Locked Away

An Idea of Peace

A/N: I have nothing to say for myself.

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Peach awoke after a night of fitful sleeping to a knock at her door. Startled, she tried to drag a brush through her hair and haphazardly pull on the ruby-red dress that had been provided for her in the time it took her to reach the door. Looking semi-presentable, she pulled it open and came face-to-face with a young, green-shelled Koopa Trooper. "I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but Lord Bowser is requesting your presence in the throne room." The Trooper seemed quite nervous at having to address Peach, and the princess didn't miss the way he was anxiously wringing his hands in front of him.

"What am I required for?" She regretted sounding so cold almost immediately after she said it, but she didn't have any love for the Koopa Troop, and was obviously still upset about...past events. She'd earned the right to speak to them how she wanted!

"I-I don't know, ma'am. I'm just a messenger." Replied the Trooper, a little scared. Peach felt even worse about how she sounded, but didn't apologise. These Troopers deal with Bowser every day. They can handle a chilly tone from Peach.

"I see. Well, you'll have to lead me down, I don't know my way around." The Trooper nodded, standing aside to let Peach out and leading her down the dim hallways by her side. Peach vaguely wondered why this dress fit her so well; how did Bowser get her measurements? This was just one of many questions that popped into her mind now that she's had some sleep, and she was so deep in these thoughts that she barely noticed the Trooper come to a stop outside the throne room.

He pulled one of the heavy doors open with a grunt of effort and gestured for Peach to go in. "I'm just a recruit, so I'm not allowed in there unless I'm invited. Good luck, ma'am." He said, shutting the door behind her with an accidental bang. Peach didn't like the sound of that 'good luck' and felt her nerves worsen in a split second. 

Bowser was reclining on golden throne, looking down at everyone, Bowser Junior at his left hand side. The Koopalings were all gathered in front of him, stood in the same attention position they were yesterday. Kamek and Kammy stood on their far sides, watching everyone expressionlessly. Red-shelled Koopas and Hammer Bros were positioned around the sides of the room, holding spears and hammers respectively. The walk to join the ranks of the Koopalings and the Magikoopas seems to take forever, the crunch of the plush carpet seeming to echo loudly in her mind.

She was careful to stand next to Lemmy and Morton, the only two Koopalings who she didn't actively hate. Morton might look intimidating, but outside of fights, he was really just a big, softie idiot, and Lemmy...was Lemmy. He was just some childlike Koopa who went everywhere balanced on the top of a circus ball. Not exactly much of a threat. In a way, she was surprised that nobody said anything about him using that circus ball in such a formal audience.

"Can we please get on with this? I'm a very busy woman, and I haven't got all day." Scoffed Kammy, crossing her arms. Peach glanced at her in shock, wondering how on earth she got away with speaking to Bowser like that. Bowser glowered at her for a second, but didn't say anything about Kammy's rude tone.

"Yes, fine, now that everyone is here. First order of business, the Mushroom Kingdom isn't going down without a fight. The military has rebelled and the citizens are trying to hold us back. The 1st, 2nd and 6th Regiments are already there, with the 3rd Navy and 7th Air Force well on their way. I trust nobody has any objections?" Nobody said a word, and indeed, they all seemed too stunned to object. 

"Lord Bowser, shouldn't you have consulted the Regimental General of each attack force before invading-I mean, neutralising the Mushroom Kingdom?" Asked Kamek, who's face quickly turned from horrorstruck to a more default expression.