CHAPTER IV

The clock over the fireplace in Bowsette's throne room indicated 4:00 am. Mario hoped that Luigi was still asleep. Otherwise panic would reverberate through him, then through the entire kingdom upon his disappearance.

He decided he had rested enough. His body was sore, but the pain had subsided. The night was quiet in Bowsette's castle; the time was ripe for an escape.

Although the broken bars were re-forged by Bowsette's fiery breath, they did not seem solid enough to last. Mario tried to pull them; he had little success. He grabbed one bar with each hand and attempt to swing his feet forwardly. The first strike managed to jolt them. He swung again; the bars started to break. One more swing; the used bars finally gave out. They made a small, yet resonating sound by hitting the ground. Mario froze and hoped the Chain Chomps did not wake from the noise. The metallic beasts grunted and were rattled. Luckily for him, they remained asleep.

Mario saw two exits; none of them looked secure enough. The first one was the large gates that were destroyed by Bowsette's raging tantrum, but then restored by Kamek. Pushing these large doors open would only alert the guards behind them, along with the entire castle. He turned to the "less" dangerous option available. The door to the far left of the fireplace. That door probably led to Bowsette's chamber, Mario guessed. There was a chance he would have to confront her. Unfortunately, this was a risk that he had to take to escape his captor.

Walking quietly by tip-toeing the throne room, he reached the door to her room. He gently turned the knob and opened the door. As soon as it became wide enough, he slipped in quietly.

Bowsette's royal chamber was surprisingly elegant. It bore the same colored theme as the throne room, but in a much cheerful and welcoming ambience. A large canopy bed laid in front of him with sumptuous velvet curtains. To the bed's left side all the way to Mario's position was two large doors followed by beautiful and magnificent royal furniture like a round table, a large bedroom dresser, a large flat television glued to the wall in front, etc. Its right side also had another bed rest and two smaller doors that seemed to be the wardrobe. Next to this were windowed doors leading to the balcony outside.

Mario found it strange that despite the nightly hour that the torches were still lit. A fireplace's light would not hold someone from sleep, but the torches surely would. He decided that this was not the matter at hand and escaping the Koopa castle was more important.

Just as he started to lead himself to the balcony's doors, Bowsette's voice was heard.

"Darn it!" Mario whispered. He turned around quickly to face the threat. Nothing came.

Bowsette's voice was heard again, but her tone was far from being the wrathful one that she had some hours ago. Her voice seemed... very panicked.

"I'll be good..." Bowsette's voice was heard, heavy in sadness. "I'm sorry, Father. I'll do good, I promise..."

Mario was never good at leaving away one who needed help. As bizarre as it was, Bowsette was the one in dire need of rescuing. Even he could not go without providing a little help, despite what had happened.

He approached quietly the canopy bed. As he got closer, Bowsette's voice was broken in fear, misery and hopelessness.

What the hell? He thought.

That, indeed... What could possibly bring the evil princess in such a state?

Mario pulled the curtain slowly. Bowsette wore a black buttoned long-sleeved shirt, also short trousers of the same colors. Mario blushed shamefully when his eyes strolled onto her voluptuous chest. The princess's eyes were open; he froze to this discovery. While being open, they did not seem to notice his presence. They kept on shedding tears and her voice kept whispering the same words.

"Please Father," she said in her apparent nightmare, " please don't hit me. I'll try again... I'll be good..."

"She's having a nightmare." Mario noticed. "It doesn't seem to be pleasant..."

"Father, please don't..." she suddenly voiced. "I... I can't breath. It hurts... Father!"

Mario's idea of her father began to be clearer. But worse than that, Bowsette literally could not breath anymore. Her body started spazzing violently and becoming paler by the second, tears became rivers to her eyes and her hands clawed at an invisible arm ready to swing death like a sharp scythe.

And it did.

Her arms fell limply, and her face, lifeless and frozen, gazed to the ceiling with terror embedded in her empty eyes.

Other people would have probably let her be as such. Good riddance, as they would say. But not our hero; not Mario.

He immediately jumped on the bed and laid his hands on her chest. He pressed in a rhythmic way to restart her heart. At this desperate moment, he did not care if she was his deadliest foe. He just saw someone carrying a poisonous past that was killing her. Literally.

"Come on!" he said desperately. "Come on! Wake-a up, damn it!"

She woke up with a startling and loud gasp. While relief blew from Mario's mouth, Bowsette's behavior was erratic as she quickly got off from her bed. Scanning all corners of her room, she leaned against the wall and was shedding more tears continuously, gasping for air and being very disoriented; that was the look of someone fearing for her life.

She mumbled while crying. "W-what... H-He was... What's h-happening... He was... He was here and... He tried to-"

"It's okay!" he tried to reassure her. "It's okay! You're safe!"

"Y-you!" She finally realized it was Mario. Her face was a blend of anger and confusion, like she couldn't decide whether to be mad, relieved, scared or else. "H-how did you-"

"I kicked the cage open." he said. "I was going to escape, but I saw you were having one nasty nightmare! You even stopped breathing and died! I reanimated you through CPR!"

"Y-you s-saved me?" Bowsette was still shaking uncontrollably. "W-Why?"

Mario was taken aback. "Despite our history, I couldn't just leave you like this! That would have been so messed up and cowardly to let someone die in such a frightful way."

She used her sleeve to wipe her tears, while new ones were already forming. She did not know what to do with the recent event. Her life was saved by her sworn enemy. In her scared and feeble self, she was just as clueless as him.

"I'm not asking you to tell me anything," he said, "but I now know why you were so mad when I compared you to Bowser-"

Almost instantly, Bowsette flinched to the sound of her father's name. She slid down the wall scratching it with her shell and hid her face in her thighs. Mario felt immediately guilty of his gesture.

For all the times that he had confronted Bowsette, this was the very first time that he saw her so vulnerable, weakened... and fragile. His conscience would not allow him to leave her castle. He did not need to stay; he wanted to. There was a princess in need of saving; this time, the issue was far worse than just a mere kidnapping.

He took off his hat and laid it on a dresser. He approached the princess who flinched again, this time at his presence. He gently sat at her side on the floor. His hand laid on her shoulder. Slowly her head rose and looked at him; he offered a comforting and soothing smile to her.

"It's okay, Princess," he said friendly. "He's gone now. He won't hurt you anymore. I promise."

The Koopa princess was known to be ruthless, fierce and always evil; such has been her reputation. On this night, it was not the Koopa monarch that was there, nor Bowser's daughter or the sworn enemy of the Mario brothers; no. Tonight, a simple and scared person just needed help. And the brave Mario did what he was best at; saving.

"He was..." she said with fear trembling her voice. Her face looked around, making sure that she was not haunted by her father's ghost. "He was here! A-and... and he hurt me, and... I told him I'll do better next time, but... he still hit me and..."

Mario opened his arms to her. "He won't hurt you anymore. I'll protect you, I promise."

She looked at him. Bowsette was still frightened, but in Mario's peaceful gaze, she managed to find a field of reassurance. She nodded hesitantly.

Slowly but still trembling, she moved to Mario's chest and wrapped her arms around him. She held him dearly like her life depended on it. Mario returned the gesture by offering her the much-needed sense of comfort and security that she needed. She renewed her sobbing in his arms, in sadness, but in relief.

"It's okay," Mario whispered to her. His face carried a watchful expression, like a diligent knight sworn to protect his kingdom. "I'm not going anywhere."