2005 September 19th

It's warm.

It feels like the first time sleeping in a cosy bed for a while. But it's not as bouncy as his home bed, since he's sleeping in a futon next to a large bed.

Opening his eyes, Mario yawns as he's in what a seamstress made as in his pyjamas and Luigi has the same but different style.

Speaking of Luigi, Mario can see another futon as Luigi is being hugged by Daisy, who sleeps in her underwear, struggling to get Daisy herself off of him.

"Mario… Help me…" Luigi whispers while trying to move.

Snickering, Mario pulls out his phone and takes a photo, amused to see Luigi being clung onto by a princess.

"Bro!"

"Sorry. I thought you looked cute being hugged like a plushie." Mario giggles quietly and then approaches his brother and the princess.

What stops Mario is a tear that is coming from Daisy, who was weeping in her sleep.

"Dad… I'm sorry… I won't do it again…" Daisy mumbles, causing Mario and Luigi to stay silent and watch a sleep crying princess squeezing Luigi himself.

This is something Mario needs to know about as he can tell that the scars on her are less from a brawl (although they are) and more from something else.

Shuffling on a bed, waking up is Azalea, who wears a one piece night dress, as she stretches herself and sees Mario watching Luigi and Daisy sleeping together.

What she notices is her big sister crying for her father as well as apologising in her sleep.

"Hm? Azalea?" Mario turns with surprise, even Luigi is looking at her.

Azalea places her finger on her lips and then leans down as she rubs Daisy's shoulder, causing Daisy to snort and turn around with her eyes slowly open.

"Mmn… Huh? Mario? Azalea? Luigi?" Daisy is finally awake.

"Morning, sis." Azalea whispers with a giggle.

This leads to Daisy chuckling and then turning towards Luigi, even though she's surprised to see Luigi closer to her.

"Oh! Luigi! Sorry, force of habit!" Daisy laughs after picking herself up and stretches her arms and her back. "Mmn!"

"Daisy. I couldn't help but notice, but why are you crying?" Luigi asks, pointing out the tears that are still on Daisy's eyes.

To Daisy's surprise, Luigi has caught her as she quickly rubs her eyes.

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine!"

"You were mumbling about your father." Mario reveals the truth as Daisy grunts, seeing as Mario is not stopping her from avoiding that topic.

"Ahem! Anyway, let's have breakfast!" Azalea quickly steps in while clapping which gains her some attention.

"Oh! You're right! Luckily, your girl is in a mood for breakfast! I'll handle the cooking!" Daisy stands up as she laughs.

"Wait, you can cook? I mean don't royal families let their servants cook?" Mario asked.

"You think we're all the same? Oh, Mario, I never rely on anyone, except Goro when I'm sick." Daisy explains while shaking her head horizontally.

"What about Azalea?" Luigi asks.

"Yeah, I wouldn't trust her with going into the kitchen. You don't want to know." Daisy's smile has gotten from positive to nervousness as she can feel the disgust in her stomach.

"Oh." Mario and Luigi can see what Daisy meant as they got the impression that Azalea can't cook a single meal.

"Eh? I mean Mr. Goro is teaching me how to cook." Azalea points out.

"Yeah? And he also went into the hospital because of your inability to cook!" Daisy snaps which causes Azalea to pout.

The Mario brothers are looking at each other as they shrug their shoulders and then turn back to the Flora sisters.

Daisy then sighs and then turns around with a positive attitude.

"Let's go!" Daisy called while leaving.

But she's in her underwear and mostly notices her in just her bra and panties, causing Luigi to hastily grab a dressing gown that is hanging on a clothes hanger.

"Wait! Daisy!" Luigi called while leaving.

Azalea giggles as it reminded Luigi of herself; trying to keep Daisy up as she sometimes is forgetful.

But Mario is still watching which had Azalea stop smiling.

"I know you're hiding it. You knew Daisy has a secret. Are the rumours true?" Mario asks, realising that anything related to the rumours alerted Daisy to avoid it and Azalea cutting it off.

But there's no choice as Mario is sniffing them like a dog.

"Mr. Mario. Do you hate us?" Azalea asks.

"Huh? No, why do you ask?" Mario is curious to know why Azalea asked that question.

"Because… The rumours are true. It was seven years ago." Azalea confirmed the rumours which stops Mario.

"What?"

To Mario's shock, Azalea remembers what her 9 year old self has remembered.

"You're saying that the emperor is murdered?" Mario asks, only for Azalea to nod. "Who?"

"Will you still look at us differently?" Azalea asked another question.

Mario shakes his head as he denies viewing the princesses differently.

Azalea bites her lips, scared that she has to answer to an outsider like him.

"It was Daisy." Azalea revealed the culprit.

"What?" Mario gasped.

"Yeah. She was the one who did it. But in truth… We killed our father." Azalea lowers her head, realising that Mario is the only one who knows the truth behind the emperor's murder.

"You mean… Is all that rumour true? Tell me." Mario grabs Azalea's shoulders, despite being shorter than her. "Why did she do this?"

"It was to protect me. Dad has beaten up Daisy which explains the scars she had. Yes, most of them are from fighting other people, but a large one is from dad's whip."

"He did what!?" Mario is appalled by that kind of treatment this friendly princess is going through.

"From her shoulder to her back, big sis was able to endure all this in order to protect me. She knows what dad's been doing like ignoring me, not feeding me, never giving me comfort. All this is what Daisy did for me. Then what he said was to put me as a bride as well as giving birth, feeling nothing but pain."

"That monster…" Mario clenches his fists and growls, realising that he's no better than Bowser and his old man.

"All these he said has set Daisy off to the point of ending dad's life. I also share the blood on my hands. Daisy has been living with guilt for over seven years and she'll never stop until she repents for the things she committed." Azalea grunts while looking away from Mario.

To Mario's shock, how can anyone in Sarasaland accept this kind of cruelty to the point that they're monsters in human or creature clothing, leading him to grit his teeth.

Mario knows that Daisy is shouldering that burden for many years as it hits him in the chest.

"And you should be glad."

"Huh?" Azalea raises her head with surprise, seeing Mario's mouth twitching as he glares.

"That's right. You should be happy. That man deserved it for the things he did to his own daughters. How can anyone accept the abuse you're put through!? If I were you, I'd take his life on the spot!" Mario lets out a rant, causing Azalea to gasp and hold her chest.

"No! You got it all wrong!"

"Huh!? Are you going to let that slide!?"

"No! It's not like that! Dad was never like that before!" Azalea snapped, only for Mario to stop himself and look into her eyes.

"What do you mean he's not like that?"

"Dad loved us both equally. He really does. My mom died after I was born. That's why dad and Daisy are my only family that loved and cared for each other. It was months before that dad suddenly changed, treating us badly. This is what leads us to right now and Daisy is getting overprotective as time goes on." Azalea explained.

"Really? Are you sure he's not like my old man?" Mario raises an eyebrow while asking bitterly.

"Huh? You compared dad to your father?"

"Don't say that. He's not my father." Mario spat out with contempt.

"Why? Why do you hate him that much?" Azalea asked, curious to know Mario's relationship with his old man.

As Mario sits on a bed next to Azalea, Mario sighs as he looks away.

"Well… I know you guys don't know about him, but he has the title 'Jumpman' after defeating that big monkey that turned out to be the chief of the Kongs, Cranky Kong."

"Oh! I remember him! He's pretty cool for an old geezer." Azalea laughs as Mario smiles back.

"Heh. Looks like we're both in agreement that the chief did nothing wrong, aside from kidnapping a woman as I heard of when I was a kid." Mario remembers being told about his old man's history with Cranky Kong.

"Hm. That is true." Azalea agreed that he did less harmful things.

"He used his fame as a way to shield himself from being called out on his horrible behaviour. He's a menace to society, even he made Blackie look like an innocent angel." Mario points out as Azalea leans towards Mario.

"What did he do that made you hate him?"

"The way he treats his family. He and mama had an argument and the first thing he did was physical violence on her and I was eight. When I stopped him from attacking mama, he's going to do my brother next, even he berated Luigi for not manning up. I mean, he never let Luigi act as himself and he can't man up in this condition." Mario explained.

"And why did he attack your mother?" Azalea asked.

"For standing up to him. She wanted to prove to everyone that the chief is not a bad person. I was attacked for being too nice, which is my nature. I wanted to make others happy."

"Wait, he doesn't like kindness?"

"He hates us, because we hold him back and our birth isn't out of love." Mario points out.

Azalea gasps after hearing what Mario just said.

"That's right… When I was nine, I found out that mama was forced to make him happy and we're just his products. The reason Mario was our surname, just as my forename, is because it belonged to mama and my grandpa."

Azalea is unsure, but she can tell that he's far from the same as her father.

"When I was ten, I took the beating for my family as it started when I was eight. Back to when I was ten, I was pulling a superhero facade, just to make everybody happy, starting with Luigi. When I met Peach, even Pauline was fifteen at that time, we've all cherished our childhood friendship and that's a sibling, an adopted sibling, and a friend."

Mario stops himself as he gulps, reminding himself not to remember the grim moment of what he did to himself.

"After that, I was told by my old man that my kindness is what's driving the family to its rotten state and I should be ashamed of myself. This is what led to me and Peach to drive each other away, screaming at each other and calling each other names. Peach rarely frowns, but this is the first time I see her breaking down and that led us to a physical fight. Unlike Daisy, Peach is very difficult to read and she's some kind of a mysterious girl I knew in my childhood." Mario stops again after being sidetracked by his cherished childhood again.

"Uh huh. And what about the chief of the Kongs?" Azalea asked.

"In the circus where my old man is about to 'perform' with the chief, I met him in a cage. At first I thought I was hallucinating after hearing him talk, but it was all real. What the chief said to me is that this man is no man at all, but more of a monster than him. He even pitied my family for being stuck with this man. When I freed the animals, I was caught by the officers and I ended up on the receiving end of bruises when we got back home. I remember the chief thanking me and giving me a gift, but it was with mama at home." Mario continued.

"And when's the last time you see him."

"When I was eleven, he's no longer with us and I was told that he was arrested for fraud, abuse and assault. I was happy, but I was also lonely."

"Why?"

"Because I drove everyone away and let the bullies bully the ones I used to help. There comes a day that I wish that I don't exist or my old man should just disappear so he can see game over in his own two eyes." Mario concludes his reason for why he despised his old man.

Azalea can see why Mario has a habit of bringing harm to those who hurt anyone who didn't do anything. It's also the reason why Mario wants to defeat Bowser, but is afraid of the monster he sees that chases the princess, harms the innocents and takes Pauline away from the world.

"I know how you feel. You're suffering daddy issues because of what he did in your childhood. You should've handled it like my sister and get over the hatred that's been happening for years."

"Azalea. Daisy is never over that hatred. Her eyes say it all." Mario can tell why Daisy has been avoiding it.

Azalea clenches her dress while lowering her head.

"I want to know why dad suddenly became like this." Azalea said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. If mom hadn't died, then dad would've been even happier, but now everything went messier and I want to solve it all." Azaled turns towards Mario while looking serious.

Mario takes a deep breath and then turns towards Azalea with a calm smile.

"We'll make sure to get Daisy to open up. But how would the empire react if they learned the truth?" Mario asked.

"We'll have to wait. Once big sis opens up, we'll need to convince her to tell the truth." Azalea planned it as she will find not only the truth, but will free Daisy from the burdening guilt she's putting herself through. "Let's have breakfast for now. We'll discuss this later."

"Okay." Mario nods and stands from the bed and follows Azalea to the corridor.

As Azalea learned Mario's history and Mario learned her's, they're now working together to find an answer that started all this horrible mess.