''Wake up. Come on, I know you're not dead.'' I heard a voice say.

I slowly started to return to my consciousness, I slowly opened my eyes and was met with a bright light shining above me. My head hurt, or more correctly: my whole body hurt. I was confused for a moment about my whereabouts, but soon saw a familiar face that I hadn't seen for a long time.

''Daisy?'' I said in an extremely weak and groggy voice.

She was looming above me, a worried smile spread across her face. ''Thank god, you're awake. How are you feeling?''

''Could've been better, but I'm alive,'' I smiled. Suddenly, a wave of realization washed over me. ''Where's Shawn?!'' I asked panicked as I tried to get up, only to be stopped by Daisy.

''Whoa, calm down there.'' She said. ''He's fine. You're the one who took the beating.''

I sighed in relief. ''Thank god.''

''I was surprised when three of the guard pokeys came carrying you and Shawn on their heads. You were unconscious and almost close to dying from blood loss. Lucky we had a magikoopa here that could heal you back to normal. Your body will hurt for a little while, though.''

''The pokeys? They are yours?''

''Yeah, they are really good guards. They are the quickest plants in the sand, but in flower-fields, the piranha plants rule. The pokeys probably knew that you needed to get here immediately and the fastest way was through there.''

I looked around to get familiar with my surroundings. I was in a hospital room, not much was in there except my bed, a small table, and a few chairs, and everything was painted white. The sun was shining through a window to my right and a door was to my left. 

I also noticed that Daisy had changed a lot since I last met her. She wasn't dressed in her usual orange dress, she had more of a casual clothing being an orange oversized shirt, a pair of yellow pants and red running shoes instead of high heels, but no crown was resting upon her head. She had also cut her hair a bit, it was only reaching down to her jaw now, but she had kept the hair covering her forehead. I guess that it was one of the details that made Daisy... well, Daisy. It's the same with what she wears: it always has to be something orange or yellow.

''Are you hungry?'' She asked.

''Yeah, but I don't have time for eating, I have more important stuff to do right now.''

''Like what? Why did you come here, risking your life by traveling over the border and then the desert without any water?''

''We need your help. The resistance has sent us.''

Daisy looked at me for a moment, then sighed. ''I've heard of them. But as I've told them over letters: I can't go to war against Bowser. It would mean danger for my kingdom.''

''It's not that,'' I said and put my hand on her shoulder, ignoring the pain the movement caused me. ''Bowser has found Luigi's hiding place.''

She got quiet for a moment as I could see the realization in her eyes. ''What?!''

''He will try to break the spell protecting him and then destroy him. We need you to get us inside of the spell's barrier so we can get to Luigi before Bowser does.''

''But I was sure when I made the spell that I-'' She cut off her own words. ''Nevermind, I apparently did a bad job with the spell, and now Luigi's in danger. I'll help you. But first,'' She helped me slowly stand up from the bed. ''You need to eat.''

She helped me keep my balance on our way to the cafeteria. My legs felt sore so I couldn't really walk that well. In the cafeteria, we met Shawn, who was very happy to see that I was awake.

''Rosalina! I'm so relieved! You scared me for a while, there.''

We sat down at a table. ''I don't die easily,'' I said. ''I guess I didn't use all my magic yesterday so it kind of saved me from dying instantly.''

Daisy gave us some food that was easy for the stomach to digest. As soon as I took a bite I realized how hungry I actually was and my portion was completely gone in just a few minutes.

''Calm down there, Rosie. You should take it easy.'' Shawn said.

''Too late now, isn't it?'' I chuckled. ''I'm sorry. I was just really hungry.''

''How did you get over the borders?'' Daisy asked. ''I thought they were teeming with guards, and they would easily recognize you.''

''We went through Thwomp Ruins.'' I shortly answered.

''What?! Are you two crazy?!''

''Well, there was no other choice, and we were only close to dying,'' I assured her with a smirk.

''You are crazy.'' She sighed.

''You kind of become a little bit crazy if you live in a land with almost no sun and danger lurking everywhere for four years,'' I explained.

Daisy put her elbow on the table, rested her head in her hand and sighed. ''Is it really that bad? I haven't been there since Bowser took control.''

''What Rosalina said is only a small part of a bigger problem,'' Shawn explained. ''All kinds of races that belonged to Bowser's army are free to do whatever they want to an extent. They rob all the toads, destroy buildings for fun and everything's just a mess."

"What about you?" Daisy asked with doubt. "Shy guys were in his army, right?"

"We weren't,'' Shawn said. ''We were servants of Wart and after his defeat, we were kicked out from dreamland. Bowser managed to get a few of us to join his army but he was not the right kind of leader for shy guys. He either scared the recruits away or made them get killed by Mario. It was enough for us to get some privilege, though... Bowser gave us the freedom to travel to the Mushroom Kingdom freely and live anywhere we wanted to."

"Man, sorry for misjudging you," Daisy sighed. ''There's so much that's happening right now that I'm not even able to think straight anymore.''

''It's alright,'' Shawn said.

Daisy then turned her gaze to me. ''Rosalina, before you joined the resistance, how did you manage to stay hidden?''

'Well, after my observatory crashed I managed to escape to Mushroom City and there I got to stay with Walui-'' I quickly cut myself off as I realized what I just had said.

''What... did you just say?'' Daisy asked and stared at me intensely. 

I could see her rage already building up in her eyes. I should've maybe left Waluigi out of the conversation, for some reason, Daisy hated him really much. I could see that Shawn was already trying to escape and hide under the table.

''I, uh, I stayed with a close friend of mine.'' I tried to correct myself. But it was too late. She knew exactly what I had said.

''You've lived with that... that loser for four years?!'' Daisy asked hysterically. ''Why in god's name would you ever do that? Or did he force you to? Tell me!''

''Of course not! Waluigi saved my life by rescuing me from the koopa patrol that was chasing me, and he then offered me to live at his place where I could get food and sleep.''

''Sounds off to me.'' Daisy protested. ''You do know that he once used to work with Bowser, right? What if he still does? Maybe he has leaked information to him about where you and the resistance are located?!''

''Waluigi would never do that,'' Shawn assured Daisy as he slowly and carefully crept up from under the table. ''I know he regrets working with Bowser.''

''I know Waluigi, Daisy,'' I explained. ''I'm 100% certain that he is not working with Bowser. I can feel when persons hide hostility towards anyone.''

''Oh, please.'' She replied. ''I know more about him than any of you. I know that he's just a good-for-nothing thief and will take the first chance he gets to create misery and earn some cash.''

''That's not true!'' I protested. ''I know him much more than you! You just don't want to accept that people like him can change!''

''And what makes you think that you know him better than me? Because he saved your life once?''

''Because I'm his fucking girlfriend!''

Daisy got completely quiet and stared at me with the most questionable look ever. After a minute she started talking again. ''Are you serious?''

I only gave her an angry stare. She looked disgusted as if she wanted to throw up. ''I can't even imagine being in the same room as him! How did this happe-'' She suddenly shuddered. ''Goddammit, now I'm getting weird images in my head.''

''Daisy, you can hate Waluigi as much as you want. But that isn't going to stop others from accepting who he is. Everyone can change, even Bowser. I chose to be Waluigi's girlfriend because I love him. Why can you never see past his mistakes like I did?''

''Because he hasn't changed!'' Daisy said and slammed her hand on the table. ''They never do...'' Her eyesight dropped down and I could see on her face that she was trying hard to hide some kind of sadness. She then sighed. ''We don't have time for this. You can live in a lie if you want but I ain't going to fall for Waluigi's tricks again. I'll help you find Luigi, and that will be all. Here:''

Daisy started digging through her pants' pockets and pulled out an emerald green colored gem with a white flower-shaped metal ring around it. She handed it to us. "Take this."

"Is this the gem you had on the chest of your dress?" I asked as I inspected the gem.

"Sure is." Daisy nodded. ''It's the source of my magic. If you hold it you can cross the barrier without any problem. Make sure to not get it in the wrong hands.''

''Wait, you're not coming with us?'' I asked confused.

''I can't, my advisor forbids me to enter the Mushroom Kingdom, I could barely manage to get there to create the spell protecting Luigi. You'll have to go yourselves, but I can show you a shortcut to get to Boo's Woods from here.''

''We're grateful for any help we can get.'' I thanked her and stood up. ''I think we need to hurry. For all we know, Bowser's troops may already be there.''

''Alright,'' Daisy said. ''Follow me, we're going to the warp pipe garden.''