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It was hard to say what kind of expectations I had for meeting the person responsible for slowing time down during my English classes.
Knowing her power and knowing her sister created conflicting pictures in my mind’s eye. Aleia, from my short interactions with her, I knew to be kind, patient, and friendly. She was beautiful in a way that emphasized her strength and her desire for good. I did not know time on Earth to be so kind or patient, and definitely not user-friendly.
Despite that, Lady Time blew my expectations away.
The instant I saw her waiting for us on a small landing platform, I knew she was a Star of great power. I could also tell she was Aleia’s sister.
The same brilliant, piercing green eyes caught my gaze, looking not at me but through me, while the celestial torrents added a graceful wind to her ebony locks. A scepter was in her hand, shaped in a way that reminded me of the hand of a clock. A bit cliché, I decided, but she was entitled.
Elysian grumbled behind me, but I ignored him, more out of spite. What could he be upset about here? I wondered. There was too much to be dazzled by to be grumbling. And it said something that I was the one saying that.
“See the clouds above the castle?” St. Brendan pointed to the full, fluffy clouds, pure white in their appearance. They looked like the whipped icing on a cupcake made of glass and light. “That is where Time’s power ends and the eternal kingdom begins. This is one of the few places on my map where there is a portal that one can go through either way.”
Aleia stepped forward as St. Brendan brought us into safe harbor. I watched as she greeted the other Star, and saw the laughter and joy in their faces as they hugged. There had to be a comfort in having a sister, I thought at the sight of them.
Thinking of Adam, I supposed it helped Aleia to have one so close in age and experience. And interest, too. While Adam was my brother, I had never felt particularly close with him; protective, sure, maybe, but not close.
Elysian still had a disgruntled look on his face. I turned to St. Brendan instead. “So what will you do while I’m here?” I asked.
“My crew and I will sit out a spell, relax in the Gardens of Time here no doubt,” he said. “But if you’re up for it, when you return, I’ll show you how to surf.” He smiled. “No point in just coming up here for the learning when there is plenty of fun to be had.”
“What about your job?” I asked. “Mapping out the universes and stuff?”
“Work is my pleasure,” he agreed. “But pleasure is a pleasure, too.” He laughed at his own cleverness, before he added, “All aside, people are the true pleasures in life, and it is good to get to spend time with them, in both work and pleasure.”
“Did you used to hang out with Starry Knight?” I asked.
“Starry Knight? Oh, you mean Lady Justice. Aye, and even you, before you fell. Which is why I’m thinking you’ll get the hang of nebula surfing up here right quick.”
“Hamilton, come down here,” Aleia called as I disembarked on Elysian’s back and felt the lightness in the air of space between time and timelessness. “This is my sister, Alora, the Guardian Star of Time, one of the Manorayashon, and a First Light Warrior of the Prince.”
“Hello.” My tongue was thick in my mouth as I reached out my hand in greeting. After all those special dinners with Cheryl’s coworkers and colleagues, I knew how to behave when meeting someone. But I had to admit, I was nervous and impressed for the first time in a long time. Well, since meeting Stefano, anyway.
Alora clasped my hand, and I could feel the power inside of her. Her skin was darker than Aleia’s—a warm, golden color that made me smile, thinking of how much she remained in the sunlight of her own star. “Welcome to my home.” She indicated the sea of clouds around us. “My sister tells me you have many questions.”
“Yes, I do,” I said.
She looked at me carefully, and said, “Your heart has been softened since you began fighting the Sinisters on Earth.”
“My heart?”
“And your ego,” Alora said. “The people who won’t learn are those who will volitionally hold on to their own views, and those who think they do not need to learn anything more.”
“I will agree with you that I wouldn’t have wanted this several months ago, maybe wouldn’t have cared even a few months ago. Elysian can tell you—” I glanced behind me to see Elysian had returned to St. Brendan on the Meallán. He was still staring at the flimsy clouds and scaly snakeskin moat. “Elysian! Are you coming?”
He shook his head. “Not now.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. He’d been so excited, I thought. Why was he faltering? I would never understand him. “Okay; suit yourself.”
I turned back to Alora as we entered in through an archway. There were gardens of flowers, with some I recognized and others I didn’t. There were smooth walkways, and so much purity and goodness about the air I swear the power of it propelled the road itself to leap up and meet my steps. There was a glassy, marble sheen to the place, and I saw Alora’s castle was made of a fine, crystalline glass.
“It’s gold.”
“Huh?” I glanced over at her.
“My home is made of gold,” she explained, answering my unspoken question. “While you have gold on Earth, most do not realize that gold, in its purest state, is transparent.”
I awed over it, and the next few hundred things I saw, as Alora showed me around her home. She talked with me, chatted with me about the weather (because even up in outer space they have weather, I guess), and about her role as the Timekeeper for Earth and its habitat. I barely heard her, but I more or less could see it for myself. I found out she lived on Polaris, the North Star, and no one on Earth was the wiser. Her world, and the world around mine, was a realm only some could see, and others could experience. Others, she told me, did not want to see it.
“Who would want to miss out on this?” I wondered aloud. I was half-glad when she didn’t answer me, but rather turned inside of the heart of her home.
Following her, my eyes met a wide-open atrium, with a large blue bubble floating in the middle of it, like it was center stage in a large auditorium. Looking closer, I saw the big blue spherical pool, which held a projection of Earth. All around it, I saw other sparkles of lights, like little specks of glitter stuck to a computer screen.
“The lights show the different Stars, which surround and protect your world,” Alora explained as I asked. “Stars were given a unique job at the beginning of creation. We were to give off light during the night, as rest is good for humans. When evil entered the world through humanity, the Stars who were born after continued to shine, but there were some who were given additional tasks.
“There are a large variety, each differing with personality, power, and purpose. But there are a lot of similarities. Each Star was allowed to choose to do his duty, and each one was granted the right to a wish.”
“So wishing on a star is a valid fairy tale?” I asked, immediately wishing I hadn’t used the term “fairy tale.”
“Possibly,” Alora said with a small smirk. “If the Star wishes the same wish as the human who wishes on it. That’s one of the things which differ for us and humans.”
“I remember meeting a Star last Christmas. She gave me a wish.”
Alora shook her head. “Lady Hope, Elpece, has often wandered down to Earth. Especially for that time of year. She loves the holidays.” Alora indicated a bright pinprick on the pool. “She’s currently in what you know as the Orion Constellation. There’s a batch of starlings there that she never fails to go and watch as they play.”
“Sounds about right.” When I last saw her, she had tons of little starling fairies dancing around her that night.
“But she would not have given you a wish. She would have given you a gift, such as fulfilling one of your wishes.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A wish is something that you alone can determine, while your gifts are innate.” Alora pointed her staff at Orion’s constellation. “Lady Hope is able to do many things, but first and foremost, she finds a way to give hope to those who need it.”
I thought about how I could see emotions as they fluttered through a person, and how I could enter into the Realm of the Heart if I leaned in. “I’m not sure how being able to discern emotions is going to help me.”
“You are the Star of Mercy,” Alora told me. “Understanding how someone feels is central to sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Reading emotions might seem inconsequential, but the littlest things can make the biggest differences in the end.”
So I was the Star of Mercy, and Starry Knight was the Star of Justice, and we’d been friends, apparently argumentative friends, on the other side of Time before I’d fallen—before we’d fallen.
“I guess you’re right.” I laughed a bit. “I wish I’d brought a notebook. I’m not going to remember everything you tell me.”
“Learning is part of my power, as is healing,” Alora said. At my raised eyebrows, she explained, “Yes, very similar to Lady Justice’s power; after all, justice can easily bring healing after the cause of pain has been righteously judged and condemned, whereas time can distance a person from the hurt and help them see it in a new perspective.”
Silently, I agreed, but I suddenly wondered exactly how much Alora knew of the situation between Starry Knight and myself.
“Love, too, can heal all, of course, but time and justice are different elements involved in the worlds under my care. Of course, you know about that, since your own transformation ... ”
Still worrying about feeling awkward about Starry Knight, I tried not to lose focus, looking around at the awesome sights around me, every few minutes I had to talk myself out of thinking this was a dream.
“You are not just here to learn, of course, even though that is my primary role in this matter. If you’re ready, I would like to ask you some questions.”
It was at the idea of questions that I forced myself to pay attention. “Sure. That only seems fair, since I’m going to be asking you a lot of questions, too.”
Alora smiled. “I’m not after information so much as a confirmation.” The pool behind me glittered, transforming from a celestial sky into a globe of cerulean mist as Alora continued. “Are you committed to the choice you have made, in regards to being a Starlight Warrior of the First Light under the Prince?”
“Yes.” Of course I am. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. “Why so many questions about my commitment?” I wondered if it was a reflection of my past choices.
“On Earth, you’ll find people don’t need to be taught so often as reminded,” Alora explained. “And time will test the endurance of your commitment.” Her voice softened. “It is not a question to shame you.”
“Okay.” I tried to let it go.
“All right. If you are ready, step into the pool behind you.”
I turned and saw the swirling, clear blue orb. I was confused, but seeing the look on Alora’s face, I shrugged. It wouldn’t be the first stupid-looking thing I’ve done for my duty. “What’s this for?”
“It is in this pool where the heart of my power resides,” Alora explained. “But it is also a portal to the other side, as St. Brendan might have mentioned to you earlier. You have many questions. It is my duty to give you answers, and here is where you will find the first ones.”
“So I’ll get some answers?” I half-wondered if they would come up in alphabet soup letters.
“Yes. But I must warn you,” Alora said, “You might not like what you find.”
“I’m not afraid.” I dismissed her warning, having heard it before so many times in different video games and movies. If there was something worse than not knowing, I was more than ready to find it; I was tired of being passive with my supernatural self. My palms pushed against the surface, and, before I could say anything else, I felt myself pulled in by a rush of swirling power.
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