the opposite direction and towards the elevator on the other end of the castle. Daisy was now in a worse mood, but not in the worst of moods. At least she would be alone now on the highest floor of the castle. Being outside helped her, so perhaps a few minutes in the royal balcony might calm her down. All she was thinking about now is the hope that might be Peach returning back someday. Another day went by, so at least tomorrow would be better than today. Unfortunately, being outside and alone didn't make things any better, so once again, Daisy was crying herself to sleep.

March 17

Daisy sobbed quietly for the rest of that night, so much to the point where she had forgotten where she had slept. That was until she woke up underneath a shaded part of the royal balcony with now a sore throat. It took her so long to actually fall asleep last night that she had gotten out of her bed in her quarters and walked around the top floor overtired, crashing out outside. Her throat was cold and her skin was freezing, so she walked inside quickly to warm herself up. This morning was also in fact colder than usual. Daisy checked the temperature and noticed that it was only 11 degrees at eight in the morning. The sky wasn't that sunny nor was it that cloudy either, it was very hazy and the sun was hard to find. A lot had changed in the night, and the temperatures throughout the day were expected to drop, from upper twenties in the late summer to only a high of 19 today according to the weather figures. Daisy sighed, realising now that she would have to house Mona for another few hours. She didn't remember much about last night, maybe she had a little too much to drink, but what she did remember was that Éclair was still missing and everyone was still sad and upset about Mario, including herself. Nothing really got better in the night, but it only made the thought of resignation or stepping down from her governing duties more logical. Maybe if the Toads were able to establish a new form of government that prioritised the people, would things start to look better. The only imminent problem she could think of was that there were so many government workers that worked inside the castle. Not only were there castle-guards, but also departmental workers in the other floors. Not only was Peach's castle a home to her but it was also a service building for the highest areas of government. If she stepped down, then she would either have to move out of the castle and go elsewhere, which Daisy knew she would never do, or she would have to relocate all government workers somewhere else, leaving so many floors full of emptiness. At least with her castle in Sarasaland, it served purely for her residence and nothing to do with the government. The sectors there had their own government buildings in different parts of the small kingdom. Daisy didn't really want to leave this floor either. With the situation with Éclair still uncertain, she didn't want to ask about it yet by going all the way down to Toadheim's department. Instead, she tried to call him by phone.

He wasn't answering. Perhaps he wasn't at his desk or at his phone at this point in time. Daisy's stomach started to rumble as she started to feel hungry. It seemed to her that she had to go down to get food now. There's a high chance that she'd see Mona down in the lounge at the same time. She would inevitably have to meet with her anyway to see her off. Hopefully she didn't see anything bad in her because of last night.

"Ah, Peach, please come back!" Daisy yelled out loud in the room knowing nobody was on the floor to hear her. She rolled around on her bed in frustration, falling down the side of the bed, still struggling to keep her eyes open. She then checked the mirror in the bathroom and saw herself in a terrible state. At this point she had lost the reason to care, so she decided to head to the deluxe lounge to get herself breakfast without making herself look clean and presentable.

…

Mona was indeed there. She had almost finished her breakfast. She greeted Daisy with a smile upon acknowledgement. As Daisy approached her, she got up, rushed over to her and gave her a big hug, despite being slightly put off by her appearance. Mona wasn't enduring anywhere near as much stress as she was so she was still able to get up at a reasonable hour, bathe herself and dress up to look presentable, exactly to princess standards. Mona seeing Daisy like this was something she saw as almost unusual, but with everything going on also being something relatively unusual, she felt more understanding as to why.

"I'm sorry for what I said last night." Mona began. "I feel like it was very inappropriate at the time. It sort of just came out and I didn't read the room, and for that I'm… truly sorry." Daisy's typical kind comments were not received by Mona, instead she got a neutral face and a look to the side. At first, Mona questioned why this was the case. Had she not forgiven her for last night? Mona then went on to realise that this was because of a different reason. Daisy sensed something was rather off in the room, particularly in its atmosphere. She rushed out of the room in fact, heading straight to a windowed corridor and looked outside. From this floor, she saw the view of the gate to Toad Town in the distance, littered with heads down below. "I saw that too. I don't really know what to do about it though." It turns out that Mona had seen this already and just rushed over to inform Daisy about it. This was another thing to already set out how her mood was going to be for today, with yet another problem to deal with. There were already Toad Brigade soldiers out at the gate trying to deal with the arising situation, but it only looked like a small mob of concerned citizens so far.

"Where is Toadheim?" Daisy questioned the guards in the hallway. "Where are Toadasha and Tranko, I must summon a meeting. No time for food Mona." She grabbed what she could and took Mona down the hall to the nearest elevator, alerting the guards to summon the department leaders to meet her in the council chambers. Daisy didn't want to waste any time so she rushed on ahead, Mona was following her when the elevator went down to the floor of the council chamber, but there was no rush as it seemed, for nobody was there before them. After a few minutes of waiting, only one other council member arrived to the room: Toadasha.

"Princess Daisy, you summoned me." The female Toad bowed before her before heading to her seat.

"Is this everyone now? Why's the council so small for such a big table? We've been here for minutes and there's nobody else by our side." She let out her frustration, seeing how big the table was and annoyed at how many empty seats there were around the table. Of all the times she was here, this was the time she saw the least amount, only three, and one that was here as a guest.

"I do admit that this council is rather quiet today, but there are a variety of reasons. Peach's leave of absence has left us severely short-staffed, even in the council. With Toad's resignation just days ago, we are still without an elected Master of Royal Affairs, as for Tranko he is outside seeing to the people at the gate. Toadheim and Mario however, I have no idea where either of them might be." The last statement she made hit Daisy in her heart. Most of them still don't know about Mario, and the fact that someone such as a high-ranking official as Toadasha still didn't hit Daisy emotionally again. The news will eventually and inevitably break out and she fears that it will take the Kingdom by storm.

"The Toad Brigade and Police should have this under control!" Daisy shouted at Toadasha. "Why do we still have a mob outside? It's making the city look bad!" She slammed the table, rushing out of the room. "I don't have the patience for this, where is Peach when I need her!" She shouted, creating an echo down the hallway back to the elevator.

"Daisy, wait!" Mona rushed down the hallway, slowing down to feeling some pain in her stomach. Daisy quickly pressed the ground floor and tried to make the doors close faster with the other buttons. "This isn't something you have to sort out, remember what I said!" By the time Mona finished, the doors were closed, and she was unable to reach the elevator in time.

"Remember what you said. Remember what you said? This isn't something I've got to sort out? Do the things I should focus on doing? Well, I'll show you what I'm focused on doing!" Daisy growled to herself inside the lift. The elevator in fact, wasn't going to the ground floor just yet. It was actually going back to the top floor, for Daisy was wanting to get something from her bedroom; some clothes to change in for a new specific occasion. This newfound rage in her made her want to do something else, and to take this something else with a different approach than usual.

…

Daisy's rage made her forget about Mona, abandoning her in the castle. She took a different elevator down to the ground floor and headed out of the castle from the back entrance, going through the gardens to the Toad Town back entrance, where she drove her own car through the eastern outskirts of the metropolitan area, en route to Mushroom Yards. No Toadheim with her this time, no Tranko with her this time. She wanted to go alone. This time around, Daisy was wearing armoured padding. Running on a near-empty stomach, she wanted to reach the prison centre well-equipped for what may come. One thing she forgot about this time around was the security. As she arrived, there were people already out on duty at the Yards. Some had noticed her, but thankfully seeing what she was wearing, they might be able to let her slide.

"…Princess Daisy? I-."

"Move aside." Her tantrum interrupted the delight that the workers saw on her arrival. She stormed through the building, wearing her armour like a threat to them. She knew exactly where to go and what she was here for. The people in the Yards followed her, questioning her actions but none felt able or brave enough to stop her in her path. Nobody was going to stop her this time, not even the guards at the underground prison cells. While they were meant to demonstrate strength and a barrier for people not to pass them, they all felt obligated to do no harm to Daisy as she reached the chambers. She grabbed the keys to the first Koopa's cell and opened it up, ordering the guards to clear off. She was left alone in this room now with herself and the Koopa.

"Tell me how I can get to Raiyon." She surprised Adama in his cell, waking him up and grabbing him by his arms.

"What, what are you doing here?" He wasn't fully awake but his reactions soon came to him as he was shoved over to the side.

"Answer the fucking question, how can I get to him?" She shook him about, putting force onto him with her padded clothing.

"Our code here is not to harm our detained captives unless they pose a threat." One of the guards outside the room warned Daisy as they opened up the cell door.

"I don't know how to get to him. How am I supposed to know that?" Adama started to panic as he saw something else come out from Daisy's pockets. It was the one item that she retrieved from the top floor kept in a hidden secret stash in her quarters: a loaded gun.

"Tell me where he is! Tell me everything!" Daisy's rage started to shape into a different form, one more associated with sadness and tears than hateful rage. "Just tell me anything that helps me!" She pointed the gun at the Koopa and he started to scream. The Toad guards from outside the cell noticed and started to rush in to intervene on the situation.

"Princess Daisy, drop the gun!" One of them shouted, quickly slowing down as they noticed her turn around with the gun, pointing it towards them. Adama started to cry, cornering himself in the room and clinging on to the walls. At this point, whatever Daisy was shouting was becoming inaudible as her rage-turned-sadness caused her to start crying. She lowered the gun, crying loudly as the Toad guards restrained her and disarmed her. Adama was frightened for his life but was now able to move back to the rest of the bed now that Daisy was being held tight by the guards and escorted out.

"I don't know what to do any more." She cried to the guards being taken out of the chamber and back to the upper floors. The Toad Police force were called to the scene as Daisy was taken to a private room to be held in for the time being.

…

One of the Toads to show up to Mushroom Yards in response to the call was Tranko, no longer occupying himself in the hands of the protesting Toads outside of Toad Town.

"Where is she?" He called out walking quickly down the halls. Soon he was redirected to the room where Daisy was being taken to. Her face though covered with her hands was still deeply red and her emotions were still clouding her mind. Tranko stood at the door and sighed, feeling defeated once again. "Princess Daisy… what is this, you're the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom… and what you choose to do with your time is to bring a gun to a prisoner?"

"I'm not the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom!" Daisy shouted back to Tranko, finally revealing her face to him. "Peach was and still is the ruler. I don't want to be the ruler. I'm not fit to be it…" Her frustration started to cool down, the rage that was briefly there on his arrival was no more. "…I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I feel like if I do nothing then bad things will happen. What's with the protests, what's with Éclair? What's going on?" Her point was made. Tranko paused and looked to the ground.

"Yeah well the protests are nothing for you to worry about. It's just some Toads and Koopas concerned about Peach but it's not something they should be concerned about for now, especially with their interests… but as for Éclair, well, she's still missing and the Wuhu departments are trying their best to address the problem. Apparently there was an attack in Blue Lake and detectives are piecing the two incidents together."

"The matters in the far west are of no concern to me at the moment. I am sorry about Éclair but Peach and Mario's matter at hand is clearly more important. The Kingdom looks like a complete mess without her."

"Believe me; it's not as bad as you may think." Tranko tried to negotiate. "Everywhere else in the Kingdom is doing just fine. A few incidents in the capital and Peach's leave of absence does not make the whole Kingdom fall into disarray, though as for Mario…"

"Toadasha doesn't even know about Mario yet. Do you know how sad that is? This whole thing being a secret is hanging by a thread. The Kingdom will crumble when they hear the news. This is something that not even Peach would be able to mitigate and the stars bless her on the day she finds out." Tranko twitched. His appearance and his tone briefly changed to a more serious and assertive manner.

"The departments of the Mushroom City castle are doing what they do best to make sure that the Kingdom is running smoothly. I can assure you that this situation with Mario will not go public unless someone like you or Peach make it so." Tranko walked closer to Daisy, standing just before her. She looked up and leaned back slightly, almost irritated by his imposing presence.

"Thank you for assuring me but I feel like if I am to be the ruler of the Kingdom then I should be more easily assured by people about these things. How am I supposed to hear back from the departments without having people from them on the council? I was there just earlier and only Toadasha was there. There is no master of the people and there is no master of royal affairs." She felt slightly intimidated by the proximity of Tranko, provoking her to stand before him now. Daisy looked at him in the eyes almost level. Only her height over him made her feel less discomfort.

"We can arrange for you to have a new council, even if it means going out of Peach's possible interests while she is gone."

"I will have it so!" Daisy reacted. "For now. How am I supposed to know that these departments are making sure that the Kingdom is running smoothly, and what if they are unable to keep it so in the future? Time is feeling slow right now, it's only been a few days, but so much has happened to me!" Tranko's expression changed once again as his eyes closed slightly.

"To most people in the world, these past few days have felt to them like nothing has happened at all. The world does not operate through the lens that is your two eyeballs, Princess Daisy. What we know of the world is seen by the many experts in these departments, working on counselling on the matters of which clearly the Princess-regent of the Mushroom Kingdom knows nothing." The tone was intimidating to Daisy; A slightly raised voice but in no sense was he shouting. The words coming out of Tranko's mouth were nothing like she had heard from him before. Perhaps this is what it is like for Tranko to speak normally to others when not surrounded by human girls for once.

"So how exactly are these departments meant to be counselling me?"

"You are being counselled at this very moment." Tranko finished bluntly. "I will make it so for you that all matters are reported to you, only if such matters are necessary to your current concerns. As you say, the matters of the west are of no concern to you so I will not directly address them to you. The reports for you will be blunt and unfiltered, so that you can see how it really is. I will say one more thing while we are here. If you would like your own personal counsellor, I suggest you find someone else. I am the Captain of the Toad Brigade after all." Daisy could only nod back in response to him. Everything he said she thought was justifiable, and that it was a much clearer picture as a way to approach governing matters. Perhaps these words were the best way of seeing things more clearly, and if not for that breakdown she had here, she wouldn't have been told about this. "I am returning to the castle. I expect you to do the same." The Toad-Captain walked back out of the room that she was being kept in. Mushroom Yards wanted nothing from her now, so it was in her best interests to return to the castle and actually get breakfast.

12:00PM

Daisy was starving and Mona was no longer present in the castle bounds. She felt a bit of embarrassment for what she had done with her before in essentially abandoning her, but her priorities were elsewhere. She returned the castle, seeking food immediately. Her barely-touched breakfast may have been taken away by now but if there was anything that she wanted right now, it was what was left of it. Daisy knew that she would have to shift her meals throughout the day to make sure she has three square meals. Hopefully the chefs and preparers in the castle could always provide her with another round of the food.

Luckily it was able to be possible as she informed some of the castle-guards to send a message to the royal kitchens on her way back to the deluxe lounge. Here was where she wanted to have her breakfast again and thankfully there was peace and quiet this time around. That was the case for only a few minutes in to her meal as a familiar face from earlier today showed up.

"Wow, Princess Daisy." It was Toadasha, a nice face but unfortunately not one she had hoped for. "I'm sorry for intruding and I'm sorry if this morning has not been so kind to you."

"No, it's fine, truly." She burped on her food and still looked a mess, very unappealing to the female Toad but she was delighted to see her anyway. She was being served an early lunch to accommodate for her early work schedule today. "Hey, can I tell you something? Come over here." Daisy beckoned Toadasha, allowing her to sit with her but still slightly distant because she wasn't smelling so good.

"What's the matter? Is this about Mona? Forgive me for insinuating, but it didn't look like you two were in the best of moods this morning." She was quieted by Daisy as she wanted to keep this a secret between the two.

"No don't worry about that." Daisy laughed with relief. "Do you feel like the Mushroom Kingdom is… becoming worse now?" Toadasha wasn't sure what to say at first, so she went with what she truly believed in.

"I know that Rainbow Road was a bit of a scare, but if you look at the past ten years or so, there have been a few things like that but nothing too bad. I still think we're better off than in 2010 when you lot were dealing with the north." Daisy nodded, partially agreeing with her.

"This is something that I'm going to tell you that you need to not tell anyone. Very few know about this, so you must promise me not to tell anyone." More importantly, she wanted to go straight to the point. Toadasha nodded, allowing Daisy to get close to her ear and talk softly to her. "If you ever wondered about the whereabouts of Mario and Luigi, know this. That night in Webcapstow, we lost Mario from us to the hands of a Dargovi Koopa. His name is Raiyon, and he is the biggest source of my sadness and rage at the moment. I know you're just the Mistress of Coin, but you're one of Peach's most trusted counsellors and advisors. I feel it is essential you must know." Toadasha took this very heavily, she could barely keep herself together but she did so silently and Daisy was forever thankful for it. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking about.

"Who else knows?" She asked in the midst of all her nerves.

"Tranko, Toadsworth, Luigi and I, and a few trusted Brigade and Patrol soldiers. Not even Peach knows about this, so when she does arrive, whenever it may be, and if you see her before I do, do not tell her a thing." Toadasha nodded back to her, being held firmly by Daisy to calm her reaction down. "Now you see why you've not seen anyone but me and why I'm the way I am at the moment. I'm going a little crazy, yes, everyone's seeing it, but they don't know why, and that's the problem. I don't know how to let this be known to the public.

"Mario was even my hero, let alone Peach's and almost everyone else's. The people said he was to be the prince as well." She kept shaking her head but Daisy showed to be very understanding. Her emotions were now going over the place as well, but Daisy was there for her. "Can I take the rest of today off?"

"Yes, of course." Daisy nodded, holding on to her still. "Just remember not to tell anyone else. Promise me this." Toadasha was starting to tear up but Daisy tried to wipe away the tears from her. Gracefully, the Toad allowed her to wipe them to keep her face looking nice.

"I'll notify the department that I'm taking the afternoon off, and then I'm going straight home."

"Make sure you keep yourself in check. I'm sorry I had to bring this news to you, but I thought that as you are who you are, I needed to tell you first before it eventually becomes inevitably exposed."

"You can trust us." Toadasha smiled amidst the worry. "We Toads keep our secrets."

"Thank you." Daisy felt some relief seeing the Toad rush away with her lunch in her hands. Daisy now felt a little more relaxed, but the agenda was still really depressing.

1:00PM

Daisy returned to the top floor, unsure what to do next. With Tranko's advice in mind, the theoretical best course of action for her was to do nothing and try to enjoy herself while the time would go by. Luigi was still unreachable, which was starting to become a concern for her, but she felt it was best to give it one more day before questioning his whereabouts.

There wasn't much to do on the top floor anymore, especially without Peach being here to do things with. Her absence was really getting to her and it only made her think of her more. Seeing the floor completely empty with no staff to guard it, it gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted here though there was nothing she could think of to do. Seeing Peach's quarters and her bedroom doors left open only made her think of the times she was with her most recently. Everything with them was so well-managed when she was in charge, even the aftermath of the Rainbow Road incident. However, one memory appeared in her mind. The time she spent with Peach just before the end of that long night, only a few hours before dawn. She remembered Peach telling her to go to bed because there was one thing she wanted to do and she wanted to do it alone. Daisy was never able to find out what exactly it was Peach did. She started to wonder if it had any correlation with her increased absence in the Mushroom Kingdom recently. Ever since that night, she has spent almost as much time on Earth as she has spent in the Mushroom Kingdom. This included speaking to both of those two humans that she met on Earth and trying to recruit them over. Maybe Rynmar was right. Maybe she was going to return soon and that she was actually in good care with them. So to Peach she was probably having the best of times in recent days, and it was all without her. She had never felt so disconnected with her in such a short time before, and it's frustrating her more by the hour. Daisy decided to investigate Peach's bedroom. Her behaviour being so different in the times they were together in this past week showed that she was very likely to be keeping more secrets away from her, and she believed that identifying these could all start with figuring out what she wanted to do alone on that night after the incident.

Daisy walked slowly into her room. While nobody was here to even question her presence in this room, she still felt like she wasn't allowed to be here. Every step made she felt like she was trespassing, but her mind was also telling her to overcome this feeling. Peach wasn't here, she was the ruler now, so she should be able to walk wherever she wanted. If the two are to share their secrets, then Daisy will do whatever she wants in this room, and if it feels necessary, then she would tell Peach that she did this when the two unite again. Unfortunately, there wasn't that much in this room let alone many secrets. The room was always looking very clean and kept well, but maybe that was the cleaners' doing. The headquarters room was slightly different though. Amidst all of the maps and the papers and documents scattered across the large table, there was one small note that stood out in her sights. She never noticed this here before as it was likely only placed here just days ago, but what was on it was something that shocked her.

M1U 5FL - Delivery

"Medfort?" It was a post code to an address that Daisy assumed was based in the town southwest of the capital city. This was definitely something strange to find just left about, but it was potentially worth investigating. With the help of the maps in the room, she learned that this was in fact an address based in Medfort, in particular, someone's residence. If Daisy was going to focus on doing the things that she wanted to do, then going here was on the top of her priority list.

1:30PM

Medfort, South Mushroom Kingdom

Daisy had never been to this town before. It looked like another old Toad village that had undergone changes due to modernisation. The population seemed average and the people were moving about the village normally. She wondered if Peach had ever been here before. Obviously she did and it would be for this reason, but any other reasons would only be for football team purposes back in the day. That would at least be to go to the town centre or the stadium, but this part of Medfort based on the postcode seemed to be part of a quiet area where the houses were rather spacious. This part was also on the edge of a forest and the houses here had lots of land each.

She arrived to the road and parked just outside the house. Quietly and carefully, she walked all the way up to the front door and knocked, waiting outside patiently. The owner of this residence turned out to be a Koopa, but no normal-looking Koopa to Daisy. This one was darker skinned and almost resembling more of a turtle from Earth appearance. There was only one Koopa Daisy could think of that looked like this, and she was betting on this Koopa being that same one.

"Nangon?"

"Princess Daisy?" The Koopa – after opening his front door to her – had a surprised look on his face, which in less than a second turned into an anxious look. "Come inside." He looked outside first and checked if the two were being watched before hurrying her inside. "Did Peach send for me?"

All Daisy knew about Nangon is that he used to be an assistant manager and then manager of Peach's old football team, and like Peach he stepped down for the role. Peach's reason for retiring from the scene was obvious; she was a governess of the Kingdom at the same time. From what Daisy remembered, Nangon's reason for stepping down wasn't clear and was unexplained.

"No secrets." Daisy whispered, knowing that from his behaviour he wanted her to be quiet. "Peach was here just a week ago, right?"

"Yes." Nangon replied, knowing who he was talking to and knowing the power she had. "She came in the night, collecting something from me. I'm sure that if you're here asking about it, then you'll know what she came here for."

"She never told me actually, she kept this as a secret from me." Nangon followed her through the house, all the way to the back. One thing Daisy remembered when waiting outside was how secluded this house was. "I never knew this about you. I don't think Peach ever mentioned your name to me, like ever." She followed Nangon to the back room but was never taken outside. Instead, Nangon had her seated by the table in the back window where he would want to talk with her.

"You want to know why she came to me on the night of the tenth?" Nangon wondered as she sat down. "She came to collect something from me. She didn't specify what she was going to do with it, but she paid me all the same. What she has between herself and me is something strictly kept between us. You are better off asking her about it yourself."

"Would you care to explain to me what it was she collected from you?" Daisy raised her voice, tilting her head slightly. Nangon however, was not moved by her somewhat interrogating behaviour. What Daisy was potentially asking for is going beyond the boundaries that Peach told him to keep between him and her.

"If she has kept it a secret from you then it is not my duty to let this secret go. That is something you have done half the work for and you must finish the work yourself by seeing it to her. I cannot break the boundaries that Peach has set between herself and I." Nangon's lecture bored Daisy. While it was a just reason, she grew disinterested and couldn't be bothered with these dead-ends anymore. She grew suspicious of his garden, noticing through the window that something in it was covered.

"Sorry, but I can't anymore." Daisy got up and turned around, walking to the back door and opening it with the handle. As she was about to go outside, she froze upon hearing the sound of a locked and loaded shotgun.

"Step outside and your body will be scattered across my garden." She knew that Nangon had the gun to her back. Another thing she wasn't able to do despite her 'power' she was supposed to have as the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. She felt something strange about Nangon. Despite being a citizen it felt to her that he had more power than she thought he did and more than he deserved. Daisy sighed and slammed the door closed. "Good day, Princess Daisy." Once again, Daisy witnessed another thing that she was lied about. Knowing that Nangon was keeping this between himself and Peach made her feel unable to have his house raided. She was seen to the door and forced to leave, not saying a word to Nangon on her departure. Here she felt like she was never allowed on the premises again, but something suspicious was definitely in that garden.

2:15PM

Daisy returned to Toad Town. With everyone else at work and Tranko no longer being available to her, she felt defeated and alone once again. At least the way back to the castle was a nice drive and the back entrance was empty of people. So much had already happened in the morning that Daisy was starting to feel so tired. Her face had been red from her emotions for long it felt like the skin was stained red. She had gone past the point of rage and sadness now to the point where she didn't have the energy to waste on it. Supposedly the protests outside Toad Town were supposed to be over but she could still hear the loud voices outside. She was hearing synchronised chanting but was unable to tell what was being shouted. From the castle entrance, she walked down the empty Toad Town street to the gate where she could see a lot of the police. It looked like they were still facing the problem head-on and were making no progress with it. Whether Tranko was there or not didn't matter to Daisy any more. She was told it wasn't her problem so she shouldn't go over to deal with it. It was back to the top floor of the castle with her now.

Alone again, perhaps not doing any good for her health at this point. Being alone allowed her to be more easily open with her emotions, especially knowing nobody in the floors below would be able to hear her screaming. When she arrived to her bedroom, she got onto it and sat on her knees. With all the stress that was still in her mind, she let out not quite a loud scream but some noise that resembled screaming, crying, and shouting all at the same time. She gripped the bed sheets and fell head first into the mattress. She screamed and begged for order to be returned to the Kingdom. She begged for Peach, and most importantly she begged to go back to the days when Mario was around. The ventilation of her cries didn't seem to end…

Ten minutes later she eventually gave up. There was no point in crying any longer. It wouldn't solve anything. It can't bring Mario back, it can't bring Rynmar's assistance back and most importantly it couldn't bring Peach back.

…

"Daisy."

…

Daisy thought she heard something in her room coming from the door. She lifted her head and turned around…

EOC: I apologise if this chapter feels a little dragged in the sense it was mostly oriented around Daisy in such a short time frame. The intent showcases what's going with her not just in the world but in her mind.

See you next chapter! More will come.