Peach knew what it meant to be a princess. She knew it couldn't always be frilly dresses and parties. She knew there would be sacrifices, struggles, and heartbreak. She knew that she would sometimes fail, but she also knew that she would always pick herself back up. For the good of her people, for the good of her home, she had to be a leader who was willing to do anything.
What then, does a princess do when she can do nothing? When all her power, all her dignity, is stripped away in one fell swoop?
Peach knew there had to be an answer, but she couldn't comprehend it, not when the very one responsible for it all was forcefully grasping her forearm and dragging her right into the heart of his castle.
More like the belly of the beast, she thought despairingly. She bit her trembling lip and willed her mind not to drift towards the fates of her loved ones. Instead, she forced herself to keep her chin up and look around at her unfamiliar surroundings– unsurprisingly, she found that the dark atmosphere did nothing to comfort her.
The dragon's keep was nothing like her own palace. There was hardly any natural light, and what little there was was stopped in its tracks by the massive, windowless walls. Instead, there were metal sconces lining every hall, casting strange shadows with their firelight. The flames washed out every bit of bright color that might have been brave enough to try and enter, leaving Peach's dress looking more of a cream color, and her hair appearing almost orange.
The blackened bricks were systematically broken up by blood-red tapestries featuring an emblem resembling the face of the Koopa King. Occasionally, a painting or portrait was also seen, featuring who she assumed were the Koopa royals from times past. There were no smiles to be found among their intense scenes of battle and conquest.
Quite unlike the mass of Koopas that surrounded her and the king as they paraded through the dark halls. Their cheers and congratulations amongst each other were enough to make her sick. How could they be celebrating the downfall of her people? Even the king's eyes were alight with pride, and his oily smile sent a shiver down her spine.
She could not fathom why he'd kept her alive. He had very clearly called her a mage back in the Mushroom Kingdom, so he had to have known about her white magic and the hindrance it could pose. And Peach was smart enough to know he didn't really need a political hostage; he'd decimated her entire guard and defenses in the span of a mere morning. So why was he–?
A sharp tug on her arm forced her to keep moving and put aside her racing thoughts. She stumbled and snagged the edge of her skirt as she tried to keep up with the king's long-legged strides. Several Koopas around her snickered at her clumsiness. Peach's face burned with a combination of anger and shame, though it was only a small drop added into the ocean of emotions that was already churning in her heart.
The king pulled her forward again, and Peach grit her teeth.
"You're hurting me," she told him, struggling to keep her tone even.
He glanced down at her with those fiery, blood red eyes, enhanced by the literal flames lighting their way, and only grunted an acknowledgement. He kept to his path, but Peach felt his grip loosen and sighed when his pace slowed down some.
It felt like ages of wandering through the maze-like castle before they actually reached King Koopa's throne room. It was massive– probably could have fit at least three of Peach's throne rooms in its space. However, the expanse was broken up by a roaring moat of lava separating the inner and outer circles of the room, connected only by a singular chain and stone bridge.
The king let out another one of his booming laughs when he was greeted by an obnoxiously loud victory party on the other side of the heavy doors. Hundreds more Koopas of every subspecies, joined by other creatures like Goombas and Boos, all gathered and cheering for this monster. It was set up much like the parties Peach attended back home, if she counted out the heavy metal music, reckless guests, and the altogether atmosphere of chaos. There was even a giant stack of gifts on one end of the room– the princess swallowed bile when she spotted several power-ups among them.
"You guys! All this for little ol' me?" King Koopa gushed, obviously expecting this receival. He didn't wait for a reply, instead making a beeline for his throne, a massive structure carved from a singular block of stone. Lining the way were life-size statues of the king himself, each in some pose of grandeur or battle.
Peach swallowed hard as the crowd slowly filtered away, leaving only her and the king to cross the bridge. She focused only on walking, not daring to look down at the molten fire below nor the terrifying stone visages around her. Sadly, the end destination was no better. Next to the king's throne, which was embellished with rich dark fabric and gleaming metal spikes, was a cage. It was simple in design, almost resembling a human-sized birdcage. The king opened the door and forced her inside with little ceremony.
Peach rubbed her wrist as the door slammed shut. It wasn't really sore, but she hoped the king thought it was. She hoped he felt even the slightest bit of guilt for all the grief he was causing her.
"Don't get comfy, Peaches, this is only temporary," he told her before plopping onto his throne and reclining in a most unkingly manner. "And remember what I told you– no funny business."
"I know," she said, unable to keep the venom from dripping off her words. She lowered herself to sit and turned her face away from him.
I mustn't provoke him, she reminded herself, hiding her head in her knees. I can't risk my people getting even further hurt because of me.
"Let the celebration begin! All hail ME!"
The princess squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the raucous heavy metal music and disgustingly overzealous partygoers from her mind. However, when she closed them, all she could see were the terrified faces of her people, her castle in flames, and her home growing smaller and smaller with each passing second. Her eyes snapped open and she reached for the comfort of her necklace. Only, all that her fingers managed to find was empty air.
"My necklace!" she gasped, frantically looking around the cage to see where it might have fallen. No no no! It could be anywhere between here and World One!
Tears that she'd been trying hard to hold back welled up in her eyes. As if everything she'd been through wasn't enough, now she'd lost the only piece of home she had left.
The king, who had been thoroughly enjoying the party and tapping his foot to the beat, must have finally noticed her struggle, because he stopped and roughly rapped his knuckles on the bars. Peach jolted and looked back to hold his gaze, no longer caring that he could see the fat teardrops that were rolling down her cheeks. She was done trying to be stoic; he deserved to know that she was terrified and miserable because of what he was doing.
"Ah, geez," he groaned and rolled his head back. His grumbling was barely audible over the noise of the celebration. "Enough of the water works, okay? Your Toads are fine… ish. Stone is better than dead, right?"
"What does it matter? You'll never free them. They'll never see sunlight again either way," Peach sniffled.
"You make it sound as though it would've been better if I had ordered them all to be slaughtered."
Peach's breath hitched in her throat and she clenched the bars with white knuckles. "It would have been better if you had left us alone! You took everything from them, and they never even had a chance to defend themselves!"
King Koopa narrowed his eyes at her. "That's funny, princess, because I thought you were supposed to be their protector. Seems like if there's anyone to blame, it should be you for not better preparing your kingdom for the inevitable."
Peach trembled with indignation. "What do you mean 'inevitable?' No one forced you to do the horrible things you're doing!"
Bowser blurted out a laugh. "Of course no one made me do it. But even if I hadn't, someone else would've come along and invaded your little kingdom eventually. It was a prize ripe for the picking, and I just happened to be the first one smart enough to notice. And who knows? Maybe someone worse would have come along if I hadn't; someone who wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to turn your Toads into stone instead of piles of ash."
"Don't tell me you actually believe that?" Her eyes widened in horror. "The Mushroom Kingdom has always kept to itself. No one has ever attacked us before– not even the Darklands!"
"You're incredibly naive if you really thought staying under the radar of the other kingdoms was enough to keep you safe. And maybe that was what the Toads taught you, but this is the real world, Peaches, and from now on I'm gonna be in charge."
"My name is Peach, not Peaches!" she fumed. The king's flippant attitude towards the people he'd hurt was enough to make her forget the lava moat only feet away, or the million other ways he could suddenly end her if he decided to. She just wanted to throttle him and make him see how cruel and selfish he was being.
"I'm well aware. But don't forget the position you find yourself in," the king reminded her with a sneer as he flicked the cage with a claw. The resulting metallic clang was cold and hollow, much like her hope of escape. "I suggest you get used to the idea that I'm ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom now, and you're just here because– well, because– I didn't incinerate you!"
Peach scooted away, pressing her back to the bars. He must be truly insane. "And what will you do with them? My people?" she asked, voice raw with emotion.
Her question seemed to catch him off guard. He blinked, then tapped his cleft chin a couple thoughtful times. "I suppose lawn ornaments would be appropriate… Then again, perhaps your Toads may see daylight after all, princess. Wouldn't hurt to have an army of slaves as industrious as them, gwahaha!"
"You—!"
"Your Ferociousness," a new voice interrupted.
Peach gasped as the Magikoopa from earlier appeared out of thin air– literally. She bit her lip- she had almost lost control, almost said something that King Koopa would have undoubtedly made her regret.
"The prison is ready, sire," the sorcerer continued with a bow. He gave Peach a sly side-eye, as though she were the one committing atrocities against Toadkind.
King Koopa cleared his throat. "Hmph, very well then. As amusing as our conversation was, princess, looks like it's time to part ways. Can't have a white magic wielder running loose in my castle, even if she is merely a remnant of a fallen kingdom."
When a glowing purple aura of magic froze her in place, Peach suddenly realized why she must be here. She was simply a trophy. A reminder of the king's astounding victory over what he thought was going to be a formidable magic user. A memento collected from the rubble of her decimated home.
Proof that she was a useless ruler who had failed her people on a catastrophic scale.
The cage door swung open and Peach floated out against her will. She couldn't move a muscle nor say a word as the Magikoopa's hold was like a vise, leaving her unable to take more than a shallow breath.
"Hold up, Kamek," the king said, rising to his feet. "I want to inspect the cell myself."
If the Magikoopa was displeased with this subtle knock to his competency, he did not show it. He only nodded and with a dramatic wave of his wand, teleported the trio into a space that was somehow even darker and more depressing.
Peach's heart raced as her eyes adjusted to the dim circular hallway, lined with metal bars and stone. The only light was a faint orange glow coming from the other side of the cells, where more bars closed off access to a round chasm bubbling with lava. It seemed to be a spiral of prison cells lining the outside of a cylindrical tower, where cages hung in the center over the pool of molten fire. Many were empty, but others held dark, silent silhouettes that Peach could not quite make out from so far back.
Immediately her senses were assaulted by the presence of black magic. The cell in front of them was practically reeking of it. The myriad of dark spells was enough to make her feel nauseous; she could only assume they were clashing with her own magic.
"I've inlaid every bit of stone and steel with a spell that suppresses any other form of magic, sire," Kamek informed the king. "Nothing will be getting in or out of that cell, you can be assured."
King Koopa hummed, half-heartedly kicked the bars with a disinterested foot, then shrugged. "M'kay, whatever you say."
So much for his 'inspection,' Peach thought ruefully. The magikoopa floated her inside the cell and finally released his spell on her. She dropped to her knees and gratefully sucked in a deep breath, even if the air was uncomfortably warm. Her head spun as the dark spells pressed in around her like another set of invisible walls. Whatever the Magikoopa had done, it cut off all her ties to her white magic. Until now she hadn't realized just how much she noticed its presence; being without it felt like she'd lost the use of one of her limbs.
Kamek slammed the door shut with a bit more force than Peach thought was necessary.
"I am sorry that things turned out this way for your kingdom," the king lied, looking down at her with hard, red eyes. "That's just the unfortunate consequences of conquest." His gaze softened the tiniest bit. "I meant what I said before, though; I promise that no harm will come to you."
How comforting to have the word of a genocidal king, Peach thought as she scoffed. She pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her dress and attempting to maintain some sense of regality despite the fact that she just wanted to curl into a ball and forget everything else. She was still a princess, despite what he'd said.
"Justice will come for you, King Koopa," she said, standing tall and raising her chin defiantly. "Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but it will come."
The king snorted, eyeing her once over. "Well, if you see him, you can tell him that the name's Bowser, and that I'll be ready."
As horrible as the rowdy Koopa celebration had been, Peach almost found the silence of her prison cell to be worse. Not only did it remind her that she was all alone, but it also left her all alone with her thoughts.
Fresh tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she buried her face in her hands. She cried for her people, for her home, for the peace that was now so far beyond her reach. The pain doubled as she finally allowed herself to see the faces of her loved ones. Toadsworth. The captain. Poor little Toadette. Even Mario, who she had only begun to know, but who had stood so bravely by her side. Now, he might not even be alive. And her Toads? Only the Stars knew.
She shuddered as she tried not to imagine what being stone would be like. Were they conscious? Did they hear or see anything, yet unable to move or make a sound? Marr T. hadn't seemed to be aware of his time as a statue, but he'd only been under the curse for a short period of time. But as for all her Toads now… they might never…
No! They can't be!
Before this, Peach had not–still did not– believe in the idea of truly hating anyone. She believed that harboring hate towards another was only good for corrupting a kind heart. But King Koopa (or Bowser, as he'd introduced himself) was really making her start to question that belief. How could someone be so full of malice? Of greed?
The longer she thought about it, the more she wanted to tear her hair out. He was already considered the most powerful ruler in the eight worlds, so why did he feel the need to grasp for more power? What sort of sickness drove this monster to do the things he did? She could not understand it, no matter how much time in this cell she would have to think about it.
The questions, the fear, and the despair swirled in her head like a storm. Roaring louder than them all, though, was the heavy feeling of loathing that she could deny no longer… towards herself.
She was weak, she knew that now. Her inability to protect her people was proof of that. Perhaps if she'd not been so foolish as to bottle up her white magic, to not train herself to use it properly, maybe she would have been strong enough to stop Bowser and save her people.
"He was right!" she wailed, striking the stone wall with an anguished fist. What hope was there now?
"H-Hello? Are you okay?"
Peach raised her head, blinking in surprise. She looked out her cell to where the cages hung over the open lava, and locked gazes with a face that made her heart jump.
"Mario?" she cried, certain her eyes were playing tricks.
The man gawked at her, grasping his cage's bars frantically. "How did you almost know my name? Wait– no– how do you know my brother? Is he alright? Are we both dead? Actually, that would kinda make sense– I mean, no way a pretty lady would be talking to me if I was—"
"Luigi!" Peach exclaimed, the pieces clicking together in her head. She wiped the tears from her face, coming up to the bars as close to the black magic would let her. Luigi looked nearly identical to his brother, apart from his slimmer build and green outfit. And, thanking the Stars, she noticed he looked unharmed.
"You do know my name! That's nice for a change…" Luigi mumbled. "Hey wait, so where's Mario? Is he here? Where did you even meet him in the first place?"
Peach shook her head, losing track of his rapid-fire questions. That, and her crying fits were starting to catch up to her in the form of a migraine. "It's… complicated. He came to my kingdom, looking for you. We figured you must be in the Darklands, so we made a plan to come and rescue you, but… b-but…" She struggled to speak around the lump in her throat. "It didn't go as planned."
Luigi's face fell. "What do you mean? Those turtle guys stopped you?"
Peach squeezed her fingers together, assuming Luigi was talking about the Koopas. "Yes, they did."
Luigi's brows drew together in concern. "Oh… well, at least he's here. Did they put him in a cell or a cage? Maybe I can pass the word along the other prisoners and try and tell him–"
"Mario wasn't captured, Luigi," Peach interrupted. "He's… I don't know. I lost track of him during the attack." At least that much was true; Stars forbid she tell him that Mario might be dead.
However, Luigi must have figured this out himself, because his hands slipped down from their grip on the bars and flopped lamely onto his lap. His mustache trembled and he shook his head vehemently. "N-No, my brother is the strongest and bravest guy I know. He's out there, and he's coming for me– for us!"
Peach looked away. She couldn't bring herself to tell him that the last thing she'd seen of Mario was his unconscious form left lifeless in her burning castle. She couldn't share in Luigi's desperate hope, not after what she'd seen.
"Mario is coming," he repeated, more firmly this time. "I know my brother, and I know he's never going to give up on us."
Peach held her tongue. Even if by some miracle Mario was still alive, there was no way he could make it across the eight worlds alone, especially not when Bowser's forces were still lurking around the lands. It was a suicide mission, even for someone like the brave plumber.
"Mario is truly amazing," she said quietly, trying to hide the tears from her voice. It would be cruel of her to bash Luigi's optimism, so she only spoke of what she knew to be true. "When the invasion came upon us, he jumped headfirst into danger to protect me and my Toads, without hesitation."
Luigi smiled. "That sounds like him. Protecting… frog people. Wait, so are you like a queen or something? I just noticed your crown."
"Oh, well…" Peach reached up and sadly touched the golden headpiece. "I am Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, but my kingdom…"
"I'm so sorry," Luigi offered softly. "A lot of the prisoners here have told me about how awful this land is, and how nasty their king is. I only briefly saw the guy in passing when the guards caught me and brought me here, but man was he one big, ugly brute."
Peach envisioned Bowser, with his glinting fangs and cruel eyes, and shuddered. "I understand why even his own people fear him."
"He's just a bully, like any other I've seen in Brooklyn," Luigi sniffed. "And Mario's stood up to all of them, no matter how big. That's why I know he won't give up."
"You really have faith in him, don't you?" Peach asked. Her question was not accusatory, but she found Luigi's relentlessness was bordering recklessness.
"I do. He's mio fratello," he stated. "And nothing can hurt us as long as we're together. Not even those terrifying skeleton turtle guys or those scary mushrooms with big teeth– I-I hope n-none of them heard me say that…"
Peach rested her head on the wall, closing her eyes once more. She wished only the best for Mario and Luigi. If they somehow managed to both make it out of this alive, they still had their Brooklyn to return to, which was more than she could say.
"Princess? Miss? Are you okay, though?" Luigi called. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No," Peach replied weakly. Not physically, at least, she thought.
"P-Pardon my saying so, but you look a little pale, Princess. Have they given you anything to eat or drink yet?"
"No, not yet." Peach's stomach heaved uncomfortably at the thought of food. "… I don't think I could eat right now, anyways."
The longer she sat behind these black-magic-retaining walls, the more she felt ill. It almost felt like an invisible layer of grime had settled over her, and it was slowly seeping into her like an infection that her body was powerless to fight.
Luigi's eyes radiated with sympathy. "I know there's nothing I can say to make you feel better, but I'm here if you want to talk. I mean… I have nothing else to do anyhow, heh."
Peach sighed. "Thank you, Luigi." She could see why Mario had been so fond (and protective) of his younger brother. The green-clad plumber was awkward in the most endearing way.
"Oh, and just so you know, it's better not to talk when there are guards around. They don't like it, and recently they've been even more on edge. I'm pretty sure that's why the other prisoners haven't been talking to me lately. They–"
As though Luigi's words had summoned them, a pair of winged Koopas in royal blue armor appeared from around the corner. Luigi's mouth snapped shut and Peach regarded the guards with wary eyes as they marched by. Fortunately, they ignored the prisoners and only continued their patrol with their spears at their sides.
"They're good at their job, unfortunately," Luigi whispered after a minute had passed. "It's gonna make escaping pretty difficult."
Escape? She tried to imagine them getting past all the Magikoopas, Dry Bones, and Boos. Somehow, it didn't seem possible, and she didn't even want to think about what would happen to them when they were caught.
Mario's brother must have noticed the disapproval written all over her face, because he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "B-But, um, just try and get some rest, Princess. We'll hear word about Mario soon, I can feel it."
Peach nodded silently, resigned, and retreated to the rough wooden bench provided in her cell. She lowered herself slowly, rubbing her temples.
Mario, if you really are out there… please be careful.