Unlike before, instead of finding herself someplace far too bright to handle, she was surrounded by darkness. 

In a way, this felt nicer. It was less overwhelming, less difficult to adjust to. Usually, people were far more afraid of the dark because of the light because there was no way of seeing what was hiding in it, but her eyes would take too much darkness over too much brightness any day.

The girl in orange slowly sat up, rubbing her head as she blinked a few times. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust to... where even was she? The last place she remembered being was in that bright castle, held down by boos while a creepy clown was stepping toward her. After that, there was a large gap in her memory.

What happened to them? The boos...

And what happened to her...?

"Prince Luigi..." she trailed off.

She shook her head. No, Prince Luigi wasn't there. He was safe at home in Sarasaland like he always was. This was one of the only things she knew for certain.

She stood up and started turning around herself. Dark walls, a dark purple river nearby, dark sky, had she been trapped in some kind of dream?

Or nightmare?

"Daisy?" a distant yet strong voice called out. 

The girl in orange quickly whirled around. Surely enough, her eyes met those of the girl in pink. 

"Peach!" Daisy cried, sprinting toward her friend and practically tacking her in a hug.

She wasn't sure why, but it felt like they were being reunited after years of being apart.

"Daisy!" Peach responded, her voice heavy yet relieved. "I've been so worried! Where have you been?!"

"Uhh," Daisy trailed off, giggling slightly. "The Twilight Zone? Heh..."

"Sure, sure," Peach laughed, pulling back and taking a good look at her friend to make sure she wasn't hurt.

The blonde plumber let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that Daisy appeared to be fine.

"So, where are we?" the girl in orange asked, looking around at the dark world that surrounded them. In a way, the way the sky faded from a deep blue color to a lighter one the closer her eyes came to the horizon almost made her feel like the sun was rising, but the world never got brighter.

Maybe this place was trapped just moments after the sunset.

"It's called the Underwhere," Peach explained, her voice dropping just slightly, though she still sounded determined and strong as always. "It's for people who've died. Some person who works here explained it to me. But come with me, we've gotta get out of here!"

Peach held her arm out to Daisy and quickly pulled her away, heading for some specific place with a fierce determination. She looked like a woman on a mission, as always.

"Wait, wait, wait, so I'm dead?" Daisy asked.

Peach kept onward, her eyes and attention forward. "Looks like it," she replied. "How did it happen to you? With us, the weird clown boy and an emo prince showed up and exploded everything. It.... hurt. I've been looking for Mario and King Boo ever since."

"A weird clown boy killed all of you?" Daisy asked, trying to search through her memories of any strange clown boys. There was the guy from the wedding, the one who messed with the boos... could that be who Peach was talking about? He looked creepy, but he didn't seem like a cold-blooded murderer.

Although, no one ever truly seemed like a cold-blooded murderer. 

"Even King Boo?" Daisy asked. "But isn't he a ghost? And why was he with you?!"

"Hey, it's not my place to ask questions," Peach chuckled, briefly looking back at her friend and smiling. "And... honestly, if we weren't killed, I don't think I would have found you. So, in a way this is good. We just gotta find them. How'd you even die?"

The girl in orange fell silent for a moment, placing her free hand to her chin as she tried to scan her mind for any clues as to how she arrived in such a place.

"I... uh... I remember being captured by Countess Tippi's little minions. Then... I think they must have got me," the girl in orange explained.

Peach frowned slightly. So the countess just had her killed right off the bat? She didn't know the villain they were all up against was that dark and evil. Well, maybe dark wasn't the way to describe her, but outright killing someone like Daisy? Why would she do that? Was it just to prevent Daisy from being one of the four heroes? It must have been.

"Well," Peach said as she pulled out the faded Chaos Heart shard. It still was a very dull gray color, lacking in power. She supposed this was the color things turned when their power was drained. "I'm on my way to speak with the king of this place. Grambi, I think his name was. I'm hoping... I'm hoping he can find a way to restore the heart's power."

"Ah, and I take it this is the part where I join you on your heroic quest?" Daisy asked.

"If you want to," Peach said. "I have to warn you, it's dangerous. It's unlike any adventure you or I have ever been on."

Daisy smirked slightly, placing her free hand on her hip and grinning.

"Oh, please. If you and I are both there, then there's nothing we can't handle," the girl in orange chimed. "Besides, I like a challenge."

. . .

It didn't take the pair long to find Grambi, it was obvious where he would be, as the large palace sitting in the center of the Underwhere wasn't exactly well hidden or secured. Peach expected him to be hard to bargain with, but as fate would have it, Grambi was far nicer and willing to help than she ever could have expected. He took the heart off her hands and promised to restore it, but not before having her promise to be careful with such a dangerous item.

"There is dark magic in this," he warned. "Dark magic that could bring all the worlds to chaos..."

"I know," Peach responded. "We're not here to destroy the world. We're here to save it."

It took a bit of convincing, but luckily the blonde heroine was able to convince the king of the Underwhere to save the Chaos Heart shard and take it back to the world of the living. It wasn't often that he allowed souls a second chance. He knew that Queen Jaydes, the ruler of the Overthere, would likely be upset with him for allowing this, but these were heroes, and their hearts felt pure. He trusted them.

So, Peach and Daisy were able to return to the top of Flopside Tower, Chaos Heart shard in hand. After being fixed, it glowed a much deeper and darker color than the other hearts collected. Peach could feel the power in it, it felt stronger. Newer.

"What is this place?" Daisy muttered to herself.

"Flopside," Peach explained. "You know how on some missions there's a wise old guy there to tell us what to do?"

"Ah, book boys," Daisy nodded.

"Yeah, the book boy lives here," Peach giggled. "He's not old, though. Well, he is, but he doesn't look or act old. I think we should go find him."

Daisy nodded as Peach walked across the roof of the tower. The girl in orange lingered for a moment, though. Her eyes were brought to the wide gash of light in the sky. It was so big that it almost consumed everything.

The elevator door opened and Peach waved Daisy in. The two of them were quickly transported to the bottom of the tower.

"Oh thank Jaydes, it's you!" Pierre cried as soon as the doors opened as if he had been waiting for them. He was holding a variety of sweets and treats he had likely bought at the small pastry shop in town. His eyes lit up upon seeing them. Peach didn't want to admit it, but she was glad to see a familiar face, even if she couldn't technically see his face at the moment because of the hood.

"I'm a legendary hero, right?" Peach chuckled, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head to the side slightly. "You didn't think I'd stay down, did you?"

"I feared you would," Pierre admitted, his voice bright and pleasantly surprised. "I should have known better."

Peach smiled slightly.

"Were you waiting for us? You were right by the elevator," she pointed out.

"Hmm?" Pierre hummed. "Oh, no. Bleck's not with you, so I had no idea you were back. I was going to head down to the old basement area before heading back home to Bleck. There used to be this small prison down there, but it hasn't been in operation for years. It's still dark down there, even with the gash in the sky, so sometimes I find myself going there to clear my mind."

"Ah. And where's Bleck?" Peach questioned. "He's still here, right? I couldn't find King Boo, Prince Mario, or him down there."

"Bleck's okay," Pierre quickly assured her. "He's... upset with me for saving him. So, I gave him some space and bought some treats. As a pixl, he can't technically eat, but he used to say he loved the smell of them, so I was trying to make him feel a little better while also scrambling to figure out what to do next. It's been a hectic few hours in your absence, to say the least."

Daisy raised an eyebrow at him, then suddenly cleared her throat, grabbing his attention.

"Ah," he chimed, turning to her and beaming. He quickly bowed to her, just in case she was royalty. It seemed Peach always had a habit of finding royals to befriend. "And who may you be?"

"Oh, no need to bow," Daisy assured him. "I'm Daisy, Peach's friend—"

"The girl in orange!" Pierre suddenly gasped.

"Um... I suppose, yeah," Daisy shrugged, looking down at her clothes.

"I'm Pierre!" the cloaked man chimed. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, sir," the girl in orange smiled.

"Oh, no, no, don't call me that. Just Pierre's fine!" he chuckled. "Wait, I have to get you two to Bleck! He'll be so happy that you're alive! This way!" 

He reached forward and grasped both Peach and Daisy's hands, making the girl in orange jump. Why was he so cold?! 

Peach was more mentally prepared for the cold, but Daisy would have appreciated a little warning. 

"Bleck?" Daisy asked as Pierre dragged the two to his house, nearly tripping on exactly seven different occasions from trying to move too quickly. Though he was tall, his cloak was just slightly too long for him, so it often became a tripping hazard.

Daisy watched as they arrived at a small, yet quaint and cute house located close to the bottom of the tower. The cloaked man let go of the two girls and started frantically knocking on the front door, which felt strange to Peach because this was his own house.

"Bleck! Bleck! Bleck! Bleck! Bleck! I've got news," Pierre exclaimed excitedly. For someone who had devoted his life to dark magic and the Dark Prognosticus, the energy surrounding him seemed vastly too bright, yet it wasn't painful in the same way the walls back in Countess Tippi's castle were.

His energy was contagious, too. Even Peach and Daisy found themselves smiling.

"Not now, Pierre," Bleck seemed to mumble from the other side of the door. "I'm not in the mood for games or treats or stories..."

Pierre let out a sigh and continued knocking. "I'm just gonna stand here and knock until you let me come in." 

Peach silently giggled to herself. Since when was Bleck in charge of who did and didn't enter Pierre's house? 

There was silence on the other side of the door. Pierre rolled his blue eyes and turned his back to the piece of wood that currently separated him from the pixl, crossing his arms and leaning against it. "It's okay, he'll let me in eventually—"

The door swung open from behind him after not being ready for the weight of his body against it. Pierre fell into the house and onto his back, making his hood fall off.

"Ow," the ancient muttered, quietly laughing to himself. "Oops."

"Pierre, what in the worlds are you doing?!" Bleck asked, his tone annoyed when Pierre quickly sat up and pointed at Peach and Daisy.

"Look!" the ancient urged, smiling. "Look."

Daisy and Peach slowly waved, stepping inside.

The pixl floated there for a moment as if he was confused. "Pierre.... How... how did you..."

"They came back on their own," Pierre quickly clarified. "I didn't actually do anything. I just found them on the tower. The credit all goes to these two."

The pixl seemed to nod, quiet with shock. "And... who would you be?" Bleck asked Daisy.

The girl in orange smirked slightly and glanced at Peach, nudging her with her elbow. It was a gesture the two did often on their adventures. "I'm Daisy. Peach's best friend!"

Bleck nodded, his visible eye softening as Pierre put his hood back up. Though his real smile couldn't be seen, everyone could feel it. Not just from the way his eyes lit up, but from the way the entire world felt just a little more hopeful.