World Tree MUSH

    "I just wish you had gone over the guest list with me before sending out the invitations," says the slightly high-pitched voice of a very fussy-looking Toad.

    "Nobody told me I had to! Besides, everybody on that guest list is a very important person. Don't you worry~" replies the song-like voice of Princess Peach, standing beside the apparent Prime Minister in one of her very regal, very pink dresses. The pair are by the entrance to the royal garden, apparently ready to recieve guests, although a few Toads are already in attendance, as well as several palace servants milling about (also Toads).

    The rather large garden has a number of tables dotted about, laden down with platters of sandwiches, multiple tea sets, and of course two very large cakes. Anyone who's been to one of these events before may note that it has a... more cozy feel to it than usual - the decorations are more modest, the tables are closer together, and there aren't nearly as many random Mushroom Kingdom dignitaries milling about making it feel all stuffy.

    Peach has gotten tired of formalities, so she's dialing it back as much as she can.

     Luke likely stands out more than a tiny bit, if only because of his casual clothes and due to how shy he seems as he walks towards the garden, offering polite waves to the toads and guards. He is flanked by a small panda of sorts, which seems to be wearing a costume!. Both of them seem suitably impressed by the large collection of tables, foodstuffs, cakes and just the large garden, with the panda's attention captivated by the cakes!. 

Luke tries to greet some of the assembled people, trying to be polite, and his pokemon tries ot take the chance, starting to make a line towards it... is it floating?!. The hungry pokemon is thwarted by Luke, that all but snags it and holds onto the panda, "No Pangshi!, don't, wait until they give us a piece." he tells the thing. And now Luke is blushing, struggling to hold onto a small weird panda. "Sorry about that."

It's probably just as well that Peach didn't specify what she meant by "important."

Anna still feels like she's in a slump following the incident with the Grendel, and she and Spiral agreed that the invitation they received was exactly the kind of thing to help dislodge her from it. Her explanation to her parents as to why she's getting an invitation from a head of state in another Blossom boiled down to "We just sort of ended up as friends, I guess!" and "Peach is cool!"

Now, the tall, gangly young woman arrives, wearing a white sun-hat and a deep blue sundress, with a stripy ribbon tied around her waist with a skyblue-pink-white-pink-skyblue pattern. This is Anna's equivalent of "dressed to the nines."

The golden-furred catlike and vaguely squirrel-like form of Spiral is perched on her shoulder. "See?" she says. "It looks perfectly fine."

"I wasn't that worried!" says Anna. Nevertheless, her smile becomes noticeably wider and and brighter as she makes her way over to the nearest food table.

Of course one has to wonder how Holly of all people got an invite, she did visit the Mushroom Kingdom library once. Maybe Peach got hold ahold of the guest list? The witch doesn't have any classes today still this is quite a bit more formal than what she's used to. She's followed by two ghosts as usual who certainly aren't boos, it's a good thing a certain green plumber wasn't present.

 She's curious about what magical artifacts might be stored in the castle though she would have to scope it out better first. This was the perfect opportunity to gather more information. She waves and smiles upon seeing Anna amd Luke.

    Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, is definitely an important person... but few would invite her to such things. Kore, however, who is much more casually dressed in a long coat and with a satchel for carrying her things, is much easier to get along with. That isn't to say she's dressed dingily... she looks quite presentable, just not an elaborate dress.

    She's even brought one(and only one) of the CERBERUS units along, and the cyborg canine has a little bow tied around his neck and his fur all brushed. The two of them slip in sometime right after guests arrive, to see what the hubbub in this world is about. "Keep your nose open for anything we can use, but behave. We're here to socialize this time, I don't think we need to harvest here."

    Yeah, she's going to try to just be nice here.

For Ash life had been hectic, strange, and stress inducing. Not entirely in that order mind. Thing is? Even if he found the mushroom kingdom somewhat peculiar? He felt it was a good place for a quiet time out from the strange weird and terrifying.

'Weapons please." Ash would look at the diminuative guard and mentally ammended that things were still weird here, a t least by his standards. See also the toadstool with a hat as big as the rest of it was.

He wore a black doublit trimmed with silver. This wasn't him 'dressing up' since it was one of his more 'normal' feeling outfits, but black with bits of metal accenting here there and with a purple styalized lotus pin at the collar? It could easily be mistaken for him dressing 'fancy' given he had bothered to make his hair lay down instead of rock the usual 'bed head' look. 

Then he spotte Kore and frowned before turning away. If she were going to cause trouble here would be the worst place for it. "Been awhile since I've been here." This to noone in particular.

     Miwa has been to the Mushroom Kingdom once before, and when she received an invitation to return and meet a certain princess which she had expressed a desire to meet during her last visit, well let's just say this was one tea party she wasn't about to miss. 

 Miwa arrives from the air, floating in from the nearest vine atop a large orb of water singing a beautiful melody about her home in native Alolan, So it's rather unlikely anyone will understand the words, but hopefully it's enjoyable anyway 

. Soon she floats in low, her bubble almost touching the ground, and greats Peach with a formal bow, and the rest of the guests with a broad wave of one of her flippers, with Ash in particular getting a playful wink.

    At least one that the Princess doesn't know, but might have been invited along on the hope of reaching out to those from other worlds that were already nearby, was an adventurer who had been working around the Kingdom recently! A conversation with a toad shopkeep had gotten things mentioned and he seemingly was added to the invitation list. Still wasn't sure who he had to thank about that, but it was hardly a bad thing. The nearly eight-foot tall, thin-for-a-Pandaren wasn't dressed in his normal armor or the likes, but had elected for a suit he'd purchased for himself from an earth he visited for a bit made out of some spare bolts of Windsilk and Lightweave he had from his adventures. Paying for it wasn't cheap, but it was worth having at least one change of clothes to use and feel somewhat less armored for those regions that didn't... really do armor.

    Leather(of some kind) dress shoes, mixed with a pair of dark gray slacks and light green silk shirt, a darker green vest and even a jacket over top - he seemed a bit dandier than normal, even had his long hair tied up and out of the way in a neat half bun behind his head. Though the only thing he had with him today was a couple of satchels that hung from an out-of-place blet around his waist that looked a bit more like a utility or tool belt. Being a bit out of place, and tall to boot, he ducked through one doorway before raising up to full height and looking around only to hear the squeaking of a nearby Toad get his attention. "Ah, yes?" The toad reached up, "Here you go." a glass fo water. "Ah, thank you."

    "..These are your so-called 'important people'?" the Prime Minister asks.

    "I never claimed they were -politically- important," the princess sing-songs. "Now, mister Prime Minister, do be a dear and let me do my job~" She swishes away from the flustered Toad, only to stop for a moment. "...I have no idea who some of these people are."

    She pauses for a few moments, then shrugs, and goes to greet the guests. "Hello, welcome to Castle Toadstool! Ash, looking -fine-, love your dress sense, Anna, so wonderful to see you! We really should catch up. And, um..."

    Long pause. Mechanised dogs, ghosts, what appears to be a seal-mermaid of some sort, a... very tall panda, and... that boy is Luke Gray, she's fairly sure...

"Well! Um. Please, mingle and enjoy yourselves. Get to know each other, et cetera. Don't feel like you must crowd around me just because I'm the hostess now~"

Of course, there was a huge amount of magic in the castle which it made it difficult to detect any one artifact in particular. It's a good think Holly doesn't know who Kore is or she would likely want to make a side trip to the underworld. Before she can investigate further she's distracted by Miwa, what's a selkie doing here? Thankfully for Peach, the witch would be more likely to get lost in the castle then make off with anything valuable. In fact she might be more likely to break something important by accident.

Ash smiled warmly to the princess before looking to the fairly annoyed and or put out seeming prime minister. "If it helps I am the closest thing my people has to a represenetive." He gestured to Anna, "She's a agic girl who has ties to a larger organization." A finger point to Kore, "She is Queen consort to the ruler of her home's deadlands." Then a shrug as he gestured to Miwa, "She happens to be a friend, but she's a farely noteable entertainer from her world. So long as everyone behaves it should be pretty swell as diplomatic events go...." Then a small nervose chuckle, "At least hopefully anyway."

He would wave to Miwa, but otherwise let the primarina to her singing. After all she seemed to be here as much as entertainment as guest and it would be rude to interrupt.

Instead he wandered over to where Kor was, "Is it Kore or Persephone? This is a formal event after all." His voice was polite, even iff there was a tensness to his overal posture, "I do hope you're enjoying yourself."

    Luke is certainly glad for the arrival of familiar faces!, he tries to direct the hungry hungry ghost panda towards Ash and Anna and Miwa especially, snagging a sandwich from the table and sharing it with his pokemon, "Look, some friends arrived!" he tries, moving towards the one nearest to him, which likely is Anna. At least now Pangshi wants to greet Spiral, floating around and reaching to try to pet the catlike creature, while Luke smiles and offers one hand towards his friend. "Hey Anna... how are you doing?" he asks, "Glad to see you again.". Of course Peach gets a polite bow from the boy, and some praise over the gathering!. The ghost panda just waves adn keeps trying to pet poor Spiral.

    The canine starts toward the snacks, but a hand on his back brings him to a stop. "No. Behave." Remarkably like a normal canine! That doesn't stop her from feeding a little bit to the dog while she takes everyone in. Her last encounter with Ash didn't end so well, but she has no hard feelings, so at least she gets the chance to chat.

    Now she can do just that, while also meeting Peach. "As this one said. It's Kore unless I'm performing some official function," she replies to the Tenno. "I have my reasons. My husband will understand, should he ever arise and claim his rightful place." She scritches at the ears of the dog at her side. "This is a different one, not to worry. Not the same one that was... overeager."

    As host and Princess, Peach gets a nice bow, though it's not a custom from her time so it's nothing particularly well-practiced. "I'm here to see how other worlds are mingling."

     Miwa leaps off her orb of water and takes her song up in pitch and tempo a bit as she guides the sphere of water into the air, where it separates into many smaller parts that finally explode into mist at one last high note, watering the plants of the garden. She smiles at Luke, then nods to Ash's partial introduction of her, before turning back to Peach.

 "Greetings Princess, I'm Miwa. Hope you don't mind if I provide a little music to your tea party." She says with a warm smile before looking around a bit more at the other guests, they definitely looked like a varied collection of off worlders.

Anna perks up as the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom interrupts her approach to the food. "Hey, Peach!" she says. She actually blushes faintly at the compliment. "Oh, thanks! It's, uh ..." She shrugs. "Yeah! We really should catch up, I've been having a bunch of stuff, both at school and on my adventures and things. Hi Ash!" She waves at Holly as well, and she looks curiously at Kore and her ... dog? Well, okay.

She smiles at Luke. "Much better than I was when we ran into Daria, thanks," she says. "Ash helped me sort out my feelings about the Grendel. How are you doing?"

Spiral puts on what can best be described as a smiling poker face at Ash's 'ties to a larger organization' comment. She floats off Anna's shoulder and chuckles. "Nice to see you too, Pangshi!"

    When Peach spoke up, Rou-ri paused in his glancing around to look towards her. His hands came down and he held his glass with the tips of his fingers from both his left and right hands in front of him, along the rim. So she was the Princess? Well, she did fit the description the toad gave. Dresses and seemed to like Pink. He nodded towards the Princess, though indeed it was only proper to first make your way to both greet the host, and the most royal one at the party. He did seem to wait his turn, however, idly opening one of his satchels and reaching in to make sure he had organized it right. Feeling the couple of bolts of cloth, he paused, before looking around and spotting the Toad minister and quietly stepping away before approaching him and squatting down on the front of his shoes to ask at a bit more personal height, "I had intended to offer a gift of sorts to the Princess as a courtesy from those of my world, since it's possible we have yet to make any connection with your kingdom. But I had thought to ask first, it would not be considered rude or a gaff to do so, would it?"
    Plus it wasn't hard for Rou-ri to tell the older toad seemed a bit put off by something about the event and was likely looking for something to do in an official capacity! Thus, this was a good chance to try and extend a branch in that regard. "I had these..." The large fellow reached his hand into his satchel and pulled out a couple of bolts of rather expensive-looking fabrics - silks of some kind, "...if that makes any difference. I hear the Princess likes her attire?"

    Luke continues to smile, "Been... handling things the best I can, had a couple of stressful situations but things are looking up.". He grins, "I figure I can say the same, been having some adventures, working on training my pokemon better, I have a new one, but decided to let him stay home... Pangshi here wanted to see this Royal tea party and insisted on coming... I think he just wanted the food." he stage whispers, glancing at the ghost panda as it floats with Spiral, taking a moment to huff at Luke. 

    Of course, Kore and that very, VERY unusual dog get their share of attention, glancing at the cyborg canine, "That's a very interesting... what was the word... dog?" he asks, before smiling, "Very obedient." he says, before he blinks, "Ah, right, I'm Luke, that guy is Pangshi." he offers, pointing to his pokemon, who takes a chance to wave at Miwa with one limb, the other alternating between petting Spiral, brushing the 'cat' on the chin, and stuffing himself with bits of sandwich.

    "Queen consort of the... Deadlands? Oh, you mean your version of the Underwhere?" The what. "Hum. Does that make you a goddess? You may actually outrank me in that case..." she giggles a little, favouring Kore with a friendly smile and a polite little bob of a curtsey. "I'd be very interested in talking to you about your... station and responsibilities, if you have the inclination or the time!"

    But of course, there are more guests to see to. "Miwa! Oh I think I've heard that name. Are you friends with Raven, by any chance? Oh, don't worry about being too entertaining, haha... These sorts of get-togethers can always do with some livening up!"

    She practically glides over to Holly next, all smiles. "Well, hello! Are you a witch, or have you just decided to play dress-up~?" She then leans in close. "You, ah, ARE aware you've got a ghostly tail, yes? This isn't one of those situations where some poor soul is haunted but they can't tell, even though everyone ELSE can? If you need we have an exorcist on staff..."

    The Prime Minister has to crane his neck and practically lean backwards in order to look all the way up at Rou-ri - so he's rather glad the large man decides to squat down to be closer to his level. He gives a light cough. "Ah, gifts to her Highness should generally be cleared with her Steward before presenting them to her - protocol, you see. Ah... she..." He frowns a little bit. "Well, she DOES like her pretty dresses, so she should appreciate this gift. It does look rather high-quality." With a little hmm, the Prime Minister looks up at Rou-ri with a critical eye. "Who did you say you were again...?"

Anna nods to Luke. "Glad to hear it," she says. "I haven't had a chance to transform since then, but I think it won't be a problem the next time it comes up." She smiles. "I've even been figuring out how to adjust the color scheme! Got a new one in mind, basically."

Spiral nuzzles into Pangshi's touch, but she does pause, and glances at the ribbon on Anna's skirt. "Well, if you're sure ..."

Anna shakes her head. "Totally sure!" she says. And then she blinks. "Oh ... there aren't, uh, animals in your world that aren't pokemon?" She looks Kore up and down, and looks over the CERBERUS unit. "Yeah, uh, that is a dog. A cyborg dog, apparently." Somehow, she manages not to let the fact that she slightly can't believe she's saying this into her voice. Anna is the last person to judge others.

Of course, hearing the name Persphone gets Holly's attention and she nearly smashed through a table as she rushed towards her. "The Queen of the Underworld, Persephone?! I can't believe it. Oh wow!" She had a stupid grin on her face right now.

 "Perhaps, it's best not to bother the queen of the dead when she isn't on formal business. It would be in everyone's best interests if you didn't join us." Servis advised her it might not be best to annoy Kore.

 "Well, the underworld is just like one really big mausoleum right?" Yeah, common sense isn't one of her strong points. Thankfully for Kore, Peach's comment distracts her. "I'm a real witch and Servis and Lavaux are my friends!"

 Of course she wasn't aware Lavaux was about to possess her until it was pointed out and she turns around. "Hey, I don't really do social stuff unless someone's going to get smashed through one of these tables. And I was making sure that Holly doesn't take a field trip with the Queen of the Underworld there." He quickly covers his antics.

Ash gave a small bow towards Kore, "As you say then. Though I do have to ask if you had any activity on a post human world full of robots. My group had delt with... " He gestured as if tryign to show his difficulty in finding the right word, "Spectre? Revenant? Unsure on the right word but apparently an ancient greek noteable going by what Athena had to say." His tone was a careful neutral. "Your business is your own and you're simply doing your job as you see it. It's mostly curiosity that has me ask."

Then when Miwa lept from her bubble He hmmed softly, before tapping an earpiece, "Ordis could you send something that will play traditional Alola'an music? Something Miwa can sing to."

THe exterrior guards to the palace would see a small drone, a spherical silver thing floating at about head height 'carrying' what looked like a small stereo. "Pardon," Ordis's voice eminated from the drone. "My operator has requested equipment for the ongoing entertainment." If let through the drone would deposit the speakers near Miwa before exiting. These speakers would then respond to miwa's command for specific melodies, volum, and such

    "Rou-ri, Rou-ri Arrowpaw. While I don't officially come on behalf of any particular nation or organization, I have in the past worked for various nations and kingdoms in my world - Azeroth - as a good-will ambassador and diplomat of sorts. Though I was in your Mushroom Kingdom under the capacity of an ordinary adventurer, where I had been for the last week or so, helping out here and there as needed - it was on a chance last night a shopkeeper mentioned her highnesses luncheon. Seems he heard it through gossip, and gossiped right back that I was present and someone thought fit to offer me an invitation." Said invitation was produced from his satchel for the Minister to see.

    Right and official. Even if it was possibly the last one offered given it was likely on the former night.

    "Though my efforts today are hardly in an official capacity, just to make known mine, if our world ever opens up to the rest of the tree, and to at least offer a first step towards getting along." Hopefully that sufficed the Ministers inquiry as to who he was and what he was doing here! He'd dealt with enough short peoples that he had the common sense not to loom over them when possible. Thankfully these pants were custom tailored or he might rip them from squatting down in such a fashion.

     Miwa nods to Peach and chuckles a bit. "Sure, I'll be happy to liven things up a bit." She offers warmly before grinning a bit at Ash when he asks Ordis to provide something to play music along with her singing. 

She decides to sample some of the tea and a sandwich while she waits, adeptly holding each in turn between her flippers while balancing on her tail. She takes a few bites of the sandwich and washes it down with tee. "Mmm, delicious. I'll have to try the cake later." She says to no one in particular before finally making her way over to the stereo system. 

 She looks it over a bit before flipping a switch, at which it begins to play music, and she promptly begins to sing along. It was a song that might perhaps fit better in the summer by a beach, but she didn't mind, and hopefully the guests wouldn't either.

    Luke glances at Kore's dog, nodding a few times, "That's quite nifty!, haven't seen anything like it." he says softly, resisting the urge to try to ask to pet the CERBERUS. He grins to Anna, "Maybe sometime you can show me!, we can train or something." he offers, "It never hurts to practice things in a safe situation." he replies, moving aide to get a sandwhich and sharing it with his pokemon. He pauses for a moment as Ash comments about the encounter of that world, nodding quietly. Finally, he focuses on the Princess, if Peach was nearby, "Sometime you should visit my world, my hometown even, I am sure they'd be delighted to receive a royal visit, heard people say they find a lot of pokemon to be cute and pleasant.". He glances back at Pangshi, who seemed to be trying to choke an entire sandwich into it's mouth, "And well behaved."

    "Technically yes, I am a goddess, but not on business right now. It gets very complicated," she replies to Peach. "My husband is the one who normally rules, but with him missing, the duties fall to me. It gets very messy," she sighs.

    Holly's chatter with her ghosts is, of course, heard. "I am not here on business, but of course if you would OFFER to come with me, I would have you. It isn't like a Mausoleum... it's a reflection of the upper world in many ways. We have a bit of a shortage so I would be happy to take anyone to their final rest if they like..." She wants to snag those ghosts, but making a scene here would be impolite.

    Glancing at Miwa and Luke, Kore adds, "Nonhumans are also included in this realm, but only the exceptional beasts. Like my pup here..."

    Ash gets right to the point of reminding her of that. "It was me. One of my heroes, or their shade. If I had known what dire shape that world was in I might have reconsidered it. My soul shortage, you understand."

    Peach gives Lavaeux a long, slightly narrow-eyed look. "Hmmm..."

    And then Ash calls in some equipment using his flying droid thing. Several fot eh Toads in attendance gasp, some with delight, others simply in surprise. Peach gives a teeny bit of a frown, and gliiides up next to Ash. "A word, please?" she murmurs, putting one arm around the teen and leading him away from the crowd.

    She keeps her voice low as she leads the Tenno over to one of the tables. "Ash, I know your life has been difficult. That you... haven't had many chances for proper socialization," she speaks quietly, as she makes herself and Ash cups of tea. "But please, dear, there is an oder to things. This isn't your show. I know I'm very lax about formalities - too lax, probably. But please, be aware," she says, while holding out a cup of tea for Ash to take. "That... in these sorts of situations reflect on your superiors." She cringes a little bit as she says 'superiors', but she carries on regardless. "I'm not angry, please keep that in mind, but darling, try not to show off too much? At least ask me before you do anything big and showy."

    Cup in hand, she gives Ash a little smile. "...And if you need formal lessons in proper etiquette, I'm sure Toadsworth could provide..."

    A swish of skirts, and off she goes to mingle with a few of the locals, just so she doesn't seem to be favouring the foreigners TOO much.

    Meanwhile, the Prime Minister nods his head. "Mmmh... Well, yes, on behalf of the citicenry of the Mushroom Kingdom we are delighted to have you with us. It's... good to know that some foreigners know their manners, at least." The Prime Minister seems to be very slightly xenophobic. Or at least nationalistic. He's trying, though.

Ash paused when Peach addressed him and nodded slowly at her words. "I..." He was about to try counter-arguing then just shook his head. This was her home... moreover it was her KINGDOM and here he came waltzing in. "Yea I'm overdoing it aren't I...?" There was a flush as that realization hit and for a moment he looked about trying to figure out 'now what.' Miwa's doing what she's doing. Kore had her knot of interested persons, and if he had thought she could spare time he'd have questions about her dog. then he looked back to Peach, "Sorry. I'm not real used to 'formal.'" He clapsed his hands behind his back and pondered for a few moments more. "I'll try avoiding any inter-versal incidents." There was a hint of lightnessto his voice at the attempted joe. "Thanks for being polite about reigning me in."

He very pointedly ignored the Prime Minister. Mostly because he was small and easily confused for a crocket ball and his thoughts drifted to the collection of hammers he had on ship. yes best to avoid that one especially right after promicing the princess he'd try a little harder to behave.

Instead he wandered over to Anna and waved before tryign to finda comfortable patch near her and spiral to loiter at. Nobody ever felt good after being corrected, but he had a genuine fondness for Peach. After all she could have handled that far worse, plus she took Raven in so that like... automatically put her as deserving him trying a little harder to be nice.

"Well, I was just curious what it was like! I'm not ready to die yet, I can't become a great witch without a body! Servis and Lavaux have unfinished business too!" Holly's not ready to part with her friends yet.

 "That's right, I have to win the title and I guess Servis has that thing he has to do to!" Lavaux isn't going anywhere.

 "Become a reknowned magician, is that so hard to get through your empty head." The other ghost reminded him.

"Hey, you don't have anything in your head either!"

 "There's no need to argue. We can be friends Kore, but I guess I can't come to the underworld if I want to leave right?" It sounds like a one trip to her.

    "I try."

    Rou-ri seemed amused regarding the minister. "In that case, I will go back to the business of mingling." Though as Rou-ri came from a place where bribes weren't really seen as corrupt so much as just another way to get things done...! The Pandaren reached into his satchel and pulled out bottle of wine of some sort. "If you would like, I would be happy to offer this your way. It is a bottle of Thalassian Arcwine that has been magically aged to perfection." Yes, he did just attempt to casually bribe the minister with a rather fancy bottle of wine. As a simple gift! But taken, or not, the Pandaren did stand back up after taking his glass of water in hand and stepped away to look around the party. At the various locals. At the various offworlders. None that he thought he recognized, though as large as the World Tree is, what were the chances of recognizing anyone here? Drinking the rest of his glass, he waved over a passing toad server and asked if he could have another, perhaps in a larger container as he was... larger than the standard toad. They obliged and trotted off for just such.

Anna smiles at Luke. "Yeah, y'know, I've never thought of having a pokemon battle before!" she says. "We should totally find time to do that! I don't have as many resources for 'practicing' as the Star Paladins, I guess."

She grabs a sandwich, and starts gravitating over in Peach's direction. Ash, however, is the one who gets her attention as she catches the tail end of that exchange, and Ash then approaches her. "Hey," she says softly. "How're you holding up?"

Spiral, seeing this, floats over to Peach. "Excuse me, Your Highness, I'm here to relay a question from Anna." She's ... a lot more concerned with formalities than Anna is, apparently. "We're wondering if the Mushroom Kingdom has any kind of support for medical procedures for patients from other Blossoms."

     Miwa frowns as Ash gets pulled aside by Peach. Although she doesn't hear much of it, she can guess that his calling down the drone didn't go over well with the Princess, She feels bad since he only did it for her. Still, she didn't go as far as asking him to send it back, so she continues on with the show.

 Her next song is something that is likely to be a bit of a surprise, as it's the result of her doing some digging on the Mushroom Kingdom after she got her invitation. She didn't have much time to practice the song, but she does her best to give her own version of this song about Mario's quest to save the princess. Before she starts, she flashes Peach a grin. "This one's for you Princess."

    Holly is providing some interesting chatter indeed. While Peach handles Ash and his slight social gaffe, Kore turns more attention to the hapless witch. "Ah, well... that isn't always for the dead to decide, but I won't bother either of your... friends about it here. I dislike doing the er... collection myself, and I came here to socialize. Just try not to tarry and lose yourselves, hmm?" She looks at the ghosts, giving a pleasant smile. "And if you should ever tire... I can guarantee a comfortable place, as much as can be with whatever your previous life allows. I am a much more gentle ruler than my husband was, though. I can't imagine you two with dreams like that have any boulders in your afterlife." She chuckles. "But yes, usually one way. Though like for myself, bargains and exceptions can be made."

    She sips her drink, watching Anna and Luke talk. "My Cerberus is a guard dog, not a mere pet. He's loyal and obedient but fights only when needed, not for sport." There's no distaste in her tone for the idea of fighting for sport, just a general statement. "He'd be a little too lethal for a spar."

     Luke grins and ndos a few times to Anna, "Anytime, I promise I'll go easy on you." he says with a chuckle, "Plus... if I do continue doing things outside my world, should learn how to do things against other opponents, besides pokemon trainers." he says softly. Otherwise he remains mostly quiet, letting the others talk and mingle, just waving to Ash and Miwa of course.

    The Prime Minister accepts the bottle of wine with a somewhat plastic-looking smile of gratitude. "Ah, much too kind. Thank you." She glances left and right, then tucks the bottle into his coat.

    As Spiral approaches, Peach favours her with a smile and a little finger-wave, holding out her arm for the floating critter to land on if she feels like landing. "Hmm? Ah, what do you mean? The Mushroom Kingdom has socialised health care that's free at point of use, although technically foreigners are billed afterwards... It's not expensive, though, and if they can't pay there are charities available." She pauses. "And by charities I usually mean 'my own treasury', to Toadsworth chagrin~"

"Of course it would be easier if I could summon more powerful bodies for them! The ones I make break kind of easily." Holly's still unaware that's why the ghosts are hanging around her. "Do you have huge parties in the underworld like the Day of the Dead? Oh, I'm Holly Winn!" She never introduced herself to Kore, but from her attire it's pretty easy to guess why she's named that.

    Just as Rou-ri was about to step away to inquire with another of the locals here, the server returned with a large container of water. "Will this do?" It most certainly would! A bit more of a Toad-sized pitcher, but hey, the thought that counted. For him it was mostly a mug at that point. "Thank you, it does." and with that he stepped over to talk with a couple of local toad dignitary types. Though after a couple of minutes of such Rou-ri finally went back and got back in line to approach the Princess directly. His attention drifted again over the various off-world types, the humans and non-humans alike. The pokemon. He actually hadn't heard of or seen them before so as far as he knew they were simply pets. And Kore had a dog beast of some kind. Was it popular here to bring pets? Maybe he should keep a mechanical squirrel on hand just in case.

Ash chuckled softly at Anna's question, "Other than a social faceplant?" His tone carefully light at the admision, "Enjoying that Miwa's getting a chance to flex her entertainer muscles." He looked over to Miwa with obvious fondness. "You two holding up alright?"

He looked from Spiral then to Anna and grinned, "Glad you decided to dress up." Was he being sarcastic o sincere? Hard to say since what he wore, while passing for foral, was something he's often worn at very informal events. So take the Tenno's words as you like.

He stood there at some approximation of parade rest as he looked about. He didn't want to talk 'work' with Anna since that felt like it would kill any sort of good mood. Similarly talking about himself seemed... UGH no, just. No.

Spiral nods to Peach. "Good to know," she says, settling down on the Princess's arm. "I'll let the patient be the one to make the necessary arrangements, since it is a fairly personal issue." A glance to Anna, which again slides towards the ribbon on her waist.

Anna smiles and gives Luke a thumbs-up. "Oh, stop," she says to Ash. "I mean, this is more of a 'casual wear' kind of thing? Just ... a dress which is basically in the same neighborhood as my costume. I'm wearing shorts underneath it but you can't see them. And a ..." She lowers her voice. "... trans pride flag ribbon." She shrugs, and eyes Ash for a moment. "Still, though, glad to hear stuff is doing as well on your end as it could be."

     Miwa continued singing a bit more as she watched the goings on of the party. Eventually she decides that as much as she enjoys singing and hopes that the guests here like having a little live music to go with the party, she is a guest here just as much as anyone else, and she doesn't want to deny herself the chance to socialize a bit, since that was the real reason for this gathering in her estimation. 

Looking around, most of the guests were already conversing with one another, but the panda-like fellow seemed to be by himself apart from talking with the Prime Minister about something, so she hoped she wasn't interrupting something important as she makes her way over to meet him, looking like she was getting quite used to moving around on land as she walks on her front and tail flippers. Finally she stops nearby and offers him a wave. "Hello there, enjoying the evening?" She asks with a friendly tone as she gazes up at Rou-ri with a smile.

    Ah, the music stopped. "Quite the little siren, isn't she?" Kore remarks, of Miwa, but doesn't bother her. She does clap politely - well, a little more than politely, given there's some sincerity there - for the performance, and then when she seems to be going to talk to the panda, Kore returns to her own conversation easily. The host was kind but had no /need/ to be here.

    "Holly Winn... well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I haven't had much chance to socialize with offworlders. My last encounters ended... awkwardly." She sighs, and watches her dog wander off to sniff at the Toad guards. "Well... I hope your friends there finish their business soon. It isn't good to keep the afterlife waiting too long."

Trans...? Ash was about to ask when his mind flicked back to a convrosation he and Ordis had not just about the medical condition, treatment, and the apparent social concerns associate but also relating it to Ash's own 'adjustment' period after waking from The Dream. Instead he gave a soft chuckle, his emotions being a knotty mess for several moments, "It's something you should be proud of and... you're taking it a lot better than I did when I found out I wasn't my warframe." Going from seven foot tall death machine to... lanky teenager? He shrugged then smiled as he looked from Spiral to Anna, "Having friends helps I suppose."

The dying down of music caused Ash to glance around for where Miwa went. Then he waved to her when he spotted her approaching the Pandarian before looking back to his more immediate corner of the party. "Work has me roll around a whole lotta places. If you like I could try finding a reporter that'd want to interview you." A pause before he added, "I mean sure everyone's life is a story but some have more interesting lessons than others, and I expect you'd be pretty inspirational to a lot of folk."

"Well, I'll have to get some new friends to help me when that happens..." Holly doesn't like being by herself for too long. Even her roommate was preferrable to being by herself. "I'm sure it's difficult to get people to go along sometime. Most ghosts have unfinished business after all." She knows this first hand. "That's why I like to help them out! That and they're pretty friendly towards me." Of course she isn't exactly difficult to exploit either.

    Peach reaches out to gently stroke a hand against Spiral's head and back, just absent-mindedly petting a cute fuzzy thing that happens to be within reach. "Hmm?" She follows Spiral's gaze towards Anna, looking somewhat confused. "...Okay. If this mystery patient ever needs someone to talk to, my door is always open, okay?"

    When Miwa finishes her song, Peach applauds - although with a Spiral balanced on her arm and shoulder it's not as loud as it would normally be. "Bravo!" she calls, to make up for it.

    As Rou-ri approaches the princess can't help but sneak a quick peek at him. Gosh, he's tall. "Ah, hello! Rou-ri, was it? I believe that was the mysterious final name on the list~"

    Ironically Kore could talk a LOT about things with Anna, but is currently distracted. Perhaps it is for the better. She has an interesting person to talk to anyway.

    "Hmm... no, most come along easily," Kore notes. "Unfinished business is common, but unfinished business that is strong enough to keep the underworld from drawing you in? That's more rare. My underworld has more a problem of people going in and dragging ghosts out that they want to keep alive. It rarely ends well, but sometimes it works out. In a way that's my own situation, but you seem familiar with me."

    Suddenly someone was talking to him! Someone down... down... druid in seal form? No, something a bit different. While Rou-ri wasn't entirely sure /what/ Miwa was, he did offer a nod towards them. "Hello. Yes, I suppose I am, the water here is nice enough and the Mushroom Kingdom in general seems fairly peaceful - which is a plus." Which meant the Princess probably heard him say such as she approached. Compared to his own land at least, this place was paradise. Seemingly no wars, no complaints, and the citizens were all as happy as can be! Though as he was about to speak further, someone else said his name. Had he given his name? Though upon looking, it was... the Princess herself.

    "Ah, Princess Peach, I believe? Yes, though I am surprised you put the name and face together, even if I do stand out a little. I was conveniently in town and one of the shopkeepers thought it might be prudent to gossip a bit and see about getting me an invite - which I appreciate. I, ah, spoke to the minister I believe not long ago and I was told that it would be alright to offer a gift your way." The tall Pandaren reached into one of his several satchels and pulled out a several bolts of rather pricey-looking fabric. "Textiles from my own world, among them being Mooncloth, Celestial Cloth, and Shal'dorei Silk. A mixture of products from around our world as it is, north, south and center. I would offer something west, east and above as well but they tend to be rather plain by comparison." The six bundles of cloth, two bolts a piece, are tied together by a unifying string. They were a mixture of colors and depending on Peaches own ability to sense magic, four of the six were apparently lightly enchanted for comfort and durability.

"I'm sure the myths I've read are different though. I'm surprised that's a common problem. I think a lot of people who manage to enter the underworld would have trouble leaving." Holly figured it isn't easy. "A lot of people seem to misunderstand the undead as well, most of them aren't malicious." At least they aren't to her. Then again she isn't exactly a huge threat to them either.

     Miwa holds off on speaking for the moment as well when Peach approaches and begins talking with Rou-ri. She instead just quietly stands by and watches. Her eyes widen a bit though as Rou-ri shows his gift to the princess. "Oh wow, those do look very nice!" She blurts out without thinking, then blushes a bit, hoping it wouldn't be taken as rude. She would wait after that and allow Peach to respond to Rou-ri before she speaks again. 

"I apologize Princess, I think I forgot to answer your question earlier, I am friends with Raven, though I haven't seen her in a while. I hope she's not angry with me or something like that. In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed my singing." She offers despite the belatedness, then turns back to Rou-ri, deciding to offer him a bit of further introduction. "Since we're all from different worlds, maybe a full introduction is in order? I'm Miwa, a Pokemon from the Alola region of an Earth-like world. My species is called Primarina, and I happen to be one of the rare examples of Pokemon that is capable of speech."

    "It isn't common, but heroes are stubborn," Kore smiles. "This is probably a good thing. I seem to have made enemies of a few of them, but I really can't say they make me angry about it." She sighs, and glances over at introductions. She already said hello to Peach, but the others can wait for now.

    "You're right that most aren't... intentionally hostile. They can seem that way to the uninitiated though," she points out. "And the touch of the dead can be dangerous. When the dead don't realize this, it can get... messy."

Spiral nods. "All righty," she says. "Again, it's a personal matter, and I've been informed that it's best for the patient herself to talk about it with anyone."

Anna smiles, and relaxes in a way which only now calls attention to the preceding tension. "Well, y'know, I've been dealing with it for years now," she says. "It was rough at the beginning, but I ended up handling it well enough." She looks over at Spiral and Peach's conversation, and shoots the princess a smile. "... Well enough in the long run to become a type of magical warrior that's fueled by positive emotion. So yeah!"

    "Oh! Um..." the princess recieves many gifts, of course, but she's always caught off guard by it. At least, when it's not her birthday. "Thank you!" she says, with a warm grateful smile that shows it's not at all simply said for politeness. Well, that, or she's a very good actor. "I... hmm. Ah, Toadliam, could you take these to my room so I can inspect them properly later? Yes, thank you dear." The servant - Toadliam, apparently - takes the bolts of cloth gingerly, and totters off with them. If Peach can tell they're magical, she makes real note of it. This could simply be because... almost everything seems to be magical in this world, really. Even the dirt and the water.

    Peach gives Miwa a little wan smile. "I'm sure Raven isn't upset with you, dear. She can be... distant. She bottles up her emotions and likes to spend time by herself. I've... not been that attentive to her needs lately, it must be said. Work has kept me so busy. I'll try to have a talk with her, though, if you like."

    Peach spots Anna looking her way... and quickly folds her hands together into the shape of a heart and gives Anna a playful wink through them. And then she's back to paying attention to her other guests like nothing happened.

Holly nods in agreement, "Death can be complicated sometimes. Some people don't even realize that they're dead." She looks towards the others as well wondering what's going on with them. She's met Raven once before but she doesn't really know her that well.

Anna sees Peach's heart-shape, and just bursts out laughing. She's also blushing, of course, but still.

Spiral nods to Peach. "I'll return to Anna for now," she says cheerfully, and rises up into the air again. "We'll have to talk again soon!" She floats back over to Anna. Their eyes meat, and Spiral nods once. This puts an even bigger smile on Anna's face.

     Miwa nods to Peach and smiles at the response about Raven. "Ah, I see. I would appreciate if you would talk to her. I would really like to see Raven again soon, but only if she feels up to it. I wouldn't want to force myself on her."

    Peach makes a tiny little fist-pump as she sees Anna burst out laughing. Mission accomplished.

    And so, the princess continued to be a good hostess for the rest of the party. Laughs were had, sandwiches were eaten, and eventually so was cake. Gosh, Peach baked these herself, didn't she? Delicious.

    Who'd have thought a princess could bake so well? ... Or take so many selfies?