The Stars Said Hello [1]

C H A P T E R - 3

"So . . . what?" Sophie managed to say when she finally found her voice. "You're saying I'm . . . an alien?"

She held her breath.

Meredith and Fitz erupted into laugher.

Her cheeks grew hot, but she was also relieved. She didn't want to be an alien.

"No," he said when they'd managed to compose himself. "I'm saying you're an elf."

An elf.

The word hung in the air between them—a foreign object that didn't belong.

"An elf," she repeated. Visions of little people in tights with pointy ears danced through her brain, and she couldn't help giggling.

"You don't believe me."

"Did you really expect me to?"

"I guess not." He ran his hands through and Meredith started rubbing the back of her neck.

"I'm telling you the truth, Sophie. I don't know what else to say."

"Okay," she agreed. If he refused to be serious, so would she. "Fine. I'm an elf. Am I supposed to help Frodo destroy the ring and save Middle-earth? Or do I have to make toys in the North Pole?"

"One, we are not helping Frodo Baggins and two Santa Claus does not require our help in any way." Meredith said. 

He let out a sigh—but a smile hid in the corners of his mouth. "Would it help if I showed you?"

"Oh, sure—this ought to be good."

She folded her arms as he pulled out a slender silver wand with intricate carvings etched into the sides. At the tip, a small, round crystal sparkled in the sunlight.

"Is that your magic wand?" she couldn't resist asking.

He rolled his eyes. "Actually, it's a pathfinder." He spun the crystal and locked it into place with the silver latch at the top. "Now, this can be dangerous. Do you promise you'll do exactly what I tell you to do?"

Her smile faded. "That depends. What do I have to do?"

"You need to take my hand and concentrate on holding on. And by concentrate, I mean you can't think about anything else—no matter what happens Can you do that?"

"Why?"

"Do you want proof or not?" Meredith asked, folding her hands above her chest.

He glanced over his shoulder, scanning the parking lot again. "Okay, we're alone. We go on three. You ready?"

Meredith readied herself with her pathfinder and gave a thumbs-up to Flitz who looked at her in confirmation.

"What happens on three?"

He shot her a warning look, and she scowled at him. 

"One," he counted, raising the wand. Sunlight hit a facet in the crystal and a bright beam refracted toward the ground.

"Two." He tightened his grip. Sophie closed her eyes.

"Three."

They stood at the edge of a glassy river lined with impossibly tall trees, fanning out their wide emerald leaves among the puffy white clouds. Across the river, a row of crystal castles glittered in the sunlight. To their right, a golden path led into a sprawling city, where the elaborate domed buildings seemed to be built from brick-size jewels—each structure a different color. Snowcapped mountains surrounded the lush valley, and the crisp, cool air smelled like cinnamon and chocolate and sunshine.

"You can let go of my hand now." Sophie jumped and retracted her arms away from Flitz's while blushing a bright red and Meredith sniggered from behind who was thrown a look from Flitz.

"Where are we?"

"Our capital. We call it Eternalia, but you might have heard it called Shangri-la before."

"Shangri-la," she repeated, shaking her head. "Shangri-la is real?"

"All of the Lost Cities are real—but not how you'd picture them, I'm sure. Human stories rarely get anything right—think of all the ridiculous things you've heard about elves." Meredith said.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, rising on her tiptoes to get a better view of the city. Fitz pointed to a domed building that towered over all the others. The green stones of its walls looked like giant emeralds, but for some reason the building sparkled less than all the others. It looked like a serious place, for serious things. "See the blue banner flying? That means a tribunal is in progress. Everyone's watching the proceedings."

"A tribunal?"

"When the Council—basically our royalty—holds a hearing to decide if someone's broken a law. They're kind of a big deal when they happen."

"Why?"

Meredith shrugged. "Laws are rarely broken."

"So...this is . . . magic?"

Fitz and Meredith laughed—a full body laugh, like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

She glared at them. It couldn't be that funny.

"No," he said when they'd regained control. "Magic is a stupid idea humans came up with to try to explain things they couldn't understand."

"Okay," she said, trying to cling to the remaining strands of her sanity. "Then how can we be here, when five minutes ago we were in San Diego?"

He held the pathfinder up to the sun, casting a ray of light onto his hand. "Light leaping. We hitched a ride on a beam of light that was headed straight here."

"That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. You need infinite energy for light travel. Haven't you heard of the theory of relativity?"

She thought she had him stumped with that one, but he just laughed again. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Who came up with that?"

"Uh, Albert Einstein."

"Huh. Never heard of him. But he was wrong."

"Concentrate harder this time," he said as he grabbed her hand again.

She closed her eyes and waited for the warm feather sensation. But this time it was like someone turned on a hair dryer and sent the feathers scattering in a million directions—until another force wrapped around her and pulled everything back together like a giant rubber band. A second later she was shivering from a cold ocean breeze whipping her hair around her face.

Meredith pointed to the massive castle in front of them, which glowed like the stones were carved from moonlight. "How do you think we got here?"

Words failed her. It really had felt like the light passed through her, pulling her along with it. "You look confused," he observed. Meredith slapped Flitz on the back of his head for saying that and gave him a look that said, "Dude, give her space."

"Well, it's like you're saying, 'Hey, Sophie, take everything you've ever learned about anything and throw it away.'"

"Actually, that is what I'm saying." He flashed a smug grin. "Humans do the best they can—but their minds can't begin to comprehend the complexities of reality."

"And what, elves' minds are better?"

"Of course. Why do you think you're so far ahead of your class? The slowest elf can still trump a human—even one with no proper education."

Her shoulders sagged as Fitz's words sank in.

Meredith patted her shoulders and gave a sympathetic look to her.