The throne room was dimly lit, the moisture making me cringe as I make my way through puddles of water. I see the king and rest on one knee. "Y-you called for me, my lord?" I said with a raspy voice.

"Yes I did, it has been brought to my attention, that last night, you were roaming the castle, specifically in the Jewel room, and were seen by one of the guards. Is this true Skreela, were you or not roaming to the Jewel room last night?" The king asked, demanding an answer.

"Your Highness, I would never disrespect or disobey you at all, and I would never do anything like this to you or any royal family for that matter." I replied occasionally stuttering my words. "I feel like you are lying to me Skreela, and that will not do, so now I accuse you of attempted robbery and slandering, and you shall be sentenced to death tomorrow afternoon." He announced to the empty room around us.

I was shocked, was this how my life was going to end, with being killed for a crime that I didn't commit? This wasn't right, and I wasn't going to go through with this. The guards tried to grab onto my arm, and I nailed him in the nose, feeling the crack of his nose breaking as my knuckles collided with his face. I then shook off the other guard, before bursting out into a full out sprint, leaving the kingdom I once called my home behind me with the moon rising over the mountains.

This was my life, I was Skreela, Prince of the Broodals, separated from my family at a young age, cursed with the powers of Dark Magic, often called the Broodal of Darkness, and I never had a home to call my own.

Now all that ran through my mind was revenge, and the king I served, King Koopa of the Darklands, shall pay for all the times he made me suffer. He shall pay for this, everyone shall, I swear on my life that I will make them suffer!

I was soon stopped again by another squadron of Royal Guards, not from the Darklands, but from another Kingdom which I didn't know about. "Freeze! We are the Toad Brigade, identify yourself now!" They demanded.

"I mean you no harm, but I need to ask you, is there a village or kingdom nearby where I can stay at?" I asked them, with my hands blocking my face. "You must be new here then I take it? You are in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the palace is nearby, we shall escort you to see Princess Peach, how does that sound?" They asked lowering their weapons.

"I would appreciate that, thank you all." I replied.

After a little bit of walking, we finally made it to the castle, and I saw a woman in a bright pink ball gown waiting for me at the door. Her blonde hair looking like a sun kissed waterfall at noon.

I got closer and I finally saw the small crown on her head, I then didn't waste anymore time to finally bow to her. "Y-Your Majesty, i-it is an honor to b-be of your a-acquaintance." I said with minor stuttering. She smiled, held out her hand to me, and soon replied, "Please, there's no need for that, you can stand up." She assured to me.

I took her gloved hand, and soon rose from the pink-red colored carpet and faced the princess, soon exhaling a breath of relief. I then saw her look away to the nearby airport, where to my surprise, had a military plane along the landing strip, still, motionless, and sitting quietly in the night.

"Is there something wrong your highness?" I asked placing my hand on her shoulder. "No, I'm waiting for someone to be here, someone very special to me." She replied with a sniffle and a smile.

I saw a tear roll down her face, so I stepped away, my dark, black bowl hat resting lightly on top of my head as I sat on the floor once again.

¿A quién podría estar esperando? (Who could she possibly be waiting on?) I muttered to myself, knowing that she could probably couldn't translate Spanish.

She turned to face me, while finishing to wipe the tears off her face. "Did you say something Skreela?" She asked me, putting her handkerchief back into her pocket.

¿Cómo sabe mi nombre? (How does she know my name?) I thought, did she have something to hide relating to my Kingdom?

I needed to find out, and soon if my Kingdom were to prosper, survive even.

"How did you know my name? I never told you." I asked.

"I've heard a lot about you Skreela, how you ran away from the Darklands, how you were suffering in Bowser's castle." She paused, taking a deep breath before finally sighing. "And how your parents died in the car crash." She said, finally sobbing as if they were her best friends. "I'm sorry for bringing it up Skreela, I understand how much it hurts you." She continued.

She hugs me, which was unexpected for me and I slowly, but sincerely hugged back in response.

A little over a half hour passed, all was extremely quiet in the castle, until finally appearing out of the darkness of night, came the headlights of a taxi, which soon stopped right in front of the castle bridge.

The door soon opened, revealing a man in military looking overalls, and a matching hat with it. From the balcony of the castle, I see Peach soon run towards the military man, quickly hugging, crying, and kissing him repeatedly. Something looked awfully familiar about this man to me, but what was it, what could it possibly have been?

I soon went inside to the throne room, and immediately looked back at the couple, as they were now re-entering the castle, but Peach's expression was dramatically changed, as of she was needed to say something important to him.

"Skreela, can we have some time together, alone? I need to tell him something personal." She explained. I knew that this was important, her face showed that easily. Whatever she needed to tell him was urgent, very urgent. So without any hesitation, I slowly went into the other room, shutting the door behind me.

(Mario's POV)

The door closed as soon as Skreela walked out of the room, and when he did, Peach turned to me, her face giving a weak smile, and her eyes were filling up with tears.

"Mario, it is good to have you back, and there has been many changes since you left." She began as she kissed me again. "Peach, something is troubling you, I can easily see it, is there something that you need to tell me?" I asked, interrupting her thoughts as she was about to continue.

She hesitated for a bit, probably trying to figure out her answer, and then, out of nowhere, she nodded.

"Well, what is it? You can tell me anything." I added. "Mario, I-I thought you knew, I thought you knew already." She started, shivering while approaching the fire.

"What is it that I don't know about?" I asked calmly, but in a way that she knew I wanted an answer.

"Mario, I'm pregnant." She simply replied, covering her face as she began sobbing.

Was this seriously what I was hearing? She was pregnant? And she didn't even tell me? After being gone for nearly nine months, fighting to protect the kingdom, she didn't even bother to tell me?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked with a shocked attitude. "I wrote you letters every month, telling you everything about it, did you not get them?" She asked, hoping the letters were sent.

"No, I don't think I got them, but that doesn't matter now, what matters now, is that we are going to protect and raise our child, until one day, he or she will finally rule this kingdom after us." I declared, with a tone of confidence as she smiled at me, placed her hands in mine, and pulled me closer to her.

She then quickly took her hands away from mine and lightly pressed them against my shoulders, slowly moving towards me for a slow, passionate kiss. As we separated, I could see the door of the bedroom slowly open.

Skreela then walked out, a long, black cloak covering his body, his bowl hat placed perfectly on his head. Where is he going, and why is he wearing that cloak?

I turn back to Peach, her head finally resting peacefully on my shoulder as she was now giving me the tightest hug I've ever gotten from her. "Mario? What's wrong sweetheart?" She asked. "Nothing dear, but look at Skreela, why is he wearing that cloak and where is he going?" I whispered to her with suspicion.

Skreela must've heard what I said because he then stopped dead in his tracks and turned to me, flipping the hood off of his head.

"I was just going out on the town, but are there any places where I can, I don't know, drink and gamble?" He responded, a bit of a chuckle in his response.

I was actually surprised by this question, Skreela didn't look anywhere near twenty-one, but he sure acted and sounded like it, so I gave him the directions to the finest Casino in the kingdom, and he was soon out of the castle and in a taxi on its course to the city of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Well, I'm heading to bed, good night everyone." Peach announced walking up the stairs to our room, freezing at the last step as she stared at me, her loving eyes placing me into a trance which I didn't want to escape from. I soon regained control of myself, and quietly followed her up the stairs and soon fell into a deep, peaceful slumber, knowing that the love of my life would be beside me.