A/N: BONUS CHAPTER because I accidentally uploaded this chapter and the last one in the reverse order! Oops! It doesn't change anything but it was a silly mistake. Thank you for reading!
Mario and Pauline stood outside of one of the many designated living quarters of the opera house. It was sundown and most employees were already in their rooms ready to get a good night's rest for tomorrow's rehearsal. Besides the occasional door slamming shut or distant laughs of drunken janitors, they were the only active residents in the hallway.
Mario cleared his throat to fill the awkward silence as they gathered their courage. He shot Pauline an apprehensive stare before gently knocking his knuckles against the door. He did so quietly, nervous of who they had been sent to speak to, but that seemed to be enough to alert the resident as the door instantly opened with a squeaky creak of wood.
An older man peaked out, suspiciously eyed the two visitors, and finally fully opened the door as far as the metal-chained lock would allow; it was only a few inches...barely enough for his eyes to fit through the gap, but more than enough to stare at the two visitors with judgement. His glare trailed their shoes and moved to the tips of their heads in clear paranoia.
"You two…You're the main leads…what are you doing here?" He questioned suspiciously. His eyes widened as his eyes shook between the two. "Am I being fired?"
Mario laughed with a vigorous shake of his head.
"No, no!" He warmly reassured. "You are not being fired!"
The man let out a deep, grainy sigh of relief as he slammed the door shut. After a few moments of silence, followed by a metallic click, the door opened, this time fully, with another creak.
Mario and Pauline flinched as the elder's body was now fully visible: deep, purple bags sat underneath his pale eyes which were puffy and red from what they could assume was a lack of sleep. His wrinkles ran deeper against his pale skin than they remembered and his hair was thinner; it seemed as if he had aged nearly 10 years since the last time they had laid eyes on him.
He noticed their shocked stares and he awkwardly cleared his throat to pull their attention away from his dwindling state. Though, he was not offended, as his worry for his daughter had pulled him away from taking care of himself and it was hard to ignore. Once the two visitors stopped staring at him, he moved to the side and warmly welcomed the two into his room. Though his words were hushed and exhausted, he was eager to have company visit him after being isolated for so long. It seemed his solitude without his daughter was truly taking his toll on his mind and body.
As they stepped into the room, they tensed as a distant smell of mildew and disorder seeped through the air; dirty clothes and thrown sheets sat around his bed. It was clear he had been rotting away in his sorrow.
The elder closed the door behind them. Pauline winced as the smell got worse with only source of fresh air closed.
"I…What do you need to know?" He asked. It was clear that his mind was riddled with hesitation and worry of their intentions with him.
Mario cleared his throat as his eyes left the dirty room and returned to the father's gaze.
"We need to ask you some questions about your daughter and her…disappearance," he awkwardly mumbled with an apologetic frown. Mario instantly fidgeted with his gloved hands as the elder's face fell in frustrated grief.
"My daughter is missing. The last thing I need right now is an interrogation," he groaned with a broken sigh.
He sleepily plopped on the edge of his bed with a small bounce. Mario eyed the man's hands as he anxiously fiddled with the edge of his dress shirt: his knuckles and fingers were calaced and scared from a lack of care through his youth.
"I commend your dedication to finding her. But…but, I don't want to have questions thrown at me right now. You don't understand what it's like to lose the only family you have left."
Mario's eyes nervously trailed towards Pauline as her fingers shakily tightened around the ball-point pen in her palm. Though her face sat idly, he could feel the burning emotion lingering from the cracks in her composure.
Keep it together... Mario nervously thought to himself.
Pauline's eye twitched as she took a step towards the older human and angrily pressed the tip of her pen against his chest with a scowl. Mario dug his face into his hands in embarrassment.
"Mindsets like that get your only family left killed or worse. You want to wallow in your sadness? Fine, but hesitate and she might not come back because of it," she hissed. She leaned away from him with a sour, accusatory snarl. "It's your choice."
Mario's face continued paling as he nervously glanced between the two bickering humans. Though he didn't exactly agree with Pauline's heated approach towards their investigation, it seemed to have had an impact on the man: Peach's Father's face did not mirror Pauline's annoyance, but instead fell to a frown of desperation. Whatever mind game she was playing, Mario didn't understand it, but he bit his tongue.
"I…You don't understand, I haven't been eating or sleeping, I just feel so…so-"
"Alone? Broken?" She interrupted. The older man tensed. "You feel like your world is falling apart, like you need to do everything but you can't even find the courage to do anything but sit in your own despair."
The elder opened his mouth, instinctually ready to argue with the girl, but closed his mouth with a frustrated grunt as he sat idle with his thoughts. He frowned with a hesitant nod as he could not disagree with her. Mario leaned forward...had she struck a chord with him?
"Channel that into something that can actually help your daughter." She pulled out her notepad. "Can you answer a few questions for us, at the very least?"
The old man grumbled to himself before finally mustering a small nod of agreement; he had worn her down and, whether it was because it was easier to give into her or he truly wanted to answer the questions, he seemed ready to answer anything. Mario stared at the woman in an impressed, though mildly-discomforted, stare.
Pauline tapped her chin with the edge of her pen for a moment as she wondered to herself: how exactly could she get the most information out of him, assuming he was hiding something from her? It didn't seem like she had managed to secure a good amount of time with him before he lost interest.
Mario held his breath as he didn't feel comfortable interjecting.
"Tell me about your life in the Mushroom Kingdom," she curiously muttered. "Why did you leave?"
The elder didn't expect such a harmless question. He eyed her suspiciously.
"Oh, where do I start? It was a nice Kingdom, but…I couldn't find work, we had to leave; things were getting too expensive with the war happening. We couldn't live on scraps forever."
Pauline nodded.
"Your daughter couldn't find work either?"
"Her job at the library wasn't enough to cover our needs. She's much more capable than that line of work, anyways."
She scribbled Peach's occupation down.
"Can you tell me more about Peach? Was she always active in the Kingdom?"
He shook his head.
"Outside of local theater projects, I can't say she was. Not many friends, either. She was always a bit too lost in her own head, taking walks on her own, exploring abandoned pathways…a bit too curious to bother with fitting in. Wasn't very well liked with people her age outside of older suitors. She was never one for community events that didn't involve her singing." He sighed. "It's not a surprise to me she ended up wandering into trouble, I always knew it would eventually happen, but…"
His voice trailed off as he looked back towards his fidgeting hands.
Pauline's brow furrowed. "Yet, you took her to a kingdom full of danger? Why this one?" She asked with an accusatory frown. "I'm sure the Mushroom Kingdom is well aware that the Darklands isn't a place for a girl who wanders into trouble."
He sighed. Guilt trickled over his features though he tried to hide it.
"Sarasaland was our only other reasonable option, but… it reminded me too much of my wife. I couldn't go there, not anytime soon."
Pauline's eyes widened as she hadn't considered Peach's other parent in the investigation.
"Your wife?"
His eyes blurred as he looked up towards her. He nodded with a saddened sigh.
"She…she was a victim of war. Peach is all I have left of her."
Pauline and Mario mumbled their sincere apologies to which the father shook his head, knowing they had no ill-will.
"Your wife…what did she do for a living?" Mario asked.
"She was a seamstress. As for me, I was in the army, before you ask that, too," he grumbled. It was clear that he was uncomfortable discussing her and his patience with the two visitors was dwindling.
Pauline scribbled down his responses. He groaned.
"I don't see how any of this will help-"
"Can you answer one last question for me?" She interrupted.
He quickly nodded, clearly eager to end the questioning.
"It's strange that your daughter doesn't exist on any records or archives. Do you know anything about that?"
The silence that followed Pauline's words was thick and lasted a few seconds before the father's face contorted into an offended scowl as he glared between the two humans, clearly distressed with the implications of Pauline's mumbles. His stare accusingly lingered on Mario for a few moments, who raised his hands defensively as he was just as appalled at Pauline's guts as him and remained silent.
The elder's eyes shot back towards the woman.
"Archives? What are you talking about?" He asked defensively. "I'd never tamper with anything related to the kingdom, especially something like that, if that's what you're attempting to insinuate."
Pauline squinted towards him. She didn't like his defensive tone.
Mario cleared his throat and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to silently warn her of her growing temper; he tried to pull her away from her intense method of getting information out of the old man, but she instead shook him off of her without a look in his direction.
"I don't think you did it. I just want to know why your daughter was important enough to be kidnapped, allegedly by a dangerous figure according to eye witnesses..." Pauline confidently rambled, but both her and Mario were well aware she was exaggerating, as the only evidence they had of the kidnapper's identity was from a group of drunk koopas, and neither really believed it. "...as well as to be removed from accurate historical documents."
Mario slapped himself on the face in disbelief from the way Pauline laid their cards fully on the table, confidently revealing all of the secret information they had painstakingly worked to discover privately. He couldn't tell if it was a genius move or a stupid one, though he was leaning towards stupid.
Peach's father's face paled in horror. "My daughter is kidnapped by a- a dangerous figure? You know who it is?! Who?!" He hollered in worry.
Pauline groaned at his panic as if she hadn't expected him to show any concern for his missing daughter.
"Allegedly," she repeated with impatient reassurance. "We're trying to figure out who has her so we can bring her back to you. So if you can-"
"You can't drop that information on me and expect me to timidly sit here!" He cried. "I…What could they possibly want with my daughter? She was hardly worth anything to our kingdom, let alone yours-"
"You should talk about your daughter a bit higher than that, sir," Mario interrupted with a frown. Pauline glanced at him, impressed with the stern look on his face.
The elder stared at him in offense before sighing. "You're right, I'm sorry. I…I just can't understand why someone would take her. My daughter. She's never done anything wrong."
"People prey on those who least deserve it," Pauline sighed.
Mario glanced between the two and sighed.
"Look, Mr. Toadstool, I know you are grieving. But, if there is anything you can tell us about Peach's background, people who know her, reasons for her to run away, anything…you will be doing everything you can. It would help a lot."
The old man sadly looked between the two visitors. He opened his mouth and stumbled over his words for a few moments, but the two investigative humans stared at him patiently, letting him compose his thoughts. Finally, the old man sighed and looked up at them with a cowardly frown.
"There is…something," he sighed. "But…you need to promise not to tell her."
Mario and Pauline stared at him in silent agreement. He gulped and continued. "She…she wasn't always mine," he nervously rambled. "My wife, she…she was from Sarasaland. Her brother and his wife had passed away in a local war there…only their child survived, so we took her in and raised her." His eyes fell to horrified guilt as he looked up at the two humans in desperation. "Please, like I said…I beg of you, don't tell Peach. It doesn't matter to me, but I worry that it will hurt her. I only tell you this if it might…if it might help you."
Mario instantly turned on his heels, covered his ears, and booked it for the door as he tried to drown out what he had just heard, overwhelmed with the idea of holding onto that private information. Pauline grabbed the back of his collar and held him next to her with a frustrated glare.
Mario bit the edges of his gloved fingers as he was forced to digest the information. He looked towards Pauline, uncomfortable to notice her face was unflinching to the reveal of Peach and her father's relationship. It bothered him how emotionless she was through the entire investigation.
She cleared her throat.
"That…that would explain her lack of documentation," Pauline muttered under her breath. She let go of Mario's shirt. "Thank you, that's why we came to talk to you. If we have any further questions, or you need anything, you can always come find one of us."
"Thank you both. Truly," the old man whispered.
Pauline muttered her thanks and left the room with Mario quickly following behind in silence. They closed the door behind him, leaving the man to his own thoughts, as they quickly made their way to rehearsal; they were already running late due to their need to question Peach's father. The two took deep breaths as they hadn't realized how sour the air had become in his room.
They walked in silence for a few moments before Mario finally asked her about what was sitting in the back of his mind.
"Don't you feel…a bit uncomfortable…knowing Peach isn't related to her own father?" Mario nervously asked. "I feel like we know something we shouldn't."
Pauline sighed.
"It's not like we'll tell her. That's…that's not our responsibility," she awkwardly shrugged. "I was just…I was certain there was a clue behind all of this. I thought we were onto something. Didn't you?"
The two humans ducked as a group of familiar flying koopas flew dangerously quickly above their heads, nearly knocking their boots into the tip of Mario's hat.
The girls were in a chaotic rush, giggling and yelping in excitement as they clearly had very little consideration for their surroundings. Only when Mario called out to them did they look over their shoulder, their eyes lighting up to see the lead of their show.
"Oh, Mario~!" One of the girls cheerily swooned as she lowered closer to him. She was one of the makeup artists from set that he had spoken to several times before. "Didn'ya hear?! Letters were just sent out!"
She shoved a crudely-torn letter into his nose with a wide smile. It was concealed in a ripped red envelope, a black wax stamp dangling from where it had once sealed it shut.
Pauline grinded her teeth as the koopas didn't notice or care to greet her as they surrounded the male star. Even so, she stared curiously. Mario, on the other hand, tilted his head in confusion, oblivious to their interest in him, as he was more intrigued with whatever had gotten the opera house so excited.
The koopas laughed at his interest.
"The ball is so close! The queen is even coming! In person!" The girl shrieked as she snatched the letter away. She happily bounced up and down as the group of girls cheered and couldn't contain their giddy smiles. "The queen! You know, the last time I saw her, she beheaded my uncle for being out after curfew. This is so much cooler!"
Another female koopa bubbled in excitement as she pipped in: "Not only that, it'll be at the royal ballroom! I thought it would be another one of Kamek's cheap-o parties, but...oh, a real royal ball! Oh, Mario, promise me you'll save me a dance or two? Or three?!" She squealed.
The ball.
Mario and Pauline had completely forgotten about the upcoming event even though posters had been plastered around every corner. They had much more pressing matters on their minds and hadn't even thought about attending since the initial reveal.
It was normal for the production team to put something together in celebration like a dance or get together, but a ball with royal attendees? At the royal ballroom? They knew the queen was interested, but...Mario shot a sheepish glance towards Pauline who was expectedly fuming in bitter rage.
The koopas rambled and bounced about their excitement before flying off with a few more giggles and a wave in Mario's direction. Once they faded into the crowd, Pauline rolled her eyes and looked back towards her friend, thankful that the crowd was much less suffocating without them, though her mind was anything but calm.
"Koopas will idolize anyone," she grumbled.
Mario shrugged.
"Humans, too. I suppose it's safer to love than to fear."