Chapter 32 Remembering

Roy smiled. There was the castle. The sun rose on the left side, causing the humongous structure to cast a shadow on the right. Roy had never been this happy to see the castle in his life. It was a sign that he could finally relax after a tireless night of driving.

He and Celia pulled up in front of the entrance. The hammer bros guarding the gate gladly let the two of them in. Roy felt his confidence swell up to amazing degrees as he waltzed into the building. HE strutted like a flamingo, a big, burly flamingo Unfortunately, Celia was not feeling the same way. She walked slowly, keeping her shoulders scrunched up in a timid manner. She looked as if she was just minutes away from curling up into a little ball, or screaming in fright at the first creature that happened to walk by.

Roy noticed this change in demeanor, so he turned toward her. "You alright?"

Celia shook her head, biting her lip as she did so. "I...I don't want to see Bowser again."

Roy's face fell. He remembered what happened the past time she had interacted with the Koopa King, how she had come out of the room in a puddly mess. If he were top harbor a guess, he would suspect that the tear stains were still on the carpet. He realized that he didn't want that for her either, so he got in closer.

"Try to stay close to me. I know my way around the castle; I can help you avoid the Big B."

Celia nodded and stayed close to the burly Koopaling. Just like on the bike, she kept her hands firmly rested on the edges of his shell. This made Roy's confidence swell right back up. He was the rock that she stood on. The shelter that she rested under during the rain. He was a knight in shining armor to her.

So, Roy led Celia through the castle. Despite having to pass through the throne room, they thankfully did not see the great Koopa King. Roy reasoned he must still be in bed. It was early after all, if the sun was rising outside.

So, they went to the east wing. Roy passed by the common room on the first floor and smiled when he saw Larry channel surfing on the couch.

"Hold on just a minute," he told Celia. He stepped into the room. "Yo, Larry!"

Larry turned and blinked. He then put on a smile. "Oh, hey Roy. You're back."

"Yep! I'm back!"

"How do you feel?"

"Tired out of my mind!" Roy said with a big grin. "I feel like I am going to collapse at any minute!"

Larry giggled. "Good to know." He turned toward Celia in the entryway. "You went to see her mom?"

"Yep! And now we're going to try and find her dad!"

Larry cast Roy an incredulous look. "That sounds like it'll take a while. You think you can handle it?"

"Pfft." Roy waved his hand and smirked. "Of course! Or my name isn't Roy Allison Koopa."

Larry laughed. "Okay. If you say so." He turned back to the TV.

Roy took a step closer. "Well, I'll see you later little bro." He turned toward the exit, then remembered something. "Oh, before I leave…" he took the bag of pretzels out of his hammerspace. "I got these for you in the Mushroom Kingdom. You asked for them, remember?"

Larry blinked before his face lit up. "Ooh! You actually remembered; sweet!" He took the bag, opened it up, and took a big, crunchy bite of a pretzel he pulled out. "Thanks, man!"

"Anytime." Roy turned to Celia. "Come on, we're going upstairs."

Celia nodded and gripped onto Roy's shell again. He led her up the stairs, which were eerily quiet. This was weird to Roy, as he was used to hearing all sorts of noises. Yelling, screaming, talking; all those noises were gone. Seriously, there weren't even any explosions! This was odd, very odd indeed.

Regardless, he stopped by Iggy's lab. He saw his brother, cleaning up the lab tables with a wipe. There were bags under his eyes, and his hair was messy beyond belief. Roy smiled and took a step toward his clearly sleep deprived brother.

"Yo! Iggster!"

Iggy looked up and smiled. "Oh. Hey, Roy." He continued wiping the lab table. "I am thrilled that you have returned from your little escapade."

"I am too!" Roy gestured toward Celia. "We got to see her mom."

"Oh. Fantastic, fantastic." He adjusted his glasses. "I assume that she finally relented and decided to be honest?"

Celia nodded. "Yep." She quietly stepped into the lab. She fidgeted with her fingers, keeping her eyes on the floor. "She...told me who my real dad is. She said his name and gave me a picture."

"Is that so?" Iggy asked.

"Yep," said Roy, cheery as ever. "We're now hoping that you can help us find out where he could be."

Iggy blinked before sighing. "I...suppose I can do that." He rubbed his eyes. "However, I don't know how much help I will be."

"Oh, you'll be a big help!" Roy went over and wrapped his arm around Iggy's shoulders. "You're smart; you can do it."

Iggy chuckled. "Many thanks to you, dear older brother. I at least make an attempt at using my intelligence in a good way." He turned toward Celia. "May I please see the photograph of your father?"

Celia nodded and walked down the steps. She pulled her picture out of her hoodie and handed it to Iggy. Iggy squinted at the Koopa on the right hand side. He was silent for a few minutes, and his expression kept changing as he examined the picture.

"What's wrong, bro?" asked Roy.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong." Iggy looked at Celia. "What is your father's name?"

"Singe. Singe Marksmite."

Iggy's eyes grew wide. "Holy crap." He looked back down at the photo. "I know who he is!"

Celia's eyes grew wide now. "You...you do?"

Roy did a double take. "How do you know? Have you met him before?"

"Yes! Yes, I believe I have!"

Celia leaned in close to the lanky genius. "How? When? Where?"

Iggy scratched his scalp. "It was….eight years ago. I was either six or seven, I don't remember my exact age. However, I do remember meeting Singe. The context of our meeting was quite peculiar."

Celia leaned in even closer. "How so?"

Iggy paused. "If memory serves, and it usually does….I believe I was asked to amputate his right arm."

Both Celia and Roy did a double take. Roy looked at his brother, feeling a weird new feeling taking him over.

"Woah, Iggy. Why'd you do that?" He narrowed his brow. "Are you some sort of sicko?"

Iggy shook his head. "No; nothing like that." He scratched his scalp again. "I believe...that he volunteered to have his arm amputated."

Celia looked shocked. "Why would he do that?"

"I...I believe he wanted to save someone on death row."

Roy's heart pumped. What? This was crazy! This was insane! Singe gave up a limb to save someone on death row? Roy didn't even know people could do that!

"Who?" Roy asked.

Iggy shook his head."I do not recall; it was so long ago." He rubbed his eyes. "I apologize. I apologize sincerely."

Roy's heart sank. Darn it! Why did life have to be so difficult? Why did memory have to be so faulty?

"It's okay, Iggy," said Celia, although her tone indicated that she too was disappointed. She looked at him. "We'll ask him when we find him."

Iggy nodded. "Good idea." He looked at Roy. "I assume that you wish for me to look him up so that you can drop by and visit him?"

Roy grinned. "Yeah! That sounds like a great idea!" He chuckled. "Then, I can punch him out for abandoning his daughter."

Celia, surprisingly, didn't object to this. She put her hand to her chin. "That's not a bad idea."

Roy turned to her. "Um...I was joking. You know that, right?"

Celia smirked. "So? I'm not."

Roy blinked. "You...you want me to beat up your dad?"

"After what he did to me and my mom? Absolutely."

Roy began to feel uncomfortable. He was starting to immensely regret bringing Celia to the castle. Sure, he didn't have the best track record himself, kidnapping Peach and all that. But still. Beating up a totally random dude who he had never met before and had no prior connection with seemed...wrong.

"Okay then," said Iggy. "I will do just that." He went over to the computer with the photo in hand. "Singe...Marksmite…." He typed into the search bar. He hit enter, and did a double take. "That's odd." He adjusted his glasses. "He does not appear in the last census."

Roy blinked. "What?"

"Yeah. He's not here." He did another search. "His parents are though. They're names are Mavery and Saliday Marksmite, and they live in Stonebrim. If you want, I can give you their address so you can go visit them instead. They could conceivably tell you where Singe went."

Roy looked at Celia, waiting for her say-so. She hesitated for a minute or two before nodding.

"Let's do it."