Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mario characters, games etc. Those all belong to Nintendo.

A/N: In this chapter we start to see a connection spark between Specter and Peach. Are these emotions true? How will this impact the relationship between them as princess and bodyguard?

Royal Knights of the Mushroom Kingdom

Chapter 3: Peach's Request

"18…19…20. Ok good, everyone is here." Scanning the area of grass the royal guards and I have occupied, I finish counting them all. Now we are ready to advance with the inspection. The inspection consists of the following tests: 1. Armor Endurance and Condition. I first inspect every guard's armor to check for any cracks, chinks, or anything that might be vulnerable. Then for the endurance, I have a contraption that comprises of a wooden ram attached to a ballista looking frame that is wound up and then released with a lever. If the impact does not make a dent or knock off the armor then they pass. 2. Weapon Readiness. Each guard must prove that their weapon can penetrate through the top-of-the-line koopa armor acquired by some of the princess's Special Forces toads as a bonus for us.

The guards must prove that their weapons can cut the armor and stab through the armor. If they can meet that, they pass. "Troops, you all know the drill here. It is just like any inspection performed before in the past. If your weapons and armor are in top condition then you should have nothing to fear. Fail, and it's janitor and prison detail for a week." I watch as some of the guards quiver at the sound of the last part of my speech. No one has failed up to this point and I have full faith in my comrades.

One by one each guard lined up and conducted the tests set out before them. There were only a couple of close calls to note. When the ram hit Casey I heard an awkward crunching sound that came from her chest plate. Upon a closer look, I saw what appeared to be crumbs that fell off an opening that the chest plate and greaves connected at. "About that," Casey explained, "You see sir I…was a bit hungry." She pulled out a crushed bag of koopa leaf chips hidden in her armor. I have to admit this was a bit humorous to me as I gave a bit of a snicker.

"Hm hm well I see no harm in having snacks with you I suppose. Better to have crushed chips than armor that cannot protect you." A smile arose from what was a distress look upon Casey's expression. "Thank you sir."

The second incident came from Chuck T. Chuck was brought into the royal guard about three years ago due to his heroic efforts during the Koopa Interior War five years ago, when I first arrived in the MK. He fought off an entire battalion of shy guys when he accidentally came into contact with a fire flower. It was from then on that he was known as the 'Fire Toad' in the military and was given the silver mushroom medal from the princess herself. He stayed in the military for two more years after the war then joined the royal guard. During the weapon test, Chuck approached the koopa dummy that bore the koopa armor and was ready to strike until he realized one thing; his weapon was not on his side.

"Chuck, what happened to your spear?" I queried.

"It was here a second ago. I'm not sure what happened to it."

"It's not like you to misplace your weapon."

"I know captain I mean it was here and I was holding it like this and…wait there it is!" Chuck pointed to a place back in the line where he dropped it without knowing. He rushed back to get it and came back to the koopa dummy. A sigh of relief and a nervous laugh was expressed before he showed that his weapon could perform to the standard that was expected.

All guards have passed the inspection and cheers could be heard all throughout the castle. To end the inspection I decided to give a closing remark, "Royal guards of the MK, I declare that all of you, as a result of the inspection, are fit for duty to protect our beloved princess and the castle from any form of aggression that might arise to face us. To celebrate I will arrange a banquet and have the castle cook, Lily T., prepare a wonderful feast for us." The cheers resumed and were louder than before as the guards rushed towards the castle doors, nearly knocking me over in the process. Can never keep toads away from a good meal. As I headed to the main castle doors, I remembered, oh yeah that's right! Peach wanted to see me after the inspection.

It is now around 1:00 pm and the castle staff was all up and about with their daily duties. The maids were cleaning, Smith was heading towards his shop on the third floor, ambassadors from different lands having conversations while waiting for their appointments with Peach, and the town folk who just want to visit the castle were looking around enjoying the sights. Passing by some of the crowds, I started to make my way up to the third floor where Peach's room was. By this time I would imagine that she is taking a break before she started with her daily appointments with officials. I went through the doors of the second floor and strolled across the grand hallway towards the spiral stairs that led to the third floor passing by the two doors that go into the ballroom on my right. The stairs to the third floor have always worked in a strange fashion to me, architecturally speaking. Spiraling up to about half a floor, the stairs stopped to a corridor that led to a small room that was mostly used as an extra decor room for the current season. Then going out of that room there was another set of stairs that led to the third floor where the throne room, Peach's room, the blacksmith shop, and the dining room, which is enormous, were located.

I arrived on the third floor and started to walk towards Peach's room when I noticed Lily coming my way. Perfect timing. "Hey Lily! Mind if I have a moment of your time?"

"Why of course you can Specter. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much trouble if you could prepare a banquet for my guards. They all passed the inspection and I feel that they deserve a reward."

"That sounds delightful! Of course I can prepare a banquet for the royal guards. It would be my honor. I will get started right away!"

"Thanks Lily."

Lily rushes off and I head towards Peach's room to see if she is there. About seven feet away from her door I see an elder toad emerge from the chamber. This toad wears a purple buttoned-up shirt with gold buttons, a purple vest with gold trim, white pants, brown shoes, a red bow tie, and glasses. He carries a cane with a brown mushroom top that has light yellow dots on it. His head is a light yellow with brown dots and he has a white mustache. This toad is none other than Toadsworth, advisor and mentor to Peach and also her godfather. Toadsworth sees me upon his exit of the princess's room, "Specter my boy! I trust the inspection went well?"

"Always Toadsworth. The royal guards are always in tip-top shape."

"Ho ho ho! Music to my ears. It is good to know that her highness is protected by the best guards the MK military can offer. Makes an old toad like me rest easy."

"You have nothing to worry about. My guards are always on alert and ready to combat any foe."

"Splendid! Now, you best be getting to the princess right away. She wishes to speak with you."

Toadsworth walks away as I look on towards Peach's room. The door is slightly open with enough space to look in and she what she is doing. I was about to knock when I hear that Peach is humming a tune and looking a picture of Mario. The tune sounded familiar but I could not place the origin of where I heard it before. I knocked and waited to see if I could be granted entrance. Peach sets the picture down and turns to see me. A bright smile appears on her face as she says, "Please, come in. Also close the door behind you if you would please." Doing what I was commanded to do I walk into the room and close the door then knelt in front of the princess and place my right hand across my chest and curled it up in a fist to acknowledge her royal title.

"He he please Specter. You don't have to bow to me. It's just the two of us in here."

"Right, your highness. Did you happen to summon me?" I said while standing up.

"I did and please call me Peach. You don't have to be so formal."

"Ok Peach. What did you want to talk about?"

"Well…"

As she took the time to gather her thoughts and to prepare herself for whatever she wanted to say to me, I took the time to look around at her room. The entire color of the room was pink as I had guessed it would be. She had a queen size bed with pink sheets and pink pillows, all the furniture was pink including the dresser, makeup mirror, and the chair she had right in front of the fire place. An arc alcove was made in her wall where she had her wardrobe of all her pink dresses. There was a door that led to a balcony outside. She had a couple of plants in the room, one on her nightstand and one on the dresser. Both of the plants were pink roses which are her favorite. Then I looked at her. No beauty could ever match that of which came from this woman standing in front me. She wore her traditional pink dress with a sapphire pendant sowed on the front, sapphire earrings that matched her sapphire eyes that were more beautiful than the ocean, white gloves, and her gold crown that housed sapphire and ruby jewels around it. She wore her blonde hair down when she had on her dress but on occasion if she is wearing her sport outfit she would put it up in a ponytail and had pink lipstick on her lips. By the time I was done looking around she began by saying, "I wanted to talk to you about a serious matter."

"This doesn't have anything to do with your safety or the kingdom's does it?" I asked hoping that it was not anything too serious.

"Oh no no nothing like that. It's more of a…personal issue."

"What's bothering you?"

Peach began explaining an ongoing event that has occurred for about four months now. One of the legendary heroes, Mario of the Mario Bros., often rescued Peach when she got kidnapped by Bowser or some other villain and given time started to grow fond of her. Peach felt the same way about Mario and soon enough the two of them started to date. Before dating Peach, Mario was engaged to a woman named Pauline back in Brooklyn on our home world, the same town that I was from. The relationship between Mario and Pauline ended abruptly and Mario did not have time to talk to Pauline before he stumbled upon the MK. According to Peach, about four months ago Mario had a talk with Peach about breaking up and going back to Pauline. Apparently, she was able to get to the MK to find Mario claiming she had changed her ways. Mario did not believe her at first but she was able to prove her love somehow and it was enough for Mario to come running back to her.

When Mario informed Peach about giving Pauline another chance, it devastated her. Being the kind-hearted soul that she was, Peach understood Mario's decision and allowed him to pursue Pauline. "…and so you might have noticed why I have been a bit distracted lately." Peach unhappily explained.

"I see. It is a rather strange issue."

"Strange? How so?"

I started to pace back and forth in Peach's room contemplating the problem at hand. A few seconds pass by before I was able to think of a possible theory. "First off, Pauline in the MK? I can see how it would be possible if she were happen to find a warp pipe like Mario and I have but we haven't seen her in years. Plus we launched the WPBI (Warp Pipe Bridge Initiative) five years ago to close off the link between the MK and Earth. How is it that she appears four months ago?"

"Of course!" Peach celebrated, "The only way she would've arrived here was from outside help!"

"Then there is Mario. You two were sincerely in love with each other. Then Mario forgets all of that to go back to Pauline because she proved her love to him. What did she do? Is it possible that Mario is under some sort of spell?" I stopped in place and closed my eyes to think of any leads. "That has to be it! Specter, I'm glad you came by to help me with this." Peach rushes up to me to give me an enormous hug, almost choking me in the process. "Peach…you…you're cho…choking me!" I huffed. As much as I enjoyed being hugged by the princess I have a crush on, I had no idea of the strength she has to almost crush me especially with all of my armor on.

"He he, sorry. I was just so excited that we were able to figure this out. Can I count on you to get to the bottom of this?"

"Absolutely, your highness. One question though, should we tell Luigi about this?"

"I wish we could but both he and Mario ran off after Mario got back with Pauline. I don't know where to find them."

Alright so Mario and Luigi are missing and Pauline got Mario to go back to her. This should be interesting. It has been some time since I had actually received a mission. The last big important mission was the Koopa Interior War. I had to be accepted into the royal guard first then sent to deal with Bowser. This will be a nice change of pace. "Don't worry Peach, I will take a few of my guards with me and start scouring the entire kingdom to find the Mario Bros."

"Thank you."

I was about to turn around and head out the room when Peach walks up to me and kisses me on the cheek. "That's for good luck." Peach giggles. If I was not ready for this adventure I sure was now. I leave Peach's room to find the best of the best of my guards to accompany me on this quest. There are no clues to the Mario Bros. whereabouts so I'll need to collect information. As I head towards the dining room, I pondered where to begin my search. Well better start with the closest town, Koopa Village.