Kitsa Isles: Camp Metanoia!

CHAPTER 5: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING STARS

Today's activity was the history of our land, Kitsa. (Kitsa is the name of all of the islands as a whole.) We didn't really have a classroom, but there was a white board at the front of the room, and assortments of chairs scattered around the room. I took a seat beside Mint. "So, did you sleep well?" I asked her. She shrugged. "Eh, I didn't go to sleep until pretty late. Greg and Thomas were arguing really loudly." I just blinked. "What? I didn't hear it." Mint raised an eyebrow. "Really? It kept like, all of us up. It was at least 1AM before we all got to sleep. Why do things always happen when I'm asleep? One of our newer counselors silenced the class. His name was Mr. Bell. I personally thought that was a dumb name. He's a fire/nature mix. He was pretty old, and knew his fair share about the world. His lectures were pretty interesting. Today, we were talking about the sudden disappearance of the night goddess, Stardust, and the death of the moon goddess, Selena. This was Mr. Bell's favorite lesson. "How long has it been since the night goddess disappeared? Can anyone tell us?" Thomas raised his hand. Mr. Bell sighed. "Yes, Thomas?" Thomas grinned. "At least 2 months!" Mr. Bell just rubbed his temple. "Yes, Thomas. At least 2 months. Can someone give me an answer that's more accurate?" Thomas, once again, raised his hand. "Yes, Thomas?"
"3 months!"
Mr. Bell muttered something under his breath. "I'm gonna need you to aim a little higher." This time around, Greg raised his hand. "Alright, what about you Greg?"
"4 months!"
I even caught Sasha laughing at this. Mr. Bell looked like he was about to punch Greg as hard as he could, but he calmed down. "Enough with the jokes, can someone give me an actual answer?" Opal raised her hand this time. "12 years ago, approximately." Mr. Bell smiled. "Thank you, Opal. That is correct." Opal looked proud of herself, but I saw Milo glaring at her like she was the scum of the Earth. "Anyways, does anyone know the changes that happened when she disappeared. This time, Casper raised his hand. "The night sky lost a couple stars out of nowhere, and everything at night got really cold!" Mr. Bell gave a nod. "Good job, Casper." Milo just glared at him instead of Opal now. Casper looked slightly frightened. "Something similar also happened to the moon when the moon goddess died. Can anyone tell me how she died, and what happened?" Nobody raised their hand. "Alright. The moon goddess was mysteriously killed by the hypnos. Nobody knew that a goddess/god could die, so this scared everyone. The night goddess was supposed to take over the moon goddess's job, but she wasn't as experienced. So, the moon is often in the incorrect place. This, however, tells us that the night goddess is still alive." If she was alive, why were the stars still missing? Wouldn't she have put them back? Or, what if she was rebelling against her duties? They align themselves with the Royals, and the night goddess obviously doesn't support them. Openly supporting Outstanders, refusing her duties and doing it incorrectly... she seems like a nice person. I'd like to meet her and talk to her, but unfortunately that wouldn't happen. Since she, y'know, has been missing for over a decade at this point. Wherever she is, I hope she's safe and happy. The moon goddess, on the other hand, was close friends with the Royals. Anybody who can look past their cruel treatment deserves their own kind of punishment. Did she have to die for it though? She could've changed. Or maybe she was too far gone. Mr. Bell began his next lecture. "Many believe the disappearance of the moon goddess's daughter caused most of this discourse." I remember learning about the moon goddess's daughter, Freya. She is said to have looked exactly like Selena. White hair. Pale skin. Yellow eyes. Truly someone who looked regal, and as a moon princess should. If she was alive long enough to be appointed, she would've replaced Selena. Selena could've retired. Instead, they both had to die. "Truly a tragic story, isn't it? Although I know most of you aren't very fond of the moon goddess, and I am not either. But should a child have to die for their mother's sins?" This sent the room in an eerie silence. That is what had happened to most of us. Punished for our parents' deeds. That's... why we were here. After that little history lesson, we had free time for around an hour before lunch. We went back to our room, where August and Sasha were already waiting. For some reason we had split classes, and August seemed most comfortable around Sasha, so I guess it worked out. Sasha was staring. August was reading a book. He sat up from his book. "Hey guys!" I looked around, and noticed that Mint wasn't anywhere. "Anyone know where Mint is?" I asked. Suddenly she just.. Appeared. Out of nowhere. Had she been there the whole time? She waved. "Hey guys." Nobody questioned it. What? Whatever. Sasha's gaze immediately focused onto Greg and Thomas. And now, Mint was staring at Sasha. It didn't seem like much of a stare, until I looked a bit closer. She was squinting, and it seemed like she was focusing on nothing but Sasha. She then blinked a couple times rapidly, and turned to me. "What're you staring at?" I shook my head. "Nothing." She looked a bit worn out, and I wonder what had just happened. Mint obviously wasn't telling us something. She climbed up to her bunk, and didn't say anything else. Even Sasha looked uncomfortable. "Why was she staring at me?" Greg squinted. "Welcome to the club." We all settled back down until it was time for lunch. We all made our way over there. Most roommates didn't stay in groups, but we all just stuck together. We all thought of each other as close siblings, even Sasha. Despite how scary she was and uncomfortable she made us. We sat down at the lunch table, today's lunch was literal peanut butter sandwiches. Our camp's chef was getting really lazy. I decided to actually eat lunch today, and I left the cafeteria earlier than everyone else. I was going to examine our dorm a little closer. It isn't nice to spy, but I wanted to know what was up with Sasha and Mint. I searched through everything, but I couldn't find anything. Sasha only had clothes. Mint's bed was a hot mess, she would've known I'd been looking through her stuff. I guess I'd just have to use my best judgement. I wish I hadn't left lunch early, because now I had to sit in the dorm by myself for 30 minutes. I'm not very good at keeping myself entertained. Then, I remembered something. I didn't have to sit in the dorm by myself! I could just go walk around the halls to find someone to entertain me. Although, if I'm being honest, I didn't want to do this. I was just being driven to boredom, and that wasn't going to happen. I refuse to just sit down. That's how bad things happen, right? Sometimes, you gotta make things happen.
But after what happened, I really wished I'd just sat down.