Star Fairy Chronicles: Acts I And II

Act II: Chapter 36

That night, Penelope and Hesitance left the base to head to their home in Opal Town.
"I don't know why, but I got a strange feeling that something bad is going to happen," Penelope told Hesitance.
"I'm not sure what you mean," Hesitance replied, "Perhaps you're just tired."
"That's the thing though," Penelope continued, "Star Fairies don't get tired from a lack of sleep. It's definitely something else." As they arrived at their house, Penelope opened the door with caution before they walked inside. She sat down by the fireplace and used pyrokinesis to start a small fire.
"You can go up to bed," Penelope told him, "I'm going to stay here a bit and contemplate my thoughts and fears."
"Goodnight then," Hesitance replied as he walked up the stairs. Penelope sat down in the armchair and breathed slowly.
"Something isn't right," she told herself, "Something very bad is going to happen."
"Trapped by your own fears?" A mysterious voice said, "Perhaps I could be assistance."
"Who are you?" Penelope asked, "Reveal yourself."
"Look into the large mirror beside you," the voice instructed, "What do you see?" Penelope then noticed a mirror that wasn't there before.
"This mirror," Penelope began, "I see a girl who is afraid, a girl with the SOUL of Fear who once had the power to be brave. I see my current self." Then, Kylie appeared behind her and touched her shoulders.
"Now tell me," she said, "What would you feel if all of your friends were to be taken away from you?"
"I would feel sorrow, fear, and depression," Penelope replied, starting to fall into a trance.
"Your friends are going to fall," Kylie continued, "You'll be the last one standing. So, how about joining Nova? As long as you're with him, he'll make sure to not hurt your friends."
"Join... Nova?" Penelope said, "But why would I join him? Even if he didn't kill my friends, it wouldn't change the fact that he'll still kill hundreds of innocent humans and monsters."
"Because, he can return you to your true self," Kylie said, "He'll put you back into the role you were meant to have. You'll no longer have to have fear, because they'll be the ones who fear you." Penelope thought for a moment about all of the times that she hurt others with her Fear tactics. She remembered how awful it felt to hurt others and how it hurt herself as well.
"They'll be the ones who fear me?" Penelope asked, "You say that, unaware that doing that caused me pain, not only to myself but to the others I hurt. Why would I ever want to do that again? This mirror, isn't even real." She then turned around and used Rhabdophobia to create an illusion of fear at Kylie. Kylie saw an image of her sister turning on her and attacking her, causing her to faint.
"Somehow, I feel there's one more," Penelope thought.
...
Back up in Hesitance's room, Hesitance was trying to fall asleep, only to be interrupted by the black cat McKylie.
"Dearie, it's time to wake up and fulfill your purpose," she said. Hesitance opened his eyes and spotted her standing by his bedside.
"Who are you?" he asked, "And what are you doing in my room?"
"I'm merely here to give you an offer," the cat continued, "Remember how you used to be important? You used to play a role in this world. You worked for a dark king and did his bidding. But now, you have no role in this world. What if I told you that I was able to give that role back?" Hesitance remained quiet. Then he got out of bed.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, I'm not up for it," he told her, "I've made my mind on what side I'm on. I serve my princess and no one else. I may be the SOUL of Hesitance, but my mind is made up when it comes to this. I will never work for Darkmoon again." He then summoned blue strings to tie her up, and then threw her out of his room and down the stairs. McKylie ended up bumping into Kylie as she fell down the stairs. Hesitance followed behind and found Penelope with a shocked look on her face.
"I see I'm not the only one," Hesitance remarked, "What do you say we do with these felines?"
"I say we take them back to the AHMA base immediately," Penelope replied, "However, we can't reveal the location to them, so I'm not sure."
"I think I've got an idea," Hesitance said with a smirk, "Let's keep them locked in the closet until they confess to us what Nova's plan is. And then, we can throw them into the lake. I heard cats hate water. Kylie and McKylie gulped.
"Please don't do that," Kylie pleaded, "We'll tell you everything."
"Yeah," McKylie added, "Just please don't throw us into the lake."
"Nova has one more final form," Kylie informed, "He'll turn into a being of complete darkness, being fully absorbed by Darkmoon's power."
"He wanted us to recruit you guys as new members to help him, but apparently, your minds are much stronger than our tactics."
"How do you know all of this?" Penelope asked them, "Your fears are telling me that you're lying."
"We're not lying," McKylie defended, "We were always aware of this. After seeing him fuse with the darkness many years ago, we knew there was something wrong with him. After doing research, we found that their form was only the beginning."
"In this final form, he will be stronger than any other known being to mankind," Kylie explained, "His mission is to fuse with the one known as the Lavender Demon. He plans to take her SOUL and reawaken with her body."
"There is no stopping him from as far as we know," McKylie added, "You guys are doomed."
"This all seems very interesting," Penelope said, "I honestly wish I knew about all of this sooner. Hesitance, you and I need to head back to AHMA tomorrow morning to tell them the news. As for these kitties, you're free to go, but you must run far away from this place." Hesitance released the strings on them and set them free. They immediately ran out the door away from Penelope and Hesitance.
...
Outside the base the next morning, as Blue and the others were getting ready to leave, Henry walked up to Blue to discuss something.
"Blue," he began, "There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Blue asked.
"If there's anyone who should end up with you for eternity, it should be Artemis," he told her. Blue raised an eyebrow.
"Have you been eating those poisonous mushrooms again?" she asked him, "I told you they do things to your mind."
"No, I didn't eat any mushrooms," Henry said, "It's something else. Recently, I've been seeing you spend a lot of time with the prince. I don't know if it's just me, but it looks like you're developing feelings for him. And if I'm going to be honest, you deserve a prince. You're a princess, he's a prince. He's cute, you're cute. I don't deserve to be your soulmate anymore."
"What are you talking about?" Blue asked, "We're just friends. What are you trying to say here?"
"Blue, I'm breaking up with you!" Blue gasped and everyone turned to them.
"Breaking up with me?" Blue asked, trying not to cry, "But we've been together for one hundred or so years, saving each other's lives countless times."
"I'm sorry," Henry told her, "But my feelings have changed. We're going back to being just friends." He then turned around and walked back into the base. Blue knelt down and tried to take in what just happened, holding back the tears the best she could. Artemis walked outside and found Blue instantly.
"Blue!" he shouted with concern, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Blue lied, "Just got something in my eyes." A tear fell from her eyes and Artemis instantly embraced her.
"I'm here for you," he told her, "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be right here." Blue hugged back.
"Thank you," she replied, "That's very kind of you." She wiped her tear away and stood up.
"Well, there's no use crying about it," she continued, "Let's head to the capital now."
"Speaking of which, how are we getting there?" Artemis asked.
"With my latest invention," Elizabeth told them with enthusiasm, "It's called the Human Monster Transport Carrier!" She revealed to them a giant wagon-like vehicle with Emile at the front of it to pull it.
"That looks just like a regular wagon," Layla stated, "What makes it so special?"
"Well, you see, I added some things to it that makes it slightly more special," Elizabeth explained, "It's pulled by a single Star Fairy instead of oxen. It also has cup holders."
"If I'm gonna be real honest, this seems like one of your weaker inventions," Rosie remarked, "It's fairly unoriginal on so many levels." Elizabeth's smile slowly turned to a straight face.
"Sometimes you guys just don't understand science," she said, "Anyway, let's go. The prince and princess can go first." Artemis and Blue got into the wagon first, followed by Rosie, Layla, Percy, Lance, Willow, and lastly Elizabeth.
"Alright then," Elizabeth said, "Is everyone comfy?"
"More or less," Percy answered.
"Alright Emile, are you ready to try out the new power booster?" Elizabeth asked, "With its help, we should be able to reach the capital in 20 or so minutes."
"Ready!" Emile said. He then pressed a button on his wrist that boosted his SOUL power significantly, causing him to go really fast.
"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Artemis shouted.
Shortly after they left, Penelope and Hesitance arrived.
"Dang," Penelope said, "We barely missed them."
"We should tell the others anyway," Hesitance replied, "The ones that are still here that is." They entered the base and found Henry sitting on the floor looking quite sad.
"Henry?" Penelope said with confusion, "What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to go with Blue?"
"We broke up," Henry told her, "Artemis took my place instead."
"He did what?!" Amethyst shouted, "He wasn't supposed to go anywhere dangerous! The king and queen told me to keep him safe. I'm so busted if they find out that I lost their kid. We have to go there immediately."
"Wait," Penelope interrupted, "We came here because we have some important information to tell you. Nova is going to attack the capital, and when he does, he'll be even more powerful than before."
"Well, then I guess we have no choice but to go," Amethyst said, "Meet me outside when you're ready. We're going to go in about an hour via teleportation."
"Why an hour though?" Henry asked, "Shouldn't we leave right now?"
"We don't want to show up too soon," Amethyst explained, "That might make things seem suspicious."
"Got it," Henry replied, "I'll be ready by then. Let's go help the others."