Starshine, Sky, and the Power of Rock

Retrieval

There are many perks to being a catgirl. I can hear things others could never dream of picking up on, my nose is highly sensitive, and, most relevant now, I have night vision. So now, I'm scanning rooftop after rooftop for any landmarks that I may be able to dig up from my memory. Fairy Dust Falls is thankfully small, but my bracelet is even smaller, so finding it will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Wait. I remember that bell tower! In fact... I plunge deep within my mind. Remember, Star... Yes, I had seen it right before my bracelet snapped!

"Down there!" I tell Sky, and she has Guillotine land us right in town square, a move I'm at first wary of until I notice that it's utterly deserted.

"You guys don't stay out late, huh?" Sky asks.

I shrug. "I wouldn't really know. I spend all my nights in the palace. But you'd think somebody would be out right now."

"Yeah..." Sky replies. She stares into space for a second, contemplating something. But it's apparently worth dismissing because she shakes her head a bit and goes, "Come on. Let's start looking."

About a half hour of fruitless searching later, my hopes are primed to be dashed. If only we could at least ask someone! I'm sure anyone would be more than willing to help the princess. But alas, the only person Sky and I can see for miles around is each other. There is an eerie silence in the air, occasionally cut through by one of us informing the other of a false lead. Most of the shops are closed, too. Oh, but there's one!

The small store, blandly labeled "Jewelry" in a font that looks like the definition of "default," is a beacon of light in an ocean of "Sorry, we're closed" signs. I peek through the window to find an older fairy man, arms crossed and eyes closed behind a checkout desk absolutely littered with trinkets that even from here look fake. No piece has a duplicate, and they have been arranged with nothing even resembling rhyme or reason. From this mess of cheap metal and garish plastic shines the tiniest sliver of silver.

"I think I found it!" I tell Sky. "Let's go get it!"

She comes over, excited, but deflates when she sees the shop. "Oh no."

"What?"

"I can't go in there."

I giggle. "I know, I wouldn't be caught dead in any of that stuff."

Sky shakes her head. "No, I mean I literally can't get in a building I haven't been invited into. No monster can."

"Really?" I say. "How does that even work?"

"Like this." Sky walks up to the door, prepares to grab the handle but is stopped by some invisible force field.

"Oh," I say. "That must suck. But it's fine, I can just go get it!" And with that, I waltz right in. The man jolts back into the waking world upon my entering. Before he's able to get a word in, I say, "Excuse me, sir, but it seems there's been a misunderstanding. See, this bracelet" - I pick up my bracelet and inspect the little star-shaped diamond charms that adorn it - "is actually mine. Funny story, really, I drop-"

"Prove it," the man interrupts in a gruff voice.

Shock renders me incapable of speech for a moment. I stammer before replying, "Excuse me?"

"Last I checked, it was in my shop, so it's mine."

I scoff. "This is a custom-made bracelet! The queens themselves ordered it! Do you know how many salaries it would take to afford-"

"If you want it to be yours, you'll have to pay for it."

I'm gripping onto my last shred of patience like my life depends on it. Maybe he hasn't gotten a good look at me. I lean in close so he can get a better view. "Do you know who I am?" I ask slowly.