Chapter 52 Stuck in the Forest

"AHHHH!"

Roy was going to die! He seriously was going to die! This rushing sensation was so strong that he felt as if he was in a ship travelling at the speed of light! His limbs stretched, his head pounded, his heart felt as if it was going to explode. He tried to breathe, but even that hurt. The only thing that didn't hurt to do was scream.

"AAAHH!"

When would this end? When would this torture come to a halt? When would…

CRASH!

And just like that...the pain ceased. The rushing sensations were no longer there, his arms were still attached, and his heart was beating at a normal pace.

Talk about whiplash.

Roy tried to stand up, but he was overtaken by what could only accurately be described as a case of shellshock. He didn't want to move. He couldn't. Doing so would only increase the terror that was in his mind.

THUMP!

Celia landed right next to him. He turned toward her, noticing her wide as black hole eyes and too quick for comfort breathing. Roy reached out his hand and grabbed hold of her fingers.

"It'll be…" He couldn't even speak. The whole practice called attention to his aching lungs. He shut up and groaned, his chest stinging.

They two laid in silence. Roy noticed that light was filtering through the leaves of the trees, sending little rays of sunshine down on them. However, it was a very scarce source of light. The rest of the forest was drenched in darkness. Wind rustled the leaves, making it sound like they were laughing at the duo. A howling sound cut through the forest, causing Roy's heart to pump. Who did it belong to? A wolf? A...a ghost?

"We need to move," Roy said. He groaned as he raised himself to his feet. Celia still looked like she had come out of a war scenario, but that wouldn't stop Roy from moving her. This was the Forest of Illusion. If they stayed in one place for long enough, then a wayward spirit or a hungry predator would find them. They needed to bolt. "Celia, come on!"

Celia looked up into his face. In order for him to get a better view of her in the darkness, Roy took off his sunglasses. Celia...actually managed to smile when she saw his eyes.

"You're protecting me."

"Yes, of course I'm protecting you." She didn't even seem to be fully present. She wasn't...lucid, Roy supposed the word was. He leaned closer to her, stroking her cheek and speaking in a soothing voice. "We're going to find your father."

Celia smiled, her eyelids fluttering. "Father…"

"Yes." A low growl escaped from the trees, prompting Roy to look up. When he did, he gasped. There was a wolf. A gray, hungry, dire wolf. It was staring right at them, its teeth barred.

Roy patted Celia on the arm. "Stay here." He stood up and faced the wolf. Its growling made Roy's spine quake. He swallowed a lump just as the wolf pounced. He got into his shell and rammed himself straight into the beast's chest. The wolf let out a yelp, and as Roy exited his shell, he saw it bolting away.

Roy let out a breath. They really could not stay in one place for long. Not if they wanted to stay alive.

"Celia." He hoisted her to her feet, heer eyelids still fluttering but fluttering at noticeably less consistent rate. This could mean that she was either gaining consciousness or losing it. Roy hoped it was the former. "It'll be alright, baby."

Celia snorted. "Baby…"

"Yep," Roy said. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, similar to how a parent would do with their baby. "We're off to see your father!"

And with that, they were on the move. They didn't talk for the duration of the walk, mostly because Roy's brain was focused on navigation. The forest wasn't just called the Forest of Illusion for no reason. The whole place seemed to be alive, alive and malicious. Trees seemed to move. The ground spun like a record on a record player. Before Roy knew it, it felt as if he was going around in circles.

"Dang it," he muttered. He stopped to regain his sense of direction. "Okay, Roy, think." He had been to the Forest of Illusion before. Granted, on the outside rather than the inside, but still. Mario had managed to navigate his way through the forest and find the castle Roy had been spending his time in. How did he do it?

Roy looked at the trees. Now that he was standing still, he could see them moving. Some of them lifted themselves out of the ground and used their roots to walk over to other parts of the forest. Others just seemed to slide across the mossy ground.

Roy sighed. Seriously, how was Mario able to do it? Maybe…

Wait. He remembered hearing Mario talk about this during a Mario Kart tournament. He said that the way he got out of the forest...the way he got out of the forest...he said it was by doing something like this…

"I wandered around for a few minutes with no idea which way was up. Then, I decided to give up and completely ignore my gut instinct and my sense of direction. That finally seemed to do the trick."

"Hmm," Roy said. Ignore his sense of direction. He could do that! He could do that easily! Right now, his gut instinct was telling him to go left, so….he would go right.

So, he went to the right. Miraculously, the further right he went, the more he was starting to see landmarks that he hadn't seen before. A berry bush. A flower patch. A bird's nest! Oh ho ho, he really was staring to make progress!

Roy sighed once he came to a clearing. With the sun now sending its full glorious rays down onto him, Roy could feel his spirts soar. He hadn't seen this clearing before!

"Oh yeah, baby," he said with a chuckle. "I am the master of navigation." he chuckled. "Hear that, Forest! You don't stand a chance against me!"

In response to this, and much to Roy's dismay, the forest shifted again. The trees moved closer until the clearing was pretty much nonexistent.

"Dang it."

So, he started disregarding his gut instinct again. He wandered around aimlessly, bumbling from one place to the next, for about an hour. He stopped when he came across a stream, flowing straight through the forest. Realizing how thirsty he was, he put Celia down and started to drink.

"Roy?" Celia asked.

"Yeah?"

"There aren't really lost spirits in the Forest of Illusion, are there?"

Roy smiled, but not because she was afraid. He was smiling because she was finally speaking coherently, which meant that she was fully cognisant again.

"I…well, I hadn't seen any lost spirits in the forest when I was last here."

Celia blinked. "You were here before?"

"Yep. A long, long time ago. My family had gone on a mission to kidnap Princess Peach when she was on vacation. They even made a game about it; Super Mario World."

"Huh. Interesting."

Roy stood back up and grinned at her. "Yeah. I wouldn't worry about any old ghosts," He heard the sounds that could only be associated with the moving trees. "The forest is shifting again. We need to get going." He looked down at her. "Can you walk?"

Celia nodded. "I can try."

"That's good enough for me." Roy helped her stand up, and together they made their way through the forest while holding hands. Roy had to explain to Celia that, while it looked like he was wandering aimlessly, there was actually a method to the madness. While at first skeptical, Celia eventually bought into it. She didn't have much of a choice; after all, there was very little that could be done if they got separated.

Celia looked down at Roy's fingers intertwined with hers. "I don't know why," she said, "but I really like it when you hold my hand."

Roy felt his face grow warm as fireworks went off in his head. "Daww." He smiled at her. "I really like it too."

Celia smiled a little bit in response. "I...I'm glad."

Roy nodded and began navigating again. After it felt like he wasn't making any progress, he got an idea. "I'm going to close my eyes. Maybe that'll help."

Celia snickered. "I think you'll just run into a tree if you do that."

"Maybe. Maybe not. These trees move, so there's no knowing for sure."

So, Roy closed his eyes and allowed his feet to lead the way. He didn't run into any trees, which was a huge relief. After about half an hour, he opened his eyes back up. This time, they were in another clearing.

"Sweet!" He looked over at Celia. "We're making progress with finding Singe!" He looked around. "Also, dang is this forest big."

Celia giggled as Roy took another step forward. The Koopaling, at this point in time, was extra determined to accomplish his goal. He had a feeling that his travelling companion was too.

"Say, Celia? Do you have a picture of Singe so that I can know what to look for?"

Celia raised an eyebrow. "You already saw what he looked like through Kamark's memories."

Roy blinked before chuckling sheepishly. "I don't have the greatest memory."

"Oh." Celia shook her head and sighed. "Yes, I do." She reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out the picture. Roy's eyes grew wide as he stared at it.

"Wow! You have his hair color!" He chuckled as he looked back up at her. "I guess I have to thank him for giving you such beautiful features."

Celia's eyes grew wide. "Beautiful?"

"Mmhm." Roy walked forward again.

Celia blushed a deep vermillion. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Yep. How can I not? Your hair, your eyes, your skin…" he chuckled. "Those are some of the many things I love about you."

Celia came to a screeching halt. Roy turned back toward her, noticing that her eyes were as wider than ever. Her feet were also more rooted into the ground than the trees were.

"L..love?" she squeaked.

Roy nodded. "Yep! Love." He noticed her apprehension, making him feel concerned. "Is..that okay?"

Celia let go of his hand, staring at him like he had fallen out of the sky. "LOVE?"

"Yeah! What's wrong with that? I thought...I thought you loved me too?"

Celia's horror became even more pronounced. "How can you think that? I never said I was in love with you!"

Roy felt a pang in his heart. "You said you 'liked me, liked me' in the hospital."

"That doesn't mean I love you!" Celia shouted while shaking her head.

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Actually...yeah, it kind of does."

Celia blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

Celia's breathing began to speed up. "I didn't...I didn't know that! I thought...like you like you meant...as a friend, or something…" she looked down at a patch of moss growing next to a tree. "You love me?" she murmured. "You...love me."

"Yeah."

Celia looked up at him. "For how long?"

"Well...uh, for a while."

Celia shook her head. "You love me," she repeated, at this point completely flabbergasted.

"Well, I mean, I always had a crush on you." Roy looked concerned. "I thought that you felt the same way."

"I don't...I don't...I don't…"

Roy's heart sank. So...wait. Was all that trouble he went through thinking about a plan for what to do with Celia...was it all for nothing? Was he wasting his time on a girl who didn't even know what "like you, like you" meant?

"You don't like me?" Roy asked.

Celia flushed. "I do! I like you! I just...I don't...I don't…"

"You don't what?" Despite his growing frustration, Roy's tone managed to be gentle when he asked that question.

Celia swallowed a lump. "I...I…" Before Roy knew what was going on, she bolted away.

"Celia!" Roy shouted. Was she crazy? This was the Forest of Illusion! She could get lost here! "Celia, wait!"

He followed her. Or, at the very least, he tried to. After waiting for a moving tree to skedaddle and tripping over the root, he completely lost sight of her. This sent him into panic mode.

"CELIA!" He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Oh, why did he have to overwhelm her like that? Sure, she had said that she had liked him, liked him before. But she didn't know what that meant! But she should have, but...oh, HOW COULD HE GET HIMSELF INTO THIS MESS?

"CELIA!" Roy called out again. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he thought he heard laughter. It was almost like the trees were laughing at him. He grit his teeth. "SHUT UP, TREES! I'M ON A MISSION!"

He continued running. However, he had to stop for minute to catch his breath. And it was a good thing too. Right before him laid the deepest ditch he had ever seen.

"Man," he muttered. "I sure am glad I didn't fall into that." He was about to turn around when he saw something that caught his eye. He squinted down and gasped.

There was Celia, unconscious in the ditch.