Chapter 21 The Forest of Illusion

Roy's body couldn't handle the rush or the odd feeling that being magically teleported gave him. So, by the time that he and Celia landed on the ground, he was unconscious. When Celia saw Roy lying on the mossy, damp floor, as if he were nothing more than a corpse, she began to worry. She shook him, hoping that he would respond. When he didn't, her mind became filled with panic. What could she do? Thankfully, Roy eventually came around.

"Oh man," said Roy. He could feel his heart beating in his head, and his entire body ached. He felt similar to how one feels the day after they have an intense workout; every muscle feels like it is straining itself to take him one more step. He sat up and was hit by a horrible wave of dizziness.

"How do you feel, Roy?" Celia questioned him gently.

"Awful," Roy responded. "My muscles are practically screaming and I feel like I have vertigo."

Celia's face morphed into an expression of concern and empathy.

"Have you ever had vertigo before?" she asked.

"Well, no," said Roy. "But I imagine that it feels something like this."

To make sure that Roy felt like he was at one hundred percent, Celia suggested that they wait around for a few minutes before they start walking. Celia expected that Roy's headache, dizziness, and aches would go away lickity split, but they were a bunch of stubborn donkeys. The two of them ended up waiting for about half an hour before they could move, and in that time Celia had to comfort Roy as he moaned and groaned.

As Celia patted Roy on the back, she got to thinking. She was just minutes away from meeting Singe. Celia wasn't one to get butterflies in her stomach, but now it felt like there was a swarm of them flitting around. Why was that the case? She didn't feel this way when she was going to meet Bowser. Was it just because of the mystery surrounding why he left? Or was it because she didn't know how she was going to react towards him? Before, she had a definite plan of what she wanted to do. Now she wasn't so sure.

When Roy eventually started to feel better, they both got up and started to walk through the forest. It was dark and spooky. The trees seemed to be grinning sinisterly down at them. Roy and Celia could feel chills race up and down their spines as they glanced up at them. The bushes that were at the bases of the trees weren't much better. Roy and Celia weren't sure if it was the lighting of the forest that gave this effect, but the bushes' leaves looked black as poison. They also had prickly branches that seemed to lunge greedily for Celia's hoodie. If Roy and Celia listened very carefully, they could also hear howling off in the distance.

"You know," said Celia as she turned to Roy. "I've always been scared of boos and ghosts."

Roy hesitated a little before he answered.

"Me too," he said. "But I don't see why you bring that up."

"Because! We're in the Forest of Illusion!" Celia said. "You didn't realize that yet?"

Roy felt embarrassed. Of course, the Forest of Illusion. Why didn't he remember this place? Bowser had put him in charge of overseeing it when they had captured Princess Peach in Dinosaur Land.

"I've heard that this place is very tricky to navigate," Celia said. "So I have a feeling that we're gonna be here for a while."

Roy nodded. Maybe that was part of the reason why he didn't remember this place so well; it was a long time ago and he didn't have to worry about the navigation aspect as much, if at all. Bowser had taken him to the fortress just outside of the forest in his airship. He started to feel a little better about himself.

Roy and Celia walked in silence for a little bit. The silence would have felt fine if it wasn't for the fact that the two of them were walking through the Forest of Illusion. With that factor in play, the two of them began to feel a little on edge.

"So, Kamark was a nice guy and all that. Don't you think that he was a nice guy who did nice things for us?" Roy asked with an awkward inflection, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence. Celia chuckled.

"Yeah, I do," said Celia, grateful that she had an excuse to talk. "In fact, the whole Society was nice."

"They certainly treated you with dignitary, that's for sure," said Roy.

"It's 'dignity' Roy," Celia corrected him. "And they most certainly did. I don't think I've ever met anybody who treated me that kindly. Aside from you and the other Koopalings, of course."

"Well, of course, we would treat you with respect," said Roy. "We are very respectful people."

Celia burst out laughing. Roy wasn't sure why.

"I'll tell you," said Celia once she calmed down. "You and the Society were definitely a step up from my grandma."

"I can see why," said Roy. His face fell. "Do you think that your dad will be the same way?"

"I don't think so," Celia said. "He had no problem with being with my mom, after all." Her heart sank. "Then again, he did leave us, so I guess anything is possible."

Roy nodded in agreement.

"Totally," he said. "I mean, you said so yourself: what jerk leaves the girl he loves without any second thoughts?"

Celia felt bad. Not for herself though, for Singe. Because according to the memory sphere, he did have second thoughts. In fact, he had pushed all thought of leaving out of his head.

"You still want me to punch the living daylights out of him, right?" Roy asked.

Celia sighed.

"I...I'm not sure."

Roy gave her a funny look.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" he asked. "If we don't at least rough him up a bit, won't this whole adventure have been for nothing?"

Celia hesitated a little before responding.

"It's not that I'm not still angry about him abandoning me," she said. "In fact, I don't think I'll ever not be angry with him for that. But the more I learned about him, the more I found myself...I don't know."

Roy didn't entirely know what she meant. Did she mean relating to him? Sympathizing for him? Feeling sorry for him? He couldn't remember learning a lot about him aside from the fact that he lost his arm, and because of that couldn't lift weights. Which, Roy supposed, would be cause for sympathy. Roy knew that if the same thing happened to him, then he wouldn't be able to get up in the morning.

"Maybe all that needs to happen is for me to find out what happened during the fight," Celia said.

Roy was about to answer when a blue blaze ghost jumped out from behind a tree. It stuck out its tongue at Roy and Celia and flew toward them. Frightened out of their wits, both of them ran. They weren't fast enough to outrun the ghost though, as it grabbed Celia by the hood and yanked her up into the trees. Roy watched from below as Celia struggled and wriggled, desperately trying to get free. Spotting a rock on the ground, he picked it up and threw it at the ghost. It made a direct hit, and the ghost vanished. This, consequently, sent Celia plummeting to the ground screaming.

"CELIA!" Roy yelled. He ran over and saw her land in a pit. He looked in, trying to see if he could spot her, but all he saw was inky blackness.

"Celia, are you okay?" Roy asked. No answer.

"Celia?" Roy said again. Still no answer.

Roy began to panic. He needed some assistance.

"Don't worry, Celia, I'll find help," he called into the pit. He turned back toward the forest and began calling out for someone. Surely somebody had to live here, right?

Suddenly, Roy spotted an old house in a clearing. It had a faded purple roof and shattered windows. Roy, hoping that the house wasn't haunted, went up an opened the door. It creaked and as he opened it ever so gently, and the inside smelled of dust. There was glass all over the floor, cobwebs decorating the ceiling, and an old piano resting near a bookshelf.

"Hello?" Roy called out nervously as he entered.

"Who's there?" a voice responded.

Roy glanced around the room, trying to see where the voice had come from. When he saw no one, he started tiptoeing toward the piano. That was when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't get too close to that if I were you," said the voice. "That piano is haunted."

Roy turned around and gasped. It was Singe.