Peach laid in her bed with her eyes closed, hoping to fall asleep without any struggle. However, it seemed to be a common occurrence for her to get hardly any sleep, and she had no other option than to blame her less-than-hospitable hosts and environment.
It had been a week since she had last spoken to the king. Without him pestering her in person, her new life became mundane, monitored, and scheduled, surely under his distant instruction. Rehearsal became far more strict and Ludwig seemed to have been instructed to monitor her thoroughly during their times together.
It was as if she were a pet, shifting between controlling babysitters. Was that what she was? A human pet? Peach groaned as she leaned into her pillow, exhausted from another long day of rehearsing for a part she no longer felt any passion for.
At first, she thought the king had isolated himself from her completely; she hadn't seen him in days and he hadn't spoken a single word to her. Even when she walked past his study, contemplating the idea of barging in, it felt empty.
However, after a few days of no communication with the beast, she started noticing something new:
She could feel him and his presence, especially when she was alone. Sometimes, during rehearsal, she could tell they were being monitored very intensely. She would be lying if she didn't try to put on her happiest face when she knew the king was watching. If he knew how miserable she was, he would win, after all.
Or, maybe she wanted him to not be afraid to come towards her again.
It was odd, but she wanted things to return to how they were the night he had saved her from the water. She knew there was good in him and she had no doubt the bad was caused from whatever pain he had endured. Even though he was beyond awful, she wanted to see the good in him more. Or, maybe, she didn't want to live as a miserable prisoner. At the very least, it was more enjoyable to...tolerate him.
It was easy to tell when the phantom had his eyes on her. She could never tell where he was gazing from, but his presence was thick and seemed to add pressure to the air she breathed. Wherever the king went, he seemed to carry a powerful, intimidating aura with him. She wasn't surprised that he had that quality, as he wasn't the most charming of kings.
She knew that he only checked in on her for the sake of making sure she wasn't attempting anything under his nose, but a part of her couldn't help but feel...happy, that he still held some interest for her. She knew how ridiculous that was, feeling attached to a monster who wanted nothing to do with her, but she couldn't ignore that a part of her wanted him to approach her.
Peach's eyes turned towards the nightstand she had beside her desk. The small stand had one drawer, shoved with her small belongings and, of course, the mysterious iron key and the closet's larger key.
It was honestly a bit amusing, knowing that the king tried so hard to keep her under his control, yet she easily managed to outsmart him. She was proud of herself for managing to silently spite the king.
Peach sighed as she tried to drift to sleep. If she was forced into the phantom's claws, she could at least get something out of it, even if all she manages to scrape together are a few answers.
Bowser dragged his feet along the rough, stone-littered floor as his face was stuck in its usual scowl. Though, he seemed a bit more unbearably frustrated than usual, and his claws were strained in fists.
Within the last week, more and more brave souls had started abandoning any sort of common sense and throwing their soon-to-be corpses down into the king's claws. A few koopas and other creatures have ventured beneath the opera house with no clear goal in mind, other than what seemed to be curiosity, and perhaps even suicide.
Whoever the people were, and whatever their goals were, they were not professionals, and Bowser couldn't harm them; they seemed nothing more than common koopas. Clearly, something or someone was making them venture below the opera house. Why else would lower-class koopas be so ambitious to throw their lives away?
They were either goons or suicidal. Honestly, he didn't care about them, as they were none of his concern. But, if they were poor victims sent underground under the promise of finally having pay…
Bowser began shaking in rage at the idea. He didn't give a damn about their lifestyles or fates, but if someone was trying to figure out his identity by treating lives like pawns, he knew whomever was so curious about himself was surely a creature of a cold, dark identity; someone he should be cautious about.
Bowser paused and gazed over his shoulder. Screaming echoed in the distance, far behind his massive form. The screams bounced around him, further pushing his scowl deeper and deeper, before the screams finally faded into the abyss.
He rolled his eyes at the shrieks. Thankfully, because the random adventurers were run-of-the-mill citizens, it was not hard to simply scare them off without much effort. Traps and intimidating shadows were more than enough to monitor the main entrances the goons took.
Whoever was sending the victims to their demise would probably be beyond annoyed to find all of the information they manage to gather is nothing more than "the place is scary," or "there was a shadow of a monster!" If the mysterious threat wanted to play dirty, so would the phantom. You can't win a game if the other player doesn't play, after all.
Now, all he had to worry about was the threat becoming more determined.
Bowser turned around, back towards the corridor, and frowned at the small human who suddenly stood before him.
Daisy eyed the large beast. Surely, she had heard the screaming, and came to see what had happened.
"You've gotten better with your little shadow puppet games," she muttered with confidence.
"Aren't you supposed to be at home," he grumbled while pushing past her.
Daisy paused and tilted her head at his odd response. She shook her head and followed the beast.
"It's Sunday," she slowly replied with a gaze full of suspicion. "I always pop by on Sunday to give you guys the stuff you order. You're usually on top of your little schedule...Somethin' distracting you? Or, someone?" Daisy placed her hands on her hips as she tried to keep up with the phantom, she couldn't tell, but something told her he was picking up speed.
The king's clenched fists grew in intensity as he tried to hold back his temper.
Nothing was distracting him; nothing of importance was on his mind. Nothing besides the random visitors constantly demanding his attention, or upsetting Peach-
Bowser's gut fell at the memory that wedged its way back into his mind. It had been nearly a week since he had spoken to her and every once in a while, he would remember with a pang of guilt in his side. But, the guilt hardly lasted, as he was not one to dwell on what had to be done. Even so, it drove him crazy.
He shook his head, trying to shove the thought out of his head. Pushing her away was what they both needed.
"What did you do?" Daisy questioned with a mixture of worry and accusation.
Bowser stopped in place, causing Daisy to stumble forward and nearly trip over his tail.
"I did nothing!" he growled in frustration. "She's the one who tried to get me to-"
"She?" Daisy repeated with a frown, instantly knowing something had happened between the two. "What did you do to Peach? You know, she hasn't left her room in nearly a week...I thought that was odd. She was just starting to warm up, you know! Why did you have to-"
"I do not need a lecture! You need to mind your business!" He huffed in response. "You're hardly here, Daisy, so stay in your lane before I make you crash."
Bowser grumbled under his breath in pure, concentrated annoyance. Daisy rolled her eyes, knowing any sort of threat from the creature was nothing more than fodder to make her afraid. Over the years, she had become numb to his tactics, and it frustrated him.
Instead of backing off, Daisy followed behind the phantom as he stomped away.
"You're going to make each other miserable if you keep treating her like garbage."
He scoffed at her ridiculous comparison.
"I'm treating her like what she is: a prisoner. If that bothers you, maybe you should join her." He paused as his exterior cracked. He continued with a bitter, confused tone. "It's her fault for getting any sort of attachments to anything down here. I'm doing her a favor by denying her; the look in her eyes was a sign of weakness after all," he mumbled with forced distaste.
Denied what? Daisy wondered to herself.
Daisy kept her hands on her hips as she gazed at him in pure curiosity. Had Peach failed their plan? Had she tried to pursue a friendship with him too early? Was his exterior harder to pry at than she had expected?
Daisy hummed to herself. Just because Bowser tried to end the game didn't mean she couldn't initiate a rematch.
"You know, don't tell Peach I'm tellin' you this, but it's a shame," she purred. "When I said she was warming up to the place, I really meant that she was starting to warm up to you."
Before he could even digest what she had said, Daisy flashed a small smile before turning on her heel and walking through a small passage to their left. As much as she wanted to entertain the game Bowser thought he was winning, she had a family to attend to, and she was already a bit late due to his temper.
She would confront Peach about what had happened when she had the time.
Peach sat on the end of her bed with Iggy staring at her in awe. While she had hardly gotten any sleep last night, mostly due to the many thoughts of her situation, she couldn't help but feel wide awake in pride due to the look on his face.
"You...you really did it?! I can't believe it! I won't lie, I figured you'd be toast!"
Peach rolled her eyes with a small smirk and closed her hands around the larger key. She quickly put the treasure in her pocket, knowing how crucial the piece of metal was.
It was, quite literally, the potential key to her countless questions. Peach's heart rate doubled at the idea of uncovering just one secret the king held.
"You'd be surprised how easy it was!" Peach whispered with a snicker. "Ludwig practically gave it to me! All I had to do was get him to perform!"
The human and koopa snickered amongst each other for a few moments. Once the laughter died down, Iggy hummed to himself as he tapped his chin.
"Well, now that it's clear that you're serious about this, what exactly are you planning on doing now that you managed to snatch the key? I recommend you thoroughly think about your next step. Making the wrong move could lead to many undesirable situations...being burnt, eaten, limbs lost..." He trailed off as he listed off worst-case scenarios.
Peach squinted her eyes at her company. Had she not come off as serious before?
"That's where you come in!" She answered enthusiastically.
Iggy's face paled at Peach's sudden choice to involve him in her schemes. He was never the rule-breaking type, but had been eager to live his dangerous curiosities through Peach. Now that she potentially wanted him to join in with her rebellious ideas, his confidence shattered.
"M-me?" He stuttered with a frown. "What can I do, exactly?"
Peach easily read his anxious demeanor and shook her hands in front of her.
"I'm not asking you to go into the phantom's- your dad's study or anything! I just want you to let me know when he's distracted for long enough," she reassured with her best attempt at a calming, confident tone. "If you're willing, I mean."
Iggy wouldn't be her first pick to confidently rely on, but he was the only one she could rely on. He was skittish but the only one who had her back; the only koopa she truly considered a friend.
"Just let me know when he has to go...I don't know…what do koopas typically do? Eat kids? Kill for sport? I really have no idea what you guys like doing," she innocently mumbled to herself. Both of those situations were not hard for her to imagine the king willingly doing.
Iggy crossed his arms at her insensitive remark but chose to overlook it for the sake of focusing on the topic at hand.
"Dad's been wandering off on his own pretty often recently so you might have the opportunity relatively soon. I don't really understand what he has been up to...but I know that, if you sneak past him when he does leave, you'll have approximately 4 minutes before he comes back to his study," he stated confidently. He tapped his chin, analyzing the random data he seemed to have collected. "I mean, that is if I'm right."
Peach aggressively nodded her head in agreement at the koopa's ability to pull facts out of his shell. Having memorized your own father's movements was a bit odd, and the fact that he could be wrong was an outcome that she needed to consider, but she couldn't help but feel...hopeful.
With Iggy's help, she knew it wasn't impossible; she could find some answers.
"I'll come let you know when you can get past him whenever I notice. Just, if you happen to get caught, please don't tell dad that I helped you disobey him...I am really not in the mood to be grounded. Again."
Peach giggled with an excited smile.
"I won't tell anyone that you're a rebel," she teased, earning an embarrassed sigh from the young koopa.
She wasn't lying. She wasn't lying...that's why it hurt to hear Daisy say what was straining him, out loud. He knew she was right, it was painfully obvious that the girl had become soft towards him, but she didn't need to reinforce the fact that Peach had grown close to him. She was practically rubbing salt in the wound and then spitting in it.
Although, thankfully it was not hard to crush a bud that had hardly started blooming.
Even with his efforts, it had started happening again. No matter what he did to pry the two apart, he was drawn to her.
The guilt, the fear, the confusion, and even the pure chaos that came from his relations with Peach all began piling in his chest. She, herself, was the embodiment of chaos, as everywhere she went, he couldn't help but want to follow. He couldn't help being drawn to the very quality that brought them together in the first place.
Bowser was not one to fall victim to petty, weak emotions. He was raised to be what he was designed to be: a cold, emotionless king that would lead his people to a prosperous future. Emotion was a burden that was best released against the enemy.
Even so, why did his body ache at the thought of her? He was falling into her trap again.
The answer was obvious: he was weak. Bowser shook in frustration at the lack of numbness within him. It had taken years to build a dedicated wall around himself, yet one small human threatened to tear it all down with the way she looked at him.
Even so, he couldn't deny a bit of thankfulness welling up within him due to Daisy's words.
Bowser shook his head. Daisy's words and the woman they were about did not matter in the big picture.
They were being tracked and potentially located by an unknown threat. Whoever it was was dedicated to their goal of uncloaking the phantom. It was getting increasingly worrying, seeing more and more random koopas stumble down below his territory.
Even though every attempt was a failure, the person pulling the strings behind the adventurers was committed to their goals; no matter how many koopas failed to venture beneath the opera house, more and more kept piling up.
Bowser was afraid of how far they would take it and how it could potentially lead to further harm to what he had built below his kingdom.
He knew it undoubtedly had something to do with his capture of Peach in some way; it was too random to be coincidental. Whoever was doing this had interest in the phantom due to Peach's disappearance. No matter where he went, it seemed Peach always had to ruin things for him as soon as they were turning out tolerable.
Waluigi slammed the phone down on his desk with an annoyed, teeth-grinding frown. It landed with a loud thud and instantly bounced off the table, dangling by its cord a few inches above the floor. It swung for a few moments before laying still, and the following silence was heavy.
Waluigi continued grinding his teeth together as he gazed between his office's door and the dangling phone. Only moments before, had he had had the most infuriating conversation with his new employees of which had unsurprisingly let him down.
He hadn't expected them to grab the "phantom" by his neck and bring him to his office, but he had at least expected a bit more information than, "it was scary!" "We have families to feed, we can't die!" Yadda yadda! Boring excuses for being cowards.
Seemed the tough exterior that the Darklands were so adamant about convincing the world their citizens had was nothing more than a myth; these koopas were easily terrified and it was beyond frustrating.
Waluigi had connections but it was difficult to find someone who was willing to delve beneath the Darklands. The myth of the murderous phantom was infamous, after all, and even the most brave koopas wouldn't hear him out as it was too risky. Instead, he had to result to paying desperate working-class koopas. Embarrassing...he was better than that.
Even with his pride to the side, it was his only option, and it was unsuccessful.
Unless...
Waluigi scrambled out of his seat and clumsily snatched the hanging phone between his shaking hands. He stared at the numbers, his free hand hovering over the pads. He had the number memorized, but was only instructed to use it if it was a necessity in his area of business.
The man released a nervous, yet-confident chuckle as his fingers started dialing the nearly-forbidden number.
Oh, it was a necessity, and he would convince her with everything he had.