Chapter 3: whimpers and horripilation
"They run, they cry, they beg for help!"
"It's all so hilarious!"
"It's all so fun!"
"Fun and games, milord! It is simply two bluenettes enjoying their game!"
"That is right, my princess! Let's continue to have these bloody fun and games!"
Peach traveled the second floor, the eerie quietness of the mansion faithfully reminding her that she can (and hysterically will) die at any moment. She waited for a knife to be driven through her head, a sword to slice her head off, hell, even acid to cause her skin to burn and bubble away. Such cruelness, Lady Fate. The images of her dear Smashers dead haunted her mind, the twisted flashes driving her to brink of insanity. She teetered on the edge of wanting to survive and wanting to die, trying to make the choice of if she should take a step back, or fall gracefully off the edge.
At this bloody point, the princess was essentially roaming the halls, having no sense of direction whatsoever. There was no particular placed she wished to go to, for what place is safe in this exquisite prison? She'll wander and run, wander and run until she becomes tired of it all.
The sound of laughter rang in her ears, two distinct voices chuckling and giggling in the style of little children. Laughter? Who the hell laughs in this situation? A sense of dread blanketed her. Could it be the very people that started this horror? Most likely. Damnit, she had no weapon, no anything. There was no where to hide.
The laughter grew closer.
She was screwed.
Peach began to head towards the sounds. Might as well meet Death himself halfway.
Candles were at the end of her destination, and Peach truly wondered if she was about to see more deformed mystical animals. She gulped – she didn't smell anything that was comparable to a rotting body – but a strange urge to discover the unknown bothered her. It was stupid, and will most likely lead to her death, but it was worth it: if Princess Peach Toadstool were to die here and now, she will die knowing the truth.
Turning a corner, Peach came face-to-face with the mysterious people. She froze in her steps, her eyes locking with theirs, and grinned ever-so-cheerfully.
"Link! Roy!" she exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm so glad to see you two!"
Roy's eyes widened in shock. Link returned the smile, grinning stupidly.
"Oh Naga," Roy mumbled, running a hand through his dirtied, fiery hair. "Holy fucking hell, it's Peach! Shit, it is you!"
The prince and the Hylian ran to Peach, tackling her to the ground. They all laughed and cried and expressed their happiness in the dimly lit room, the fears of dying momentarily leaving their thoughts.
"Fucking yes, you are alive!" Link cried, holding tightly to Peach. "I was hoping that nothing happened to the peachy princess! I need you alive so you can continuing baking those delicious cakes!" Peach noted a strong smell of alcohol and frowned. Was Link drunk? Why was he drunk?
Roy smirked. "And what will I do without the princess I flirt with on a daily basis? I can't court a dead person, now can I?"
Peach rolled her eyes, genuinely smiling. Funny how, even when they could all be murdered right this second, Roy Pherae still isn't afraid to show Peach Toadstool that he loves her. It was adorable, according to her most-likely dead friends, and it was even more adorable that she refused to admit she found Roy more than a little bit handsome.
"Even in a situation like this, you two still play around..."
"We have to, Peach," Link began. "It's either that or go insane and kill ourselves."
"Or each other! We can always stoop down to their level," Roy mischievously added. Link and Peach glared at him. "Ah, too soon?"
"It's not even too soon, because we're still dealing with it, jackass." Link hiccuped, standing up. Peach watched as Link struggled to keep his balance, wobbling around until Roy helped him steady himself.
"Link, you're drunk," Peach stated matter-of-factly. She wasn't sure why she pointed out the obvious, but she felt the need to, like she needed to hear herself say that Link (who wouldn't even touch delicious red wine) is completely and utterly drunk.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Quite the shocker." Link shrugged. "I figured that, shit, since we're gonna die, I might as well have my first taste of alcohol."
"I've never seen you this pessimistic!" she exclaimed, noting how she herself is experiencing a bout of pessimism.
"I never had to deal with these kind of dark times..." he replied softly.
"That's right," Roy agreed. "Not even the light from that Triforce of his can illuminated the pitch-black cesspool we've found ourselves in."
"The Triforce," Peach repeated. "That's right – the power of your Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore."
"Fuck the Goddessessssss," Link slurred, bumping into a table. Roy chuckled. "Those whores failed me. They failed Toon Link. They failed Zelda. They fucked me over. After all I've done for them, the bullshit I've done for every-fucking-body, they decide to let me lose everything in front of my damn eyes. Nothing more than tainted harlots under the façade of virgin purity…" Link glanced up to the ceiling, malice in his eyes. He stumbled momentarily, trying his hardest to keep his balance.
"That's right, you all-seeing fuckers!" he exclaimed. "Fuck you! You lying…fucking…fucking…ugh."
"Can't come up with any more insults, eh, Linky?" Roy grinned, showing Peach bloodied teeth. She shuddered slightly, hoping neither Roy nor Link saw that motion.
"W-what do you mean the Goddesses failed Toon Link and Zelda?" Peach asked. Link regarded her with hollow eyes.
"I wasn't able to protect Zelda," he explained with a hint of sadness. "We got separated, and for all I know, she could be dead. Disemboweled. Decapitated."
Peach gulped. "And Toon Link?" she shakily asked, not wanting to really know what happened to him.
"Take a gander over there," Link replied, shrugging. Peach turned to see a young boy slumped against the table, an arrow piercing his forehead. Dried blood dyed his adorable green tunic scarlet. Chalk-white bone and bits of brain matter could be seen. The arrow, Peach noticed, belonged to Link. The princess directed her attention back to Link, her fear-filled eyes asking the question for her.
"Don't give me that fucking look," he hissed. "I didn't mean to; I would never hurt Toon Link on purpose."
"Then why is he leaning against the damn table lifeless, Link? Why is an innocent child fucking dead?!"
Link tightly grasped Peach's shoulders. "Because I fucking thought he was one of them, damnit! All me and Roy saw was a fucking shadow moving. I thought it was one of them coming for us, and I shot. I didn't know!" The Hylian loosened his hold on Peach, slumping to the floor, sobbing. "I swear, I didn't know…"
"Link, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty – "
"I already felt that way," he deadpanned. "I just wanted to kill one of them, let them die slowly, torture them as they've tortured us."
"Who?" Peach asked. "Who is them?"
Roy laughed hysterically, stomping his foot on the ground. Link hissed at him to shut up, and Roy's boisterous laughter turned into childish giggles. The prince himself began to cry, though he still maintained that smile stitched with mental instability.
"For the love of Eliwood, Peach, you don't know who's hunting us down like fucking prey? Damn, your evasion skills are fucking amazing!"
"Peach," Link began, "I know you're not going to believe this, but the people committing these heinous acts are two of our fellow Smashers." Link paused to look at Peach's reaction.
The princess followed Link and slumped to the ground, hugging herself. "N-no…" she mumbled. "None of us would ever hurt someone so dear and precious to us all…"
Link shook his head. "Sorry, Peachy, but it's true. It…it looks like they've gone insane. Or they've been planning this from the start. I don't even know; I don't even want to know. But they're after us – all of us – and looks like they've gotten the majority already. Roy and I, we saw them. We saw their hollow eyes, their crooked, disgusting grins. They were having fun, Peach – fun stomping on the hearts of – "
Link cut himself off, causing Peach to raise an eyebrow.
"Don't stop there, Link!" Roy cried, wiping his tears away. "Tell her! Or would you rather have her experience the pain herself? She may just kill herself from the shock like poor King Dedede. Never knew the body of a freakin' marshmallow could be managed so badly…"
"What? What are you guys going on about?"
Link sighed, gripping his blood-stained tunic. He averted his gaze from Peach's demanding eyes. "We…we saw them stomping on the hearts of Mario and Luigi."
Peach's heart dropped. No, no, no. There was no fucking way she heard that correctly. There was no fucking way her precious Mario and dear Luigi could be dead. Link was lying to her; yes, that was it. That was a disgusting lie and she will refusing to listen to it.
"Peach, it's true," Link continued, as if he read her mind. "We heard screaming, and we ran to see Luigi lying on the floor, Mario trying to drag him to safety. Oh Goddesses, Peach, it was disgusting. I've never see so much blood gush from a man like that. It was so futile, watching Mario pull poor Luigi like that; he was missing the lower half of his body. His guts…they just trailed after him on the floor. I could tell that Luigi was goner, but I could still save Mario.
I was getting ready to run to him, but he noticed us and shook his head. I should have ignored him, done something, but I didn't. It was when Mario was nearing the front door of the mansion that we saw them. Mario tried to fight them off, Peach, he really did. But they were too much to handle. Mario screamed for us to run while he dealt with them, and his little harlot walked towards Luigi. Who knew it was so easy to slice someone open? I sure as hell didn't.
Those hearts were like their fucking trophies; I can still hear the heartbeats. Ba-dump, ba-dump…I'll never forget that sound. Mario gave us one last look before he rolled his eyes. I wanted to run over and kill them both with my sword, but Roy dragged me away. I'm so sorry, Peach. I couldn't save Luigi, but I could have saved Mario. Please, I'm so damn fucking sorry."
Peach stared at Link hollowly, regarded him with soulless, emotionless eyes. There would be no reason for Link to lie, to describe vividly the murders of her brave heroes. It was true, every detail was true, so fucking true true true -
The truthful reality was enough to kill her.
To continue existing meant continuing to live with the pain, the thought of everyone she ever loved dead.
Existing is pointless.
Her existence is now pointless.
So,
so
needless.
She slowly turned her head to the left, inciting Link's concern. She ignored him, grinning at the Swords of Seals Roy left carelessly on the floor.
The prince should have been more careful. Someone could accidentally kill themselves with that sharp, flawless weapon.
Before she could scramble to her feet to grab the sword, she felt Roy thrown himself against her, knocking her over. Link simply watched as Roy placed his hands on either side of Peach's face, staring down upon her with emotions of anger and shock etched on his face.
"Don't even fucking think about it," he growled, his voice cracking. "Don't you dare take yourself away me, you hear?"
"There's...there's no point in living anymore, Roy! Everyone we know, everyone we love is dead. We're prey, damnit! Prey! I don't want to see anymore dead bodies; I don't want to keep running, delaying the inevitable. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this - !"
"Shut up! You've made it this far, and you will continue to make it. Do you really think Mario would want you to kill yourself, end up some bloodied mess like Dedede?"
Peach remained quiet, letting tears silently trail down her face. Roy tenderly cupped Peach's cheek, leaning in closer to her.
"No, he wouldn't," he continued. "He would want you to see another day. All those times he saved you, are you really going to let that go to waste? Peach Toadstool, we're going to make it through this. You, me, and Link. We will live. Promise you'll stay by my side. Promise me, my - ."
"Roy, duck!"
A knife flew over Roy's head. The prince looked to Link with fearful eyes and they both nodded in confirmation. He stood up and pulled Peach to her feet, holding closely and tightly as laughter filled the room. The sounds were less cheery, this time balancing perfectly on the line of insanity. Link pulled out his sword, eyes darting around as the sound of footsteps reverberated.
"Fuck!" Roy exclaimed. "It's them again. It's - "
"Roy!" Link interrupted. "Stop fucking talking and run! Take Peach and hide somewhere."
"W-what?" Peach stuttered. "No, no! We're not leaving you behind!"
"Go! I'll be damned to have my friends die. What would be the point of us making it this far only to die now. Go, damnit, go! I'll make sure they don't get to you!"
"Who are they? Tell me!"
"Leave!"
Roy cursed before dragging Peach away, grabbing his sword and heading towards the nearest staircase. Peach held Roy's tightly, heart quickly beating, matching the pace of their frantic running. She swore she could hear Link crying, and she resisted every urge to run back and protect him. The princess gritted her teeth. Who were they, and why the hell were they doing this?
"I'm running away like a fucking coward again," Roy stated as he pulled Peach along. "Just great."
The princess struggled to keep up with the prince's pace as she heard the clanging of swords, the sounds of wicked laughter, and the defeated scream of a Hylian.
And then, there was silence.
Well, I killed Link. Oh well, sorry Link fans. Originally, Roy was supposed to die, but I changed my mind at the last moment. I want Peach to finally stop being alone (and since I pretty much said that Roy has a crush on her and vice versa, I want their relationship to be further expanded upon). Ah, Peach was so close to discovering the identity of the murderers; I'm sure she wants to avenge Mario and Luigi's deaths. But don't worry, she'll encounter them eventually.
Also, I've decided that their will be six chapters instead of eight. Thinking about it, I realized I don't really need eight chapters to describe the horror that is...whatever this is. I'll just be dragging the tale out if I had more chapters.
See ya in Chapter 4: psychopaths, the fitting sobriquet.