Illusionary (Mario)

Chapter 13

Luigi was sitting in the backyard on the verdant grass. He was picking at it with his fingers, and Daisy took a deep breath before approaching.

"I know you don't like my plan," Daisy started, and he turned to look at her. She walked over and sat down before continuing. "And I know you don't like Saiko. But we can't let them just keep her there. We escaped from that prison for everyone, not just us. None of us have done any wrong, remember? We were all convicted for false or minor crimes..."

"I'm pretty sure she's different," Luigi kept his eyes trained on the ground as he wiped the ripped grass from his hands. "She's a freak. Like Toadette said, if she's there, it's because she wants to."

"Or, you know, maybe because she's depressed?" Daisy responded pointedly, and he went quiet at that. Daisy sighed and continued. "She just lost the love of her life. She thinks she deserves that...and, well, Kaira isn't coming back. So...So someone needs to save her. Talk her out of this."

"When has Saiko ever been reasonable?" Luigi questioned, shaking his head. "All she cared about was Kaira and fighting...and random other trinkets. She didn't care about anything else."

"Not true. She wanted freedom. She wanted to see the world," Daisy reminded him softly. After a momentary pause, she sighed. "...Imagine...that Rosalina was Saiko, for a moment. What would you do?"

"Rescue her," Luigi said immediately before realizing just what Daisy was getting at. "...That's different. Rosalina is not a criminal-"

"Like it or not, she's a murderer," Daisy responded coldly. Half the group had committed crimes by now; Rosalina and Toadette had killed and Peach had withheld information from the police. "We're all just trying to survive. Rosalina had to kill. Saiko had to do what she did to stay alive in there."

"Well-"

"I knew you wouldn't understand. You didn't really know what it was like in there," Daisy brushed off his weak reply before picking up a dandelion. Yeah...She had hated it at the prison, but a long time ago, she had thought it was some sort of paradise. Kaira and Saiko had been reunited, Dixie and Toadette were bantering, while Rosalina sat and observed. Daisy remembered laughing at Dixie's jokes, and she smiled slightly. Those were the good days... "It was good in there. It was."

"How can you say that?"

"It was good, before that purple haired wench ruined everything," Daisy popped the dandelion head off before dropping the weed to the ground. How wrong she had been about the prison. Even still, she wished...she could go back to those days with her friends. Daisy couldn't even remember a thing about Dixie's murderer, except for the fact that she had shattered their peace... "At least I had people there that looked out for each other."

"Daisy-"

"No, you're right. Even here, I had people who looked out for me. Peach never let me down," Daisy cut him off again. She was on a roll, and she wasnt about to let him interrupt her flow. "So actually, it just seems like you're the problem. I thought friendship was forever? You're going to let an innocent girl stay imprisoned?"

"I just...I don't want all of us going out on a suicide mission for a girl who doesn't even want to be saved!" Luigi exclaimed. "You're making me out to be the bad guy, but I just want to make sure we get home safe."

"Yeah, well, we have no home. We're outcasts, in case you somehow forgot," Daisy responded crossly, for she was getting frustrated with his stubbornness. "...I'm going, whether you like it or not. That's what friends do for each other."

She stood, turning on her heel and walking back to the house. He didn't follow her, not that Daisy was surprised. Daisy had never thought kindly of Mario, but he was better than Luigi in one way.

Mario wasn't a spineless coward. He had been a jerk who screwed Rosalina over and had made a terrible prison, but he had liked Satsuki, and he had stuck with her. Yes, he had stuck with her, and treasured her. Mario wasn't a coward.

Luigi was.