As a monarch, Peach had a lot on her plate. But that didn't stop her from noticing something was off, and that her two plumber friends were acting rather strangely...
"Did Mario have to come?" a gruff voice groaned. "Why couldn't we just do this thing on our own?"
A second voice snappily cut him off. "Mind your manners, Your Rudeness. You know as well as I do that Mario is an integral part of these discussions."
"I don't see why he has to be. What does he do to run this kingdom anyway? Why should he be part of this?"
As the two voices carried on arguing, Peach sighed deeply, swishing her tea around in her cup. Her pinky finger had long since fallen limp, betraying her exhaustion. She struggled to stop herself from eavesdropping on her guests just outside her room, but found it rather difficult, since their voices had the unique ability to be heard from any hallway or corridor in the castle. (The stars forbid they have any volume control.) But she couldn't simply order the two away, because they had important business to attend to with her. So, for the sake of peace, they would have to learn to get along. For the time being, at least.
Sighing a second time, Peach wandered over to the balcony, staring down at the courtyard. The sun was shining brightly this afternoon, and even though the doors were closed, she could hear birds chirping from the trees. A few Toads were wandering the grounds with watering cans and bags of fertilizer, tending to the variety of roses. Too bad Peach had to spend such a wonderful day cooped up indoors. Right then, the princess promised herself that as soon as negotiations were finished, she would go for a stroll and keep walking until her legs broke.
If only Mario could arrive sooner, so she could get started.
"Grambi, it's about time you showed up, plumber! I was getting impatient!"
"Oh, go shove your head in a pipe, Koopa. We got here as fast as we could."
The princess took a final calming breath before turning around. Brushing out the wrinkles in her dress, the determined lady decisively marched towards the exit, abandoning her tea on the balcony railing. Time to put those diplomacy lessons to good use.
The door was shoved open, and any arguing that had been transpiring halted in a moment. Sitting at a large round table were her guests, who were all (to varying degrees) happy about her arrival. From the far side of the table, seated on the largest chair in the castle (which was still not large enough, mind you), a lumbering figure grinned. "Glad you could join us, Princess," Bowser boomed, straightening his back and interlacing his fingers. Beside the king stood his second-in-command, Kammy, as well as two Koopa guards, donning their usual iron armour and spears. The two soldiers saluted Peach as she approached, and even Kammy graced her with a quick nod.
Near the opposite side of the table, two Toads guards were pulling out more chairs for Mario and Luigi, Peach's other guests. Bowser murmured something to Kammy whilst staring at Luigi, and the Magikoopa only shrugged in reply. Luigi eyed the two warily, but sat down obediently.
Mario, on the other hand, remained standing erect. "I don't need a chair," he muttered quietly to the Toads. "I'll stand."
The guards stared at Peach helplessly, unsure of what to do.
"...That will be all," Peach finally said, relenting. She knew Mario would want to be on guard in case Bowser tried anything underhanded. Although she was confident that the Koopa clan would be tactful this time around, it wouldn't hurt to let Mario be on the ready, if it made him feel more secure. The Toads let out a relieved breath at their dismissal, whispering their thanks as they made their escape. The princess couldn't blame them for wanting to leave, so she decided not to fault them.
As the guards made their exit, two more Toads entered the room: the first was Toadsworth, Peach's advisor and legal guardian. It was expected that he would want to monitor this negotiation, and considering his exceptional ability to keep Peach at ease, she was very glad to have him here today. The second Toad, elderly and green-spotted, accompanied Toadsworth, scanning the room with a studious eye. He was Minister Muss T., the royal chancellor, as well as the minister of economics and foreign affairs. Besides being a long-time official of the Mushroom Kingdom, he also had an uncanny ability to quell an argument. His expertise was desperately needed at this table.
Toadsworth and Muss took seats on either side of the princess, and began to pile a variety of papers on the tabletop. Bowser cocked an eyebrow, clearly becoming impatient, but kept his mouth shut. When the Toads finished, Muss spoke up. "My apologies for the delay," he began, clearing his throat. "I believe we're ready to begin. Princess?"
Peach nodded. "Yes, we're ready. Bowser… your proposition?"
Bowser nudged Kammy with his elbow, gesturing to Peach. Kammy rolled her eyes. "Yes, our proposition." A cough. "Now, I know that we all want this war to end. There've been too many casualties at this point to justify fighting any longer. So, we propose a treaty that would have us withdraw our troops from your territory, and cease all attacks on the Mushroom Kingdom. In exchange, the Darklands would receive full sovereignty. The people of our nation want to live without oppression from the Mushroom regime, and this would be the ideal way to get what we both want."
Peach glanced around, carefully examining the faces of everyone in the room. Bowser was nodding slowly, smirking proudly. Toadsworth rubbed his chin, and Minister Muss hummed in thought. Meanwhile, Mario furrowed his eyebrows, his arms crossed. He leaned over and whispered something to Luigi, who looked utterly confused by the whole ordeal. Kammy, seeing as she was on a roll, decide to push her luck a little further. "Of course, I also firmly believe that an apology is in place," she continued. "Given how your people have treated us in the past, it's only fair that we receive some compensation by way of coin."
"No," Mario growled suddenly, huffing. Toadsworth cursed under his breath, shushing him urgently. Of course, Mario ignored him. "Why should we apologize? You were the ones attacking us. If anything, we deserve compensation instead."
Bowser frowned, smoke already billowing from his nostrils. Well, so much for a peaceful end to this.
"Ahem!"
All heads turned to Minister Muss, who was twiddling his moustache expertly. "Now, now, Mario, that's enough," Muss interjected calmly. "There's no need to get riled up. We can settle this peacefully. That's why we're here, after all." Mario shot him an annoyed glare, but Muss simply continued speaking as if he didn't notice. "King Bowser, I don't think financial compensation is possible at this point. We've suffered a large extent of damage to civil properties because of this war. We'll need to focus our funds on rebuilding the homes of our citizens. I hope you understand."
Kammy sighed, relenting. "Very well, I'll allow leniency on that front... But we still want independence for our country. That can't be negotiated."
"I think that can be arranged," Peach agreed. "We'll need time to work out the details, but if you're willing to remove your forces and help us put an end to this bloodshed, we can work towards Darkland independence together."
"Sounds good to me," Bowser piped, narrowing his eyes at Mario. "That's it, then? Independence in exchange for a ceasefire?"
Toadsworth and Muss exchanged a glance, then simultaneously nodded. "Yes, that should do just fine," Muss confirmed. "We'll just need to discuss the specifics of a long-term peace treaty, as well as Darkland sovereignty." The elder Toad yawned, stretching his arms and leaning back in his chair. "What do you all say to a break before we begin? Have some food and drink?"
Bowser laughed jollily, kicking his feet onto the table and knocking a few papers aside. "Hell yeah!" he chuckled. "I'd kill for something to eat! Peach, how about some cake?"
Kammy was preparing to kick Bowser in the shin for the lattermost comment before Peach interrupted. "I'll send someone for it right now. Please excuse me for a moment." Standing up, and giving everyone a quick curtsy, she hastily entered the kitchen nearby. She could hear the others arguing through the doorway behind her—something about having tea or coffee to drink. Peach decided to hurry as much as possible before a fight could break out. But before she could start her search to find a servant to fetch the food and beverages, someone piped up from beside her.
"Um… Princess?"
Peach jumped a bit and whirled around to face a rather distressed Luigi. He was fiddling with his sleeve, a telltale sign that he was worried. Furthermore, his eyes were darkened by violet bags, and a thin layer of sweat had accumulated on his forehead. Something was very clearly bothering him. Peach opened her mouth to inquire about it, but Luigi cut her off. "I need to talk to you," he whispered carefully, "after Bowser is gone. I can't talk about it now, but..."
She blinked, taken aback. "O—of course, Luigi," she replied, plastering on a lopsided smile of reassurance. "But are you sure you're alright? Do you need to see a doctor?"
Luigi shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. "No, no, I'm okay, I'm okay. Just… Please, when Bowser leaves. Please." He paused, trembling for a moment. "Please."
The princess looked around quickly. A few dishwashers were busy at the sink, and didn't seem to overhear anything thus far. And the door behind them was still closed. Okay, the coast is clear. "Meet me at the courtyard," Peach murmured, "at sundown. I'll be waiting there."
"Th—thank you, Princess," Luigi breathed, visibly relieved. "I'll be there. Thank you…"
Peach nodded silently as he left the room and returned to the rioting table of hungry guests. When the door closed, the princess took a moment to try and figure out what exactly just happened.
It was obvious enough that Luigi seemed worried about something. And he was rather adamant about Bowser not being present to discuss it. And, thinking a bit more carefully about it, Peach suddenly realized that Mario was rather snappy today, much unlike his usual self. Sure he could've been on edge about having Bowser in the castle, but… still. Something was off with the two, and she was determined to find out what.
She would have to remember to meet Luigi as soon as she could. But until then, she had refreshments to take care of.
"Glad to see you've arrived, old friend."
"Yes, well, I didn't have much of a choice. Your underlings are very... persuasive. What's so urgent that you had me come under threat of torture?"
"I'd like to make you an offer. I seek something on the surface, and your skill set would lend itself greatly to the task."
"...On the surface? What could you possibly... Ah... Ah ha ha. I understand. You want the Heart, don't you?"
"That's right. I'd like you to bring it to me."
"Ah ha ha... In case you haven't noticed, I can't leave this place. I'm trapped here, like a wild animal behind bars. I am incapable of leaving without Jaydes' permission."
"You forget who you're talking to. I may be imprisoned here, but my powers are not fully suppressed."
"...So, you want me to retrieve the Heart for you, yes? Fine, fine. But what's in it for me?"
"You, my friend, will be free to roam the land of the living once more. ...I understand that you have a bit of revenge to carry out there, hmm?"
A/N: Yay, politics. So exciting.
I thought I'd take this chapter to flesh out my version of the Mario universe. In my head, the reason Bowser keeps terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom is because of ages of species-based oppression, which was perpetuated by Peach's ancestors. Peach herself is the first person in a long line of royals to try and make peace with the Darklanders and not, say, enslave them. Or murder them. So that's nice, I suppose.
As for Bowser, he's not really a royal in the traditional sense. But he did start the revolution to liberate the Darklanders, so everyone just decided to make him their king. He's more of an unofficial elected official than a monarch. Oh, and I'm also styling the Darkland revolution after the early rise of the USSR. Hopefully my high school history class can find some use here.
