Of Stardust and Wishes (A Wish Rewrite)

Chapter 15 - Lead to Gold

WHERE ARE YOU?

The words shown in tones of silver against the weathered parchment, but Sol could feel every scathing syllable as if his brother was standing before him. The empty bottle lay on the floor, distorting the image of his foot where it lay slung over the mattress. The star glanced over and gave it a kick, it rolled to the side then circled back, hitting his ankle. His lips trilled; Polaris must be getting worried. You didn't send a message in a bottle to say hello. But what could he say? "Hey there Polaris, it's me Sol! Just hanging out on this invisible island and making sure I don't mess things up again. By the way, did you know that Cassiopeia is here? I don't know how we're going to recapture her or how you would even find this place, but she's here..."

"Thought you should know" he sighed. Then his throat seized. He lurched forward, dropping the message. His hand flew over his mouth. Leaning over the end of the bed, dry heaves shook him. A cacophony of coughing, hacking, and spitting ensued. But nothing came up. His breaths raspy and ragged, his shivering body fell back to the mattress. He stared at the underside of the trunk lid. Vision flickering, his eyes slitted. His hands were pale and taunt against the bedding, knotting themselves in the quilt. With a shuddering breath, the fit leveled out. He pressed his palms against his eyes and sat up slow. He had been away for too long. His insides felt like they were made of worms. He rested twitching fingers against his side, pain was not something he had the luxury of feeling, but this had to be close enough. Another wave of nausea rolled through him. He stifled a moan and folded over, burying his face in the mattress. It'll pass. It'll pass. It'll pass.

The waves subsided and he could breathe again. Righting himself, he glanced toward the discarded note. If his brother saw him like this, he wouldn't let him stay. It wouldn't matter all the work he'd put in, or still needed to put in, he would be whisked away without a second thought. Then something will happen, "and then I'll get in trouble," the sour thought wrapped around his mind in a vise. Banishing all residual queasiness, Sol took up the letter again. Bracing it against his knee, he quick scrawled a response before he could overthink it.

DISCOVERED A LEAD ON CASSIOPEIA. WILL FOLLOW UP WITH FURTHER DETAILS WHEN I CAN.

He shoved the parchment through the neck of the bottle when the trunk above him opened. He kicked it underneath his bed before Asha's head peered over the edge. Her hair hung over her shoulder, a waterfall of glistening beads oscillating in their prismatic light. They looked so much like the glimmering constellations of water droplets that decorated the inside of that sea cave. That ethereal gateway into the world of the eternal sun. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had stopped breathing.

"Hey-"

"You need to help me!"

"I'm doing fine, how about you?" he muttered.

"What was that?"

The star smirked to himself and climbed the first three stairs, his head poking over the top, "I said what can I help you with?"

She looked at him for a second before retrieving an item from her pocket. She displayed it, flattening her palm. It was a small figure of a knight astride a rearing horse, the bottom half was more pedestal than figurine. His eyes flicked back up to her, "A paperweight."

"It's lead," she pushed the item toward him. He accepted it, turning it in his luminescent fingers.

"And...?"

"And it needs to be gold. I mean, I need to turn it to gold.... before tomorrow."

Sol shook his head, "I can't keep doing your homework for you, Asha."

"I wouldn't be asking if you had actually granted my wish!"

"Of course I did," he scoffed, climbing the rest of the way out of the trunk, "Just because you have near unlimited power," he closed the top with a snap, the girl had to quick pull her fingers away from the opening, "doesn't mean that you know how to use it."