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Shards of Love: REDUX!
"I started low, but I've gotten high up, and I can only get better. I'm tired of pretending to be a good guy; a hero. The wolf inside me demands to destroy the outer sheep surrounding it, and everyone will see the true me. The hunger for the status I most desire grew at a gradual pace throughout the years, and the now-insatiable craving must be satisfied before my inner wolf breaks free from its flowery confines. It must happen now, even if it takes breaking everything else I have. Friends. Family. Peace. Immortality. Love. I will tear anything to shreds in return for my desire, and I'll cast the now-useless shards into the dark, eternal sea of their hopelessness."
- Medieval Koopa Lore
Shard I: Foundations
Peach and Mario marry, but what should've been a happy day is instead marred by Peach's surprise kidnapping by the Koopalings. Now, what should've been a relaxing vacation instead turns into an ill-fated stay at Bowser's Castle.
Chapter I
Wedding of the Century: A Bride's Stress
Dawn approaches the eastern Mushroom Kingdom, converting the grey-and-black sky into one of orange, yellow and blue. As the Sun shoots down every sign of nighttime, the residents of the eastern lands of Giant Land, Water Land, Grass Land, Sky Land and the Mushroom Province reveal themselves from their ramparts. For the residents, today's no ordinary day. Everywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, businesses remain closed and thousands of citizens dance in the streets, all with huge grins implanted on their faces. Sounds of blaring trumpets boom throughout the Kingdom while happy citizens shout out multiple 'Hooray!'s. Today's celebrations marks the day when Princess Peach marries her hero and longtime friend, Mario.
However, behind the castle's walls, anxiety, rather than excitement, rings throughout the air and bounces off the elegant rose walls. Stress oozes out from every crevice present in the elegant marble floors like a foul odour. The stress accumulates into the minds of everyone; even the dainty Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom appears prone to the unwanted condition. Although lounging in the comfort of the pink walls, the queen-sized bed and the stained-glass window making up her bedroom, Peach still worries about the general turnout of the wedding.
"Are you excited, girl?" Daisy questioned Peach in her light Sarasalandian country accent. Several of Peach's servants and her best friend Daisy crowd around her to get her wedding dress ready.
"I've been waiting for this day since forever!" Peach stated in weak excitement. It's not that she hates Mario—no, far from it. Peach, like her mother, is a perfectionist; she fears even a pesky housefly will ruin her special day. In an instant, she begins muttering in doubt, "I'm just scared, Daisy."
Daisy scowls before plumping up her orange dress; being Peach's maid of honor rather than a normal bridesmaid, Daisy bears a special orange dress rather than the typical white of the others. Despite wanting the bridesmaids donning pink a few months ago, Peach instead changed her mind and required them to bear white dresses; she wanted the less-formal pink dress gig to be her own. As for the Maid of Honor, she wanted to leave the choice of colour to Daisy.
"Scared of what?"
"I'm just... Well, nervous over the entire thing. What if something goes wrong? All the citizens will eat it up within seconds; they won't respect me the same again! It'll be a late April Fool's joke in their minds!"
Peach didn't look at Daisy's face, but she can tell Daisy's still scowling at her. Despite the two being inseparable best friends, Daisy never hesitates to dish out well-deserved negativity towards Peach or her thoughts whenever she deems it necessary. Peach always knows she can count on Daisy whenever she has problems requiring honesty and a bit of opinion. Unlike the typical suck-up-to-Peach-because-she's-the-ruler-of-the-Mushroom-Kingdom folks, Daisy's always been more down-to-earth with her opinions, praises and criticism.
"Peach. Nothing will go wrong; don't fret," Daisy attempts to comfort the princess, "Now you just try to relax while we wait for your mum to help fix your makeup. Don't cry either; it's hard to put eyeliner on wetness, and I also suck at swimming while in a dress! I thought the tears from the sinners at Church were deep enough to drown in!"
Still in anguish, Peach peers down at the wedding invitation she saved out for archival reasons. The comforting vinyl feel of the card on her fingertips gives her a rush of comfort as she brushes over the card's edge. Rubbing the card, Peach studies the picture in the centre of the invitation. In the picture, Peach holds a sceptre, and both she and Mario show off elegant, gold crowns. Peach smiles at the picture, then focuses her attention to the text on the right of the invitation. The text, written in a gold-coloured elegant font, reads: 'King Toadstool and Queen Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Princess Peach Toadstool, to her hero, Mario Mario. The ceremony will be at 1PM on April 18 in the Castle's Courtyard, followed by a reception at 5PM.'
'Now,'Peach laments to herself, 'April 18 has approached, and 1PM approaches rapidly.' Although the fourteenth hour of the day advances from the future to the present at full tilt, Peach still couldn't believe that today is her day. With almost no time for mental preparation, the sudden epiphany of her getting wedded tortures her all day.
"PEACH!" the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom hollers at her daughter as the ruling royal walks into the room. With butterflies still swarming in her stomach, Peach puts down the invitation and looks away from the partying kingdom on the other side of the window. The Queen appears ready for her daughter's wedding; the monarch already rocks a white bridesmaid gown, a silver, gem-plated tiara and a huge ring. Seeing Peach, the Queen pulls back her silvery-blonde hair and smiles.
"Mother!" Peach called out, leaving the circle of her servants and giving her mum a hug. In return, the Queen gives Peach a warm, comforting hug in return.
"Oh, Peach darling; my grown up girl..." the Queen replied in a hushed whisper. The two of them then pull apart from the hug and the Queen states, "We need to get you ready for your marriage!"
Peach's mum opens one of the table's drawers. An entire beautician store's worth of makeup greets the royals: gold eyeliner, silver mascara, peach foundation powder, a bit of blue eyeshadow, red lipstick and several other colours of makeup stuffed into the magnificent drawer. Without organising the cluster of makeup in any way, the Queen pulls out the drawer from its hinges and dumps the contents onto the makeup table. As Queen Toadstool grabs the foundation powder and applies it to Peach's face, Daisy attempts to put on Peach's eyeliner while a servant does her lipstick.
'Oh great,'Peach mutters to herself as several pairs of waving arms surround her face, each one threatening to make a potential mistake on the bride. Peach already knows by the buildup of her stress that this is going to be a long, tiring day.
Despite the cheerful attitudes in the seven Lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, not every leader in every kingdom took the news of Peach's marriage to Mario in a positive fashion. In Dark Land...
"Why is King Dad so sad?" Lemmy questioned his siblings. He, Ludwig, Roy, Wendy, Iggy and Larry sit by the battle room's door, eavesdropping on the occurring activities on the other side. In the room, the Koopalings sense Bowser's voice raising a bit, followed by a more comforting voice from Kamek.
"Imagine zis, Lemuel," started Ludwig, "Your favorite ball has been stolen by Mario. He zen locked it up in a safe. How vould you feel?"
"Sad! I would do everything I can to break into the safe and get it back! I LOVE my ball!" Lemmy cried. The normally happy Koopaling weeps at the summoned imagination, much to the joy of Ludwig. The Koopaling's never depressed, even though one can nominate him as the most bullied of the Koopalings. At school, people always made fun of Lemmy's shrimpy height, often mocking him whenever he reaches for something. Others would shun him because he was too 'annoying' or too 'immature' for them. At first, such negative actions bothered Lemmy, but after years of the grueling experiences, he's got to—strangely—liking the verbal bullying. Him being different from his peers made Lemmy accept the fact that he's unique and one-of-a-kind.
'At least Lemmy knows how heartache feels like now,' Ludwig thought. After his self-statement, the eldest Koopaling then explains to Lemmy, "Vell, zat is vhat's happening vith King Dad. Mario stole Peach from him and is... Vell, in a sense, 'locking' her up from Dad by marrying her."
"Yeah! We should do something to stop this! Like seriously!" Wendy announced to her present siblings. Wendy wants something from her father; that fact flashes on her forehead like a neon sign in Mushroom City. The only time she cares enough to do something for someone is when she expects something in return. "Do we want Daddykins to be all mopey today? We'll seriously get nothing we want!"
Roy nods his head at the idea and replies, "Great idea, Sis. Should we be crashing da weddin' or whateva?"
"Yes!" Iggy replied in a demented, sinister shout, "I have a machine that can make people fall asleep! I shall use it and become THE BEST SCIENTIST EVER! Ahahahahaha!"
Lately, Iggy has been experiencing some... Well, personal issues dealing with his self-esteem. He, like Lemmy, sits at the bottom of the social ladder, but unlike Lemmy, he grasps for the top. He always wishes that he was sane enough to come out as a useful member of society, rather than a psychopath whose only professional suit he'll wear is a straitjacket. Rather than physically or socially improving himself to reach the top, Iggy decided to use his wits to impress everyone with his inventions. Maybe his physical and social skills will catch up to his mental skills afterwards.
Wendy and Roy smile at Iggy's announcement while Ludwig and Lemmy ponder over the whole situation. However, the normally-reticent youngest Koopaling pipes up his concerns on the idea.
"I don't know guys... Remember the last time we launched a surprise attack on the Mushroom Kingdom? The time when we kidnapped the Princess by causing the castle to experience a blackout? Yeah, King Dad wasn't happy on that one..."
"Lawrence. Zat vas because ve kidnapped her in plain sight. Ve von't make zat mistake again. I know you're concerned, but you have to trust me on zis vun. I am ze eldest Koopaling, so I am ze most trained vhen it comes to snatching the Princess. I've attended battle meetings. I did several zings zat ze five of you never did in your lifetimes."
"Well..." Larry is still reluctant to the entire idea, "I guess..."
"Plus, ze castle has lots of coins-"
At the mentioning of the word 'Coins', Larry's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. Larry may be a little sneak, but even the youngest koopaling can be held hostage over the thought of coins. Larry would do anything to get even one coin, and that fact worries Ludwig and his family, even if they can use Larry's lust for coins to their own advantage. Just how far will Larry's greed take him, and what will the consequences be?
"Coins?!" the youngest Koopaling shouted, giving Ludwig a look that seems to be saying 'duh', "I'm in!"
"Aight," Roy took command of the situation before Ludwig can open his mouth, "We do things we're beasts at. Lar can spy on da weddin', Sis and Lemster can distract da others, Iggs can use some nerdy, freaky machine thing ta protect all of us. I can den kidnap da Princess and Kooky here can drive da Doomship-"
"Uh uh uh, Roy," Ludwig objected, "Remember: I'm ze oldest; I'm in command here. Now, I barely noticed zat ve vill miss ze vedding, but ze Princess vill have a reception. Ve can snatch her zen. Larry, spy on ze reception. Lemuel and Vendy, distract ze reception goers. Ignatius, if you can use zat machine zat causes ze entire audience to fall asleep, I vill appreciate zat. Roy can zen snatch the Princess while I drive the doomship."
"Das what I said, Kooky!"
"I'm in charge zough, so my vords matter more."
Since Ludwig's the oldest Koopaling, the title of the Crown Prince has been bestowed on him at a young age. Ever since then, Ludwig took his title as a synonym for 'Alpha Male' and he'll often make himself the most important member of any Bowser-free gathering. He despises the times when someone else snatches control of a situation, especially another 'Alpha Male' challenger like Roy.
"Rrrrrr..." the burly Koopaling growled, "No wonder why Morton declined to do anything involvin' you... You're so damn stuck-up!"
"Roy... Ze only time I vill deal vith your crap is vhen ve are snatching Father's treasure. But for now, I vill not be taking it. Depart hence from me. Now."
"Fine, whateva. I'm done with YOUR crap, Luddy. You constantly treat da rest of us like we're damn second-class citizens! Newsflash, lil' Xerox, without us, you wouldn't be Pop's little pet! Peace out, sibs, I'm done with dis trash."
Wendy stares at Roy as he stomps away, obviously peeved off. She then turns back to Ludwig and glares at him. As stuck-up as she is, she knows the true value of teamwork and the positive consequences it brings.
"Like, seriously, Ludwig? What was that about?! We're supposed to be a team and have Peach captured! I can totally feel my trip to Europe on my fingertips for grabbing her!"
"Leave it be, Kootie Pie. Don't fan ze flames; zey'll only grow. Roy'll get out of his hissy fit," the eldest Koopaling stated, brushing off every concern raised by his sister. He then stands up and puts his hand on the battle room's doorknob, "Now all of you, get ready. I'll need to tell Father about somezing."
Several minutes after the invasion of Peach's face by various makeup tools, Peach finds herself behind the closed doors to the courtyard with her father, the King. From the other side of the door, the marrying princess can hear an orchestra's music, a bit of chatter and a microphone being tested out. The excitement occurring on the other side had Peach... well, anxious and nervous over the entire situation. Despite Peach being the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, she hasn't experienced an event THIS exciting in years. Most of her life consists of either mushroom balls, participating in spin-off games or being kidnapped by multiple villains, Bowser included. All in all, other than a date with Mario thrown in, her weeks are—well, stressful, sucky and sophisticated. And to think people envied her title as Princess.
'Call me paranoid but...' Peach thought, 'Something tells me that this wedding will not go completely scot-free.'
At the realization of a mistake, Peach's legs start to tremble, causing her wedding dress to produce a shuffling noise. Noticing the sound, her father looks over at her. Rather than displaying a look or action of concern, Peach's father instead gives her a bewildered stare.
"Peach?" the Mushroom King questioned.
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
"Just a bit nervous," Peach admitted, her dress still creating the crumpling noise from her tremors. Her father nods his head, then gives his daughter a facial expression as if telling her that he's about to drift off in a ten-thousand-year-long slumber.
"Tell me about it... I'm missing the PGA tournament. I'm so nervous about turning on the television and seeing who won... I am taping it though, so that's good, right?"
"Uhh, sure?" Peach added with a confused look on her face. 'I thought this conversation was going to be about me and this day, not about some tournament of golf... Let me ask him again.'
After her thoughts, Peach then questions her father.
"But what do you feel about my wedding?"
"Well, not as interesting as golf, I'll tell you that!" her father guffawed. Feeling some perspiration underneath his mushroom cap, The King takes it off then wipes some of the sweat off with a handkerchief, "Woo! I sure hope the PGA results aren't displayed on any of them Sports channels! Makes King Toady all nervous!"
Peach sighs; she will not be getting any help or sympathy from him any time soon. Then again, who would give her sympathy? Maybe Daisy is right—perhaps she just needs to kick back, relax, maybe do some meditation while listening to classical music—just anything.
'Might as well let him lament over stupid golf while his daughter sits here nearly wetting her wedding dress in anxiety.'
As she forms a look of dejection on her face, the doors to the ceremony open and two mushroom guards step into the room, the two of them wearing little tuxedos to match the formal attire of the programme. Seeing the guards dressed up like civilians rather than the typical clanky armour notorious with the typical guards, Peach silently voices a prayer of gratitude to the Stars. As much as she feels safe with bloodthirsty, intimidating guards as her first line of defence, all Peach wants is a decent, civilized and modern wedding rather than a wedding full of kidnappings, armour and other medieval-aged ideas.
"Your Majesty," one of the guards spoke up, "It's time to walk your daughter down the aisle."
Nodding his head as if silently stating 'Anything to get this over with',Peach's father locks his bent arm with hers. Elbow-to-elbow they walk down the red carpet, slowly but steadily making their way to the altar where Toadsworth waits for them with patience. Peach nervously looks away from the altar and catches sight of Birdo throwing flower pedals in front of the father-daughter walk, as well as several rows of folding chairs, all of them packed with eager wedding watchers.
As Peach and her father continue to approach the altar, and with Peach still focusing her attention anywhere but the altar, the orchestra starts to play multiple wedding songs such as The Wedding Canonand Here Comes the Bride. The beautiful music, as well as the sight of Mario in a red-colored tux, causes Peach to experience even more butterflies than ever before.
'This is it!'Peach stated to herself, 'The day when Mario becomes my husband, my Prince, my everything.'
Still, she admits to herself, she cannot believe the day of her marrying Mario has now approached. Ever since he first rescued her from the clutches of Bowser, Peach knew he was the one, but she didn't know that they will get married this soon. Peach is just happy that she is marrying Mario rather than a half-wit, self-absorbed idiot such as Prince Haru.
'Mario... Well, he didn't seem like the one favouring commitment, but at the same time, I think he does try hard whenever it is tossed at him.'
When the father-daughter duo approach the first row of folding chairs, Peach's father lets go of her arm. With her entire body quaking, the princess attempts to focus all her energy into moving her feet up each of the three stairs towards the altar, one white high heel after another...
Peach makes it up the stairs with no incident, and stands face-to-face with none other than Mario. Seeing a grin appear on his face, Peach smiles back at him before Toadsworth goes on with the vows.
"Mario, read your vows."
The red plumber then takes out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolds it. He then glances at the handwriting present on the sheet and reads them out loud.
"I, Mario Mario, take you, Princess Peach Toadstool, to be my lawfully wedded wife, princess and damsel in distress. For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, or if Bowser ever rules the Mushroom Kingdom. I promise to honor and cherish you. This I vow to you."
Hearing his vows, Peach successfully holds back her giggling. Toadsworth then pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to Peach. Silently thanking him, Peach unfolds the paper, revealing the vows she wrote earlier and gave to Toadsworth for safekeeping. She then reads the words on the paper loud enough for the entire audience to hear.
"I, Princess Peach Toadstool, take you, Mario Mario, to be my lawfully wedded husband. For sickness, in health, for 99 lives, for only two lives, for richer, for poorer—even though I am the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom so we'll never be poor," she read, adding the last line to try to match the humor that Mario's vows have. Her last minute punchline seems to be a success, as the members of the audience let out little giggles, "This I vow to you."
Peach then grabs Mario's gloved hand with her hand. Both of them stare into the eyes of each other, mesmerised. Looking into Mario's eyes, Peach can imagine every terrain he'd gone through to save her. Perpetual plains, deathly deserts, frigid floes and massive mountains are only some of the landscapes she can sense in Mario's azure eyes. Their trance breaks when Toadsworth announces the final verdict.
"Mario, you may now kiss your bride."
The entire audience claps as Mario leans towards Peach and gives her a kiss. As their lips meet, pure feelings of happiness and ecstasy wash over Peach. While it lasted, Peach felt as if she can bench press Saturn with one hand: she felt nothing but the feelings of invincibility coursing through her veins. Not only has her wedding gone without incident, but she's now married to her longtime hero! That one kiss—that amazing, sentimental kiss—confirms that her longterm goal has been reached.
The newly-wedded couple break away from the kiss and stand side by side. With her left hand gripping Mario's right, the now-married princess lifts up her right hand and waves to the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, meet your newly-wedded couple, Princess Peach Toadstool and Prince Mario Mario!" Toadsworth announced. The crowd then stands up and every member of the audience bows to them. Both of them continue to wave to the crowd with their free hands.
As the crowd bows to the new couple, Peach catches sight of her mother, who appears to be crying—most likely tears of joy. She then stares at her father; he is staring into space with a goofy smile on his face, oblivious to whatever celebrations are occurring. Probably playing golf with other political figures in his mind. The bliss emotion on his face may also imply the course having endless sun, vast areas of gently-sloping hills and a never-ending supply of spare tees.
Seeing her non-responsive father, Peach sighs as she stares at her newly-wedded husband. 'Husband'she thought to herself, 'This will take some getting used to... hehe!'
"Father still not showing any signs of life, eh?" Mario questioned. Peach then shook her head in anguish.
"Nope... Let's just get ready for the reception..."
NOTES:
Well... Hey! You reached the end of the chapter. I applaud you on staying so strong!
Just story-related information for reference:
All characters © Nintendo; Queen Toadstool is an OC, but she is not MY OC. I don't know who she belongs to, but credits to him/her also. I do not consider King Toadstool to be an OC, as he appeared in the Mario books. Disclaimers are useless on FFN. Believe me, they really are, but I'm posting this incase people try to give me credit for the smaller, more unknown characters.
Story plot summoned by me, Hip Neptune, in May 2000. First chapter posted on November 16, 2000. Chapters 2-18 (except 4) typed between 2001 and 2007, Chapters 4, 19 and beyond typed in and after 2014. Revisions began March 21, 2014; First reupdate on April 5, 2014. Continuous updates expected regularly as of 2016.
The story will revolve around Romance, as well as a bit of adventure. For the romantic pairings, this story will contain MarioxPeach and PeachxBowser (seems confusing, but it will be cleared out throughout the story), as well as shards of Luaisy later on [no pun intended]. Family, Betrayal, Adventure and Hurt/Comfort values will also be included. If you don't like any of these, then be thankful I warned you! Also, the back button is at the top left and the review box for constructive response or positivity is at the bottom.
This is an epic containing 5 parts, with each part containing it's own subplot that relates to the overall plot:
Shard I: Foundations
Shard II: Revelations
Shard III: Alliances
Shard IV: War
Shard V: Finale (also contains the epilogue)
Each shard contains at least 5 chapters, meaning the absolute minimum length of this fanfiction will be 25 chapters (though I have up to 40-45 chapters planned).
This is Rated T for safety, though there may be a scene with some adult themes. I do NOT do lemons! I may do limes, but any 'limes' I may include will be softcore. In other words, "Romantic" but not "Sexual". Again, there will be NO PORN. Those who are looking for a great alternative to a 'Friday Night Good Time' will NOT find it here. Sorry!