Throughout the intense song, Peach sang the foreign lyrics as they carried a message. To whom, or what they spoke of, she vaguely knew. The language was one Peach was not fluent in, nor her father, as her mother had taught the two the song before her passing.
It had been her lullaby every night her mom was with her; the song was something Peach could never forget. When her mother sang it, it was as if the song was tailored for her soothing, fragile voice. Tied together with her father's violin, it was truly unforgettable, even years after.
However, when Peach sang the same song on that stage, an overpowering amount of energy washed over her as the usual, soothing tone was replaced with one of confident calling. While not traditional, her method of singing the lyrics remained pure, yet stronger than her mother had ever sang them.
As her song's volume increased, she felt herself calling for someone that encouraged her to continue; someone that craved to hear her. The more his image formed in her mind, the louder the lyrics became, and the more intense her need to see him again became.
She, too, wanted her voice to be heard by him.
It didn't take long for Peach to piece together who she hoped would hear her song that beckoned for him to come back. Moving away from the Mushroom Kingdom caused her subconscious to scream of the idea of her admirer being here. Or, the chance of him being here, left her hopeful.
She silently slapped herself in a twinge of annoyance. How would he hear her? Why did the image of him lead her singing?
Peach was brought back into reality as the song cut off and ended. Her chest raised and fell with each heavy breath as she tried to compose herself. With so many eyes on her, she was finding it to be...difficult. Peach blinked as she looked between each of the Koopas, hoping for any sort of reaction.
She carefully observed the front row of koopas as they stared at her with mixed reactions. Some seemed shocked, curious, or even doubtful; all unsure of how they should react. They eyed the young woman in the spotlight as she eyed them back, just as curiously.
She cringed, knowing it was obvious that her voice was not trained or accustomed to any formal setting. While she wouldn't call herself a bad singer, she knew she was not a professional who knew how to manage notes and keep her voice from breaking.
Her thoughts were cut off by a rush of murmurs from the Koopas in the stands before her. They leaned towards one another as they snuck glances at the taller woman, causing her face to pale in doubt. Had she been overly confident in herself?
Realizing it was her time to go, Peach lifted her dress, giving a small curtsy, before turning on her heels, eager to leave the stage. However, before she could fully turn around, her arm was roughly grabbed as she was tugged in the same direction. She was pulled through the velvety curtains as she stumbled backwards, meeting her two acquaintances from earlier.
Pauline gently released Peach's arm before flashing a wide, confident smile. Peach frowned as she rubbed her arm, however, as the murmuring was just as loud behind stage.
Mario's eyes seemed hazed over in admiration and a few other emotions Peach couldn't identify, but assumed they were mostly positive.
"You were amazing!" Pauline kindly cheered. "I can see why Kamek let you in so easily."
Peach smiled sheepishly. She knew her first performance had been far from perfect, but she felt prideful in the fact that she had even managed to go so far as to stand on a world-renowned stage and have her voice heard.
"I hope I was loud enough. It was a bit overwhelming." She sighed as she realized it would take a while to get accustomed to performing. "I've just never-"
"We all get nervous at first," Mario reassured calmly. "Don't worry."
Pauline smirked as she pulled Peach to her shoulder, loudly whispering to her, just loud enough for Mario to overhear.
"You should have seen Mario's first time on this stage!" She teased with a hearty laugh as Mario's smile faded. A deep frown followed by a flash of color covered Mario's face as he stood in embarrassment. "You see, he-"
Pauline was cut off as a loud, booming crash echoed throughout the theater, followed by several gasps and screams. Plenty of stagehands ran away and pushed past the humans, causing Mario to stumble before he regained his balance. He eyed them with disapproval before he faced what they were running away from.
Mario was the first to react to the ordeal as he rushed over to the scene without thinking much of it or what had even happened. Pauline followed suit, but was cautious as she hesitated.
Peach was the last to follow as she carefully examined the scene beforehand.
A tiny goomba laid on the floor with a bucket forced on his head, leaking and covering him in what she hoped to be red paint. Beside him, a larger Koopa clenched his fist in anger as his teeth grinded together. Three other koopas stood behind him as they wiped paint off their chests with similar expressions to the large koopa. Several broken props were scattered around the area as the paint-covered group eyed the goomba bitterly.
Peach frowned at the appearance of the culprit as she stood beside the two humans. He was quite larger than the average koopa, standing at around Peach's shoulders, and wore a black shell of which she assumed was painted. His face seemed to be naturally in the shape of a scowl and he reeked of alcohol.
A large, damp puddle of red paint coated the surface around the scene and several footprints could be seen running through it, thankfully confirming Peach's assumption.
Mario bent down and carefully helped the goomba to his feet while removing the bucket. Or, attempted to, as the goomba continued to wobble from side to side, falling on his back into the paint after a few moments. Mario sighed as he bent down and supported the injured creature while shaking his head in disapproval.
The black-shelled Koopa laughed dryly as the goomba relied on Mario's support. As if on cue, the other koopas laughed with him, taunting the smaller stagehand. His goons seemed to replicate his expression and emotions, clearly afraid of what he had in store for them if they acted out of line.
Were stagehands usually so brutal? Peach clenched her hands as she looked between the injured goomba and bully of a koopa who couldn't seem to get over how hilarious this was.
The goomba attempted to stand up on his own, ignoring Mario's help, before slipping on the paint and landing on his back once again. The humans flinched as paint was flung towards the group.
Once again, though even louder, laughter broke out at his fall. The goomba sat in the paint angrily as he eyed the group and refused to accept Mario's help any further.
Peach's blood ran cold from the heartless smirks and chuckles. The longer she attempted to compose herself, the louder the uproar seemed to get, as well as the frown on the goomba's face.
Not realizing what she was doing, Peach gently pushed past Pauline and eyed the group.
"Why is this funny to you?" She asked with a deep frown. The black-shelled koopa stopped laughing immediately, but his followers kept chuckling to themselves before being silenced by one of his glares in their direction. "He made a mess, but you shouldn't have hit him. Just look at him."
Upon closer inspection, a subtle black eye was forming over his left eye. The goomba frowned at the mention of his wound. Peach's anger fell to pity for a moment before the trouble maker scoffed.
"He's a goomba, lady. He's replaceable." His voice was hoarse and scratchy as he brushed off her concern with a laugh. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it."
Peach's cheeks rushed with red as her cheeks puffed full of anger. Taking half a step forward, she poked the stagehand in the chest.
"What, so you aren't?" Her voice shook in anger as she furrowed her brow. The group stood in shock as her proper facade broke. "Oh, no, let me guess! Everyone comes to see you, right? Not the performances."
The koopa froze as his friends chuckled in entertainment behind him. Pauline pulled her finger across her throat, desperately signaling for Peach to drop it, while Mario pulled his hands over his eyes. Yet, she continued.
The koopa took a step forward into her finger, ready to start another fight with the human, before a small sheet of paper fell between the two. A tiny red stamp sat on its surface with a large 'P.'
All eyes fell towards the scrap for a few moments before the group of koopas scrambled away, tracking red paint across theater. While trying to mask his fear with a simple frown, the large koopa held his ground as he cursed under his breath; he was clearly unhappy with what potential the note held.
While her company's face paled, Peach simply crouched down to pick up the letter. She eyed the culprit suspiciously as she stood back up and gently broke the note's seal.
She eyed the fancy handwriting curiously, finding the cursive to be a bit hard to make out at times. The note spoke of not fighting over the spilled paint with a harsh undertone and was signed by 'The Phantom.'
Below the signature, another message was recently added with a thick underline.
That includes you, lady.
Peach furrowed her brow as she read the letter over again. Who was watching that had the authority to issue warnings like this? Hell, why would a threatening letter be given instead of a verbal scolding?
She turned towards Mario as she held out the note for him to take.
"Phantom?" She asked curiously. Mario visibly paled at her question while Pauline looked between the two anxiously. Peach simply furrowed her brow as her question was met with silence.
Before Mario could reach out and take the sheet of paper, and before Peach could get an answer, the angry koopa snatched the letter and observed it within his jittery hands. His eyes widened as he read who signed it before his brow furrowed in anger. He slightly crumpled the paper as he clearly wasn't happy with the message, before letting it fall to the floor.
The koopa stormed off as he mumbled several shaky curses to himself, not caring that he was walking straight through the paint and coating his shoes in red. He sneaked one final glare at Peach before he headed out through the large doors, eager to get away from the phantom's eyes.
The entire ambiance of the theater seemed to have shifted with both the fight and the note. Everyone, besides the humans and the red goomba, had abandoned practice after the note of an issued warning, if they weren't already scared off from the fight.
With a sigh, Peach bent down to pick up the note once again as she eyed its mysterious signature. She turned to the two apologetically after trying to flatten the wrinkled note as much as possible.
As if reading Peach's mind, Mario sighed.
"Don't apologize. We'll tell Kamek what happened." He exhaled as he ran his hand through his hair. He was clearly upset about all of the discourse, and, seeing as his eyes kept sneaking glances at the note in Peach's hand, she assumed that upset him as well.
"Wasn't your fault," Pauline added as she placed a comforting hand on Mario's shoulder. "Someone has to keep these jerks in line. You were just trying to do what you thought was best." She sighed. "But, next time, just let it happen. It'll get taken care of."
Taken care of?
Peach's eyes wandered to the note in her hand. Would whoever wrote this 'take care' of it? Surely they would, seeing as nearly everyone was scared away.
However, Peach froze at the constant kindness and understanding that seemed to radiate from the two. Had she been away from humans for so long that she had forgotten what kind-natured people were like? Or, perhaps, they were pitying her? She didn't understand what she had done to earn such hospitality.
Either way, she was grateful.
Peach was about to thank her company for their understanding before a familiar, obnoxious poof of smoke clouded the area next to them. Waving his wand to clear the smog, Kamek shrieked in realization as he was met with an unwelcome paint job to the backstage floor.
"What happened here?" Kamek squealed at the crime scene of paint and broken props. Mario sighed as Pauline's smile flattened; the two were not happy to see the koopa.
"Some paint spilled," Pauline stated casually with a bit of amusement at his distress. Mario shook his head in disapproval at Pauline's bad timing of humor.
Kamek choked on his words as he gazed over his shoulder at the woman.
"Well, of course! But what exactly happened here?" Not getting an answer, he furiously turned to the others. "Mario? Toadstool?" He gazed between the two for answers before Pauline gently pulled the old koopa to the side to explain everything that had happened.
Besides the occasional yelp of anger that could be heard as Pauline retold the scene to Kamek from the hallway, especially when word of the note came up, Mario and Peach were alone. The two turned to each other awkwardly, forcing small laughs at the cries of distress from their boss.
"Is practice usually like this?" Peach asked with a small smile. Mario was still clearly unnerved from the warning, for reasons she didn't know, so she attempted to lighten the mood to the best of her ability.
Mario shrugged as he returned a small smile himself. "Sometimes. You can't really expect anything here."
"Sounds exciting," she hummed in pure amusement. Mario gave a genuine chuckle before the conversation fell into silence.
The two stood awkwardly as the listened into Kamek's angry distress, followed by Pauline's attempts at reassurance. The two humans were soon accompanied by a group of koopas holding mops and buckets, clearly assigned to take care of the mess.
Peach cringed as she wondered if the paint would even come out of the wood after sitting there for so long.
Mario followed Peach's gaze towards the spilled paint and instead assumed she was playing over the scene in her head.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," he muttered through his accent in defeat. He rubbed the back of his head anxiously as he seemed hesitant to continue, which Peach assumed was a nervous habit.
"But, if you would like to-" He paused as he forced a charming smile that was coated with hesitation. "I, well, I can tell you what I know." He paused one final time as he continued in a whisper. "...over dinner."
Peach's gaze froze before it turned to Mario, whose composure seemed to break even further with her eyes landing on him. He was fiddling with his gloved hands as he stared at her hopefully, almost as if he were a child asking for a new toy.
Before Peach could react, he speedily continued.
"Only because Kamek wouldn't be happy if I told you so soon! It would be easier to tell you what I know away from here." He smiled sheepishly. His excuse made sense, but it clearly didn't cover up his true intentions, which only made Peach even more enticed by his words.
Peach gave a soft, warm smile at Mario's flustered smile. She giggled a bit before nodding in agreement.
"I think that'd be wonderful."
While they had different intentions, one seeking information and the other hoping to get to know the young lady, they both beamed in agreement.
The two discussed what times would work for them, and eventually came to the agreement that, tomorrow, right after rehearsal, would work best. Since Mario knew the area far more than Peach, he decided on where they would go, which Peach happily agreed to. Especially after he claimed they had the best italian food in the kingdom, she was sold.
Through the entire, simple conversation, Mario's charm was as confident and as kind as ever. She tried to return his enthusiasm, but was finding it hard to keep up with him. She remained kind and considerate, rather than eager, which Mario didn't take note of.
Nonetheless, she looked forward to spending the evening with such a charming young man.
Peach smiled at her friend as she turned down the hallway to head back for her room, giving him one final, small wave before leaving his view entirely. The halls around the auditorium were empty due to the rucas, leaving Peach alone with her thoughts and the clicking of her heels against the polished floor.
A slight frown covered her features as soon as she was away from Mario. So many questions flooded her mind as she eyed the note in her hand.
With no other connections to make, she easily assumed this phantom was the creature she saw in her dreams earlier. Had he been...watching her? Did he see how she had behaved? She shook her head at the ridiculous questions. Of course he had seen! He included her in the warning. He had gone out of his way to underline it, even!
Kamek's reaction to the note, too, confirmed her suspicions about her ghost's identity. He had reacted to similarly during their earlier conversation about the mysterious figure.
Whoever this phantom was, she had met him in her dreams, and he was beneath the opera house; where he desperately wanted her to stay away from. For what reasons, she didn't know, but hoped to know after her dinner with Mario.
Peach unfolded the letter as she eyed its vague signature. Over the years, when facing any written material, Peach had learned to compare it to the handwriting of her admirer from years ago. Though it might seem odd, it was all she had of him; the only means she had of finding him.
But, Peach's heart sank as she came to a realization: this writing was far too fancy to belong to him. Whoever this Phantom was, he was not familiar due to him being her potential admirer, but for what seemed to be a completely different reason. Sighing, Peach brought the note back to her side.
If anything, she should be grateful that her admirer wasn't some awful phantom! Peach forced a small laugh as she realized how ridiculous her disappointment had been before heading to her door.
A/N: I'm super excited for the next chapter! Expect some mild fluff and all that jazz! Please review if you've enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading, as usual.