By: Nina Huang
So, now that you are caught up on the two realms of Astra’s homeland, do you know who Leah is? Probably not. Leah is the one who has been helping Astra through everything. Yes, she is also a star-born and she also has a Sagittarius zodiac stone just like Astra’s. This story will be unlike the previous chapter; this tale is mainly about Leah, the girl who knew Astra, and cared about her. They had been BFFs since Earth Kindergarten. So, enough with the introduction. Let’s get into their story.
It was just another summer in the Star Kingdom. Leah and Astra straightened out their silk dresses and brushed their hair, getting ready to visit King Night.
“They really have to make the teleportation system a lot smoother,” Leah said.
“Maybe couches to sit on?” Astra suggested.
“Yeah, definitely, velvet-covered couches.” Leah smiled back.
After entering the castle, King Night greeted them. He seemed to be limping on one leg. “Astra, for your sacrifice last year, I award you one of the rarest stars in the universe. A power-star. Now, don’t let it fool you! It may mess around at first, but after you get used to it, and show it who is boss, it will obey any command you give it,” King Night explained.
“Wow! I’ve always wanted a power-star! It is gorgeous.” Astra spoke.
“Um, my king, is your leg okay?” Leah questioned politely.
“I did injure it a bit, and it will take quite some time to heal, but I’ll be okay. Thank you for asking, dear.” King Night replied.
After saying their goodnights to King Night, Astra showed Leah her bedroom.
“I asked King Night to give us an extra star-bed so we can be roommates! Let’s unpack, and maybe visit the Star Tower.” Astra told Leah.
“Sounds good! I want to see what progress they’ve made so far.” Leah said while unpacking.
“Yeah, I’ve been so excited to see the Tower after they tore out all the hypnosis curses and remodeled the décor.” Astra replied.
After unpacking, the girls made their way to the Star Tower. They took one look and their mouths dropped open. The Tower had been redecorated with pink satin curtains, a huge star-bed with a canopy, a huge bathroom with a huge bathtub, and a beautifully-tiled shower (the sparkling new glass tiles were gray, turquoise, pale blue, and lime green: the colors of the ocean).
“I guess the renovation is done!” Astra shrieked with excitement.
“It is beautiful—not going to lie.” Leah commented.
After gazing around, the girls decided to go on their separate ways. Leah was headed to the garden when she spotted a mysterious figure. He looked behind him, as if he did not want to be followed. Leah felt that he wasn’t supposed to be here, so she followed him.
“LEAH!” a voice yelled.
“EEK!” Leah squealed.
“Leah, that man, I know him. He is one of the star-scouts.” Astra hissed under her breath.
“How do you know?” Leah demanded.
“My parents described the star-scout who locked them in the Tower as ‘tall, black hair, huge boots, and has a star symbol on his shirt.’ He is also the most wanted star-scout in the whole kingdom—maybe the whole universe.” Astra recounted.
“Well, we have to follow him.” Leah stated.
The girls followed the man to a dark cave. The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. The star-scout casually walked into a poorly-lit passageway. The scout tapped on the wall and the wall slid to one side.
“It’s a fake wall.” Leah whispered.
“Once he goes in, we follow.” Astra commanded.
When the scout walked in, the wall snapped shut behind him. Astra and Leah tapped on the wall, but it wouldn’t budge. They tried and tried, but nothing worked.
“Oh, come on! Open up!” Astra pleaded as she banged on the wall.
“No! If you bang on the wall, they’ll find us,” Leah told Astra.
“Well, this is just great!” Astra said, putting her hands on her hips. “Wait! I still have the power-star!” Astra pulled out the star and examined it.
“Power-star! How do we open the wall?” Leah asked the star.
The power-star displayed a picture of a bathroom stall. It showed how to unlock it.
“I said wall, not stall.” Leah huffed angrily.
“Power-star. Howwww dooo weee opennnn the waaaaaaaalllll?” Astra repeated, slowly and distinctly.
This time, the power-star highlighted a square on the wall, and the little square flashed blue.
“I guess we just tap right here.” Leah shrugged.
The wall slid open and the girls climbed into the next tunnel. This tunnel’s ceiling was so low that they had to crawl on all fours, getting their silken dresses dirty. When they climbed out of the stuffy, muddy tunnel, they were in a spacious room. In the middle, there was podium with a book on it.
“Get down, get down!” Leah commanded.
The girls hid behind a big rock and listened in on an interesting conversation among several star-scouts who were standing around the podium.
“I can’t believe we stole this book from the castle library. Like, it was so easy, dude!” one of the scouts laughed derisively.
“Totally! What’s our next mission?” another scout asked.
“You know that girl—What’s Her Name—the one who stole our prisoners? I want to get her next.” another scout suggested evilly.
“Sure, I know how to do it. She visits here every summer and this year she brought a friend. I saw her friend in the garden, and they are in this very room RIGHT NOW! GET THEM!” It was the man they had followed. Apparently, they were not especially good at surreptitiously following people.
“NO! How did they know?” Leah yelled as the scouts grabbed hold of her.
“It was so easy, little girl. You put your prints on the wall, and they were not recognized. We got an alert, so we knew. Very simple.” one scout explained.
The scouts threw Astra and Leah into a small, cold, unpleasant room with iron bars covering the doorway. The girls were very upset about this dire situation they found themselves in. But soon they realized that there were prints on the wall with every Zodiac sign listed. Each sign’s traits were listed, too. They went over to Sagittarius to have a look.
“Sagittarians are adventurers and risk-takers who have a sharp business sense and are excellent at sports.” Astra read.
“I mean, yeah, that does describe me.” Leah commented.
“Wow! They didn’t even bother to search us. I still have the power-star.” Astra held out the star.
“Ask it to get that book for us! That book seems really important to those jerks!” Leah offered.
“Power-star, get us the book on the podium in the big room where we were captured!” Astra ordered.
The power-star showed the book as a hologram; then the book instantly appeared in real life. Leah grabbed the huge volume—it probably weighed 50 pounds—and ran her hands over the cover. She opened it and gasped. The book held every single person’s name who had ever visited the Star Kingdom. The names were alphabetized by first name, so Astra’s was a few pages from the beginning, while Leah’s … should be … somewhere … near the middle.
“Look! It’s my name!” Astra yelled.
“Yeah, I see, but my name is not in the L section.” Leah said sadly.
“Power-star, get us out of this prison!” Astra declared.
The bars on the door dissolved into dust as Astra and Leah charged to the room where the star-scouts were meeting. Each and every star-scout yanked out a sparkly sword made of stars and menacingly pointed it at Astra and Leah.
“Power-star, shield us!” Leah screamed.
The star grew H U G E and formed a barrier. The star-scouts flung their swords at the now-gargantuan S T A R but the swords bounced off the obstacle and rebounded back toward them.
“Power-star, bring me King Night!” Astra yelled.
King Night appeared and ran to them. He grabbed the power- star and commanded it to send the star-scouts to Star Prison.
“I knew you would make excellent use of this power-star, Astra.” King Night smiled.
“Thanks.” Astra smiled back.
They returned to the castle amid greetings and cheers from other star-citizens of the kingdom.
Well, I guess I don’t have anything left to write, so I guess this is the end of the chapter! See you!