Chapter Text
"Cousin!" Lady Peach exclaimed as she ran across the room to throw her arms around her favorite and eldest cousin. "It's so good to see you again!"
Bowser, King of The Mushroom Kingdom, caught her around the middle and lifted her as they spun around. She was still giggling when he set her back on her feet. "Missed you too, little cousin. Staying out of trouble?"
"Nope. Not even close." Grinning, she grabbed his hand pulled him towards the edges of the room. "I met this boy..."
"A boy? Hmmm, would I approve." Bowser laughed, knowing that there wasn't anyone he wouldn't like if they made his cousin this happy.
In fact, there was was only one person in the world he detested. A troublesome plumber named Mario. That lad was always up to something. Usually against the crown. A few times the lad's schemes had put Peach or her friend Daisy in danger. That was when Bowser had put a price out for anyone that could bring him in. Bowser had lost so much in his life that losing more was unthinkable.
"Well, he treats me like a princess." She blushed prettily.
"That's wonderful, darling. Who is he?" As he asked, Bowser scanned the room as if he could find him. He adjusted his shirt cuff. Being king was often just as much about appearances as knowledge and heart.
"So, um, he's not here. Like at the party. But only because he can't be." She hesitated.
"Can't? The ball is open to all." Bowser look back at his sweet cousin in confusion.
"Not all, Bowser. There is one that is banned from the kingdom." Peach hinted.
Bowser's spine stiffened as her words sunk into his brain. His face hardened as his hands balled into fists. "Tell me you are joking."
"I love him, Bowser." Peach defended instead. "Mario isn't who you think he is."
"Of course he is! He's tried to kill me and our family for years. He wants the kingdom for himself, Peach. He used the pipes to learn classified information to sell to our adversaries."
"No. You're lying. I love him. Mario was right. You can't be reasoned with. I'm sorry, cousin, but I have to do this for him. This is the only way I can be with the one I love." Bowser watched as she pulled out a fold piece of paper from somewhere in her dress.
"Peach, what are you-"
"Virtutes invisibilis Convoco virtute siderum, Terram, coelum et infernum. Pulchritudo theloneum, vita sacrificia habet, capiunt res, donec lectio fiat."
Thunder rolled when she spoke the last word the lights faded out as a bolt of lighting stuck the castle.