Stellar

Chapter 17

Petra opened the door to the Astral Lodge, ready for her rescheduled training with Blu. But something felt different today. Nobody was lounging on the sofas; she couldn't hear Luka's sound effects, and everything was far too clean and tidy. The piles of books that were normally scattered everywhere were neatly placed on the bookshelves, there were no half drunken cups of tea and all of the pillows and throws were placed neatly on the sofas.

She hadn't seen a soul. Normally Blu would have been waiting for her by the door. Or at least someone would have passed through to get a snack or to grab a book to look something up. She waited for a moment just in case Blu would show up, but he didn't arrive. Petra decided to see if she could find him.

There was a sweet smell of tea throughout the air. In the few months she had been visiting Silva Hollow, the tea was one of her favourite parts. Hendry had subjected her to many different varieties, cold, hot, sweet, bitter. But her favourite was the one that changed colour. That's what she could smell today. She could practically taste the cinnamon sweet tea.

Petra walked through the dome. The usually dusty workbenches were clean. All of Marnie's projects were cleared neatly into boxes except for her latest invention. Petra had seen her work on it religiously for the last week or so, a rose gold dagger, it was meant to be indestructible. It even resisted Stellar casting apparently.

Petra looked out of the windows of the dome and spotted the lilac haired boy stood in a group with all the other Astrals. All of them dressed in purple, even Blu didn't have his signature black clothes on. She gave him a small wave. Blu's eyes bulged at the sight of Petra. He blinked a few times, realising what had happened. Blu rushed over to Petra. Grabbing her arm in one swift movement and escorted her back to the dome.

"Sorry I forgot that we were having a visit today, you probably shouldn't be here." Blu rushed out the words as he shifted from one foot to another, eyes never leaving the doorway. Petra looked up at Blu, brow furrowed. She opened her mouth about to question Blu when a chime rung throughout the lodge.

"She's here." Blu's face turned white. "You should hide and sneak out when you can."

Blu pointed behind a large box of crystals, there was a space behind it just big enough for Petra to fit in. Petra took the hint and awkwardly manoeuvred her way behind the heavy box, ducking down so she was out of sight. She peeked out of the small gap between the box and the counter it was next too, hoping to get a look at whoever made Blu this scared. The clip clop of footsteps on the stone floor were getting louder.

"Blu, shouldn't you be out with the others?" Petra recognised the voice but couldn't place it. She strained her eyes, trying to get a glance at the person but they were still out of sight.

"Well, I um..." Blu stumbled over his words "I was just going to check on the tea."

"Have you prepared some Lunar casting for me today?" Blu shook his head.

"Still haven't figured out the block?" Blu went silent and looked at his feet. The woman sighed, "you know you need to be able to Lunar cast in order to support the agents and IGA when casting is available on Earth".

"I know." Blu's eyes darted towards where Petra was hiding.

"Well, you need to sort it out. They won't wait forever and soon too much energy will be on the other side or that group of kids get in the way. Maybe you could try and see what they are up to, to make up for it." Her stern voice made even Petra's spine shiver.

"I'll try my best Mother."

Mother. Blu's mother. That's who he's talking too. The woman took a step forward into Petra's view confirming her thoughts. Frayda was the mysterious visitor.

The death glare she threw at Blu could turn even the bravest of Astrals into mush. She swished her deep purple cloak and led Blu out of the Dome to the garden with the two agents following a few steps behind.

A million thoughts filled her head. Frayda and the agents were obviously up to something. But she couldn't get her head around it. It was something to do with casting on Earth. But Petra had tried and failed to cast on Earth. All she knew was that she had to tell the others before she forgot anything.

She poked her head out tentatively. Looking to see if the coast was clear. Everyone was outside, Frayda watched as all the Astrals were demonstrating their new skills which Petra had seen them practice for the last few weeks. She took the moment to sneak out, crashing into the table on her way with a loud bang. Everyone turned to look at the dome, but Petra didn't look back. She just wanted to get out of there as soon as she could.

Petra arrived at Hendry's slightly out of breath. Ruby, Three and Kai were sat around the fire.

"Why are you back so soon?" Ruby asked, before blowing on her tea.

"Frayda." Petra panted. She sat down next to Ruby, trying to catch her breath before she tried to articulate what she had seen.

"What?" Kai asked.

"She's trying to get casting to work on Earth."

"What? Why?" Kai's eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"Something to do with those agents, they were there, and I think they work for a company called the IGA."

"So, the IGA wants to cast on Earth?" Ruby asked.

"I think so," Petra nodded.

A loud screech filled the air. Heads turned towards the source of the ear-piercing sound. Sikle perched on top of Blu's cloaked head. Bow and arrow drawn and aimed at the group. The glimmer of regret reflected in his eyes accompanied the frown on his lips.

They all jumped to their feet. Kai reached for his sword, Three had her arms up and Ruby with only the pen she had been using in her hand held it out like a sword. Petra on the other hand jumped between them, arms out as if to protect Blu.

"Wait!" Petra shouted. "He's not like this, let's at least see what he has to say." Petra looked over her shoulder at Blu with pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry," was all Blu had to say before he launched the arrow. The arrow dodged Petra and flew towards the group. A scream of pain erupted from Kai as it lodged in his left shoulder. He went to pull it out but was stopped by Ruby. She grabbed Kai by his uninjured arm and started pulling him towards Hendry's cabin.

"Let me go, I'm fine, I can take him!" Kai tried to struggle out of Ruby's hold, but she had him firmly routed to the chair, trying to stop the bleeding the arrow had caused.

Petra threw a gust of wind at Blu. It picked him up like a bug caught in a draught and slammed him into the tree behind.

Blu got up and dusted himself off. His arms moved fluidly in the air as nearby rocks trembled. They stacked on top of each other, creating a stone monster similar to the one he had made before.

As soon as she had noticed, Petra made a bubble of leaves surrounding them all. The thick walls blocking all light. Blu couldn't see what he was making. The rock monster crumbled to the ground. He managed to summon a wave of water in the darkness and threw it over Petra and Three, causing Petra's concentration to break and the bubble of darkness to disappear.

Petra shivered from the cold water and got up. Three was quicker to recover and took the moment to throw a few quick jabs at Blu causing his arms to go floppy. Petra then pushed him back again using wind.

Petra was tired. She felt like she couldn't give much more. But she had to try. She managed to force another wind towards Blu but it wasn't strong enough. Dead set on his path, he just walked towards them. A rope made from shadows materialised in his hands. Blu threw it. The shadow rope danced through the air, locking onto its target.

Arms pinned to Petra's side. The rope tightening around her middle. Feet skimming the ground as the shadow drew her upwards. Hovering above the ground, she was being dragged towards Blu. He had got her. But he couldn't use the Lunar cosmos. Petra was sure he had a block from it. How? The rope. He wasn't controlling her; he was controlling the rope. Three ran after them but was forced aside by a shadow made by Blu.

Blu walked back to the city with Petra in his wake and unable to do anything.