While trying to find a place for his flyer, he noticed a curious old scroll hidden beneath other ads all tacked over each other. It was missing the bottom where the organizer, date, and time would be, but it was the top part that had caught his attention.

Handwritten in an old script, one he had seen his grandmother use in years past, was a notice for the 317th annual celebration of a yearly festival he had never heard of before...

Orion gingerly plucked it from the crowd of lost Pet and free gift with purchase notices to get a better look, his own flyers currently forgotten. He thought to himself, "I've never heard of-"...

Orion spared a glance at his own flyer, the text we are in the business of the stars! standing out a little extra, a bold navy blue. It was unacceptable - to make such a claim and then not be familiar with a festival honouring the same stars often featured in his father's monthly tarot reading.

The Ogrin shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he considered his options. Visiting his father was the sensible, perhaps obvious choice. But if he were familiar with the Constellation Celebration, he would have certainly shared that with his son.

No, Orion decided, gently re-rolling the mysterious scroll and carefully placing it in his inner jacket pocket. He had to think more creatively.

"There's a certain disgraced former Astronomy Club President I have to go see. I will ask him the following questions..."

Orion counted all the questions off on his fingers as he turned away from the notice board, and headed for the next ferry bound for Altador.

* * *

Unfortunately, when Orion landed on the pier of Altador, he realized that he didn't even know where the former Astronomy Club President, a.k.a. Old Man Withers, lived nowadays. The Ogrin clapped a hand to his forehead, then paused and checked his pocket to ensure that the scroll was still with him.

He looked around as he began walking toward the city. Maybe he could ask around? Orion shuddered; he didn't really look forward to making so much small talk along the way.

But he didn't have to.

Among the crowds he spotted a familiar Blue Wocky in an astronomer's uniform, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Orion strode over to her.

"Andromeda! Andromeda!"

The Wocky, the present president of the Astronomy Club, whirled around at the sound of her name, and smiled. "Orion! What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" He dug into his jacket pocket and took out the scroll, holding it out in front of Andromeda. "Actually...have you heard of this? The Constellation Celebration?" Orion tempered his expectations. Andromeda wouldn't know, surely, a celebration that was ancient and so obscure that...

The Wocky took one look at the scroll, staring at Orion before reaching into her own trouser pocket and pulling out an identical scroll...

She took Orion's hand and led him past the nearest shop stall, a Quiggle hawking Altadorian grapes and olive laurels. The sun was directly overhead, leaving the back alley oddly cheerful and well-lit, but far emptier than the main street full of bustling foot traffic.

"Orion, where did you get this?" Andromeda asked. "Were you given any... message to go along with it?"

Orion stepped back, holding up his hands. "Whoa whoa, I'm not looking for any trouble or funny business, Andromeda! I found this at the notice board, behind some other flyers. I had no idea it was some kind of secret society business!"

Andromeda laughed. "It's nothing sinister, my friend. In fact, the opposite." Her face turned serious. "I'm going to tell you something you should not repeat widely. Please." Orion met Andromeda’s gaze, and saw her hazel eyes held gravity.

"Long ago, a member of the Astronomy Club observed an irregularity in the stars. It happens annually. We can usually predict the month, but only an expert of the skies could pinpoint the exact night it will happen. For 316 years now, this scroll has been anonymously sent to several of us, specifying the exact date so we can play our part. But this year -"

"- no date on the scroll," Orion finished.

Andromeda nodded. She continued, "On this magical day..."

Orion startled. “Okay. But stars fall all the time. It’s normal.”

She shook her head. “Not burns out. Not fades. But falls. And not just any star. A constellation star. It slips out of its place. If a constellation stays broken too long, it throws the whole sky out of balance. It’s our job to put it back.”

Orion let out a shaky laugh. “That sounds like an impossible mission.”

“That’s what everyone says the first time,” Andromeda smiled.

“How do you even save a star?” Orion demanded. “Do you carry it back up on a ladder? Toss it up and hope it sticks?”

“I’ll explain everything,” Andromeda said, placing a paw on his arm. “But first, we should find the others. I think they’ll be there already.”

Orion unravelled his scroll again. “There’s no location remember?”

Andromeda leaned closer and pointed to the gold embossed image on the flyer. “That’s another clue. The constellation we have to save.”

“The Sleeper,” Orion said seriously.

She nodded. “We have to go to…”

“The Hall of Heroes?” Orion echoed. “Why there?”

“I’ll explain on the way. Come on.”

Andromeda was already moving, excitement lighting her stride now that she had a partner in this investigation.

The sun dipped quickly as they hurried through Altador’s streets toward the towering pillar of the Hall of Heroes, standing at the city’s centre.

“The Astronomy Club has special access to the observation dome inside the Hall,” Andromeda said as they approach the Hall’s gate. “It lets us view the constellations directly. If the Sleeper is out of place, we’ll see it from there and maybe uncover another clue.”

Orion nodded, swept up by the urgency of it all.

They rushed inside and were met with the grandeur of Altador’s eleven Heroes, with the statue of the Lupe King poised valiantly at the centre.

Without hesitation, Andromeda led him to a narrow staircase towards the left along the wall. From beneath her collar she produced an iron key and stuck it into the door lock leading to the dome.

The lock clicked and the door creaked open.

As the Wocky stepped inside, they were met with…

Orion followed after as Andromeda confidently strolled toward the group, the two passing desks filled with dusty tomes and astrological instruments along their way.

Before Orion could ask Andromeda what the members of the Astronomy Club were doing, his attention was pulled to the center of their group, where he caught site of two figures.

Directly beneath the skylight, standing in a spotlight of bright sunshine, stood the disgraced Lenny, Old Man Withers, former Astronomy Club President and notorious eccentric, and standing right beside him holding worn tarot cards in one hand and an astrolabe in the other was no other than Orion's own father.

A gasp escaped the Ogrin. "Dad," Orion called. "What are you doing here?"...

Beside him, the old Lenny snorted. “Please, it took us only half the time to figure things out and get here in our day. And that was without help.” He threw a pointed look at Andromeda who merely shrugged in response.

“He already knew to come here,” the Wocky said with a grin, winking at Orion. “I just sped things up a little.”

Questions bubbled up inside him, quicker than he could sort through them. Orion opened his mouth to ask, then hesitated, unsure where to even begin.

“Ignore him,” someone in the crowd yelled. “He’s just bitter about having to play the part of a ‘disgraced’ former president.”

Laughter rippled through the room. Before Orion could protest, he felt gentle pats on his back as he was ushered into the centre of the circle.

“I’m glad you figured out where to look,” the older Ogrin said warmly.

“Dad, what...what’s going on?” Once the first question escaped, Orion felt his curiosity spill over like a waterfall. “You knew about all this? The Constellation Celebration? And you never mentioned a thing when we’re in the business of the stars? Does that mean you left that scroll for me on purpose?”

His father waited patiently for the torrent to end, the small smile never leaving his face.

Then realization struck Orion.

“Wait, then the Sleeper Constellation! Its star is falling, what do we do? Can we save it?”

“Yes,” he said gently. “We can save it.” He stepped closer, holding Orion’s gaze. “But more accurately, it’s your turn this time...”

“I don’t know how to fix this. I… I know a lot about the stars, but this?” he trailed off, lost in thought.

“This,” Andromeda began, placing a paw on her new companion’s linen-clad shoulder. “This is what the Constellation Celebration is for.”

From her knapsack, the Wocky pulled out a robe similar to that of the others. It was dark purple and a velvet so plush, it tickled your fingers. She placed it on, straightening out her gold-trimmed lapel, before taking out a second and handing it to the Ogrin.

“For me? Thank you.” Orion couldn’t help but blush.

“Year after year, we invite a new member to the Astronomy Club through this annual celebration of the stars. We task them with this annual astronomical anomaly and see if they have what it takes to join the ranks,” she explained in an authoritative tone that surprised Orion.

“So, the scrolls were missing the date on purpose. Weren’t they?” the Ogrin asked, putting it all together.

Andromeda winked. “I had to entice you to come with me somehow. Didn’t I?”

“I told Andromeda you loved a mystery,” his father said in a whisper causing Orion to roll his eyes.

“Let’s see what you can garner from the stars,” the Wocky said, motioning for Orion to step up to the telescope in the centre of the observatory…

How will this story end?

At first it was dark when he peered through the lens. He knew where to find the constellation of the Sleeper, but he had never dared to look directly at it before. His superstitious nature had always convinced him that doing so would bring about ill fortune. Trembling now, he built up the courage to fight against his angst and shifted the lens over to the area of darkened sky that harboured the constellation. Focusing in on the lens, he suddenly jolted back in disbelief.

"There are only five stars!" Orion gasped. "Shouldn't there be six?" He knew the answer and didn't expect a response.

"But what do I do?" He continued, this time expecting an answer. He looked around to see a number of eager faces: his dad’s face expressing the most faith in him. He had almost wished his dad hadn’t put so much faith in him. The Ogrin had a long history of messing things up and he honestly believed that he wasn’t worthy of being part of this ancient ritual. At least not playing such an important role. And he certainly didn't feel worthy of the robe that he was still gripping tightly in his paws. In fact, he was dumbfounded that they would give him the robe when it was something he had yet to earn.

He paused for a moment as he mulled over that thought. He HADN'T earned the robe yet, but they still presented it to him. Was there a reason?

As he rubbed his fingers gently on the soft, velvety material, an idea suddenly popped into his head. He trotted over to the rubble remnants of the Darkest Faerie statue, known also as “the Sleeper”, and without hesitating, or even understanding why he did what he did, Orion placed the robe over the rubble.

Even though utter confusion filled the Ogrin's face, delighted smiles rose on everyone else's who had followed him to the statue, apart from the disgruntled Lenny who rolled his eyes like it was the obvious thing to do. A bright, golden light emanated off of the robe, creating a ball of energy that eventually shot up and out through the opened slit of the domed ceiling.

“Go take a look,” someone eagerly shouted out to Orion, followed by few others. Orion jogged back and peered through the telescope. This time he counted six stars in perfect order as though nothing had ever happened.

“Did I just create a star?” Orion asked.

“Haha, no. You provided the star with the energy it needed to get back up to its rightful position in the sky. These statues don’t just represent the guardians who protect Neopia, but they also protect our guiding constellations,” Andromeda said. "And even though there's not much left of the Darkest Faerie statue, it still plays a vital role in the protection of the constellations."

"We had Queen Fyora enchant the robe we gave you as a means to restore the power back to the star, as she's done for us for over 300 years now. We turned this annual event into a celebration and an opportunity to recruit faithful members who can prove themselves worthy enough to continue this tradition," explained Old Man Withers, handing the robe back to Orion. Orion could barely contain himself. He had not expected the day to turn out as it had.

"And you passed the test as I knew you would," Orion's dad added. "You have made me proud, son."

The End.