Scarlet Discovers True Strength (16 page)

“Now, just so we're clear, if I start to scream or faint or anything like that, we're coming right back out.”

“Of course,” said Ophelia.

“We've got you,” said Scarlet. She placed her other hand on Arden's, as well.

“Okay.” Arden took a long and slow breath in, held it, then let it out quickly. “I think I'm ready.”

“Wait…what? Oh, no…” groaned Scarlet.

“What's wrong?”

“We have a problem, I'm afraid.” Scarlet nodded toward the door—to the sign hanging in the middle, right over the handle, where it was impossible to miss. In the most unsparkly black block letters, it read very simply
CLOSED
.

“What? What does that mean?” said Ophelia as she read it. “Does that mean we can't go in?”

“That's totally what it means,” said Arden. “Look.” She pointed to another sign to the side of the door that listed the operating hours. “They're closed every Thursday. Oh, well. I guess this fear just wasn't meant to be conquered all in a day. But at least I got a little closer to facing it, right?”

“Right,” Scarlet sighed.

A little closer. Great,
she thought. If only energy could be captured from that.

But no. They needed a wish to be fully granted. And they needed it granted soon. Not the next day or that weekend, when Arden suggested they return.

“We're going in today. Right now,” said Scarlet as she worked to unlock the entrance with her mind. She clasped Arden's hand more tightly and pulled her toward the door. “We've come this far. We can't stop now. C'mon, Ophelia. You too.”

“What? How? But we can't. It's closed!” said Arden, confused but stubbornly holding her ground.

“Um, Scarlet. Scarlet.” On the other side of Arden, Ophelia tried to get Scarlet's attention by waving wildly with her hand.
“Scarlet!”

“What? It's no big deal. We'll go in and come right back out.”

“But that's just it. I don't think we have to,” said Ophelia, pointing.

Scarlet followed her finger to Arden's shoulder….

“Freakin' fireballs!” she gasped.

Ophelia grinned. “I know! Right?”

“What? What is it?” Arden asked. She started to turn her head.

“No, no. Don't move,” Scarlet calmly warned her.

Arden froze. “What is it? Tell me, please.”

“Okay…there's a…there's a
butterfly
on your shoulder,” Scarlet said as gently as she knew how.

“What?”

“It's very small.”

“How small?” asked Arden.

Scarlet held up her first finger and thumb two inches apart. “It's kind of light gold,” she said, “with black outlines….There's even some orange and a little blue.”

“It sounds kind of pretty,” said Arden.

“Oh, it is!” said Ophelia.

“I think…I don't know….Should I look?”

“Yes!” said Scarlet and Ophelia together.

“But slowly,” said Scarlet. “Don't scare it away.”

Slowly, very slowly, Arden swiveled her head to the right, until she could just barely see the butterfly out of the corner of her eye. Her heart must have been racing, Scarlet thought, if her own fluttering heart was any gauge. And Ophelia…Scarlet glanced at her and saw she was smiling at Arden. How excited she must be….

“How do you feel?” asked Ophelia gently.

“I feel okay….” Arden's eyes left her shoulder for just an instant to flit from Ophelia to Scarlet. “And you know what's even better? What I don't feel is afraid!”

Scarlet was ready for the wish energy to flow out of Arden, but she wasn't prepared for such an intense and powerful stream. It burst forth with such force that Scarlet staggered back, and Ophelia did, as well. Arden just stood there, oblivious, as Wishlings always were. She could only assume it was the butterfly they were reacting to, so she smiled and said, “Don't worry. It won't hurt you.”

Of course, that was the last thing Scarlet was worried about. The first thing was making sure every drop of energy made it into Ophelia's Wish Pendant, which Ophelia seemed to have forgotten all about. Scarlet held her own hand out and pointed to her wrist to try to remind her, but Ophelia replied by shaking her head. That was when Scarlet realized the wish energy was already flowing into a Wish Pendant.

Not Ophelia's at all—but Scarlet's.

Scarlet was so happy
about all the wish energy she had collected that she didn't even mind giving Ophelia a ride back home on her star. Scarlet hadn't planned on holding Ophelia's hand the whole time, but somehow it turned out that way, and they were still holding hands when Lady Stella's door opened to welcome the returning Starlings in.

Maybe that was why every jaw in the room seemed to drop. Or maybe it was Scarlet's smile, which she couldn't hold back and for once didn't even try to.

“Scarlet…” Lady Stella walked forward, her stardust-flecked silver robe flowing behind her in a shimmering diaphanous cloud. “I owe you star salutations and, more importantly, star apologies.” She stood before Scarlet and humbly bowed. “Clearly, you always were—and always will be—meant to be a Star Darling. If there was any doubt whatsoever left, this resolves it once and for all.”

With that, the headmistress extended her arm. In her upturned palm was the Wish Orb, which she handed to Scarlet. It felt heavy and warm and then began to transform into a flower. “It's a punkypow,” said Scarlet with a smile. The burgundy star-shaped petals were aglow.

And then her Power Crystal, the ravenstone, emerged. It was so beautiful and made Scarlet feel very special, indeed. “Take it, and hold it dear,” said Lady Stella.

“Oh, I will. I will,” said Scarlet. Her own heart seemed to stop as she received the gem and felt the pulse of its energy through her hands.

Meanwhile, Lady Stella, still smiling, but more sadly, turned to Ophelia. As she spoke, she shook her head. “To you, Ophelia, I must also offer star apologies. It is clear you are not a Star Darling, as we had believed.”

Scarlet looked down. She remembered how those words had crushed her, and she could only imagine they'd wound Ophelia the same way. When Scarlet finally made herself look at the Starling, however, the words seemed instead to have lifted a great weight off Ophelia. Her whole aura had changed. Not only was she brighter and more sparkly, she looked almost happy—content and relieved. Her eyes skipped from Lady Stella to Scarlet, then around to each of the dumbstruck Star Darlings, who hadn't moved since the two Starlings had glided in.

“
What the stars?
Who's next?” Gemma suddenly blurted. “
Starf!
Hey!” she cried as Tessa elbowed her ribs.

Lady Stella clasped her now empty hands tightly in front of her, as if in prayer. “I know this is quite a lot for you to take in, particularly on such an…intensely emotional day. We've all been through quite a lot—especially, of course, Scarlet and Ophelia—which is why I think it's best to retire for now. Rest assured that Lady Cordial and I will work diligently to ensure that nothing like this happens again.” She turned her head respectfully toward the admissions director, who'd stood off to the side in semi-shadow throughout the whole Wish Blossom presentation.

Lady Cordial took a step forward and bowed to the headmistress. Her deep purple bun looked especially tight. “We most c-c-certainly will,” she said, her eyes still on the floor. “No mis-s-stakes like this. Ever again.”

As fast as Scarlet had fled from the other Star Darlings when she'd learned she'd been dismissed from the group, she fled even faster now that she was back in. She could see everyone waiting to congratulate her and
embrace
her (
ugh!
) outside Lady Stella's office, and suddenly, it all seemed too much for her to bear. She would deal with them all later—be sociable—Scarlet thought as she rushed past them, but right then, more than anything, she needed to be by herself. She'd already hugged and held hands more in one day than she had in the whole rest of her time at Starling Academy. She was overwhelmed. She needed to breathe.

The holo-text came as she was descending the spiral staircase into the Star Caves.

WHERE DID YOU GO?
it flashed as Vega's picture appeared in the upper corner of the screen.

Scarlet almost didn't answer, but then another line came through…and another after that:

WE HAVE TO TALK!

YOU WERE RIGHT!

AND SO WAS CASSIE!

THE LAB RESULTS CAME IN WHILE YOU WERE GONE!

And…?
Scarlet waited.
Well?
she thought. What had they found out?

Finally, she texted back:

WHAT DID THEY SAY?!

She realized she was holding her breath as she stared at her Star-Zap, waiting for Vega's reply. At last, the screen flashed again, this time with both Cassie's and Vega's faces, one in each corner. Cassie's picture coyly winked.

HERE'S A HINT: ISLE OF MISERA.

FOR MORE, MEET US IN THE HEDGE MAZE.

ASAP!

So as fast as possible, Scarlet spun and ran back up the stairs.

The Isle of Misera? That sad, barren, negative-energy dumping ground? Could it be that the Star Darlings' flowers had come from there?

Afterglow:
The Starling afterlife.
When Starlings die, it is said that they have
“begun their afterglow.”

Age of Fulfillment:
The age when a Starling is considered mature enough to begin to study wish granting.

Bad Wish Orbs:
Orbs that are the result of bad or selfish wishes made on Wishworld. These grow dark and warped and are quickly sent to the Negative Energy Facility.

Big Dipper Dormitory:
Where third- and fourth-year students live.

Boingtree:
A shrublike tree with tickly aromatic needles.

Booshel Bay:
A vacation destination.

Bot-Bot:
A Starland robot. There are Bot-Bot guards, waiters, deliverers, and guides on Starland.

Bright Day:
The date a Starling is born, celebrated each year like a Wishling birthday.

Celestial Café:
Starling Academy
's outstanding cafeteria.

Cocomoon:
A sweet and creamy fruit with an iridescent glow.

Cosmic Transporter:
The moving sidewalk system that transports students through dorms and across the Starling Academy campus.

Countdown Clock:
A timing device on a Starling's Star-Zap. It lets them know how much time is left on a Wish Mission, which coincides with when the Wish Orb will fade.

Crystal Mountains:
The most beautiful mountains on Starland. They are located across the lake from Starling Academy.