The wall was more interesting than Peach's life at the moment. Sure, her life had always been rather dull, only interrupted from her usual schedule of attending to royal matters by a surprise kidnapping, and she'd even become tired of those after the 3rd attempt. Bowser had decided a fitting punishment for acting out of line during his little meeting was to lock her up in her room for a week, her only company being Kamek whenever he brought her her daily meals.
She gazed at the pastel pink paintwork for about the three-hundredth time. Boredom was the only emotion she could feel. She wanted to feel scared or worried for the lives of her citizens and friends, but she couldn't. All her worry had been lapped up and replaced by the feeling of slowly going mad. The cracks in the ceiling had become her therapist. She chuckled in a low tone, feeling her sanity diminishing with every minute she watched the wall.
"You're a wall. I'm a human. You aren't living, why am I doing this? Oh well," she said, staring intently at the painted plaster as if it would respond. It was a fucking wall, no shit it wouldn't reply. Her eyes scanned over it, looking for anything intriguing to stare at for the time being. Nothing.
It was bland, to say the most. It was a wall, what more could anybody expect of it. Yet walls held secrets. The walls, so plain and uninteresting, had seen the most colorful and vibrant displays that hadn't even grazed the sight of a living person. The walls, if they were people, would be the most intelligent of humans. They were paintings that hadn't reached a canvas, they were ideas that hadn't left the mind, they were the pencils that hadn't touched the paper, the books that hadn't been written. They were plain to the naked eye, but beneath, they were everything humanity wasn't.
A yell snapped her out of her daydream about the walls of her prison. She sighed, knowing the all too familiar sound of an argument breaking out. Which set of minions would be duking it out with slurs today? She hated to admit it, but the spats between the workers of Bowser's army could sometimes be the highlight of her week. They were interesting and distracted her from her sad life.
"I ain't no brat!" a high pitched, prepubescent male voice screeched from the hallway.
"That's what you think, golden boy. You're a fucking brat and Father's favourite! I was all set to be the heir and then you came along and snatched it away from me!" another male yelled, his voice with a slight German hint to it. This man sounded quite a bit older than the first. The harsh sound of a slap followed his words, a cry of pain coming seconds after. Peach winced, violence was one of the few things she couldn't bear to see, or hear.
She guessed it was either two koopalings or one koopaling and Bowser Jr. She'd partially forgotten about the seven mistakes known as Bowser's adopted kids. It was rare to come across them, as they were rather 'shy' in a way, not the 'timid nerd' kind of shy, apart from maybe Iggy but he was completely crazy so he was every personality that could ever exist. No, the koopalings were the kind of shy that goth kids were. They'd shoot you a disgusted glare, as if you were a bug that needed to be squished, and then walk off, muttering cuss words and empty threats about how they'd shoot you if you dared even be in the same room as them. Yet the koopalings would most likely shoot you.
"Shut the fuck up!" a woman screeched, a loud slam of a door interrupting her words.
Peach shut her eyes and tried to imagine the scene playing out outside her locked door, yet she couldn't. She just couldn't remember what was outside her room, it had seemed like so long since she'd last been out. Yet it had only been a week. Was she going mad? Probably. Who wouldn't have lost a few marbles in her position? Someone who probably had a few screws loose in the first place.
"Shut up, slut! This isn't your concern!" the older male snapped. Irritation was clear in his tone.
The koopalings were loud, she thought as she listened in on their screaming argument. You could probably hear them even if you were on the other side of the castle. No matter what they did, it always was loud. Heavy metal from one room, mechanical screeches of experiments from another, piano music, yelling, shitty game music on full volume, and the list goes on. They also cursed a hell of a fucking lot. That must come with being around underpaid goombas with no filter whatsoever. A torrent of insults was flying like bullets outside between the siblings.
"Whore!"
"Cunt!"
"Slut!"
"Fa-" the woman began, before being abruptly cut off with a loud 'shush', shutting down their insults. Peach felt a little disappointed that their spat had ended so soon, now she'd have to create something to do that wasn't listening in on people's conversations or staring at the ceiling.
She sighed irritably, picking up a hairbrush and twirling it around in her hands before, out of a strange impulse, throwing it as hard as she possibly could towards the wall she stared at so often. The plastic thudded to the ground, like a chick falling out of its nest, leaving a small dent in the wall as a constant reminder of her actions. She didn't know why she'd suddenly thrown it. She wasn't an angry person, was she? She was too busy contemplating what was wrong with her that she didn't hear the door click open and a certain redheaded man slinking into her room and standing creepily behind her.
His cold hands placed themselves on her shoulders, garnering a shiver that ran down her spine, She dared not move, fear coursing through her veins. Bowser's warm breath hit the back of her neck, making all the hairs stand bolt upright. Her instinct told her to flee, but she couldn't. She wanted to fight back, but she was too weak. Just being submissive and not angering the temperamental redheaded king was how you got away physically unscathed. Mentally, you were always scarred.
"Princess, my dear, how has your time in isolation been?" he crooned, the forced kindness and chilling undertones to his voice send shudders carrying alarm signals through her body, her brain setting off alarms in her head. This was no ordinary visit. Bowser wanted something from her. And she hoped he didn't want what she was thinking of.
"It has been fine," she choked on the final word of the sentence that would escape her lips, feeling disgusted as she said it, "Master."
"Good good..." the monster murmured, his clawed hands exploring her upper torso region, straying dangerously close to areas that somebody would get carted off to prison for if they dared touch without consent. But Bowser wouldn't. He owned the prisons. He owned her. Therefore he could do what he wanted to her, no matter if it made her severely uncomfortable.
"Princess, would you like to see the others again?" he asked her, the word 'others' being dragged out like if he were inhaling on a cigarette. She knew who the others were. They were her friends or ex-friends considering she was the cause of the destruction of their lives. Daisy, Rosalina, Toadette, Toad, Luigi... The people Bowser's deranged obsession with her had broken.
"I would like to see them again, Master," she mumbled, earning herself a sharp slap to the cheek. The hot flow of tears held themselves back as a pale red handprint began forming, standing out from the pale skin of her cheek.
"Speak clearly to me," Bowser barked, his words sharp and snappy. She would have flinched, but that would have either gotten her another slap or on the road to a darker, more evil punishment. A punishment that she feared more than any other punishment he could dish out. "Now, would you like to see the others again?" he snarled as he repeated his question.
"Yes, Master. I would like to see them again," she said, trying her hardest to keep her voice from shaking.
"Would you like to see them alive, Princess?" his crooned, his nails digging into her shoulder with his iron grip.
"Yes, Master," she replied, hoping and praying that her friends weren't dead. Whatever god the Mushroom citizens prayed to wasn't in a good mood that day.
"Too fucking bad, Princess" Bowser snarled, ripping the corpse of Toad from an unnoticed Koopa and shoving it into her arms.
The world around her froze. Time seemed to have stopped. Her thoughts were whizzing around her head at speeds she never thought they could. Her eyes were locked on the cold, lifeless stare that her once-cheerful, happy, alive friend emitted. Toad couldn't be dead. This had to be some crazy dream. Maybe she had gone completely mad and was hallucinating. That had to be it. She couldn't possibly be holding the body of her loyal servant and long-time best friend. There was no way. Bowser's dark chuckle was like a wake-up slap. The world restarted its spinning and time began ticking again. The tears began rolling down her cheeks, dripping down onto the pale grey skin of Toad.
"Would you like to see the others, Princess?" the monster asked, the coldness in his voice emitting dark, evil vibes that only someone whose entire soul was devoted to causing pain and pure cruelty could emit.
Peach shook her head. Her head was enough of a mess without having to comprehend what Bowser could have done to her friends.
Or even what he'd already done to the other prisoners.
Hey guys, sorry for abandoning ya'll for so long. I've just been busy writing Player 2. I hope you guys like this chapter, I feel like it's a little worse than the others and if it is, I'm sorry. Love you guys and thank you for reading!