Misunderstanding

Taken

Princess Peach inhaled deeply, appreciating the scent of the freshly bloomed flowers within her expansive garden. The cheery blue sky was stretched out far beyond where she could see, past the many villages and people of the Mushroom Kingdom. The flowers that seemed to don their own type of rainbow danced and glittered in the rich, warm sunlight. It had been such a long time since Peach was able to leave the castle for a break, especially since her parents' departure.

She wilted a bit, not unlike the old flower at the farther end of her garden. Her parents had had to leave for a political alliance with some kingdom she couldn't for the life of her remember the name of. Before she got to delve into a deeper depression induced by the memory of goodbye, she heard footsteps from beside her.

"Hello, Princess!" Mario called out, careful to approach her without trampling her flowers. She looked up and smiled brightly, happy to see her best friend, next to Daisy. "How are you-a doing today?"

"I'm doing just fine, Mario, thank you for asking," Peach said, the line polite and rehearsed. She stood up and straightened out the tiny wrinkles in her dress. "What have you been up to today? I would hope someone hired you for a job with their clogged pipes." She smirked playfully. Mario raised an eyebrow in question, but still smiled himself.

"Very-a funny Princess," Mario exaggerated. "I-a actually got a couple calls today with Luigi."

"Really?" Peach asked, unable to control the surprise on her face. "I didn't know Luigi went with you."

"Did I not-a tell you? I thought I-a did." Mario rubbed his chin in thought, then shrugged. "I guess I-a forgot to. He-a comes with-a me a lot. We're not the-a Mario Brothers for-a nothing." He grinned, happy with his business.

Peach looked down and smiled, observing a smaller, younger flower. It seemed to beam back at her, with the grin of an infant. She touched the petals softly, a bit sad at the inability to feel its gentle petals. However, she could swear she felt it shiver with delight at her touch. Mario watched, not wanting to speak and ruin the peace of the moment. Everything was still and painted in soft pastels, a moment that Peach wanted to trap in time.

Then there was the heavy wind, the rough pressure on her head and body, and then the darkness. Not to mention Mario's screaming. Before she knew it, she was in the air. A combination of Mario's suddenly distant voice and a deeper, grittier voice that she didn't recognize that was much louder and much closer. A headache began to grow ever-so-obnoxiously as the strange voice continued to shout.

~*~*~

Later on, after waking up from...wait, waking up? When had she fallen asleep? She looked around her, and tried to rub her tired eyes. It was a tad difficult considering that her arms were tied to arm chairs. As her consciousness returned slowly, she realized that her previously minor headache was now splitting. She groaned in pain and heard a distant shuffle in response.

"Who...who's there?" Peach called out, squinting to see better in the dark. Her attempts were, obviously, fruitless. All she could make out was one giant blob. "Hello? Is anyone even here?"

There was another noise, but this one resembled more of a grunt. Peach leaned back, now a little frightened to know that she wasn't alone. Especially in this strange place that smelled strongly of gunpowder. She didn't like it one bit, and she wanted out right away. She squirmed in her seat, trying to find a weak spot in her binds.