The tickets were for the first flight on Saturday morning and they were all very excited. Last time Stella and Crumble had only been able to visit the entrance hall but now they saw the flying whales close up for the first time: those were impressively giant and intensively magical creatures, being able to fly as light as a bird due to their magical abilities. Each whale offered space for about 20 people on its back and they built a formation of 7 whales per ‘whaleplane’. Even though one way took as long as announced (about two hours), there was nothing boring here because you could FEEL the flying as if you were the whale itself.
Stella, Crumble and Jenna were totally amazed and didn’t want to get off when they had finally reached the Illusion Islands in the sky. This was the place they would find the Library of Magic and yet when they looked around there was basically nothing to be seen except for a rather flat landscape with some trees and much grass and bushes. So what? Nothing seemed to be here!

Since Stella got along so well with her staff and the spirit Mira, they decided that Crumble should also get a little magical container and let him choose a gemstone. Contrary to Stella, the cat directly walked towards ‘his’ stone and didn’t want to let it go from then on.
Since it might be difficult for a cat to hold a stone all the time, they got him a collar and a beanie which he was allowed to choose from every morning. Now, each time when Stella meditated and visited Mira, he also kind of slept and probably concentrated on his gemstone’s spirit.

At the end of the next training day, Clemens surprised Stella, Crumble and Jenna with a few pieces of paper that he was waving around. They each drew one and noticed these were tickets – for the Flying Whale Company!

On the next training day, Stella was giving the task to find out what Mira could do for her to improve Stella’s skills or similar. For this, she went to visit her again in the staff and found the girl sitting on a blanket with some fruits and sweets, juice and two glasses. “I am glad you could come”, Mira said, “I prepared something!”
They were talking for a while and Stella wondered if Mira was all alone in the staff. “Oh, I suppose that’s the fate of a spirit in a magical device… Ever since I arrived here, I’ve never met anyone and there was only this little patch of grass with the swing. I’ve been swinging and sleeping most of the time until you appeared.” – “But how long might that have been!?” – “I am not sure, time is not measurable for me like this really…”
At the end of their picknick, Mira suggested she could imitate Stella’s magic from withing the staff, creating echoes of what she did. They tested this idea later that day in fights against Clemens and were pretty successful. When Mira was active, Stella could see the girl standing next to her in her mind, imitating the moves and magic she used. Afterwards, Mira waved her good-bye and went back into the staff.

Before going to bed today, Stella decided to visit her again. When she came to the spot of grass, she saw Mira lying on a bed, reading a book.
Stella looked surprised and thought she was dreaming. After closing her eyes and looking there again, she still saw the same picture. “Oh, hi Stella! I don’t know how or who did this, but after we had finished fighting and I went back here, I found this bed and the nighstand with a few books on it. I can’t believe I’ve never tried books before, they’re awesome! Ah, might be because I never got any before…”

“You’ve found it”, Clemens said contentedly when Stella was fully back again. “I think so but there was… Uhm…” – “A creature you’ve met and got to know its name?” – “How did you know?” – “That’s the normal way it goes when you’ve found the device ‘compatible’ with your personality. You will even learn a lot more”, he explained.
“So nobody has ever met this person before and I am the only one knowing her name?” – “Usually you won’t let somebody else get your staff but also I have never heard of such a case. They would only feel the magic but not see the spirit of it. It does not harm them if you tell their name to somebody else, yet they might feel offended as you are the only one they’ve told it. Treat this creature well as it will be your most reliable partner in battle and your life might depend on it one day. You’re now connected with a strong bonding and should not underestimate it.”
When they went home today, Stella turned to Crumble “I feel like this is a new part of my magical life and somehow I am scared. This is all so weird! Let’s just pretend we’re a normal cat and woman, shall we?” And they enjoyed their evening with reading a book and playing with toy mice. Everything seemed perfectly normal except for the staff lying next to them, shining with a sweet glow.

She looked around with panic in her eyes, not knowing how to choose ‘the one’. “It’s easier than you’d think, you see. Each of these has their own ‘character’ due to the magic flowing through it from nature herself. Take them in your hands, one by one, and you will know instantly when you have found it.”
So Stella did as he said and carefully picked up the first staff. When she closed her eyes she felt the wind in her hair and she was carried up into the sky, over the clouds until she could see the stars. She felt perfectly calm now. Suddenly, the staff took her with it, running and fighting wildly. She was barely able to hold it in her hands and not letting it go, there was so much aggression! She saw visions of flames and people fighting. Suddenly the pictures changed and there was a river, running fast as if in a hurry.
This was not the right one, Stella knew. She tried all of them, taking her time to see their visions and listen to their voices. So many impressions and characters that she could have gotten lost between them. Some were way to wild like the first one, others she almost couldn’t get in touch with because they still seemed so far away. She visited all kinds of places in the visions, from a snowy region to a crystal palace and got to know many different kinds of personalities.
After picking up another one, she stood in the sky once again and waited for the magic to carry her away. This time, nothing seemed to happen and she started feeling a little disappointed. She turned around and noticed a ray of light coming from one direction, so she decided to walk there. All of a sudden, a butterfly flew around her gracefully, smiled at her (can they even do that?) and carried on. Stella continued walking the path of light until she came to a patch of grass with a swing right on it. She was surprised: there was a girl swinging! When the person noticed her, she smiled and jumped off. “You finally arrived! I am so glad, I’ve been waiting here all the time!”, she said cheerfully. Stella was puzzled that the girl seemed to know her. “Oh, don’t worry. I am sure we will get to know each other better”, she continued and showed Stella visions of nature, magic and also fights, all flowing at a pleasant pace and she started feeling overflowing happiness because suddenly everything felt right. Finally, she saw herself right there in the vision, fighting side by side with the girl, helping each other win against whoever was their opponent.
“This is your decision only but I want you to know that I would be very happy if we could become friends. I don’t have much experience but I will try my best for sure”, the girl said, “My name is Mira by the way.”