Vidia was not ready for this. 

     She felt shivery and weak, and she kept her head low, looking from side to side. Her cloak clouded the image of her mortal body and instead encased her in stars. Percival walked beside her, also covered in his cloak. Through the stars, she could see his pale face. She hoped no one looked too closely at them. She shivered at the thought.

     All around Vidia, wondrous things were happening. She watched bakers selling their goods, and stores selling their clothing. She looked down another street to her left and caught a glimpse of a tall, muscular man signing autographs. She hurried on by stores libraries, shops, inns; it was just like earth, but different.

     Percival carefully led Vidia through the streets, muttering to himself: "Then to the right, then... Ah, here it is!"

     Before them stood a tall building that was covered in red stars. It had the sign: "Bed and Breakfast" Over the entrance. On the opposite side of the street, there was a library covered in blue stars. Constellations of people were walking into the library and checking out their books. Vidia could see the constellation of a librarian through the window.

     Vidia saw Percival's excited face through the fabric of his cloak. He smiled at her, grasped her hand, and led Vidia through the doorway. Inside was a small room which had a desk and chairs in it. A girl with bright yellow stars for hair was reading the constellation of a magazine in the far corner of the room. A larger, more muscular boy sat beside her. She noticed that they were both wearing thin cloaks. Vidia and Percival walked up to the desk and waited. Eventually, the constellation of a bored-looking man walked in. 

     "Nova's Bed and Breakfast, may I help you?" He said in a deep voice. Vidia looked at Percival, then at the cashier. 

     "Yes, um, we would, uh, like a room for two, please?" Vidia said tentatively.

     "Smooth." Whispered Percival from under his cloak.

     "Shut up," Vidia whispered back.

     "That will be..." He paused, looking at the cash register. " Four Adda, please."

     Vidia caught Percival's eyes under his cloak. 

"What's an Adda?" She whispered. 

Percival mouthed; "I don't know!" 

     Vidia thought quickly and then whispered: "Stall him." 

     Vidia walked inconspicuously over to the girl with the magazine while Percival stalled. She noticed that the girl looked about Vidia's age. She tapped her on the shoulder, and the girl put down her magazine. 

     "Excuse me," Vidia said to the girl. "I'm new here, and could you tell me what an Adda is?" 

     "The girl fixed her bright blue eyes (or rather, stars) on Vidia and said softly: "Adda is the currency that they use in this place. I'm new here too. So is my friend over here." She pointed to the muscular boy. He had darker stars for hair, so Vidia guessed that his natural hair color was black. The muscular boy's eyes widened at the sight of Vidia and Percival, so he leaned down and whispered something in the girl's ear. Her eyes widened too. She whispered: "Wait here." To Vidia and walked to the cashier. She had a few whispered exchanges and gave him a few round things with stars around the rim. 

     She walked to the elevator and beckoned to Vidia, Percival, and the muscular kid. They nervously walked over to her, and they all stepped into the elevator. the girl pressed the button, and there were a few awkward seconds in which they didn't say anything. Eventually the elevator slowed to a stop, and they all got out. 

     The girl walked ahead of them, telling them to follow her. She walked to a room with the letters XXVI on it, opened the door, and sat on one of the four beds inside. The muscular boy walked inside too, followed by Percival and Vidia. Vidia quietly walked to the bed that the girl was sitting on, and asked:  "Who are you?"

     The girl looked at the muscular guy, and he nodded. The girl stood up and quickly took off Vidia's hood, exposing her living face.

     Vidia blanched and went wide eyed. "Hey-- what the--?"

     The girl lifted up her hands and pulled off her hood, to reveal the golden locks and smiling face of-

"Lili!" Vidia said as she ran to hug her friend. "How did you get here? Are you okay? How did you know it was me?" Asked Vidia. Lili smiled even wider. "Well, I was just walking home when I remembered that I had dropped my books in the woods. I quickly hurried back, 'cause I needed my books for the science test, and found the stones that you were carrying."

     "Wait!" Said Percival. "If you're Lili, then who's he?" He finished, pointing at the muscular guy. 

     "I'm Aaron," Said the muscular boy as he took off his hood. "I saw Lili running through the forest, and I decided to follow her because I was worried about her-- I mean--uh, I was wondering why she was tearing through the woods..." He finished awkwardly. Vidia glanced at Lili, who gave her the "I don't know" gesture.

     Percival nervously broke the silence by asking Aaron why he was sent here. Aaron was just about to respond when Vidia spoke.

     "Well, we're here for--" She explained, gesturing to herself and Percival.

     "--The relic," Lili finished. Vidia looked at her in surprise while she continued. "Whe've been here for about a week already, so Aaron and I have had some time to find out stuff about the relic. It's in the shape of a staff."

     Vidia found so many things unbelievable about this statement that she let her mouth hang open. "You've been here for a week?" Vidia asked. She refused to believe that they'd already been here for a week. "But.. but you were here yesterday!"

     Aaron opened up a large dusty book and put it on his lap. He turned a couple of pages before printing to a specific paragraph. 

     "Look here, in this paragraph it states that the time here flows much, much faster than earth's," He paused for a moment before locating another paragraph. "And it says that one earth day is the equi- equiva-" He paused, looking sheepish. "I was just... yawning."

     Lili pointed her finger to the word. She was tiny compared to Aaron's huge size. "Let's sound it out. E-qui," She said.

     "You could just tell me," Said Aaron, grumbling.

     "But then you won't learn!" Replied Lili.  

     "Fine. E-qui." He repeated.

     "Va-lent."

     "Va-lent." Equivalent." So one earth day is e- equi- equivalent to seven days up here."

     Vidia laughed while Lili congratulated Aaron on his reading. Even Aaron stifled a snicker. Lili smiled and pulled out a mirror from her backpack that was identical to Vidia's. "Did you get these?" She asked, holding the mirror up to Vidia's face.

     "Yes, we did!" Responded Vidia. She took the mirror out of Lili's hands."Speculo ec communicatio!" She said, and an image flickered into existence. 

     "Lili?" Libra said. "Did you dye your hair black, or is that not you?"

      "Hi, Libra," Said Vidia. Libra looked surprised and nervously smoothed out her dress before smiling. " Oh, Vidia! Is that you? I should've known. I'll put Scorpio on the line for you; he wants to talk."

     "Okay." Vidia responded. Lili took the mirror out of Vidia's hands. She started to chat with Libra and Percival leaned towards the mirror to join in. Vidia fished her mirror out of her backpack and recited the incantation. A picture of Scorpio's room appeared (At least, Vidia thought it was Scorpio's room).

     Vidia saw the image of Scorpio walk into the frame and pick up the mirror. Her perspective changed as the mirror was raised up into the air.

     "Hey, Vidia! Good to see ya! Listen, I had some things I need to clarify." He said, pausing to ruffle his hair. It seemed to be a habit of his.

     "Go on." Said Vidia.

    He looked down and stuck his hand in his pocket. He seemed to be searching for something."Virgo told me to make a list..." He whispered quietly. "Ah, here it is!" He said, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "Okay, so we can't come talk to you in person because the villagers are in the power of the relic, and they would destroy us... and Adda is the currency up here. I assume that you figured it out, as you're in a hotel room, and you must have had to pay for it."

     Vidia snickered. "Yep, we figured it out. I had to ask Lili to help us figure it out, though."

     Scorpio was busy reading the next item on the list. "Be on the lookout for some familiar faces-- wait, you've already met Lili and Aaron?"

     Vidia nodded.

     "Sweet! Okay, next on the list... The Zodiac Council had a vote, and Capricorn had the idea that we all grant you one wish. Unfortunately, we won't have the power to grant the wish until we possess the relic. So, for the wish, what would you like?"

     Vidia stared at Scorpio in shock. She could have anything she wanted after they got the relic? But what would she wish for?

     Scorpio gave her some suggestions. "To be able to speak in Spanish? To be able to chew hard candy without breaking your teeth? To win the affections of the guy you love?" He whispered, pointing to Percival. 

     "Shh! Shut up!" Vidia said quietly, her face turning red.

     Scorpio smiled. "Hey, I call 'em as I see 'em." He said, now pointing at Vidia's red face. Vidia's embarrassment soon turned to laughter as she snickered to let out the tension in her lungs. Aaron leaned over to look in Vidia's mirror. 

     "Wait, what did he say?" He asked Vidia.

     "Nothing." Replied Vidia, giving Scorpio a wink. Scorpio winked back, then turned to Aaron and put a finger to his lips. Vidia quickly said goodbye and tapped Aaron on the shoulder. "What's the time?" She asked.

     Aaron responded with the "I don't know" gesture. "Time is all wonky here. Like it said in the book: 'One week here is one day on earth."

     "Well, I'm a little tired, so I think I'll be getting to bed." Vidia said. She walked over to her bed and crawled on top of it. She lied down before remembering that she had to get changed into her pajamas. 

     "Lili, is there a bathroom I could use?" Vidia asked, picking up her clothes.

     "Yep, in the back." Lili responded, pointing to a door that Vidia hadn't noticed.

     Vidia walked to the corner of the room, in which was placed a small door. She walked through the door and set her clothes down on the floor. She looked around, noting that it was just like a normal bathroom, then climbed into the shower. When she was done, she put on her pajamas, brushed her teeth with a special minty toothpaste that she'd found in her bag, and walked out. 

     She clambered onto the bed, pulled the covers over herself, and watched Lili, Aaron and Percival playing cards with a deck that Percival had found in his bag. They had pulled off their cloaks, and they lay discarded on the floor.

     "Any threes?" Said Percival to Aaron. 

     Vidia looked down at Aaron, who was sitting right in front of her. He had a three.

     "Go fish." Said Aaron.

     Vidia playfully tapped him on the arm, making him look around to see her. He put his finger up to his lips and then looked back to the game.

     Vidia turned around to lie on her back and stared at the ceiling. She listened to the sound of cards being put on the floor when they had made a match. She reflected on her day, while slowly drifting off to sleep... 

     Creeeeeaaaaak... 

     Vidia sat straight up in bed, looking at the figure standing in the doorway. She heard the sound of cards falling to the floor, and then an ominous silence.

     "Live ones!" Shouted the figure, cowering in fear. "P-please don't hurt me!"He added, his glasses falling to the floor.

     Vidia looked at the others with wide eyes. Their cover had been blown.