Chapter 17 An Angry Commoner

Because there were no windows in Celia's room, she kept the light on. It shined brightly overhead, granting her eyes a completely different experience than the one that they had in the sewer. It was like a bright star; perhaps the sun. And like the sun, Celia would cherish its light and warmth for as long as possible. After all, the light would inevitably have to go out. She laid down in her bed, allowing the sides of her dress to cover the sheets.

She couldn't believe she was actually here. In the castle, that is. It had seemed like a distant dream in the past. Very distant, like millions of light years away kind of distant. And yet, here she was. The dream was no longer a dream, but reality, and she was no longer a criminal, but a princess.

At least, she will be a Princess tomorrow. Celia wondered what exactly would happen after she revealed to Bowser that she was his daughter. Would the press want to get a hold of this new development? They probably would; in fact, they inevitably would. Celia felt her stomach squirm as she thought about this. She didn't want the limelight. Once, when she was very young, but not now. She did not want to be thrust into a position where the life she lived became a display for other people.

Celia turned over on her side. No, she didn't want fame. What she wanted was her father. She wanted to get to know him; genuinely know him. Was that so much to ask? Of course it wasn't; something like that was never too much to ask. It should be expected that someone should get a chance to have and know a father in their life.

"Ahem."

Celia turned toward the door. She blinked, seeing a scaly, shelled figure of short stature. It was a Koopa troopa. In their hands was the outfit she had worn before her bath; the same hoodie and pair of pants that she had worn for the past three years.

"Excuse me," they said. "I heard that this was where I was supposed to deliver these clothes?"

"Oh. Yes," Celia said. She sat up and smiled. "Those are indeed mine."

"Okay." The Koopa troopa came in and handed the folded up clothing to her. "You might want to take better care of your clothes. These were so smelly that I had to wear a clothespin on my snout."

Celia flushed. Her mouth fell into a hard line, and her eyebrows scrunched up. "Excuse me?" She got up and put her hands on her hips. "For your information, I don't have the proper equipment needed to wash my clothes. I'm sorry that my hygiene doesn't fit your impossibly high expectations!"

The troopa gawked at her. "Hey, woah woah! I'm just saying!" He held his hands up as a defense mechanism. "Don't get all pissy with me; you're the one whose clothes smell like dog doo!"

Now Celia was practically fuming. "Hey!" She shouted. "You're the one who started it!"

"Ahem."

Celia felt her heart stop, her body inadvertently seized up. She slowly turned. There, standing in the doorway, was a very confused and very appalled Roy.

"Um….hi?" He said.

Celia felt her face grow hotter than the floor of a desert. "Oh, Roy! I…" she looked back at the Koopa troopa. Beads of sticky sweat rushed down the sides of her face. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that; I really shouldn't have done that!"

"Mmhm," said the troopa. He marched out of the room. "Don't expect to see me washing your nasty ass clothes anytime soon."

Roy gawked at the troopa as he made his way down the hall. Celia felt a lump form in her throat; a lump that tasted of guilt. When Roy turned toward her, he looked angry.

"What was that for?"

Celia felt like shrinking into the floor. "I...I'm sorry, Roy."

"You should be!" Roy crossed his arms as he entered the room. "You shouldn't harass and yell at the Koopa troopa servants! You're a princess, for Pete's sake!"

"I know! I just…" Celia brushed some tears from her eyes and sat down on the bed. "Sometimes, my anger just gets away from me. Sometimes, I feel like I can't control it!"

Roy narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, you need to learn to control it." He took off his glasses, allowing Celia to see his violet eyes. "If everyone in the world bowed to their anger every single time, then the world would be a pretty scary place to live in! It's okay to be angry; but we can't take it out on others."

Celia bit her lip. "I know!" Roy raised his eyebrow at her, to which she sighed. When she spoke, she spoke quieter. "I know."

Roy sighed and shook his head. "Look, Celia. You're a nice girl. But Bowser's going to be coming tomorrow. You can't...absolutely can't...blow up in his face. Can you promise me that you won't do that?"

Celia lowered her head to the ground. "I...I don't know if I can promise something like that."

"Why not?"

"Because….I don't know. I've always had anger issues. I wish I didn't, but I do." Celia dried another tear from her eye. "I don't know what's wrong with me!"

The sternness melted right off of Roy's face. "There's nothing wrong with you. You just…" he smiled. "You just need to practice controlling your temper more."

Celia glanced up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. That's your thing you need to work on. We all have things that we need to work on. For example…" Roy gave an embarrassed smile. "I'm not what you would call the brightest bulb."

Celia snickered. "I don't know, Roy. What you just said to me sounded pretty smart."

Roy blushed. "Well...thanks, I suppose." He sighed and sat down on the bed. "But I really am not a smart guy. That was the whole reason why Judy broke up with me in the first place."

There was a pause. Roy's breathing suddenly became heavier. Celia looked at him as he sniffled.

"I...I'm sorry. I...should probably stop myself before I turn into a mess."

Celia sighed. "It's okay."

Roy wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "You don't realize how much you miss someone until they're not there, you know?"

Celis snickered. "Yeah. I know what you mean." She sunk deeper into the mattress. "I know what you mean."

Roy blinked. "You...you have someone you miss?"

Celia nodded. "My mom."

"Oh." Roy's eyes grew wide. "She isn't...dead, is she?"

"No. She's not. I just...haven't spoken to her in a while." She scratched her forehead. "I don't even know if she would want to see me."

Roy stared at her. "Why wouldn't she want to see you? She's your mom. Most moms would be pretty happy to see their kids again."

"Well….it's just….I think…" Celia sighed. "It's complicated."

"Oh." Roy chuckled. "Darn it, I hate it when things are complicated."

Celia chuckled as well. "Me too."

The two sat in silence for a little bit. Celia didn't know why, but she felt goose bumps travelling up and down her skin. It was such an odd sensation, one that she hadn't felt in a while. She rubbed her arm, trying to piece together something that she could say to Roy in order to break the awkward silence.

Suddenly, a horrible thought crossed her. It filled her with a very sharp and potent type of dread. She hoped that it wasn't true. She hoped to Heaven that it wasn't the case.

"Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"What if…Bowser isn't my dad?"

Roy smirked. "Of course he's your dad."

"I know. But for the sake of argument, let's say...let's say that my mom lied. What should I do?"

Roy's face fell. "Oh man." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure. I mean, that is a pretty complicated matter." He turned toward her. "I don't want to tell you that your mom lied. Mom's shouldn't lie; it's a well known fact. If she did, then…" Roy shook his head. "I don't know. I'm not really an expert when it comes to moms." He sighed. "Or really anything for that matter."

Celia felt another lump build in her throat. "If Bowser isn't my dad….I mean, what would that make me? A commoner? How can I be special if I'm just an ordinary commoner?"

Roy shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think that would matter. You'd still be you, regardless of who your dad really is."

Celia sighed. "True." She sunk into the bed a little. "But would I be happy being me?"

Roy stared at her. He looked like he wanted to say something. He looked like he wanted to say that it'll all be okay. He looked like he wanted to reach out and hug her.

But, instead, he just cleared his throat and said "I don't know."

Celia shook her head. "Of course you don't. Heck, I myself don't even know the answer to that."

"Mmm. Yeah. It's another complicated matter." Roy suddenly rose from the bed. "Well, it's getting late. We need to get up early if we want to see Bowser. No sleeping till two."

Celia chuckled. "I have never slept till two in my life?"

Roy smiled. "Well, then you should try it sometime. It's quite fun."

Celia laughed. Not chuckled, not chortled, full on laughed. Soon, Roy was laughing right alongside her.

"Alright," Roy said once they had finished. "I need to head to bed myself." He waved at her as he made his way out the door. "See you later, alligator."

Celia smiled. "After a while, crocodile."

With that, Roy left. Celia considered everything that was told to him as she turned off the light and got under the covers for the first time in years. She hoped the meeting with Bowser tomorrow went well. She really did.