Star Darlings; the Other 12

Family in Blood, Strangers in Heart

Nico sat down on the couch in his room, opening a bag of star breakers and started chewing on the sweet, hard candy. The taste reminded him of the candies he and Nicholas used to beg for whenever the ice bridge between the mainland and Polar Peak and the village will go to the mainland for trades. The memory put water in his eyes, remembering the times of his childhood and the times Nicholas missed.

What he hadn't mentioned during the meetings was that he and Nicholas haven't met for years, and it was only this year when they'd seen each other. Ever since that night... no, Nico can't dwell on that. It'll only take him deeper into the hole of sadness. But oh, he can't forget the expression on Nicholas's face during the night when it had all happened.

"Nico!" a voice sounded in front of him. Nico's eyes returned to the real world, where Sage was waving her hand before his eyes. "Nico! Hello? Stars to Nico, paging Nico Maximoff! Are your stars in here?"

"Yes Sage, I'm here. What?" Nico asked

"I walked in to check on you, and you were just sitting here, a faraway expression on your face, and Bitty eating all your Starbreakers!"

Nico looked down to find an adorable glow fur sitting on his lap, viciously eating through the Starbreakers he had opened.

"Bitty!" Cassie walked in. "You know those aren't good for you! Come here!"

The glow fur rushed to her open arms, mouth full of Starbreakers.

Cassie shared a look that read sorry! And hurried outside with Bitty in tow.

"What were you thinking about?" Sage asked after they left. I yelled your name for like, 6 times. Something is going on, right? Sorry if I'm being too nosy but there's some you're not sharing."

"Ugh. Sage, what you are talking about is about a decade-old feud between my family" Nico replied. "I won't talk about it unless you get 20 other people's vote that I should, which is never gonna happen."

"Yes, it will!" Sage exclaimed, rushing out the door. She returned 2 seconds later with literally every Star Darling except Nicholas. "There's more than 20, Nico, no tell this story or we're throwing you to the bottom of the lake!"

"Starf. Fine!" Nico relented. "But be warned; this is a long story so get comfortable."

Everyone sat down, got comfortable while Libby went to get popcorn and other drinks.

"Ok, this happened not too long after Nicholas got infected by the perma-frost after he barely survived." Nico started. "Couple days after it happened, a deadly blizzard washed over Polar Peak, killing what was left of the small number of plants, some of the animals, and many of our villages froze to death. After the catastrophe happened, the entire village thought of Nicholas as a bad omen, as it was only after he got infected when the blizzard came. They deemed him a curse from the mountain, a monster of ice and frost. They believed the only way to get rid of the curse was to exterminate Nicholas, to please the mountains and our god, Polaris. There was plenty of other bs, but in the end, they exiled Nicholas into the mountains, where they thought he would die of starvation."

"How horrible!" Tessa gasped. The others had to agree.

"Anyways." Nico restarted. "Our father and mother didn't let that happen. They found him and took him back in secret. For half a year, we fed and took care of him. However, the village associated him with us, and suspected we'll do something to help him. One night, they stormed our home and seized him from us, all the while swearing at us for 'keeping a cursed child' with us. They took him to the middle of the village where they tormented him, stabbed him, yet Nicholas, being ice, felt nothing. Finally, my grandfather convinced the village that he'll take Nicholas to a place where he'll never return, and the 2 never returned. My grandfather and Nicholas disappeared, and I didn't see them for a long time. This year, I signed up for Star Prep, where I met him for the first time in 7 years. He remembers me, but it wasn't last month when he disclosed the fact that we're brothers." The girls looked at the boys for confirmation, and they all nodded. "Now, I'm just trying to melt the ice between us and return to what we were before."

After the story, the 22 of them sat in silence, thinking about what they'd just heard when a clapping noise sounded from the other side of the room.

"Nice story, bro!" Nicholas stepped out from the corner.

"Nicholas? What, how are you here?" Nico stuttered. "I didn't mean-"

"I have been here since you started talking. Invisibility spell." Nicholas answered, sitting on the couch in front of them. "I think you've forgotten a key detail: the village didn't suspect that my parents were hiding me; you, apparently, got too stressed and scared, so you reported the whole thing to the village. You're the reason I was kicked out, and -"

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so so sorry! I couldn't take it anymore, and I thought after half a year with no trouble, no blizzards, no avalanches, the village wouldn't care anymore!" Nico blurted. "I didn't anticipate they're still mad at you, please, forgive me!"

Nicholas smirked. "I never said I was mad at you! I want to thank you, in fact."

"Wh-what?"

"If you hadn't reported the incident to the village, Grandfather would have never taken me from that hellhole. I would still be cowering in the basement of our parent's home, fearing for my life. So, thanks." Nicholas stood up. "Too bad you didn't see the place Grand took me to; it was wondrous! I-"

Nicholas was interrupted by a loud crack. Everyone turned to see Gemma and Bitty sharing Nico's bag of Starbreakers.

"Sorry. This summer is more dramatic than I expected!"

"My Starbreakers!"

"Sorry. The star corn wasn't caramelized, so the next best thing was this." Gemma said as Bitty, unbeknownst to her, did business on her.

"Ew!"

"Bitty!" Cassie exclaimed. "I told you not to eat those. They're bad for your stomach!"