Chapter 15 Time to Stop

Solar felt a lump form in his throat as he watched his Mama's retreating back. Prickles formed on his arms and caused him to shudder. Was Mama going to be okay? Were the lumas going to be okay? What was happening outside?

SHRIEK!

Solar recoiled. That was not the kind of sound someone made when they were happy.

Should he go out there? No, no, Mama said that he needed to stay in the bedroom. He knew as well as anyone that his Mama wanted him to stay safe. And the only way to stay safe was to stay put.

So, Solar curled up on the bed. He closed his eyes, trying to pretend that the sounds he was hearing were ones that he was just imagining. It worked for a little bit, his levels of comfort rose. He even managed to pull up the covers.

"AAAHHHH!"

Solar grit his teeth. He was just imagining it, he was just imagining it, he was just imagining…

CRASH!

Solar couldn't ignore that sound. It was too close, too dissimilar to the sounds he had heard up before that point. It wasn't a shriek, or a scream; it was a crash. The kind of crash that indicated that a creature had broken into something.

And based on the close-up snarls, Solar assumed that the creature was standing right over him.

He opened his eyes and let out the gasp to end all gasps. This was the biggest creature he had ever seen! It was like a grizzly bear, except...white. It also had the most crazed eyes that he had ever seen. They were red. They were slanted. They were hungry.

And worst of all, they were staring at him.

Solar screamed. He pulled the covers up over his head, shaking and shivering. "Please don't eat me, please don't eat me, please don't…"

"RAWR!"

The roar shook Solar to the core. It was raw, bloodcurdling, deafening. Solar put his hands to his ears to stop them from ringing. He also felt spittle land on him like raindrops.

Solar screamed again. He looked a the bear, his heart in his throat. The beast swung its paw at him, and Solar was just quick enough to roll out of the way. The bear slashed at the bed, tearing the comforter to ribbons and sending the stuffing of the pillows and mattress all over the room. Solar gulped as he stood in the corner. He just had to sneak past the bear and get to the exit.

"Grr!"

Easier said than done. The monster was huge; as big as the beacon in the center of the Observatory. It would take a miracle to sneak past it.

Unfortunately, Solar didn't have a miracle with him, on him, or near him.

His breath became shallow as he inched toward the door. The bear watched it, following with its crazy eyes as if daring Solar to bolt into a run. Solar was very tempted to take up that dare, but he knew that any sudden movements would spur the creature into action.

"Grrr...RAWG!"

The bear bolted toward him anyway. Solar shrieked and instinctually held out his hands in self defense.

"STOP!"

He fully expected the bear to bat him, but nothing happened. Her didn't even feel the creature's breath, nor hear it. In fact, the atmosphere was quiet. Eerily quiet.

Solar pulled his hands down and saw the bear staring back at him. In its eyes was a hunger. In its mouth were thousands upon thousands of sharp, jagged teeth. But that wasn't what was most frightening. What was frightening was that it wasn't moving at all. Almost as if it was…

"Frozen."

Solar ran out of the dome. The sight that led him struck him as odd immediately. There was a red tint to the atmosphere, as if it was just minutes away from experiencing a fire storm. Solar ran toward the front of the Observatory, and saw Rosalina lying on her belly near the library. The lumas were in the air, frozen in their movements.

"Did I…" Suddenly, Solar realized that this was his doing. He had never done this before, he didn't even know that he could. However, he had ultimately found a way to stop time. Which could only mean one thing.

He'd unlocked a new power.

"Oh no." Solar placed his hand to his chest. Despite his surroundings being frozen, his heart was going rapid fire. His breath became even more shallow than before. His legs gave out from underneath him. "I did this. This is my fault. After I had sworn to never use my powers again…" He sobbed. he had done this to protect his Mama, to keep everybody safe. And now, the one thing he feared had happened. This was...

He didn't know. The only thing he knew was that he had opened up a whole new world of danger. He had given his Mama, his beloved Mama, one more reason to be afraid of him.

He saw his Mama in the corner of his eye. That was when determination and strength were restored to him. He bolted over to her. "Mama!" He reached out and touched her back. "Mama, wake up!"

Once his fingers landed on her, the redness in the atmosphere cleared. Rosalina stirred as the lumas gathered around her, as concerned as could be as they cooed and wailed.

"Mama!" Solar cried.

"So...Solar?" Rosalina blinked before holding herself up. She winced, and that was when Solar noticed that she had claw marks on her chest. Claw marks that were crimson.

"Mama? Are you.."

"I...I'm fine." She stared at him, confusion present in ever part of her face. "How did you...you were in the dome…"

"Mama." Solar turned away from her with in tears in his eyes. "I...stopped time."

"What?"

"I...unlocked a new power."

Realization hit Rosalina in the face. She stared at Solar, her eyes full of a somber air. Then, the bear roared again, and she stood up. Her face was as determined as they come.

"We'll talk about this later."

Those were all the words she said, but they still stung Solar's soul more than the claws of any bear could.

"Yes Mama."