Star Darlings; The Starlight Mirror

I. The Lone Star

Sage sat up in her bed and smoothened out her long lavender hair. It had been a long while since she and the other Star Darlings had defeated Rancora - which they technically didn't do - and collected enough Positive Wish Energy to save their home, and for that exact long while, everything had been normal. "Morning Cassie." She said, looking over to Cassie's bed. Sage didn't get a response from Cassie. She cleared her throat. "Morning Cassie~!" She repeated. Sage rubbed her eyes and looked closer at the other side of the room shared by her and Cassie. Cassie was not in her bed, however, the sheets were all ruffled up, her glowfur Bitty was running around like crazy, and there was a holo-book on the floor. "Cassie?" Sage asked, anxiously. She tried to ignore the fact that Cassie had left their room without her. Just as Sage was struggling to put her boots on, she got a slow knock on her door. Sage opened the door with her Wish Energy Manipulation skills, and standing before Sage and Cassie's room, was Lady Stella. The normally elegant and reserved woman had a look of confusion, concern, and regret on her face. "Lady Stella?" Sage asked, walking towards Lady Stella. "What are you doing here?" Lady Stella stared into Sage's lavender eyes. "Sage..." Lady Stella began. "I have some troubling news." Those words froze Sage's blood. "Wh-what is it!?" She asked, cautiously. "The other Star Darlings are not here, and I fear that something or someone is behind this." Lady Stella answered. "Since there are no other Star Darlings around, I'm afraid you'll have to forgo attending class." Lady Stella handed Sage a light lavender-coloured compact shaped like a star. "What is this?" Sage asked Lady Stella as she took the compact. The latter's face softened slightly as she answered. "This is a Star Pact, it is not like any other makeup compact, it allows you to transform into a Magical Starling, one of the most powerful Starlings in all of Starland. Consider this a present of some sort." Sage stared at the compact for some time.

"How do I transform, though?" Sage asked. "Simple." Lady Stella replied, sharp as ever. "Just say: "Sagittarius Star Formation!", take the energy puff, and use it to transform. "And when I de-transform?" Sage asked again. "Say: "Sagittarius Star Supernova!" And you'll be back to normal." Lady Stella answered. "All right! Here I go!" Sage exclaimed, excitedly. Before she could say that phrase Lady Stella instructed her to do, Lady Stella cut her off. "I..wouldn't suggest doing that right now." She said, seriously. "Come along, Sage." She added, heading towards The Cosmic Transporter. Sage followed her to the transporter. Sage wondered what being a Magical Starling would be like, what powers she might have, what she would look like as one. Lady Stella and Sage stood on The Cosmic Transporter in silence until they reached Lady Stella's office. There, Lady Stella directed Sage to a hidden doorway inside the bookshelf behind Lady Stella's round table. "How would they be in a holo-book?" Sage asked. "They're not, Sage, watch." Lady Stella answered, placing her hand on the bookshelf. The shelf began to split, revealing a darkened hallway. The air inside the hallway was heavy and damp, dust drifted about the air like leaves on a pond, there was no light source in there, not even a Firestick to light the passageway up, this all made Sage extremely uncomfortable. She instantly lit up the dark hallway, and there on the back wall, hung a golden mirror; it was large, and carved with the most intricate of details. The only thing that was vaguely reflected in the mirror were the faded figures of Lady Stella and Sage. "Sage, this is The Starlight Mirror, and I believe that the girls are stuck behind this mirror." Lady Stella said. "In the Zodiac Realm, which lies past here." Sage looked at Lady Stella in disbelief, blinking quickly as if Lady Stella was lying. "The Zodiac Realm was a prehistoric land, home to early Starlings. Prosperous and peaceful, it was made up of 12 different kingdoms that coexisted with one another." Lady Stella began. "However, after thousands of Star Years, the Negasociety invaded and wiped out everything and everyone. Many of the structures in The Zodiac Realm are still standing, and a rogue generation of Starlings made this place their home." Lady Stella handed Sage a satchel and passed 11 more compacts to her. One compact was baby pink and shaped like a heart, and another one was pastel blue and shaped like a diamond. "When you rescue the other Star Darlings, give these to all of them, so you all can transform and show Rancora what you've got. Now, Sage, please enter The Starlight Mirror, rescue the other eleven star-charmed Starlings, and liberate The Zodiac Realm." Lady Stella said with hope. Sage placed all of the Star Pacts in the satchel and jumped into the mirror. Lady Stella went back through the dark hallway to her office. Sage flew past swirling and spiralling colours in the portal. "IS LADY STELLA PLAYING A GAME WITH ME OR SOMETHING!? OR AM I JUST DREAMING!?" She screamed in confusion. She was still skeptical about Lady Stella's explanation. Before Sage knew it, she had landed in an endless purple meadow. "Where...am I?" She asked herself. Suddenly, Sage could hear high-pitched screaming off in the distance. "C-Cassie!?" She asked, concerned. She ran in the direction of the scream and found a girl who looked like a replica of Sage chasing a weird-looking furball around. "Someone help me!" It screamed. "Hey! Stop what you're doing!!" Sage demanded. The girl that looked like Sage stopped what she was doing and stared at Sage. She had an evil look on her face like she was about to do something nasty to Sage. Her hair was a lot darker than Sage's hair, even though it was the same hairstyle, and her clothes were all black with only small hints of lavender. In less than a few seconds, the girl lunged at Sage like a cheetah, Sage kept dodging the girl's attacks, and she quickly realised that she could use her Star Pact. "Sagittarius Star Formation!!" She shouted. Sage took the puff and patted it all over herself, producing sparkles of starlight. Once she was finished, Sage looked down upon her costume. It was all lavender with gold and white accents; It had lavender sleeves that resembled stars, a lavender skirt with gold accents, and knee-high, lavender, futuristic-looking boots. On the front of Sage's costume was a lavender star with a white symbol for Sagittarius in the middle. And sitting in Sage's hair was a headband with a white shooting star on the side. She looked back at the clone, a look of determination on her face. "I am The Star Darling, who represents the sign of The Archer! I am Darling Sagittarius!!" She declared. "What did I just say?" She thought to herself. "Her...!" The little fur-ball said to itself. "Ok, back to business..." Sage concluded, quietly. "Egas, you monster! I condemn you to stardust!" She bellowed. "Not on my watch!" Egas retorted. "Sage! Quick! Hold out your arms like you're performing Starchery and shout: Sagittarius Shooting Star Arrow!" Lady Stella said in Sage's head. "Sagittarius!" Sage shouted, and a huge spiral of starlight emerged from one of her hands. "Shooting Star.." She drew her arms and the starlight formed a bow and arrow. "Arrow!" Sage let go of the starlight arrow, which hit Egas, who screamed in intense agony. And then, Egas vanished in a cloud of negative energy.

"Princess!" The fur-ball exclaimed. "Princess?" Sage asked, confused. "Yes! Princess!" It exclaimed. "I think you're mistaken, I'm Sage." Sage explained. The fur-ball suddenly realised that Sage didn't know what she was talking about. "Oh sorry, I'm Hoshi." The little creature said to Sage. "Hoshi?" Sage asked. "I'm sorry if I confused you, but it's so glad to see you after thousands of years," Hoshi answered. "Okay, this is weird. First, Lady Stella talked about an ancient land, now this thing is saying I'm a princess." Sage thought, still thinking Lady Stella tricked her. "I welcome you back to The Zodiac Realm!" Hoshi said, happily.