A/N: This chapter was a bit hard to write because I kept wanting to add more and more to it! It's a bit long, but I decided I didn't want to split it into two parts because I enjoy longer chapters. Also, you guys waited so long that you earned a long chapter! It's not perfect, but I had a lot of fun writing it! Thank you for reading! :^)

In what felt like a blink of the eye, Peach was awake. She abruptly sat up and coughed thick water out of her lungs between deep, scratchy breaths as her awareness finally snapped back to her; she was alive. Her hands clenched into her dress's collar as she tried to steady her panicked breathing, leaning back against the stone wall as her trembling body was too confused to keep her up.

To her surprise, besides her itching lungs, she was unharmed and...was able to breathe quite easily after coughing out the water in her. Looking down at her palms, her hands trembled, surely from the lingering adrenaline that continued coursing through her body, and her mind was fuzzy with confusion. Her dress was damp and clung to her legs but she was not cold, at least not as much as before; it seemed as if the thick chilling air only resided in the mysterious blue room…instead she was surrounded by the usual Darklands warmth. At the very least, she was starting to dry.

To her left, it was thanks to a small pile of scraps of wood lit on fire that she was able to see. It was a weak fire, as if it were left unattended for a while, or perhaps created in a rush. She wasn't sure, but...one thing she was certain of was who had made the fire, easily recognizing the power that bounced through the embers against the wood:

King Koopa!

The blurriness in Peach's mind faded as a deep worry ran through her at the thought of him, wondering where he was, if he was alright, or if he had even managed to survive. After calming herself down, she knew his fire was proof enough that he had survived, and began to calm her panicked thoughts...but that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to see him, or talk to him, to reassure him that everything was going to be alright–though that would surely be for her own benefit, seeing as she was the one confused, shivering, and...

Only then did she realize how alone she was. With a sudden rush of courage, Peach stood up and tiptoed away from the fire. She squinted and was able to make out a large arch above her head. She put her hands against the wall and leaned through the opening, discomforted to feel a gust of wind push past her.

"K-King Koopa?" Peach quietly called out, uncomfortable to hear her voice bounce eerily far. She paused as the only response she got was a deep murmur within the dark cave. She continued with growing terror. "King Koopa…? H-Hello?"

"King...Koopa?" A squeaky voice curiosity echoed in the darkness. The voice was hushed and shrill, though eager, curious and laced with a foreign accent. "You know of him?"

Peach jolted away from the opening and held her hands defensively against her chest. "Who's there?!" She cried out in her best attempt at a confident tone. "Y-You shouldn't attack me! You'll anger someone who won't hesitate to do worse to you! I-I'm also someone you don't want to anger–"

The stranger snorted, and though Peach couldn't see her company, she could feel the stranger roll their eyes. "No need for panic, miss. I just find it odd that a flimsy girl like you would be calling out to someone like him. And, oh, well, he's dead. That too, I suppose."

Peach furrowed her brow, offended by the word flimsy.

The stranger giggled, still invisible to the human. "I didn't mean any offense by my shock, honest! I don't think I've ever seen a human down here! Alive, that is," the stranger replied with a nervous clear of their throat. "Or soaking wet and sleeping against a wall. I thought you were dead at first! Not like me, that is..."

Peach blinked and forced a smile at the hopefully harmless company's lingering eyes, a bit bothered by the implication of being watched for so long. After a few moments, the stranger took Peach's silence as a product of the darkness and laughed one more time, this time a bit too close to Peach's ears. "Oh! I forget you humans can't see me like this! Especially when it's dark! Oh, that's right, it's been so long! Where are my manners?"

The stranger cleared their throat before clapping their hands together. Instantly, the creature flickered and lit up with a dull, pink hue radiating from its core, illuminating Peach's features and earning a gasp out of her; she was finally able to see who she was talking to:

She was a small, unfamiliar ghost-like creature with a cheeky smile on her face, though unsettling and mischievous, her eyes were lively and intently staring at Peach. The being was small, roughly the size of a balloon, and glowed in the dark, lighting up the stone around her with its pink body. If not for the unnerving smirk unflinching from its features, Peach might've considered it...cute.

The stranger floated closer to her and Peach instinctively tried to swat away her company as she began swarming around her like a mosquito, though the creature simply phased through her hands and ignored the attempt.

Close enough to poke her nose, the being smirked. "You're pretty!" The creature hummed as she floated around her head. "You shouldn't be down here, should ya? You're lucky I found you and not some other Boo. They can be rough when it comes to rare goods…that and we don't see your kind often."

"You're…a boo?" Peach whispered.

Peach bit her tongue and stepped back as her mind wandered with the king's clear warnings of their kind. She had read about the ghosts before and how they were tricky and mischievous, usually attacking in groups of many, but she had never heard someone speak so poorly of them like King Koopa did. And...it was just one boo, did his warnings truly hold any merit against a boo like her? Maybe she was stubborn, but she hoped he was wrong.

The boo groaned as she noticed Peach's discomfort. "Oh, don't tell me you're aligned with the koopas. Are you?"

Peach's eyes widened."No! No, I'm not," she adamantly defended. "I'm...temporarily living in the Darklands for work. I'm from the Mushroom Kingdom."

The boo's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank goodness, that's wonderful! Us boos are very familiar with your kind, just as your kind are very familiar with us, you know! We haven't forgotten!" The boo tapped her chin. "Well, we used to be familiar...I wasn't–I hadn't died yet, back then. But, my anscestors were! They're still alive–well, as alive as a boo can be–just...not here."

Peach couldn't help but laugh at the boo's eagerness. "Boos? Humans? Surely you're mistaken. If humans and boos were as close as you think, your kind would have more than one chapter in our educational books–and it isn't a very long chapter."

She gently giggled to herself at her poor attempt at humor, hoping to somehow break the ice between the two, but her laughter faded to awkward silence as her company didn't do so much as stare through her.

...

"Have you forgotten?"

Peach flinched at the creature's change of tone. "...Forgotten?"

The boo crossed her arms and floated around Peach's head. "That explains why you were so surprised to see a boo...down here, of all places, I suppose. It was bound to happen: humans forgetting through generations and generations of...well, whatever you humans do to pass the time...throwing rocks, eating mush, I'm not quiet sure what you waste your lives doing," the boo rambled, "though, I don't know why you're so surprised to see me, as if you being a human down here isn't horribly strange in itself!"

Forgotten...Oh, what else had she forgotten?

Perhaps it was because she wasn't harmed yet, but her fear of the creature was beginning to fade, replaced with the need to smother her curiosities of what exactly she had forgotten in favor of finding her way back to the surface. "Do you happen to know a way out of here? We're–I'm trying to get out of the caverns...back to the surface. Or, near it, rather...you see, it's a long story...but, I'm trying to get back to the tunnels under the Darklands," she awkwardly whispered. "If you happen to know a way, that is..." Peach's words rambled to silence out of embarrassment, realizing she had been talking for far too long.

The boo didn't seem bothered and tapped her chin. "Surface? Oh, the surface, that's all? Hmm…Well, I can take you there! No problem! You'll just have to follow me!" The boo laughed as it floated upwards, phasing through the ceiling with another amused cackle that bounced through the walls. The pink light faded, leaving Peach alone with the king's fading flames, and she stared upwards with a deep frown.

Peach, unamused with the joke, cleared her throat and quietly scolded the ceiling. "I'm unable to fly…or float…or go through walls," she mumbled. "I'm actually unable to do any sort of magic. I'm...human, remember? Or have you forgotten?" She added with a point towards her heart.

The boo squeaked one more laugh and appeared back in front of Peach's face, causing her to yelp one more time. This time, her expression fell more annoyed than curious. "Of course you are!" The boo corrected. "Don't worry about your flaws, we can walk! Well, I suppose you can walk...I'll float, if you don't mind!" She happily called out before floating down the corridor with bursts of laughter.

Peach didn't hesitate to chase after the ghost as its laughs echoed away. However, she did sneak one nervous glance over her shoulder towards the fading light from the king's fire, biting her lip in anticipation of where he was or what she was meant to do. Her head begged for her to deny the boo's eagerness and wait by the fire for him to return, but...her heart was too determined to prove herself...to who, she did not know.

Once Peach caught up, the boo smiled at her from her shoulder. "What brings you down here, anyways? Curiosities? Mining? Ghost hunting? I will warn you, if it's ghost hunting, you're in for a painful reality...you'll probably be the one hunted!" The ghost shrieked in laughter, but this time Peach only mildly flinched, subtly smiling at the ghost's odd sense of humor.

"I never meant to come down here," she replied with a glance towards the rugged ceiling. "At least not for this long…"

The boo seemed satisfied with her answer. "Ah, that always seems to be the case. Can't say I've wandered upon anyone with a flesh-suit like yours who was happy to be in the caverns. Almost always koopas! But sometimes we get a rare occurrence like you! It's always an accident, a dare, or an order from the Koopa Queen...well, anything with a pulse usually whines about the darkness a lot, to say the least! Before they die...or leave...It was funny the first time...not so much anymore! Now I feel like a glorified tour guide!"

Peach awkwardly giggled. "It's too dark for me. I don't know how you find your way down here."

The boo let out a shriek of a laugh, just as loud as before, and caught Peach off guard. "I wouldn't want to be on the surface…so consider us even." The boo giggled. "You humans enjoy strange things, can't say I understand you."

Peach shrugged. "Everything's strange at first glance," Peach gently corrected.

The boo floated backwards, staring directly at Peach as they continued down the hallway. "Is that so?"

"Well, usually..."

The boo extended her small hands towards her company and waved them dismissively. "If I had feet for hands or hands for feet, that wouldn't be strange to you? Or perhaps fingers for eyes and eyes for fingers? Because it was normal to me, you would find it normal?"

Peach blinked. "W-well…if it was something you were accustomed to, I suppose it wouldn't be strange." She paused. "Well, I wouldn't say how odd it is to your face, at least. Maybe I would think it...or sneak an occasional glance," she awkwardly laughed. "Come to think of it, I used to think most creatures were strange, but now I understand that I just have a lot to learn about them. I hadn't left the kingdom before–The Mushroom Kingdom–so...I suppose I hadn't thought of creatures much outside of warnings and dangers..."

"Such as?"

Peach hummed and tapped her chin. "For example, I was warned to avoid boos. In my textbooks and from...a friend–if you can call him that. I was told your kind are always up to no good: many mischievous things! But...even though we've just met, I don't think you're like that at all!"

The boo smirked. "Really? What makes you so sure?"

Peach cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the look in her eyes. "W-Well...You're helping me...and...I suppose I've learned to assume to best of others, for better and for worse–it's gotten me into a lot of trouble, but...I'd like to think I could be friends with any creature, even if we're different...or strange to one another. Or have wrong assumptions of each other. Is that too silly?"

The boo stared at Peach's genuine smile for a few seconds before screeching in laughter. "Oh, human, you are just too funny! Where have you been the last hundred years?!" Peach's smile fell to a grimace and the boo arched a brow. "What? You honestly think we could be friends?"

Peach laughed at the shocked gasp that escaped the boo. "Maybe! I've enjoyed our conversation, at least! I'd say that's a good sign...being able to converse; not growing bored of one another."

The boo shook her head and turned back towards the path. "You humans are too curious! Talkative, too...but I don't mind. It's been a while since I've been able to talk to someone new...especially someone who keeps me entertained."

"Are you usually on your own down here?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually! There are far too many boos down here...all of which I'm well familiar with...overly familiar with. All of which are much less interesting than you! You get bored after being around the same group of people for a hundred years."

"Oh, I'm interesting?" Peach laughed. "I think you may be the first person to think that."

The boo abruptly turned back towards the path in front of them, but due to her translucent skin, Peach easily noticed the red hue adorning her cheeks. "Well, p-perhaps a better word to use is odd. You're a human–a frail one, at that–down here, hundreds of feet beneath the kingdom that wants her dead! Whispering for a dead king...a dead king of which also wants her dead! I wonder if you hit your head on your way down here!" The boo had to take a moment to catch her breath after shrieking in laughter at the absurdity of Peach's descent. Peach awkwardly laughed along before the boo continued with a thoughtful hum. "Speaking of, why would you even be calling out to the late king? Did you know him before he croaked?"

Before the boo could analyze her further, Peach's face lit up in nervous anticipation as she started to rant with a wide, forced smile. "I…I heard his ghost haunted these parts of the caverns so I thought I'd see what would happen if I...came down here. They say if you say a ghost's name three times they have to come haunt you, after all!"

Peach flinched as the boo laughed, just as loud as before. "Oh, wow! Is that what you humans think?!" She paused for one more giggle. "I'd ask why you'd want to see that fraud's ghost but I think you humans just all have death wishes, don't you?"

"He isn't a fraud," Peach mumbled. "I'd say he's...exactly what you think of when you think of the king of the Darklands. For better and for worse." Peach paused and darted her eyes away. "Though...I suppose he's quite different, at the same time..."

The boo groaned. "Did you know him or not?!"

"No, I didn't!" Peach awkwardly reassured. "I just...know a lot about him, I suppose...from reading throughout the years."

"Then you should know he's a fraud! That big idiot is the reason I'm down here! Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he's somehow the reason you're down here, too!" Peach's posture stiffened at the comment but thankfully the boo quickly moved on, grinding her teeth together with a frown. "You're outta luck, though…can't say I've seen a ghost of his caliber down here. At least not after he died. You only have one chance at life yet you go runnin' into danger without a care 'bout anything else, chasing after his ghost and winding up in trouble..."

Peach rubbed the back of her neck as the topic of discussion began to make her uncomfortably close to blurting out the truth. So, quickly, she began to rant. "How do you even come back as a ghost–assuming the king might have? Does it always happen? Or, is it a choice? I can't help but wonder, because...if it were something that always happened to every creature, wouldn't we see ghosts everywhere? Or maybe is it a hard way to live? Or..."

"What, do you want to find out, miss Toadstool?"

Peach softly giggled at the boo's threat, assuming she was joking, before her laugher fizzled out and joined the awkward, stuffy silence that surrounded her. Peach's eyes widened and she nearly tripped forward from the silence, unable to tell if her company was toying with her or coldly-serious, stumbling even further after her unmentioned name echoed through her head.

"My...my name...How did you..."

"Look, I...need to tell you something," the boo muttered. "Before you bombard me with questions."

Peach anxiously clenched her hands into fists, suddenly well-aware of how isolated the two had become. "W-What is it?" She asked.

The boo stopped in place and looked over her shoulder towards her company. Instead of the warm, somewhat-hyper smile that seemed permanent on her features, her face was cold and distant. "I know you're lying to me. A human, down here, looking for a king that hated her species more than anything during his entire miserable life? More than the war? More than boos? You have an innocent face but you're a horrible liar. Your emotions are so easy to read through it. I thought maybe it was some sort of trick...but, no, you're just as gullible as they say! Letting me lead you right into an ambush!"

"A-Ambush?!" She practically shrieked as she took a large, shaky step away from the ghost, causing the boo to anxiously swarm towards her and place her transparent hand over her mouth. She attempted to hold her still, but Peach was much stronger, and began trying to pull her off of her face, her smothered yelps and clicking of her heels echoing down the hall.

"S-Shut up, will you?!" The boo struggled to keep up with Peach's movements and quickly got out of breath. "Do...Do you even know what an ambush is?! You make enough noise and the others will come! They are not as forgiving as I am, trust me, you want to shut up! Or do you want to be caught by the others?" The boo groaned. "Oh, don't you see I'm trying to help you?! Do you understand?!"

"Mffmf...mf...mffhgff!"

The boo blinked and looked down towards her hands tightly covering Peach's lips. Thankfully, Peach seemed just as tired out, and had stopped fighting a few moments ago while the boo had started yelling at her. She pulled her hands away and wiped her now-wet palms on her sides. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a cold tongue?"

Peach rubbed her mouth on the back of her hand. "First, no, I don't understand. That's what I was trying to say. Has anyone ever told you you have salty hands?" She blandly retorted.

The boo snorted. "Yes, actually."

"...What? Why–Nevermind." Peach sighed. "Second, you're helping me? I don't consider being led to an ambush to be helpful in the slightest..."

"No! No...well, at first, yes, that's what I was doing! But..." The boo grumbled and stumbled over her words as she struggled to convey her thoughts, her face flushing at the thought. She only finally rambling after a drawn-out groan echoed down the cavern. "Fine, fine, I'll say it! Look, I...It isn't often I find a person down here that can make me laugh. I didn't realize how much I missed laughing until you mentioned being friends...which, by the way, is still hilarious. But..."

"I also realized you were probably right."

Peach's eyes softened and the boo's face burst crimson. "F-For better and for worse, that means you get one 'out of jail free' card, okay? I don't...I'm not supposed to let you go, but...quite the opposite, actually...oh, I don't need to explain why I'm doing this! Why am I even...Augh, Just go! If I see you back down here I will not let you go again! Do you understand?!"

Peach nodded and took a small step away from the ghost but paused. "W-Wait, what will happen to you, if you don't bring me? Will you be alright?" She whispered with a nervous nod towards the darkness behind her company.

The boo parted her lips but distant, slow clapping echoed down the hallway, interrupting the two. Peach stared curiously but the ghost stiffened at the familiar sound.

As the clapping grew closer, a voice loomed from the darkness. "Oh, well done, Boola! Finally, it's about time you did something meaningful! Do you know how much paperwork it would've been to get you transferred?" A loud voice boomed from the darkness. "You were one more screw-up from being referred back to the king for a new, deeper position! I was worried you had gotten lost again and lost another capture, but, no, a boo like you doesn't back down! I always knew you'd pull back...eventually, with enough guidance!"

The voice's eerie, squeaky laughter vibrated through the cavern as Peach's heart sunk; only then did she realize how her company's laughter was no where near as startling as the intimidating stranger. The creature was not concerned with the threat of the human and promptly lit up the cavern, flaring the hallway with another–yet stronger–pink hue resonating from her core. Peach flinched at the eye contact that followed, as the voice belonged to another boo: one nearly triple the size of her company, and her eyes twice as sharp.

Instinctively, Peach took a step away from the creature. She gasped as the backs of her heels bumped into something beside her ankles, causing her to fall on her bottom with a disoriented yelp. She quickly sat up as two pink boos flew out from under her, haunting giggles coming from each of them as they flew back up behind their leader, leaving her on the floor.

"What do you have on you?" The main boo snapped with a sudden fury behind her eyes. Her voice was booming and tactical. "A human like you goes for a pretty penny, but if you have any valuables on you…we might be able to negotiate the way we handle you!"

Sick, hungry laughter echoed around her, all resonating from invisible boos surrounding the group.

"N-No, wait!"

The boo from earlier, apparently named Boola, floated upwards between the two with a sheepish smile. She only began to shrink after staring up at her leader, a bead of sweat trailing down her temple as she further felt what seemed like hundreds of eyes glaring at her. Even so, she continued.

"We don't need to steal from her! Or...Or hurt her! Because...because...oh, yes, of course! Because she was requested alive, untouched, and unharmed! Right? Isn't that right, everyone?" She desperately asked with a nod towards the darkness, ignoring the fact that her tribe wasn't keen on following guidelines. Even though boos don't have the need to cough, a few of the invisible boos released dry coughs that broke through the telling silence.

The leader's eyes slowly focused on her goon. "We...don't need...to steal...from the human?" She slowly repeated as if it were a foreign language. "Why would that be?"

Boola's horrified smile grew even further. "Not this human! Maybe not now! Okay, well...I suppose we should steal from her, shouldn't we, assuming the warrant for her arrest...and the large reward...but! But...no, she's not worth hurting, I talked to her! She's not...she's...she's kind! She's reminded me what it's like to laugh! Humans have forgotten, but with the way we're behaving, perhaps we've forgotten our prophecy as well!"

...

The large boo rolled her eyes and silently raised her hand. Instantly, a wave of pink boos–all smaller in frame, similarly to Boola–swarmed forward and grabbed the familiar boo by her arms, pulling her through the wall to their left. It had happened so quickly that Boola hadn't even been able to scream or squirm, and instead, the lingering silence was perhaps more horrible than hearing her react. Peach stiffened, left glaring at the leader in fear. Though, Peach could still feel the judgmental eyes of countless more boos in the darkness behind the large boo.

"It's a shame. She was on track to get out of these mines in a few years if she stepped up her performance. Looks like you just earned her another hundred years down here. Are you done making this more difficult than it needs to be or should I add more?"

Peach's eyes widened. "No! Don't punish her for making a friend!" Peach begged. "She got me to you, didn't she?! No other boo managed to do that: to bait me like she did! If anything, you should be rewarding a girl like her–"

The boo nonchalantly cut her off with another roll of her eyes. "Peach Toadstool, was it? Whadya you have on you," the leader asked, though it was spat as a demand.

Peach gulped as she looked between the vacant wall her friend had disappeared into and the looming creature. "I don't have anything!" Peach pleaded in defense as her hands clamped over her purse. "Please, don't–"

The boo grinded her fangs together. "Don't bother with the small talk. Or the begging…I hate the begging!" She groaned with a nod towards Peach's side. "Give me your bag."

Peach wasn't an idiot; she took the brown bag off of her shoulder and tossed it towards the ghost with a scared frown. She cringed at the way the boo's face lit up, apparently not used to such obedience, and floated down towards it with a hungry laugh.

She opened the flap and shoved her greedy hands inside, rummaging through her belongings with little care, which only made Peach's horror rise even further as she realized what she had been hiding within it.

"Paper, notes, pens…boring!" The boo listed out all of Peach's belongings as she threw them to the side in annoyance. The two other boos eyed the trashed belongings eagerly. Peach whimpered as the crumbled notes hit the wall and spread across the cavern's floor. "Don't you humans have anything besides junk?!"

The boo paused for a moment before it popped out of the bag, eagerly eyeing the small, red gem closely in front of her eyes.

"Did we…did we finally find it?!" The boo whispered in awe as she flipped the gem upside down, analyzing every angle, looking for any signs of it being a counterfeit. A few smaller boos flew towards her, trying to sneak glances at whatever she found, but she promptly wafted them away. "The Mushroom Kingdom's royal gem!" She paused and bit the edge of the gem, satisfied that it didn't crack. "Ohoho! It's the real one! The real deal! Oh, gosh, he's gonna be so happy with me! Maybe I'll even get promoted out of these stupid mines, far away from you dolts!"

On cue, the room lit up with countless hues of pink as dozens of boos came out of hiding, each chattering and whispering to one another about the jewel sitting in their leader's hands.

Their boss tossed the gem over her shoulder and one of the many boos caught it with a laugh. Peach flinched at the rough way they handled it but bit her tongue, not wanting to draw the attention back to herself too quickly.

"Not only that, but we have our hands dirty with a wanted fugitive!" The larger boo cheered with a point towards Peach, shrieking out with a proud, victorious smirk. "Talk about a steal! A two-for-one steal, to be exact! We haven't had a hit this big since that old wanted goomba tried to hide down here a few years back! And that bounty was dirt cheap! They practically paid us in peanuts!" She cried out in laughter.

The surrounding boos mimicked her laughter like a group of hungry hyenas.

Peach's face paled at the word fugitive. "You have the wrong human!" She cried out in desperation. "I-I'm just an actress! The papers you crumbled are scripts and notes for the play I'm in–I-I can hardly carry my own, let alone be some sort of criminal…fugitive, whatever you think I am! You have the wrong human! I would never–"

The main boo looked up and down her body with a disinterested roll of her eyes. "Can't think of any other humans named Peach Toadstool…blonde…around 5'5…nope, you're the one!" The boo argued with a curt cross of her arms. "Unless you have a twin around here…you're the one! The wanted fugitive! A big one, at that! The queen of the koopas has been all over your disappearance! Everyone knew you were beneath the opera house...but I had no idea you'd fall this far down! It's like you delivered yourself to us!"

A smaller ghost popped up over Peach's shoulder with a snicker. "Consider yourself valuable cargo to be requested by the queen herself! For better or for worse…Good for us, bad for you!" She teased with a dark, squeaky laugh. "You're lucky we were told to bring you alive! It's a lot easier when you humans aren't breathin'–"

The main boo thumped the other ghost on the head with the blunt of her fist. "Clam it!" She groaned through clenched teeth as she glared at the loud boo. "How are we supposed to intimidate her if you give out all the details?! I swear, if I hadn't known you for a thousand years, I'd have thought you had died yesterday!"

The talkative ghost nervously backed away as it was scolded, its face flushed and nervous, humiliated even further as the rest of the boos began giggling at her. She floated away into the crowd and hid away from the attention, but their boss promptly floated after her with threats and angered curses.

The rest of the boos continued hollering in amusement and Peach silently noticed an opening amongst their distraction. She pushed herself away from the swarm as they watched the two argue, quietly inching further and further away back towards the king's flames in the distance. However, almost instantly, she was swooped to her feet by two boos under her arms.

The main boo turned back towards her, clearly expecting her attempt at escaping, and scolded her like a child. "Don't go running off. She said alive, not unharmed. Though, who likes damaged goods, so I suggest you relax. Saves us the trouble and you your discomfort. Do you know how much harder it is to lift a limp body instead of a squirming one?!"

"You're outnumbered, doll. Might as well give in an' let us take ya," one of the male boos whispered in a gritty voice from her arm.

"You'll be doin' us a solid by bein' cooperative!" Another egged on. "You humans tire out so easily!"

Peach squealed out in defiance as she instinctively tried to pull herself away from the eerie whispers down her neck. The audience laughed, almost viewing the show as some sort of entertainment, but her wiggles fell to stillness amongst the echoing laughter as a glimmer caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Whether it was by stupidity or the chaotic nature of the swarm, the boo that had caught the royal gem was floating directly above her shoulder, laughing down at her without a care for the gem loosely hanging in its hand.

Peach did not hesitate to launch her fist into the air, nearly breaking through the boo's skin and launching him towards the ceiling with a gasp as the royal gem slipped out of his small hands and landed in front of her feet with a gentle 'clink.' She quickly bent down, snatched the gem, and held it against her chest with an angry scowl up towards the swarm. Though, even her temper couldn't stop the tears that started pouring out of her, overwhelmed with having to strike someone for the first time.

While the laughter had stopped, it seemed all she had managed to do was anger the group of boos as the glared at her. Their leader scowled and the swarm no longer viewed her as a piece of entertainment; they were looking at her like a meal. "You really think you can poof a hundred boos?" The leader asked. "You barely punted one of us and you're already breaking down!"

The striked boo shook his head as a few of her peers swarmed around him in worry. After a few seconds, it seemed he was totally fine, only mildly disoriented, and the group's worried glance towards their friend turned to fury as they returned to Peach.

The leader squinted her eyes and looked between the girl and the gem held against her chest. It looked like the creature was fighting back a yelp of rage, but took a deep breath, and continued shakingly-calm. "What did that accomplish? Did you have your moment? Do you feel like you fought back enough? Like you earned your right to live? You just gave me more reason to tie you up, and all the reason to give me a headache if I had the ability to have one! That's all you've done!" The hoard of boos behind their boss snarled at her, ready to jump, but their leader raised her hand and silently ordered them to remain still. Instead, she angrily floated down towards Peach with her hungry eyes on what hid beneath her palms.

"I don't want to hurt you. It accomplishes nothing, it just makes more questions I have to answer," the boo muttered. Peach's face contorted in disgust at the lie, but the boo's anger did not falter. "I will give you one chance. Hand over the gem before I have to."

Peach's fingers locked around the stone. "No," she hissed as her tears fell even faster.

"No?!" The boo loudly groaned in frustration at her defiance. "You surprised me, Toadstool, I'll give you that, but that's the only moment you get. The only moment you'll ever get! You think can manage to do more than make this harder on yourself? Make it harder on us?! You, a girl like you? Just a human?"

Peach's face contorted into rage at the word; in an instant, her temper exploded through her horror. "I am sick of everyone calling me 'just' a human! You, Kamek, my father, King Koopa! Everyone! Do you know how frustrating it is to live a life others have decided before I even have a chance to live it?!" Peach shrieked as her pent-up frustration burst out of her. "I may be a human; I may be weak, curious, foolish, fragile, so many awful things you deem me as, but I am Peach Toastool and I am not giving you my kingdom's gem! You'll have to kill me before I hand over–"

Light.

Peach's eyes squinted shut as an impressive, red glow leaked out of the gem in her hands, contrasting the nearly pitch-black caverns and replacing the boos' pink glows with a red hue. Just like it had in the murky water hours ago, a gem-like pattern seeped out of the gem, creeping up the walls around her and spreading across the swarm of boos looking down at her, all of which cowered away in discomfort from the light.

Peach's eyes slowly opened, too enamored with the returning light to notice the way the boos stared curiously, turning to one another with murmurs of both wonder and fear. The hesitation only lasted a few seconds, because almost instantaneously, their leader shoved the worried boos to the side as she angrily floated back towards their prisoner, this time with the intent to take the gem back, no matter how physical the altercation would get.

And, no longer telling her men to step down as they eagerly followed behind her, the ghosts' sharp fangs glistenined against the red light and their hyena-like laughter drowning out Peach's horrified wonder.

Peach flinched as the large boo got closer, but the boo did not make it within a foot of Peach before a sickening 'pop' cut through the crowd's laughter.

Neither the human nor the boo, nor the swarm behind her, had time to react to the gem's light honing in on the leader, causing her to burst like a balloon. A small whimper echoed through the cavern as she faded out of existence in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a trail of thick mist that slowly floated over Peach, landing on her shoulder and mixing into her hair. Her instinct was to gag at the chilling, powdery substance, imagining it was similar to human blood or remains, but she bit her lip, as her second instinct was to sob after realizing what she had somehow just done.

Had she...killed her?

Nausea, dizziness, and fatigue violently slammed into Peach's being as she struggled to keep her footing at the realization. Her entire body trembled and her knees nearly buckled in horror; her panic was just enough movement for the gem to slip between her fingers and slam against the stone floor with another loud clank, but this time, the sound sent a chill through her core.

Crack.

A large splinter spread from the gem's core as it slammed against the stone one final time, spreading and chipping away at its glossy surface until it broke into what seemed like hundreds of shards, almost resembling glitter, and spread across the tips of her shoes. Peach fell to her knees, both to try and somehow salvage the shards and put the gem back together, and also finding her knees giving out from the remains she was met with beneath her.

The rest of the boos chattered amongst themselves as their leader remained a pile of ash beneath the human's feet.

"B-Boss?"

"Ayo, leader, you alright?"

"What?! Where did she go?"

"She poofed, you idiots! Does she look fine to you dolts?!"

"Get the gem! The gem! Even if it's a pile of dust, it's worth somethin'! Get it so boss doesn't poof us when she gets back!" The crowd angrily muttered in agreement.

Peach didn't flinch as the rest of the boos swarmed towards her, ready to pick up every speck they could get their hands on. Somewhat hesitant to meet the same fate their leader had, they floated slowly, pushing each other forward and hiding behind each other in anticipation of another beam of light. She was too frozen in shock, unable to startle or look away from the pile between her knees, and remained still with the spiraling thoughts in her head:

She had killed her.

Killed her.

A large, manlier boo floated above her. "You're a lot more docile now, aren't you?!" He yelled with a boisterous smirk over his shoulder towards the others. "With boss outta the picture, I'll get all the glory...so get me the damn scraps and grab her–"

Pop.

Peach flinched as another sickening pop echoed through the cavern, followed by another wave of ash to chill her skin. Her ears began to ring as she squinted her eyes shut, desperate to somehow smother the cries of fear that swarmed around her.

"N-N-No way!"

"The human girl w-w-was right! His ghost is here!"

"I thought she was kidding!"

"Retreat, retreat!"

"K-King Koopa's ghost just poofed that guy! He was 2 weeks from retirement, too!"

King Koopa's ghost?

Peach looked up to see a large claw reaching over her head, shaking the white dust off its fingers and letting it float down onto the pavement in front of her knees. It landed like a small pile of snow, mixing with the remains she had already left behind moments before, contrasting the bright red shards.

"King Koopa..." She gasped in relief.

"King Koopa!" The rest of the boos repeated in terror as they scrambled away from the scene, tripping and falling over each other–somehow without even having legs–before phasing into the nearest wall with shaky screams. In a matter of seconds, the hallway was empty of any noise or evidence of the ghostly creatures...besides the pile of remains before Peach's legs.

"I'm sorry I hesitated."

Tears quickly fell down Peach's cheeks as she recognized the phantom's voice, overwhelmed with the sensation of thankfulness and comfort of his company.

He looked down at her. "Are you alright?"

Peach did not move. "You came back," she whispered. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she began to spiral. "Y-You...oh, I-I saw the fire...I thought you had forgotten about me...or left me, I–"

His eyes hardened. "I would have done that years ago if you allowed me to," he muttered with a frown. Peach's eyes widened as more tears spilled out. His demeanor shifted to awkward apology as he realized she wasn't in the state for his torment. "No, I didn't forget about you. You know that," he gently corrected. "Can you stand?" He asked, extending his hand down towards her, and guided her to her feet.

He noticed the lingering fear in her eyes and sighed. "A boo found us while you were recovering. I had to take care of the problem before it told the others about us. You were still passed out from the water, I didn't think they would come near you because of the fire...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you–"

Peach leaped towards him and wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him down towards her into a tight embrace. Her hands shook against him and, before he tensed from the contact, she felt him startle. She wrapped her arms even tighter around him, taking comfort in his ashy scent against his neck, and held him without the intention of letting him pull away. "I'm the one who left," she whispered into his ear. "But, you came back for me...thank you."

Peach was surprised to feel his hand on the back of her head. "I always will," he muttered.

Peach's heart raced from the contact and he instantly cleared his throat and pulled away from her. Her face flushed, worried he had felt her flustered heart, and his discomfort grew even further. "We need to get you out of here," he ordered. "I found a stairway in the right direction and it would be best if we started moving now."

At first, she smiled in relief, but her hope fell as she remembered what she was leaving behind. She glanced over her shoulder as she began to follow beside him. "The boo…did you kill it? Did I..."

King Koopa hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "Boos are stubborn when it comes to dying. But, they're cowards." He sighed and placed his hand on the top of her head. "You did a good job. Distracting them was enough to buy me some time. I figured hurting one would save me the trouble of killing them all."

At first, Peach flushed from the sentiment, but her beating heart replaced with nausea as she felt the ash on his claws mix in her hair. He promptly pulled away, unaware of the actual reason why she shifted in deep, horrified discomfort. But, she shook her head, and continued as if nothing bothered her. "You didn't fully answer the question," she quietly accused.

King Koopa's eyes slanted, well aware she was hiding something, but answered her question with honesty. "No, I didn't kill her. I hurt her." Her face did not soften so he subtly chuckled at her concern–The sound brought a lot of comfort to her, though she covered it up with a frown, knowing he wouldn't laugh if he knew what she had done. "I think you're the only one in the entire kingdom who would worry about someone who tried to kidnap you," he groaned.

Peach's rubbed her arm. "They said I was a fugitive."

King Koopa scoffed. "She'll say anyone she wants dealt with is a criminal to make it easier for everyone to blindly follow her orders. I doubt anyone she's deemed a fugitive by her deserved it, it's almost always something petty or political. Don't take her delusions to heart. You didn't deserve to be kidnapped."

"That's charming coming from my captor," she blandly teased. To her surprise, he smirked at her snarky comment and turned back towards the pathway. Though he wouldn't tell her, the fire in her eyes suited her more than sadness.

Peach looked at him from the corner of her eyes as a new worry crept up to her. "They…they saw you," she warned with a deep frown.

King Koopa tensed as his eyes darted towards her. "I didn't have much of a choice. I either had to watch you get taken to him or reveal myself."

"King Boo?" She guessed.

His eyes sharpened at her correct assumption. "Koopas aren't on good terms with their kind. I doubt they were intelligent enough to even realize I was more than a ghost," he said, though she could tell even he hardly believed the confidence behind his words. "If they happen to put two and two together...Boos are always scavenging for something to give them the upper hand…whether that's through power or information. They'll probably sit on their knowledge of me until it's beneficial to them. Right now, my existence would only benefit her. King Boo would gain nothing. Boos would gain nothing. Hell, I don't know who would believe a boo, anyways. Not without evidence, that is."

Peach quietly nodded along as he ranted. She frowned and awkwardly rubbed her arm as she mustered the courage to ask the question that sat at the back of her mind. "Are…humans on good terms with them? Boos, I mean."

His brow furrowed. "Not anymore...in the past, yes. Before I was king," he muttered. "No one allies with King Boo or his kingdom anymore. They're of no value…and they see no value in anyone else. They've isolated themselves from the world. It's for the best."

Peach did not reply to his pessimism. Instead, she snuck a glance back towards the scene of the attack, shuddering at the wall she had last seen Boola get dragged into. She looked back in sorrow, heartbroken that she would likely never see the boo who had sacrificed herself for her ever again; she would never see her friend again. Her eyes welled with tears so she turned back towards the pathway, deciding Boola's decision was something she should be thankful for, not guilty.

King Koopa, too, snuck a glance when she wasn't looking...but not towards the scene of Peach's kidnapping, instead towards the victim beside him, deep in wonder about her. He squinted his eyes as he analyzed her saddened profile, unable to understand what she was hiding...what had truly happened.

After all, the boo had popped before King Koopa had even laid a finger on it.

One small boo shook behind one of the large rocks in the pathway.

"Well, that sounded like it didn't end well," a large boo groaned through slurred speech. He looked over his shoulder as another smaller boo peaked over the rock they were hiding behind. "Did you see what got everyone so scared?"

She shrugged. "I was hiding with you, 'member? No way am I getting poofed again. God, I hate that feeling. You always come back with the worst headache!"

"Bahh, you know boss usually has it covered. She doesn't need us! Besides, it's more fun goin' through the leftovers."

The two nodded in apprehensive agreement, trying to validate their cowardly retreat after the powerful intruder rummaged through their territory. They had been too scared to even look in his direction after hearing their boss get poofed, let alone aid their allies.

They had hid behind the rock without so much as a peek out towards the danger.

Their eyes fell to the loot scattered all over the floor. They snickered amongst themselves as they floated towards the items.

"Junk…junk…great, more junk!" The smaller boo sarcastically cheered while throwing a pen over her shoulder. "Do you see the gem anywhere? Boss said it was worth somethin'...if we can find it, we're set!"

The older boo floated over to her with a crumbled piece of paper teetering on top of a small stack of messily-organized papers. They looked at the sheets of paper, noticing they were a script of some sort, and boredly scattered them back on the floor as it was nowhere near valuable.

The bigger boo uncrumbled the note with great care, but it still remained teared and broken at its corners.

He tilted his head in interest as he flipped the letter in every direction. He analyzed its back, its edges, and the cuts that sliced through its corners.

"A letter to…huh?" His voice fell to confusion. "Who- What the heck's a Bowser?"

The smaller boo floated up to him and yelped in his ear. "Oh, give me that already!" She hissed through clenched fangs. The large boo nervously gave in and shakily handed her the letter. She snatched it and dragged her eyes along its content.

Her eyes fell to the paper with an analytical stare. She recognized the name Peach as the wanted fugitive that had gotten away but, beyond that, just like her accomplice, she did not recognize the name Bowser, and assumed it was a forgotten love letter that the human was holding onto for keepsake.

Her interest left her as she crumbled it back up into a compact ball.

She was about to throw the trash over her shoulder before her mind finally rang with familiarity to the foreign name on the note. Her eyes widened as she glared between the crumbled up letter and turned to the pathway the intruders had left through.

Her mind bounced with potential as she gripped the letter against her chest. Though she didn't have a pulse, she swore she could feel her heart pumping.

"That girl has contact with...King Koopa?!"

A/N: See you soon!