The next day, Hunter walked over to Stella's room, opening the door and pausing in confusion at the rippling white magic that covered the doorway. He stuck his hand in the strange light, flinching when his fingers suddenly turned numb. He looked into the room, squinting his eyes to see through the glow and gasped in shock.
Inside everything was still- a white winged cat was frozen in midair as leapt onto the bed Stella was sleeping on. Hunter jumped when a noise sounded down the hall, but seeing nothing. He looked into the room, at a panic at what to do. April would see what was going on, and might panic- especially when one of her creatures was involved. He closed the door and ran back over to his room, rooting through his satchel until he found the long rope he had brought with him. He tied a lasso onto it and glanced both ways down the hall, hoping no one would be watching.
If he could just get the cat out of the room… it wouldn't look as obvious that something was going on. He swung the lasso over his shoulders to get momentum before flinging it into the room, swearing loudly when it got stuck in the air just inside the doorway- moving slowly toward the other side of the room.
Oh great, now if it wasn't obvious what was happening before, it sure as hell was now! He yanked at the rope to get the lasso back out, grunting with effort when it didn't budge. He pulled at the thick rope until it broke with a snap, sending him tumbling backwards into the wall behind him. Hunter rubbed his head in pain and looked up to see a small end of the rope hanging from the white light. He looked to his hand to see the broken frayed end of his own rope and growled in frustration.
"Hey, are you okay up there?" April yelled from the floor below, footsteps sounding as she came up the stairs.
Hunter looked wildly at the door and shut it with his foot, the wooden door slamming and hiding the scene inside the room. April walked into the hallway, looking at him curiously as he sat on the floor with the frayed rope.
"What in the name of Uluwuante are you doing?" She looked down at him skeptically.
"Ah… nothing?" He said, looking up at her sheepishly.
April looked at him with an odd expression for a bit, before shaking her head in confusion. "Whatever. I'm going to check on Stella." She said, walking over to the door.
"No- wait!" Hunter scrambled to his feet, but was too slow to keep April from opening the door and looking at the white light in confusion. She looked past the light into the room, gasping in surprise when she saw the cat frozen mid leap, everything in the room still.
"What the hell is going on?" She looked up at the rope that was stuck in the air just inside the room, She looked over to Hunter to see the other half of the rope, her teeth gritting in anger.
"What happened to my cat? What's going on?" She snapped, looking down at the earth magi with her hands planted firmly on her hips.
"I was trying to get it out- I didn't realize the rope would freeze too." Hunter said defensively, standing and dropping the rope. "it's probably not going to stop until she wakes up."
April stared at him in question for a minute. "She's doing this? What is it, anyway?"
Hunter looked up at April hesitantly , glancing over at the room. "I'm not sure if I should say- we should wait until she wakes up."
"When will that be?" April said hesitantly, glancing at one of her beloved winged cats.
"I'm not sure. She doesn't normally sleep for long, though." Hunter said, sighing as he set his head against the wall behind him.
"Where is she from, anyway?" April whispered, looking into the room still.
"From south of here- near a volcano in Voltar. She hasn't really gotten out much." Hunter said, looking into the room as well. He wasn't telling her anything about Stella's magic… so it was harmless.
"Well, please call me when she wakes up. I want to check on that cat." April said nervously. "I have to tend to the herb garden."
Hunter nodded and stayed on the floor across the hall from Stella's room, putting a palm over his face in frustration. What a mess.
Stella woke up with a loud yawn, feeling refreshed. She felt something jump up onto the bed and squeaked in surprise, Remmy running up to her shoulder and putting a paw on her cheek reassuringly.
"Stella- you're awake." Hunter's relieved voice said from outside the room, his footsteps getting closer until a heavier weight settled on the bed next to her.
"Did something happen?" She asked, wondering why he sounded so relieved.
"Yeah… uh… you froze time in your sleep, I think. April saw." He said uneasily as another set of footsteps ran down the hall.
"Is it over?" She asked quickly. She ran over to the bed, picking up the smaller weight, which meowed happily at the sight of her. Oh… it must be a cat.
"She seems alright." April said softly, standing in front of them.
"I told you she'd be fine." Hunter said in frustration.
Stella looked away uneasily, knowing she'd have to explain things now. The room remained silent as they waited for her expectantly.
"Well you know that I'm obviously not a magi at all now. I never was." Stella whispered.
"How did you get such a strange ability?" April said curiously, a chair scraping the ground before stopping beside Stella's bed.
"I'm not sure- I was very young when the sorcerer did the experiment. He took creatures and… did something to them. Whatever he did, I got this magic somehow. I never even had magic before that." She looked down, flexing her hands uneasily.
"He gave you creatures' powers?" Hunter gasped in surprise.
"Yeah. I'm not sure which ones exactly, but I've always been able to stop time and speed it up. I can never reverse it though."
"Wait- what do you mean by speed up time?" April said with a gasp.
Stella sighed, gauging how much magic she had left before raising her hand, her eyes flashing with rainbow colors as her magic flowed through her. She glanced ahead to April, smiling softly at the magi's long hair as she glowed with a bright blue magic. She looked over to the windowsill, seeing a small plant glowing faintly with a green magic.
"Is it alright if I show you on this plant?" Stella asked, pointing to the plant on the windowsill.
"Okay- now I'm confused. How can you see?" Hunter blinked in shock. She looked at his expression and couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'll explain later- for now…" Stella walked over to the plant and closed her hand into a fist, a small white sphere forming around the plant. The leaves swayed in an unseen wind as the plant started to grow brown and wither. Soon it shriveled into a small stalk, the plant dissolving into the dirt beneath it. Stella looked to April to see a surprised expression, followed by a wry smile.
"Looks like I'm going to have to find a new pot too- it's all cracked."
"Oh, sorry." Stella blushed, the world around her fading back to darkness. "I couldn't see the pot."
"Alright, then how did you see the plant?" Hunter insisted.
"I can see anything with magic when I do that. You, glowing green." She pointed to Hunter. "And you, glowing blue." She pointed to April. "Anything without magi is still just darkness to me."
"That makes more sense." Hunter said, standing and grabbing her wrist to lead her back to the bed. She sat down on the mattress, still feeling a bit dizzy.
"Alright, you're still looking pale. Do you guys have to go anywhere quickly? I think you should stay for a while, so she can rest." April said, the cat near her meowing softly.
"Alright, we'll stay for a while if you wouldn't mind." Hunter said in agreement. "Are you alright with that, Stella?"
Stella nodded, glad she was able to rest. She always felt so tired after using her magic… especially speeding time.