Chapter 1

Peach opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. She was used to this situation but she was still afraid each time. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she gently touched the chain attached to her foot. She wished it would break but she perfectly knew it never would. She looked at her two mates that were in the same room than her, each attached by a chain on their foot implanted in the wall. Roy was leaning on the cold stone wall, eyes closed. At first, he was the most hopeful and was always thinking about a way to escape but now, he was the one making the atmosphere a little sadder. It was still easy to understand, Marth had a particular pleasure to torture him. The prince often injected him a drug that made him lose skin. That thing had changed a lot his physic. He sure didn't look like the handsome red-haired warrior he once was. He had lost half of all his fingers and she could see his arm bones if she was looking at the right angle. Some parts of his body had swelled because of the drug. Sure thing, he would never be able to wield a sword again. She switched to Falco. He wasn't really optimistic but he was still thinking about a way to escape. He was looking down on a once bronze pin, now black because of the dirt. The princess didn't know where it came from, but she knew that this tiny object was his only source of comfort since the first day they were locked up. The avian wasn't blue anymore. He had turned dark violet by the mix of blood and dirt. Falco wasn't beaten up really often, but when he did, it was longer than the others and it looked more painful.

Peach shivered. The cell was cold and she didn't have a lot of clothes left on her. She didn't have any shoes, gloves or sleeves on her and she lost her crown after an attempt to kill Ganondorf with it. Her dress has been removed at the waist, letting only the top and the lower part of her dress that was shorter than before. She couldn't say she had skin without cuts anymore but she was lucky, Bowser, Mewtwo, King Dedede, Wolf, Ganon, Wario and Marth didn't really enjoy torturing her a lot, they preferred the one that used to be very strong, the ones that would still have hope to get free.

The princess noticed Roy had woken up. He was looking blankly at the door at his left. He then closed his eyes and knocked his head on the wall behind him. As he did it a second time, Peach gasped.

"Roy, stop it!"

Her eyes filled with tears as he made it another time. Blood could be easily seen on the wall behind his head. Falco screamed at the top of his lungs.

"ROY, THIS WON'T LEAD YOU ANYWHERE!"

The red-haired warrior stopped and curled into a ball, showing them his back. Falco glared angrily at him, his voice getting softer but still rough.

"I know you want this to end, we all do, but committing suicide is the best thing to make them feel strong. We have to show them that it's not hopeless, that we are still strong!"

Roy didn't react but they both knew that he perfectly heard it. Doors opening made them look up. It was torture time again... Falco quickly hid his pin and Roy sat up as Peach closed her eyes and hoped that their cell door wouldn't open. The metallic sound she heard made her know that someone entered. It was Marth. She bit her lips, ready to give anything so it would be someone else to be tortured this time. She knew it wasn't good to wish for someone else's ills but she didn't want to be wounded. The first screams made her shivered as the prince approached the red-haired warrior. For a moment, she did wish it was her turn. Roy didn't deserve so much pain, he had enough. Falco turned to her with a panicked look.

"Peach, watch out!"

The princess ducked as a needle passed through a lock of her hair and stopped in the stone wall behind her. She realized that if Falco didn't warn her, she would be dead by now. She started shaking when she saw the venom in Marth's eyes as he was looking at Falco. The blue-haired prince walked toward the avian and took out another needle. Peach hid her eyes with her hands as he screamed in pain. It seemed to last forever, she couldn't hold back her tears. She wished that this needle killed her; she didn't want to hear her friends screaming anymore, she didn't want to make sure that they were still alive every time they closed their eyes. She wiped away her tears. No, she had to stay strong, she had to show them that even if they didn't fought in years, they were still able to survive; she had to show them that nothing would stop her from being alive. Peach looked up as Falco's screams faded. He laid still, eyes closed, not moving. She held her breath. Was he death? No, not Falco, he was the strongest, he could not die! She sighed in relief when she saw his chest rise and fall down slowly. She then noticed the prince walking toward her. She looked at him in the eyes, doing her best to hide her fear. He picked up the needle and walked toward the door. The needle... She could've taken it like a weapon! Why didn't she think about it earlier? It was too late now; it was her fault if she was still attached to that chain! She gritted her teeth to hold back her anger as Marth opened the door.

Suddenly, the prince turned and shot the needle toward Roy's head. Peach gasped. The warrior didn't dodge it in time and blood from his forehead slowly flew on his blue eyes. Marth left the cell, locking the door behind him. Roy looked at the princess and closed his eyes, his body getting limp. The princess called him multiple times, hoping he would open his eyes and tell her he would be okay like he often did. She slowly realized he was gone. Her eyes became watery and she curled into a ball, letting her tears fall down. When you live so close to someone for years, it's not easy to realize he's gone, that the bound linking you and him is broken. She wanted to look strong, she wanted to be strong, but she couldn't stand the events. Roy was dead and she had no idea if Falco would make it to the morning. After a long moment, she fell asleep.

A pink flower stayed still, growing on the ground. Water poured on the flower and it looked like it was drowning, then, it got bigger and a lot prettier. The petals became a pure white and the pink stayed only in the middle of the flower.

Peach woke up. That dream... She was doing it a lot lately. Why? She had absolutely no idea. She stayed on the ground, looking around her. Falco was unconscious, but thankfully still breathing and Roy's motionless body reminded her of yesterday's events, or this morning, an hour ago maybe? Time wasn't easy to know except maybe the torture hour, the week's dinner and the "year day". That day when everybody gets tortured by every traitor to "celebrate" the day they fell to their doom. The princess closed her eyes. She knew she wouldn't fall asleep, but she didn't feel like explaining Roy's death to Falco if he woke up. She stayed like this for a long moment, she wasn't sure if it was a few seconds or hours but she started to feel uncomfortable. Plus, there was an annoying sound that made her irritated. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Falco was scrubbing his pin on the stone wall. His jacket lay next to him, apparently drying from the fresh blood that got spilled on it, thanks to Marth. Why did he do this? He looked so nostalgic when he was looking at this pin and now he was breaking it? She didn't really understand. She then noticed it was getting a little sharp. She frowned, understanding the plan. He was preparing himself to cut his veins with the pin once it would be sharp enough. She wanted so much to scream at him, tell him he was selfish but she held herself up. The avian turned, noticing she had woken up. Seeing the angry face she couldn't hide, he shook his head.

"It's not what you think, Peach."

She crossed her arms.

"You were the one stopping Roy yesterday and now you're giving up? How can you do that?"

She couldn't hold back the tears.

"It's not because Roy died that hope is gone!"

She held her knees with her arms and hid her face in them. She was crying again but she didn't care. Falco was such a coward, she trusted him for those three years in their cell, and she thought she knew him but she didn't. She refused to talk to him, she was too mad at him. Their door cell swung opened as a little sound on the ground made her look up. The door closed before she could see who was there. She smiled seeing the bread and the bowl of water in front of her. The water was warm and the bread was really hard but she didn't really care. She took the bread and tried to eat it slowly but she was so hungry, she finished it fast, way too fast. She drank the water and let it aside trying to ignore her throat and her stomach begging for more. The same noise from earlier sounded next to her as the scrubbing noise came back to her ears. She looked on her left to see half of a bread portion. She looked at Falco who wasn't looking at her, concentrating on his pin. The avian wasn't eating a lot; he tried to get his stomach used of getting almost nothing. Instead, he gave the left over to her and Roy, when the warrior was still with them. She stared at the red-haired boy's limp body. She wanted to look away but she couldn't stop staring at it, like if she was waiting for it to do something. Her throat tightens as she looked away. She passed the rest of what she thought was a day doing nothing. What could she do here except stare at the floor or pity herself? She lay down and gazed at Falco who finished scrubbing his pin. It looked sharp. He poked his palm and stared at the blood coming out of it for a moment. The princess closed her eyes and fell asleep, hoping that he would wait a little longer before ending his life.

A door opening woke her up. Instinctively, she looked at Falco, who hurried in a weird position. Their door swung open as Wario came in. She held her breath. The fat smasher was always torturing the first one to make a sound. The sound of the avian's voice made her blench.

"You're a dick."

Wario frowned but rapidly smiled by amusement. He approached Falco. As he was about to grab him by the collar, a sharp object cut through the fat smasher's eye. The avian grabbed his chain that wasn't attached to his ankle anymore and put it around Wario's neck thigh. The fat man tried to get free, but Falco had a very strong grip and would surely not let him go. After a moment of struggling, Wario, body got limp and his eyes entered at the back of his head. The avian let go of the fat man as King Dedede's voice rang in their head.

"Hurry up, Wario!"

They heard a door close and no sound came back to their ears. Falco silently walked toward Peach and entered the pin on the lock on her ankle.

"I wasn't going to kill myself, Peach. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything but wall have ears here, I didn't want them to know my intentions."

The lock broke as the princess hugged Falco. After years of torture, she really needed a friendly physical contact.

"You made the good choice. It's me that got it all wrong. I doubted you, even after years I couldn't trust you, I'm the one who should apology."

They got up and headed for the door. The avian slowly opened it and took a quick look around just to be sure there wasn't any 'traitor' left. He got to the closest cell and took a peek at the lock on it. Peach didn't know if he would be able to open it, the locks on doors were way more complex than the one on their chains. Actually, they were lucky that Wario didn't lock the door behind him. Falco inserted his pin in and started twisting it, trying to find the right angle to unlock the door. After a moment, the avian sighed in annoyance.

"The lock is too rough; I can't open it like this."

Without a word, Peach got back in her cell and looked around Wario's body, trying to find a key. She sighed in relief when she pulled out one. It was golden and had a star shape as a handle. She joined Falco and gave him the key as he facepalmed.

"Why didn't I think about it earlier?"

He entered the key in the keyhole and turned it.

The clicking sound made them sigh in relief as they pushed the door, hoping to find some still living smashers.