Chapter Text
AN: Well, here we are again! Tackling this story for a third time! Now, I originally wasn't going to do this, but after looking at the last version with a critical eye... yeah, this story deserves it. I want this story to be told right, like... every other story I've written lol. And the third time tends to be the charm when it comes to my rewrites, so... yeah. Now, is this going to be the LAST rewrite? Eh... I don't know. We'll see.
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 1 Missing Her
"Ha HA!" Larry laughed as he triumphed over Roy in Mario Kart for the… what, four hundredth time? He grinned like no one before or (probably) since, looking as though he had achieved the most amazing and jaw-dropping achievement in the history of ever. "Oh, Mama Mia, I feel like a god!"
Roy snorted. "If you are, then you're a really puny god." Larry flashed him a glare, causing him to giggle. "I'm kidding, dude. You did a good job."
The grin returned to Larry's face. It was so big that one could question if it even left in the first place. "Hell, yeah, I did! Hell. Yeah. I. Did."
Roy rolled his eyes while chuckling. This could be seen as odd; after all, under normal circumstances, he would more than likely be supremely annoyed at Larry's bragging. And that was on a good day; sometimes he would just be outright pissed off. But… he didn't know. Today just felt different. Maybe he woke up on the right side of the bed for a change; he really didn't know.
Larry plopped himself back down in front of the TV. "Anyway, what would you like to do next, Bud? OOH!" Larry turned to Roy with sparkling eyes. "Let's play the Booster Course Pass cups! Wave 4 dropped last night, and the new courses are SICK!"
"That does sound cool…" Roy considered this for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. Why don't we just hang out and talk?"
Larry's face fell. "Talk about what?"
"I dunno." Roy shrugged. "Life and stuff."
Larry sighed. "Dude, when you spend every second of every day with a family member, then there really isn't anything new to cover when it comes to 'life and stuff.' I already know a lot about you. You're Roy. You're the prince of the Koopa Kingdom. You work out regularly, you like veggie omelets, and you have a crush on this weird girl." Larry put his hand to his chin. "What's her name again? I have it on the tip of my tongue…"
"Celia, Larry. Her name is Celia Patch."
"Thank you." Larry chuckled and looked back at Roy. "But yeah, I already know a lot about you. Wouldn't that make talking about life and stuff a little boring?"
Roy didn't respond, mostly because he wasn't really paying attention anymore. His mind was now focused on something completely different. Or, rather, someone.
"Roy?" Larry stepped forward and waved his hand in front of Roy's face. "Hello? Earth to Roy."
"Huh? What, huh?" Roy did a double-take before sheepishly chuckling. "Sorry, Larry, just thinking about something."
"Uh oh. That's not good. You never think about anything."
"Hehe, yeah." Roy put his hand to his chin. "But this time, I am. I think…" he paused. "Just thinking about her."
"Her? Who's… oh! Celia, right?"
"Yep." Roy nodded his head and leaned back in his chair. "Man, it feels like so long since I last saw her."
Larry seemed to consider this, shrugged, and turned back to the TV. "It's only been five months."
"Only? What do you mean 'only?' Five months is a long time! It's half a year!"
Larry chuckled. "Actually, Bud, six months is half a year, not five."
Roy dismissed this with a wave of the hand. "You know what I mean." He got to thinking again. "I do wonder what she's up to, though."
Larry shrugged. "Who knows? Who can possibly say?" He smirked. "That is one of life's great mysteries. That and wondering how Iggy has survived so long with his head jammed up his own ass."
Roy laughed. "Yeah, you'd think the smell at least would turn him off." Both Koopalings laughed before Roy sat back up. "But seriously, I do wonder. I left her at such an interesting time. There's so much that's probably happened to her in the last five months, and I wanna know what it is."
Larry thought about this. "I mean, you can always ask her."
"Yeah…" Roy perked up. "Yeah! Yeah, I can! And I should totally do that! I know where I last saw her, so all I need to do is go back to her!" He rose to his feet, grinning from ear to ear. "I'll go down to the Forest of Illusion myself! I'll ask up front and personally!" Roy directed his smile towards his little brother. "Thanks, Larry!"
"Sure thing." Larry chuckled. "I would recommend that you pack up first. The Forest of Illusion is a long way from here."
"True. Very true." Roy bit his lip. "Okay, I have a plan now. I'll pack up, THEN I'll head to down to the Forest of Illusion."
"Cool beans." Larry clicked the buttons on the Switch controller as he selected the Fruit Cup. "Just try not to die on your trip, okay?"
Roy giggled. "I won't. And even if I do, I'm not gonna let something as silly as death stop me!"
…
It took four hours and a boatload of confusion and headaches, but Roy eventually managed to pack up what he needed to pack up. He had intended to pack light, which thankfully was something he managed to do without any major hiccups. He got his toothbrush, toothpaste, money, snacks, his phone, some cologne, and even a nice shirt he could wear to impress Celia. It showed off his glorious guns, which was always a boon. Yep, he was all set to head out to the Forest of Illusion! Sure, it was pitch black outside at the moment, which wasn't… ideal. Admittedly, Roy wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of traveling in the dark without even the light from the moon visible. But you know what, he could do it! For the sake of Celia! For the sake of true love!
And so, after packing his last essential item in his hammerspace, Roy let out a breath. "Okay, Roy. You've got a long journey ahead of you." He smiled. "But it'll be worth it in the end. You'll get to see Celia. That'll make every leg of the journey worth it."
Pushing his doubts to the side and keeping that line in the forefront of his mind, Roy exited his room. He walked with a spring in his step while also trying to be quiet. After all, his siblings and his servants were sleeping; he didn't want to wake them up right now. He was a good boy, a considerate boy.
Speaking of being a good and considerate boy… what exactly was he going to say to Celia when they finally reunited? It should be something special, something cool. A simple "hi, how are you?" would not cut out. AT ALL. After all, it had been five months! The two of them had been separated for five months, so Roy needed to say something meaningful! Something like… something like…. Uh… wow, he was drawing a blank. Crap, why did that always have to happen during the important moments?
Oh well. He literally had a whole long ass journey to figure it out. One way or another, come Hell or high water, Roy was going to figure out the perfect thing to say. Celia deserved it.
He continued walking down the hall, going down the stairs and making his way through the corridors. He still tried to be stealthy in the corridors, mostly because, again, he wanted to be considerate. But even if someone were to encounter him out and about at this hour, if he were to just explain himself to them, then they would definitely understand! Right? They would understand that Roy was acting for the sake of love. Everyone always talked about the power of love, so wouldn't they completely be onboard with Roy's decision to track down Celia? He believed so. He definitely believed so.
After a few more minutes of sneaking through the corridors, Roy finally got to the front door. He let out a breath of relief, already feeling a major sense of accomplishment. He did it! The very first part of his journey was done, and now it could REALLY begin! He could now focus on the important stuff. Oh, what was the feeling building inside him? It felt amazing!
Roy grinned. He opened the door, stepped out into the cool nighttime air, and took a deep breath. "I can do this." His grin grew bigger. "I am gonna do this, and it's gonna be…!"
"Master Roy?"
Roy seized up. He looked to his left, seeing a sledge bro standing beside him. Another sledge bro stood to his right, and they both looked concerned.
"Damn it," he said as he hung his head. "I forgot about the night shift guards…"
"Prince Roy, you know you're not supposed to leave the castle after dark," said one of the sledge brothers. He took his hand. "Come on, we're taking you to Kamek."
Roy's expression turned sour. He lamented the fact that love didn't triumph in the end as the guards took him back into the castle and dragged him toward Kamek's study in the west wing. He kept this same sour expression on his face the entire time, and it only got worse as the sledge bro knocked on the door. When the old, grizzled magikoopa stepped out into the hallway, and when he saw Roy standing between the night shift guards, he groaned.
"I wish I could say I'm surprised." He looked toward the guards. "Thank you, gentlemen. Leave the prince here and go back to your stations."
The guards nodded and left. For a split second, Roy considered bolting away and leaving Kamek in the dust, but he ultimately decided against it. Kamek took him into his study and closed the door. He looked at Roy, clearly disappointed. At the very least, the dim lighting in the room helped lessen the expression's impact.
"I have to say, I'm impressed it took you this long to decide to sneak out." Kamek snickered. "I'm also impressed you managed to get as far as you did before getting caught. I'd have expected at the very least someone in the hallway would've seen you."
Roy sighed. "I can be stealthy when I want to be…"
"Well, clearly you need to refine that talent for next time you try something like this." Kamek chuckled. "May I suggest a ninja outfit? A cloak of invisibility?"
Roy shook his head. "Look, Kamek, I'm sorry for trying to sneak out. I just have somewhere I want to go."
"Oh? And where's that?
Roy paused. "The… Forest of Illusion?"
Kamek burst into laughter. The sound grated on Roy's ears for reasons completely divorced from the sound's quality. Kamek wiped a tear from his eye before looking at Roy with a smirk. "You have to be joking!"
"Why would I joke like that?" Roy asked. "Do I often lie to you?"
"No, but…" Kamek snickered. "Damn, both of us are really lucky the guards caught you in time." Kamek stepped closer to the Prince. "Roy. Sweetness. Honey bunches. Do you realize what a trip to the Forest of Illusion would entail? If you don't use any form of transportation, it would take you two weeks! Two weeks, and that's assuming something doesn't eat or kill you along the way!"
Roy cringed and looked away. "I was gonna get a bus ticket…"
Kamek laughed again, which made Roy feel even smaller than before. Kamek then took another step forward, this time looking curious instead of mocking. "Why would you even want to go to The Forest of Illusion anyway? What's there that could possibly be so important?"
"Uh…" Roy debated whether he should be honest or not before sighing. "I wanted to see Celia again."
"Celia? Who's that?"
"Celia Patch. She was the human Koopa hybrid who thought Bowser was her dad."
"Ohhh…" Kamek nodded his head. "I see, I see. And you wish to see this girl again."
"Yeah." Roy smiled. "I mean, it's been five months since I last saw her. I just wanted to see if she's doing alright."
Kamek snickered. "Right. A wellness check. That's the ONLY reason."
Roy groaned. "Okay, maybe not the ONLY reason. I… kinda like her."
"Woop, there it is!" Kamek laughed as Roy's face grew warm "Well, for the sake of your safety, I can't allow you to travel to the Forest of Illusion. But…" Roy perked up at that word. "I can do something else. Something a lot less risky while also yielding results closer to your desired ones."
"Really? What?" Kamek gestured to the center of the room, and when Roy looked, his eyes grew wide. A crystal ball rested on a pedestal in the center, a type of crystal ball that Roy immediately recognized. "Wait. You wanna use a memory sphere?"
"Sure, why not?" Kamek shrugged. "I mean, it is late, so I won't show you a lot, but… what do you think?"
Roy smiled. "Kamek, that's brilliant! Thank you!"
Kamek chuckled. "Well, what can I say? Brilliance just comes naturally." He chortled, got his wand out of his robe, and gestured for Roy to follow him to the memory sphere. Once they were both there, he cleared his throat. "Observes pastel Celia quintessa." The memory sphere glowed a soft red, and Kamek gestured toward it. "Whenever you're ready."
Flashing Kamek one more grateful smile, Roy placed his hands on the sphere.