Chapter 6 Tomorrow

One more day.

One more day, and history will be made.

One more day, and Peasley's dreams for his sister will finally be realized.

One more day… and Peach was scared out of her mind. She stayed in her bed for about an hour after she officially woke up, not wanting to get out of it due to how nauseous she felt. It felt like her stomach was being squeezed, like an olive that someone was getting the oil out of. Her breathing also wasn't super comfortable either, as each time she inhaled, it felt like she was drowning. It felt as though everything, and nothing, was falling into place at the exact same time.

Tomorrow, she would be queen.

And with that thought, Peach finally rose from her bed. The nausea was probably the worst she had ever experienced, but she had a feeling that tomorrow, it was going to be even worse. Deciding to ignore it (or at the very least attempt to ignore it), she rose and summoned the servants. The helped her get dressed, all while it felt as though she was going collapse from stress. She told herself in her head that this was all going to work out. She could be the queen that the kingdom hoped for, that the kingdom believed she would be. She would make an impact on the world, a positive impact no less. She could do it. She knew she could.

But that still didn't stop the doubt. It felt like an animal attacking her from the inside out, leaving scratches and scars in places that would never heal, and therefore make the princess feel even worse. Even after her servants got her dressed, she still felt as though this whole thing was going to go wrong in the most horrific way imaginable.

So, acting more on instinct than anything else, Peach made her way to the throne room. She passed by multiple people on the way there, but they weren't the person she most wanted to see. She didn't stop until she had that person in her sights. She let out a breath while standing in the doorway to the throne room. With a new yet familiar kind of ease in her steps, she approached her mother.

"Peach!" Queen Bean exclaimed when she saw the princess. She grinned, the depression lighting up her green face. "How are you doing, Baby?"

Peach smiled. She didn't know if the pet name 'Baby' was necessarily appropriate for the queen to call somebody by, but oh man did she love it. Queen Bean had called her that her whole life, and it always made it feel like there was sunshine in her heart. As such, hearing it now made the nausea that she had been battling melt away, at least to an extent.

"I'm doing well, Mother." She walked up to the throne, hoping that the happy front she put up would help convince her mother of the lie she just told. "How are you?"

Queen Bean laughed. "Well, today is my last official day as queen." She leaned back in her chair, which honestly looked more awkward than comfortable to Peach. "Which means I've been taking it easy. I've been preparing for the vacation that I want to take come tomorrow, which is a difficult thing to do because there are so many places I want to go!" She sat up, her eyes twinkling. "Sweet Sweet Canyon, the Metro Kingdom, Sparkling Waters… Oh, there's just so many wonderful possibilities open to me!"

Peach's heart sank a little. "That's good."

"Indeed. I am particularly excited about going to Sweet Sweet Canyon. With all the delicious treats just ripe for the taking… you might never see me again!" She chuckled, the sound overflowing with a childlike joy that one would never expect from someone like the queen.

Unfortunately, this whole display made Peach feel even worse. Her mother was happy, excited even. She had made more than enough plans that she wanted to enact. Was it really right for Peach to take that away from her? Was it really a good idea to burden Queen Bean, who deserved a great, long break after years of sitting on the Beanbean throne? It didn't feel right to do that to her. Sure, it didn't feel right to be silent about it either, but… well, Peach wasn't going to do it.

So, instead, she just put on another smile. "I won't blame you if you decide to stay there. I've heard amazing things about that place."

"Oh, I have to, Sweetheart. It just seems to become more and more appealing the more I hear about it." Queen Bean chuckled. "I just might build a house there."

"By yourself?"

"Why not?" Queen Bean said with a grin and a shrug. "Sure, I've never built a house before, but I'm not too old to learn something new. Besides, building a house with gingerbread sounds like a wonderful experience." She laughed. "At least there's no threat of getting splinters with gingerbread."

Peach snickered. "That is true." An awkwardness settled onto her. She wiped some nonexistent dust off her dress, and she also squeezed her blue broach. "Well…" she backed away from the throne. "I should probably go get myself ready. Big day tomorrow; preparations are certainly called for." She turned, feeling as though the distance between her and the door had increased a hundredfold.

"Wait!"

Peach froze. She slowly turned back to her mother, who no longer showed any sign of joy or excitement. Instead, she had a furrowed brow, and it looked like she wasn't going to take her eyes off her daughter for anything.

"Honey, is everything alright?"

A lump filled Peach's mouth, one that got in the way of her ability to speak. "I…" she swallowed the lump, which was a real challenge just because of its size. "Yes, Mother. I am alright." Queen Bean didn't look even a smidge like she was convinced. She looked like she was about to probe, so Peach spoke up again. "I just need to prepare. That's all, Mother."

Queen Bean looked at Peach for a while, but eventually she leaned back. "Okay, Sweetheart."

So, with a breath of relief, Peach exited the throne room. She bit her lip as she walked down the hallway, holding her hands together and squeezing her fingers. It was a miracle that she managed to get back to her room without any problems.

She closed the door slowly, figuring that what was probably best in this scenario would be to do something to take her mind of the mountain of accumulating stress. She went over to her bed and picked up the same book she had been reading before Lady Lima came in. Taking a deep breath, she opened up to where she left off. She read about a page or two, which worked wonders in and of itself. The world this book built was so tantalizingly engrossing, like the author had visited it themselves and jotted down every single last detail about the place to capture it on the written page. Peach actually managed to smile while reading this. She probably would've read more, but a servant knocked on the door pretty much immediately.

"Come in!"

In walked the servant, looking at her with an intrigued expression. "Hello, Your Highness. The queen has sent me, as she said that you might need help in your preparations for the coronation.

Peach seized up. "Oh." In all honesty, those words had just been an excuse to step away from her mother. She didn't think there was anything more she could do to prepare, as the servants had set up everything so perfectly. As such, she felt like a fool sitting in her bed, a sweaty fool who just gave herself more problems than she could handle.

"Uh…" she racked her brain for any work the servant could help her with. "I was… I was thinking." She reached for the drawer of her bedside table, opening it to reveal all the jewelry she owned. "Could you help me decide on what to wear?"

The servant raised an eyebrow, possibly because they knew that Peach's outfit had already been decided. Regardless, they didn't question her, instead nodding. "Very well, my princess."

So, they both started to go through the drawer. They didn't really talk, which Peach didn't know how to feel about one way or the other. They perused through her collection, all while Peach's nausea returned. It only got worse as she thought about all the people who would be at the coronation tomorrow. Millions of eyes, looking upon her to gauge whether she was the queen they needed. Millions of eyes… all on her…

"Your Highness?"

Peach did a double take as she got pulled back down to Earth. "My apologies." She went through the jewelry drawer again, feeling like she was sinking into the floor. She was just about to call it quits when something caught her eye. It was a necklace the servant wore, a necklace that glittered with a type of purple gem that Peach had never seen before.

"What is that, if I might ask?" Peach asked while pointing toward the jewel.

"This?" The servant grinned. "It's a talisman. I got it from a fortune teller I went to."

"Fortune teller?" Peach raised an eyebrow. "Those are still around?"

"Of course! And this particular fortune teller is said to be the best in the whole world. And believe it or not, their predictions are one hundred percent true! Everything they told me during my visit to them came to pass, in more or less the exact way she described."

Peach's jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

"I am not! It really is amazing!" The servant sighed. "And let me tell you, the certainty that the future readings gave me is just on a whole other level. I don't feel afraid about my life any more. I feel… liberated."

Peach blinked, letting all of this sink in. Man, if she had that sort of certainty about her own life… if she could wake up tomorrow knowing that absolutely nothing about her reign as queen was going to go horribly wrong…

"Where can I find this fortune teller?"

…

Peach ended up going to the Fortune House (as the servant called it) after sunset. She wished she could've gone earlier in the day, as she had to admit that the darkness settling in was a little unnerving. But alas, somethings just weren't meant to come to pass.

She got to the Fortune House within no time at all, thankfully. It didn't look like anything special; just a rundown Mushroom house that looked more like it belonged in the Mushroom Kingdom. However, it did have a "Fortune House" sign written in glowing purple ink above the door, so that at the very least filled Peach with assurance.

She went up to the door and knocked, and within no time at all, a little green beanish person wearing the strangest glasses Peach had ever seen stepped out. They examined the Princess before a smile broke out on their face. "Princess Peach! We have done the expecting of you!"

"Oh really?" Peach actually smiled at that. "Well, that's good!"

"Indubitably." The bean man gestured for her to enter. "Please, do the coming in! Only the most shadowy of the shadow types stay outside after the setting sun."

So, Peach did. She took in the look of this candlelit place, where shadows danced around the walls in a way that was somehow more playful and beautiful than scary. She looked toward the far wall, and saw a tall beanish woman sitting at a desk. Dressed entirely in purple, she grinned at the princess.

"Welcome, my soon-to-be queen." She stood up straight and tall while flourishing her arms. "I am the great Cackletta, and I am dying to read your future."