Zelda

It's cold and dark in here... where am I? Is this the afterlife?I get up from the ground, but quickly stumble back against the wall and fall onto a bench. The pain in my head is unbearable. I hope that Link is alright... Wait. Am I even alright? I examine my own body. No cuts, bruises, or scrapes. My dress doesn't have a single tear in the fabric. No dirt or anything either... it's pristine. The pain has went away enough so that I can at least lift my head.

Metal. Metal everywhere. The floors, the wall, even the bench that I'm sitting on is metal. Is this really what it's like after death? Solitary confinement? I look over to the other corner of the room. No. This isn't solitary confinement. There's someone here. Maybe he can explain my whereabouts. I get up from the bench, and I feel lightheaded again. Still, I tough it out and walk over to the man. He's fast asleep, lying down on the ground. He looks rather short, with a red long-sleeved shirt and blue denim overalls with gold buttons. His large brown shoes have a certain shine to them. A red cap covers the short, messy brown hair on his head. There is something embroidered on the cap. The letter "M"... how curious. Is he a gardener, perhaps? I've never seen him around Hyrule before...

Suddenly, he let out a groan, and he shut his eyes even harder than before. There was dried drool all over the side of his face. His eyes began to open. I decide to back away a bit. After all, strangers don't often mean well in Hyrule, and I've never seen this man before. Still, there's something about him that makes him seem mild and personable, and I haven't even spoken to him. Finally, he started to actually awaken.

"Ungh..." The stranger held the palm of his hand to his forehead.
"Erm... excuse me..." I don't want to bother him right away, but the curiosity of where I am overtakes me.

His eyes widen. "Who are you, and where's the princess?"

"I should ask you the same. However, I can confirm that I'm a princess." Immediately after I said that, I regretted it. It probably isn't a good idea to go about telling a stranger that I'm a princess. He might want a ransom...

"No, you're not the princess that I'm looking for. Her name is Peach. Have you seen her?"

"I'm sorry, but you're the first person that I've seen since I woke up over there." Is there another princess here? That's odd... Peach. What a peculiar name. The questions are starting to dawn on me again. Those questions being what exactly happened and what is the point of my being here.

"Do you know why we're here?" I ask.

"Um... No. I'm sorry, but I don't." It seems that this man hasn't even paid attention to those questions. He seems bent on getting to this "Princess Peach."

"Oh... Well, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Ah, sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Mario. Nice to meet you. And you are...?"

I mull it over for a moment, if I should tell him or not. I don't think he's a threat, though. "I am Princess Zelda of the kingdom of Hyrule."

Mario

Another princess, eh? Well, she's not mine. Where is Peach? Her face when we left together... She looked so pained... I can't bear to see her like that again. I need to be there for her.
"Well, nice to meet you, Zelda. Are you looking for someone, too?" I said. As soon as I asked that, her eyes widened. I guess I helped her remember something.
"Link... I have to find Link. Have you seen a taller man with blond hair dressed in green?" She looked kind of worried. I have no idea who she's talking about, though.
"Eh, no? I'm sorry. I've never seen him. Wanna work together?" Maybe this Link is with Peach.

"Y-Yes..." She replied. I can practically see the fear that I saw in Peach's eyes when we left together in Zelda's.

"So, tell me about yourself." I ask. It's not every day that I get to meet another princess, after all.

"Well, I already told you that I'm the princess of Hyrule." She looked me in the eyes. Her blue eyes look as clear as Peach's, yet it feels like there is a little bit less hope in them, as if she's suffered many struggles in her life.

"I-I'm sorry." Am I intruding by asking her a simple question? "If I may ask, what is Hyrule?"

"You don't know what Hyrule is?" She raised a brow.

"Um... no. I don't." I only know the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland, along with a few other galaxies. I've never heard of a place called Hyrule.

"Well, it's usually a nice kingdom filled with lakes and rivers and different people and creatures, but lately it has been overrun by these strange monsters that are made up of nothing but sequences of letters and numbers." Zelda frowned.

Wait a second... sequences of letters and numbers... "Wait, do you mean the entifoes?"

"Entifoes... what are those?" She asked. Oh, yes. She isn't from the Mushroom Kingdom.

"I'm not entirely sure if we're thinking the same thing, but our kingdom has been overrun by those monsters, too." I said, clearing things up.

"Really? Maybe they have something to do with us being here." She said.

I never thought of that. I suppose I'm just being blinded by my need to find Peach.

"Maybe. First things first, though. Let's find the ones that we lost." There's a doorway that I didn't even notice until just now that is on the other side of the room. Maybe that leads to where Peach is.