Chapter 15 Tostarena

The heat was unbearable. Each sunray that was sent shooting onto Celia's skin felt like a bee sting that was aimed to kill her. The princess, unfortunately, wasn't faring much better. She was in a sort of slouched position, her arms were practically dragging across the sand as she huffed and puffed. Speaking of her arms, Celia could see that Aqua's eczema was acting up. Every once in a while, Aqua would raise her hand and scratch brutally at the skin. The coarse, bumpy redness of her body made it seem like her arm was going to burst open like an explosive flower.

The longer they walked, the more they burned. Celia's shoes were filling up with sand, which felt like little grains of smoldering coal. Her skin had turned from golden yellow to a bright red. Her face felt like it was going to evaporate off of her. She let out a huffy, exasperated sigh.

"I can see why you don't like deserts," she told Aqua.

"Yeah," Aqua responded. "They aren't exactly my favorite place." She snickered. "This kind of makes me long for the bedroom in Bowser's Castle. At least that had sufficient air conditioning."

Celia laughed. Her face might have felt like it was melting like chocolate, but at least she could laugh.

The two continued on with their trek. The desert was becoming so hot that dehydration was starting to set in. Celia even went so far as to lick up her sweat, just to prevent herself from passing out.

"How big is this frickin' place?" she asked. Aqua's face adorned a truly miserable expression.

"I don't know."

Celia groaned. This walk was going to take forever and a day. And that was if she and Aqua could survive the heat.

Thankfully, they might not have to survive the heat.

"Hey," Celia said as she squinted into the distance. "Is it just my imagination, or is there a town up ahead?"

Aqua squinted ahead. She smiled when she saw what her travelling buddy was looking at.

"Oh, thank the lumas." She turned to Celia with bright eyes. "Yes, that is a town. It's called Tostarena." Celia sighed in relief.

"Oh, good. Maybe we can rest there?"

"Yes, definitely."

So, the two picked up the pace. As the town got closer, Celia could see the beautiful colors popping out at her. The buildings were painted over with almost fluorescent paint jobs. Once Celia and Aqua entered the town, they could see the little residents. Most of them appeared to be of a skeleton like species. Their bony faces were painted over with the same designs that decorated the buildings. A good majority of them were wearing sombreros and ponchos, and were shaking maracas around with speed and passion.

"Bienvenidos a la Tostarena!" One Tostarenan exclaimed

"Si, si! Bienvenidos!" another exclaimed.

Celia was fascinated by these creatures. She heartily giggled.

"These guys are adorable!"

Aqua nodded, a bright smile present on her face.

"Yes. They are." The two Tostarenans approached them.

"Hola, Senoritas. Estamos encantados de verte aqui!"

Immediately, Celia felt uncomfortable. As someone who had never had any education past fourth grade, she had absolutely no idea what these guys were saying to her. Sweat started to form on the back of her neck.

"Uh...um…"

One of the Tostarenans looked at her in concern.

"Hablo espanol?"

Once again, Celia had no idea how to respond to that. She looked at Aqua for help. The young Princess leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"He's asking if you speak Spanish."

"Oh!" Celia exclaimed. She turned toward the Tosteranans. "I'm sorry, I don't."

The Tostarenan laughed.

"No worries, Senorita," he said in perfect English. "We are still delighted to see you here. We don't get many visitors."

Celia smiled.

"And I'm delighted to be here." The two denizens shook their maracas in excitement. One of them even placed their hat on Celia's head.

"Such a lovely young woman accompanying the Princess of the Lake Kingdom!" One exclaimed.

"Yes, yes! The princess is in good company!"

Aqua laughed.

"Well, I suppose that means we don't have to worry about introductions." She leaned down and faced one of the Tostareanans. "My friend and I have been combing the desert and are looking for a place to rest. Would you be able to help us?"

"Of course, of course!" One of the Tostaraenans exclaimed. "Anything for Princess Aquamarine!"

Both girls breathed sighs of relief.

"Thank you," Celia said.

"Si. Muchos gracias," Aqua said in Spanish.

"De nada!" The two exclaimed in unison.

…

Celia tossed and turned. The moonlight streaming down through the window of her hotel room made it impossible for her to sleep. Her eyes roamed over the room. The walls were a hot magenta, the floor was coated with blue sand. She allowed her eyes to roam over to Aqua in the bed parallel to hers. The princess's back was facing Celia.

"Aqua? Are you awake?"

Aqua turned and faced the hybrid. Her eyes were glittering in the moonlight.

"Yeah, I am. You can't sleep either?"

"No," Celia said with a shake of the head. "It's so darn bright!"

"And hot," Aqua responded with a laugh. "I was expecting something much more...fit for humans."

Celia snickered.

"Well, as hot as this place is, it was nowhere near as hot as the food we had in the restaurant downstairs."

"Ugh. Don't remind me," Aqua said. Celia sat up.

"You don't like spicy food?"

"I...hate it. It makes me want to cry from the pain. It's like torture, except ten times worse."

"What are you talking about? I love spicy food! That salsa verde I had on my burrito.." Celia licked her lips. "That was the food of the Gods!"

Aqua laughed.

"If by food of the Gods you mean food that the Gods threw away, then you would be right on the mark."

Celia laughed.

"Well, even if you don't like spicy foods, you have to at least admit this: that guacamole we had was amazing."

A happy twinkle entered Aqua's eyes.

"Yeah, that was great. At the very least, that didn't make my taste buds want to wither up and die."

Celia giggled right before she heard something that made her heart stop.

"Celia! Celia!" Celia turned toward the window, then back to the Princess.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I did." Aqua got out of the bed. "What could that be?"

In curiosity, Celia got up and went to the window. She gasped in fright when she saw the source of the voice wandering around the streets outside.

"Celia! Celia!"

"Oh no," Celia said. She turned back to Aqua. "It's Roy. He found us."