CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A SECRET

While everyone else slept, Peach cried all through the night. This whole thing was too much for her. She would never be the same; she was traumatized. It would be better, she thought, to end it sooner rather than later if starvation is my fate. I don't want my life to end that way.
Shy Guy heard her sobbing and entered the room stealthily. Peach stopped crying.
"What do you want?"
"What seems to be the problem?"
Peach sniffed. "Oh nothing… except that I'm going to die a horrible, unpleasant death."
"That's not much to worry about."
There was silence for a few moments.
"This is great, just great…" said Peach after a while. "Everyone dying all around us… what if Diddy WASN'T the killer? We may all be in danger!"
"Diddy WAS the killer. There is nobody else who fits."
"Well, either way, there is no way I'm starving."
"You don't mean…?"
Peach got out of bed and left the room as she spoke.
"I'm ending it fast and painlessly."

She arrived in the kitchen, followed by Shy Guy. She found a notepad and began scribbling something down. Shy Guy could see some of it.

Dear Mario,
I can't let life end this way. I do not wish for the inevitable pain that is soon to come. Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. Words cannot describe my gratitude for you. My only choice is to

"So how are you going to do it?" asked Shy Guy.
"I don't know," she replied. "If I can find any pills in this place, I'm taking them, though."
"No need for that," said Shy Guy. "There's an easier way. I'll help you."
Peach paused a minute before speaking. "Why should I trust you?"
"I have a secret that I've never spoken to anyone before," he said. "And it has to do with why I wear this mask. Listen closely…" he spoke his next words in a whisper.
"I am the embodiment of death."

Peach froze. If this wasn't a confession, she didn't know what was.
"Doesn't that mean, you're… you're…"
"No, I am not the killer. I have never killed anyone in my life. Let me explain.
"In ancient times, Shy Guys were not known as Shy Guys, but Gods of Death – Shini gami, if you will. We worked in the Underworld, harvesting souls in the simplest manner possible: tracking down our victim, and making eye contact with them. Any soul who looked at our face would die instantly. The departed soul would either go up to Heaven, or join our ranks and begin an infinite existence of collecting souls.
"Excuse me," Peach interrupted. "But what about people who are… murdered? Where do they go?"
"Souls who are taken by one other than a God of Death are plunged into nothingness; they no longer exist. Such is the worst fate of all.
"Anyway, at that time, Gods of Death typically reaped souls after about thirty to forty years of life. But at some point in time, we started getting lazy. We waited for them to become fifty to sixty, and even seventy to eighty years old. The King of Death wouldn't have it, so he started sending the lazy Shini gami to earth to live a mortal life with the rest of the folks, only to be sent into nothingness when we die. I was one of the Gods of Death who was sent to earth when I didn't kill anyone at the age of thirty to forty. I retained my killing powers, however, and I contain them by wearing a mask at all times, as do all other Gods of Death who suffer my fate."
"So… if you were to take off your mask while I was looking at you… I would die?"
"Correct."

"When you're ready, Peach."
She cleared her throat and breathed deeply, tears welling in her eyes. "Goodbye, Shy Guy."
"Goodbye, Peach. It's been… fun."
He slowly began to remove his mask.
"WAIT!"
He paused. "What is it?"
"Am I going to be frightened when I see it?"
"I don't know. I've never seen a Shini gami face before, or I would be dead. Do you still want to do it?"
"Yes."
Shy Guy resumed taking off his mask. As he held it in hand and brought it down from in front of his face, as his hood fell back, Peach turned pale and her eyes widened; her mouth open in a silent scream. She collapsed; Shy Guy caught her as he slid the mask back onto his face. Peach still wore her expression of frozen horror.

Shy Guy took Peach back up to the bedroom and on her bed next to Mario. He tapped him on the shoulder. Mario slowly opened one eye.
"Wuh… wum… what? Who is it?"
"It's me. I didn't want you to freak out in the morning, so I'm going to tell you now."
Shy Guy explained what had happened, showing Mario the suicide note Peach had scrawled down earlier. In its entirety, it read:

Dear Mario,
I can't let life end this way. I do not wish for the inevitable pain that is soon to come. Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. Words cannot describe my gratitude for you. My only choice is to end it all now, before the worst part comes. I'm counting on you to keep everything together from now on. Be a leader. Be a fighter. God bless you, Mario. I love you.

Princess Peach Toadstool

"Thank you, Shy Guy. She is at peace now."
"It's my duty, Mario."
"Goodnight."