Chapter 7 Heavenly Patch
The dust under Roy's feet clung to him like fur. The air was wrought with a distinct vibe. It was dreary, horribly dreary. The gates stood up, pointy and erect. There was a sort of wickedness to them, a quality that separated the dead from the rest of the world.
Roy looked at Sage worriedly. Graveyards have always freaked him out. Roy was afraid of ghosts and such, so graveyards always filled him up with a distinct type of dread. He gulped down a lump forming in his throat. He moved his fingers to prevent them from going numb from the cold. Forcing himself, he put one foot after the other and entered.
Chills ran up and down Roy's spine. The headstones laid scattered like rotten eggs. The mist hanging over the area left droplets on Roy's scales. He rubbed his arms, and his palms came up soaked. He removed his glasses so he could see better, but the extra light only made his nervousness increase.
"There are no ghosts in a graveyard, there are no ghosts in a graveyard," Roy muttered to himself. He noticed Sage give him a look that was somewhere between sympathetic and incredulous. Despite that, the young Koopa boy did not utter a peep.
The two of them kept trekking through. Roy scanned over the area, not entirely sure of...well, anything. His blood felt like ice water, his veins rusty pipes. He hoped that this journey would be worth it. The Turtle's Rest graveyard was not a local that Roy enjoyed.
"Hey," Sage spoke up. "If it makes you feel any better...ghosts don't usually haunt the places where they were buried. They usually like to haunt old houses, old forests...sometimes even old castles."
"Old castles?" Roy gulped again. "But...I live in an old castle." Sage shrugged.
"Well, then. You might want to ask Luigi for his Poltergust sometime soon."
Roy's heart pumped against the side of his chest. This was getting to be too much. He stopped walking, as if frosty ice had formed around his feet. Sage put his warm hand on his freezing shoulder.
"Don't focus on the surroundings. Focus on Celia."
A simple suggestion, but one that Roy decided he needed to put into use. He tried to visualize Celia's face. Her cute nose, which stuck out a little from the rest of her face. Her delicate, cherry red lips, soft in texture and strongly colored. Her eyes. The crown jewels of her face, the rubies that allowed her to see the world in a way that was unique to her and her alone. Roy smiled.
"Oh yeah," he muttered. "Now that's a girl that I want to date."
Sage chuckled and smiled. Roy didn't know if it was his imagination, but he thought his skin looked slightly less transparent.
Finally, they saw her. She was staring at a headstone, and in her hand was a bouquet of tiger lilies. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a gray hoodie. The hood was pulled up, hiding her fiery hair from the sight of the world; however, Roy recognized her. Her stature, her figure, her skin; it was the very thing that he had been wishing he could see for who knows how long. He took a deep breath and wiped any dust off of his chest.
Unfortunately, he just could not take a step forward no matter how hard he tried.
"Roy, what's wrong?" Sage asked.
Roy let out a little whimper. Now, instead of walking toward Celia Patch, he felt like bolting away from her.
"I can't do this," he said.
"Why not?" Sage asked, his tone demanding. Roy shook his head.
"It's just been so long. I don't even know what to say."
Sage snickered.
"Just say what you always say. Say what you like about her."
That didn't give Roy much reassurance. It wasn't that there weren't things that he liked about Celia. There were infinite things that he liked about her. However, with his confidence at an all time low, he didn't trust himself to get the words across. Without looking like a total fool, that is.
"Yeah, but what if…"
Sage started to flicker again. Once he had finished, he gritted his teeth.
"Dang it, Roy! Come on, asking a girl out is not that hard! Trust me, you can do this! Just go up to her and say hi!"
Hmm. Hi. Roy could say hi. That wasn't too complicated.
"Okay. Okay, I will say hi." With that, Roy took a step forward. Butterflies were flying at breakneck speeds in his stomach, but he still managed to go forward. He focused his attention entirely on her, allowing his face to contort into an intense expression. He could do this. He could do this. He. Could. Do. This.
"Hi," Roy said. He was impressed by the sound of his own voice. Celia turned his way, her eyes full of surprise.
"Roy?" she asked as she pulled the hood down. Roy smiled again. Her voice was lovely.
"Yeah, it's me," he said. He put on a smile. Since he had spent most of his time asking girls out, he had pretty much perfected the charming smile. He instinctually took a step towards her. "It's nice to see you again."
Celia smiled in a way that didn't show any teeth. She raised her right hand and pushed her hair back.
"It's nice to see you too." The smile vanished into a look of curiosity. "What are you doing here?"
Roy felt his stomach drop.
"I...I…"
He looked over at Sage, who gave him a nod. Roy let out a deep breath.
"I was looking for you. I...I just wanted to see how you are doing."
Celia nodded, although the grin did not return to her face.
"Well, you kind of hit me at a bad time, buddy. I'm not exactly doing well."
Roy raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Really?" He put his sunglasses back on. "Why is that?"
Celia didn't say anything. She just pointed down toward the grave she had been standing in front of.
Saliday Marksmite.
Roy felt a gloom overtake his soul.
"Oh. Is that your grandfather?"
"Yeah," Celia said with a nod. She placed the bouquet of tiger lilies in front of the headstone. "Today is the one year anniversary."
"Oh." Roy moved closer to her. "That must be tough."
"Yeah, just a little bit." Celia looked back at Roy. "It doesn't help that things have been really hectic over the past few months. My parents…"
"Are getting married. They told me."
Celia gave Roy another surprised look.
"You saw them?"
"Yeah. They seem to be handling it well."
Celia let out a very loud snicker.
"I wouldn't exactly call pulling their hair out 'handling it well.'" She chuckled. "But hey, I'm only half Koopa. Maybe full koopas apply a different definition to the phrase."
Roy chuckled as well.
"Considering that we have a King who copes with situations by kidnapping a Princess, you do not want to hear our definition of handling it well."
Celia laughed, causing Roy to smile. He missed the sound of her laughter. It was melodic and cute. Besides, she was laughing at a joke he told. That was beyond what he had hoped for.
"Well, anyway," Celia said once she had calmed down. She sighed and snuck another glance at Saliday's grave. "I am glad you came. Seeing you makes today much easier."
Roy grinned. He made days easier. Ironic, cause with people like Mario and Princess Peach, he made days harder.
"I'm glad I came too." With that, Roy started walking back over to Sage. The koopa boy gave him an expectant glance.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What did she say?"
Roy was confused until he remembered why he and Sage came here in the first place.
"Oh shoot, I forgot to ask!" He went back over to Celia, all the while chuckling nervously. "Hey, uh, do you want to have lunch with me? Like, tomorrow or sometime like that?"
Celia looked a little taken aback for a second. Then she smiled.
"I'd like that."