Astrid Blu: Orion's Curse

Haven's Oak Tree

Arthur walked in front of the girl, leading her while holding her hand in the most delicate way, at the same time with an assuring firmness. The sky was even more beautiful in the night, with millions of stars painted, making the sky a dark canvas. Astrid couldn't take her eyes off of the sky above her. She was slowly forgetting the incident happened back in the palace. She doesn't know where Arthur is taking her, but she trust him for some reason that even she doesn't know. Even though she just met him this morning, she feels attached to him. Maybe because of his friendly and bubbly nature. So here she is, letting the boy lead her to somewhere she doesn't know. They got out of the enormous compound surrounding the palace. The huge, tall metal gate stood in front of them.

A cabin with golden door was near the gate. A man in his forties came out immediately after seeing them walking towards the gate. A quiet motion from Arthur makes him quickly go and open the gates. Arthur seemed so powerful with a definite demanding aura radiating from him. He is probably the 'master' for all the people working in the palace. Or is he...a prince? Astrid gasped at her thought. She has been hanging around with a prince from another planet?

Arthur turns to look at Astrid, his demanding eyes softening when his gaze stops on her. He pulls on her hands softly. Before getting out of the compound, Arthur turns to the man, who opened the gates and bows down, smiling widely. He quickly returned to his usual sweet self. He turns around to look at Astrid with his usual heart warming smile.

Astrid was still barefoot. Oh no. She has to walk all the way inside the palace to wear her stinky shoes. She doesn't even know what kind of paths they have to take, to finally reach their destination. And Arthur just keeps on walking, pulling her with him, oblivious to the fact that Astrid is barefoot. She should have just wore the shoes back on. Her mind gets clogged with the fact that she has to walk through the dirt and stuff. But soon after getting out of the gate and onto the streets of Blue Haven, the fact that she's not wearing any footwear, slithers out of her mind, as the view is more interesting. The streets were not completely empty. Some shops are still open, with people in tuxedos wandering around. The street lamps are still alive. But, they can't even come close to the light of the moon. The moon was beyond beautiful. The bricks on the road suddenly gives an 18th century vibe. The bricks were cold. So cool that Astrid's toes curled and flinched every time she took a step.

The moonlight falls on their skin, giving in a new texture. The boy looked over his shoulder to see Astrid desperately staring at the moon. The moonlight falling on her face perfectly. Her features looking more beautiful and precise in this new lighting. Arthur looks down at their locked hands, smiling. He never thought he would walk down these streets with a girl while holding hands. He felt the heat rising up to his cheeks. He presses his lips together to avoid a smile while Astrid is still blinded by the vivid beauty of the moon. Her eyes follows the rays of the moonlight. As they walk, the moon follows them around, like a protector. But Arthur felt like the third wheeler, as Astrid was giving her entire attention to the moon. Arthur felt jealous, deep inside, like a burning feeling.

Astrid's feet's constant reaction with the cold pavement became unrecognizable, after walking for some time. They were heading towards a groove of trees. Astrid didn't question where they were going. She was still admiring the beautiful moon, and how different it looks from here when compared to how it looked from earth. From here, it looks bigger, brighter and more beautiful. Even the stars looked bigger from this unknown world. What is this beautiful place? Why is it so beautiful? Astrid would do anything to understand this place.

After getting into the groove full of trees, the moon gets hidden by them. But, the moonlight shining on them through the small space between the leaves thickly grown, comforts her. The moonlight  assures her that the moon is still following them as a protector. Finally her gaze shifts from the moon towards the boy holding her hand while guiding her.

They walked a lot. They are probably really far away from the palace. Arthur just kept on walking until they reached an enormous tree. It was big with thousands of branches. The roots of the big tree were large and long. The trunk of the tree was decorated with paints and confetti. As they were nearing the tree, Astrid made out what kind of tree it was by the shape and size of the leaves. Even though moonlight was the only light showing her the leaves in the dark, she could clearly make out what kind of tree it is. It was an oak tree. A beautiful lawn was placed around the tree. Even small benches were there. Maybe it's a tourist spot. Who knows.

Arthur finally turned to Astrid, with a big smile on his face.

"This is Haven's Oak tree." He said.

Astrid remembers the boy saying about the oak tree when he told her the story of Blue Haven. He said that Rigel was situated right above the tree. Excitement filled within her like a waterfall. Finally, she is going to see the star that started it all. But, why was she excited when she knows that seeing the star will clearly not help her at all?

"There... That's Rigel star." Arthur points to somewhere. Astrid tears her gaze away from the tree towards the sky.

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