After Peach got to her bedroom, she quickly shut the door and turned the lock. She wiped her eyes and slumped down in her bed. When her face was buried in her pillow, she began to cry. Even though Mario had saved her life more times than she could count, she did not love him. Sure, he was a good person, and brave enough to venture across the Mushroom Kingdom to save her. But, she simply could not marry him; she just couldn't…
While she cried, there was a knock on the door. "Peach, it's me," the person said on the other side of the door. Peach collected herself for a few seconds in her bed then approached the door. She opened the door and saw Daisy standing there sympathetically. Peach saw that behind Daisy, at the bottom of the staircase, were Luigi and Mario, who was still wearing the flashy red tuxedo.
"Come in," Peach said quietly, looking at the ground.
Daisy entered the bedroom, which was fairly large, and very pink, as Peach locked the door again. When Peach turned around, Daisy saw that her eyes were wet, her nose red, and the make-up around her eyes was smudged by the tears. As Daisy stood by the door, Peach slumped onto her bed, emotional and tired.
"I can't believe he did that… In front of everyone, too!" Peach said probably louder than she intended, her voice breaking up slightly, "He put me on the spot-"
"He was trying to be romantic, extravagant, you know," Daisy explained, trying to calm her down.
Peach sighed and shrugged, "Still… It's not like we were ever a thing… I mean, I'd like to be, but I'm not ready for marriage… He's saved me so many times, but we just have cake afterwards. I only know him as the brave plumber who goes on adventures to save me from Bowser. We never spend any time together afterwards, yet he expects me to fall in love with him?!"
"I can't blame you," Daisy said. She chuckled lightly and looked at Peach, "He and Luigi are like polar opposites of each other, aren't they?"
"What do you mean?" Peach asked, wiping her wet eyes.
"Well, on one hand, you have Luigi: the tall, sensitive guy who likes to read. Sure, he gets scared, perhaps too easily, but there's something endearing in that. Then, you have Mario. He's the valiant brother, but he's a bit full of himself, isn't he? He's your typical player one archetype: the brave guy who thinks he's the stuff because he goes on all these adventures to save the damsel in distress. You know, he leads the way. That's great and all, but-"
"He just isn't the kind of guy who can rule a kingdom with me," Peach nodded, now understanding Daisy's earlier claim.
"Exactly. You don't want to marry him—you shouldn't marry him—but, he has save you many, many times. So, I think he deserves a proper refusal. You never actually said no; you just ran away."
Peach nodded and took a breath to collect herself. She stood up, once more wiping her eyes with a handkerchief to clean up. When she put it down on her bed, she saw something outside on her balcony from the corner of her eye. Quickly, she turned to face the balcony, but nothing was there. Peach turned and looked at Daisy, "Did you see that?"
Mario paced around anxiously as Luigi looked around at one of the paintings on the white walls of the castle. As he tapped it with his fingers, making the image ripple, Mario sighed and looked up at Peach's door. The anticipation was killing him. As Mario began pacing again, he saw Toad and Toadsworth, approach them.
"As she come out yet?" Toadsworth asked, light of breath, leaning on his mushroom-tipped cane.
"No," Luigi told him with a neutral voice, "Daisy went in a couple of minutes ago, though. They're just talking about…"
"About what?" Toadsworth asked.
"About me, obviously," Mario spoke up, letting his nerves get the best of him, "I mean, I thought it was perfect."
"Perfect?" Luigi responded. He faced his brother, disapproval overcoming his neutral face, "You're not even dating her, and you proposed to her at a party in front of hundreds of her subjects. I wouldn't exactly call that a perfect scenario."
"I would have said yes…" Toad muttered under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, Toad," Luigi responded curiously and oblivious, "What was that?"
"Oh, um… Nothing," Toad said, scratching the back of his neck, "It's… I... Nothing…"
Suddenly, an abrupt crash came from Peach's chamber, followed by a high-pitched scream. Mario, Luigi and Toad ran up the stairs as they heard the struggle continue. Luigi tried to open the door, but it would not budge. Mario pushed Luigi aside and struck the door down with a powerful kick. As the door flew back, they saw a clown cart in the room. In the cart was Lemmy pulling Peach into it. And, on the ground, Daisy was pulling Peach towards her by the leg.
As Mario ran over to help, Daisy lost her grip. Just as Mario got to Daisy, Lemmy began pulling away from them with the Princess restrained in the cart. "Help me!" Peach shouted, trying to break free.
"SERIOUSLY!? I JUST GOT BACK FROM SAVING HER!" Mario shouted while running after the cart. Once Lemmy cleared the balcony, the cart began accelerating away from the castle at breakneck speeds. Mario stopped himself at the edge of the balcony and could only watch Lemmy take away the princess, "OH COME ON!"
Peach initially tried to escape from the cart, but she was too emotionally drained to keep fighting. Besides, even if she somehow managed to knock Lemmy out of the cart, Peach could not go anywhere; she had no idea how to fly a clown cart. Luckily for her, she had kept the book of Toadeo and Toadette under her dress, so she sat down in the cart and read it. It seemed like this was all routine for her now; she would get to the castle, refuse Bowser's marriage proposal and attempts to spend time with her long enough for the Mario Bros to get there. Hopefully, she did not have to do it for long this time around.
Lemmy docked outside of Bowser's room and hopped onto his balcony. As he forced Peach out, she hugged the book to her chest; it had taken them a day to travel across the Mushroom Kingdom, over the Badlands, and into the Koopa Kingdom. As Peach took in the view of the black deserts and lava pits that illuminated the Koopa Kingdom at night, Lemmy walked inside the chamber. Peach followed him, observing the darkness of the chamber. In the shadows of the room, she could barely make out Bowser's figure, which stood in front of a wall near his bed. It soon became clear that Bowser wore a large black cloak, as if to blend into the dark.
"Bowser, I got her!" Lemmy said, triumphantly, "Now, we can—"
Quickly, Bowser turned around to hide whatever he was looking at. Peach looked up at Bowser, who towered over her. Bowser looked down at Peach, made eye-contact with her briefly and turned back to Lemmy. "Why did you do this?" he asked, in a low, offended voice.
Not expecting aggression, Lemmy drew back in shock, "Pardon—?"
"I said that I was done with—!" Bowser roared before stopping himself. He looked down, clinching his fists in frustration, "I can't keep doing this… Just take her down to the dungeon."
"But, sir—"
"NOW."
Lemmy looked down in shame and nodded. Without looking at Peach, Bowser turned around and looked back at whatever he was looking at before. Because of his massive shell, Peach could not see whatever it was. As Lemmy guided a confused Peach down the steps outside of Bowser's chamber (a route that she wished she did not know so well), Red and Goombs walked across the dark, grey foyer complaining and venting about Bowser's melancholy. As Red made a comment about Bowser, Goombs straightened up and tapped Red's foot with his own. Red stopped talking and looked up. There, he saw a sight he though he would never see again; Peach walking through the castle, presumably on her way down to the dungeon. The two servants looked at each other and had the same idea in their heads. However, their opinions on that idea differed.
"No," Goombs said sternly.
"Goombs, this is our last chance," Red refuted, "Giving her a room, not a prison cell, would be a good start."
"But, it's against Bowser's wishes," Goombs stated, "If we oppose him now, when he's more depressed and alone than he has ever been—"
"We might save his life and everybody else's as well," Red interrupted. Before Goombs argued back, Red headed towards Lemmy and Peach.
"Princess, I'll take you the rest of the way," Red said when he reached Lemmy and Peach, "Lemmy, go fetch some refreshments for the princess."
"Refreshments? What are you talking about?" Lemmy asked, arrogant to the situation.
As Red stepped in front of Lemmy, wedging himself between him and the princess, he reiterated, "Lemmy, just go to the kitchen and get some refreshments."
Upon hearing it the second time, Lemmy seemed to understand. He began nodding his head, "Oh… Oh! Yes, um, yes...sir?"
"Just go."
After Lemmy left them rather quickly, Red turned to the princess and smiled, "You'll be staying in the guest room this evening."
"Guest room?" Peach questioned, "But, Koopa-"
"Please Princess, call me Red."
"Um, Red, I'm Bowser's prisoner. And, he wants to give me a room?"
"He doesn't; we'll talk him into it," Red assured with another smile.
After a long walk up the steps, through yet another dark stone hallway, they reached the room. When Red opened the large wooden door, Peach was surprised to see that the style of the room did not fit in with the gloomy castle: the room's walls were painted baby blue and the floor was a carpet. There was a desk with a large mirror attached to its end and a large wardrobe adjacent to the bed, which was a queen-sized. The sheets reminded Peach of her own room, a light pink, nearly white, colour. As Peach approached the bed, Goombs wobbled into the room alongside Lemmy, who held a tray with a teapot and a teacup, and another Koopa. The other Koopa wore a large pink bowtie on her head and had a pink shell. Peach could easily recognize her as Wendy, one of the Koopa Kids. When Peach looked at the two objects on the tray, she noticed the cup had a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth. This cup reminded Peach of the faces of the Koopa Kids that used to, on occasion, assist Bowser.
"What's up with the cup, Red?" Peach asked, sitting down on her bed.
"Oh, it's…" Red hesitated, "It's, uh…"
When she noticed Red struggle, Peach turned to him and gave her his full attention with a quizzical look on her face. Red looked at Wendy, who cleared her throat and stepped in. However, she also hesitated, "Well, Princess, it's… it's a curse."
Peach looked at her more curiously, "Cursed? A curse in what sense?"
"We're all cursed; the whole Kingdom is cursed, Princess," Goombs explained with a clear voice, "You see, quite a number of years ago, we were all cursed by… Heavens, I can't remember what is was… Everyone living under Bowser's reign is doomed to turn into Dry Bones and inanimate objects..."
"Who was the teacup?" Peach asked, picking up the teacup. As if on cue, the teacup's eyes opened, and it yawned. At the sight of this, Peach drew back, nearly dropping it onto her lap.
"One of the Koopa Kids; those kids were one of the first to go, you see... Well, except for Lemmy and Wendy," Red explained sorrowfully. Hoping to clear the air a little, Red cleared his throat quietly and spoke, "A common misconception, actually, is that the Koopa Kids are all of Bowser's children."
"They aren't?" Peach asked, a bit surprised. She placed the teacup back on the tray and thought for a moment.
"No, no," Goombs shook his head, "They're children of the residents of the castle; not related to Bowser nor each other."
"Bowser Jr, actually, is this teacup right here," Red said, motioning to the teacup on the tray.
"But, Bowser Jr is Bowser's son... Isn't he?" Peach asked, rubbing her temples trying to comprehend the situation she was in. As she did this, Lemmy poured some tea into the cup.
"No, that's another common mistake," Goombs shook his head once more with a slight grin on his face, "Junior is the son of Bowser's chief advisor."
"Who is also named Bowser, I assume? You know, because his son's name is Bowser Junior," Peach asked, trying to harder to understand.
"No," Goombs answered swiftly with a smile.
Peach looked at Goombs with a look of confusion. A few seconds of silence later, Peach shrugged and accepted the teacup from Lemmy. Before she sipped from it, she said, "I'll just take your word for it."
"YOU GAVE HER A ROOM?" Bowser roared at his servants, who stood behind him. He turned around and looked Red and Goombs, along with Lemmy and Wendy, standing around the pedestal with the Fire Flower. Bowser approached them and continued, "I told you that I am done with all of this, and-!"
"And now we have hope," Red said, interrupting Bowser. Shrugging, he stepped up to Bowser and spoke clearly, "Sir, don't you want to rule your people—your kingdom—again? Don't you want all of this to stop?"
"Of course I do," Bowser responded, turning away from them, his voice breaking with uncertainty. Sighing, Bowser continued, "I'd give anything to see the hills green and alive again… But, that's simply impossible now. Peach will never love me, nor can I love her…"
"Stop being like this, Sir; we have to believe in something," Lemmy chimed in, "That's why I went over to the Mushroom Kingdom today. I heard your order, but I just couldn't obey it. Day after day, we fall deeper into this cursed spell. Take Junior; today was the first time I've seen him awake in days!"
"What do you want me to do? Put myself out there and get rejected again?!" Bowser snapped.
"You have to try," Lemmy responded, nearly begging, "Do it for your people; do it for yourself."
The years of constant rejection and failure had taken its tole on Bowser. That only added to the pain in his heart from failing his people; it was entirely his fault that his kingdom was cursed, and he knew that. Those thousands of Koopas and Goombas did not ask to be cursed, but they had to live, and die, with the consequences of Bowser's vanity and selfishness. Although the mere thought of having to try again struck him down to his very core, Bowser knew that he had to do this; Peach was his last hope to break the curse. He turned back to the other four, who leaned forward in anticipation for his answer.
"Okay… I'll try," Bowser nodded almost reluctantly.