"The phrase "Heroes never die" does not mean that the Heroes themselves become immortal. It means that the memories of their bravery and accomplishments will never disappear and that someday, someone will take their place of fighting for what is right."

- Unknown

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I felt the warmth of his body leave my side as he rose up from the bed and got dressed quietly to ensure that I wouldn't wake up. Sadly; I already had. And I knew where he was going, every day was the same.

"Going already?" I whined with a soft and tired voice without opening my eyes to even look at him.

"Did I wake you up?" He asked.

I shook my head while still not opening my eyes. "The bed gets so cold without you. Can't you stay for a little bit longer?"

"You know I have to do this, otherwise I wouldn't even be here right now." He explained. I knew that was the truth, but I wish that this hell we lived in was just a dream. A very bad dream. Sadly it wasn't. But I still made an attempt to get him to stay at least five more minutes.

"Walu," I whined in a sad tone to get him to feel a little guilty for leaving me. It usually worked in other situations.

He leaned closer to me and spoke softly into my ear: "Don't worry, I'll be back in a few hours. I'll leave a few coins on the kitchen counter." 

After that, he went out of the room. I could hear him opening the door to the wardrobe in the kitchen, take out his sporting equipment and then lock the door as he left the apartment. Now it was just me and Polari left.

"Dammit." I sighed to myself. 

I saw no point in trying to sleep again so I just decided to be awake a little bit earlier today. I slowly sat up and opened my eyes. I was met with the same sight I saw every morning when I woke up: the gray wall in front of the bed and the small portion of red-ish sunlight shining through the window. I hated that sight, it meant that I was still trapped here in this hell.

Suddenly, I could hear the bedroom door open and a tiny voice speaking to me. "Rosalina, are you already up? is there something you need?" It was Polari. 

I turned my head towards the little black colored luma and smiled. "Yes, could you please boil some water for my morning tea?" 

He smiled. "Of course!" And without a second to spare, he went to the kitchen stove to boil some water for me.

I always became so nostalgic every time I saw Polari. The look he gave me with his icy-blue eyes reminded me of the times when we used to travel through space in the observatory, helping as many lumas as possible to find their place in the world. It made me happy but It also made me very worried about where all of the lumas went when I got here. Four years ago, during the observatory crash, we got separated and I haven't seen them since. It's all Bowser's fault, or as he now wants to be called: "King Koopa".

I still can't believe that in the end, he managed to actually defeat Mario. When I first heard about it I was in tears. Mario, the man who had saved me and my lumas... even the whole galaxy, had in the end, been defeated by his enemy. It was unbelievable.

I got up from the bed and went out into the kitchen to join Polari for breakfast. There wasn't much to eat except a few slices of bread and some cheese. We ate one sandwich each and drank some tanooki leaf tea (the best kind of tea for breakfast).
After that, we had some options on what we could do today. Either sit and wait until Waluigi got home again or go out and try to get some fresh air without any of Bowser's minions to notice us. But before I could do anything else I had to check the newspaper, if someone had found Luigi then I needed to know about it. He hasn't been seen since his brother died, making everybody believe that he is hiding somewhere. Either planning an attack to bring Bowser down from his throne or cowering in fear. I choose to believe the first option, he has saved the world before and can do it again.
Although... it has been four years so my beliefs are starting to become vague.

"Polari, has the newspaper arrived yet?" I asked.

He went and picked up a bundled up newspaper that was lying next to the door. He untied the knot of string holding it together and opened up to the first page before giving it to me. I sped through the text, stopping at every word I thought said 'Luigi'. Luckily there was nothing about him in any of the articles. If Bowser knew where he was he would do everything in his way to defeat him as well. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to the first page again to actually see if there was something interesting to read in it.

"If there was free speech in this country then the newspaper wouldn't be filled with such lies about Bowser being a "great" king," I mumbled to myself. 

It made me angry, Bowser managed to turn this kingdom, which was once a beautiful place, into a dark hellhole filled with bad guys. If this was his picture of "perfection" then something is seriously wrong with him. It's as if he enjoys the suffering of other people.

"Hm?!" I suddenly burst out as my vision glanced over a certain article.

"What is it?" Polari asked worriedly.

I quickly read through the article and then looked at him with anger in my eyes. "They're changing the sport of the week AGAIN!"

"What?! No, no, they can't do that! It's just two days left until Friday!"

"Oh, but they are! Now instead of tennis, they're changing it to a kart race." I told him. "The sport that they were supposed to have next week!"

"But Waluigi has trained for a tennis match already, not kart racing."

"There's nothing we can do about it." I sighed. "I'll call him."

I went to the bedroom and picked up the phone that was lying on the table next to the bed, I dialed Waluigi's number and waited for him to pick up. After a few ringing tones, I could hear a click on the other side of the line.

"Hello? Waluigi speaking."

"Walu... are you playing tennis right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm playing with Shawn. What's the matter, Rosie?"

I fell down onto the bed with a big sigh. "They changed the weekly sport once again."

"What?!" He exclaimed. "Oh, come on! I've been training my ass off in tennis for nothing?!"

"Yes, sadly," I said. "Now you'll have to channel your luck for good items because the tournament on Friday is a kart race."

He snickered. "Well, no worries. I know I can do it with only two days of training because I am the BEST at kart racing!"

I smiled. "You say that about yourself in every sport."

"Because I am! I'm good at everything because I am the great Waluigi!" He laughed.

"Then what am I good at?" I asked teasingly.

He was quiet for a second. "Being the best?" He finally said in a questioning tone. 

It caused me to laugh a little. Despite everything being bad in the world right now, Waluigi was someone who always managed to make me laugh. 

"What? You ARE the best!" He said, probably thinking that I was laughing because his response sounded stupid. 

"Thanks, Walu, you're so sweet. Hope that your training goes alright. I want you in one piece when you get home."

"Do not worry about me, I'll- oh, Shawn's waiting for me, got to go now. Bye."

"Bye," I said and ended the call.

I instantly felt bored after I stopped talking with Waluigi. I wish that we could spend more time together, but the stupid weekly sporting tournaments were always in the way.

The sporting tournaments were Bowser's idea of producing entertainment for both the public and himself. It's being held every Friday night and it's broadcasted so that anyone can watch it on TV. The sport always changes every week and it's Bowser himself that decides what kind it's going to be. But in some cases, just like this week, he can suddenly change his mind and everybody will just suck it up because they are too afraid to stand up against him. The tournaments are dangerous, people have died in them and it's because Bowser wants to make things exciting. He also competes, but he's the only one that's allowed to cheat. If anyone else tries something funny the worst punishment could be death. You're forced to train for the tournament until every bit of your body feels like it's going to explode. Otherwise, it will be tough to survive.

Anyone that has never been to the Mushroom Kingdom might ask "why is anyone even competing then?" Answer: because they HAVE to. They have no choice. Once you're invited by Bowser you can't refuse or else you'll go to the dungeons. 

There's one competitor for each species, one koopa, one boo, one hammer bro and so on. But Bowser also wants special people to compete against each other, so there's also Waluigi, Funky Kong, Daisy (which is just someone dressed as her because of safety if Bowser ever wanted to kidnap the real princess) and also Wario, the only one of the star children that Bowser's letting away because they once used to work together. The other star children that are still alive are hiding where Bowser can't find them. 

I would put a stop to all of Bowser's shenanigans if it wasn't for the fact that my magic wand was broken and the pieces had disappeared, along with my lumas. I could still use magic but it wasn't strong enough to save the world.

"Rosalina!" Polari yelled as he ran into the bedroom.

"What is it?!" I asked, panicked over his sudden appearance.

"A toad outside is being mugged! You have to help!"

I quickly got out of bed and got dressed. I usually borrowed Waluigi's clothes because they were really comfortable. I hurriedly put on a long-sleeved purple shirt, a pair of black pants and my own blue shoes. Then I quickly covered up my long blonde hair with a brown-haired wig to ensure that if Bowser's minions saw me nobody would know that it was the princess they were looking for.

Polari showed me through the kitchen window where the poor toad was. He was pressed up against the wall by two dry bones by the building next to us. I ran through the door and up the stairs to the roof. Then gently floated off the edge of the building, right behind the two dry bones Then gently floated off the edge of the building, right behind the two dry bones.

"Hey, I think that toad needs his money more than you two do!" I said angrily.

The two dry bones turned around and looked at me surprised. 

"Looks like we got company, Phoney." The one to the left said. 

"And it's a pretty girl as well, Smiley." The one to the right said. 

"I don't think she understands the danger of the situation." Smiley took out a sharp looking bone from inside his torso. "I think she needs to learn her place."