Blue hues shot across the room to meet the face of a blonde in distress. She was chained to the cold dungeon floor, tears dropping from her horror filled eyes. It wasn't her usual kidnapper who was causing all this, it was a new one, who couldn't care less if she passed out from all the weeping she was doing. The brunette turned her attention to him, trying to keep herself together. Her friend was an avid crier, but she had never seen her break down like this.
"What is she doing here?" She asked, hoping her voice didn't sound too shaky. It was already hard enough for her to look at him, a part of her past she tried so hard to forget, but now she had to break out of the initial shock caused by being kidnapped again and actually talk to him.
Instead of answering he gave an offer, "You could take her place, princess of Sarasaland."
A look of disgust was painted on the desert princess' face. She should have known there was no real reason he would want the mushroom princess.
"Of course I'll bit more kind to you because of our history, but if you refuse I'll keep her here. She'll make for a very nice queen, don't you think?" He had no intention of keeping the fragile blonde here. After he got what he wanted, and he was very confident he would, she was headed straight to the Darklands. It seemed like the least he could do considering in a matter of hours him and the overgrown reptile were to begin their partnership and become an unstoppable duo.
The brunette clenched her fists. "Fine, I'll take her place." It was a no-brainer, the Mushroom Kingdom had to know their princess was absent and help would be on the way before the brute could even force a 'I do' out of her. "But you'll have to ensure her safety, and not treat me like some an animal."
"As long as you behave I shouldn't have to." The alien shot a grin at her before leaving to contact Bowser so Princess Toadstool could be sent on her way. He couldn't bear to look at her openly display her weak side. It was one of the many reasons why he preferred the tomboy over her. She at least tried to hide it when she wanted to scream or cry and saved everyone all the dramatics.
The brunette's eyes followed him until he was gone before taking her blonde friend into her arms. "It's okay now, Peach. You'll be safe soon." She cooed, stroking her hair a little.
"I-I'm not worried about me, Daisy." She stated in a shaky tone, pulling out of the hug. She couldn't take any sympathy from Daisy right now. She didn't deserve it. The flower princess was in big trouble and it was Peach's fault in more ways than one. "I-I'm worried about you. I-It's not safe for you to be around someone with such a cold blooded heart." Yeah she had to deal with Bowser on a regular bases, but he was different. She knew, as weird as it was, that he had a genuine love for her and would never try to harm her. Tatanga was different. He did everything he could to try to make her an emotional wreck, and he had done just that.
Daisy wanted to cry and spend all her time worrying about her situation, but she knew that wouldn't help anything. She'd just have to pray to Grambi Mario would get here before he tried to push into the horrible state of despair he had put Peach. "I'll be fine. If you've forgotten, I've dealt with Tatanga before, I know exactly how to avoid his cold side." That was a lie, he never displayed any other side. "Tatanga's species, whatever he is, doesn't really care about being nice to women, I'm nothing but a prize to him. And I will act just as he wants me to until Mario get's here.
Peach's eyes began to water even more, she hadn't cried this much since she was just a mere child. There was nothing Mario could do about this situation, and if only she had spoken up before Daisy agreed it'd be non-existent. It was too late now, she had let her own fears ruin her friend's future, and she'd never forgive herself for it. "D-daisy, he saved my life, a-and you t-took my place." She doubled over, shoving her hands over her eyes, crying hysterically.
Before the tomboy could even think about what she had just heard, the dungeon doors burst open and Tatanga came down the stairs. Once he got to where the two princesses were sitting he lifted up the flower princess. She didn't even bother struggling, she realized she didn't have the right to anymore. She looked back at the crying princess, worry in her eyes, now she knew she wasn't going to be saved.
Just as the walked out, she saw a Pionpi go in. Probably to escort Peach out, and hopefully it didn't rough her up. If any of the two of them were safe, she was glad it was Peach. She looked away and uttered, "Why didn't you tell me you saved her life?"
He grunted. It's not like he wanted to save her, and if it wasn't a part of his plan, he would have let her parish. He should probably thank her for playing along so well, even he expect her to at least say something to convince Daisy to say no, but all she did was cry. Pathetic. "Would your decision have changed if I did?" He grinned. "I think you're mistaking me for a good guy, princess. She is your friend, so why didn't she tell you before it was too late?"
She stayed quiet. She knew she could never blame Peach for any of this, yet the question still lingered in her mind. Why didn't she say anything? Her answer probably wouldn't have been different, but at least she wouldn't have filled her head with hopes of the Mario Brothers saving her.
"Or perhaps no one is to blame, rather there is someone to thank." She turned her head to him with a confused look on her face, and he just smiled. Lifting her head to his eyes with only a thumb he began to explain, "You will learn to deal with me and demands soon enough, and maybe you'll learn to appreciate them." He looked deep into her confused irises and focused. His old ship wasn't only thing that could be used for controlling minds. "For now your questions will have to wait, my curious princess." He watched as her eyes began to close, it was a simple procedure for someone such as himself. He had put her into a deep sleep not using words, but instead his mind.
The desert princess back was pressed against the wall. Looking around she realized that her surroundings were unfamiliar. From where she was standing she noticed a silver chandelier, just from that alone she knew she wasn't the Mushroom Kingdom or Sarasaland. Looking down at her feet, she noticed the carpet was red with not as noticeable black spots mixed in. She turned to face the wall she had her back to, and saw she had her back to an opening to a room.
She pressed her hands against the cream-colored wall and peaked in the room. She gasped. There at a table sat a girl, with short, brown straightened hair. She wore a black bow and a short black dress with puffy shoulders and a bow on the front. Her eyes were closed and she seemed pretty focused on her tea, but after a sip she turned to Daisy and smiled. The tomboy froze, not because she was spotted, but because this girl looked exactly like her. Save for the fact that she was much more pretty. Though it couldn't be, things like that only happened in movies. The girl let out a small giggle. "I feel I know what you're thinking, but please come in so that I may explain."
With a smile still on her face she patted on a chair next to her signaling for the princess to come sit. She was a little hesitant, but slowly went the chair and sat down. A magazine that lie open on the table caught her attention. "Baseball..." She muttered, looking at the pictures. It was probably something she'd never play again.
"Oh, that?" The brunette giggled once more. "I do enjoy sports quite a bit, but I'm sure you knew that already." She closed the magazine and looked over at Daisy who had a confused look on her face. "I see... you haven't figured it out, hm?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, tilting her head.
In response the brunette woman stood up and spun around once, revealing her black stockings and red high heels. "Do you not recognize yourself?" She laughed. "I know I act a little differently, but rest assured I am you and you are me."
Daisy stared at the girl in shock. "There's no-"
"Of course the time we have is limited seeing as this is only a dream, so please listen and keep what I am saying in mind even though you may not believe it." And she could definitely tell the princess couldn't believe what was happening, but she also knew there was no time to question it. "I contacted you to save you from all pain being around Tatanga might bring you, I feel it is my duty to make sure you- no, we do not fall into any sort of depression that is caused by him."
The tomboy stayed quiet. If anyone had advice about dealing Tatanga, even if it was in the bizarre form of this dream, she was willing to listen. She nodded giving the other princess the signal to continue.
"He will try and break you and make it so that your very existence depends on him, try not to get too caught up in his harsher words." She picked up her tea and took a sip before continuing, "I do have suggestion of how to please him that may tone down his hurtful words. You may not like the idea of it, but I suggest at least when Tatanga needs you to, you act as an actual queen would." She knew princess wouldn't like the idea of it since she was in her shoes once before, but she found that the way she spoke, acted, and dressed didn't change that at heart she was still a sports loving tomboy. Although it was a shame she had to act like this just to please the one who took her old life from her in the first place.
"I-I-" The tomboy would have stated that she wouldn't ever change herself for Tatanga, but she heard a voice that made every little hair on her back stand up.
The brunette beside her stayed calm and whispered, "No one but me will not see you." Lifting the plain black tea pot in front of her she poured some more tea into her cup and began drinking it with her eyes closed. It was her method of trying to be in a happier place when the alien was around. She really didn't blame the younger brunette for not wanting to change just for him. "Tatanga," She addressed as if she felt as aura as he walked in the room. "I do hope everything went well today." Deep down, of course, her words were insincere. Though she had become use to being nothing but Tatanga's prize, she still had hope his plans would fall apart and maybe she could go home.
"You say that like there is a chance that it wouldn't," He smiled at her, not that she was paying much attention to him. "However I feel it would be fun to humor you with some answers since you seem so curious. Fire away with any questions you may have, my dear."
Her eyes wandered over to her younger counterpart as if to say 'I hope you're listening.' When she new for sure that the other was listening, her eyes shifted back in the purple space man's direction. "You probably expected this, my lord, but yet I will still ask. What do I have to do with this plan? You have not attempted to marry me, or try to take over Sarasaland, so what do you want from me?"
Tatanga hadn't tried to do anything to get close to taking over her kingdom? That didn sound right. Daisy thought looking at the ground. Why would he keep her here for this long if she wasn't a benefit to him? It made no sense. She looked up at the Tatanga, and noticed her counterpart's dress colors were a mirror of the ones on his space suit. She had no idea what those colors even meant, but just thinking about having to wear them in the future made her skin crawl.
"You owe your life to me, do you not? Why would I just let you go home?" The answer of course was more complicated than that, but she didn't need to know that quite yet. "But if you wish me to marry you, why didn't you just speak up, princess?" He laughed, not even having to look at her to know she had a shocked look on her face. "If you want a real answer you are not ready to be my queen, but once you are, I will indeed marry you."
"I suppose I won't have a say in the matter, but regardless that is all I wanted to know. Thank you, my lord." She knew better than to mope in front of Tatanga, so she looked down at her magazine trying to hold back tears. She thought she was use to this life, but yet she still had a little hope she'd escape it. That is why she brought herself from the very day this whole mess started here. She had to fix this. Time was running thin, even though Tatanga claimed she wasn't ready she knew that soon she'd become his bride.
Not fooled by her attempt to hide her display of weakness, Tatanga lifted her head up. "You will have a say, and you will happily declare 'I do' when we are at the altar. Might I remind you that you choose to give your life away to save a weak, fragile one from having to, you choose to serve my every need and that includes being my bride." He removed his fingers from up under her chin. "Now come along, Bowser wishes to see us right about now, and do not allow him to see you in such a weak, disgusting state."
The young tomboy looked up. Was he talking about Peach? She almost lunged at him, but other princess put her hand on her lap to stop her. It rubbed her the wrong way that a version of herself could let him treat her like this, let alone let him talk about her friend like that. It made her wonder, would she too let herself be as whipped as this princess was?
"I apologize if I was out of line, and I will make sure he does not." She stood up, and locked arms with Tatanga, ending Daisy's dream.
This story has literally changed multiple times since I started writing, but here it is! Please tell me what you think, loves. uwu
Also something to note is I'm using Tatanga's gameboy comics appearance for my sake since I find him to be such a cutie in the actual game c:
I apologize if somethings are unclear or confusing, but everything going on will be explained later on!
I'm looking for someone to beta read future chapters but I have no clue who to even pick, so if you have suggestions please tell me.