Stellarfall - KOTLC + The Unwanteds

Chapter 2

"What kind of visitor?" Pan demanded.

Alex stared at Charlie for a minute as the Gargoyle signed. His shoulders relaxed. "The unconscious type. There are six, actually. One has the thornaments and telltale orange eyes of Warbler, and the others just have lots of cuts and bruises."

Pan seemed to relax, and Aaron was visibly relieved.

"Well, we'd better get going. Stay safe!" Alex started the boat's engine, and they cruised off. The brothers waved to Pan, then turned in the direction of the sixth island. They walked around in silence for a while until Alex sat and started reading one of the many books he had brought. Then there was the occasional turn of the page or rustling of parchment. Aaron wondered how often he would get to see his brother and sisters. He was still wondering this as he fell asleep, hoping Alex would answer it the next day.

...

Ms. Morning was helping heal some of the many cuts the visitors had. They were all girls, and five of them had gashes that could only be caused by a sword or dagger of some sort, with little lines coming off the big slash. It would surely leave a scar. Henry and Carina were doing what they could, but they didn't have the faintest idea what some of the injuries were. The escapee from Warbler was sun burnt  badly, and the five others had a strange aura about them. It wasn't their injuries, or their size. They looked perfect. One had stunning teal eyes and wavy chocolate brown hair. Another had silver blue eyes and black hair with silver tips. She looked a little like Lani, before warbler. One had dark skin and dark hair with faded streaks of blue. Her eyes were deep as the sea, also blue. The last two had blonde hair, ones was wavy with small messy braids and another had straight, shoulder length hair and brown eyes with small golden flecks. The first thing the healers had done was check there eyes for signs of warbler, but their eyes were the most stunning eyes Ms. Morning had ever seen.

Her attention was diverted as the Warbler girl stirred. Henry and Carina rushed over, Ms. Morning stayed with the other girls. She heard moaning, then some mumbling, and finally lots of gasping.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Artimé is going to be attacked." Henry seemed to be in a state of shock.

Ms. Morning stared, then jumped up and dashed through the doors, and up the stairs to Alex's office, where Matilda sat, waiting for Charlie to reply to her latest message.
"Matilda." Ms. Morning panted. " Tell... Charlie... that Artimé... is about... to be ... obliterated."
Matilda's eyes widened, and she sent the message to Charlie. She signed to Ms. Morning that Charlie, Alex, and Aaron were on the island of shipwrecks, and that the boys were unloading the soil.
Ms. Morning nodded, and dashed back to the hospital wing. There seemed to be some activity going on.
Carina came walking out just then.
"What now?" Claire asked.
"One of the others just woke up. They shooed me out so they might not freak out as much."
Ms. Morning nodded, smiling as she remembered Sky spiting at Alex. Maybe these people would help them just as much. She froze, and the smile was ripped of her lips.
"Do you think they could be pirates? They could be under cover. The pirates could have sent them here, and we could be right in the middle of a trap."
Carina shook her head "We thought about that. But then we remembered how everyone there looks like Lani and Henry... oh gosh. One of them does look like Lani. But she has silver tips. I don't think... and the clothing is very different too."
Claire sighed. "I'm going in there."
Carina shrugged, but walked away. Claire assumed to find her son.
She walked into the wing, to see the girl with wavy chocolate hair and bright teal eyes looking around frantically, searching for something. Henry came and basically dragged Ms. Morning over.
"She hasn't said a single word. Just keeps looking around, and we don't know for what."
The child had many small scars all over, but it didn't make her any less beautiful. Once Claire thought about it, the more she realized how pretty they were.
"Hi. I'm Henry Haluki, who are you?"
The girl narrowed her eyes, then caught a glimpse of the other girls next to her, and her gaze softened.
She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt like the desert. A nurse got her a glass of water and handed it to her. The girl gratefully accepted and drank. She tried to talk again, this time succeeding in making a noise.

"Biana." The girl choked out.

Henry sat back in his chair. "Do you know these people?" He asked, pointing to the other four. The girl, Biana, nodded.

"Do you know their names?" Claire asked

Biana nodded again, slightly reluctant.

"Will you tell us?"

Biana thought for a bit, then shook her head. Henry was disappointed. "I'm going to get Sky and Lani. Maybe they'll be able to do something."

When Henry returned with Lani and Sky, two others had woken up. The one that looked like Lani, and the one with little braids in her hair. The one with blue streaks in her hair was stirring, and the others were talking to each other, quietly. The girl who looked like Lani's name was Linh, and the other one was Marella. Then the girl with blue streaks jumped up, and something shimmering covered her and the others. It seemed to be protecting them.
The other girls told her to stop, and it flickered away. The nurses stared.
"This is Maruca." Biana said.
"She's a Psionpath." Linh added.
"What?" Henry cried.
The girls shared a look. Their eyes got wide. They reached over and started to shake the last girl awake.
"This is Sophie. She'll be able to explain everything much better than we will." The girl groaned softly, then her eyes opened and she shot upward.
"Sophie, don't inflict!" Marella cried.
"What made you think I would do that?" She wondered. They were silent for a while, staring at each other. Then Sophie tried to stand up. She wobbled a bit at first, but she quickly regained her balance.
"So" she started "why did you save us?"
The nurses looked at one another, baffled.
"Because we are Artimèans. We do the right thing."
Sophie seemed to believe that. But why, the Artimèans could never guess.
"Sooooooo" Henry asked " what's a psionpath? Is that a disease?"
"No." Maruca replied. The girls looked at one another. Then Biana gestured for Sophie to take the lead.
Sophie took a deep breath. "Sit down, because everything you know about the world is about to change."