CHAPTER 43

5 Hours Remain…

Peach wakes up floating in a void of pure darkness.

"Wha- Wha- What happened?!" She asks herself. "Where am I?! Help?! Is someone out there?! She begins screaming for help, but there is no one to hear her. She slowly floats through the darkness, finally coming to a stop when she reaches a piece of land, it has some white dirt and grass upon it. Several trees litter the grass planes. Her sandaled feet walk upon the dirt path up to a stone bridge, she looks up to see a castle.

"Huh... This must be...?" She says aloud. "What is this place? She takes a step onto the bridge, the stones creak with each step she takes. Above her in a mural of someone, she squints for about a minute and soon recognizes who it's a mural of.

"Is..is that me up there?... I don't remember anything. What happened? Why am I here?" She continues walking across the bridge until she reaches the other side. On the other side she can see a door, she turns the handle...it's unlocked. She enters the castle, stepping onto a velvet red carpet covering a tile floor.

She walks across a cracked floor mural of a sun, up to a staircase; she climbs up and is met with a set of double doors along with a path to her left and to her right. She chooses the path to her right and walks through a single door. She is greeted with a long hall. There are many paintings lining the walls, each of a different kingdom within the world. However these are not pleasant paintings, it shows the inhabitants being oppressed by Calamity Bowser in various tortuous manners. She stops upon a particularly terrifying one, one that freezes her to her core. It is a painting of Mario in chains, being tortured by a large round shadow being. It has forced Mario's terror filled eyes wide open and looks like it plans to put some kind of device where one of his eyes would be.

"Mario..." Peach whispers to herself. "How could this happen to him?...Mario...Where are you?"

She decides to take a step further down the hall and turn the next corner where she finds a room full of mirrors. When she stands in front of three mirrors, her reflections do not perfectly match her like normal mirrors would. Instead her reflections are warped, distorted and broken. She runs her fingers across the glass, wondering if she's come across some kind of trick mirror.

Instead, she finds that they are smooth and like any other mirror.

"What...What is happening to me?" she wonders aloud.

"Isn't it obvious?" The Warped Peach Reflection says.

"You failed!" Laughs The Distorted Peach Reflection.

"You have entered a world that is ruled by Calamity Bowser." Says The Broken Peach Reflection.

"You must follow your path to the end." All three of her reflections say.

"Why?" Peach asks, tears streaming from her eyes.

The Reflections don't answer, instead they just stare at her with evil intent. They begin to reach out to Peach, their gloved hands morphing out their mirrors.

"No!" Peach screams as she cuts them off with her sword.

Her reflection's arms fly back into the mirror.

"Those hands should not exist!" Peach says. "They're impure! They are not me! You're nothing but an illusion! A demon!"

The three imperfect reflections giggle like little girls.

"I am Queen Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, ruler of this world!" She roars. "You shall not touch me!"

Her reflection's laugh echoes through the halls.

"You think you can fight me? I know you're not capable of harming me!"

Suddenly several hands grab at Peach's ankles!

"Help! Please help me!" Peach yells as she struggles.

"You can't escape this place!" The three reflections cackle as the hands grab at her knees. "This is your home now!"

Peach attempts to kick her way out but her legs are held fast. The hands hold her still as her reflections' hideous laughter grows louder and louder. She tries slashing at the hands, using her Master Sword and it slips out of her hand and shatters on the ground.

"I'm sorry Princess Peach!" One of her reflections says as their hideous laughter echoes through the halls. "There is no one and nothing to help you here!"

Peach cries out in despair.

"No one will ever know what happened to you here...no one will ever help you..." The reflection's voice becomes softer and quieter as they fade away into nothingness, Peach eventually begins to stop struggling...accepting her fate...She lost...

...

...

...

CRASH!

Peach is shocked awake as the hands retreat into the floor. A male figure smashes through the Distorted Peach Reflection's mirror! The other reflections scream as they're smashed by this assailant's hammer.

"It's just typical isn't it?" The male figure jokes. "After all this time, it took you literally dying for me to be able to save you...My Queen".

The figure turns in a welcoming yellow glow revealing it's none other than...

"Mario!" Peach says happily, running over to give him an enormous hug. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright! I was looking everywhere for you!"

"Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to keep looking for a long while," Mario says, removing her from him. His warm smile turned to a frown. "I can only be in this realm for a few more minutes...and I can't go back to the Mushroom Kingdom with you."

"W-why?" Peach asks tearfully. "Don't you want to be by my side forever?"

"There's nothing more in the galaxy that I want...but there are some things that are more important than my needs. There are other worlds out there, Peach. Worlds that need heroes, I've found one that needs my help way more than the Mushroom Kingdom does. I'm sorry, I wish there was more I could do..."

Peach begins to cry, Mario wipes her tears away.

"Come on, none of that now, my queen. Let's-a go!" He says, taking her hand.

"G-go where?" Peach asks.

"We have to get you out of this place and back on the battlefield!" Mario says. "I can get you to your guide, but that's as far as I can go! I'll try to help in whatever way these new gems can let me though!" Mario shows off seven gems that float around him.

"Thank you, Mario," Peach says, smiling.

They run hand in hand down the hall, Peach sighing with relief as she feels his hand squeeze hers. Embracing the feeling as she may never feel it ever again. The two eventually reach the outside of the castle.

"Well" Mario says. "This is where I get off." He gives Peach a reassuring hug. "Listen to me, Peach," Mario says. "You are the most important person in my life. Most importantly, you are the Mushroom Kingdom's savior now. You have to do this, for yourself, for me, for the Mushroom Kingdom, for everyone you have saved with zero help from me! You, Queen Peach Toadstool, are going to be the greatest queen in the world's history."

He kisses her softly on the lips. "I'm going to find another way to bring us together...I promise."

"Thank you, Mario." Peach says as she kisses his cheek for what feels like the final time. "Stay safe...I love you"

"I love you too...My Queen" Mario says as he turns into a glowing ball of light and shoots off into void. Peach waves goodbye, holding back tears.