"I think I'm going to pass out,"
"You've been saying that every five minutes for the past hour, my lady. It's just nerves, I'm sure you'll be fine,"
Peach sighed to herself and nodded towards Toadette, grateful for their words and comforting presence in what would have been an otherwise lonely and slightly frightening journey. They had been travelling in the royal carriage for over six hours now, on their way to the heart of the Koopa Kingdom. Tonight was the night of King Boo's ball. Peach had spent all day fretting over herself- what to wear, how to have her hair, how to do her make up, what shoes paired best with which dress- so much so that Toadette had to practically push her out the door to prevent them from leaving too late. The horses pulling the carriage had been restless to get moving by the time Peach and Toadette finally climbed inside, along with a small trunk of Peach's belongings 'just in case'. Toadette wasn't entirely sure what that 'just in case' scenario would be, but they chose not to question it and simply asked the coachman to load the trunk into the carriage with them. Now, the sun was setting along the horizon and the carriage was only minutes away from its destination.
"Do you think this outfit is too much? Do you think I should change into something different?" Peach patted at her skirts, unsure if she'd made the right decision after all.
"You look beautiful, my lady," Toadette smiled; they really meant it, Peach did look absolutely perfect. Her full length, dusky pink silk gown gleamed as the light hit it, her tight-fitting bodice detailed with intricate white and gold flowers, and her skirts flowed out in a wide circle around her, filled out by the layers of petticoats underneath. Her blonde hair was pulled into an elegant updo, held in place by a single diamond clip. White gloves covered her delicate hands and Toadette could just about see Peach's pale golden shoes poking out from under her dress.
Suddenly, Peach gasped and her hands rose to cover her mouth. Toadette followed her gaze out the window to see a grand castle slowly appearing out of the tree line. Huge black gates swung open in front of them, revealing the circular gardens and ornate fountain at the front of the castle. Through the gates there was a line of carriages all waiting by the castle entrance, as people from across the lands arrived upon invitation to King Boo's ball. Slowly, Peach and Toadette moved towards the front of the line until the carriage stopped right in front of the castle steps. After a quiet moment, the carriage door was opened by the coachman. Taking one last breath to steady her nerves, Peach smoothed out her skirts and climbed out of the carriage. Stood before her was a set of grand, stone steps leading up to the open doors of the castle, ivy wrapping itself around the stone carved rails that ran up either side. Peach turned back to the carriage as the door closed behind her.
"I'll be waiting right here for you, my lady," Toadette gave her another reassuring smile and Peach returned it. Then, she turned herself back towards the castle and, lifting her skirts slightly off the ground, began walking up the steps. She paused for a moment at the door and presented her invitation to one of the guards posted there. After briefly inspecting it, the smartly dressed man smiled at her and waved her through into the foyer. Peach stepped inside and, after walking down a short corridor and through a set of large double doors, she was immediately overwhelmed by what she saw. She found herself stood at the top of another staircase, this one covered in a lush red carpet with silver handrails that, if Peach wasn't mistaken, appeared to be made of actual solid silver. Below her was a huge, sprawling ballroom, ornately decorated in silvers, blues, and purples and softly lit with lanterns and an impressive chandelier suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room. Slowly, Peach made her way down the stairs and into the crowds of people that had already begun to gather. Music played from an elevated stage off to the left where a small orchestra sat and several couples were spinning across the centre of the room in a coordinated group dance. Peach began making her way through the crowd, looking for any sign of Daisy. As soon as Peach had received her invitation to the ball, she had written to Daisy to find she had also received a similar letter and invitation. They had agreed to meet each other and, knowing Daisy's habit of arriving to any event early, as well as her own habit of arriving fashionably late, she knew Daisy would already be there. Luckily, it didn't take too long and eventually she caught sight of her friend, dressed in a gorgeous burnt orange gown. Daisy waved to her and Peach made her way over, picking up a goblet of wine from one of the tables lining the sides of the room as she did so.
"You look beautiful," Daisy smiled, looking Peach up and down.
"As do you," Peach smiled back and the two of them hugged one another.
"I had no idea this place would be so wonderful," Daisy giggled once they parted and Peach nodded in agreement.
"Me neither! Have you seen King Boo yet?" Peach asked, glancing around her. Daisy sighed and rolled her eyes. In the letters they had exchanged in the weeks leading up to the ball, Peach had shared her plans with Daisy about attempting to win Boo over in order to secure herself a life away from her parents. She knew Daisy quietly disapproved of her idea and, even though she had tried to reason with her that it was unlikely to even happen, she knew Daisy would rather her just settle for a lowly lord or baron and remain in her parents' kingdom forever. But Daisy didn't understand what it was like when her parents had always loved and supported her no matter what; Peach needed out and this seemed like just as good a plan as any.
"He's over there, if you really must know," Daisy pointed over Peach's shoulder before crossing her arms in front of her chest. Peach turned around and instantly felt her heart sink a little. Sat in a throne-like chair in the corner of the room, a man with sharp, handsome features and a shock of white hair watched over the room with crystal blue eyes that almost appeared to shine like the eyes of a cat in the low light. Briefly, Peach thought to herself that he truly was as good-looking as people had rumoured him to be. However, her thoughts were quickly overtaken by the dozens of alluring women draping themselves all over him. Even if she could get within a few metres of him- which in itself seemed like an impossible task- she stood little chance of gaining his interest against all those other women, some of whom were clearly more comfortable with being far more amorous in front of these crowds of people than Peach would have ever dreamed of being. And in any case, Boo seemed to be paying very little attention to any of them, even the ones brave enough to try and place themselves directly into his lap. Peach sighed to herself, realising that her plans for escaping her parents' grasp were a lot further out of her reach than she had initially thought. Feeling more than a little defeated, she began to turn back to face Daisy and undoubtably see the vicious smirk on her friend's face. But, before she could get that far, her eyes caught sight of someone sat in the seat next to Boo, just a few feet away from him. Sat alone in one of the darkest corners of the room, a tall man with bright red hair dressed in a green and gold suit raised his eyes to meet hers. Two great horns curled out from either side of his head and, as he smiled at her, Peach could see two fangs protruding from his lips.
And Peach's whole world stopped.
