Another chapter! This one is my favorite, that's why it's so long! Yay! Chai! Disclaimer- I don't own Magical Starisgn, Brownie Brown does. Credit is given where credit is due.
CHAPTER 3: PUFFOON
"Look, the wind planet!" Lassi shouted. I felt the landing gear initiate as we touched down and descended to the bottom of the launch bay. "Finally! This will all be over soon!" I declared as we all stepped off the rocket. Lassi looked around, and her eyes fell on something that caught her attention. "Huh? Isn't that a rocket from school?" she asked, walking over to it. We followed her. "Why, yes it is, Lassi!" I exclaimed in shock. Mokka looked around. "I don't see any of our friends," he said. I shrugged, then started walking out of the launch bay. Everyone followed me as I walked down the passage. At that moment, a sneaky looking felin jumped in front of me. "Hey, hey, you girlie, look like you might appreciate what I have to offer. I have found a very rare item! In fact, it is…a magic casting salamander!" the strange merchant shout-whispered to me. I gasped. There's only one salamander magician in all of Baklava. Chai, my best friend. I felt rage coiling deep within. "Where is he? Where is Chai?" I demanded to know. "Uh, who?" he asked in puzzlement. "The salamander you're trying to sell on the black market! His name is Chai, and he's my best friend. Now, I'll ask you again. Where is he?" I hissed in rage.
I felt darkness coiling around me. My element was responding to my anger. "Ack! Dark magician!" the felin exclaimed. He turned and ran, right into a space police officer. "Ah-ha! Caught you at last! You've been a thorn in our sides for too long, with your sneaky dealings in the black market. You're coming with me!" the police trooper then flew off with the evil man holding Chai prisoner. Lassi, Mokka, and Eric looked at me. "Well, we might as well go report Miss Madeleine's kidnapping," Mokka ventured. I nodded sadly, I was bummed I hadn't found Chai. We walked into the city and entered Space Police HQ. An officer stepped in front of us. "Please go to reception and then move to the indicated departments," he told us. So, we began to navigate through the obstacle course of paper work.
~PUFFOON~PUFFOON~
We finally reached the chief's office in hopes of getting help. But our hopes were dashed when the secretary said: "The chief is away on business right now. If you're really desperate, you can talk to his buffoon of a stand in, Lt. Mugwort, when he comes back from the bathroom." I turned to everyone. "Looks like we'll have to wait," I said dejectedly. "I'll be right back," Eric spoke. "Where are you going?" Lassi asked. "Uh, bathroom," Eric replied with a shrug. The three of us sat in silence while we awaited Eric's return. Then, Eric suddenly was back. "Quick, grab some toilet paper!" Eric ordered. I looked up. "Huh?" I asked, puzzled. "I'll get it," Lassi offered. She ran out of the room. A moment later, she came back and handed it to Eric. "Thanks!" he said before running off again. We stood there, dumbfounded.
A moment later, Lt. Mugwort and Eric came in, with Mugwort repeatedly thanking Eric for getting him some toilet paper. He gestured for us to follow him, and we all walked into the chief's office. We quickly explained that our teacher was missing and we needed help. But all he said was he couldn't bravely storm their hideout, and that he would file the report for us. We turned away, and had a serious discussion as we left the building. "The Space Police are inefficient!" I declared. "If they won't do anything, we'll go save Miss Madeleine ourselves!" Lassi added. "I'm just glad we got through that crazy obstacle course," Mokka said as we walked out of the building. At that point, a mystery cat jumped in front of us. Not again, not another merchant, I thought. But the mystery cat surprised us. "Hey, do you kids go to Will-o'-Wisp Academy?" she asked. "Yes," I said slowly, suddenly suspicious. "I knew it!" the cat exclaimed. "Will you help me? It's difficult to explain, so follow me and I'll show you!" the cat declared before running to the east side of town. I looked at my friends who shrugged and gestured for me to follow her. I shrugged and took off after her. I heard my friends racing after me. I ran up, panting, and skidded to a halt in front of an old lab. "This is, uh, my house," the cat said uncertainly. "I've lost a very valuable book, and if you can help me find it, I'll make it worth your while. So, will you help me?" I looked at my friends. Lassi nodded, Eric shrugged, as if to say 'I don't care,' and Mokka shook his head no. I turned back to the mystery cat. "We'll help!" I declared. "Great! Thank you! Oh, by the way, my name's Parfait," she said. "I'm Nadia, this is Lassi, Eric, and Mokka," I said, gesturing to each of my friends. "Nice to meet you. Ok, let's look," she said, leading the way in.
We entered and began our search. I found 3 sugarstars in a corner, and I grabbed them. I glanced around, hoping no one had seen. I walked over to Parfait, and asked her which book she was looking for. "Oh, I'm looking for the Book of the Darned. If you find it, you can take anything you want!" she told me. I nodded seriously. My friends and I spread out and began to search. I wandered over to the far side of the lab and found an old book. The cover said: The Book of the Darned: Death and Rebirth of a Sun. This book looks fascinating, I thought to myself. I thought for a moment more. Could this book possibly show me why my dreams attacked me, or even how to stop them? "It's worth a try," I whispered to myself. I slowly opened the book. I got to the first word, which is 'to' before someone screamed: "STOP!" I jerked my head up as Parfait dashed over to me and snatched the book out of my hand. "You can't read this book! It's cursed! If you even read one line, you could die!" she said frantically. "But-" I started to protest. Parfait ignored me. "Go ahead and take anything you want! Anything at all!" she told us before running off. We stood there in puzzlement, before a siren sounded. "What was that?" Lassi asked fearfully. "I don't know, but it sounded like it came from in here! Let's get out of here!" I said hurriedly. "What about our reward?" Mokka questioned me. "I've already got it," I informed him.
I ran out of the lab with my friends right behind me, but as we stepped outside, a Space Police Trooper came flying up to us. "Hold it, villains! What were you doing in Master Kale's personal lab?" he questioned us. "I thought this was Parfait's house," Lassi said in confusion. "Huh? Oh, I get it. Looks like you kids got conned. You'll have to come down to the station with me," he told us. At that moment, he got a communication. "What? The salamander escaped? He got away with top secret documents, too? I'll be right there!" he said. He then turned back to us. "Looks like I'll just have to let you kids off with a warning. Oh, and here, but don't tell anyone about this!" he said before running off, undoubtedly to chase my best friend. I looked at the two bira he had handed to me, and quickly put it in my pocket before turning to my friends. "They aren't the only ones looking for that salamander! Come on, lets go find Chai!" I declared before running off without waiting for my friends.
I came around the corner and spotted a salamander slowly backing up towards me. "No, they've actually found me," Chai whimpered. "Chai!" I shouted. He jumped back and spun around to face me. "Nadia!" he exclaimed happily. He ran forward and hugged me. I ended up looking up at him. He'd grown since I last saw him. I hugged him back. "Chai, I'm so happy to see you!" I exclaimed. He smiled. "It's good to see you too, Nadia," he replied. We heard shouting behind me. "Nadia, Chai!" Lassi screeched as she rounded the corner. She ran right up to us and hugged us both, as if she hadn't just seen me five seconds ago. "Group hug!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "Lassi!" Chai exclaimed. I saw Mokka and Eric follow Lassi slowly around the corner. "Chai?" Mokka asked, puzzled as to why Chai was here. "Hey Mokka," Chai replied, not at all surprised to see him. He turned back to me. "I was looking all over this planet for you and Lassi, but a felin found out I could use magic and captured me, before trying to sell me on the black market," he explained. "We know, he tried to sell you to us," I informed him. Chai opened his mouth to reply, but shouting stopped him. He spun around and spotted two Space Police troopers rushing towards us. He looked at us sadly, looked back at the troopers, and then took off south. The troopers ran past, shouting: "If you don't stop running, we'll shoot!" I gasped. "Leave my friend alone!" I screamed as I charged after them, with Lassi, Mokka, and Eric right behind me. We chased them to the outskirts of town, but lost them outside the city.
A bunny walked up to us. "Hi, I'm Broiche, are you Chai's friend, Nadia?" he asked me. "Yeah," I replied. "Ok, I've got a message from him. He says he found something incredible, and he wants you to meet in my village." Broiche informed me. "Where's your village?" I asked him. "It's really far south. The town has a really long name, and every time we say the whole thing, it gives you a sugar high, so we just call it Honey Mint," he informed me. "So, see you there!" he called over his shoulder as he dashed off. We took off after him. We ran very far south, before Mokka started beeping like crazy. "Beepblipitybeepboopbeep, danger unstable rocks! Beepblipitybeepboopbeep…sorry, I got a bit carried away." We looked up, and saw a huge rock. "If that rock fell on us, we'd have been killed! Thanks, Mokka!" Lassi exclaimed. We walked on, and practically slammed into Broiche. "Oh, Nadia, the Space Police have blockaded the road to Honey Mint! We can't get past! What should we do?" he asked, panicked. I thought for a moment. I thought of the huge rock, and saw the tank. I thought of how that rock could crush anything in its path and I got an idea. I turned to Mokka. "Mokka, go back to that rock and use your earth magic. If I'm correct, the rock will follow gravity's stronger pull, and roll right across the tank." Mokka looked at me in agony. "What if you're wrong? It could flatten you!" he exclaimed. "I'll chance it, now go," I instructed him. He looked torn, but he obeyed me anyway. We couldn't hear him casting his spell, but we felt the ground start to tremble and saw the rock rolling towards us. I watched intently, and sensed everyone else tense up. I cheered when I saw I had been right, for the rock rolled right past us and destroyed the tank.
Mokka came rushing over, and saw that we were all not flattened. "Come on, I'll take you to my village," Broiche said, leading us even farther south. We followed him until we came to the edge of his village. "Welcome to my village! Follow me to my house, Chai should be there already!" he declared. We followed him into the town and entered a little hut. I saw Chai, and Lassi saw him at the same time I did. "Chai!" we both yelled at the same time. He spun around and grunted in shock or pain as we both flung our arms around him and gave him a hug. "Glad to see you guys too," he said, struggling to speak around our death hug. We released him when we realized we were choking him. Eric came up and put his arm possessively around me. Chai instantly snapped to attention. "And who are you?" Chai asked him rudely.
"Eric, Nadia's boyfriend," Eric introduced himself, reaching out a hand to shake Chai's hand. Chai's eyes had narrowed and gone dark. "How do we know you're not a spy?" he hissed accusingly at Eric. I was shocked at the way they were both acting. "I don't trust you! I can't even stand to be in the same village as you!" Chai snapped before pushing his way out of the hut and then out of the village. Lassi and Mokka went to follow him, but I stopped them. "No, I'll go talk to him," I told them, shrugging off Eric's arm. I quickly followed Chai out of the village. I found him sitting alone, his legs dangling over the edge of the planet; he sat on the opposite side of the brownie. He looked up when I approached and stood up when I stopped in front of him. He walked towards the brownie, but stopped halfway there. He turned towards me. "How long have you been with that guy?" he demanded to know. "I'm not with Eric, we're just friends. I don't know why he said that, or what compelled him to say it," I defended myself. "But you like him, don't you?" Chai accused me. I hesitated. That was all the answer he needed.
"I knew it!" he said angrily. "Chai, I think I know what's going on with you," I said softly. Chai faltered. "Y-you do?" he asked, looking slightly scared. I nodded. "You think that because I like Eric, I'm going to forget about you," I guessed softly. He looked puzzled, then relieved. "Yeah, yeah that's it," he mumbled. "That'll never happen!" I insisted. He looked up hopefully. "I get it, Nadia, thanks, I really…care about you, like a sister," he said, adding the last part quickly. I smiled warmly, "You're like a brother to me, Chai," I told him. He smiled, a little sadly, it looked like. Just then, I head a whirling sound. I spotted a Space Police flying thing, heading straight for Chai. "Watch out!" I shouted, shoving Chai out of the way. I felt myself being lifted off the ground. "Grabbed the wrong one! Dang it!" I heard Brie Pourri snap. Chai scrambled up, and back, just as Lassi, Mokka, and Eric came out of the village. Lassi took in the situation at a surprisingly fast speed and jumped protectively in front of Chai. I screamed as Brie held me over the edge of the planet and started speaking. "I'll let her go without harming her if you'll just give us the salamander," she informed my friends. "And if we don't?" Lassi called out bravely. Brie released me. And I felt myself falling, and screamed in alarm. I heard my friends shouting, and Brie quickly caught me again. I breathed a sigh of relief. "If you don't give me the salamander, I WILL drop your friend off the edge of the planet." Brie threatened.
I felt myself panicking. And suddenly, I was back where I always went when I dreamed a horrible, painful dream. I stood there, and a black haired girl walked up to me. "Whatever is the matter, Nadia?" she asked me. "I'm being threatened. I'm scared, I don't know what to do, and I know my powers can't save me," I whispered in terror. She brushed me aside, and moved forward. I felt my vision of the real world going away. "I'll handle this. Don't worry, you'll be safe soon," she told me. I hope so, I thought to myself. I sat down, brought my knees up to my chin, and rested my head on my knees. I sat there, for what felt like forever. I wonder what she's doing, I thought to myself.
~PUFFOON~PUFFOON~
I opened my eyes. I was being dangled over the side of Puffoon. I concentrated, and managed to see through Nadia's bunny friends eyes. The girl she assumed was Nadia was changing before her very eyes. When Nadia had opened her eyes, they had been forest green. Now, the girl's hair was turning dark brown. I came back to Nadia's body with a start. Nadia's body was adapting to my powers. If it weren't for my powers, the only difference would be the eyes, and no one would have noticed when violet eyes suddenly looked green. I glanced up at the person holding me. Brie Pourri. I had dealt with her before. I looked right at her, and my voice came out of my sister's throat. "Nobody threatens my sister," I hissed, loud enough for her and the bunny girl to hear. Brie froze, and looked down at me. "Valkrie Caine?" she whispered in horror.
I smiled my hunter smile. "The one and only, in the flesh," I whispered. Then, I struck. The darkness coiled, snapping Brie's hands, causing her to drop me. The darkness rushed forward and easily caught me. I turned back to Brie. I brought a wave of dark magic forward and sent it crashing down on her. She groaned, and stood shakily on her feet. I walked right up to her, and lowered my voice so only she could hear. "You will fly away from here, and you will NEVER threaten to drop my little sister off the edge of this planet ever again, understood?" I hissed softly. She gulped and nodded. "Go," I ordered. She didn't hesitate. Brie flew off as fast as she could, and I turned back to my sister's friends. The salamander boy pushed his way forward and looked at my closely. I felt my heart drop. He looks so much like Tai, I thought to myself. The boy brought me back to my thoughts. "Who are you?" he asked me. The corners of my lips twitched, attempting to smile. "I'm not telling," I replied in a sing-song voice. "You're definitely not Nadia," he told me. I remained silent. "Will you bring Nadia back? Please?" he pleaded with me. This time, I smiled sweetly and closed my eyes. I let my sister's hair return to blond, and I lost control of her limbs. Her body fell forward into the boys' arms. I smiled slightly, and whispered to the boy so softly, so only he could hear, before passing out and giving Nadia back her body. "Please, you love my sister, so please, take care of her," I whispered before slipping back into that land of nothing, between bodies.
~PUFFOON~PUFFOON~
"There you go, Nadia, I took care of everything," the green eyed girl said as she returned. "Wait, how will I find you if I need you?" I called to her as she walked past me. She turned back towards me. "We will meet, when you know the meaning behind my little rhyme. 'The question asked in order to save her life of take it. The answer yes to avoid death; the answer no would make it. Cassie pulled the trigger, beware Cassie,'" she stated before continuing to walk away. I stood up quickly. "Wait, what does that mean!" I shouted after her, but she was gone. I reluctantly opened my eyes to the real world and found myself in Chai's arms while he argued with Eric. "It's your fault she was almost killed! I think you need to leave!" Eric was saying to Chai. "No, Chai stays!" I shouted in rage. Everyone looked at me in shock. "Chai, did you take some documents from the Space Police?" I asked, ignoring Eric. "Huh? Oh yeah. These documents list everyone the pirates kidnapped, and I overheard the Space Police saying that they had all been taken to Gren," Chai said as he handed me the documents.
I skimmed through them. Jack O'Chedder, Catherine McNeil, Madeleine Rich…I stopped there. I knew it! Our teacher had been kidnapped! I folded up the document and put it in my pocket. "Ok, we're headed to Gren," I stated, standing and beginning to walk back to the docking bay where our rocket was. Everyone followed. We got there and Chai looked in shock at our giant rocket. "Did you steal this?" he asked in bewilderment. Lassi nodded. We boarded and I set a course for Gren, the wood planet, before going below. Chai came down moments later. "What's wrong, Nadia?" he asked me hesitantly. I shook my head slowly. "No, it's nothing…." I said hesitantly.
