CHAPTER THREE – PRINCESS?

The inside of the castle was dark and seemed barren. Vitani struggled to see in the darkness. She placed her hands against the wall and tried to guide herself down the seemly never-ending hallway. One it ended, the room opened up, but she could not tell how far.

"Haven't these people ever heard of adequate lighting?" she muttered.

Vitani shrieked when she felt something bump into the back of her legs. "Oh, it's just you Yoshi. Sorry about that." She patted his head and continued on. Vitani's leg soon came in contact with what felt like a fine wire. The sound of chains were heard along with a whooshing sound that ended with a ground-shaking thud.

The lights turned on shortly after and the two found themselves in a giant cage. A man in overalls with a red hat and moustache appeared. "Ah ha! Got you, Bowser! Did you really think we'd let you get the princess this easily?"

Vitani grabbed the bars and stuck her head out for him to see. "I don't know what you're talking about. Who is this 'Bowser' you speak of?" Vitani asked.

The man's eyed widened. "Huh? Then who are you?"

"I'm Vitani. I have no idea how I got here, but Yoshi helped me to this castle."

The man pushed a button on a nearby wall and the cage rose. "Sorry about that, miss. The name's Mario. If you need help, I'm your man!" Yoshi squeaked and gave Mario a look. "Oh, and Yoshi's your dinosaur." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a biscuit. "Here you go, buddy."

Yoshi stuck his tongue out and accepted the treat. "Yoshi!" he cried happily.

"So how can I help you out?" Mario asked.

"I'm not really sure," Vitani said. "I have no memory of how I got here. I can only remember my name and some reason the word 'water'."

"Hmm, that's a bit of a tough situation," he said as he fingered his thick moustache. "Tell you what, I'll take you to the princess and see if she can help you out. Follow me."

Mario started up the staircase in the middle of the room and Vitani followed closely behind, not wanting to get more lost than she already was. She noticed that Yoshi was nowhere to be found and figured he had run off somewhere, maybe back to his herd. The two entered through a door embellished with a giant gold star. There was a small stretch of hallway and one singular door that the end.

Mario raised his hand and knocked a couple times. "Princess Toadstool? It's me, Mario. May I speak with you?"

The door opened to reveal a blonde woman clad in pink. "Of course," she said and stepped aside to let Mario and Vitani in.

"Hey, you're the woman in the stained glass window," Vitani said then quickly bowed and added, "Your Highness."

The woman laughed, clearly unoffended. "Yes, that's correct," she said. "I am Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, but feel free to call me Peach. Who might you be? It's not often I see an unfamiliar face in my kingdom."

"My name is Vitani, ma'am. I ask your help in helping me remember why I am in lovely kingdom but can only remember my name and the word 'water'."

"Hmm, interesting," the princess commented and thought for a moment. "We'll figure that out more later. For now, how about some tea and cakes? You must be famished."

Vitani smiled at her politeness. "Thank you, I'd appreciate that."

"I will fetch Luigi and ask Toad to bring up the goods on the way," Mario said and excited the room.

Peach gestured to an arrangement of sofas that had a table in the middle. "Please, sit. I love when I have guests, especially new ones."

"Thank you," she said and sat. "Would you mind helping one bit of my confusion?"

"Of course."

"When I first came into your castle, I stumbled into a trap you had set for someone Mario referred to as 'Bowser'. Who is he?"

Peach's eyes went down to the floor and her face stiffened. "Bowser, or King Koopa if you prefer, is, and always has been an enemy to the Mushroom Kingdom. Now he is definitely not king here. He rules over Dark Land which is a very eerie place. Him and his little trouble making minions love to come up with ways to get me to sign over my kingdom to him. This usually involves kidnapping me and Mario always comes to me recue." She smiled lightly at the last part. "I can't imagine if Bowser ever got my kingdom. My poor subjects…" she trailed off.

"Where is this 'Dark Land'?" Vitani asked. "Nowhere around here looks dark at all."

"In this world, we use pipes to warp to different zones. The pipe to Dark Land is on the very far outskirts of my kingdom. Bowser usually comes in his Doomship."

Vitani thought for a moment. "By 'Doomship' you mean an airship?"

Peach nodded. "So you've seen it… That ship is why we had a trap set at the entrance but you accidentally walked into it."

Vitani blushed lightly. "Sorry about that, princess."

Peach waved it off. "It's alright. We had no idea you were going to show up, that's for sure. Unfortunately, the noise that the trap made earlier probably alerted Bowser of it…"

Mario burst into the door. "Princess!" he huffed, "Bowser's ship has landed! We must get you to safety!"

Peach stood up quickly. "Follow me," she said and walked over to a window. It was the same stained glass she had seen from the outside. "Climb up."

"What?" Vitani asked, very confused.

"Just trust me," Peach said and lightly pushed Vitani.

Vitani screamed as she found herself passing through the glass. Peach soon joined her and they began down a series of stairs and passage ways.