Chapter 18 Cosmic Nuisances
Solar screamed. What…. what was he even looking at! It was like a shadow, but…not a shadow. It was like the starry sky, but….not the starry sky. It was like him…
But not him.
His breath was caught halfway up his throat, almost causing him to choke. The sight of this unearthly creature made his heart beat at the speed of light. He couldn't move. He couldn't talk. All he could do was stare.
"La Lei lu?" When this creature opened its mouth, a whispery high pitched voice escaped from its throat. Solar blinked, still gawking. While the words were gibberish and the voice unsettling…he didn't feel afraid. At least, not anymore. The sound that escaped from this creature's throat was beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful.
"Who…what are you?" Solar whispered. He extended his hand. The eyeless, cosmically gorgeous creature held out its hand too. When their fingers touched, Solar let out a relieved laugh. It felt…it felt like…
"AHHHH!"
Solar did a double take. He and the creature saw a bee shaking in fright. Its hands were close to its mouth as it trembled.
"A COSMIC CLONE!"
Solar blinked. "Cosmic…clone?" The creature turned back to him, chuckling nervously.
"Loo lay lop?"
Solar pulled his hand away. "No." He shook his head. "No! You…you aren't supposed to…"
"ACKMEEE!"
A gasp barged out of Solar's throat. He turned, only to see another Cosmic clone. This one was identical to the last one; it resembled a starry silhouette of Solar. The only difference was that this one was tinted red instead of blue.
"ACKBOO!"
It felt like there were sharp and pointy daggers in Solar's blood. Tears streamed from his eyes. He hyperventilated, which only exacerbated his shaking. The red cosmic clone whooped, its mouth curling into a snarling smirk. It grabbed hold of the blue one's hand, and together they ran off.
"NO!" Solar ran after them. "No, you can't…!"
He tripped, landing face first into a pool of honey. Pulling his face out of the gooey sticky liquid, he wondered what it was he had tripped over. There were no rocks. Did he just go too fast?
"LACKTEE!"
Solar felt like crying. Another cosmic clone, a purple one, laughed its head off at his misery. It bounded away, more than likely about to terrorize the residents of Honeyhive.
Tears streamed down Solar's face, their saltiness mingling with the honey's sweetness. As he attempted to clean up the sticky, bitter mess on his face, more laughter rang in his ears. The different pitches of the different cosmic clones' voices created a layering effect, one that sounded…demonic. Freezing chills raced down Solar's spine, spreading to his limbs and his organs. He felt nauseous, hungry, cold, hot…he felt all of these things!
"No…" he lifted his head, and his heart froze in its constant rhythm. They were everywhere! Swinging from branches, destroying the grass…they were…they were…
"NO!" Solar bounced to his feet, his teeth gritted tight. They couldn't destroy Honeyhive! This was unacceptable behavior! He bolted toward the closest cluster of clones. He gripped his hands into fists, a vein throbbing in his forehead. "YOU LEAVE HONEYHIVE ALONE!"
The clones, destroying the bark of a tree, gawked at him. They grit their teeth. With each of them possessing a throbbing forehead vein of their own, they charged toward Solar. The pitch of their battlecries made his ears bleed. Regardless, he would not back down.
"YAAHHH!" Solar punched one of the cosmic clones in the nose. The creature didn't reel back, didn't flinch; they didn't even react! Instead, they punched Solar right back. The pain…oh Mama, the pain!
"OWW!" Both of Solar's hands flew up to his face. They came back with wet, red palms. Solar stared in horror at the sight, not even fully comprehending what he was seeing. Unfortunately, he didn't get to stare for long. The group of clones surrounded him, each grinning wickedly. He screamed as they kicked at him, scratched his skin, tore his hair up from the roots. The young boy felt like he would die as he fell to the ground.
"Why?" he cried. "Why?"
…
Rosalina's heart pumped. The sensation hurt the walls of her chest, the blood in her veins. Her eyes, wide and unblinking, stared at the scene.
"What in the ever living…What's going on here?"
The cosmic clones cheered and whooped. One dived from the branch of the tree into a pool of honey. Five danced around a shaking bee. Ten chased each other around in circles.
Rosalina put her hand to her aching head. How could this happen? Cosmic clones only appeared when a cosmic comet was in orbit around the galaxy. But…
Rosalina gasped. "No…" She stared at the clones, the silhouettes of her son. She whimpered, feeling like her own legs were about to give out from underneath her. "Solar…"
"AHHHH!"
Rosalina's blood ran cold. "SOLAR!" She zipped forward, flying over the barrage of cosmic clones. The nuisances stared at her, some gawking, some smiling, some glaring. One threw a ball of honey toward her. It landed on the dress's skirt, causing the fabric to stick to her leg. She bit her lip, but still pressed forward.
"Don't worry, Solar, Mama's here!"
The laughter, that demonic, frightening laughter that the clones were expelling…it only grew louder. Rosalina felt dirty just hearing it, as if an unclean spirit was in the pit of her stomach. She took in a deep breath, drowning out the laughter and focusing on finding Solar via his screams. She scanned the area until she saw the unmistakable white glow that his skin gave off. She gasped when she saw that he was being beaten to death by a group of the clones.
"SOLAR!" She got out her wand. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She fired a blast, hitting one of the clones in the back. The shocked shriek that one clone let off told the others that they needed to scatter. They did so, leaving Solar in a bleeding, crying puddle on the floor.
Rosalina knelt down beside him, her heart aching. "Oh, honey." She held his crying form to her chest. She didn't even care about staining her dress red. "Don't worry, honey, I'm here. I'm right here."
Solar's shallow breath rattled Rosalina's nerves. "Mama..." He held her as she stroked his hair. "Mama..!"
"Shh." She stroked his hair again. She rocked him back and forth and hummed a song she sang to him as a baby. "Just breathe. Relax."
Slowly but surely, Solar's breath slowed down. When it did, the laughter of the clones grew softer. Rosalina lifted her eyes and saw that they were slowly fading from existence. Rosalina smiled and continued to cajole Solar.
"It's okay, baby. It's okay."
Solar let out one last breath. When he did, the scene fell silent. The cosmic clones were gone, much to Rosalina's relief.
"Are you okay, baby?"
"I'm…fine." He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. "Where'd those clones come from?"
Rosalina cringed. "Uh…well…"