A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Thank you so much for reading and thank you for 21k views! I feel like we were just at 15k yesterday! I'm always blown away by the support! This story is mainly a fun outlet for me to work on when I'm not busy with college so I'm blown away that so many of you keep up with it! :D

Peach was forced out of her sleep when King Koopa abruptly scooped her off of the cold stone floor into his grip. She panicked for a moment, squirming and sleepily hitting her hands against his chest as she was unaware of what was happening…but, finally, one-by-one, her senses came back to her as she realized who the brute was that had grabbed her so carelessly. She groaned, fell limp, and gave into him with a sleepy-yep-bothered frown.

King Koopa didn't react to her refusal in the slightest. He seemed alert and far more energized than the night before, though Peach highly doubted he was able to get any sleep last night.

"What- where are we going?" She sleepily asked with a rub of her eyes. King Koopa placed her in the corner of his arm and her back rested against her shoulder; it was how he always held her when needed but she was too tired to object or notice how close he held her.

"If you'd like to stay here, that's fine with me. I have responsibilities to get back to."

She followed his focused eyes and noticed he was staring intently towards the edge of the cliff.

The severity of their situation pulled Peach out of her drowsy fog as she looked around her and remembered where they were. Her eyes settled on the nearly-burnt-out fire that sat to their right, the wood charred and sizzling with dimmed embers that didn't give off any heat. In an instant, her awareness of what had happened came back to her in a quick whiplash:

They were still in the cave.

"N-No, I want to come with," she nervously mumbled as she leaned into his grip.

The way her frustration with him fell to anxious compliance made him smirk. "Stay still," he ordered.

Peach nodded and looked forward, though she could not see very far.

She tilted her head and looked around at every angle of the open space. She looked up towards where they had fallen from and saw nothing but darkness above her; deep, looming shadows that stretched for infinity above the two. She shuddered, unable to grasp how far the two had truly fallen and how they could possibly get back to the labyrinth.

She instinctively looked from her left to her right, hoping to find a path to the surface that had mysteriously opened, but fell flat as they were still surrounded by solid stone.

Without anywhere to go, where was he planning on going? Peach's eyes fell to the edge of the cliff as her face paled in realization.

Peach screamed as the phantom jumped off of the cliff, directly into the haze-like unknown. Her voice cracked and her eyes watered as she felt the two spiral downward at an increasingly horrifying speed.

Her ability to see was instantly swept away from her as they plummeted into the darkness.

She cursed out at him in panicked-anger but her screams were quickly smothered by the cold wind howling in her ears. She was unable to see how close they were to hitting the bottom and anticipated the worst at any moment, clinging onto him as tightly as she could. She was too panicked to hear King Koopa's snickers as he watched her panic.

His grip around her tightened as she desperately pressed herself against his chest and dragged her fingers along his chest, hugging and grabbing him as they descended. Though, even if she let go, he wouldn't let her fall.

After a few moments of free-falling, she felt the king slam his free-hand against what she assumed was a stone wall with a loud, booming vibration. They landed against it with a loud crunch as he dragged his thick claws through the obsidian, leaving behind deep scratches in his path.

She heard echoes of cracks and splinters as he cut through the rough stone. The howling in her ears fell to gentle hums and her hair fell back on her shoulders; his grip against the wall brought their fall to a much slower, manageable pace as his claws mangled the stone.

Peach's screams fell to horrified whimpers as she leaned her face against his chest.

"You're fine," he muttered with subtle care.

Fury replaced her fear as she leaned away from him. His eyes lit up and he smirked as the life, and mainly the fury, returned to her eyes.

"You!" She hissed with an accusatory glare towards his face. "You threw us off of a cliff!"

Her temper grew as he snickered. Though she could not see him, she could feel his glowing eyes drag all over her, laced with an entertained glare at her reaction.

He shrugged. "I can drop you if you'd like."

Peach yelped as his grip around her gently loosened enough for her body to subtly sink away from his protection. She screamed out in angered distress as she wrapped her arms around his neck to stop herself from falling, to which he burst out into a booming, dark laugh that echoed and bounced off of the deep cave's walls.

His grip tightened once again. She snatched her hands off of him and crossed them against her chest.

"You're horrible!" She cried.

He laughed again. "So I've heard. Quit giving me reactions and I'll stop messing with you."

Peach looked away from him with pure annoyance and a small huff, not daring to allow herself to go along with his torment any longer. Her reaction was exactly what he had hoped for but she couldn't help but accidentally give into his antics every time; he was too clever with her. It was so frustrating! But, for some reason, she didn't fully mind it, seeing as it always got a laugh out of him…though she'd never tell him that.

After collecting herself, Peach's eyes squinted as she tried to make out where they were or where they were going besides downward. King Koopa's smug eyes left her and returned to the descent as he focused on where they were heading.

Peach gasped as a trio of squeaking bats grazed the side of her face and flew away from the two. She felt his grip around her hold her still. The cave seemed to have grown and expanded to an impressive size beyond what she had seen on the cliff. She felt a subtle warm breeze against her skin the further they descended.

The phantom finally landed onto the floor with a loud slam. The vibration ran through her and earned a yelp out of her as she hadn't realized they were at the bottom. He snatched his hand off of the stone, dropping a handful of debris around the two, and gently lowered her to stand with him.

Once Peach found her footing, she instinctively took a step towards him, bumping into his chest, as she could still not see anything.

King Koopa guided her away from him. "Wait here," he whispered.

Peach flinched from the dark concern in his voice, but nodded and remained still. Was he…anxious? Outwardly so? She knew he was always silently riddled with worry but she rarely heard or saw it within him outside of subtle movements or the hidden emotions behind his eyes. Normally eager to disobey his controlling nature, Peach felt the need to do exactly what he wanted; she knew he knew what was best.

Left alone with her senses, Peach looked around her. Though she could not see, she still tried…her wandering mind was the only thing keeping her from being terrified of the dark. The air was warm and humid; It smelt like fresh rain and wet dirt, though far dustier and laced with the distinct smell of rotting, used wood. She closed her eyes and heard distant trickling water dripping in rhythmic succession

Squeaking bats echoed in the distance as well as her clicking heels against the stone as she looked around her, but she couldn't make out any shapes or figures in the darkness.

If he weren't with her, she would be far more apprehensive of what lay in the unknown.

Peach gasped as King Koopa ignited his flames against a thick stick of wood across the way from her. He held the torch beside him, illuminating their surroundings within the flame's bubble of vision.

Now able to see, she noticed a long, silver railroad dragged along the cut stone between the two: the metal was rusted and covered in slices and dents. The wood was decayed and cracked. A single, barely-standing minecart sat on top of it, filled with what seemed to be rubble and piles of worthless stone that had been dug out of the mines.

She looked upwards and gasped. Railroads stretched across the cave's upward tunnel, crossing and overlapping into a highway of abandoned traffic. They overlapped in a chaotic mess, entering tunnels and spiraling through the cave's walls.

Though no longer used, it was clear that this had been a very lively mine, though she couldn't help but wonder how it managed to function through the chaotic nature of the layout.

King Koopa sighed. "War demands resources but I never realized how much we've hollowed out the earth."

Peach's eyes left the abandoned tunnels and returned to the king, who had returned to her side. He looked upwards with a deep frown and something uncomfortable seeped out of him.

Had he never been here before?

Peach tilted her head in concern as he stared in silence. "It's never too late to stop," she quietly suggested.

He bitterly laughed under his breath as his eyes returned to hers.

"Stop?" He bitterly laughed. "You say that as if war itself stops."

Peach frowned. "Why can't it?"

The phantom clenched his hand around the torch as he looked down at her. At first, his instinctual response was to scoff away her ignorant question as war was all he knew…his entire existence and purpose was dependent on war itself; he was created to combat a war her ancestors had started. But, he quickly shut his mouth, as her simple, obvious question rang through him the more he thought about it.

Why couldn't war stop?

"I'd say that's a stupid question, but-"

King Koopa was interrupted by a shrill, squeaky laugh that echoed through the caverns. It resonated and bounced off of the cavern's walls like a hyena unable to contain its eagerness to hunt its prey.

Peach gasped at the distant cries as the laughs sent a haunting, chilling warning that ran up her spine. She instinctively looked up at her captor, hoping he would tell her the creepy laughs were harmless or somehow a good sign, things she knew weren't true, though she still hoped he would say such a thing. She tensed as she noticed his face contorted into a deep scowl.

"What was that?" She anxiously asked under her breath.

"Unwanted company. We need to move. Now," he barked.

He impatiently gestured for her to come closer to him as his eyes wandered above them. She nodded and eagerly closed the gap between the two, unsettled from whatever made him suddenly speak to her with a sense of urgency.

Another ghostly laugh danced from deep within the mines.

She gasped as he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. She was forced against the side of his chest as if he expected something to snatch her or grab her attention enough for her to wander off; he held her firmly, though she did not resist him. She welcomed the contact, taking solace in his reassuring protection.

She looked up at him with a worried frown. Whatever was down there with them was enough to worry him enough to expect something to happen to her; to them both. She knew he was always worried about the stability of their condition, but he hardly showed it outside of a muted glance.

An unnerved chill still ran through her as her eyes wandered through the darkness, only able to see as far as his flames guided her. He noticed her concern and looked down towards her with a sudden, protective growl.

"I won't let them touch you."

Them? She thought to herself. You know who they are?

Peach's eyes widened as she realized the severity of the situation for him to confidently reassure her. Her eyes fell to her feet as she tried to collect herself, though all she could muster was a hesitant nod; she always felt her mind run numb when he didn't hide how he felt. It was always a bit too intense for her, but her mind often craved his transparency.

Another squeaky laugh rattled against the cave's walls. She flinched but he held her still.

She looked over her shoulder as if she could see where the voices came from, yet all she could see was darkness. He noticed her curiosity and quietly answered her wonders.

"Disciples of King Boo. I can recognize their laughter."

Peach frowned. She had read of boos vaguely in her books before but never a king of them. Was there a kingdom of boos? A society? They were always described as tricky, mischievous creatures that were lost souls that weren't ready to move on…or, simply didn't want to move on for whatever reason. Many creatures ended up becoming one of them but the thought of becoming a ghost didn't feel right to her.

"King…Boo?" She repeated. "I've never heard of him."

He smirked. She couldn't tell why, but her lack of knowledge of the foreign king satisfied him. "There's a reason you don't know who he is or what kingdom he rules over. His people are nothing but scavengers now."

She frowned at the way he spat his words about the foreign king like venom. "I'm assuming he's not…well liked."

"Even with my obvious charm, we aren't on the best of terms," he sarcastically shrugged. "He's a con artist clinging onto a memory. It's nothing but a ghost town there now."

She tilted her head.

"Ghost town? Literally or…figuratively?"

"Both, I suppose," he muttered. "There's nothing there worth remembering."

Peach frowned as her eyes curiously squinted up towards his profile.

She could sense a booming frustration seeping out of him as he thought about the other king, as if the two had a deep history together, seemingly riddled with unpleasant memories or experiences.

"They prey on things like you: curious and weak. There are some creatures that aren't worth trusting."

Peach's stomach fell at his confident comment. To fear an entire species? That was hard to believe coming from the king of koopas; she couldn't find herself able to fully stand behind his disdain for the foreign creatures, as her kingdom had spewed the same thing about him and his kind...humans had been wrong about koopas, hadn't they? Surely he felt the same way about humans, right? She frowned, not finding an answer she was comfortable with.

She stared at him in suspicion but bit her tongue.

After a few minutes of walking, Peach groaned as they found themselves in front of a cracked stone staircase heading lower into the mines. The king froze and looked over his shoulder, realizing Peach had stopped following him.

"We're going deeper?" Peach asked with uncomfortable anticipation.

"Our only option is to go deeper," he bluntly reassured. "Unless you'd like to turn back?"

Peach looked over her shoulder down the dark pathway they had wandered through. As if on cue, one of the boos' muffled laughs bounced from where they had come from and taunted her with her fate if she were to turn around. Though she couldn't tell, a part of her worried if they were getting closer.

She sighed and shook her head in compliance. He scoffed and turned back towards the faulty stairs before them.

She stared at the back of his powerful shell as they descended down the staircase. His flames sparking on the torch illuminated the walls around them, and in many ways, it felt like they were back to wandering through the labyrinth. Though, she knew they were far from it, no matter how familiar the isolation felt.

She wondered how long it had been since anyone had wandered down these stairs. Her wonder numbed her fear for only a few seconds.

"Stop. Wait here," the king quietly ordered.

Peach's posture stiffened as she froze in place. Normally, she wasn't one to blindly do as he said, but…she knew he had her best interest in mind considering the circumstances. He took a large step forward and turned around to face her. He silently outstretched his claw towards her, waiting for her to grab it.

Peach tilted her head in confusion at the gesture.

Only when her eyes fell between them did she realize why he reached for her: a few inches away, nearing the tips of her heels, a few steps had crumbled and worn away over time, leaving a sizable hole that stretched in an impressive diameter and seemed to plummet infinitely beneath them; for him, it was an easy, seamless movement but for Peach, it made her heart race in fear as the idea of losing her footing held her still...Peach gulped at the idea of jumping over an impressive hole that seemed to lead nowhere.

Her eyes shot back up towards him.

The king further outstretched his claws towards her.

"I'll catch you if you fall," he reassured. "Probably," he quietly added.

She angrily scowled and placed her hands on her hips at his lack of care for her worry.

He darkly laughed under his breath at her frustrated reaction. His outstretched hand continued patiently waiting for her to jump across and take it. She glanced between him and his palm for a few moments as she weighed her options.

Peach sighed and held her breath as she took a few hesitant steps towards the crater. The tips of her heels pressed against the edge of the broken stone, teetering off the edge, and released a few loose pebbles into the void. She clenched her teeth as she never heard them hit the bottom.

Another shrill laugh beckoned her to take his hand.

With one deep exhale, she took a few large steps back and hopped over the large hole with her eyes squinted shut. Her movement was graceful for only a moment, as she clumsily stumbled on the other side with a click of her heels against the stone.

Before she could fully fall forward, the phantom snatched her wrist and held her in place, helping her regain her balance.

After she returned to her full height, the king removed his hand from her wrist and pressed it against her lower back with a haunting whisper in her ear.

"I told you I'd catch you," he reminded her.

Peach gasped at his sudden words so close to her. She felt her heart race and instinctively tried to back away from him but only ended up bumping further into him. She felt his interest in her double from the contact, so she forced a look of disdain as she pushed herself off of him.

"You said probably," she nervously hissed next to him.

He removed his hand from her and returned to looming above her.

"Who knows if I will next time," he shrugged.

Peach rolled her eyes as she begrudgingly followed him down the stairs again.

Once they reached the bottom, a source of blue light caught their attention. They glanced at one another in silent curiosity, and turned back towards the distant illumination that crept across the walls.

Peach's chest raced with hope as she recognized the blue light as the same one they had seen in the ballroom. Had they somehow wandered back towards their initial descent? Were hey at the surface? Peach bit her tongue as that wasn't possible, considering they had only gone deeper, but her mind still hoped for a miracle.

Upon closer inspection, the light was radiating out of a room to their left. It was a large opening, a marble arch framing the entrance, revealing a hauntingly-familiar room.

The opening was aesthetically similar to the ballroom they had initially fallen through; the floor was covered in white cracked marble that was tinted with deep blues and shining golds at their trimmings. Because it was much deeper than the other abandoned ballroom, this room was preserved more delicately, and wasn't as worn from age.

Engraved, white pillars sat at each corner of the room, their edges and grooves etched with golden patterns. They stretched up much higher than the two visitors, though not nearly as tall as the initial room they had found earlier.

Peach's chest tightened as her eyes crept towards a large marble statue sitting directly across from the two, standing in front of the opposite wall and towering a few feet taller than her. She tilted her head in curiosity, as it was a statue of a tall human woman, her hand outstretched and reaching for something invisible in front of her.

Instead of eyes, there were two deep, black holes where they would have sat; they were circular craters that seeped deep into her skull. A thick crack splintered between her eyes and ran down her chest, and even though the statue couldn't possibly feel pain, it was somehow saddening and horribly uncanny.

Peach's chest ached with discomfort from the eerie decoration and quickly turned on her heels to leave. Instead, the king looked over her shoulder, and she bumped into his chest with a groan.

She looked up at him with a panicked frown. He looked back at her with a furrow of his brow.

"Do you know who that's meant to be?" He asked.

She looked back towards the broken statue's cracked face. She shuddered. "I have no idea. Though, I'm glad I'm unfamiliar…It's so creepy." She paused. "Do you know who she is?"

He shook his head.

"I know a lot about human history…but, nothing about this; about whoever that is. Hell, I know nothing about this place. It's unsettling."

That, they could agree on.

Though, the longer her eyes lingered on the statue across the room, the quicker her heart beat in unknown wonder; she had never seen a human's figure preserved in such a grand way outside of her kingdom's royal line, even if the state of the statue had deteriorated into forgotten meaning...and made her skin crawl.

A haze of internal, forgotten whispers murmured at the back of her mind, beckoning her towards the figure. She could not understand the distant words but she could feel their intentions and deep cravings for her to approach the statue. She took a step closer to it, blindly following whatever reached out to her, and stared up at it in awe, and froze.

Who was she? Why was she so familiar?

She looked up towards the statue with a frown, silently asking the stone woman as if she would respond telepathically.

"What did you do?" The king interrogated with an accusatory stare.

Peach shook her head as King Koopa's voice pulled her out of her trance. What had she done? Had she even done something? Her curiosities with the statue before her fell to horror as something strange seeped out of the woman's features.

Peach stumbled over her words in a panic. "I…I didn't do anything!" She argued with a defensive shake of her head, though her eyes dripped with an apologetic apprehension. She clenched her fingers around her dress's collar. "I- I..I just-"

His frustration fell to a protective frown as he carefully snatched her arm and pulled her away from whatever made him tense with a sense of danger. She quickly followed next to him, though her eyes fixated on the statue over her shoulder, both saddened and glad to escape its empty eyes.

As if on cue, a loud thump interrupted them and crashed through the room, invisible to the eye, but loud enough to rattle the sediment around their feet. The cracks were followed by grinding and murmurs from within the walls that echoed against her. She yelped but King Koopa did not hesitate to pull her towards the exit.

The unknown always terrified him, and this seemed to be no exception.

They rushed towards the entrance but stumbled back as a large circular stone slammed between them and the exit with a loud, echoing thump.

A/N: Sorry for the abrupt ending! Thank you for reading!