Star Darlings; The Starlight Mirror REMASTERED

IV. The Snow Palace

Darling Sagittarius, Libra, and Leo raised their arms into the air and de-transformed to their original forms. Sage, Libby, and Leona walked down the stairs and into the chaotic room of scrambled actors. "Aw, you're cute," Leona said, taking a closer look at Hoshi. She rubbed the top of its head with one finger. "Ok, Leona, that's enough." Hoshi said. Leona removed her finger from Hoshi's head. "Now, it's time we teleport to our next destination." Like before in the pink garden, Hoshi's teleporting aura appeared around the three Star Darlings, which caused them to disappear. The people running around didn't notice that 3 girls disappeared from the crowd. The Star Darlings opened their eyes again and began to feel cold. They were transported to a snowy landscape with high snowy mountains, pine trees, and frozen lakes. The snow fell from the sky like little Star Balls, and the snow was up to their ankles. "I'm s-s-s-so c-cold!" Sage shivered. Hoshi looked at all of the girls as they shivered. "Oh dear me! What am I to do?" It asked itself. But then, Hoshi had an idea. "I'll give you all some clothes!" It tried to make clothes appear, but unfortunately, Hoshi was unable to make clothes appear. "Ugh, Star Salutations, Hoshi!" Sage complained. "If we don't find shelter, our Cycles of Life will be cut short!" Libby and Leona gave Sage looks of pity - and to a lesser extent, annoyance - and the three began to trudge through the snow. It wasn't a pretty journey going through the snow, Sage was constantly sneezing, and Leona had to stop every few steps to shake the snow out of her golden hair. "This is definitely not a fun journey, I hope we find somewhere to rest." It was then, that the Star Darlings and Hoshi came to the foot of a mountain. It was tall and imposing, and it was a lot taller than the hotel in the gold city. "Hmm, anyone up for mountain climbing?" Hoshi asked. "I can't feel my limbs," Sage answered. "...Yes, I want to do it." The other two Star Darlings concurred. A good while later, they immediately regretted that decision, Sage kept having to blow her nose in her sleeve, Libby always had to shield her eyes from the raging snow, which made it impossible to see, meanwhile Leona was still removing snow from her hair, but this is was constant rather than occasional. However, the cold, icy wind stopped by the peak. It was a pretty serene view from up there, the white snowcapped fields sprawling around, the icy mountains, the black pine forests - there's no view more beautiful than this - "Really, I wish Starland had a place like this." Sage sighed. "Me too." Libby chimed in. "Me three." Leona said. "Now to climb down," Hoshi said, staring at a nearby pine forest. The Star Darlings groaned at the thought of going down. Hoshi wasn't in the mood of listening. "Look, just slide down!" Hoshi complained. The three girls caved in and slid down the mountain, which wasn't a pleasant journey down, by the way. After they crashed into a pile of snow, and on top of each other, they trekked on through the dense, cold, and dark pine forest. The snow wasn't as unforgiving as it was on the other side of the mountain, but it was still there, haunting the girls. "It's s-so cold-d-d, I c-can't ev-v-v-ven concent-t-trate!" Libby shivered. "I know." Sage sneezed. Suddenly, lights could be seen off in the distance. "Look! I think that's civilisation!" Leona exclaimed, pointing at the distant points of light. The Star Darlings and Hoshi ran through the pine forest, towards the lights for an extremely long time. Those lights came from a small winter town full of activity. But then, Sage collapsed onto Libby. "Oh no! Sage!" She said, gently placing the lavender-haired girl on the ground. "OMS OMS OMS OMS!!! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW!?" Leona panicked. Libby remained calm as she always does, and she scooped Sage up. "Don't worry, Sage, we'll get you somewhere warm." She whispered in Sage's ear. They wandered the streets for a while until they heard a voice spontaneously call out to them. "Hey! You two! You need any shelter?" A man in a lumberjack outfit called Hoshi, Libby, and Leona. All three nodded their heads. The man let them inside an inn, through a dining hall, to a long hall with multiple doors. The man lead Libby, Leona, Hoshi, and the currently unconscious Sage to a room with a fireplace.

When he left, Libby wrapped Sage in a purple blanket and placed it near the fireplace. "Libby, do you think Sage will make it?" Leona asked, concerned. "We'll give her time, Leona, we'll give her time." Libby said as she sat next to Sage, who was still unconscious. A few hours later, Sage woke up, much to Leona and Libby's relief. "What's going on?" Sage asked. "You were knocked unconscious, Sage, you really gave us a fright." Hoshi explained. "Let's get you to bed, Sage." Libby said, taking Sage to a bed. She removed Sage's boots and placed the sheets over her. "Perhaps we should go to." Leona suggested. The two removed their shoes, climbed into a double bed, and went to sleep along with Hoshi, who decided to rest on the nightstand. The following morning, Sage had woken up, fitter than a fiddle. "Wake up, Sleepy Stars!" She cried. Leona and Libby woke up, surprised. "Sage, you're a lot healthier than last night." Hoshi commented. "I guess that sleep really helped me with that Flareflu." Sage remarked. The three and Hoshi left the inn that very same morning to look for the next Star Darling. As they traveled across the snowy expanse, Sage had a realisation. "*gasp* This totally crossed my mind! I wonder who we'll find next." Sage said to Leona and Libby, not looking to see where was going. "Sage! Look Out!!" The other two Star Darlings exclaimed, briskly. Sage turned around and almost fell off of a steep ledge. When she looked up, she couldn't even believe her eyes. Surrounded by an icy moat a few feet away from the Star Darlings was a huge snow palace. It was coloured in a pale, muted shade of blue and a pure shade of white, there were countless towers, and it sat in the very centre of the moat. Hoshi and the three girls ran towards the moat and jumped from ice block to ice block to get across. Once they passed the moat, they entered the huge palace. Inside, the walls were made of ice and the floor of snow, the pointy-arch windows reached high and almost touched the ceiling, the snowy mountains could be seen in the distance, and icy carvings marked the way. "This is pretty." Libby remarked. One room had an icy zig-zag path and a pool of cold water below it, another was long and seemed to go on forever. The Star Darlings then came to the main hall, it was the largest room of them all; It had a huge icy throne, the high windows that were mentioned before, an icy fractal that looked like a chandelier, and many ice carvings. "Eep!" Libby squealed. "Oh My Stars! Vega!" Sage exclaimed. Vega was frozen in a huge block of ice, she looked like she was shouting at someone, making a scowling expression, she was pointing a finger at nothing in particular, and her entire body was leaning forwards with one leg behind her. The three Star Darlings ran towards Vega, with Hoshi in hot pursuit. "Halt! Who goes there!" A voice bellowed. They turned around to see a version of Vega that looked a lot like the other dark versions of Sage, Libby, and Leona. "I...am Agev!" The girl said, condescendingly. "Well, Agev, you have a lot of nerve freezing our friend, Vega." Sage said to Agev. "And for that, we, The Star Darlings, will punish you!" The three Star Darlings took out their Star Pacts and transformed. "I am the Star Darling, who represents the sign of The Archer! I am Darling Sagittarius!" Darling Sagittarius announced. "I am the Star Darling, who represents the sign of The Scales! I am Darling Libra!" Darling Libra exclaimed. "And I am the Star Darling, who represents the sign of The Lion! I am Darling Leo!" Darling Leo announced. "We are the Star Darlings, and we won't let you continue your reign of terror!" They said together. Darling Sagittarius and Libra turned their attention to Vega. "Quick, use your attacks to break the ice!" Hoshi exclaimed. "Sagittarius Shooting Star Arrow!" Darling Sagittarius commanded. "Libra Love-Beauty Ribbon!" Darling Libra commanded. The arrow and heart-string flew towards the block of ice and broke it. Vega panted as she was broken free from the ice. "Vega!" Darling Sagittarius exclaimed. "You're safe." Darling Libra added. "Sage? Libby?" Vega asked herself quietly. "Leo Luminous Globe!" Darling Leo commanded. Agev dodged the ball of light as it zipped past her. Darling Sagittarius handed Vega the diamond-shaped Star Pact. "Vega, take the puff and say: "Virgo Star Formation!" Take the puff, and transform!" Darling Sagittarius explained. "And to de-transform, say: "Virgo Star Supernova!" Darling Libra explained. Vega took the pact and nodded her head.

"Virgo Star Formation!" Vega exclaimed. She patted the puff all over her body, which produced snowflakes and ice crystals. Vega's Star Darling uniform was blue and had Virgo motifs. "I am the Star Darling, who represents the sign of The Maiden! I am Darling Virgo!" Darling Virgo announced. "No! Curse you!" Agev growled, lunging at Darling Virgo. "Virgo Snowflake Explosion!" Darling Virgo yelled, putting out her hand. A huge wall of snow burst forth, producing a cold mist. Agev was immediately frozen. "You're f-f-freezing m-me!" She said angrily, before turning into an ice statue. "Good, at least that's taken care of." Darling Virgo panted. "Virgo Star Supernova!" Vega instantly returned to her normal form.