A/N: Happy Wednesday! Thank you so much for 17,000 views! I'm so happy you guys like this story! Writing it has been really comforting for me so I'm glad you like it, too! I'm not the best writer but it's so much fun. I plan on it being *very* long haha! Thank you so much for reading.

Peach walked down the dusty pathway with the lantern Daisy had left for her the night before. She held it out in front of her as it eerily illuminated a few feet of the cracked stone beneath her worn-down shoes. She could hardly see the pavement around her, but she walked alone with curious confidence, impressed that she had begun to memorize the pathway towards her destination.

It was a bitter-sweet realization as her flawless exploration meant she had been locked away long enough to memorize how to find King Koopa's study without his guidance, even if it meant she had more potential when it came to exploring when slipping away from King Koopa's controlling company.

Peach's heels came to a halt as she recognized the large wooden door to her left: his study. She paused and stared at the light that creeped under the door's small crack. It lit up her shoes so she lowered her lantern to her side, no longer depending on it for vision, and instead nervously glanced at the closed door. She held her breath as she tried to listen for any movement or evidence of the king's presence.

It had been a week since she had last seen him.

She had avoided this part of the cavern after noticing his strong presence disappearing and fizzling out entirely for a week now; not even his peering eyes or curious shadows had crept towards her since the night he had collapsed…he had isolated himself from her entirely. He normally crept around her, his peering eyes and silent form trailing behind her as she rehearsed or wandered, oftentimes monitoring her when he assumed she wasn't aware. But, she had grown to almost always feel him lingering.

When he secretly approached or watched her, she could feel the air pressure tighten, especially when his eyes landed on her. It always made her heart race and her hands tremble with anticipation. It was like a prey sensing the hungry eyes of a predator, looming in the shadows, waiting for its moment to strike, though the prey had nothing but its intuition.

His avoidance of her was enough for her to avoid him too, for whatever reason. Perhaps she was too nervous to investigate why he avoided her...or maybe she was too frustrated with his disposal of her company to give him the pleasure of her being the one to reignite their curiosities of one another. Maybe it was a mix of countless reasons and emotions but she had matched his avoidance of her, biting her tongue and waiting for him to come find her.

But, he never did.

It annoyed her how she would wake up every day and look towards the door and solomnly remember how he had monitored her, something deep within her aching for him to spend the night with her again; the promise she secretly made that night ran through her head every morning.

Peach's frustration from his sudden disappearance eventually faded as she began to worry and wonder about where he had been running off to without checking in on her. She had quickly realized that if she didn't suck up her annoyance and go find him, she would probably not see him again for a long time; she would lose the game that she so desperately needed to win. That, and...she hated to admit it, but she wanted to see him.

She angrily clenched her teeth in annoyance at the way his disappearance made her nervous…she had no reason to care so much about him avoiding her! She had no reason to want to see him outside of gaining her freedom!

Keep yourself together, Peach thought to herself in conflicted panic and frustration, This is all a game, remember? It's a game! Just a game! But...why...why am I so nervous?! It's just King Koopa! She silently reassured. Her face paled as she realized the weight of her thoughts. Just King Koopa...?! what am I saying?! Wouldn't it be strange to not be nervous around him?!

Peach held her breath as her fingers brushed against his study's door's handle. She hesitated and dragged the edges of her fingers against its rusted surface, eyes wandering across the wooden door's grooves, trying to find any reason to hold her back from seeing him again. Countless reasons flooded to her but she ignored them all as her desire to talk to him again overpowered her nerves.

Peach's hands finally gave into her curiosity and wrapped around the door's handle. She held her breath as she pressed the rest of her weight against the door through her palms, taking the open door as indirect permission to enter. The heavy surface gave in and murmured as it slowly opened. She groaned as she could never get used to how heavy the doors were in the Darklands.

After a few moments, she had opened the door enough for her to peek into his study without fully entering, her eyes inching around the door to see if she was alone. She had assumed he was not in his office and was continuing to avoid the areas she wandered to, and she was right; the room was empty of any signs of recent activity besides a few bright candles.

She looked from his messy study table to the locked closet to its left, wondering where he had wandered off to.

As if on cue, Peach yelped as she was no longer alone.

"Good morning," a dark voice sarcastically grumbled from behind her. "What do you want."

Peach instinctively took a step backwards away from his study, alarmed by the sudden, unannounced company, and bumped her back into his chest with a small squeak. She gasped and looked over her shoulder, whispering what felt like hundreds of panicked apologies under her breath as she hadn't expected him to find her.

She fidgeted with her fingers and continued shrinking underneath him as he didn't give her so much as a reaction to her company. She wasn't afraid of him...but the way he looked down at her made her composure crack, as it always seemed to do when he surprised her. She tried to straighten her posture and force a small smile but even he noticed her trembling lips.

His large frame blocked the exit, and with no other direction to go, she backed away from him into his study. He didn't seem bothered by the subtle contact but her back rang from the touch.

He stared at her hesitantly as she pulled away from, growing to expect to see her, but still curious to be around her. However, just as blatant as his surprise was his inconvenienced glare.

"I...I, well, wanted to see you," she finally answered. "I've been meaning to apologize for making you feel like you had to stay with me the last time you saw me."

His eyes stared through her for a few moments as his mind wandered in thought before he shrugged with a disinterested exhale of air.

"It's damn annoying when you apologize for every little thing," he huffed. "There's nothing to be sorry for besides bothering me when I'm clearly busy."

Peach puckered her lips to apologize for saying sorry so much but quickly bit her tongue as he glared at her with a grunt of annoyance; he seemed to expect her to instantly apologize for that too. She held her breath as he pushed her to the side.

What exactly are you so busy with all of a sudden? Peach curiously thought to herself.

King Koopa could barely fit through the doorway. One claw sat on the top of the arch, his head lowered and poking through the top of the entrance as he swooped into the room. The phantom lowered his head even further, managing to barely fit through the large opening. The tips of his shell's spikes dragged across the wooden frame with an uncomfortable crunch before he was able to stand at his full height in the room.

Her heart raced as she stared up at him, hardly smothering her interest, as she analyzed him for the first time since he had spent the night with her. He mimicked her silence and examined her in return. Though he had grown accustomed to her company within the labyrinth, he never seemed accustomed to her. Peach quietly inhaled as she felt his eyes squint with interest.

Why was he looking at her like that?!

And, as always, the subtle emotion she saw within him faded in an instant as he turned away from her and headed towards the locked closet she was a bit too familiar with. He left her at the entrance and carelessly slammed open the closet's door, entering the cluttered mess with a clear motive in mind that caught her interest. Peach watched curiously as she locked her hands in front of her and inched towards him.

King Koopa instantly rummaged around and looked for something as he grumbled frustrated whispers under his breath, surely because of her prying eyes on him. She heard metal and wooden objects slam and rattle against the floor as he moved around, undoubtably knocking them over with his large frame and tail. She snickered as she heard him angrily curse as another loud 'clang' echoed through his room.

By the time Peach had awkwardly opened her mouth to start conversation, he had already found what he needed and once again bowed under the doorway with a piece of paper in his fist, his spikes dragging through the wooden arch just like before. She giggled to herself as she hadn't noticed how difficult it was for him to move around or how every doorway in the room had intense engravings and scratch marks from his shell.

She heard him growl under his breath at her quiet laughter.

King Koopa walked over to his study's desk and spread out a large sheet of paper that was torn and burnt along the edges. He placed his palms on both ends of the paper, holding it down, as it tried to curl back into a scroll. He looked down at it with a furrowed brow as he silently analyzed whatever information it held.

Peach's eyes moved from the paper to his profile. His eyes were hardened and focused. His posture stiffened as he felt her approach.

King Koopa paused investigating whatever caught his attention and let out a deep, rumbling sigh. He seemed to have just remembered his company.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. "You seemed so exhausted-"

She flinched as his eyes shot to her with a venomous force.

"That's rich coming from you." Though he spat his words in frustrated defense, Peach easily noticed the hesitation behind his eyes as he deflected her worry with his usual shield of anger. She stared at him with an unconvinced frown.

He noticed her silent stare and grinded his fangs.

"You seem to be back to normal," she sarcastically groaned.

King Koopa rolled his eyes at her obvious observation. His eyes stared at the papers with an attentive frown; whatever captured his attention was enough to dull his distaste for her. Or, at least, suppress it.

"What are you looking at?" She innocently hummed. Her curiosity made her forget who's limits she was pushing. She took a few more steps closer to his desk and peered over its surface, silently thankful that he allowed her to look as he ignored her company…though a part of her knew he couldn't get her to stop pushing for answers.

She held her breath as she snuck a glance at the large tan sheet of paper spread across his desk. It was gently crumbled and clearly handled with very little care as its edges were torn and faded to an ashy black from what she could only assume was fire.

"A map."

She tilted her head as her interest grew. Her hair drooped onto the paper and he angrily brushed it away from him.

"Of?" She asked.

He growled at her persistence.

"It's none of your concern."

Peach stood on the tips of her shoes, anchoring her eyes just high enough over the large table to continue glancing at the rough piece of paper now that she knew he wouldn't bark at her to get away. Though she tried to be secretive, both were well aware of her sly, peering eyes.

Intricate drawings of dark buildings and towers drawn with a thick, deep ink cascaded across the sheet. The pen strokes were delicate and varied with pressure, drawing out the details as large as the impressive towers of a kingdom to as little as the cobblestone pathways between the large streets. The buildings and streets were labeled in a language she couldn't understand.

Though, he seemed to understand it.

Her eyes lingered on the massive, not-yet-fully-built castle drawn in the center of the map; it was the most detailed part of the illustration and cried out to her for reasons she couldn't identify. Most interestingly, the map also illustrated a sloppy drawing of a deep of tunnels that stretched and overlapped underneath the kingdom, weaving and enveloping each other like an ant's hive. Peach noticed his eyes lingering on that section of the map.

"It's one of the few maps I still have of this Kingdom. It's a bit outdated but it manages to get the job done."

Everything clicked as soon as he spoke: the buildings, castle, and numerous tunnels all rang with familiarity as she recognized the kingdom around her within the ink. However, as he said, it was quite outdated, as the kingdom was fairly small and underdeveloped: the castle was large but nothing near the modern Darklands castle, there were fare less tunnels than the ones she was surrounded with, and the streets weren't as cluttered with koopa housing.

The more she analyzed the illustration, it was clear that some of the writings were plans for future buildings and structures even if she couldn't understand the language. Was it a blueprint? Or a plan of some sort? Whatever it was, it was too outdated to have any use outside of whatever he needed it for.

She sat in silence for a few minutes as the two stared at the piece of paper.

He grunted under his breath and pulled his claws away from the curling paper, allowing it to roll back into its original shape. Whatever he was looking for, he had found it. He snatched it and shoved it into his desk's drawer with a loud thump. His eyes grazed something that intrigued him so he turned to her with a small smirk.

"Let me show you something."

Peach nodded. Her eyes trailed him as he bent down under his desk in one movement. After a few moments of rough rummaging, he resurfaced with a large, bulging chest under his arm. He dropped it on the center of the table with an abrupt thump that made her gasp as the loud noise startled her.

"I kept anything important locked away in here throughout the years. If you really want to know the truth of your kingdom's influence on the world, go ahead. You'll find your answers in there. Though, you may have to dig around a bit."

Peach gulped and gave him another small nod as the potential answers within the box made her tense. Was he telling the truth about her kingdom's dark intentions? Did he have evidence? She turned back to King Koopa to question him of his intentions, but to her surprise, he had already left while her mind wandered in silence. She tilted her head in confusion as she gazed between the open chest and the closed door...why did he slip away so quickly?

Where had he gone? Why did he leave her alone with everything? She paused for a long, drawn-out moment as she expected him to return, but was left suspiciously alone. She closed her eyes and couldn't feel his familiar presence or eyes dragging over her...she was actually alone; unwatched.

She hummed to herself, assuming something he had seen on the map required his full attention. Perhaps this was an easy task to keep her locked in one location while he ran off? She snickered under her breath with a small shake of her head. Was he truly that clever?

Or, was there something he wanted her to find on her own?

Peach gently placed her palms against the chest's lid before tracing it with the tips of her fingers. It was a dark, stained wood, as most wood seemed to be in the Darklands. It wad trimmed with dented gold and other precious metals that were not protected from age. It had clearly been polished at some point, but its surface was rough and cut through the delicate engravings that had once sat across its surface, revealing the lighter wood at its core.

She held her breath as she pushed against its lid. It opened with a subtle creak, causing her to quickly let go and nervously glance towards the still-closed door of his study as it slammed shut. Her face flushed as she felt annoyed that she felt so secretive about something he had given her full permission to go through.

After a few more moments of anticipation, she pushed open the lid and gasped at the sheer amount of foreign treasures that littered the insides of the container.

For the most part, it was filled to the brim with sorted papers and random treasures she could only assume were reminders of travels or victories across the world. Her eyes glittered in interest.

Amongst the scattered papers were numerous gold objects, a badly-scratched blue koopa shell covered in intense spikes and what she could only assume were burnt-off wings, and a black, shriveled up flower she had never seen before. Even impressive jewelry tangled through the box, surely made for a king.

Peach reached into the chest and lifted one of the golden statues. She nearly fumbled it as she didn't expect it to be so heavy. After she collected herself, she smiled in amusement at the odd creature: it was like a stack of uneven balls, covered in random, pointed spikes. It seemed like it was balancing at all times and its existence itself was amusing to her. A wide, cheery smile was plastered on his face.

She couldn't help but laugh as she gently put the statue down on the table. How could a creature look so ridiculous? Perhaps she would look just as odd to it if the two had met one day? Where would one even find something like that, or want to make a trophy of one?

Her attention turned towards the intricate jewelry of the box. Chains of various materials overlapped and each was adorned with an impressive, sparkly stone of unique colors. She grabbed a handful of the golden chains but frowned as she pulled them onto the table as they were all tangled into one heavy knot that she couldn't even dream of untangling.

She placed the mess to the side with a frown. She continued digging through the box.

Peach's knuckles brushed against a piece of paper loosely shoved into the container without a thought. It was crumbled and seemed like it belonged in a trashcan rather than a box of "important objects." Compared to all the other treasures within the box, a piece of paper hardly caught her attention as she dismissively pushed past it.

Wait.

Peach snatched the ball of paper and uncrumpled it as she stared at it in suspicion. Just as she had thought, it was the supposed last letter she had written him. Her face flared in frustration.

"When did he get this back?!" Peach groaned through clenched teeth. She had been so certain that she had hidden it from him! Though, it had been a while since she had checked…

King Koopa had seemed so desperate to get it away from her; to throw it away from himself, yet here it was, in his box of so-called treasures! She furrowed her brow and shot her eyes towards the door, made sure he wasn't watching her, and angrily shoved it deep into her purse.

I'll be holding onto this from now on, thank you! She sarcastically thought to herself. Though her cheeks puffed in annoyance, she couldn't fully ignore how her heart raced from the idea of him holding onto it. Even if his only goal was to keep it away from her...

Peach mumbled and complained to herself about King Koopa's hypocrisy and continued pushing through a few large feathers, engraved golden coins, and a cracked metal helmet.

Finally, after pushing through more questionable treasure, her eyes landed on something that made her face pale in horrified, distressed confusion:

The Mushroom Kingdom's infamous royal crown.

A/N: Ended up splitting this chapter into two parts since it was over 6k words long! Thank you so much for reading! Honestly, I may occasionally update more than once a week if I have a lot of chapters backlogged...I'm too impatient! Wink wink...Thank you so much for reading!