Ileana…

The girl sat upright in her bed.  What was that?  It sounded as if someone had just called her name.

Ileana…can you hear me?

There it was again!  The voice definitely didn’t belong to her mother.  It sounded almost like her own, but with some sort of vaguely European accent.  But if the voice wasn’t her mother’s, then whose could it be?  There was no one else in the apartment.  Was she hearing things?

At this point, you’re probably wondering if you’re hearing things.  You’re not hearing things.  Although only you can hear this, so I wouldn’t recommend telling Ivy - I mean, your mother.  She’ll think you’re crazy, and that won’t get us anywhere.

Ileana slumped over, her eyebrows furrowing.  That’s not exactly reassuring, is it? She thought, part of her waiting for a response.  When none came, she shrugged and laid back down, burrowing her head into her pillow.

Come on, Ileana.  Talk to me.

Ileana spoke up, her voice muffled by the pillow.  “This is a dream.”  It felt too real to be a dream, but where else would she be hearing disembodied voices?  She’d once had a dream where she realized she was dreaming and said so - the dream had sort of dissolved around her, and then she’d woken up.  It had been kind of creepy, but she was willing to experience it again.

No, this isn’t a dream.  Try pushing your finger into your palm.

Ileana, though confused, complied.  

See how the finger didn’t go straight through?  If it had gone through, you would’ve known you were dreaming. 

“Uh...how does that even work?” Ileana asked, frowning.

No idea.  I saw it in a video about lucid dreaming once.  

Ileana chuckled.  “You’re not exactly what I expected from a mysterious voice that comes from nowhere, you know.  You’re certainly more in touch with pop culture.”

A mysterious voice, huh?  Well, I’m not surprised that you haven’t figured out who I really am yet.  You only saw me when I was almost eighty!  But I’m sure you’ll realize who I am soon, little star.

Wait, little star?  Nobody called her that, nobody except…

“Bunica?” Ileana cried, raising her head from her pillow.

Exactly. 

“W-what the - this can’t be happening - I - ghosts aren’t real -'' All Ileana could do was stammer.  Unlike Maite, she’d never been one to believe in spirits, but here she was, talking to her dead grandmother, who for some reason sounded like a fourteen-year-old.

Look, I know you’re shocked, but could you please be shocked a bit more quietly?  We don’t want to wake your mother.  She can’t hear me, remember?

“And why is that?” Ileana said shakily, still not sure if she’d gone off the deep end.

Because I chose you.  I chose you a long time ago.  Remember when you were only three, when I grabbed your hands and just stared into your eyes for a while?  That’s when I marked you as my successor, so that my powers would go to you when I died.  Just as they passed from my mother to me.

“Powers?  You mean like the power to talk to the living after death?” Ileana didn’t have any powers, none that she knew of anyway.  She was actually pretty average - she had good grades and some hobbies, but that was about it.  And she certainly had no memory of her grandmother holding her hands and looking into her eyes like that, but since she apparently was only three at the time, that might explain it.

That’s not what I meant, although you might be able to do that, if you concentrate your spirit on Nebula - that’s the thing I gave you earlier today. Your powers activated this morning, the moment you turned fourteen.  You’ll be able to transform now.

“Transform?” Ileana didn’t like the sound of that.  “Into what?  A werewolf?”  Maybe she did have some sort of magical destiny after all...Maite would love this.

Don’t worry, you’re not a werewolf.  Go get Nebula and I’ll show you what to do.

Right, the weird rod thing.  It had almost slipped from Ileana’s mind during the conversation.  “So, about that thing - I mean, Nebula.  You gave me a note with it, and what you wrote was kinda confusing.  But you’re going to explain that now, right?”

Relax, and stop being so hasty.  Everything will be explained eventually.  Just get up and go pick up Nebula, and we’ll go from there.

Ileana was still hesitant, but it wasn’t like she could let her bunica down.  Slowly, she got out of bed and walked to the door.  I have to remember not to wake Mom up, she reminded herself as she carefully turned the doorknob, then pushed open the door and crept into the hallway.  The door to her mother’s room was closed, with the light out.  Good; as she’d thought, her mom was asleep.  

At first, Ileana tried to tiptoe, but the cracking sounds that her big toes made for some reason soon put a stop to that.  So she shuffled down the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief when she made it to the main room of the apartment without being noticed.  There, still sitting out on the table, was the box containing Nebula.

Good.  You’re almost there.

It wasn’t hard to sneak over to the table.  Ileana stared down at the wooden box.  Again, the same dread from earlier filled her.  This time, however, the dread was multiplied tenfold.  This wasn’t just some random anxiety - the danger was real this time.  Ileana was being told by a spirit to open the box, take out Nebula, and transform into who-knows-what.  That probably wouldn’t be the end of it, either.  Somewhere deep inside her, Ileana knew that when she took out Nebula, her life would change forever.

It’s normal to have some anxiety going into this.  Technically, you don’t have to do this.  You could go back to bed, ignore me until I’m gone, and go on living your life like none of this ever happened.  It’s up to you.  But if you do that, everyone is doomed, including you.  I’m not trying to guilt-trip you; that’s seriously what will happen.  So you don’t really have much of a choice, do you?  I understand.  I didn’t have a choice either.

No choice, huh?  And from what she was saying, Ileana could infer that her bunica had once done the same thing, whatever it was.  Clearly, she’d survived.  Although the whole everyone-will-be-doomed thing was freaking her out a bit.  Exactly what was going on?

There was only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Ileana undid the clasp, opened the box, grabbed the rod, and held it up.

Nothing happened.

At least, not at first, Ileana gradually became aware of a tugging sensation coming from Nebula, as if someone had grabbed the rod and was gently pulling it towards the apartment door.  Nobody was there, of course, so that meant...that meant that Nebula was somehow pulling itself.

You might be feeling a mild tugging situation.  Correct?

Ileana nodded.

That means they already know that my successor has awakened, and they’re out looking for her - and by her I mean you - as we speak.  They don’t know who you are yet, or where you live, but they know that I died in this city, and so they’re here.

“Who are they?” Ileana whispered, not liking the way her grandmother said the word.  They didn’t exactly sound like good people, especially not if they were looking for her.

I’ll show you.  Come on, let’s go outside.

“You mean like outside the apartment?  My mother will get worried if I just walk out without telling her.  And I’m definitely not allowed out at night,” Ileana whispered back.  If she was caught, she’d be grounded for sure.  She’d never been grounded before, and she had no intention of ever experiencing it.

She won’t get worried if you’re back before she wakes up.  So let’s hurry, shall we?

That wasn’t exactly reassurance, but it wasn’t like Ileana could refuse at this point.  She hurried through the door, making sure to leave it unlocked behind her, and stepped out into the hallway.  It was a short walk to the lobby of the apartment complex - her apartment was on the first floor, after all - and she was almost outside before she realized she was still in her pyjamas.

As if she’d read her mind, her bunica spoke.  You’ll be fine once you transform, so just keep walking, okay?

Yeah, what was the worst that could happen?  Sure, normal people didn’t walk outside in their pyjamas, but Ileana had seen weirder things.  Like that man in the park dressed up as Gandalf when it wasn’t even Halloween.  Or that homeless lady who - 

Don’t just stand there!

Oh, right.  The door.  Ileana pushed it open before walking out into the cold September night.  The concrete was freezing under her bare feet, and she shivered in her thin pyjamas.  The wind blew softly, making the nearby maple trees rustle.  No one appeared to be outside at this late hour, thank goodness.  “Okay, what do I do now?”

Just walk whichever way Nebula is pulling you, and you’ll run into them.

Ileana scrunched up her nose, even as she began to walk to the east.  “Wait, we want to meet them?”  

We want to find them, then find a place nearby and transform.

Ileana honestly had no idea what was going on, but the faster she found whoever her grandmother was talking about, the faster she could get some answers, so she kept moving.  Nebula led her further east, down the road, past more apartment buildings, then had her turn a corner near where the gas station was.  She kept walking in that direction for a while, then turned left at the next crossroads.  On she went, past houses and complexes, past glowing signs and windows, past a homeless man all wrapped up in torn blankets, sleeping on the sidewalk.  It was getting colder - or was it just her imagination?

After about twenty minutes, she stopped, leaning against the wall of the nearest apartment complex.  “Um, are we -”

Quiet, I hear them!

Just as her grandmother finished speaking, Ileana began to hear the voices too.  There were two of them, coming from the next alley to the left.

“...and we’ve been looking for nine hours already,” continued the voice of a young man - a boy, really, maybe about eighteen or nineteen.  “Just because she died in this city doesn’t mean her successor is in this city.  She was always clever.  I bet she chose someone in a different state, maybe even a different country.”

“Admit it, you just hate Seattle,” came another voice, this one higher and younger-sounding.

“Fine, I hate this city.  But -”

“That’s your problem - one of your many problems, actually.  You always let your emotions get in the way.”

Ileana could practically hear the older boy roll his eyes as he spoke.  “Funny coming from you, daddy’s boy.”

“I am doing my duty as a son and as a member of Terminus.  You, on the other hand...well, what exactly are you even doing in Terminus?  Angsting?” sneered the younger boy.

The older boy sighed.  “We’ve had this argument a thousand times.  I’m just as much a member of Terminus as you are.  And it’s not my fault your father wanted us to go together.  So let’s just try not to screw this up, okay?”

“Fine.  It won’t be hard, after all.  We just have to wait for her to come to us.  And if she doesn’t come, we’ll know she doesn’t live anywhere near here.”

Ileana’s eyes widened.  They’re talking about me!

Her bunica spoke up.  Okay, now would be a good time to transform.  Seems like they’re just waiting.

Ileana, however, wasn’t listening.  She crept towards the alleyway, keeping close to the wall.  When she reached the edge of the building, she peered around the corner to take a look at the ones who were looking for her.

They were standing in the center of the alley, looking up at a darkened window that was a few feet above their heads.  The taller boy, who Ileana assumed was the older one, looked relatively normal.  She couldn’t make out much of him in the darkness, but he was blonde, like her, and tall and skinny to boot.  He was dressed normally, unlike the other boy, and he wore a white jacket.  Ileana shivered, wishing she had a jacket.

The second boy looked a little stranger.  Seriously, who wore a cape and tunic in this day and age?  Cosplayers, maybe, but something told Ileana that this wasn’t a cosplayer.  Even without the weird outfit, the boy still didn’t look normal - his hair, which fell in a long braid, was stark white.  He looked to be around her age.  

He gestured to the window above him, then spoke.  “We might as well gather a little more Nightmare Energy while we’re out here, right?”

The older boy nodded.  “I guess.”

Ileana, listen to me!

Ileana was too enthralled by what the boys were doing.  The younger one raised his hand in a sharp movement, and the window opened up a crack without making a single noise.  The older boy raised his arms toward the window, making a grasping motion with his hands.  “Come, nightmare.”

Slowly but surely, something that looked like wispy black smoke began to seep from the window.  Ileana took a sharp breath in - was there a fire?  No, there seemed to only be a limited amount of the smoky stuff; only a small amount came out the window, floating down into the older boy’s grasping hands and forming a ball.

The younger boy clucked his tongue.  “That’s not very much.  Let’s get a veteran next, they have lots of nightmares.”

Without replying, the older boy gazed at the wispy ball in his hands for a moment.  Then he clapped his hands together, and the ball vanished.  

Ileana could only stand in place, heart pounding.  What had just happened?  How did the boy open the window without even touching it?  And what was that smoky stuff - did the other boy summon it?  He called it Nightmare Energy, but that made no sense.  Dreams were just a mental construct; you couldn’t pull them out of someone’s mind and make them into a ball.  And yet all of that had just happened.  One thing was clear: Ileana was witnessing the impossible.  Ileana was witnessing magic.

Ileana!

The girl finally realized that her grandmother was talking to her.  She’d been saying something...what had it been?  She couldn’t remember.  But as the boys began to turn around, she started to wish she could.

The younger one was the first to see her, locking on to her eyes with his.  He had bright orange eyes, she noticed.  That couldn’t be normal.  Colored contacts, maybe?  Or perhaps...magic?  

“Looks like we’ve got a witness,” he said, a smirk appearing on his face.  The other boy quickly turned to face Ileana as well.  His eyes were normal, thank goodness, brown like hers.

The younger boy strolled towards Ileana casually.  Ileana did not like the look on his face, but she found she couldn’t move - frozen by fear, she stood in place, trembling.

“Well?”  The boy stopped about a foot away from her, grinning.  “Is there something you want to say to me?  Something about a rod called Nebula, perhaps?”

Ileana couldn’t stop the look of recognition that flashed across her face.  “I - I, um - I…” All she could do was stammer, still shaking like a leaf.  The smirking, the whole Nightmare Energy thing...these people weren’t the good guys, were they?

“So you’re her successor.”  The boy shot a smug look at his companion.  “Told you she’d be here.”

The other boy walked up to Ileana, looking her up and down.  Finally, he stared back at her with narrowed eyes.  “You don’t have to do this, you know.  Just give me Nebula and you won’t have to worry about anything.  Not ever again.”

Not ever again.  Something about that last sentence sent chills down Ileana’s spine.  Her grip tightened on Nebula.

The younger boy glared at the older one.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to solve this nonviolently.  Which you’re not helping with, by the way.”

The younger boy crossed his arms.  “Bo-ring.”

The older boy let out a loud sigh.  He held out his hand to Ileana.  “Look, will you just give it to me?  It’ll spare you from a lot of pain.”

Just in case you’re considering giving it to him, don’t.  Everyone is doomed if you do.

“I - I wasn’t even planning on it!” Ileana burst out.  “So - so please…”  She trailed off as the boys gave her confused looks.  “That’s right, you can’t hear her, can you?”  Well, at least now she could say something that wasn’t just incoherent stammering.

“Right, communication past death is one of Stardust’s powers.  She’s probably talking to her predecessor,” the younger boy realized.  “I know that it doesn’t last forever, though.”  Seeing Ileana’s expression, he added, “Yeah, that’s right!  What, did you think you’d have someone holding your hand forever?  Nope.  Soon you’ll be all alone.”

All alone?  Sure, Ileana hadn’t been hearing her bunica’s voice for very long, but she’d already grown used to having her around.  Would she be gone soon?  Would Ileana be stuck out here with no one to guide her?

That’s true, unfortunately.  I only have a little more time, then I’ll completely pass on.  But you’ll be fine.  I chose you for a reason.

What reason? Ileana wanted to scream.  But she held her tongue, still staring at the younger boy.

“This is your last chance,” the older boy cut in.  “Give me Nebula, or I’ll be forced to resort to violence.”

“I’d be happy to resort to violence,” the younger boy muttered.  “I’ve been training my whole life for this.  Not negotiations.”

Ileana stood stock still.  Were these people actually threatening to kill her?  Her mind screamed at her to run, but her body would not respond.  Only her mouth could seem to move.  “You - you would kill me?  What did I do?”

“It’s less of what you did do and more of what you will do,” the younger boy explained.  “No matter who Stardust is, they always get in Terminus’s way.  I won’t let that happen.”  He held out his hand, and orange light filled it, twisting and molding itself until it took the shape of a sword.  The boy smiled, staring down at the sword in his hand, before looking back up at Ileana.  “But I’m being rude, don’t you think?”

“R-rude?” Ileana stammered, her gaze stuck on the sword.  Rude was an understatement, but she had her mind on other matters.  If the sword was made from light, would it still hurt her?  She’d never been stabbed before, but it must be worse than any pain she’d ever felt, even that time she’d had appendicitis.  And then she’d lose all her blood and die.  How much would that hurt?

“Yes, I guess I was a little rude not to properly introduce myself,” the younger boy continued, snapping Ileana out of her thoughts.  He pointed at himself with his free hand.  “I am Sorin, son of Alin.”

Son of...son of Alin?

Ileana frowned.  “Who’s Alin?”

Her grandmother had gone strangely silent, but Sorin was happy to reply.  “So she never told you about him, huh?  All those battles, and not a single word?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Alin’s my father, and he’s now second-in-command to Void himself!  Understand now?”

“Not at all.”

Sorin shrugged.  “Sucks for you, I guess.”  Shooting a glare at the other boy, he added, “Stay out of my way, okay?  This battle is mine to win.”  He stepped forward, raising his sword.  “Anyway, new Stardust, I’ll be your opponent tonight!”

Without another word, he thrust the sword right towards her.

“Bunica, help me!” Ileana screamed.

There was no reply.

Ileana stumbled backwards, barely evading the sword.  Another thrust came her way, and she found herself throwing up her arms, cringing as she waited for the blow.

There was a clang, the clang of metal meeting metal.

Ileana opened her eyes to find that she was holding Nebula, which was pressed up against Sorin’s blade.  Had she somehow blocked the swing, or had Nebula acted on its own?  Honestly, given all that had happened tonight, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter.

Wait.  How had she blocked metal using wood?  Magic, I guess.  This thing’s stronger than it looks.

Sorin stepped back, lowering his sword.  “Um, what are you doing?  Transform already!”

Ileana stared at him.  “...And how do you expect me to do that?”

There was a pause, then Sorin burst out laughing.  “Oh my God.  She really didn’t tell you anything, did she?  You have no idea what’s going on!  I’m right, aren’t I?”  Sorin glanced across Ileana’s face, gaging her reaction.  “Yeah, I’m right!”  He stuck out his bottom lip in a mock pout.  “And here I thought I was going to get a good fight.  Guess I’ll just have to kill you where you stand.”

Before Ileana could even try to run, Sorin shoved her to the ground.  He loomed over her, his sword raised.  “What’s it you humans say?  An eye for an eye?”  He slowly maneuvered the sword so that the tip was right above Ileana’s eye.

Ileana!

Finally, her grandmother spoke.  She wasn’t gone, not yet.  But was she too late?

Sorin chuckled.  “I’ll abide by your rules.  It’s only fair, given what the last Stardust did to my father...”

Repeat after me: stars, hear my plea!

The sword came down at the same time that Ileana screamed the words out.

“Stars, hear my plea!”

There was a flash of brilliant light, and everything was gone.

When Ileana opened her eyes - both were fully intact, thank goodness - she found herself floating in a sea of shimmering pink light.  Before her was a girl in a dark purple outfit, with eyes to match.  Oddly enough, aside from her brown ponytail, she looked almost exactly like Ileana, just a little bit older.

The girl smiled, but her smile wasn’t like Sorin’s.  It shone with a gentle kindness that spread all over her face.  “You made it, little star.”

That voice…  “Bunica?” 

The girl nodded.  “Yes, it’s me.  You only knew me as an old woman, but this is how I looked and sounded when I was sixteen.”

“That’s when you came to America, right?” Ileana asked.

“Yes, but compared to other things that happened that year, and the two years before, my voyage to America was pretty mundane,” her grandmother replied, chuckling.  “Anyway, you’re probably wondering where you are.  And why you don’t have any clothes on.”

Ileana hadn’t even realized she was naked, but the moment she did, she curled up into herself, embarrassed.  

“Don’t worry about that.  You have bigger problems.”

Ileana shuddered.  “Right...that boy…”  God, he almost stabbed me through the eye!  Another second, and I’d have been dead.

“Allow me to explain.  When I turned fourteen, way back in 1948, the power that I’d inherited from my mother awoke within me.  My mother didn’t speak to me as I spoke to you, but before she died, she’d told me what I needed to do.  I called out to the stars, just as you did, and in a flash of light, I was brought here.”  Ileana’s grandmother gestured to the light around her.  “This is the place where we go to transform.  Right now, in the outside world, those two boys are still seeing the flash.  One minute here is a second to the outside world.  Now, it’s time for you to become Stardust, just as I did so many years ago.”

“Who is Stardust?” 

“Stardust is the persona of the legendary warrior who fights the forces of nightmares, including the group known as Terminus and its leader, Void.”

Ileana cocked her head.  “The legendary warrior?”

“By that, I mean you.”

“Wait - I have to fight?”  Ileana shivered as she thought back to her near-death experience.  “I have to fight them?”

Her bunica stared back at her, her expression grim.  “Yes.  Or else you’ll die.  And if you die, there’s nothing stopping Void from turning the world into a waking nightmare.  Do you understand?”

“What?  No, of course I don’t understand!  Why is this all up to me?  Why not just send in the army?”  Ileana respected her grandmother, of course, but this was simply too much for her to cope with.  

“The army can do nothing against magic, Ileana,” her bunica replied.  “I’m sorry that it has to be this way, but this is the only way.  You will fight, just as I did.  I lived, didn’t I?  I defeated Void so soundly that it was decades before he could haunt the dreams of humans again, much less take on a physical form.  I’m sure that you will do the same, if not better.”

Ileana shook her head.  This was all too much.  She was Ileana Grace, for heaven’s sake.  She read books and looked at the stars.  She wasn’t a fighter, much less a legendary warrior.  “I can’t do this.”

“You can, and you will.”

“But -”

“Listen to me, Ileana.”  Her grandmother’s voice was firm.  “Here’s what you’re going to do.  You’re going to shout, ‘Stars, Ignite!’ which will initiate your transformation.  Once you’ve become Stardust, you’ll be much more powerful.  You’ll be able to fight back.  And you will fight back, I know you will.  Because deep within you, there’s a girl who’d risk everything to protect the people and the world she loves.  I believe in you, Ileana.”

Ileana took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

My friends…

My family…

My school.  Starbucks.  The park.  The bookstore.

All the stars in the sky.  The feeling of grass under my toes.  The wind rustling through the leaves.  The smile on Maite’s face.

If I don’t fight back, all of that will be gone.

“Do you understand now, little star?”

Ileana opened her eyes.  “I understand.”

It would be scary.  Terrifying, even.  But if the only other option was to lose this world...if her grandmother had survived, if her grandmother believed that she would too…

“Stars, ignite!”

The light around Ileana, already bright, began to glow even brighter.  There was a warm feeling all over her body, and Ileana spread out as she became cloaked in light.

Light clustered around her hands, and then, with a pop, white, elbow-length gloves appeared, pink at the ends.  The light around her feet and calves shone bright for a moment, then in its place were pink boots with white cuffs.  Next came a pink choker, then a pink-and-white skirt.  Her top came next.  It was similar to the top her grandmother was wearing, with crossing straps and plenty of ruffles and bows.  Unlike her grandmother’s purple top, Ileana’s was pink.  Her hair grew out as well - some of it was up, while the rest fell in a loose braid.  

Finally, a tiny ball of light, almost like a star, formed in Ileana’s hand.  Instinctively, she brushed her hand against her hair, and from the light, a hair clip materialized there, shaped like a shooting star.

As if she was a puppet, a marionette on strings, Ileana struck a pose, her left hand extended.

“The light passed through the ages...the bright glimmer of hope…

“I am Stardust!”