Everyone present seemed to perk up in curiosity at Mario's statement. The toads looked around at each other in confusion while Toadsworth cast a nervous glance at Peach. The Princess herself took no notice of this and merely questioned Mario again, "Someone important to you? What are you implying by saying you'll lose someone important to you?" Mario cast his eyes downward, seemingly unable to bear looking at anyone by this point. Peach was not one to give up easily, however, "Mario, what exactly did you agree to?" Mario said nothing for a few seconds and the room was completely silent. Suddenly, he stood up and walked briskly out of the room, not meeting anyone's gaze.
As soon as he had closed the great doors of the conference room behind him, he heard a cacophony of hushed voices all start up at once. Abruptly, they were all silenced and the door opened to reveal a very concerned Princess Peach and an equally nervous Luigi. Mario turned to look at both with glazed eyes, something which Peach took as a bad sign. "Mario, what is it? Tell us, please." Mario slowly sank down to the floor and clutched his head in his hands. "I just… I don't know anymore. What I did… At the time, I thought it was the right choice, but now…"
Luigi couldn't stand the suspense any longer and dropped down next to Mario, grasping his shoulders and giving them a soft shake. "Mario, just tell us! I don't like seeing you so upset. It can't be that bad."
"But it IS…" Mario mumbled.
Peach ground her teeth in a rather unfitting way for a princess. She would not, under any circumstances, condone all this secrecy. Even if it was Mario's secrecy in question. "ENOUGH!" She stomped her foot for emphasis, but the brothers had already been startled by her shout, regardless of the violent gesture which followed it.
"Mario, I am the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and you WILL tell me what you agreed to!" Peach screeched out, almost sounding like a deranged banshee. Both brothers were now cowering in fear, but Mario knew that as far as telling everyone what his plan had been, their reactions couldn't possibly be as bad as this. He took a deep breath and steadied himself.
