Astrid Blu: Orion's Curse

Azure Enchantments

The ride back to the palace was quiet, except for the voices made by the car, obviously. Arthur carefully rode the car while Harry was snoring beside Astrid and Katherine, who had her entire attention on her book. Right now, Astrid was actually curious to know what kind of book it was to take someone's attention like this. The brown book had no name written on it. It looked more like a diary or a journal.

At the thought of journal, Astrid tightened the hold on the book; Helen's journal, which was close to her chest. The ride was longer than expected.

As everyone was occupied with their tasks, Astrid slowly shifted her attention to the book she was holding. Opening the first page of the book, she saw the name scratched out. That was probably Helena's real name.

She flipped the pages. The first page of the book had a drawing of a flower. It was made with a pencil. But, the flower, which Astrid has never seen before, felt so real with shadings at the right places. Astrid's lean forefinger traces the outline of the never-seen surreal flower. It had beautiful almond shaped petals. Even though the picture didn't have any colour, Astrid could make a clear picture of the flower with it's petals having a beautiful midnight colour. Her fingers got down to trace the stem of the plant. It had thick long thorns. But, even the thorns adorned the flower. Just like how our imperfections make us more beautiful.

The car stopped. They have pulled in front of the palace when Astrid looked out of the window. Katherine was already out, while Arthur was trying to wake Harry up. The boy in maroon tuxedo, didn't even budge as Arthur called him multiple times.

"Harry, just wake up already. I'm not going to carry you to your room today." Arthur gave a blow to Harry's arm. He stirred a bit, but quickly went back to sleep.

Astrid smiled at the two brothers and got out of the vehicle, closing the door. Arthur finally gave up with a sigh and began to carry Harry to his room, by himself. He took Harry on his back effortlessly and walked towards Astrid.

"Now, I have to carry him. This dumpling..." Arthur said and walked into the palace. Katherine was probably already in her room.

Arthur walked in front of her with Harry on his back, giving him a piggy back ride.

Astrid followed wherever Arthur's going, with Harry on his back. She needed Arthur's help to find the way back to her room in this huge palace. Every time she tried to remember the ways, she realized that each time it's a different path. Finally she gave up and just decided to let Arthur drop her off at her room, everyday.

Arthur quickly went into a room at the corner of a new corridor, a corridor she didn't even remember seeing at all. Arthur went in and came out quickly, without Harry on his back anymore. Did he threw Harry off or something?

He stretched his back and straightened right after. All this while, Astrid was wondering whether Harry was lying on the floor with his limps broken and still sleeping peacefully!

"Come on." Arthur said.

Astrid tried to get a sneak peak into Harry room, just to make sure that he was not on the floor. But failed as Arthur closed the door and walked in front of her. He probably did throw him.

Astrid didn't question where she was going but silently followed Arthur to wherever he was taking her. The journal close to her heart, she walked.

They once again reached the most familiar place in this whole palace for her. The library. This was where Astrid spent most of her time after coming here.

"There is a lot you need to know, if your going to pretend to be of Blue Haven's." Arthur said while holding the door open for Astrid to get in.

She sure did. All she knew about Blue Haven was that it hasn't been proven to exist. No one knows where it was situated in this universe. She really  need to know a lot more than just that.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you everything like a story, so that you'll never forget." He assures her with his usual smile.

"But before that, is there something you want to ask me?" Arthur asked. He didn't want her to feel like she couldn't ask her doubt. Astrid needed to find answers and he will do his best to give them to her. He unconsciously wanted Astrid to say more about her. Arthur literally knew nothing about her. How she was back on Earth? Why doesn't she smile? Why doesn't she talk? Why is she the way she is? He wanted to know more about her. He tried his best to scrutinize her on behalf of her small movements and expressions on her face. Her eyes were a lot more easier to read. And all he could see in them was pure grief. Grief, overtaking the undeniable azure beauty of her eyes, like a shadow. He wanted to take that away. So that there's always light without any shadows following.

His question rings bell in Astrid's mind. There was a lot she wanted to ask. But, didn't know how to form those doubts into sentences. Her mind wandered. Is this all even real? Is he real? Why did all of this happen to her? Is she out of her mind? Is her mind playing tricks on her? Or is this a dream? Or is it real? What's weirder was the fact that Astrid didn't ask any of this. She asked something that wasn't even in her mind, until now.

"What's Azure enchantments?" She blurted out. Why did she even ask that? Out of all the things she could have asked, she chose to ask something that wasn't of any help to her.

"Azure is the most famous School of Enchantments in Blue Haven. That is where kids are taught to learn magic." He said as he sat down on one of the chairs.

School of magic. Like Hogwarts. That's super cool.

"Every one is obliged to learn magic. After all, Blue Haven is all about magic. When we are all born, we are given the pulp of a flower. That's how we are given magic powers. Gazeral flower, which is a beautiful purple flower, brought magic to Blue Haven." He looked at Astrid, who was seated across the table, with her head resting on her elbows. The gleam in her eyes was brighter than ever, as she was immersed in everything Arthur was telling her.

"So that's how people of Blue Haven has magic in them. Then after the babies grow, they are sent to improve, flourish and control the magic inside them. Magic is compulsory education till 12 years of age. After that, we can go for whatever we like to do." He explained every little things.

"What did you go for after that?" Astrid eagerly asked.

"I went on with our family business. We control the import and export of goods from place to place. I wanted to continue with magic but I also had to do my part at being a Rosenheim. So I decided to go with the business, but also learn advanced magic by myself." He let out a sigh.

He is such an ambitious boy. But, still responsible. It was surprising for Astrid to see a boy of her age being so serious and responsible about his likes and interests. Boys of her school were serious about either video games or basketball. Everything else other than that didn't exist in their eyes.

"How old are you?" Astrid asks.

"I'm 16." He pointed towards him and said.

Astrid nodded her head.

"You do realize that you're pretending to be a former student at Azure, right?" He asked. "That means everyone will be expecting you to do magic too."

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