Leona''s Unlucky Mission (16 page)

She tried to keep this in mind as she bid farewell to Lily after their duet.

“Text me!” Lily told her.

“I'll try…” Leona said. But, of course, as soon as she hugged her good-bye, Lily's memory and those of all the rest of the students at Havisham Academy were erased.

“Just remember what a great mission this was,” Vega said to comfort her as they got ready for their trip home.

“Think how much you just accomplished toward helping Starland,” Vega went on. “You're not just a Star Darling, you know. You're a true star-hero.”

“Star salutations,” Leona said gratefully. “I couldn't have done it without you, you know.”

Vega smiled. “Okay. See you back home!”

“Why, Leona! Vega! What in the universe happened to you two?” Lady Stella said, ushering the newly arrived Star Darlings into her office and helping each into a chair.

Both were pale, for Starlings, and their glows flickered on and off. The stars in Leona's hair had burned out and needed to be charged.

“I don't know,” Leona panted. “Something went wrong on the trip back. All of a sudden, my star started to stall. Then it started to drift. It was terrible! Luckily, Vega was there to pick me up….Otherwise”—she caught her breath—“I don't know what I would have done….”

“Well, I was there.” Vega patted Leona's hand. “We just need a starmin to recover our glows.”

Leona bolted up straight, suddenly energized. Her trip had been stressful, but now she was home. She placed her hand over her Wish Pendant proudly. She could only imagine how much positive energy her single Wish Pendant now contained!

Vega sat up, too. “You should have seen her, Lady Stella!” she told the headmistress. “She thought she was just going to make one wish come true and she ended up granting two!”

“Two wishes!” gasped Lady Stella. Her face lit up in thrilled surprise. “Two wishes. Heavenly stars. This was a most exceptional mission, it seems. Come. Let us summon the other Star Darlings to the Wish-House and collect your most well-earned and deserved Wish Blossom. That is, if you're up to it. Or perhaps you need a bit more time…”

“Oh, no!” Leona sprang out of her chair. “Let's do this! I'm ready!”

The alert went out and the Star Darlings rushed from wherever they were to the headmistress's office. Leona glowed in delight at all their attention and in anticipation of the honor to come.

Leona was happiest to see Ophelia, and Ophelia clearly felt the same.

“So how did it go?” Ophelia asked her.

“Startastic! I'll tell you all about it later! How about you?”

Ophelia shrugged. “We can talk about that later, also….This moment is for you.”

Lady Stella walked over, gently cradling the Wish Orb. She solemnly placed it in Leona's eager hands. It glowed in her grasp and her pulse quickened in anticipation. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the stunning moment of transformation. But there was nothing.

A panicky feeling started to rise in Leona's chest. It was unfamiliar and decidedly unpleasant. “What's going on?” she asked, looking at Lady Stella for reassurance.

But Lady Stella looked puzzled and confused. “I don't understand,” she said, inspecting the Wish Orb. “It should have happened by now.”

But it had not.

“Ew!” exclaimed Gemma suddenly. “What's wrong with your Wish Pendant, Leona? Everyone look! It's all burnt up!”

“Gemma!”
Tessa whispered harshly, scowling at her sister. Still, what Gemma had said was true.

The thing on Leona's wrist barely resembled her Wish Pendant, although it was basically the same size and shape. Instead of gleaming gold, however, it was gnarled and as black as soot.

“Leona! What did you do?” murmured Astra.

“I don't know!” Leona wailed. “Really! It was perfectly fine when we got back to Starland. You know that. You saw it, too. I don't how or when this could have happened! I don't know what I could have done!”

“Did something go wrong on your mission?” asked Adora. She was trying to be helpful, but the question still stung.

“No!” said Leona. “It went starmendously! Unless…oh, no…” she moaned. “Unless I overloaded it…unless the energy from two wishes was too much for my Wish Pendant to absorb.”

“Moon and stars! Are you saying you granted two wishes on your mission?” said Cassie. “Can you even do that, Lady Stella?”

The headmistress, who by now stood over Leona, stared at her Wish Pendant in wide-eyed alarm. “Indeed, you can. It's entirely possible, though exceedingly rare. When it has happened, though, the positive wish energy collected has been more than double what a typical wish brings in.” Carefully, she lifted the arm bearing Leona's Wish Pendant and examined it closely, turning it slowly right and left. “What's happened here simply makes no sense. The magic of Wish Pendants comes from their limitless capacity for positive energy. Exceeding it is impossible, as astrophysics has well proved. No, I do not believe that's what happened here. Granting two wishes would never cause this kind of Wish Pendant destruction.”

“Then what did?” Leona wailed. She pulled her wrist back and shook her cuff in mortification and disgust. “Oh, wormholes! I can't believe all that wonderful energy I collected is now wasted! You all should have seen it!” she went on. “I should have come right back, as soon as I had it. I should never have stayed to sing that song….”

“You stayed to sing a
song
?” said Astra.

Leona hung her head and nodded. “With my Wisher.”

Astra and a few others traded “there you have it” eyes.

Sage spoke up. “I stayed for a little while, too, after I collected my wish energy. And it wasn't a problem at all. You don't know what it's like,” she told Astra and the other Star Darlings. “You haven't been to Wishworld yet. Good-byes are the hardest part.”

“Yes, I don't believe that affected your Wish Pendant, either, Leona,” said Lady Stella. “You mustn't blame yourself. I would be shocked if there was anything a Star Darling could do to render her Wish Pendant useless like this. There's no such thing as too much positive wish energy, nor would any well-meaning action cause such harm. Perhaps,” she went on, “there was a flaw in your Wish Pendant that no one noticed, or a defect that could not be detected until it was used. I assure you, this is no fault of yours, but merely a malfunction which will prove most helpful, in due course.”

“But how?” growled Leona. “How can a filthy, burnt-up Wish Pendant help anyone?”

The headmistress smiled kindly, almost as if she had a plan. “If I may…” Leona's skin tingled as Lady Stella grasped the cuff and slid it from her wrist. “It's very simple,” she explained. “I'm going to have Professor Dolores Raye examine this and determine precisely what went wrong. There's no one in the universe more knowledgeable about wish energy, after all. And, as we know, knowledge is power. Her findings will help us design corrections to prevent this from happening again. Fear not, Leona. Despite this tragedy, your mission was not in vain.”

“Shall I take it to her?”

Lady Stella turned, as did the Star Darlings, to see Lady Cordial emerging from the shadows of the Wish-Cavern.

“Why, star salutations, Lady Cordial,” said the headmistress. She bowed and held the cuff out for her colleague to receive.

“My s-s-s-stars!” Lady Cordial winced as she regarded it. She clucked in dismay. “How dreadful…”

“I know,” Lady Stella agreed.

“Though I suppose disasters such as this are to be expected in such a new and risky endeavor…with such young, inexperienced St-St-Starlings….”

Lady Cordial's eyes stayed focused on the Wish Pendant, but her words hit Leona like a spear. Leona felt Vega's arm wrap around her, but she shrugged it off and stepped away. Lady Stella had made her feel better for a starmin, but Lady Cordial was right. She'd been given the chance of a lifetime and ruined everything. She didn't deserve her friend's comfort or Lady Stella's or anyone's. Maybe she didn't even deserve to be a Star Darling anymore. Just like Scarlet.

The evening was still young, and everything on Starland was just beginning to reach its maximum glow, but Leona had no interest in any of the hundreds of nightly activities the students at Starling Academy normally enjoyed. The last thing she wanted to do was stargaze or play neon energy ball or collect globerbeems in crystal jars. She didn't even feel like singing. All she wanted to do was go back to her room in the Big Dipper Dorm and be alone for as long as she could. She knew Ophelia would be there eventually. Maybe by that time she'd want to talk.

She held her hand up to the scanner in the middle of her door.

“Welcome, Leona,” the Bot-Bot voice greeted her as the panel glowed a bright blue. Smoothly, the door slid open, and Leona slipped into her room.

She debated for a starsec whether to leave the lights low. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she blinked to turn them up and chase the shadows from the room.

“Scarlet!”

“Star apologies,” said Scarlet, stepping out from the corner where the dark had hidden her. “I didn't mean to startle you.”

“You didn't startle me. You scared my stars off! What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“I used the hand scanner. Still works.” Scarlet held up her hand. “And I really thought we needed to talk.” She glanced quickly around the room. “No one else is coming, right? Are we all alone? Something really weird is going on, Leona—”

“Go!” Leona raised her arm and jabbed her finger at the door. “I don't want to talk now, Scarlet. I don't want to do
anything
. Can't you tell I'm not in the mood?” She clenched her jaw and crossed her arms. The empty spot where her Wish Pendant had been looked pale and dull. “I've had the worst starday ever, and talking to you is not going to help. If anyone should know how I'm feeling now, it should be you, I think.”

“But—”

“Please!” Leona growled. “We can talk about the band or whatever you want tomorrow. Stay in it or not. But this isn't your room anymore, so you have no right to be in here. Technically, you're trespassing. Do you want me to send a holo-signal to security? Because I will.”

Scarlet blew her bangs in frustration but didn't argue any more. Instead, she tugged the collar of her star-studded jacket and stomped toward the door. As it slid open, she glanced over her shoulder. There was a dark spark in her eyes that was new. “Fine. I'll go,” she said. “But just know you're making a mistake.”

“Well, it won't be the first one,” Leona retorted, whooshing the door closed behind Scarlet. She threw herself down on her bed. She had somehow ruined what should have been her finest moment. What was she going to do?

Bad Wish Orbs:
Orbs that are the result of bad or selfish wishes made on Wishworld. These grow dark and warped and are quickly sent to the Negative Energy Facility.