Star Darlings; the Other 12

Troubling News (And Piper Needs to Become a Therapist or Psychologist)

Austin laid on his bed in his room. It was 2 am, the exact time when he should usually fall asleep. However, it seems like Austin's pulling an all-nighter. Whenever he closed his eyes, an image of Nicholas in the torture room appeared. Austin just couldn't get the image out of his head, and the warning of him being hunted down... yeah, that's exactly what'll give Austin nightmares.

What if they do come after me? Austin thought. I don't want that... not that I don't want to help Nicholas or Starland but... I just want to settle down after this.

In truth, Austin was probably the only one who didn't want to join the Star Darlings, but after hearing about Starland in danger... yeah, Austin didn't want that, so he agreed to become a Star Darling.

You're not ready for anything. A voice inside him said. You're not ready. You're a failure. You can pretend all day that you're someone else, but in truth, you're just a scared child forced into this.

The 2 years at Starling Prep were the most stressful years Austin probably had, having to adapt to everything. He'd had to change himself so much, he lost track of who he was before. He'd forced himself to forget his older hobbies to fit in and let go of some old friends for new ones in the SD.

How do the others handle this? Why can't I handle it as well as they are? He thought.

Austin probably had the most boring, most uninteresting past of them all. He'd grown up in the suburbs in some rural town, he'd done everything a normal teenager his age would. But he didn't want that past. He felt like nothing beside someone like Nicholas or Orrin, or maybe even Scott. He wanted to change.

Just go to sleep, Austin. He thought. Forget it.

Finally, at 3 am, he fell asleep. His dreams were nothing but nonsense, but still disturbing.

He saw Nicholas lying in some sort of cave of ice, a pool of... what looked like blood around his torso. That's not possible, because he doesn't bleed. He saw the entire group, without Nicholas, fighting off an entire army, their back towards a wall of ice. He recalled Colin, wounds all over his body, and his hoodie a mess, leaning against a pillar of ice, then charging forward into the darkness. He saw a swirling mass of dark mist before it formed into an all-too-familiar figure: Rancora. She pointed forward as if telling an army to advance.

He woke with a sheen of cold sweat on his back. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" He yelled. Luckily, the walls were sound-proof. At least around him. Above? Not so much. He heard a crewmate or another passenger stumble, startled.

He looked at his clock. It was 7 am. Phil should be awake. Getting up, he went to the bathroom to use his toothlight. Staring into the mirror, he thought to himself: What the fuck... what was that? Hmmm... Piper's always more into this... maybe I'll consult her when the time comes.

Walking out of his room, he saw Phil sitting on the chair, enjoying his usual cup of coffee(Wishling ones; he got addicted to real caffeine after his trip so every mission he'll bring back a giant bag of them).

"Hey, Phil," Austin said, walking up to him. "How's everything going?"

"I'm just drinking coffee. Want some? I got another mug."

"I'm good," Austin said. "Not hungry."

"Suit yourselves; you looked like you pulled an all-nighter."

"Because I nearly did?"

"Nearly." Phil corrected, sipping his coffee. "Next time I go to Wish-World, I think I might bring home that really expensive coffee; y'know, the one from the strange animal?"