Endless Sky ~New Beginning~

Chapter Nineteen

OStar laid on her side, Pargenti now on top of her, still hiding under her wing.
She didn't bother telling her she could come out now, she only wanted to go over everything she had just been told.
K wasn't anyone important to her, apparently. OStar does not need to find him. But is that really true?
She tried thinking of the old portal keeper, imagining she was with him, near him, heard his name. Anything that might trigger a memory that Pargenti and the other cat may have missed.
But nothing.
OStar was only able to remember the moment when he was unable to help stop her memory loss, nothing more.
"Maybe he really is pointless in my case..."
Pargenti crawled out from her hiding place and looked over at OStar, then around the main room. Once everything seemed safe, she hopped down to the couch, padding over to OStar's head.
"OStar?" she meowed, going to her face and softly batting at her muzzle.
OStar flinched and sniffed, looking down at the small cat.
"Are you still going to look for K?" Pargenti asked.
She shook her head. "No, not without a good reason... I have other things to worry about..."
The little cat frowned and pouted a little, but seemed to accept it in the end.
"I just want to rest right now," OStar meowed, closing her eyes.
"But you are already asleep!" Pargenti protested.
"Yeah, but I want to sleep and not think of anything," OStar replied with a small huff.
There was a moment of silence that dragged on. She opened her eyes in confusion, wondering why Pargenti was so silent.
She was gone. OStar was no longer in the main room with the small feline, she was back in her room. Awake. The clock was glowing in the corner. "Four twenty-eight, AM," OStar read with a small sigh. Exhaustion weighed her down as she lay in bed, staring at a wall.
Time passed by slowly, leaving OStar lying there immersed in her own thoughts. Though she didn't like it, something told her that K wasn't the answer to her questions. He was the answer for questions either she hadn't found yet, or not meant for her. For now, OStar had to forget about K.
"If I find out where he lives, I'll tell Estella. She can then tell Fatink," she thought, having not forgotten the odd deer. "It's the least I can do if he's looking for him..."
OStar yawned, getting close to falling back to sleep. In less than twenty-four hours she'll be going back home.

When the sun came up, Charlotte had stopped by to let OStar know that Roxxan had breakfast ready. A part of OStar wanted to sleep longer, but she forced herself out of bed to pad to the kitchen for food. Avaro and Lucerne didn't join this time, eating in their room while Charlotte was maybe in the arcade.
Fatink and K seemed to have been completely forgotten now as Estella told another wholesome story about OCTown. OStar was fine with that. She wanted to forget those two for now, to focus on her home, her old family, and the place she had grown up, at least that's what she thought. The only other place OStar could remember was after she had left her home, nothing before.
Excusing herself, OStar left the table and headed outside, promising to stay nearby. "If I ever get lost, I will just ask for directions to you," she'd said to Roxxan and Estella before heading out the door.
A cool breeze ruffled her fur, bringing the scent of rain along with it.
"It'll rain later today, but not anytime soon," OStar thought, padding off. There were fewer people out than the last few times she was outside, but then again, it was still early.
All OStar wanted to do was look around, fewer people meant less blockage, she was cool with it. Padding along she headed to the heart of the town, the most peaceful spot here.
The central fountain was still running as the white cat hopped onto one of the benches and peered into it, coins sparked back at her under the water. Where did the coins go? She didn't know. Maybe someone stole them at night.
Watching her reflection for a bit, OStar was unaware of a small family walking past.
"Big cat!" a small voice exclaimed, making her quickly look over.
A man, maybe in his early to mid-twenties, had a little kid on his shoulders while beside them was most likely the mother, about the same age. Both looked embarrassed and apologetic as their kid pointed at OStar. He was around two years old with dark red hair that seemed to spike upward. His eyes were different from anything OStar had ever seen before. Where it should have been white was grey and the iris was white with a black line separating the two colors. At least the pupil was still black. For some reason this sent shivers down her spine, but she shrugged it off.
The parents had normal eyes, both being a light brown. The male had brown hair with red edges while the female had solid black hair, no, very dark blue hair, almost black. How that didn't make purple hair, she had no idea. Genetics get weird when it isn't just black, brown, blond or red. These are their natural colors, not dyed.
"Excuse me?" OStar meowed, trying to not sound mean or annoyed.
"I'm very sorry," the man replied, "Terrence has a habit of pointing and exclaiming at new things."
Terrence giggled, patting his father's head.
"Oh, it's alright, I've only been here in OCTown for maybe over a week now," she said, curling her tails around her paws, glancing back at her reflection.
"We moved here recently for... Personal reasons," the woman spoke this time, sounding a bit shy and maybe even ashamed.
"So far all has been great!" the man quickly added, "Everyone is so kind and bad things almost never happen! It's like a literal utopia! Magic can really do some crazy things," he said, looking back up at his son who was too busy admiring the central fountain.
OStar made a small laugh, feeling the same way about OCTown.
It did feel a bit wrong to mess with peoples' brains to make them less hostile, but it was either that or risk more deadly magic fights. It was a place for everyone, even bad people as long as they didn't cause trouble. No one was being brainwashed or anything. Once creatures left OCTown, all peace magic was gone without a trace.
"I didn't really feel different when I was outside the forcefield... Maybe that makes me normal? Not evil?" OStar hoped that was right.
A small splash caught her attention, Terrence was given a coin and he had chucked it into the fountain, laughing.
"He likes it here, more strange things to see," the father said as his kid practically bounced on his shoulders.
"Yes, yes! So many strange things! More than the other place!" Terrence giggled.
"He's talking about our old home," his mother quickly interjected, nervously laughing.
OStar held back a small frown. The kid didn't seem like he would be talking about any other place besides their own home, why did it feel so untrue?
She wanted to ask a question about his eyes, but something held her back.
"These are random strangers, it's not my business to poke around in their life. Maybe something bad happened and they don't want to explain it,"
Her ear twitched. It made sense. If OStar met some random people, she wouldn't tell them instantly that inside her head were two halves of her that she could physically talk to, one being mean and the other nicer, or that her destructive magic was noticeably stronger than her creative. Nor would she tell them about her dreams of strange conversations, events, and people. Or the odd letters and writings and strange feelings that might link her to other events in the past or future. The most she would tell someone is that she had lost most of her memory and what her magic was. Nothing more.
"Yeah, this place is quite unique. I don't think my old home had this many different people," OStar mewed, looking around.
"You'll be surprised, as this is just the tip of how many creatures are out there," the father chucked. "Anyways, it was nice to meet you, uh,"
"OStar,"
"Ah yes, OStar. Name's Noah, my wife is Krystal, with a K, you already know Terrence," he nodded, looking as if he would give a handshake, but OStar didn't exactly have hands.
"It was nice to meet you too, Noah, Krystal, and even you, Terrence," she added with a small laugh, looking up at the kid who seemed confused about why he heard his name.
"Maybe we'll meet again, but until then, goodbye! Have a good day!" Noah said with a smile before walking off, his wife following.
OStar watched them leave, she doubted she would see them again anytime soon, but something told her that this wouldn't be the last time she'll hear them. Maybe in the future something will happen.
OStar looked back at the water and her reflection. A new shiny silver coin sparkled back at her, over her left eye, making her reflection look as if it had two silver pupils instead of one.
She stared at it for a while, never really thinking about why one of her pupils was a silver star instead of normal black like the other. Maybe she was born like that.
"Or maybe it's my magic, silver for Pargenti, black for the other. Dunno why they both are not stars though... Maybe a star is for positivity?" OStar thought to herself, watching the water ripple.
She stayed there for a while, relaxing, listening to the splashes of the fountain and the murmur of the people around her. It caught her off guard when a small droplet of water hit her nose, making her flinch.
It had started to rain.
OStar yawned and got up. It was nothing more than a sprinkle at the moment, but she knew it could easily pick up and become a downpour.
"Guess it's time to head back to the mansion before nature gives me a personal shower,"
Padding off quickly, OStar recognized the route back to the mansion. The one she had taken with Avaro and Lucerne.
There were even fewer people out as those remaining mostly had umbrellas or some other kind of shelter. The best OStar had was her fur, and that wasn't really shelter.
Halfway back the rain was already getting notably harder, larger droplets hitting the ground, making small plat noises each time. There was some wind, but no lighting or thunder, so it wasn't going to be a large storm, just a rainfall.
That didn't mean OStar was okay with getting soaked though.
Shaking her pelt just before the mansion door, she quickly slipped inside, then shaked some more. Maybe shaking water everywhere wasn't exactly the most respectable thing to do, but no one was watching and OStar really needed to get rid of the water. It was like an itch, she couldn't easily ignore it.
Luckily it wasn't much rain, just enough to coat her fur and dampen it, but not soak it, she'd made it inside just in time.
OStar walked on, checking a clock on a shelf as she passed it.
Two thirty-seven PM, a lot later than she'd expected. She'd been outside for hours, sitting by the fountain, half asleep, doing nothing.
"Less than ten hours away," a voice echoed in the back of her mind, OStar was partially convinced it wasn't even her own thought.
Keeping silent, she made her way to the main room where Afina was chatting with Rual as he read a book.
"I'm back," OStar announced, getting the two's attention.
The shifl looked up and over before smiling. "Welcome back, OStar, you didn't get lost, did you?" he asked.
"No, I was just by the central fountain for a few hours, relaxing. That area just seems like a strong relaxation point," she replied as Afina bounced over to greet her by rubbing her body against her legs. This was another normal cat thing that OStar herself would never do personally. Was she even a cat at this point?
"Oh, it is, I go there to read sometimes only to find out I've been sitting there for the entire day; good books really can make you forget about time,"
"But I wasn't even reading," OStar thought silently. "Yeah, I'll go tell Roxxan and Estella that I'm back before they assume I died out there," she said instead.
Rual nodded his understanding as Afina bounded back to him. Leaving OStar to go.
After checking all the rooms she knew, she realized she had no idea where the owners of the mansion were.
She didn't even know where their room was.
"Oh well, Rual and Afina will tell them, maybe. I was only joking about being dead," OStar thought as she gave up, heading back to her room, the one place she felt the most comfortable.
It really was only ten hours away, and OStar would be going back home, where her true room would be.
If it was still there.
She frowned, finally realizing something.
Even with mere portions of her memory, there was a clear indication that she hasn't been at her old home in years. Would her old home still be the same? It didn't look good when she left, maybe that was just a nightmare...
"Everything's going to be fine, what's the worst that can happen?"