Chapter 46 First Look

Celia and Roy ran into Marcus pretty quickly. The look on his face was one of excitement. Laidback excitement, but excitement nonetheless.

"It's time, you two. Kamark wishes to see you in his bedroom."

Celia's heart pounded. The way he said "it's time…" was Kamark finally going to tell her about Singe? Finally! Really, it only took...what, saving him from a hungry piranha in order to make him realize that he shouldn't withhold this information any longer? Flipping finally!

Roy looked over at Celia as they followed Marcus down the hallway, his beaming face as bright as a star. "We're going to do it, Celia. We're going to hear about your Dad!"

Celia nodded. Her excitement was growing by then millisecond. She smiled, allowing her face to show the world her amazing mood.

When they got to Kamark's bedroom, the magikoopa gestured for them to approach the bed. Celia noticed a very clear glass ball resting on the sheets. It reflected the world around it with perfect accuracy. She was just wondering why in the world Kamark had it when Roy laid eyes on it. When he did, he let out a gasp.

"What? You...you have a memory sphere!" He removed his glasses and stared at Kamark in disbelief. "How? I thought…"

"Your thoughts were wrong." Kamark ran his hand over the memory sphere's surface, almost as if he were petting it. "This beauty is one that I constructed myself, using the bright light of the full moon as my main crafting tool." His eyes glittered with pride as he faced Roy and Celia. "Yes, I am powerful enough to create memory spheres. It's a talent very few magikoopas possess in the modern age."

Roy smirked. "And to think that you're still wasting those talents on an underground society."

"Watch it, dunderhead," Kamark snapped. He cleared his throat and took out his wand. He picked up the memory sphere and placed it right on a table in front of the bed. "Observus pastel Singe Meeting." He waved his wand as he spoke those words, aiming it at the orb as he did so. Celia watched, awestruck, as the orb glowed with a golden light. It looked like the sun itself.

Kamark sighed and lowered his wand. "I believe that having you observe the events for yourself, as opposed to just having me tell them to you straight, would be the best course of action. Words often fail me when I try to recall my experiences, especially…" he sniffled. "These ones."

Celia nodded, still entranced by the golden light of the memory sphere. She could allow it to lull her into a trance. She would bow to the light, worship the light, and serve the light.

"So," Kamark continued. "I would suggest that you put your hands on the memory sphere. The memories captured are my own, so you will see this from my perspective."

Celia blinked and nodded. Roy did the same thing and put his hands on the memory sphere immediately. He stood stalk straight, not moving a muscle as he kept his hands on the orb.

Celia stared at him. "What is…"

"He is in the memory now," said Kamark. "I would suggest you enter it too. I do not wish to cast that particular iteration of the spell again."

Celia slowly nodded. She could trust Kamark. He was giving her important information after all. He was allowing her to see a part of her history, a chapter in the prologue of her story.

She stepped forward and put her hands on the sphere.

…

I groaned. I found that I ended up doing that more often than not ever since the society had formed. No, it wasn't because I hated it; that was far from the actual reason. No, the reason I groaned was because of a certain nuisance in a golden cloak.

"Kam!"

Kam looked up from the money bag he had brought into the hideout. He blinked his eyes out, as if he was surprised that I was here in the first place.

"Brother! You...you're up?"

I snorted. "You say that as if being up during the afternoon hours of the day is unusual."

Kam's face turned crimson. "Oh. I...yeah, I didn't think of that."

Did I ever mention that Kam isn't the sharpest tool in the shed?

"Of course." I eyed the money bag. "Hmm. Something tells me that there is a story behind that."

Kam's expression rose immediately. Whatever had happened to get the money in his possession, he was clearly proud of it.

"You bet your sweet magikoopa bippies there is!" He giggled. "You know the wealthy heiress who lives in Lava Falls?"

My eyebrow rose as fear grasped hold of my heart. "Don't tell me you stole it from her!"

Kam's eyes sparkled. "Actually, I killed her. Then I stole it from her!"

My eyes grew wide. "Kambert!"

"What?" Kam giggled. "Kamark, this is how gangs work! If you want something, you take it!"

I shook my head and put my face in my hands. "Kaaammmm…." I groaned and looked him straight in the eye. "We've talked about this!"

"Yes, I know we've talked about this. But don't you think the Society would become more powerful if we did it this way?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh great, here we go." I lifted my head and glared at my brother. "We operate from the shadows. We do what is best for the Kingdom. Not for ourselves."

Kam shook his head. "You and I both know that this Kingdom's economy is going to take a nosedive one of these days."

My face sank. Not true. Not true, not true, NOT TRUE! Even if it was, we weren't going to improve things by killing off wealthy heiresses.

"Kam…." I sighed. "Come with me."

I led him outside the hideout, out into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and being out in the fresh air would allow us more of an opportunity to talk than being down in the dark and dingy hideout would. I took deep breaths, allowing the Kingdom's distinct smell to fill my nostrils.

"Kam," I began. "This is not the way to do things. I do not want to run a gang of killers!"

Kam stamped his foot. "Oh come on! We established this gang because we wanted to do something cool together."

I raised an eyebrow. "You are severely...SEVERELY mis-remembering the ideals of this society. Our mission is to do good without drawing attention to ourselves. We are the lucky Koopas who were bitten by the stars." I showed him the starbite on the back of my hand, and directed him to his, which was right on his palm. "We need to band together to leave a good impact on this world."

Kam shook his head. "How are we going to do that if no one knows we exist?" He cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "What we need to do, Kamark, is show the world the power we have. Once they fear us, they'll listen to what we have to say. And if they listen to what we have to say, then we will be able to do what is best for the world."

I glared at him, scrunching up my brow as I did so. "So the ends justify the means is what you're saying."

"Yes! Of course they do!"

I sighed, pinching my brow with my thumb and forefinger as I did so. "Kam, that is not how that works. Bad actions lead to bad fruit. If you don't learn that soon, you are going to receive a very severe wake up call."

Kam opened his mouth to say something, but before he did, Marcus ran up to us. He was fairly new to the society, but at the same time, he was very loyal to its ideals. At least, more loyal than Kam, its cofounder, was at this point.

"Kambert! Kamark!"

"What is it Marcus?" I asked.

"We found someone trespassing on society property! They're down in the hideout."

I nodded. "Okay. We'll be down in a minute."

Marcus nodded and bolted away. I turned toward Kam. "This isn't over."

Kam nodded, smirking as he did so. We made our way back into the hideout, where all ten members of the society were standing over a Koopa with a bag on his head. He struggled and screamed as the society members held him down.

"Man," Kam said. That was all he said; it was pretty much the same reaction he got whenever someone was found trespassing on Society property.

"Remove the bag," I said.

Marcus nodded and removed the bag. Now, I had seen handsome Koopas before. I was very much interested in a lot of famous actors from Berrybark. However, when I laid eyes on this koopa…

I was starstruck. He was more handsome than all of those actors combined. His fiery hair, ruby red eyes, and golden skin looked...gorgeous.

He stared at me in shock. "What's going on?" he shrieked.

I still stared at him, completely taken aback by his features. Everything about him was straight out of a fantasy novel. His hair color was unique. His physique was fantastic. His voice? Humana, Humana, humana.

Kam cleared his throat and laughed. "You trespassed on the Society's property." He got out his wand. "Therefore, you will pay."

The koopa screamed as the society members tightened their hold on him. "No! Let me go! LET ME GO!"

Kam laughed. "You should have thought twice before walking on our turf." He raised his wand. "Blastem…"

"Wait!"

Kam turned toward me, blinking his eyes out. "What is it?"

My heart pounded. I couldn't let this Koopa suffer. It would be a shame to damage such a pretty face.

"Kam, we are forgetting something."

Kam raised an eyebrow. "Which is…?"

"We do not know if this Koopa has a starbite or not."

Kam stood frozen for about a minute before putting away his wand. "Alright." He turned toward the koopa. "Do you have a starbite?"

They blinked. "A starbite? Uh, yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Show me this starbite," I said.

The koopa nodded and turned his neck. There, right on the back, was a magenta colored starbite. I exchanged a look with Kam. While my brother looked displeased that he didn't get to Beast this Koopa to smithereens, I was honestly relieved.

"Lay your hands off of him," I told the Society members. They obeyed, allowing the Kooa to stand up. I smiled at him; he was such a healthy height. "What is your name?"

"Singe."

"Hmm. Nice name," I said. I took a step forward as Marcus handed me the book. "We should like to make you an official member of the Starbite Society."

Singe blinked. "Huh? What? Huh?"

I ignored his confusion. "Place your hand on the book." He obeyed. We went through the indoctrination ceremony, all while he had a look of disbelief on his face. When we were done, he blinked his eyes out.

"I'm still confused."

I giggled. "Don't worry. You will get used to the society in time. For now…" I smiled. "I am going to give you the grand tour."