Chapter 5 - A New World

Daisy's eyes flew open and she bolted upright. She'd just seen a horrible nightmare. She was remembering back to only a few moments ago, when Mario had her by the throat, and dropped her into nothingness. She felt sure she was dead, up until the point where she opened her eyes.
Once she awoke, she felt confused and afraid. Why had Mario done this to her? What had come over him? What would he do now? And...
It wasn't until that moment that Daisy realized she wasn't in her own room, or any room she could recognize. From the inside, it looked like a one-room hut, with the walls rounded on all sides to create a perfect dome. Everything was arranged simplisticly: The bed she was in on one part of the wall, a stove lined up against another part, and a low standing table in the center. Daisy also noticed the ceiling was somewhat low, meaning whoever lived here wasn't exactly on the tall side.
Just then, a small door on another part of the wall creaked open. Daisy quickly pressed her back against her side of the wall, fearing who might walk in. But just when she was fearing a terrible monster, in walked a tiny pink creature.
It stood at about 8 inches tall, and had a completely round body. The 'body', itself, seemed to comprise of just it's head, with two small stubs for hands and two feet with no legs connecting them.
The small creature looked up at Daisy with friendly eyes and gave her a light-hearted smile. Daisy was slightly releaved; at least the creature was friendly.
Then, Daisy mind was shot with realization. It happened when she got a good look at the creature's face. That small face with moony eyes and a small mouth. It was the last thing she'd seen before blacking out. It was the moment she was saved from her fall.
Daisy shook her head at the thought. There was no way that she could've been saved by this...knee-high being.
"Um," Daisy spoke, "excuse me."
The pink creature, who'd been busying himself by pulling food ingredients from a small cupboard near the stove, looked up at her.
"Where am I, exactly," Daisy asked.
The pink creature didn't speak, but simply waved it's hand and smiled at her as it pulled out a small cooking pot.
Daisy was confused by the reply, wondering if maybe there was a language barrier between them.
She tried again, this time speaking a little more loudly, "What place is this?"
The pink creature turned from it's work and looked at her curiously for a second, then it's face lit up with realization. After which, he waddled over to a small pile of books haphazardly stacked in a pile in another part of the room, and pulled out what looked to Daisy to be an atlas of some kind.
Daisy caught a glimpse of the books cover. The title read: 'Maps of Pop Star'.
Pop Star? Daisy thought to herself, What's Pop Star?
The creature opened the book, and then started methodically flipping through each page, looking carefully at each map in it. When it finally found the map it was looking for he quickly placed it in front of Daisy and pointed excitedly at the title of the map: Dreamland.
"Dreamland?" Daisy read. This caused the pink creature to go into an excited frenzy, jumping up and down giving cheerful little yips.
It was at this point that Daisy realized that this creature was in fact answering her question. Of course, this provided an answer to another question: This creature, whoever he was, probably couldn't speak. It would make sense considering what had just happened. Looking at the tiny creature, she couldn't help but smile. It's little innocence gave her the impression of a little baby.
"Thank you," Daisy told the little creature, patting it on the head. The creature smiled at this, and seemed to be blushing slightly.
Just then, a light knock came at the door, followed by a friendly voice, "Kirby? Are you there, Kirby?"
The creature turned towards the door at the sound of it's name and quickly trotted over to answer it.
Daisy couldn't help but giggle, So that's you're name, huh? How cute.
As 'Kirby' opened the door, it silently welcomed the new guest in. The guest in question was a small boy; probably no younger than Kirby, with an artists cap and paint set in hand. He walked in wearing an innocent smile and spoke in a gentle voice.
"I came as soon as possible," the boy told Kirby, "I wonder what this news is you want to-."
He stopped when he saw Daisy sitting on the bed and said, "Oh, you have a guest."
Daisy humbly bowed her head, but before she could speak, Kirby began jumping up and down in front of the boy, pointing at her with utmost excitement. When the boy's attention went back to Kirby, he then began pantomiming what he saw, crudely immitating what one would assume to be a hole in the sky and a person falling to the ground. The boy seemed unable to make the connection at first.
The boy then asked Daisy, "I don't suppose you were skydiving or something like that, were you?"
Kirby fell over upon hearing this, and Daisy gave a light giggle as she began to explain.
"No, no. My name is Daisy. I'm...well...not from around here."
"Ah," the boy's face lit up, "a newcomer. Welcome to Dreamland. Where exactly do you hail from?"
"Well," Daisy replied nervously, "I don't suppose you've heard of the Mushroom Kingdom, have you?"
The boy was taken back and asked, "'Mushroom Kingdom?' What sort of name is that for a kingdom to call itself?"
"Then you haven't heard of it?" Daisy asked disheartedly.
"No, sorry. In all my life, I've never heard of a kingdom in Pop Star with a name as ridiculous as 'Mushroom Kingdom.'"
The boy's comment aside, Daisy began to grow worried, wondering if she'd ever be able to return home.
"Oh," the boy suddenly said, "where are my manners? I am Adeleine, a great painter of Dreamland."
"Pleased to meet you," Daisy replied, and then asked, "Where is Pop Star?"
Adeleine looked at her as though she'd just asked the dumbest question in the world. Kirby gave her a similar look, only more of inquisitiveness rather than being critical.
"You're...joking, right?" Adeleine asked worriedly.
"Well, like I said, I'm not from around here..." Daisy replied, her voice becoming ever more depressed.
Adeleine caught on to this, and realized she, as incredible as it sounded to him, was not from Pop Star at all.
"Well," Adeleine said awkwardly, "how is it that you came to Pop Star?"
Again, Kirby showed Adeleine his impersonation of the hole in the sky and Daisy falling, but Adeleine was still confused and asked, "You were...in a space ship?"
Kirby began to look exasperated.
"Perhaps I should explain," Daisy piped up, noting the relieved look on Kirby's face.
She then went into detail about the horrific events that had transpired in her homeland: Peach's assasination, Mario's change in character, all leading up to the point when Mario had thrown her into the worm hole and she wound up here in Dreamland.
The story sounded incredible, and Adeleine would probably have dismissed it outright. But looking at Daisy's face, he could tell she had an honest look about her, and was obviously not insane.
"That is quite a story, Princess," Adeleine said when she finished, "To think other worlds exist beyond just our own galaxy." Adeleine had visited other planets before, and was well aware of the possibility of other worlds.
"Yes," Daisy continued, "I don't know how, but Mario gained some kind of...inter-dimensional magic."
"Well, if that's the case," Adeleine said with a start, "what's to say he won't come here himself?"
The thought struck Daisy like a sledge-hammer. She'd never considered that thought until now. He could use that magic, or some form of it, to travel to other worlds, even here. And if he'd changed as much as Daisy had seen...
"We must warn your people," Daisy said as she rose from the bed, "tell them of the danger! Even the ruler of this land should-!"
Adeleine stopped her there, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid telling our king is not an option. He'll most likely turn a deaf ear to our warnings, and the people will more than likely follow his example."
Daisy remained adamant, "We have to do something! I will not sit idley by and watch this world be ruined!"
Adeleine seated himself on a floor cushion and lowered his head into thought. He was sure there was a solution, but what could it be?
Kirby had also pondered this thought for a short while, and then a bright look of excitement came upon his face. Quickly, he dashed to his pile of books and dug threw it, flinging books and paper left and right until he found what looked to Daisy to be an old wanted poster.
In a flash, Kirby rushed to Adeleine and hopped up and down excitedly, waving the poster in his face. Upon seeing the face on the poster, Adeleine grew wide-eyed. Unfortunately, this expression was more of worry than of excitement.
"Kirby, are you certain of this?" Adeleine asked incredulously.
Kirby nodded, somewhat, and beamed brightly at him.
Adeleine, however, still couldn't be sure, "Kirby, you do remember who this is, don't you? Who knows what he'll do with this sort of knowledge."
Kirby remained resolute with his suggestion, and looked to Daisy as though he had a lot of faith in whoever they were talking about. Adeleine looked as though he were about to protest again, but seeing the look on Kirby's face, he soon accepted that there could be no changing his mind.
"Very well," Adeleine consented, "but if things go south, you'll take the blame."
Kirby nodded in agreement. Daisy, meanwhile, had risen from her bed and looked the poster Kirby had found. On it was the picture of a masked warrior, with a body somewhat similar to Kirby's. He wore a purple cape and wielded a golden sword. The words below his picture read: "Caution! This warrior is considered to be dangerous. Avoid at all costs."
The name given to the warrior was Meta Knight.
"So," Daisy began, "who's Meta Knight?"
"That's a good question," Adeleine replied, "To be honest, no one knows who Meta Knight really is. He's a total mystery. He claims to have Dreamland's best interest at heart, but after how he tried to conquer dream land some time ago, nobody's been able to trust him since."
Daisy was a little surprised when she heard this, then asked, "We're asking this warrior for help...why?"
Adeleine sighed and said, "Because he claims to be an honorable man, and Kirby, for reasons known only to him, believes him."
Daisy looked down at the tiny, pink, child-like, creature in front of her, who looked back with honest eyes and a trusting smile. That was a face who probably never knew the meaning of the words 'caution' or 'deceit'. It was the kind of face that made you want to believe in that person's judgement.
"Okay," Daisy finally said, "How do we find this Metaknight?"
Upon reaching their mutual decision, the group gathered outside to embark on their journey. Kirby had taken longer than Daisy and Adeleine because he'd been digging through his tiny closet for something. It wasn't until he finally came out that they saw what it was: a giant star shaped board that seemed to hover as Kirby dragged it out of his house.
"Of course," Adeleine exclaimed, "the Warp Star! I'd forgotten you'd had it."
Then, after locking the door to his home, Kirby hopped onto the Warp Star and then turned it to face the southerly direction.
"Wait!" Adeleine called out, "Meta Knight is in the other direction! Where are you going?"
Kirby simply pointed towards the mountain ranges in that direction in response. This caused more shock to Adeleine than his previous idea.
"Kirby, you're nuts!" Adeleine exclaimed, but there was no changing Kirby's mind, for he had sped off into the distance in a flash, not giving Adeleine a chance to try.
Adeleine simply hung his head, fearing the worst, "Sometimes I worry about him."
Daisy simply asked, "Why? Where's he gone?"
"Somewhere most other people in this world wouldn't dare venture," Adeleine replied gravely, "for reasons you hopefully won't have to find out."
Daisy fell silent upon hearing this and turned towards the mountain range Kirby sped off to, also fearing what her new friend was attempting.
"Well," Adeleine said, "time to get to work."
With that, he conjured out of thin air an artist's canvas and prepared his painting tools as he got to work.
Daisy was confused at this, "Um...excuse me, but shouldn't we be going?"
"We will be," Adeleine replied as he began painting.
Daisy began to lose patience, "We don't have time for this! We have to-!"
"Patience, please," Adeleine replied again as he continued work on his art. Daisy wanted to protest again, but then she figured this fellow could probably prove as resolute as Kirby, so she simply resolved to wait in the grass.
It wasn't long before Adeleine finished his artwork: a crudely drawn stick-figure bird. Daisy was starting to wonder what this was all about when Adeleine then touched the picture with his paint brush and the bird flew off the canvas and grew larger. Daisy sat in astonishment as she looked at this now living stick figure bird. Daisy had seen amazing things before, but this was by far the most amazing thing she'd seen yet.
"Hop on," Adeleine said as he climbed on top of his creation, "We have a long way to go."

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