A/N: Updates may slow down a little bit! I hope everyone is safe during these times! I'll try my best to update when I can :) Please review/favorite/follow!

Peach nearly choked on her breath at such a blunt explanation that seemed anything but the reality. She tried to understand what Iggy meant but, no matter how hard she tried to see it in the phantom, she was unable to find any evidence of this so-called past with humans. Did Iggy mean...fancied in the way where he held pity for the species, or in the way where he had a...tendency for them? Peach shuddered at the idea, as it made her quite uncomfortable.

She struggled to imagine a time where the cruel, merciless king could ever have a soft spot for humans, especially with their long history of hatred for one another. His kingdom was built on the ideology of conquering the globe and spreading his family's tyrannical power. How could he have any sort of mercy for a completely different species? A species he was at war with!

It made her even more skeptical. She was not shy about the way he ruled his kingdom...Iggy's reasoning didn't add up. He was not one to have mercy for a group outside of his power.

Reading the confusion on her face, Iggy reached down and covered Junior's ears. Junior continued staring forward, completely oblivious to the fact that his brother had covered them.

"One of Dad's...many...affairs was with a human, even. Can you blame me for assuming?" He clarified matter-of-factly. "It makes sense to assume something like that. Seeing a human girl in his bed is alarming." Iggy let go of Junior's ears, who seemed unbothered.

Peach held the blanket closer to her chest while she tried to take in so much information. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand such a scandal and how he would allow himself to indulge in it. Was it for the risk? Perhaps the fact that it was a scandal made it all the more exciting for him. Peach quickly dropped the idea as it made her feel...sick.

An affair with a Koopa would be understandable, as he was a king with no repercussions. She had no doubt scandals were common between the two royals, but, with a human? Peach felt her face twist in confusion as she imagined the beast choosing to form a relationship with one. He could have anyone, yet he chose an enemy.

The poor girl could probably barely put up with him. It made her skin crawl. Maybe she didn't have a choice?

Why did imagining the two together annoy her?

"Iggy!" Wendy hissed through clenched teeth. "You can't go around tellin' her things like that! Dad's gonna kill us, you idiot!"

Roy crossed his arms.

"Oh, come on! Clearly, Iggy's full of crap," He argued with disgust. He continued with confidence. "Dad's not like that! As if he'd put up with a scrawny human! Dontcha know how easy it is to betray a human? You lettem think you're on their side and then, BOOM!" He shouted with a fist in the air. "Burn 'em to a crisp! That was his goal, idiot!"

Roy stared between the group while defending his father's honor. He clearly expected agreement from his siblings, but they instead stared at him in second-hand embarrassment. Roy seemed oblivious to the awkward silence as he continued chanting his beliefs over the others.

"Dad was never that cruel!" Iggy interrupted with a roll of his eyes.

Roy dropped his chants and snarled.

"Oh, yeah? Tell that to them, then!" He yelled while pointing towards the many skulls decorating the taller shelf. "Dad's not a weakling like you, stupid! He does what he has to do as a king! You're jus' tryina look for proof for your lil girly theory!"

Iggy groaned in annoyance as he tried to keep his cool composure.

"I know he's a king!" He hissed in disbelief as he tried to explain. "I'm not disagreeing that he's a koopa! I'm just saying that he doesn't completely hate them if he-"

"Can you tell me about her?" Peach sheepishly interrupted while she fiddled with the blanket. She froze as she had clearly cut off their discussion, but she was too lost in thought to realize they had been talking at all.

Peach avoided the stares from the four koopas as she tried to act as casual as possible, but ended up looking even more suspiciously interested.

The two brothers quieted as they remembered they weren't alone. They looked at each other before turning back to her.

"About...the human? Peach, I don't think that's a good idea," Iggy mumbled. "It's not a happy story and Dad won't be happy if I-"

"That's it! I'm outa here!" Wendy cried as she turned on her heels. She shoved past her brothers in pure panic, making Iggy stumble from the intentional push. Roy barely flinched as he glared at his sister. Neither seemed upset to see her leaving.

Before exiting, Wendy turned over her shoulder and grabbed Junior's arm, pulling him with her. The smaller koopa didn't understand the topic nor why he was being pulled along, but he had no choice but to comply, as he couldn't go against her. He groaned as he limply fell against his sister's grip, but made sure to give one small wave in Peach's direction before exiting.

The two quickly rushed out of the room without so much as a glance. Clearly, the repercussions of spilling information about his human affair was a death sentence, and Wendy didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

Peach's grip on the blanket only tightened due to her reaction. Was it really so terrible of a story that the king refused to acknowledge its existence? Was it so taboo to even speak of it? It excited her, the idea of getting information about a royal scandal. Especially about...him.

She couldn't deny how a part of her wanted to know this information out of selfish motives. Though she couldn't understand why she was so intent on gaining this information, she assumed it was because she could hold some information above him. She clenched her teeth in annoyance while recalling how he had pulled away from her; that was deferentially part of the fuel.

Though she didn't care to admit it, part of her wanted to compare herself to this other girl.

Iggy sighed as he tried to back peddle away from getting the two in trouble.

"Look, I don't think we should talk about this. I get that you have a lot of questions but-"

"Can't you at least tell me what she looks like? What happened to her?" Peach interrupted with a clear need for answers. She cringed at how obvious she was being in her interest for the king.

She continued with a flushed face. Though her cheeks were filled with color, her eyes were filled with fury as she looked away from the koopa.

"Did she love him?"

Iggy seemed oblivious to her interest as he tapped his chin for a few moments. He seemed eager to give out information, no matter the subject matter. The information started spilling out of him as he seemed to overlook the need for caution.

"If you really want to know what she looked like, you'll only find that out by asking Mom or Dad. No one else knows. This whole situation was kinda...you know, pushed under the rug. Not exactly a good look for a king, is it? I bet he'd be surprised to find out that even we know..."

He paused for a sigh.

"Now, love? That seems unlikely, but I don't doubt the possibility. It's not as rare as you think, koopas and humans together...Can't say I'm sure about their intentions of being together, though. It could have been love, political, or morbid curiosity. You would need to ask him."

Peach quietly huffed at the lack of answers, especially about her last question. She had her suspicions of the two, but Iggy was unable to confirm or deny her assumptions. She had thought asking the questions would nullify the burning annoyance in her chest, but the lack of reassurance only made it burn even harder.

Peach froze. What did she need reassurance of? She was just curious, and that was that.

He paused before finally answering the last question.

"As for what happened, Mom 'took care' of her. She's not a problem anymore," he stated casually. "She wasn't happy."

The lack of sympathy in his voice was unnerving. Clearly, he had no remorse for the woman. He did not seem glad to talk of her death, but as if he were talking about the weather; he was extremely blunt, which seemed to be the usual from him.

Peach felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at such an unsatisfying answer. Finally, she had gotten a straight-forward answer, but it was not what she was expecting.

The queen...killed the other woman? She had heard of the rumors of the queen's horrible acts from behind the king, but she hadn't expected one to be so cruel. While it shouldn't have been surprising, Peach still felt a sense of dread for a horrible ending. She had expected something violent from the king's hands, not from his...wife.

A jealous koopa was surely more lethal than a jealous human. To kill off one of the king's mistresses was an...effective solution, no matter how extreme, but it didn't sit right with her. The poor girl didn't do anything wrong.

Was their relationship that deep and emotional? If it were strong enough to change his perspective on humans, it must have been.

Royals of any kingdom were not known to be loyal, so why did one affair out of many hurt so badly? Was it the queen's reputation at stake? Or perhaps jealousy that urged her to end it? Peach held her breath as she quickly came to the assumption that there had to be more to the phantom's relationship with the other woman than just...desire. Peach frowned at how sick that made her feel.

Peach's frown deepened as she realized how the phantom's past with the girl tied into her relationship with him. Was that why he had so much pity on her? A sense of familiarity? She was a human and held the same form as the girl he had run around with. Was that why? Was she nothing more than a reminder for him to look back nostalgically on?

Peach ground her teeth in annoyance. Was that why he looked at her with such kindness at times, only to remind himself that she wasn't the human he had indulged in? A rush of pure irritation ran through her as that seemed like a viable answer to his treatment of her.

Surely, he never saw Peach when speaking to her, but the other human.

That arrogant...two-timing creep! Peach thought to herself with anger-fueled regret. Why am I such an idiot?!

Why had she felt any compassion for him? Why did she...want to make him feel better? Why did she care when, all along, she was just a placeholder? Why did she even consider that he had cared about her? Why did she care?!

Why did she want to mean more to him? Her chest burned with a heated sense of unhappiness at the realization that she could never be the one to help him. It stung, realizing everything she had felt was just a memory for him.

She had been so sure of a connection between the two, but she had misinterpreted the looks in his eyes to be towards her...not another woman. Was she that gullible?

Peach looked up to see Roy had quietly left the room shortly after Wendy and Junior, surely just as fearful as them, but didn't want to openly admit it. Iggy still stood next to the king's bed, eyeing her suspiciously, and didn't seem afraid to continue their discussion.

"You're angry. I shouldn't have told you if it was going to make you angry."

She groaned in annoyance. Did he have to analyze everything so bluntly?

"I'm not...I'm not angry! I have no reason to be angry," she lied. Neither were oblivious to the scowl on her face, and neither could understand why she was...unhappy with the information.

Iggy hummed to himself with a curious glare. He dropped the subject as she clearly wasn't going to be open with him.

"Okay, sure," he mumbled with clear doubt. He paused to point at her hand. "By the way, keep that hidden. Dad won't be happy to see you with it. I'm pretty sure it doesn't belong to you."

Peach gasped as she looked at the key resting in her palm. She clenched it and pulled it away from the koopaling, convinced he was going to snatch it and bring it to his father. Even though she was beyond done with the phantom, she couldn't help but want to find one more answer to one of her findings.

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to take it. Just curious as to what you're planning to do with it."

Peach looked between the key and her company.

He seemed genuine in his reassurance, at least on the surface. She didn't know the koopa well enough to trust him, so she slowly answered with clear caution.

"I've been trying to figure out what it could belong to."

He leaned forward, so Peach opened her palm. He stared at the key with a furrowed brow and a quizzical frown. She stared at him while he thought to himself. If someone were to know what it belonged to, it would be someone who lived in the same proximity of it.

Iggy thought to himself, surely trying to debate whether he was allowed to aid the girl. The koopa clearly gave in as he replied with a long sigh.

"Let me see it," he requested while reaching out for it. Peach flinched for a moment but complied.

Iggy took the key and lifted it to his eyes. He twisted and turned it, just as she had, though with more understanding and knowledge. Within seconds, he nodded and forced the key back into her open palms.

"Iron. It's an iron key," he answered confidently.

Peach's face fell at the ridiculous answer. She stared at him blankly, waiting for him to elaborate. It took a few moments for the koopa to realize his answer wasn't direct enough. Iggy gave an awkward nod.

"Iron isn't manufactured here in the Darklands. It's usually imported from the Mushroom kingdom. Whatever it unlocks, it's not from here."

A/N: I feel like Iggy is the only normal koopaling in my story/interpretation...the rest are crazy to some extent! He's just an awkward kid with a good eye. He's fun to write as! It's hard to incorporate all koopalings because there are so many...But I try!