Chapter 39 Indoctrination

Silence. The whole Starbite Society did not utter a word. Roy guessed that they were probably staring at their leader, most likely with shocked expressions on their faces. The silence was starting to weigh down on Roy.

Finally (thankfully) someone spoke up. "Are you sure?"

Kamark sighed, sounding like he had just had his entire worldview shattered in less than a millisecond. "The mind probing spells don't lie. I saw him. I saw him in her memories, I heard his name in her thoughts." He groaned, possibly putting his head in his hands. "I can't believe this."

"Kamark," one of the Starbite Society's members said softly. "It's been so long since…"

"I know. I'm not stupid. I just...I never thought...you know…"

Roy internally cursed. This spell was really starting to get on his nerves; he wanted to see, dang it! He wanted to see what was going on, actually have the freedom of moving around!

"Kamark…?" One of the members said gently.

Kamark let out a long, weary, drawn out sigh. "I...I need some time to think this over."

"Understandable. What do we do with those two?"

Kamark sighed, soundig less weary and more frustrated this time. "Induct the two of them into our ranks. I don't care whether or not the brute has a starbite, just….do it."

The sound of retreating footsteps indicated that Kamark was leaving the room, leaving Roy with a lot of unanswered questions. How did Kamark know anything about Celia's dad? What connections did he have with Singe? COULD HE REMOVE THIS BLASTED PURIFICATION SPELL?

Someone, a blue-shelled Koopa troopa, stepped over Roy and approached Celia, the very confused Celia. The Koopa troopa looked at the Koopa human hybrid for a little bit before finally speaking up.

"I am sorry if we scared you earlier," he said, his tone and body language soft and apologetic. "It is just the way of our organization; the way that we keep unwanted people out."

"O...okay," Celia uttered. Her tone of voice was still unsure, and honestly, Roy did not blame her for feeling that way. He did not trust these weirdos. They were….weird.

"We will happily give you lodging for a few days," said the troopa. "You can stay for as long as you want as we teach you our ways."

Celia hesitated. "Th...thanks."

The Koopa troopa nodded and turned around. He leaned down so that he was level with Roy's petrified face.

"And that applies to you too. Any friend of Singe Marksmite's daughter is a friend of ours."

Roy thanked the Koopa troopa. Oh wait, he couldn't do that because he was STILL PETRIFIED! Seriously, could they remove the spell now? He had an itch on his butt that he was dying to have scratched.

Thankfully, the Koopa troopa seemed to sense his distress. He gave Roy a sympathetic look before standing up and facing the other Starbite Society members. "Anyone have a wand?"

"Uh, yeah, I have one." The person who had said that stepped forward. "Spellus Removal."

Roy felt relief spread over him as the ability to move returned. He stood up, brushing off the numbness. Now that he was actually mobile, he managed to get a good view of everyone. The Koopa troopa smiled at him, also looking relieved. The Starbite Society members behind him gave him a variety of different looks; some happy, some miffed, some relieved, and some even confused. As for Celia herself, she also looked relieved that Roy could move again. However, the relief did not overshadow her shock.

The Koopa troopa let out a breath. "My name is Marcus, by the way."

"Hey, Marcus," Roy said. He put his head in his hands, still trying to comprehend all the information that had been ladeled on top of him. "You...you know who Celia's dad is?"

Marcus seized up a little bit. He was silent for a few minutes, gripping his hands together and fidgeting with his fingers "We are forbidden to talk about that. It is a heavy subject in this society, and we do not wish to disobey Kamark's orders."

"What?" Celia asked. She made her way forward. "Come on! Please tell me what's going on!"

Marcus shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't. If you're going to get information from anyone, it has to be Kamark himself."

Celia gripped her hand into a fist. "You mean the guy who just left?"

Marcus sighed and looked at the rest of the Starbite Society. "I'm afraid so." He smiled, or at least tried to. "But don't worry. As soon as Kamark has had time to comprehend all of this, I am sure that he will be more than willing to give you the answers that you seek."

Considering that Roy and Celia had spent a majority of the last few days trying to find answers...yeah, Roy was just as anxious to find out what was going on as Celia was. He looked at Marcus, who kept wiping his hands on his front in a nervous fashion. Something told Roy that this measly dude wasn't going to cave to anything that either Roy or Celia could do to him, nor would any of the rest of the Society. That meant that getting answers required a boatload of patience.

Yippee.

"In the meantime," said Marcus. "We might as well induct you into our ranks, as Kamark has explicitly wished that we do." He turned toward the Society. "Give me the book."

The Lakitu came forward and pulled a book out of his cloud. He gave it to Marcus, who sighed and turned toward Celia and Roy. "Put your right hand on the cover." Roy and Celia exchanged a look before doing just that. "Repeat after me. I 'state your name here….'"

"I, state your name here," said Roy.

The Society giggled as Celia flashed him a look. She cleared her throat. "I, Celia Patch…"

Roy felt his face grow warm. He chuckled in embarrassment and turned toward Marcus. "I, Roy Allison Koopa…"

Marcus nodded. "Do hereby solemnly swear…"

"Do hereby solemnly swear…" Roy and Celia said in unison

"That I will uphold the values of the Starbite Society…"

"That I will uphold the values of the Starbite Society…."

"And honor its ideals."

"And honor i's ideals."

Marcus smiled. "You may now remove your hand from the cover." Once they did that, he put the book in his hammerspace. "Welcome to the Starbite Society, you two."

Roy nodded. "Thank you." As soon as the words escaped from his lips, someone spoke up from the crowd behind him.

"You're Roy Allison Koopa? Bowser's adopted son?"

Roy nodded, feeling extra amounts of pride well up in him. "Yes. Yes I am." Man, did it feel cool to be recognized and not have his name butchered. Yes, he was referring to the guy who called him Ron (seriously, what a dunce).

Marcus chuckled. "While that is good, I am afraid you cannot share information about the Society with your father. We wish to keep it as secretive as possible."

Roy blinked. "Uh...okay."

Marcus turned toward Celia. "I request that you follow me." He looked back at Roy. "I now wish to give you the traditional tour of the hideout that all new recruits receive."

Roy hesitated before nodding. As Marcus turned toward the door, he couldn't help but be swarmed with questions. He really wanted to know what the World Eight was going on. He also wanted to know how the Starbite Society knew about Singe.

Oh well. He supposed all those answers would be revealed in time.