Chapter Text
Shards of Love: REDUX!
"I started low, but I've gotten high up, and I can only get higher. I'm tired of pretending to be loyal; dependable. The wolf inside me demands to destroy the outer sheep surrounding it; everyone will see the true me. The hunger for the status I most desire grew at a gradual pace throughout the years, and the now-insatiable craving must be satisfied before my inner wolf breaks free from its flowery confines. It must happen now, even if it takes breaking everything else I have. Friends. Family. Peace. Immortality. Love. I will tear anything to shreds in return for my desire, and I'll cast the now-useless shards into the dark, eternal sea of hopelessness."
- Medieval Koopa Lore
Shard I: Foundations
Peach and Mario marry, but what should've been a happy day is instead marred by Peach's surprise kidnapping by the Koopalings. Now, what should've been a relaxing vacation instead turns into an ill-fated stay at Bowser's Castle.
Chapter I
Wedding of the Century: A Bride's Stress
Dawn approached the eastern Mushroom Kingdom, converting the grey-and-black sky into orange, yellow and blue. The Sun shot down every sign of nighttime, and the residents of the Kingdom’s eastern lands revealed themselves from their ramparts. For the residents, today's no ordinary day. Everywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, businesses remained closed and thousands of citizens danced in the streets, all with huge grins. Trumpets blared throughout the Kingdom while happy citizens shouted out multiple 'Hooray!'s. Today's celebrations mark the day when Princess Peach marries her hero and longtime friend, Mario.
However, behind the castle's walls, anxiety, rather than excitement, rang through the air and bounced off the elegant rose walls. Stress, like a foul odor, oozed from every crevice in the elegant marble floors. The poison accumulated into the minds of everyone; even the dainty Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom appeared prone to the unwanted condition. Although lounging in the comfort of the pink walls, the queen-sized bed and the stained-glass window making up her bedroom, Peach still worried about the general turnout of the wedding.
"Are you excited, girl?" Daisy questioned Peach in her light Sarasalandian country accent. Several of Peach's servants and her best friend Daisy crowded around her, preparing her wedding.
"I've been waiting for this day since forever," Peach stated in weak excitement. She doesn’t hate Mario—no, far from it. Peach, like her mother, is a perfectionist; she fears even a pesky housefly will ruin her special day. In an instant, she began muttering in doubt, "I'm just scared, Daisy."
Daisy scowled before plumping up her orange dress; being Peach's maid of honor, Daisy bore a frilly orange dress rather than the bridesmaids’ yellow. Although she wanted the bridesmaids’ dresses to be pink a few months ago, Peach changed her mind; she wanted the pink gig to be her own. As for the Maid of Honor, the princess wanted to leave the choice of colour to Daisy.
"Scared of what?"
"I'm just... Nervous over the whole thing. What if something goes wrong? All the citizens will eat it up within seconds. They won't respect me the same again! I'll be a late April Fool's joke in their minds!"
Peach didn't turn to Daisy, but she could tell Daisy's scowling at her. The two may be inseparable best friends, but Daisy never hesitates to dish out well-deserved negativity towards Peach or her thoughts whenever necessary. Peach always knows she can count on Daisy whenever she has problems requiring honesty and a bit of opinion, unlike the typical suck-up-to-Peach-because-she's-the-ruler-of-the-Mushroom-Kingdom folks.
"Peach. Nothing will go wrong," Daisy attempted to comfort the princess, "Now you just try to relax while we wait for your mom to fix your makeup. Don't cry either; it's hard to put eyeliner on wetness, and I suck at swimming while in a dress! I thought the tears from the sinners at Church were deep enough to drown in!"
Still anguished, Peach peered down at her archived copy of the wedding invitation. The vinyl’s smooth surface gave her a rush of comfort as she brushed over the card's edge. She studied the picture in the invitation’s center. In the picture, she held a sceptre, and both she and Mario showed off elegant gold crowns. Peach smiled at the picture, then focused her attention on the text to the right of the photograph. Written in a gold-coloured elegant font, the text read: 'King Toadstool and Queen Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Princess Peach Toadstool, to her hero, Mario Mario. The ceremony will be at 1PM on April 18 in the Castle's Courtyard, followed by a reception at 5PM.'
'Now,' Peach lamented to herself, 'April 18 has approached, and 1PM approaches rapidly.' Although the fourteenth hour of the day advanced from the future to the present at full tilt, Peach still couldn't believe that today is her day. With no time for mental preparation, the sudden epiphany of her getting wedded tortured her all morning.
"PEACH!" the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom hollered at her daughter. The ruling royal walked into the room. With butterflies still swarming in her stomach, Peach put down the invitation and looked away from the partying kingdom on the window’s other side. The Queen appeared ready for her daughter's wedding, donning a white bridesmaid gown, a silver, gem-plated tiara and a large diamond ring. The Queen pulled back her silvery-blonde hair and smiled.
"Mother!" Peach called out, leaving the circle of servants and giving her mum a hug. In return, the Queen gave Peach a warm, comforting hug.
"Oh, Peach darling; my grown up girl..." the Queen replied in a hushed whisper. The two pulled apart from the hug and the Queen stated, "We need to get you ready for your marriage!"
The Queen opened one of the table's drawers. An entire beautician store's worth of makeup greeted the royals: gold eyeliner, silver mascara, peach foundation powder, a bit of blue eyeshadow, red lipstick and several other colours of makeup. Without organising the cluster of makeup, the Queen pulled out the drawer from its hinges and dumped the contents onto the makeup table. As Queen Toadstool grabbed the foundation powder and applied it to Peach's face, Daisy attempted to put on Peach's eyeliner and a servant did her lipstick.
' Oh great,' the princess muttered to herself as several pairs of waving arms surrounded her face, each threatening to make a potential mistake. Peach already knew by the buildup of her stress that this will be a long, tiring day.
Despite the cheerful attitudes in the seven Lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, not every leader in every kingdom took the news in a positive fashion. In Dark Land...
"Why is King Dad so upset?" Lemmy questioned his siblings. He, Ludwig, Roy, Wendy, Iggy and Larry sat by the battle room's door, eavesdropping on the other side’s activities. The Koopalings sensed Bowser's voice rising, followed by a comforting voice from Kamek.
"Imagine zis, Lemuel," started Ludwig, "Your favorite ball has been stolen by Mario. He zen locked it up in a safe. How vould you feel?"
"Sad! I would do everything I can to break into the safe and get it back! I LOVE my ball!" Lemmy cried. The normally happy Koopaling wept at the summoned imagination, much to Ludwig’s joy. The Koopaling's never depressed, even though one can nominate him as the most bullied of the Koopalings. In public, people always made fun of Lemmy's shrimpy height, often mocking him whenever he reached for something. Others would shun him because he was too 'annoying' or too 'immature' for them. At first, such negative actions bothered Lemmy, but after years of the grueling experiences, he got to—strangely—liking the verbal bullying. Him being different from his peers made Lemmy accept that he's unique and one-of-a-kind.
'At least Lemmy knows how heartache feels like now,' Ludwig thought. After his self-statement, the eldest Koopaling explained to Lemmy, "Vell, zat is vhat's happening vith King Dad. Mario stole Peach from him and is... Vell, in a sense, 'locking' her up from Dad by marrying her."
"Yeah! We should do something to stop this! Like, seriously!" Wendy announced to her present siblings. Wendy wanted something from her father; the fact flashed on her forehead like a neon sign in Mushroom City. The only times she cared enough to do anything for someone is when she expects something in return. "Do we want Daddykins to be all mopey today? We'll seriously get nothing we want!"
Roy nodded his head at the idea, "Great idea, Sis. Should we be crashing da weddin' or whateva?"
"Yes!" Iggy replied in a demented, sinister shout, "I have a machine that can make people fall asleep! I shall use it! Ahahahahaha!"
Lately, Iggy’s been experiencing some... Personal issues dealing with his self-esteem. He, like Lemmy, sat at the bottom of the social ladder, but unlike Lemmy, Iggy grasped for the top. He always wished that he were sane enough to be a useful member of society, and not just a psychopath whose only professional suit available is a straitjacket. Rather than physically or socially improving himself to reach the top, Iggy decided to use his wits to impress everyone with his inventions. Maybe his physical and social skills will catch up to his mental skills afterwards, he reasoned.
Wendy and Roy smiled at Iggy's announcement while Ludwig and Lemmy pondered over the situation. However, the normally-reticent youngest Koopaling piped up his concerns toward the idea.
"I don't know guys... Remember the last time we launched a surprise attack on the Mushroom Kingdom? The time when we kidnapped the Princess by causing the castle to experience a blackout? Yeah, King Dad wasn't happy on that one..."
"Lawrence. Zat vas because ve kidnapped her in plain sight. Ve von't make zat mistake again. I know you're concerned, but you have to trust me on zis vun. I am ze eldest Koopaling, so I am ze most trained vhen it comes to snatching the Princess. I've attended battle meetings. I did several zings zat ze five of you never did in your lifetimes."
"Well..." Larry replied, still hesitant, "I guess..."
"Plus, ze castle has lots of coins-"
At the mention of the word 'Coins', Larry's eyes bulged from his head. Larry may be a sneak, but even the youngest koopaling’s held hostage by the thought of coins. Larry would do anything to get even one coin. That worries Ludwig and his family, even when they use Larry's greed to their advantage. Just how far will Larry's greed take him, and what will the consequences be?
"Coins?!" the youngest Koopaling shouted, giving Ludwig a look that seemed to be saying ' duh' , "I'm in!"
"Aight," Roy took command of the situation before Ludwig opened his mouth, "We’ll do things we're beasts at. Lar can spy on da weddin', Sis and Lemster can distract da others, Iggs can use some nerdy, freaky machine thing to protect all of us. I can den kidnap da Princess and Kooky here can drive da Doomship-"
"Uh uh uh, Roy," Ludwig objected, "Remember: I'm ze oldest; I'm in command here. Now, I barely noticed zat ve vill miss ze vedding, but ze Princess vill have a reception. Ve can snatch her zen. Larry, spy on ze reception. Lemuel and Vendy, distract ze reception goers. Ignatius, if you can use zat machine zat causes ze entire audience to fall asleep, I vill appreciate zat. Roy can zen snatch the Princess while I drive the doomship."
"Dat’s what I said, Kooky!"
"I'm in charge zough, so my vords matter more."
As Ludwig's the oldest Koopaling, the title of the Crown Prince was bestowed on him at a young age. Ludwig took his title as a synonym for 'Alpha Male' and he'd often make himself the most important member of any Bowser-free gathering. He despised the times when someone else snatched control of a situation, especially another 'Alpha Male' challenger like Roy.
"Rrrrrr..." the burly Koopaling growled, "No wonder why Morton declined to do anything involvin' you... You're so damn stuck-up!"
"Roy... Ze only time I vill deal vith your crap is vhen ve are snatching Father's treasure. But for now, I vill not be taking it. Depart hence from me. Now."
"Fine, whateva. I'm done with YOUR crap, Luddy. You constantly treat da rest of us like we're damn second-class citizens! Newsflash, lil' Xerox, without us, you wouldn't be Pop's little pet! Peace out, sibs, I'm done with dis trash."
Wendy stared at Roy as he stomped away. She turned back to Ludwig and glared at him. As stuck-up as she is, she knew the true value of teamwork and the positive consequences it brings.
"Like, seriously, Ludwig? What was that about?! We're supposed to be a team and have Peach captured! I can totally feel my trip to Europe on my fingertips for grabbing her!"
"Leave it be, Kootie Pie. Don't fan ze flames; zey'll only grow. Roy'll get out of his hissy fit," the eldest Koopaling stated, brushing off every concern raised by his sister. He stood up and put his hand on the battle room's doorknob, "Now all of you, get ready. I'll need to tell Father about somezing."
Several minutes after various makeup tools invaded her face, Peach found herself behind the closed doors to the courtyard with her father, the Mushroom King. The wedded princess heard an orchestra's music, a bit of chatter and a microphone’s testing on the other side of the door. The excitement had Peach nervous over the situation. Despite her being the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, she hadn’t experienced an event this exciting in years. Most of her life consisted of either mushroom balls, spin-off games or being kidnapped by multiple villains. All in all, other than a date with Mario thrown in, her weeks are stressful, sucky and sophisticated. And to think people envied her title as Princess.
' Call me paranoid but...' Peach thought, 'Something tells me that this wedding will not go completely scot-free.'
At the imperfect realization, Peach's legs trembled, causing her wedding dress to produce a shuffling noise. Her father, alerted by the dress’s swooshing, looked over at her, but rather than displaying a look or action of concern, Peach's father instead gave her a bewildered stare.
"Peach?" the Mushroom King questioned.
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
"Just a bit nervous," Peach admitted, her dress still creating the crumpling from her tremors. Her father nodded his head and gave his daughter a facial expression as if telling her he's about to drift off in a ten-thousand-year-long slumber.
"Tell me about it... I'm missing the PGA tournament. I'm so nervous about turning on the television and seeing who won... I am taping it though, so that's good, right?"
"Uhh, sure?" Peach added with a confused look on her face. 'I thought this conversation was going to be about me and this day, not about some tournament of golf... Let me ask him again.'
After her thoughts, Peach questioned her father.
"But what do you feel about my wedding?"
"Well, not as interesting as golf, I'll tell you that!" her father guffawed. The King takes his cap off and wipes off his nervous sweat with a handkerchief, "Woo! I sure hope the PGA results aren't displayed on any of them Sports channels! Makes King Toady all nervous!"
Peach sighed; she won’t be getting any help or sympathy from him any time soon. Then again, who would give her sympathy? Maybe Daisy’s right—she just needs to kick back, relax, maybe do some meditation while listening to classical music—anything.
'Might as well let him lament over stupid golf while his daughter sits here nearly wetting her wedding dress in anxiety.'
Peach snapped from her thoughts as the doors to the ceremony opened and two mushroom guards stepped into the hall. The two wear tuxedos to match the formal attire of the programme rather than their notorious clanky armour. Peach silently voiced a prayer of gratitude to the Stars; as safe as she feels with bloodthirsty, intimidating guards as her first line of defence, all Peach wanted is a decent, civilized and modern wedding and not one of kidnappings, armour and other medieval-aged ideas.
"Your Majesty," one of the guards spoke, "It's time to walk your daughter down the aisle."
Nodding his head as if silently stating 'Anything to get this over with', Peach's father locked his bent arm around hers. Elbow-to-elbow they walked down the red carpet, slowly but steadily making their way to the altar where Toadsworth waited with patience. Peach looked away from the altar and caught sight of Birdo throwing flower petals before them. Several rows of folding chairs covered the courtyard, each packed with eager wedding watchers.
Peach and her father continued toward the altar—with Peach still focusing her attention anywhere but the altar—and the orchestra started playing multiple wedding songs such as The Wedding Canon and Here Comes the Bride. The beautiful music and the sight of Mario in a red-colored tux caused Peach to experience even more butterflies than ever before.
'This is it!' Peach stated to herself, 'The day when Mario becomes my husband, my Prince, my everything.'
Still, she admitted; she cannot believe the day of her marrying Mario approached. Ever since he first rescued her from the clutches of Bowser, Peach knew he was the one, but she didn't know they’d get married anytime soon. She’s just happy she’s betrothed to Mario rather than a half-wit, self-absorbed idiot like Prince Haru.
'Mario... Well, he didn't seem like the one favouring commitment, but at the same time, I think he does try hard whenever it is tossed at him.'
When the father-daughter duo approached the first row of folding chairs, Peach's father let go of her arm. With her entire body quaking, the princess attempted to focus all her energy into moving her feet up each of the three stairs towards the altar, one white high heel after another...
Peach made it up the stairs with no incident, and stood face-to-face with Mario. Seeing a grin appear on his face, Peach smiled back at him before Toadsworth went on with the vows.
"Mario, read your vows."
The red plumber took out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. He glanced at the handwriting present on the sheet and read the words out loud.
"I, Mario Mario, take you, Princess Peach Toadstool, to be my lawfully wedded wife, princess and damsel in distress. For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, or if Bowser ever rules the Mushroom Kingdom. I promise to honor and cherish you. This I vow to you."
Peach successfully holds back her giggling at Mario’s vows. Toadsworth pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Peach. Peach thanked him and unfolded the paper, revealing the vows she wrote earlier. She read the words on the paper loud enough for the audience to hear.
"I, Princess Peach Toadstool, take you, Mario Mario, to be my lawfully wedded husband. For sickness, in health, for 99 lives, for only two lives, for richer, for poorer—even though I’m the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom so we'll never be poor," she read, adding the last line to try to match Mario’s humor. Her last minute punchline’s a success, as the members of the audience snickered, "This I vow to you."
Peach grabbed Mario's gloved hand with her hand. They both stared into each other’s eyes, mesmerised. Looking into Mario's eyes, Peach imagined every terrain he braved to save her. Perpetual plains, deathly deserts, frigid floes and massive mountains—only some of the landscapes she sensed in Mario's azure eyes. Their trance broke when Toadsworth announced the final verdict.
"Mario, you may now kiss your bride."
The entire audience clapped as Mario leaned towards Peach and gave her a kiss. As their lips met, pure feelings of happiness and ecstasy washed over Peach. While it lasted, Peach felt as if she could bench press the planet with one hand: she felt invincibility coursing through her veins. Not only did her wedding go without incident, but she's now married to her longtime hero! That one kiss—that amazing, sentimental kiss—confirmed that notion.
The newly-wedded couple broke away from the kiss and stood side by side. With her left hand gripping Mario's right, the now-married princess lifted her right hand and waved to the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, meet your newly-wedded couple, Princess Peach Toadstool and Prince Mario Mario!" Toadsworth announced. The crowd stood, each member bowing to the couple. They both continued waving to the crowd with their free hands.
As the crowd bowed to the new couple, Peach caught sight of her crying mother—most likely tears of joy. She turned her focus to her father; he’s staring into space with a goofy smile on his face, oblivious to whatever celebrations occurred around him. He’s probably playing golf with other political figures in his mind. The bliss emotion on his face may also imply the course having endless sun, vast areas of gently-sloping hills and a never-ending supply of spare tees.
Peach sighed before staring at her newly-wedded husband. 'Husband' she thought, 'This will take some getting used to... hehe!'
"Your dad’s still not showing any signs of life?" Mario questioned. Peach shook her head in anguish.
"Nope. Let's just get ready for the reception..."