Chapter 5 Blossoming Friendship
Three days later, Celia returned to the castle. She was still a little grumpy over what had happened the last time she was there, but she hoped that some quality time with Roy would help make up for it.
She travelled up the stairs of the east wing. As she did, she nervously pushed her greasy hair over her right ear. She didn't look nearly as good as she had last time. She was just adorning her normal attire, and her hair was unbrushed and unkept. Nevertheless, she hoped that Roy would still find her appearance appealing.
"Knock knock," she said out loud once she arrived at Roy's room. Roy smiled when he saw her.
"Hey!" he got up from his bed and embraced her. Celia hugged him back, being careful of his enormous purple shell. "You came!"
"Of course I did," Celia said with a laugh. "I wasn't going to leave you alone without at least one good date."
Roy nodded, the smile sticking to his face like glue.
"With you, all dates are good ones," he whispered into her ear. Celia felt her face tingle with warmth. She giggled as Roy softly kissed her on the cheek.
"That may be true. I suppose I should rephrase it then; I won't leave until I get at least one awesome date."
Roy grinned slyly.
"Even then, it doesn't work. All dates with you are awesome." His face fell a little. "I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to have one last time."
"Ugh. Please, don't remind me," Celia said. "It's fine. It's all fine."
Roy nodded before something caught his eye.
"Hey, Tailspin? Where are you going with that tray?"
Celia turned around and saw a Koopa troopa servant walking toward the stairwell that would lead them to the east wing's third floor. In his hands he was carrying a tray that had a turkey stew, some baked asparagus, and a bowl of strawberry ice cream. Oh, and there was a little cup of water on the tray as well.
"I'm taking this up to Princess Aqua," Tailspin replied.
"Oh," Roy said. "Right, she's being...held upstairs."
Celia turned to Roy.
"Princess Aqua?" she asked in confusion. Suddenly, it occurred to her what they were talking about. "Oh! Is that the Princess you kidnapped?"
"Yup," Roy said with a nod. "She's Princess Peach's sister."
Celia's eyes grew wide.
"I didn't know Peach had a sister!"
"Yep, she does." Roy's eyes lit up. "Hey, would you like to see her?"
Celia nodded, for she was not willing to pass up on an opportunity to see Peach's mystery sister. The two of them followed Tailspin up the stairwell to the third floor of the east wing. The place was surprisingly well lit, as lamps shined their light and windows displayed the outside world below. There didn't even appear to be a speck of dust.
Anyway, Tailspin stopped at a room that had a pink, magical force field in the doorway.
"Lunch time, your highness."
He tapped on the force field, and it receded a little to allow his hands through. Celia watched as she saw a young girl, about her age, come up to get the tray. Her hair was a little messy, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was wearing a pink dress that Bowser had clearly set aside for her sister.
"Thank you," she said as she took the tray. Once she had it, the hole in the force field disappeared. Tailspin, presumably because he had duties he needed to attend to, went away without another word. Roy chuckled as he looked at the Princess.
"I bet that she's doing fine. We didn't even need to put her in a cage."
Aqua cast a glare in Roy's direction. It was so concentrated that it was just as harmful as hydrochloric acid. Roy cringed a little.
"She's staring into my soul," he whispered. He turned toward Celia with a frightened look on his face. "Come on, Celia. Let's go."
…
The image of the Princess stuck in Celia's mind for the rest of the day. While the koopas seemed to be treating her well, Aqua seemed pretty miserable and moody. Celia was willing to trust the Koopas when they said that she was fine, but at the same time, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was something inherently wrong with this scenario.
So, when no one else was around, Celia snuck back up to Aqua's room. She watched the Princess from a distance, not entirely willing to interact with her yet. The Princess sat on her bed, fidgeting with the pink dress that she adorned. Her fidgeting became more intense until she was practically wrestling the dress. She groaned and allowed herself to fall backwards onto the bed. That was when she saw Celia.
The two stared at each other, not even blinking. Then, Aqua let out a scoff.
"I know. Pretty pathetic, am I right?"
"What's pathetic?"
Aqua snickered.
"This whole thing. I bet you're wondering how a girl like me could possibly wind up in a situation like this." She groaned and looked down at her dress again. "I hate pink. It never looked good on me."
Celia snickered.
"I understand that. Pink never seemed to look right on me, either. It always clashed with my hair."
Aqua cast a glance at Celia's hair. She examined and studied it for a minute or two.
"That's a really impressive dye job."
"Oh, this isn't a dye job. It's natural. I'm half koopa."
Aqua raised an eyebrow.
"Half Koopa, you say?" She smiled. "Now that's something you don't hear off everyday."
Celia nodded as she looked down at her hands.
"I think that's part of the reason why I dislike it so much. As far as we know, I am the only human Koopa hybrid in existence."
Celia thought she saw a glimmer of sympathy enter Aqua's eyes. However, just as soon as she saw it, it disappeared.
"Well, just because you're half Koopa doesn't mean you have to be as terrible as the rest of them."
For a minute, Celia felt a surge of fury. She recalled her grandmother, belittling her because of her human half. She thought of the bullies who beat her because of her Koopa half. Aqua was doing the exact same thing, and it brought Celia's blood to a boil. At least, it did until she remembered who had put her in this room.
"You don't like koopas?" Celia asked, trying to sound as genuine as possible.
"How can I?" Aqua said. "Bowser has been trying to take over my sister's kingdom for years!" She shook her head. "It's just unbelievable."
Celia nodded.
"I can understand that." She took a step closer. "You really care about your sister, don't you?"
Aqua nodded.
"Of course I do. She is a great ruler." She looked down at her dress. "Even if her fashion sense is a little tacky." She chuckled. "Don't tell her I said that."
Celia laughed.
"Couldn't even if I wanted to."
Aqua smiled.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because I don't want to get curb stopped by the Mario brothers."
Aqua burst out laughing.
"Yeah, they certainly like stomping on koopas."
"Exactly. And, I don't know about you, but I think being flat like a pancake would give me pretty poor body image."
Aqua laughed again. Her eyes shined like the surface of a lake.
"You know, I think I'm starting to like you...uh, what's your name?"
"Oh. Celia. Celia Patch."
Aqua grinned warmly.
"Well, I like you, Celia. You're pretty cool."
Celia returned Aqua's smile.
"The feeling is mutual, Princess Aqua."