The sun was setting slowly on the Mushroom Kingdom. The fair started, and the citizens enjoyed the wonders it offered.
Mario was still home, waiting for Bowsette's visit. He promised that he would join us alongside with her as soon as she would arrive. But so far, he had no sign of her. No phone calls, no texting messages, nothing at all.
Mario, dressed casually, sat at the dinner table as his left index finger tapped impatiently on its surface. His head rested on its right fist, looking bored and pessimistic. Bowsette's presence was still ill-welcomed in town. He started thinking that she had a change of heart perhaps. His hand was itching to give her a call, but he would act too forceful to her. Patience was a virtue and he made a strong effort to uphold it, especially for a dame that never went on a date before. He had to be the perfect gentleman for her.
A knock was heard from the door. Excitement and relief showed on Mario's face. He hasted himself to answer the door.
"Hey there! I thought that you'd cancel—"
Upon seeing her in his door frame, Master Mario froze. Her wine-red burgundy dress, the natural features she bore, her timid face that glowed, her lips that carried crimson lipstick, her hair that were straightened and her eyes that shined softly like pure sapphires: his heart thought it would stop beating through an explosion.
Bowsette was already someone known to be beautiful, despite her nature. But this person standing in front of Mario was nothing short of a celestial marvel.
"S-sorry," she said, looking apologetic. "I took too long with my hair."
Mario still could not speak of word. His reaction was understandable. He had never faced such wonder to his eyes. His entire self willed to find a word to describe her level of beauty, but failed.
"Damn it! Say something!" Bowsette was flustered, embarrassed by his silence.
"You..." he finally said, being snapped back to reality. "You're an angel!"
Her smile, though timid, rose to her lips, happy of the compliment that she had just received. She nodded as she looked down, too shy to look at him.
"I wish I could-a have worn something nicer..." Mario said disappointed of his allure. "Maybe I should change."
"No, no, no!" Bowsette stopped him. "You look fine! You do, trust me! You're actually cuter in casual clothing."
She put her hand in front of her mouth realizing her words. She had just called him cute. The word's effect had already taken Mario's heart. His reddening face was pleased by its sound.
"EEERRR!" Embarrassment took her over. "Yeah, well, I mean! We should go! Everybody's waiting!"
"Oh! R-right! I completely forgot about-a the others!"
Slowly but surely, the usual train of conversation returned on the road to the fair between the Koopa princess and our famous hero. It was hard for Mario to gaze at her without feeling his heart almost bursting out of his chest. If she had such effect on him, I wondered how it would be onto the townspeople.
That mystery was quickly answered when they finally arrived.
Of course, everyone knew that Mario was walking next to Princess Bowsette; the dragon-like tail and horns was an instant giveaway. But it did not matter; her radiance had struck everyone like it did Mario. Voices and expressions were in awe to the wonder she had become. It was as if the shadow of her evil self had never existed. The aura that she projected put many, if not all people at ease.
"Hum, Mario?" she said. "Do they always look at you like that?"
"They're looking at-a you, Bowsette."
"What? But why?" she sounded clueless.
"Because," Mario said, "you look-a majestic."
A wave of heat washed her face. "O-oh... I-I do?"
Mario smiled at her. "You really do."
Just three words; these seemed to have a bigger effect on her more than anything else. If we took in account the time that they had spent together, it was no surprise. The Bowsette of before could not hold a candle to this elegance we were witnessing.
The couple finally arrived at their destination: the square's fountain. There awaited Master Mario's friends, including myself: Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Master Luigi, Toad and his younger sibling Toadette. Yoshi was present a moment ago, but the many stands of delicacy attracted his attention in a more convincing way. As everyone they encountered before on their way, we were all taken away by Bowsette's splendid makeover.
"Hey everyone! Sorry we're-a late." Mario started.
"Hi Mario!" Our princess greeted them. "My gosh! Is that you, Bowsette?"
She looked confused. "Is... that a trick question?"
"No, no!" she walked closer to her. "You're so... beautiful! I almost didn't recognize you!"
"Oh, well... Thank you. And thanks for the invitation."
She smiled in return. "Thank you for coming."
"Well, I couldn't exactly refuse since Mario had asked me out."
All of us turned to him. "He did?"
His face blushed like a young teen in love with all the surprised gazes aiming at him at the center of attention. But his expression was not embarrassment, nor did he try to deny how close he had gotten to the Koopa princess. There was a glow of happiness and relief around his voice.
"Yeah, I did."
"Wow... I didn't expect that." Princess Daisy replied.
"Come on, Daisy." Luigi added. "It's a festival! We're-a all here to have fun! Right guys?"
Toad and Toadette cheered to his words. I, too, agreed to this.
I walked to Mario and Bowsette. "Princess Bowsette, I welcome to your first Star Shower festival. I am more than certain that you will have your fill in amusement on this wonderful evening."
"Thank you, Toadsworth." She said humbly.
"And it would be a crime if I did not compliment your allure. You look quite divine today!"
"T-Thanks!" she once again blushed over compliments on her looks. "Okay, enough about how I look! How about you guys give me a tour to the fair?"
"I'm-a glad you asked!" Mario exclaimed with enthusiasm. "There's a bunch-a of games we can play!"
"Oh, I don't know," Bowsette looked mischievous. "I wouldn't want to beat you so badly."
"Challenge accepted!" Mario concluded as they both shared a chummy laugh.
Like a natural thing to do, Princess Bowsette and Mario's hands extended to each other to be held by one another. Other than Luigi who smiled warmly to the act, we were left surprised by their closeness. Nonetheless, the night was young, joy filled the air and the people seemed to not care anymore about the sight of the couple together. We followed their example and let them be.
"They've really gotten on much better terms." I admitted. "A few months ago, we would have never expected such change in their relationship. Perhaps this could benefit both kingdoms."
"Yes," Princess Peach said, her tone seemed almost neutral. "They sure did."
"Princess? Are you all right?"
"Oh, of course I am!" Her cheerfulness instantly returned. "Let's all enjoy the festival, shall we?"
"Of course!"
As we followed Bowsette and Mario to the gaming exhibition while sharing a dynamic conversation among us all, I could not help noticing an unusual sight on Princess Peach's face. It was as if she had received a certain sting to her heart. While she waved it away, I knew her long enough to know that something bothered her. But I, too, decided to wave my suspicions aside.
Many words would serve to describe the evening we've spent at the festival: fairy-like, wonderful, fantastic, blessed, etc. For Princess Bowsette, it was as if a child had seen colors for the first time in her long life. It could be defined as such. Her face was sparkled with wonder and excitement at every corner we visited. She was a natural at any game that we played and was a fierce rival towards the Mario brothers. At some point, she teamed with her royal peers Daisy and Peach to go against Mario, Luigi and Toad on a game of kart racing. And the young gals had snatched victory. The many delicacies displayed, from candies and meals, their multiples flavors exploded with bliss in her mouth at every tasting attempt. Without expectations, she even dethroned Yoshi in the annual hot-dog eating contest. One stand offered hand-made plushies to be made as we saw fit. Mario ordered one of his effigy but with an original touch; with a dragon tail and horns. He dubbed the new form "Bowrio" and offered it to Bowsette. She was beyond delighted at this adorable and soft Mario-like toy figure. Princess Peach was able to resume her conversations with Mario like she wanted to and engaged with some girl-talk with Bowsette and Daisy, even if the last two sometimes argued for just a small bit. Mario still cared for Princess Peach, yet the fire he once had in his heart for her looked to be much lesser. Their bond seemed to be re-animated as the times before, but every time that his company found Bowsette's, a slight sting was seen onto our princess's face seeing how great their chemistry was. I hoped it was my imagination. If not, could she finally see Mario's importance in her life after all?
Bowsette's most beautiful moment of this night was the star shower. In her homeland, the sky was covered by a veil of dark clouds with red thunderous bolts most of the time; the moon and the sun hardly pierced through. But tonight, she was hypnotized with awe by the shower of stars. It was the first time in her life that she had seen such an event. Her eyes shined with wonder like a child's. Mario felt happy that she was at such.
"It's-a nice, isn't it?" Mario said during the star show.
Her arm laced his. "It's beautiful!"
Without a shadow of a doubt, this evening was the greatest of her life. Mario really did save her life in a much grander way.
...
The evening concluded, all smiles were on everyone's face with new beautiful memories.
Our group walked out of the fair as well. Bowsette adorned amazement in her entire self as she shared a passionate talk with Mario. Needless to say, it was not going to be her last time to the fair. She really enjoyed herself as we all enjoyed her company as well. No one payed negative attention towards her.
"I have to say," Bowsette said, "I really had a blast!"
"I'm-a glad you loved it!" Mario replied. "I hope you come back next year!"
"Sure thing!" She looked at Princess Peach for approval. "If you don't mind of course."
Our princess did not answer, lost in thought. Though she did share her fun among us all and her kingdom's citizens, but slight moments of silence were caught from her. Just as right now.
Perhaps seeing Mario and Bowsette's couple bothered her more than she had let on.
"Yo! Peach!" Bowsette shouted. It seemed that she had called her more than once.
"Oh! My apologies! What were you saying?"
"Okay, spill it!" Bowsette insisted.
"Spill what?" asked Princess Daisy.
"During the entire time, you've been having these absent-minded moments! And I noticed them all!"
"Wow..." Luigi was surprised. "I didn't-a know you were this attentive, Bowsette."
"Mario did the same thing before asking me out."
"Hey!"
"What? It's true that you did!"
Mario was about to reply but surrendered as he shrugged his shoulders. "All right, I did..."
"It's nothing, really," she said. "I was just realizing how close you and Mario have become. You seem to have developed a great bond over the past three months. I do envy that, I admit."
Bowsette did not react. At least not immediately. She let the words sink in her mind while analyzing each and every single one of them. The other friends did not pay much importance to answer. While Mario reassured her that he would always be there for her, Bowsette's face remained neutral.
The princess's words were not very welcomed in Bowsette's heart. In her inner realization, it dawned on her that her counterpart from our kingdom was still taking Mario for granted. But she would not let anger guide her words this time.
"You're still taking Mario for granted, as you always did." She said calmly, but with affirmation.
"What?" Princess Peach asked confused by her words. "What do you mean?"
Everyone seemed focused as well by her words. While surprise spooked us all, Mario's face wore a veil of uneasiness. He knew what she wanted to say.
"Bowsette..." Mario approached her. This one halted him by raising her hand in composure.
"Don't worry, Mario." She reassured him. "It's okay."
Master Mario did not insist. A silent understanding was cleared between them, but still hidden in a curtain of mystery.
"There was never a truce between Mario and I." Her revelation surprised a lot among us. But Master Mario and Master Luigi remained calm, already knowing the truth. "Three months ago, I kidnapped Mario, knowing that his absence would leave a big hole in the defenses of the Mushroom Kingdom. But of course, this is Mario we're talking about; he managed to escape. At least, he was about to."
Bowsette took a deep breath. Mario knew how hard the next part would be difficult to say. Bowsette smiled to him to reassure him.
"While he tried to escape from the balcony in my room, I was experiencing a terrible nightmare. Worse, I was experiencing some psychological-based obstructive sleep apnea. It wasn't the first time as I always managed to wake up in time from my nightmare. But this night, it was different. Quickly that nightmare choked me out of air during that panic attack and I couldn't breath. And then, I fell still. I literally died. Mario witnessed all of this. Many people would have let me die. For all the things I've done, people would have had more than a few reasons to let a monster like me burn in hell. But he didn't. Of all the people, he could have let me die. God knows he had many reasons to. Instead, he saved my life by reanimated me through CPR. He even stayed by my frightened and traumatised self, making sure I was safe and sound.
"I hated being indebted to him, so I came to your castle unannounced with a white flag. I asked him what he wanted in return when we discussed privately. He didn't want anything, which infuriated me. He offered me his friendship as I let him stay at my place. During that time, he did what nobody did to me before; he gave me a chance. He was patient, kind, amazing and sincere to someone who didn't deserve an ounce of his person. And... it felt nice. It felt so refreshing to have someone not judging you for your past. To know from his own words that he was ready to sacrifice his heroic reputation to stay at my side was something I didn't expect. Yet these words felt so good to hear.
"I always thought you and Mario were already together in love. Because for the number of times he had saved you from me, I thought you would have given him a chance at love. But that didn't happen since you benched him on the friendzone as 'best friend' breaking his heart on the process."
"What?" Peach turned immediately to Mario.
"Don't get me wrong," Bowsette continued. "I'm not saying you have to automatically marry someone who saves you from someone like me. But the guy went countless times to your rescue, defended your kingdom how many goddamn times and is beloved by all in here. And despite his sacrifices over the years, you reward him with cake and an occasional kiss on a cheek? Give him a chance! Take him out on a date! Consider that he might be the perfect man at least! And now that I'm getting along with him, you're throwing me the jealous card because you 'envy' our relationship? Because he isn't around you anymore like a loyal pet?"
"No, I—"
"You want to talk about envy, Peach?" Bowsette continued. "I really envy you, of all people. Because you get to be with someone as extraordinary as him anytime you want, someone that cares for you incredibly and that is very devoted to you. But unlike that hypocritical bullshit you're pulling, I wouldn't need him to cross countless lands many times over to prove his worth to me... I would just need three months spent at his side."
The last few words spoken revealed us an unlikely confession. All of us stared at her. Princess Bowsette retained her composure, but a faint glow started growing on her cheeks.
Mario looked at her with eyes imprinted with wonder and fascination, but the Koopa princess could not meet his gaze.
"And unlike you, Peach," she said, "I know that he would never love and defend me with the same passion and ardor that he bares for you. Not for a monster like me."
Despite the animated atmosphere around us, everything was still like time had stopped. What seemed like minutes looked like hours. No words were even whispered.
Bowsette finally turned around and walked away. No one ran after her, no one replied to her words. Most of us were dazed by her speech with mixed feelings. Meanwhile our princess looked down, guilt painted on her face. Master Mario stood there, looking at Bowsette's figure walking away to finally run at her side.
"Wait!" Mario joined her side.
"Listen," Bowsette said. Her smile was obviously bleak. "I need to be alone for tonight. I just need to think things through, okay?"
"But..." Mario said. Affected by her words, his face pleaded to let a reply go to her. He could not. He simply nodded.
"Come by tomorrow morning, okay? We'll... talk. I promised."
He nodded again. "Did you... have a good time tonight?"
Her smile became more cheerful to his question.
She leaned forward his face and landed a soft, wet kiss on Mario's right cheek. His face beamed with a charming shade. "I had the best time of my life. Thank you, Mario." Mario was able to show her a warm smile in return to hers.
He did not want to let her walk away, but a woman's heart was something strong, yet delicate. Mario did not want to rush things as he abided to her demand. His hand covered the kissed area of her warm lips. He was anxious for tomorrow. He wanted to discover more about the nature of her feelings. But more than that, he wanted to talk about what his heart held for her as well.
...
Princess Bowsette sat all alone in her throne room. Many eyes on her way here wondered about Mario's absence, but they decided to hold their tongues and not ask anything. After seeing the wonders from the fair, her home felt alienated already to her; like a season of spring without the charming heat. It felt even stranger to not have Mario at her side. She was used to his company. But as she had told him, she needed to think alone.
But did she really need the time in solitude, she wondered.
Her right hand cherished the round face of Bowrio, the plushie given as a gift from Mario. She held the figure against her and hummed delightfully. On this act of affection towards her precious gift, she knew the content of her heart's desire. And that content was confessed to him tonight. She blushed at the thought of it.
She rubbed Bowrio's head. "Mario... Tomorrow, I'll–"
Her train of happy thoughts was viciously interrupted by a loud explosion. The gates leading to the throne room along the thick brick wall exploded violently sending the metal doors and tons of stones all over the place, shattering everything in sight.
"What the hell?!" she screamed in confusion.
The smoke cleared, and a trail of utmost brutal destruction laid in front of her. Many of her soldiers laid injured, some perhaps gone from this world already. Her friends Clein and Larry were battered from head to toe; their lives were held by a hair.
In front of this chaos was its author; Kamek.
He walked towards Princess Bowsette, but there was an extreme reluctance in his gesture; like he did not want to walk towards her. His skin was much paler than usual, and a dark aura flickered on and off alternatively from his body. One of his glasses' lens was cracked and tears ran from his eyes.
"R... R-run..." he said difficultly. "R-run, Princess..."
"Kamek!" Bowsette started running towards her.
"NO!" his shout stopped her midway.
"What's going on?"
"I... I did... something so stupid..." he managed to say. "I wanted... I wanted you to return... to your former self so much that... that I made a deal with... her..."
"Her?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"
"That monster fooled me... I... I set her free..."
"Wait," Bowsette said, her voice sounded shaky and guarded, "please tell me you didn't..."
"I'm so sorry, your Highness..." pain echoed in his struggling voice. "I was a fool...!"
"What have you done?" the Koopa princess showed genuine fear and panic. "Father himself never dared to come close to her!"
A loud and anguishing scream came out from Kamek's throat as a large and imposing thick shadow erupted from his body. It slowly started to take shape. A large, lean and imposing body hovered above Kamek's like it was manipulating a marionette. It carried the shade of darkened purple patterned with stars like it was made from the cosmos. Her head was adorned with a very long and swimming hair of grey, and above that was a very pointed and sharp crown of gold. Her face carried no features but a wicked and villainous smile.
"HMMM! My, my!" A dominant feminine voice boomed from Kamek's mouth as she stretched the occupied body. "After centuries of imprisonment, finally some exercise! Could you believe that they didn't even let me have a magazine in there?"
Bowsette stood on guard as fire erupted from her fists. Yet she did not feel the usual boasting confidence that she carried. She feared her and could not stop trembling. Like everyone else, she had heard of the story of the dark entity standing in front of her along with her exploits of untold destruction, death and chaos that she had done in the past. Compared to her, Bowsette and Bowser posed a threat as dangerous as newborn kittens.
The princess could not believe how Kamek's stubbornness led to such danger to be released. As much that she wanted to mercilessly strangle her wizard advisor, she was worried about the current concern; would she still be alive in the next following minutes?
"Ah ha!" the dark entity shouted seeing Bowsette, which startled this one. "My! You have grown well!"
"W-What?" she asked, her voice shaky. "Do you know me?"
"Didn't your dear old dad Bowser tell you?" her tone was evilly clueless. "And where is the big guy by the way?"
"He's dead!" Bowsette lashed out. There was raw anger in her words regarding her father. "Along with his bastard brats!"
"Oh, pity." She briefly said. She clapped her hands. "Well! Today is your lucky day! I'm here to tell you the whole reason behind your birth my dear Bowsette!"
"The reason of my birth?"
"Isn't it obvious?" her voice sounded more distorted. "We were meant to be one! You, dear, are... my vessel!"
Bowsette's heart nearly exploded. Anger, fear, disgust, disappointment, wrath; there was not a shortage of words to describe the maelstrom of feelings that she was bearing. She had always known that her birth was not one out of love. But to think that her father would try to attempt control over a mass of pure evil and darkness as her; that was sickening and outright crazy.
Bowsette was cornered. She had no idea how she would be able to fend off against this legendary foe known as the Shadow Queen.
"So be a good girl," she said as her shadowy figure above Kamek's body became bigger, crushing the walls and ceiling, "and let me embrace you!!!"