#he has a lot of ummm revelations the next two chapters

[ssreeder]

Hello! :D

Hmmm... you know, number 12 seems interesting. 👀

And possibly number 19? Does fear (or maybe anger if you wish to answer this one) appear in this chapter?

-Pain Anon

(no Red Anon sadly :p )

HIIIII PAIN ANON!! (Sorry I haven’t responded to your other ask I lubbbb you & it took me so long to answer this…)

Ok so 12. What emotions do I plan for people to feel?

Ummm probably a mixture of conflicting feelings (per usual) i assume people will understand why one character is doing something even though they dislike it! So probably some frustration… i also I think there will be a lot of second hand embarrassment because some characters (Sokka) do things that are like UGHHH WHYYYYYY…….

19. Fear:

There was a reason citizens of the Fire Nation feared the Royal Family… and Iroh was a testament to that fear when he wanted to be.

Anger:

Jee couldn’t see them, but he heard the subtle anger in Zuko’s voice when he whispered, “You really are an idiot sometimes.”

[thetypedwriter]

Lore Book Review

Lore Book Review by Alexandra Bracken 

Lore by Alexandra Bracken was one of 2021’s most anticipated YA novels and it's easy to see why. The plot summary itself is enough to pull you in with the intriguing concoction of calling it the combination of The Hunger Games and the Percy Jackson series. 

What’s not to love when you fuse the illicit danger of Katniss Everdeen with the mythological enchantment of Rick Riordan’s masterpiece?

Turns out, quite a lot unfortunately. 

Before I get into why this book didn’t live up to the insurmountable hype it built up, I’ll attempt to give a basic summary. The key word being attempt as a good portion of this novel’s plot was a mind boggling and convoluted mess. 

The book takes place in modern day New York which Bracken likes to remind you every other paragraph with small snippets about how the city that never sleeps smells like sewage and is yet still the best place on earth apparently. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love New York as much as the next person, but the pandering to the Big Apple got annoying after awhile. 

Within the cantankerous city lives a girl named Lore which we are introduced to by means of her kicking ass in an underground Chinese restaurant’s fighting ring. 

Pretty strong start. 

Lore’s world (and the reader’s frankly) is tipped upside down when Lore’s long lost childhood friend, Castor, reappears to warn her that he is looking for her. Terrified, Lore is then at first unwillingly thrust back into the world in which she was born-a world dominated by violence, bloodlines, and the Greek gods who are very much alive and out for vengeful retribution. 

In a very exposition-dump heavy conversation, we learn that Lore is the last of Perseous’ line with the rest of her family having been horrifically murdered, that a week long event called the Agon occurs every seven years in which the original nine Greek gods or their reincarnated selves become mortal for seven days, and that a series of killing often happen because if you kill a Greek god you then become that Greek god as well as inhabit their powers, abilities, and immortality. 

Well, until the next Agon that is. 

The currently reincarnated God by the name of Wrath is attempting to end the Agon by killing all the other Gods, but in order to do it he needs to wield a special weapon called the Aegis. 

Unfortunately, only the Perseides can wield this shield (for some reason) and thus, Wrath is out to get his hold on Lore as the last of her line so that he can bring this eons old competition to an end with himself as the sole victor and only remaining God. 

Confused?

I’d be surprised if you weren’t. 

Now, I love Greek mythology. I’ve read the classics and would say I’m fairly up to date on the stories, the legends, the gods, and the stories they represent. I’m not an expert, but I would say I’m  knowledgeable on who the major figures are and what they stood for. 

I genuinely think this book would have been miserable for anyone that didn’t know anything about Greek mythology.

 Bracken does a terrible job of explaining what the hell is happening at any given point, and she often throws out allusions and references to Greek mythology without bothering to explain a single shred of information about it. 

In addition, after this laughably and poorly explained world and plot at the beginning, it is almost never explained again. It’s brought up, as are names and titles and weapons and relationships, but it’s never explained in a way that’s feasibly understandable. 

At the beginning of the novel Bracken lists who all the important characters are, their bloodlines, and their titles.

 I soon figured out why, as every other sentence a name like Wrath or Reveler or Tidebringer or whoever was brought up, and it was impossible to keep track of so I didn’t even bother. 

Even Lore brings up that the names are ridiculous, which I appreciate, but the meta moment of clarity doesn't make it any better. 

Also, what Lore and her friends get up to over 90% of the novel is a muddled mass of bewilderment. 

Why do Lore and Castor and the others need to find Artemis? I don’t know, but sure, whatever, sounds good. Why was Lore the last of her line again? Oh yeah, right, okay, I guess. Wait, Castor died? Oh, he didn’t? Why not? Oh, we’re not going to explain it. Sure, sure. 

Throughout this entire novel, what the characters are doing and what is happening is almost impossible to follow with the way it's presented and the way Bracken developed her world. I think this was a really cool idea that had very poor execution. 

Points for the originality and the inclusion of Greek mythology, but all of the positives were taken away when that originality was flushed down the drain with a lack of explanation and logic. 

Lore very much reminded me of a shoot-em up, bang-em up action movie. Almost every other chapter was some sort of super intense, super climactic fight scene, chase, theft, break-in, etc. 

Now. I do think action scenes are hard to write and I think Bracken actually did an incredible job of writing action in a way that was entertaining and thrilling. 

However, when the action takes place every ten pages it gets really old, really quick. Towards the end, I downright started skimming the fight scenes, because they lacked so little depth and stakes and we had read so much action at the end point that it had lost all vigor and vitality. 

Continuing with the action movie metaphor, most action movies focus solely on the bright explosions and the crazy fight scenes as their selling point of the whole movie, often to the detriment of the characters, plot, and development. 

Now, some people like this. I am not these people. 

I find action movies boring as most of my enjoyment from consuming media comes from the characters and the developments they undergo. 

My biggest criticism with Lore, other than the astonishing storytelling, is by far the characters. I just...didn’t care. About any of them. 

Bracken tried to make Lore come across as a strong, opinionated, fierce, angry female character and while sometimes she succeeded, more often than not I found Lore temperamental, aggravating, impulsive, selfish, and shallow. 

Bracken very much invoked the tell-not-show strategy that makes any book hard to get through. While there were some decent moments of showing instead of just stating, more often than not, Bracken would tell us that Lore was strong by having other people say it or others calling her weak. 

I appreciated Bracken’s feminist agenda and how strongly Lore felt about gender inequality, even if it was a bit heavy-handed at times. Still, I did appreciate this inclusion of civil rights on this front, even if some of the circumstances to incite it were ridiculous or over the top. 

In addition, I hated that there was all this backstory that we were just told but not shown. Like in my last review of Wilder Girls, Lore suffers from an intrinsic failure of getting me onboard with these characters and their relationships by telling me how I should feel about them instead of exposing them through action. 

I was told:

Lore and Castor haven't seen each other for seven years, but my gosh, Castor is just the best and is so beautiful. Ensue obligatory YA romance. 

Lore has a best friend! Yeah. Her name is Iro. Here she is! Um. Okay. Why was this necessary?

Miles is just the coolest best friend ever. Like, look how cool and chill he is. How funny is it that he has no idea what’s happening? Really not funny at all. He was a useless character used to build empty stakes. 

  The list goes on and on, but Bracken will throw out some sort of fact or relationship and just expect the reader to go “Okay!” Which. I didn’t. On any of those occurrences. 

Often Bracken would do this in the use of flashbacks at the most inopportune times (during a fight scene, after someone was injured, right before a huge revelation, etc). These flashbacks were the worst. I do not care for adolescent Lore and child Lore was somehow even worse. 

The romance in this book, much like an action movie, is off to the side and really only there to fulfill the trope of having a romance. 

Lore and Castor are boring. I don’t know what else to say. Castor is too perfect to be likable and Lore is the opposite. Nothing about their romance was unique or well-crafted. 

The kiss between Van and Miles I also saw coming a hundred miles away. I also thought it was pointless as Van and Miles had known each for six days and had had maybe two conversations. So. No. I didn’t care at all about the romances. 

It actually made me laugh and scoff simultaneously at the end when Lore is looking at Van, Castor, Iro and Miles and smiles because she realizes that these people are her family. 

Ummm. Sorry?

Castor disappeared for seven years and you’ve been reunited for seven days. You’ve hated Van your whole life until this week. You also haven’t seen Iro in seven years and she tried to kill you at least twice in this book. Miles is...fine, but again useless. I don’t even know why Bracken included him except to make Lore worry about him which she only did about half of the time. 

Phew. 

I know this review has come across largely negative, so this might be surprising, but I didn’t hate it. It lacks substance and depth, but it was entertaining. 

Just like an action movie.

 If you want some hyped fights and a plot that really doesn't matter and characters that won’t stick with you, but a fast-paced narrative that keeps you on your toes nonetheless, then you would probably enjoy this. 

It’s like the equivalent of watching a James Bond movie or one of the millions of the Fast and Furious. Bracken tries to develop the characters, but at the end of the day, most of the story is made up of cool fights, magic, and weapons. If that’s your speed then you would probably really love Lore. 

Recommendation: Action, action, action. If you want some high intensity, get-your-blood-pumping enterprise then this is your novel. The writing is fluid, the adrenaline-inducing scenes are non-stop, and everything else falls to the backdrop of external fights and villainous monologues. If action is not your preferred genre, then your best left to get your Greek mythology needs from Percy Jackson or the Song of Achilles instead.  

Score: 6/10

[lesbian-percy-weasley]

How To Make Your Crush Fall In Love With You In Three Easy Steps by Gay-Natasha-Saves-The-World on Ao3 (aka your Frankenstein references in Harry Potter fanfiction dealer)

Chapter 2: Make Yourself Desirable

Ship: Perciver

Content warning: Spoilers to the American satirical comedy But I’m A Cheerleader staring Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall in the first paragraphs. (It’s free on YouTube if you haven’t seen it)

Summary: Percy is starting to question his feelings about Oliver while Oliver tries everything in his power to prove to Percy he’s sort of an intellectual

A/N: Online school has totally messed with my sleep schedule so midnight fic release woohoo

“I swear film studies attract the worst type of people,” Penny sighed as she sat down at the library table with her friends. “This Tarantino fanboy was trying to talk to me about Pulp Fiction and then acted like I killed his dog when I said I didn’t like it. Cinema peaked with But I’m A Cheerleader and you can’t convince me otherwise.”

“Oh please, what’s so good about that movie?” Cedric complained. “Ummm, it’s gay, it’s a commentary about how gender roles are bullshit, it has a happy ending, and prince Zuko is in it,” Penny argued while she was opening her lunch.

“I would hardly call getting disowned by your family and being homeless a happy ending.”

“Did you not pay attention to the movie at all? First of all, they weren’t homeless; they were staying with Larry and Lloyd Morgan-Gordon. And second of all the last scene of the movie shows Megan’s parents in a support group for people with gay children so clearly they didn’t disown her.” Penny could deal with a lot of bullshit, but someone saying But I’m A Cheerleader was a bad movie was not one of them.

Percy however found this hilarious, but he was trying to hold in his laughter since they were in a library and his laugh was notoriously loud. Penny and Cedric were continuing to argue about the movie and Percy managed to gain composure. That’s when he noticed Oliver looking at him from next to a shelf.

He gave him a small friendly wave before he walked away of embarrassment. Strange. But Percy decided not to think a lot about it.

“Was that your boyfriend?” Penny teased Percy. “Don’t be ridiculous, it's just my friend from English.” He replied trying everything he could not make his face blush. “Oh, so he’s the person we have to thank for getting you to finally shut up about it.” Cedric laughed.

There was no hiding Percy’s blush now. “Oh wait, I get it. He’s not your boyfriend but you want him to be.” Penny exclaimed like this was a great revelation. “No!” Percy said a bit louder than he meant to, earning a harsh glare from Ms. Pince. “He’s just my friend. Besides, I doubt he’s gay, and even if he is, how would he know I’m gay.”

“Your computer screensaver is literally a picture of Oscar Wilde. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.” Cedric replied matter-of-factly. Percy couldn’t even muster a reply to that. Yes, Cedric was right but that still didn’t prove that he would have any chance of ever being with Oliver.

I mean just look at him. He’s a lanky, ginger nerd who was too shy to have more than 2 good friends and Oliver was a gorgeous and popular star sports player. Even if Oliver was gay, why would he want to be with him when he could be with any other boy in school?

Before he knew it, lunch ended and he had to go on with his day. But the thought of Oliver would be on his mind for the rest of the day.

Oliver was extremely tired after track practice. Besides the growing mountain of homework he had, he wanted to read the book for Percy. As much as he wanted to ignore it, if he did his grades would drop even lower and he would absolutely be kicked from the team. So the book could wait for now.

By the time he was done with his homework, he felt like he was about to pass out. But he HAD to read the book. It couldn’t be that hard to read, right? After all, he watched the movie with his parents a few years ago.

Oliver couldn’t even get past page 3 of Frankenstein before almost dozing. “I thought there was supposed to be a monster…” He mumbled to himself as he set the book down. He decided that he will try again tomorrow. If that didn’t work he would just SparkNotes it. It was almost 11 pm anyway.

For the next week, Oliver spent virtually every bit of the little free time he had reading Frankenstein. It was deceptively small for the amount of effort it took to read it. But late one night, he finally finished it.

The amount he took in was debatable but he understood enough to prove he read it. Just as he was thinking about messaging Percy about it, his phone beeped. He picked it up to see Percy had already messaged him.

ThatPercival: Do you still need help with the English homework?

Oliver.Would: Nah, I figured it out.

ThatPercival: Oh, okay.

Oliver.Would: I’ve been getting better at English this semester lol. I actually just finished reading Frankenstein.

ThatPercival: Really? What did you think about it?

Oliver.Would: I thought you were right about it being a better Jekyll and Hyde.

ThatPercival: Right? Mary Shelley did it first and better. I don’t know why we don’t read it instead.

Oliver.Would: If you got to pick the books we read in school people would actually pay more attention.

ThatPercival: I doubt they would pay any more attention to Pride and Prejudice or the Picture of Dorian Gray than they already do when they’re reading The Great Gatsby. But I would have more fun.

Oliver.Would: Touche. But at least we would be reading better books. You don’t even understand how boring English was before you came along.

ThatPercival: Speaking of English, what happened in the first semester that made Mr. Lupin have assigned seating? He never did that last year.

Oliver.Would: Oh yeah, Marcus Flint punched someone in the face over a seat.

ThatPercival: Asgjfhksdfkfdj What????

Oliver.Would: Yeah some kid sat in the seat he usually sat in, they argued about it for a few minutes and then he just punched him. He got suspended for a few weeks and Mr. Lupin had to change the rules. It was the only notable thing that happened in the first half of the year.

ThatPercival: That seems like a pretty severe reaction for someone sitting in your seat.

Oliver.Would: Yeah lol.

The conversation died after that and Percy felt quite sad about it. He would talk to Oliver all night if he could. It didn’t matter if he would see him in the morning. He’s found himself wanting to talk to Oliver about everything. Found a meme about the book they read in class? He would send it to Oliver. His siblings did something generally annoying? He would let off steam by talking to Oliver.

He still talked to Penny and Cedric about the random shit they always talked about, but he wanted to talk to Oliver way more. It just felt more, natural? Why would it feel more natural? He’s known Penny and Cedric since middle school and he’s known Oliver for like 3 months.

He put his phone on his bedside table and sighed heavily. All of this was just so confusing. He could read and understand some of the most advanced works in literature but his brain was a different story. Oliver made him feel an emotion he couldn’t describe.

His pondering was cut off by the ungodly noise his siblings were making seemingly right outside his door. They always seemed to do this at the worst times. It was 10:30 at night, what could they possibly be doing? Before he even got to the door, his mom was already telling them off.

Now he could return to trying to decode his feelings for Oliver. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Penny said a few weeks ago. Did he really want Oliver to be his boyfriend? Okay, maybe there was some truth in that. But there was still no way Oliver would want to be his boyfriend.

So what if he read a book he mentioned once? Maybe he was just trying to be friendly or expanding his literary horizons. That doesn’t mean he wants Percy to be his boyfriend. Why would he want to be his boyfriend? The two of them couldn’t have been more different.

But he shouldn’t waste time thinking about it. He had to sleep. He put his phone on the charger, turned his lights off, got into bed, and tried not to think about how madly in love with Oliver he was.

[kieraswriting]

Coffin Chapter Twenty-Eight

Masterpost

Roman ran into the living room when he heard Patton screech. “It’s what?!”

“What is?” Roman demanded.

Patton shushed him, gesturing emphatically at the tv screen.

“As according to even the lowest reports,” the lady was saying . “95% of the vampires have been rounded up now. There will still be people available to take your calls if you suspect you’ve seen a vampire, and we highly encourage you to keep turning them in. We will still be here to serve you, just in a less invasive manner.”

“What’s going on?” Roman whispered.

“She said the sweep is over.” Patton whispered back, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“It’s what?!”

“Shh!”

In the next weeks, we’ll be working on transitioning the vampires into controlled work environments. They will be in public, but carefully controlled. There is no reason for fear if you should see them. However, we would ask that you refrain from bothering the handlers, as that increases the risk, however slightly.

•^*^••

“They’re what?!” Dee said, turning the radio up.

“Yes, we can confirm that the sweep is over. The vampires of course will still be arrested if they are discovered, but there will be no more searching of homes without warrants.”

“Well, that’s good.” The other person on the radio program said. “As much as I’m glad to have the vampires gone, it’s very disconcerting to have people storming into your house.”

“Yes, that is a large part of why the sweep has officially ended. Individuals will have to take more responsibility to hand in the remaining hidden vampires, but this way we can have back our freedoms and privacy.”

Dee looked over at Thomas, who was just as wide-eyed. “Can we…?”

“Not home, they know us there. But we can make a new home.”

Dee was just as fine with a new home as with the old one. He nodded enthusiastically.

•^*^••

Liam searched the house. According to reports from the neighbors, Logan had been seen here, but no sign of Patton, and there were only three people staying in the house.

So Patton and the vampire that held him under thrall were somewhere else, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t clues. However, everything he saw was merely personal items. And they didn’t seem to match the supposed inhabitants. Perhaps they’d managed to kick out the original inhabitants. Some vampires did seem to have hypnotic powers.

He kept searching, letting out a slight growl under his breath in frustration, and ignoring the looks his men were giving each other.

•^*^••

Virgil hadn’t had a phone in ages. He had… not really friends, just some nice people online he used to talk to sometimes, and he wondered how they were doing.

Between the three of them, they had Roman’s phone and a burner phone that couldn’t do much other than call.

Part of it was that he was bored, part of it was that he was just thinking about old times, and part was just the relief of the sweep being over. But he wanted to try talking to his fr-- acquaintances, really, and it had been at least a year since he’d talked to any of them, they probably were even less than that now. But still.

“Um… Roman?”

“Hmm?” Roman looked up from the fire. That had been his way of not getting bored, keeping the fire going. Between cutting work and tending the fire almost constantly, it seemed to be working for him.

“Can I…” It felt weird… bad… asking for something as personal and valued as a phone. “CanIborrowyourphoneIswearI’lltakecareofit--”

“Woah, slow down, you want my phone?”

Virgil hesitated, but nodded.

“Yeah, sure. It’s plugged in on the kitchen counter. We’ll do the bonfire in an hour or so, but you can have it till then.”

Virgil was very surprised that Roman would just let him have it, without asking why or anything. “Thanks.”

“Oh, wait, you’ll need a password. Uh… I don’t, really want to tell you, it’s kinda personal, but if you bring it here I’ll type it in.”

Virgil was even more surprised, but the password was quickly typed in and Roman handed him the phone back, cracking a joke about not downloading any viruses.

Virgil waited a long few minutes, sitting up on the kitchen counter and just staring at the home screen. It had a picture of Roman, Patton, and Logan, with Roman and Patton squishing Logan into a group hug. He felt a pang of guilt that he was the one here with them, instead of Logan.

And then he got over his anxiety enough to sign in to tumblr. Yeah, yeah, he knew it was technically ‘dead’, but that didn’t matter. He could be strange there, and instead of picking at him or just leaving him alone, everyone else was pretty strange there too.

He wasn’t terribly surprised to see 99+ notifications, since he hadn’t checked it in a year or two, but he was surprised to see that so many of them were mentions and direct messages. He nearly broke down in tears seeing how concerned people had been for him. They’d left kind messages, ‘for whenever he came back’, and they’d started chains of ‘loving V hours’. One of his old friends had sent him a message every week, even if it was something like ‘hey, come back, idiot, we miss you’.

So he messaged them first.

Ummm….. I’m back?

They didn’t respond immediately, probably didn’t have notifications on, or busy or something, and Virgil started scrolling through his dash. The tears swimming around in his eyes fell when he saw the post. It was someone advocating for the vampires. Saying that, no matter what they’d done, they didn’t deserve to be massacred. Virgil went to the blog, and saw that she was getting a lot of hate, but was making and reblogging things supporting the vampires, and ‘conspiracy theories’ about how they were treated that he knew to be true. He followed immediately. He kept scrolling, and found a few people agreeing with her, a very few supporting and sharing information around.

He’d always been interested in conspiracy theories, in cryptids, he wouldn’t be giving himself away to reblog some of these.

A fwip sound made him jump and then smile.

V!!!!!!!!! Where’ve you been!!!!!!????????

Virgil smiled wide. Lost my phone, kicked out of home, you know, all the stuff you warned me about. It’s really nice to hear from you.

Nice to hear from me???? Do you have any IDEA how nice it is to hear from YOU??????!!!!

XD I’m fine.

Did you really get kicked out of your home?!?

Lol, kinda. I’m staying with some nice people though. They’re even letting me use their phone.

That’s good, but what happened????!!!

Virgil thought about it. How much could he say? They didn’t know where he lived, and he didn’t even live there anymore. They knew his full first name, but not his last name. He’d… probably be safe talking to them. He always had been, when he told them about other things.

I saw the things you’ve been reblogging. Man, things are crazy. Are you doing alright with it all?? You didn’t have police bothering you or anything, right?

It’s a long story.

You think after this whole time that I’m not dying to hear long stories????!!!! I haven’t heard from you in ages! I want to know everything!

Well, you know about my dad, and all that….

He’s an abusive douchebag, yes.

Virgil had to give a small smile at that. They’d been the first person to call his dad abusive, and they’d helped him realize it too.

So… Dad was also a vampire…

Not surprising, all things considered. Did he hurt you?????

You remember that one lady I told you about?

The creepy fae lady? Did. Your Dad. Hurt you? I will find you and bust his face in, V, I swear.

I mean… kinda? Well, I guess I can’t say kinda. So he’s been drinking from me my whole life, and he went… way too far one time. The lady found me, oh, and she’s a vampire too, and she turned me to try and save my life. I went to live with her for a long time.

There was a long wait, and then a meme of John Mulaney, “Now we don’t have time to unpack all of that.”

So… you’re a vampire now?

Yeah.

And you’re safe. No police?

At the moment.

Ok, I’m gonna need a bit to adjust to the whole you’re a vampire thing, but before that-- At. The. Moment???? Who hurt you now????!!!?

There came the tears again. It was far too easy to cry right now. But to have his friend accept him so readily… and still ready to rail at people who would hurt him?! It was just a lot. More than a lot, and it made him so happy.

And don’t you dare say long story! Tell me what happened!

I got caught by hunters, before the sweep.

Another meme, “Now we aren’t just gonna skim past this like you didn’t just say what you just said.”

Please. Slow down and tell me what actually happened. You’re hitting me with some big revelations, and I need some details in between those.

Virgil went back to the beginning, writing out his story, and just avoiding names and places, just in case. It wasn’t easy, and by the end he was fighting back tears again. His friend wasn’t, they kept sending sobbing faces, and alternately saying how sorry they were that something like this would happen and raging against the people that had done it.

V, you don’t have to do this, but I think you should write that down. Make a post of it. I’ve seen the theories I don’t even know how many times, but I never got close to guessing how true they were. You… you really, really, don’t have to, and definitely don’t put your face in them, but taking pictures of the scars would really make it a lot more real to people.

Would it do any good?

I think it could do worlds of good. I’ve never heard things like this. NEVER. I absolutely believe you, and I think other people would too. Use a fake name, make a new blog, heck, make a whole new account, you don’t want people tracing this. But I really think you should do it.

Virgil hesitated again. He didn’t think he could take hate online.

I’ll help you, and I’ll get some other people too, if you don’t mind me telling them your story. I won’t tell them your name or anything.

You think… an ask blog? In case people have questions?

Yes. That’s a brilliant idea.

I won’t have a phone all the time…

I’ll help run it, and answer as best as I can.

It’s… It’s so nice to have you here, and here for me.

Always, V.

•^*^••

Virgil was quiet during the bonfire, but it was the thinking kind of quiet, not the anxious kind, which helped Patton feel better about it. They’d managed to get marshmallows, and to roast them. Virgil had hoped he could eat just one without problems, which, well, didn’t work out, but after that he ate a whole lot of them, ‘just to spite his body’.

They ended up laying on blankets near the fire, looking up through the leaves at the few stars they could see.

“Thanks for keeping me with you,” Virgil said. “I’ve… I’ve been thinking about the past, and if you’d sent me back, or…” his voice strangled a bit. “Or kept me in that coffin…”

“Virgil, I’m so, so glad that you’re here with us now.” Patton said. “I wouldn’t be the same person I am without you. If… Looking back on it, the very idea of leaving you there makes me sick.”

“You’re an important kid, and I’m glad we have you,” Roman said.

Virgil just nodded silently, curling in on himself a little.

Patton locked eyes with Roman, and they each had the same idea, moving to Virgil’s blanket and sandwiching him between them. There was no protest from Virgil, and he even grabbed their hands, squeezing silently.

Patton gave a soft squeeze back. “We’re here now, and we have you, and we won’t let go.”

“No, we won’t.” Roman echoed.

“Thank you,” Virgil said, his voice rather choked up, but a watery smile on his face.

[roxannarambles]

Fleeting Fireflies: Chapter Two

Title: Fleeting Fireflies

Author: Roxanna Rambles

Genre: Moomin/Deltarune Crossover, Snufmin

Rating: PG (depictions of mild violence)

Summary:

Snufkin and Moomin go out for a simple day at the beach. What they don’t expect is that they will end up on an adventure so grand, it will rival anything in Moominpapa’s memoirs.  

Or,

What if Suzy and Kris didn’t go to the supply closet that day in search of chalk? Would the lost prince of a dim kingdom ever find his champions?

Previous Chapters: Prologue  Chapter One

Next Chapters: Chapter Three  Chapter Four  Chapter Five

Notes: This story was written so that you do not need to know anything about Deltarune to enjoy this fic. However, you probably need to be at least a little familiar with the characters of Moominvalley to enjoy the story.

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Chapter Two

"Good morning, Moomintroll!"

Moomin grumbled as Snufkin nudged him awake in a far too-cheerful voice.

"Jus' five more minutes . . ."

Snufkin nudged him again.

"C'mon, lazybutt, we gotta start the day sometime. Places to explore, things to do."

Moomin rolled over and gave a big yawn, stretching. As he blinked awake, the starry sky above greeted his eyes.

"Uhh? Snuf . . . it's still the middle of the night."

Snufkin smiled at him, but something about it looked a little strained.

"About that . . . it actually really is morning."

Moomin sat into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes.

"What're you talking about?"

If Snufkin was joking around, it wasn't an especially witty joke.

"Didn't you notice your last shift of keeping watch was still terribly dark?"

Moomin glanced around, still feeling slow and woozy from sleep. He hadn't noticed much of anything during his last watch because he'd simply been struggling to keep from falling asleep.

"Ummm. Maybe? I dunno."

Snufkin sat down beside him.

"Moomin. I know this is hard to believe, but around nine hours have passed since we went to bed, near as I can tell."

Moomin stared at Snufkin. He didn't seem to be joking.

"Snufkin, that's silly. How could it still be dark then?"

His friend leaned with his back against the fluffy bed of grass Moomin had made.

"Just another mystery about this place. That's about all I can give for an answer. But look over there."

Moomin followed to where Snufkin pointed, up in the sky. It was the moon, fairly low in the sky, at around three-quarters full.

"Well, it's the moon."

Moomin wasn't sure why that was so noteworthy, but he was in a way glad to see it; at least the moon still rose in the sky in this odd land.

"Notice anything different about it?"

Moomin stared at the moon, wondering what he meant. It looked pretty normal to him. It was around three-quarters the last night he'd seen it, after all. It shined gentle silver light, and . . . hmmm.

"Does it . . . is the moon's face gone, Snufkin?"

Or, perhaps not gone, exactly, but very different. Moomin always thought the moon seemed to have a face, with two eyes and a wide open mouth, but none of that was showing up on the moon right now. The large splotches of lighter and darker spaces were gone, replaced with simply a lot of very even speckling and a single dark little spot in the upper-left hand side.

"Mm-hmm. It sure is."

Moomin gazed a bit longer at the strange sight, then turned to Snufkin.

"So are you telling me that the sun never rises in this place, and the moon has lost its face?"

At this point, he probably should be getting used to these bizarre revelations, but he really hadn't. It just seemed too fantastical to be real. A land without sun?

"That's what seems to be the case."

Moomin slumped, sighing, his mind reeling. Where could they have gone to escape even the sun's reach?

"I have some good news, though," Snufkin said, rising and moving over toward their smoldering campfire. He returned and placed several star-shaped objects right in front of him.

"I found some fruit for breakfast! Give it a try."

Moomin picked up one of the fruits; it was large, around the size of a grapefruit, and it had a smooth skin. He couldn't quite tell whether the fruit was red or black-- its color seemed to change depending on the direction he was looking at it, and it almost seemed to glow. Speckled evenly across the surface of its skin was very pretty glittering, and as he moved the fruit around the glittering sparkled and shined.

"Wow, Snufkin. These look really beautiful."

He sniffed the fruit, and it had a pleasant, sweet scent. It was almost a shame to eat it, but Moomin was admittedly very hungry. He took a large bite. The skin broke easily and his teeth sunk into a very soft fruit, around the texture of a pear, and the bright, sweet taste poured over his senses. After gulping it down, he exclaimed,

"It's delicious! It-- it's strange, but I swear it tastes just like marshmallows!"

Snufkin grinned, looking very pleased that Moomin approved.

"Eat your fill, there's plenty growing on the tree I found."

Snufkin snapped his fingers, adding,

"Right, that reminds me! I have another good piece of news."

Distracted from chomping on the star-shaped fruit, Moomin glanced up.

"Hmm?"

Snufkin opened his hands in a happy gesture,

"We didn't die from mushroom poisoning!"

Moomin snorted.

"Snufkin."

"What? That's very good news. It means what we had last night is safe to eat. I'm going to forage a little up for later on."

So Snufkin filled his pockets with mushrooms while Moomin finished breakfast, and then they carefully doused the remains of their campfire. Moomin found himself feeling quite chipper, despite the fact that the sun hadn't risen and they were lost in an unknown wonderland.

"It's a shame we have to drag these things around, but that shield sure has been coming in handy," Moomin noted, picking up his purple sword again.

"It is a bit of a pain, you're right. Hopefully we find the owners soon."

They started out walking along the bank of the creek. Moomin tried to see how far along the creek went, but eventually it was obscured up ahead by all the grass and trees.

"Where d'you think the creek leads to, anyway?"

Snufkin adjusted his blue hat and shrugged.

"Only one way to find out. If we're lucky, though, we can find some fish. Mushroom and fruits are very good, but we might want some protein eventually."

Moomin thought a few minutes about what kinds of fish might live in this land.

"What if this sort of place doesn't even have fish?"

Snufkin had used his scarf to loop around the handle of the shield as a crude sort of sling, and was carrying the shield on his back like a pack.

"Well, we could always try and catch the bugs around here, in that case."

Moomin balked.

"Bugs?! You can't be serious."

"Why not? They can be very healthy to eat, you know."

Moomin eyed Snufkin, but his friend maintained a serious expression.

"I'll just . . . hope we find some fish."

As they walked along the creek, Moomin studied the water for critters of any sort. It was a little hard to see in the darkness, but at least with the moon now up, it brightened things up slightly more. The steady sound of the creek and their crunching through the underbrush reminded Moomin of many springs spent walking along the river in Moominvalley. It wasn't hard to pretend they were back there now, on a warm spring night, just going out for a stroll together. As long as he didn't let his gaze wander too far to the sides, where the strange black shadows loomed, or dwell too much on the colors of the foliage, that is.

For a time, that worked quite well. The two chattered about this and that as they walked, as if they were back home again; Moomin told Snufkin about how, a few days ago, Little My had climbed a tree and thrown buckeyes at Sniff until he'd curled in a ball and started crying; Snufkin told Moomin about an old tale about a pirate he'd heard from the locals during one of his travels. The illusion of their peaceful walk, however, was shattered when the pair eventually pushed past a patch of grass and ran right smack into a pair of snake people.

It seemed they had accidentally stumbled across the creatures while they'd been lounging by the creek, in fact; one of them had its robes off, in fact, and had been wading in the water. The snakes hissed in surprise and scrambled in sheer panic, grabbing up their weapons.

"Y-you! Uh, stop right there!"

"Halt! The royal guard commands you to halt!!"

Moomin and Snufkin froze in their tracks, watching the flustered snakes. One of the creatures cried,

"Good! S-stay halted!"

"I'm terribly sorry," Moomin answered them awkwardly,

"We didn't mean to startle you."

The second snake-- the one sans robe-- shouted back,

"You didn't startle us!!"

The first snake raised its blade, which started to glow a bright white.

"Right! You just fell into our clever trap, that's all!"

Moomin raised a brow. The snake ignored this and shouted,

"Now prepare to fight!!"

His friend also lifted his tiny, glowing blade and shouted,

"Yeah! En garde!"

Moomin exchanged a look with Snufkin. Then he sized up the two snakes.

With a sudden stabbing motion, he stuck his sword firmly into the ground and crossed his arms, glowering at the snake creatures.

"Don't be ridiculous. Now's not the time for joking around."

The two snake people looked at him with dumbfounded expressions. Then they looked back and forth between Moomin and Snufkin.

Moomin spoke in a stern tone,

"And just what do you two think you're doing, anyway? You're on duty and you're just playing in the creek! If the King hears about this, he'll have your tails!"

The snakes' eyes widened at the mention of the king and the naked snake squealed.

"Wh-whaaat? Who ARE you?"

Moomin puffed his chest, booming,

"Who am I?!"

He flicked his tail and laughed.

"Who am I?!"

He glanced to Snufkin. In a low voice, he muttered,

"Who am I, Snufkin?"

"Uhm, you're the King's new aide, of course! Sir."

Moomin looked back to the snake people and nodded vigorously,

"Right. Exactly. The King's new aide. I'm out here checking on you all, as a matter of a fact."

Moomin scowled a little and added,

"I'm surprised you haven't heard."

The snake still in robes spoke in an anxious whine,

"I-it was all Noor's fault, sir, I swear. He's the one who wanted to mess around--"

"Silence!" Moomin snapped,

"You're both acting disgraceful for members of the royal guard!"

The creatures both cowered. Lashing his tail, Moomin continued,

"Give me . . . one good reason I shouldn't report you both right now."

"Oh, please, sir. We were only here a moment."

"We were still patrolling our sector, it's true."

"Hmmmmmm."

Still with his arms crossed and wearing a scowl, Moomin pretended to consider it. In truth, he was stalling for time. He wasn't exactly sure what to do now that he'd gotten this far.

"If I might interrupt, Sir Moomin," Snufkin said calmly from beside him.

"Ah, of course, Snufkin. Go ahead."

"Perhaps we should inform these two about the King's orders for them to return to the castle?"

Moomin nodded curtly.

"Yes. Very well."

Moomin turned to the snake creatures.

"You . . .two! I've decided to have mercy. I will not inform the King of your misconduct. But, you must return to the castle immediately. King's orders."

The snakes looked somewhat confused. Meekly, the clothed snake asked,

"Why does he wish us to return to the castle?"

Moomin glared.

"That isn't important! What matters is that's what he's ordered!"

The snakes bobbed their heads and said,

"Of course, sir."

"Very sorry, sir. We'll go at once."

"Good. Leave our sight!"

The snakes scrambled to leave, but Snufkin called after them.

"Wait a moment!"

They froze and looked back at him, panic on their faces.

"Just so we know, which route back to the castle do you plan to take?"

The naked snake-- the poor fellow hadn't even stopped to grab his discarded robes-- answered,

"U-uh. Just. The usual? The, the path through Central Fields."

Snufkin nodded.

"All right. You can go."

The creatures didn't waste any time getting out of there, sliding through the tall grass and disappearing. Moomin and Snufkin waited several moments, and then Snufkin said,

"Good job, Moomin."

Moomin let out a breath.

"I wasn't sure if they'd buy it."

"It looks like they're headed to the path we were using earlier. Apparently it eventually leads to their castle."

Moomin plucked up his sword from the ground.

"Should we go back to the path then?"

"For the time being, I'd say. We can always return to the creek later."

The two friends pushed their way through the tall grass and eventually relocated the path without too much trouble. Moomin was reluctant to leave the creek behind, which had a relaxing, almost comforting presence. It felt rather out-in-the-open and exposed walking along the trail, but he was curious about the castle.

"What do you suppose the castle is like?" he asked, dragging the tip of his sword along the grass as they walked.

"Very well guarded, if what we've seen so far is any indication."

That was probably true.

"So if what we've seen so far is any indication, they're not likely to welcome us very well, either."

Snufkin looked as cool and collected as ever, replying,

"True, but we'll figure things out."

Moomin sighed, wishing he was as confidant as his friend was. Snufkin seemed to read his mind, although he wasn't even looking at him. He said,

"Like you did just now, convincing those fellows to leave us alone."

The troll wasn't entirely convinced that wasn't just luck, but all the same, it was a nice thought that he'd done well.

Their walk slipped back into a companionable silence for some time, as they followed the path through the grassy valley. There was still a gentle breeze, and it carried a soft, sweet scent; it was a pleasant companion on their trek. After around fifteen or twenty minutes, the creek cut across their path, and there was a small bridge leading over it. Moomin ran up to it, his heart skipping a beat at the sight. It reminded him of the little bridge very near his house, where he and Snufkin always sat and talked.

Once he reached the small bridge and hung his head over to look at the water, he realized something. As the creek crossed over them and flowed off to his left, it then vanished into the dark shadows. Moomin hasn't even realized the looming darkness had closed in so closely to both sides of them. He stared for a bit, trying to see the exact moment the water was eaten away by the blackness. There was something chilling about the sight.

"Moomin. Over there."

Beyond the bridge and further down the path, there seemed a tall stone pillar and another ivy-covered wall. Moomin and Snufkin made their way over.

"Another puzzle, you think?" Moomin asked, touching the stone pillar. It was covered in the boxy blue ivy and at its peak, there was a bright white point of light. Moomin peered up at it; it was a strange sort of light source that didn't really look like flame or anything. It almost seemed to be produced by magic.

"Definitely. There's a door here," Snufkin reported, standing by the wall.  

Moomin joined him, eyeing the door. It looked very old and heavy, like the last one, but unlike the other door, it lacked those strange symbols. Instead, it was entirely blank. It stood in the middle of the old wall, with the light from the pillar cast upon it.

There was something else, though; at Moomin's feet, near the wall, was a box. Well, to be more precise, it looked like a large wooden chest.

"What's this?"

Moomin hefted the chest lid open, which was surprisingly weighty, exposing its interior. It would have been fibbing to claim he didn't at least partially expect some sort of treasure in it. Instead, Moomin found a chest full of . . . blocks. He picked a few up. Wooden building blocks. The sort he played with when he was a small child.

"Blocks?"

Moomin handed a block to Snufkin.

"Yes. A lot of them. It's odd."

Snufkin looked them over briefly, and then returned his attention to the wall.

"There's more writing here," he said, brushing away the ivy leaves that were attempting to consume the words etched into the wall. He leaned in and read out loud slowly.

"Ebb turns to flow

Sun turns to moon

Each has their counterpart

As does the Rune."

Moomin had seated himself in front of the chest and had taken out some of the blocks. He looked up.

"Eh? Read it again, Snufkin."

Snufkin repeated the riddle. Moomin scratched his head.

"The first part's simple enough, I guess, but what's 'the Rune'?"

Snufkin looked thoughtful.

"Well, a rune is an ancient symbol of some kind. Often used in divination."

Moomin stacked a few of the blocks as he pondered.

"I haven't seen any symbols around here, except that one that's on your shield."

Snufkin pulled the shield from his back and studied the markings for a moment. Moomin asked,

"Do you suppose the rhyme means that symbol?"

Snufkin glanced about at the wall.

"Maybe. The last door had this symbol on it. This door is blank."

"Hmm, that's true."

Snufkin came over to sit beside Moomin and leaned his head in one hand.

"Ebb and flow, sun and moon. Each has their counterpart."

He watched Moomin building with the blocks.

"So what's the Rune's counterpart?"

"Um. A counterpart? So, opposites, right?"

"It seems so."

Moomin picked the shield up and looked at it closely.

"Like . . . it's a circle and three triangles. So maybe one triangle and three circles."

Snuf hummed in thought.

"Or, this," Moomin said, turning the shield upside-down.

"It's kinda opposite now?"

Snufkin took the shield back and studied it some more.

"Where does that leave us, though? What do we do with its opposite?"

Moomin shrugged. They fell quiet for a while as they puzzled over things. Moomin continued to play around with the blocks until he'd created a miniature castle. Eventually, Snufkin said,

"The blocks must have a purpose in all this."

They were just plain wooden blocks; most of them square and rectangular blocks, with a few arch-shapes Moomin used for the center castle walls, and a few triangular blocks that Moomin had used for the castle spires.

"I thought maybe making a castle might help somehow. I don't know."

Snuf nodded.

"It's good to play around with ideas and try different things."

Snufkin stared steadily at the castle. Then he looked back to the shield for a while longer. His expression seemed to grow increasingly tense. It took Moomin a while to realize, but Snufkin looked absolutely stumped. It was such a rare sight, Moomin couldn't help but marvel at it a little. Even Snufkin sometimes didn't know what to do.

Snufkin let out an irritated sigh and sort of slumped.

"I'm sorry, Moomin. I'm usually a bit better with these sorts of things."

He sounded so unhappy with himself. Moomin got to his feet and said,

"You musn't blame yourself, Snufkin. It's a very silly riddle."

At a loss, Moomin looked around, wanting to make some headway, at least for Snufkin's sake. If he could, he simply would have walked around the blasted wall-- but the perfectly black shadows were on either side of the walls and he didn't dare go anywhere near them. Without any other ideas, he wandered over to the stone pillar with the bright light, wondering if it related to their puzzle in any way. He touched the pillar, feeling around for any symbols or etched writings or heck, secret switches or anything. He stared up at the light, still unsure how it was made.

"It's a very odd light, isn't it, Snufkin?"

Snufkin made a mildly interested 'hmm' at that, clearly still lost in unhappy thoughts. Moomin swished his tail.

"Snufkin. What do you think it's made of? Magic, maybe?"

Snufkin turned away from Moomin, adjusting so that he was slumped more comfortably, and mumbled.

"Maybe. Hard to say."

Moomin flattened his ears a little, annoyed. He needed Snufkin's help, he couldn't just mope about. He began to move back over to Snufkin and say as much;

"Snufkin, you can't just--"

"--wait, Moomin. Stop right there."

Moomin froze in place. He frowned.

"What?"

Snufkin was still facing away from Moomin and toward the wall, but he spoke in a clear voice;

"Go back to where you were."

Moomin was mystified but took a few steps back toward the light pillar.

"Here?"

Snufkin got to his feet. He looked excited.

"Look."

He was pointing at the wall. Honestly, Moomin didn't see anything unusual.

"Look at what?"

Snufkin grinned. He quickly walked over to the wall with the door, then pointed again.

"You see? It's your counterpart."

Moomin squinted.

"Snufkin, it's just a wall! Where??"

Snufkin pointed emphatically.

"There!! Right there!"

Moomin shouted,

"Snufkin!"

His friend chuckled.

"Your shadow, Moomin."

Moomin stared. It . . . was technically true; his shadow cast large upon the wall as he stood in the light. And it . . . was a counterpart, of sorts.

He crossed his arms.

"Ok, I guess so. But we want the Rune's counterpart, don't we?"

Snufkin nodded. He picked up a couple blocks.

"I have an idea."

He came over to a point between the light pillar and the wall, and began stacking blocks. At the peak of one stack, he placed one of the triangular blocks. It cast its long shadow upon the wall, over the door. He repeated the process for a second block tower, and then carefully aligned a third tower, slightly shorter and in between, to cast a third triangle shadow. The pattern did seem to correspond beautifully with the strange symbol on their shield.

The thing was, those were only the triangles. Moomin came over to look into the chest full of blocks.

"Are there any circles, though, Snuf?"

Snufkin sighed and shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. That's the problem."

With some careful stacking and playing around, they were both able to arrange the arch-shaped blocks to look like the pair of wings in the 'Rune' symbol. However, that still didn't solve the problem of no round blocks. They looked around the immediate area for something they might use in substitution, but there was little else around.

"Can we use me? I'm rather round."

Snufkin laughed affectionately.

"I'm afraid your shadow would be too large."

Moomin sighed, as that was probably true. He thought about the shield momentarily, but it was decidedly shield-shaped and not round. Besides, it was probably too large as well. Moomin was about to suggest searching further away for something when suddenly Snufkin reached into the pile of blocks and grabbed up one of the triangular ones.

"Hold on, I've been foolish!"

Moomin cast him a curious gaze.

"Snufkin, that's a triangle."

Snufkin reached up with his triangular block, aligning its shadow above the others, lining up just right so it matched the rest of the Rune pattern.

"No it isn't," he said, and then turned the block so that its bottom faced them. The block was, of course, a pyramid shape-- and it had a rounded base. When Snufkin turned it, its shadow transformed from a triangle to a circle.

All at once, there was a deep rumbling, something Moomin could practically feel through the ground, and the heavy stone door, with the complete shadow Rune cast over it, slid down and open.

Moomin stared a moment and then cheered exuberantly.

"Snufkin, you did it!"

His friend warmly replied,

"We did it. I might have given up if not for you."

The two friends quickly gathered up their sword and shield and made their way through the door, not wanting to give it a chance to close. The path on the other side looked much the same as before, but still, it felt like a grand accomplishment.

"We may be in trouble if these riddles get much more complicated than they already are."

"Well," Snufkin mused,

"Let's just hope we don't run into any more trouble for the day."

The words had hardly left Snufkin's mouth when there was a sudden shout.

"You! Stop right there, the both of you!"

Only a few feet from the door they'd just opened, the pair stopped walking. From the grass to their sides, there came a rustling, and then one of the robed snake people appeared.

Moomin groaned. Snufkin quietly muttered,

"Sorry, Moomin, I didn't mean to jinx it."

Several more snake people popped out from the grass-- two, three, then four. Five total. They circled Snufkin and Moomin, glaring with their bright, creepy eyes. Moomin felt very uneasy. This was not like before. That was just a pair of meek goofballs. These looked serious. Moomin doubted he could talk them down like the others.

Still, he could give it a shot.

Gathering up his courage, he held his sword in a threatening stance and shouted out,

"And just who are you to give us orders?"

The laughter of the first snake that had appeared was a black and ugly sound.

"Such a preoccupation with names, you Lightners. Very well. I am Commander Nassak. And by the will of our great and glorious King, I order you to halt."

Moomin recognized that voice. It was the snake from yesterday-- could he really call it yesterday if it was only ever night in this world? In any case, it was the snake from before, the leader of the group that had harassed them. It seemed he'd added to the size of his group since then.

"Tell me, how did you two manage to get by the door puzzle? That was meant to keep scum like you out."

Moomin lashed his tail angrily and held his threatening posture.

"Maybe we're not who you think we are."

The snake snorted at him.

"I'm not falling for that one again. You're no innocent civilian."

Snufkin, with his shield carefully raised, chimed in calmly;

"We never claimed to be citizens, only that we're travelers."

"Please. Spare us your charades."

The snake, Nassak, gestured to the others. All around them, the snakes lifted their tiny blades and they began to glow, powering up for attack.

Tensely, Moomin flicked his gaze about to each of the snake people. Conflict seemed inevitable at this point. They couldn't exactly run away like before.

"We've done nothing to harm anyone, so why--"

"FIRE!"

The snakes unleashed their first volley of diamond-shaped magic bullets, slicing through the air from multiple directions. Snufkin grabbed Moomin's wrist and twirled them about in a circle, blocking them both with his shield and avoiding all the hits. Moomin heard the commander snake snarl in rage and whip his own weapon in the air; using his purple sword, Moomin slashed and deflected the bullets rushing at him.

The commander barked,

"Dresden, Cora, attack pattern diamond cutter! Nizam, Noor, diamond release!"

Moomin was mystified over what he was talking about, but their foes responded immediately, powering up their swords and swinging them again. White-hot bullets slashed at them from the sides but also began raining down from above. Snufkin slid to Moomin's side, lifting the shield like an umbrella to try and block for the both of them, but suddenly jerked and cried out in pain as some of the bullets struck him in the back.

"Snufkin!"

Moomin pulled Snufkin by the arm and tried to block the diagonal bullets with his sword, protecting Snufkin, but his guarding wasn't perfect and he felt the hot pricks of the magic peppering at him. The snakes kept sliding and moving about, circling them as they attacked, and it was getting hard to predict their movements. There was a very brief pause as they powered their weapons for attack again, and Moomin heard the commander shout.

"Everyone! Diamond release, now!"

The sky was filled with a vicious rain, bullets pouring down upon them. Snufkin lifted his shield as an umbrella again, leaning into Moomin to maximize coverage, wincing as the bullets splashed around them. With such a downpour there wasn't much to do--

But then the commander swung his blade and shot a rapid volley straight at them.

Moomin cried out and tried to block with his sword, but the awful diamonds flitted right past and found their mark, burying into Snufkin's chest and face. Snufkin's cry of pain was right in Moomin's ears, ringing in his eardrums. Moomin held onto Snufkin, desperate to shield him. He saw the burn marks etched into Snufkin.

He turned to the snake commander, a newfound rage glinting in his green-blue eyes.

Then he launched himself directly at the snake, screaming in fury, swinging his purple sword.

The commander tried to jump out of the way, but Moomin grabbed onto him before he could slip away and pinned him down, then he slashed with his weapon, the air whipping at the attacks, deep ugly lines cutting into the snake's skin. The snake cried out in pain.

Moomin kept swinging.

At some point, he felt Snufkin grabbing him, pulling at him, trying to stop him. Snuf managed to get Moomin's sword away from him, but Moomin was still seething down at the snake he had pinned.

"Moomin. Moomin, stop. I'm ok, Moomin."

It took time, but eventually Snufkin's words reached him. He blinked. He stared down at the snake. It was writhing in pain, covered in marks, whimpering.

Moomin stood up abruptly and took a step back. His face fell into an expression of horror.

"Ah--I-- oh, Snufkin."

Moomin felt his eyes begin to well in tears. He realized the other snake people had been looking on in horror at the scene, having halted their attacks. He turned to them.

"I . . . I'm sorry."

His tears spilled over. The other snakes didn't say anything, just moved to their commander's side. They helped him up quickly and began to hobble away. Moomin could scarcely even watch, and he turned away, tears running down his cheeks.

After a moment, he felt a gentle touch at his face. He looked up into the kind eyes of his friend.

"Snufkin," he mumbled, sniffing and wiping at his face in shame.

"Moomin," Snufkin intoned gently. At that, Moomin sobbed, and he buried his face into Snufkin's shoulders, hugging him and crying.

For a few solid minutes, Moomin just hugged Snufkin and cried, while Snufkin made soothing sounds, rubbing his back.

Eventually, Moomin stood shakily, and he said in a small voice,

"Snufkin . . . do you . . . think they'll be alright?"

Snufkin nodded, hand still on Moomin's back in comfort.

"His friends will take care of him."

Moomin thought back to his strikes, the swings he'd put his full force into. He felt a little queasy.

"H-how? I . . ."

Snufkin squeezed his shoulder.

"I don't think they're like us. Their bodies are a bit sturdier than ours. The . . . wounds didn't look fatal. I'm sure of it."

Moomin looked at him, letting Snufkin's confidant eyes convince him. It was a comfort, but the thought that if had they been any other type of more fragile creatures . . . well. That was not a comforting train of thought.

Moomin swallowed and said,

"I just, when I saw how hurt you were . . . "

He trailed off, and gingerly reached out, brushing his fingers on Snufkin's face. The burn marks were etched across his cheek, drawing painful-looking wounds, and trailed down across his chest, too, burned through his clothes. It was a horrible thing to look at.

"It's ok, Moomin. Nothing vital was hit. I'll recover fine."

Moomin could feel the sting of tears again, but he pushed it back. Instead, he fell quiet, his throat feeling as though it had a painful lump. For a minute or two he stood there, trying to think of what to say. He really had no idea.

Ultimately, he settled for,

"I feel terrible."

Snufkin squeezed his shoulder again.

"I know. Violence feels that way."

Moomin looked up at him, gratitude in his eyes that Snufkin seemed to understand. How did he do that? He always seemed to understand things.

"I didn't even know that I could ever . . . that I could ever hurt anybody."

He rubbed at his face and added,

"Ugh, and you're here comforting me when I should be doing that for you, when you're the one hurt."

He glanced up and said,

"I'm a terrible person."

"No," Snufkin said firmly, so firmly that it startled Moomin.

"You're not. You saw me hurt, you wanted to protect me. That's natural. That's good."

"But . . ."

Snufkin gently nudged Moomin, trying to coax him into moving.

"Come on. Let's return to the creek. It'll give us a chance to rest."

Moomin allowed Snufkin to guide him along. He was not paying much attention, still lost in his thoughts, but at some point they ended up at the creek again. Moomin sat at its edge and dangled his feet off into the water. With his head in both hands, he stared down into the water.

"We should get that cleaned up," Snufkin murmured, touching Moomin's arm. Moomin looked up in confusion. Only then did he notice his arm was peppered in blistering marks from the magic bullets.

"Oh. I didn't even notice. You're much worse off than me, Snufkin."

Snufkin sat down beside Moomin.

"I look way worse than I feel. Try not to worry yourself too much over it."

Moomin gazed back down into the water. He could see their reflections looking back up at them; Moomin's peachy-orange fur, Snufkin's dark blue clothing interrupted by the scorch marks. Moomin thought of how they'd solved the puzzle with their shadow counterparts, and idly wondered if reflections were a counterpart of sorts as well.

"Still feeling bad?" Snufkin asked, voice gentle and soothing. Moomin nodded silently.

He saw Snufkin's reflection pull out his harmonica. Without a word, he began to play.

The tune was immediately familiar. It was Moomin's favorite song, and no doubt the reason Snufkin had chosen it. Moomin sighed, grumpy at first, not really wanting to feel better. Why should he listen to such a lovely tune? But as the bright, playful melody unfolded, Moomin closed his eyes and sighed again.

It was impossible, really, to not enjoy Snufkin's music when he played. It was full of more spirit and life than anything else Moomin had ever heard. So, he listened to him play, the sound echoing along the creek in a pleasant way, and Moomin felt a warmth glowing in his chest. He marveled over the feeling. It wasn't uncommon to feel this way when listening to Snufkin play, but somehow it was even stronger than usual, a tingling, glowing warmth that crawled up his arms and down his legs and through to his tail. Lost in the sensation, he startled when Snufkin stopped playing and tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Ah. What is it?"

Snufkin pointed. At . . . Moomin? His arm, specifically. Moomin looked at it.

"What are you . . . w-wait."

The burn marks and ugly blisters on Moomin's arm were completely gone.

"What?!"

He touched his arm and rubbed it up and down. He squeezed it. It felt completely healthy.

"Snufkin, how . . .?"

"I honestly don't know," Snufkin said, looking fascinated.

"While I was playing, I saw your wounds just . . . healing on their own. As if by magic."

Moomin stared at his own arm, amazed. He looked up to Snufkin.

"I was just thinking about your music and how nice it always makes me feel, and I . . . gosh, Snufkin, I think you healed me!"

Snufkin almost seemed shy at the thought.

"You think so?"

Moomin gestured broadly.

"This place is so strange, and it's obviously full of magic. Who knows, maybe you're tapping into some innate magical power because you're here!"

Snufkin toyed with the harmonica in his hands.

"Perhaps it was just coincidence, though."

Moomin touched Snufkin's face, saying,

"Try to do it again, maybe you can heal yourself too."

Snufkin seemed wary of the idea, but he closed his eyes and obliged, picking the tune back up again. Moomin watched carefully. After a minute or two, though, he hadn't noticed any changes.

"Hmm. I wonder why it isn't working for you."

Snufkin shrugged.

"It may have been coincidental after all."

Moomin frowned. He didn't believe so.

"What were you thinking when you played the song just now?"

Snufkin fiddled idly with his harmonica.

"Well, not much. Just wondering if it would work."

"And what were you thinking when you played before that?"

Snufkin shrugged again.

"Just . . . how much I wanted you to feel better."

Moomin nodded.

"Right. Play again, but this time think about feeling better. About feeling good. Ok?"

"All right," Snufkin said, looking mildly amused but also curious. He closed his eyes and played again. This time, the notes seemed to bounce and sway lighter than before-- playful and cheery, and downright exuberant. Moomin's tail swished along with the song helplessly. Nothing else seemed to change, though. Just as Moomin felt as though they should call it quits, he sucked in a breath.

The awful marks on Snufkin's chest began to glow.

As Snufkin continued to play, his chest grew brighter and brighter, a white, magical light. Not long after, the marks etched across his face did the same. Moomin stared, absolutely fascinated. After around a minute, the glow began to slowly fade. Snufkin let his song come to a bouncy halt, and then, blip! The light stopped. His face was unscarred and normal-- his chest as well, looking pink and healthy under the tears in his clothes. He was healed.

"Snuf, you did it! Oh my gosh, that was amazing!"

Snufkin looked down at himself, rubbing his tattered smock.

"I'll be. I've never seen anything like this. Magical healing."

Moomin clapped his paws happily.

"How wonderful. I'm so glad you're all better now!"

Snufkin smiled beautifully, which was thankfully no longer marred by the burn marks.

"I'm glad you feel better too."

The two were exhausted after their ordeal, so it was decided that now was the perfect time to make a meal and rest. Snufkin built a cooking fire, boiled some water to purify so they could drink, and then set about making some stew. Moomin was curious, so Snufkin taught him a little about handling unfamiliar mushrooms and what common signs of toxicity were, and then showed him how he made something palatable with limited ingredients. The stew was a little tastier this time, as they used more mushrooms and flowers and allowed it to simmer quite a bit. Still not as lovely without the fish, but it wasn't bad.

After eating, Moomin waded into the creek to generally mess about. Nearby, Snufkin was sorting through a little pile of sticks.

"Moomin," his friend said after a while,

"Would you mind if I whittled some wood?"

Moomin raised one brow.

"Why would I mind?"

Snufkin looked hesitant. But then he spoke directly;

"A little while back, when we ran into trouble, one of those fellows dropped their blade in the chaos and I nicked it, thinking it might be handy."

Moomin's ears drooped at the mention of before.

"Oh."

He thought about it a moment. Then he said,

"Of course, go right ahead. It was good thinking, Snufkin."

So Snufkin drew the small blade from his pocket. It was an odd little thing, with a squat, almost diamond-shaped blade only a few inches long, and a nice, large handle; hardly more than a pocket knife. The blade was a normal silvery metal color-- it only seemed to glow white when the creatures had used their magic. Moomin wondered how it worked.

Snufkin didn't seem concerned with those deeper questions and was content in the moment with just using it to whittle wood. It appeared to work just fine for that task. After watching him a bit, Moomin went back to wading through the creek. He was just shuffling about idly and looking for flat rocks to skip over the water, but then a flash of bright pink caught his eye. Moomin stared into the water and poked cautiously in with a paw, then saw the pink flash again-- a little fish darting by.

Excited, he told Snufkin about it. It had only been a small thing, hardly more than a fry, but it was still a good sign.

"Good job, Moomin," Snufkin said.

"Perhaps I should switch to making a fishing rod. We're bound to find something larger later on."

Moomin looked down near Snufkin's feet, noticing he'd been whittling the sticks into wooden spoons.

"Can you really do that? Make an entire fishing rod, I mean."

Snufkin nodded.

"It would be pretty primitive, but it's possible. Flexible greenwood for the pole, plant fibers to weave for the line . . . the hook would be the hardest around here."

Moomin sat down in the grass beside Snufkin.

"I see."

Snufkin was busy buffing and smoothing the spoon he was working on with a rough rock. Moomin watched his expert crafting. After a spell, Snufkin asked,

"Do you feel more rested now?"

Moomin sort of shrugged and flitted his tail. He wasn't exactly tired, not physically at least.

Snufkin followed up his question with another.

"Do you want to walk more today?"

Moomin looked up at the sky as he pondered. Honestly, he felt done with walking for quite a while.

Sighing, he said,

"Can you even really call it today if there's no sun?"

Snufkin smiled faintly and said,

"Fair enough. But the moon's movement shows that around eight hours have passed since we woke. Almost a full day's worth of time, though not quite."

Moomin thought about walking more, and he thought about possibly running into more snake people along the way. He grimaced, unsure how to respond, but Snufkin interrupted his train of thought.

"How about this. I think we've done enough traveling for now, don't you? I've got an idea for an important project."

Moomin perked up a little, curious.

"You mean a fishing rod?"

Snufkin set down the spoon he'd finished sanding and polishing and gave him an enigmatic smile.

"No, we can worry about fishing a bit later. For now, we'll need a lot of long plant fibers. I think the grass around here should do nicely."

Moomin suspected Snufkin was being mysterious about the project for no good reason other than to intrigue him, but he was interested anyway. So they carefully harvested patches of grass before Snufkin sat down and taught Moomin how to weave the grass strands together. The task was essentially braiding rope, and Moomin found it actually kind of relaxing. The strands were braided together into little pieces of rope, and then those pieces were braided in with other pieces to create an even thicker length of rope.

After they'd made a large amount of rope, Snufkin started weaving the pieces of rope in a far more complicated shape. Moomin stopped helping as he had no clue what Snufkin was doing anymore. It looked like he was trying to play cat's cradle. Gradually, though, the tangle of ropes took shape, and he'd ended up making a sack-shaped bag made of tight rope mesh. He attached rope handles to the sides so the bag could be worn on the back. Then he placed the wood spoons inside and explained that they could carry important things now, like fruits they find and other foods and all the other survival tools.

Moomin thought the bag was very impressive, and it had been actually fun to make. He hadn't even realized Snufkin could create such things, although it wasn't surprising. He asked if they should make a second bag.

"Actually, I had another idea for the leftover rope," Snufkin had said.

Next then, Snufkin took the tiny blade he'd been using to help whittle and cut grass. He measured its size and wound rope about it. Then he fashioned a very nice little sheath for the tiny blade, fitting it snugly into place. It even had a little loop of rope to tie it about and keep it from slipping out.

When he was done, he slipped the sheathed knife into the bag. Moomin thought it was an absolute marvel of ingenuity. They still had a lot of leftover rope, though, as the knife sheath hadn't taken up all that much to begin with.

"Tell me what you think," Snufkin said when Moomin had pointed that out.

"I could make another sheath, this time for the sword. Would you like that?"

Moomin balked. He'd been trying not to think about it, but now he looked over to where they'd left the sword laying in the grass. It . . . well.

Part of Moomin wanted to just leave that thing where it was laying right now, and never see it again. He hated the thought of carrying it with them any further, let alone possibly using it again.

But another part of Moomin was terrified of the thought of Snufkin getting hurt again, and he couldn't exactly justify throwing away his only source of defense against hostile people, either. What if he was helpless to protect Snufkin?

The whole thing made Moomin's stomach knot up. Snufkin seemed to see the dilemma he was going through, settling a hand on him. Gently, Snufkin said,

"The nice thing about a scabbard is you never have to draw the sword if you don't want to."

Moomin looked to Snufkin, the anguish plain in his green-blue eyes. In a quiet mumble, he said,

"What if . . . what if I hurt somebody?"

Snufkin looked at him for a little bit, then sighed softly.

"I believe that nine times out of ten, there's always some other way to deal with problems, if you look hard enough to find it. But when it's that tenth time . . . well . . . some people may leave you with few alternatives. I'm not going to lie and say those times don't ever exist."

Snufkin reached out again and squeezed Moomin's shoulder.

"But Moomin, I trust you to be able to handle that kind of choice. Even if your choice is to never draw a weapon during that tenth time."

Moomin glanced away. After a few moments, he said quietly,

"Let's make the scabbard."

The process was not too complicated. After Snufkin created the scabbard itself, he measured some rope for Moomin's waist and attached the scabbard, allowing it to be worn like a belt. It fit comfortably without pinching but didn't slide about.

By the time they'd finished making it, they were both feeling tired. The moon had set in the eternally-dark sky, and a new, colder breeze had begun to stir in the valley. They rekindled the coals of their fire, snacked on a bit more stew-- using their new spoons instead of awkwardly scooping with stones-- and then laid out a bed of grass to sleep upon.

Snufkin had the official first watch again, as he'd preferred it, but Moomin wasn't quite ready to fall asleep right away. He instead lay on his back, arms tucked under his head, gazing up at the sky with Snufkin. There were so many different points of light, all in such a swirl overhead. It made him think about how they too were just tiny points of light in the dark.

He shivered a little and curled his tail around Snufkin, not wanting to feel too alone out here. Snufkin glanced down from his survey of the sky.

"You cold?"

Moomin nodded.

"A little."

There was a sharp, nipping breeze cutting through the area. Even through Moomin's coat, it was a little chilly.

Snufkin picked a stick up and poked the nearby dwindling fire, then shifted a little, leaning further against Moomin, sharing his warmth.

"Better? I can fetch more wood if you'd like."

Moomin nuzzled his face against his side and said,

"This is fine."

Moomin was finally feeling drowsy, so he let his exhaustion slowly claim him. Closing his eyes and breathing the scent of campfire and Snufkin's smock, he drifted off to sleep.

[thdorkmagnet]

Chapter 3: Hoodies and Headbands

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: Star take Marco shopping. 

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Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

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 Marco slowly opened his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun on his tanned skin. He let out a deep yawn, trying to shrink farther under the warm covers, but he felt like something heavy was on top of him and it was disturbing his sleep. He sat up, trying to see what it was that was intruding on his peaceful slumber, until he came face to face with a dark haired girl. She hissed at him, reveling vampiric-like fangs and Marco screamed trying to scramble away from the girl, but in his rush he slipped and fell off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thump, his body aching due to its contact with the firm ground.

The girl turned, staring down at him from her perch on the bed, a smooth smirk on her face, her fangs shining in the afternoon light. Her skin was tanned like Marco's and she had messy black hair tucked into a brown beanie, her eyes a slightly darker shade of brown. She had small skull cheek marks that glowed green when the light caught them. She wore a plain, olive green shirt beneath a turquoise blue jacket and a modestly short brown skirt, that matched her beanie and stylish brown boots. Though she didn't seem all that intimidating, the look in her eyes was giving Marco the creeps as she continued to stare at him.

“W-Who are you?” Marco squeaked, trying to back away from the crazy girl.

“Doesn't matter who I am,” the girl said, nonchalantly.

“What?!” Marco screeched in confusion.

“Who you are, now that's the question,” she continued raising a finger in the air, ignoring Marco's outburst. “You could be a thief here to steal from the Crown Princess of Mewni.”

“Theif?” Marco whimpered.

“Or, maybe your an assassin here to kill our beloved princess,” she added, a glare settling on her face, her fangs still visible beneath her frown.

“Assassin!” Marco squeaked, fear tightening its hold on his throat, making normal speech nearly impossible.

“Either way, I'm gonna have to kill you,” she said, calmly.

Marco panicked as the girl got off the bed and began walking over to him, her fangs clearly seen poking out from beneath her upper lip and Marco shuddered. “Wait no, stop!” he pleaded, waving his hands frantically in the air, while trying to scoot farther back, as the scary girl stalked closer. “There's been a mistake!”

“Janna!” a voice yelled and the two both turned to another girl, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, glaring at the girl towering over the shaking Marco. She had short, light-colored hair, almost white, with a single green stripe running down the left side. Her green eyes were wide and sparkling, her confidence radiating off of her even in the tense moment. She wore a white shirt with, dark green sleeves, a small seashell necklace hanging loosely around her neck, easily noticeable in front of the white top. She wore blue jean shorts coupled by long, white socks with green stripes that matched her sleeves, followed by light-blue sneakers. Marco looked at the girl with curiosity as she continued to glare from the doorway.

“Stop scaring him,” she scolded, her eyes narrowing. Marco's eyes darted between the two girls for a moment, trying to make sense of this strange situation.

“What, he's new.” the girl named Janna defended, raising her arms innocently, all traces of malice gone from her voice. “It's my job to scare him.”

The other girl sighed, before walking over and helping Marco to his feet. “Sorry about that, dude. Janna's bark is worse than her bite.”

“Wait, she was gonna bite me!” Marco panicked, quickly covering his neck with his hands.

The light-haired girl gave him a skeptic look, while Janna rolled her eyes at the boy's naivety. “Nah, the fangs are totally fake...” Janna reassured, her voice attempting to sound soothing, despite the fact it did nothing to assure Marco in the slightest. “Unless you don't want them to be,” Janna added, waving her eyebrows at the confused boy, who took a step back so he now had the light-headed girl between him and the strange one.

“Ignore her,” the other girl said, putting a hand on Marco's shoulder drawing his attention. She gave him a soothing smile, her eyes bright with cool enthusiasm. “I'm Jackie by the way. Jackie Lynn Thomas.” She extended her hand to Marco, who eyed it for a moment before remembering that that was how you greeted people here. He shook her hand, returning the smile, though not as confident as Jackie's.

“Marco,” he said, keeping an eye on the fanged girl out of the corner of his eye. But she seemed distracted, as she had pulled out a small, rectangular device from her pocket, which she kept poking and staring at, the small screen lighting up her face. So, Marco shifted his attention back to his “rescuer”. He cocked his head to the side, noticing something off about the girl.

“You don't have any cheek marks,” he said, pointing at her face. And it was true, though the girl's face was coated in tiny freckles, there was no sign of any special markings anywhere on her. But she didn't seemed fazed by Marco's statement, keeping a cool smile on her speckled face.

“Oh, that's because I'm human,” she responded, nonchalantly.

“Human?” Marco, repeated, the word sounding weird on his tongue.

Jackie laughed at the thoughtful look on the boy's face, before explaining, “I'm from Earth.”

“Ohhhh,” Marco said, remembering hearing about Mewni's closest allied dimension, the monsters often whispering about it when they thought Marco wasn't listening. He had questioned Buff Frog about it and he had explained that Earth and Mewni shared a long personal history with each other. They hadn't started off as allies, apparently, as Mewnian's magical capabilities made them appear far superior to the magicless Earthlings, putting bad blood between the two cultures. At one point, Mewni had attempted to take over the backwards planet, but had been surprised by the Earthlings strong will and heavy advancements in technology, none of them able to trully defeat the stubborn humans. So they had ended the fighting, becoming two united worlds, providing and trading with one another, their two worlds opening up their borders to each other, travel between the two dimensions frequent. Though Mewni still leaned heavily on its magic and Earth its science, the two had no doubt influenced one another's way of life. Or so Buff Frog had said.

“Oh, good Marco, your up,” came a voice from the doorway and he turned to see Star, smiling happily at them.

“Hey there, Star,” Jackie said.

“'Sup,” Janna said in a monotone, her face still buried in her device.

“Oh and you've met Jackie and Janna, too,” she said, clapping her hands together in joy. Then she looked to Janna before saying, in a meaningful way, “I hope they behaved themselves.”

Janna looked up from her phone, to see Star and Jackie glaring at her, while Marco kept a frightened eye on her, keeping his distance.

“Hey, that is behaved for me,” she responded with a shrug, making Jackie sigh.

“Yeah, she's kinda right,” Jackie agreed.

Star shook her head, before the smile returned once again. “Well as long as it all worked out,” she said, the grin never leaving her face and Marco couldn't help but notice that there seemed something off about it now. “Marco's going to be staying with us for a while so I want you two to be on your best behavior and make him feel welcome, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jackie said, having heard a similar conversation with one of Star's servants not an hour ago, when she had been informed a new orphan was in the castle.

“So, Star,” Janna said, putting an arm around the princess. “Where'd you meet mister observant over there?” She gestured over to where Marco stood and they all followed her gaze. Marco seeing all the attention now in his direction, turned to see who it was they were talking about, only to find himself staring at nothing.

Star smiled at his cuteness, before turning to her beanie-wearing friend. “We met this morning... while I was, ummm,” she drifted off into silence, biting her bottom lip as she tried to think of a good excuse.

“She was using magic!” Marco exclaimed, sounding super excited as he remembered the impressive display from that morning. Star felt her cheeks glow red as Jackie and Janna's stares burned into her skin, not daring to look either of them in the eye.

“Magic practice, again?” Jackie said with a encouraging smile. “That's awesome! Good for you, Star!”

“Did you at least burn another house down like last time?” Janna said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“No, no,” Star stammered, her voice a shy whisper, still feeling nervous as her secret became common knowledge among her two closest friends. “I did it out in the forest this time, where no one could see?”

“Aww, lame,” Janna huffed in disappointment. “What's the point if nothing gets destroyed?”

“Well she did destroy a lot of trees,” Marco pointed out, before ducking behind Jackie again as Janna's focus came to rest on him.

“Okay, can we quit talking about it now?!” Star exclaimed, her whole face flushed with embarrassment, as she pleaded with her friends to please drop the subject.

Janna shut her mouth, seeing Star in obvious distress, her normally cool confidence fading as she realized she had gone too far this time and she had no idea how to fix her mistake. Marco felt guilt gnaw at him, as he saw how upset Star clearly was over this. He couldn't help but beat himself up for upsetting the girl who had been so nice to him. Jackie, however, put a comforting hand on Star's shoulder. “Hey, there's no need to be ashamed, Star. Everyone knows your new to the wand, no one expects you to get it, right away,” she said in a comforting tone.

Star let out a breath, all of her stress melting off of her. She knew what Jackie was saying was true. She had only had the wand for a little over a month, but it still unnerved her to know that she hadn't fully mastered control of it yet. Her mother had assured her that it would take time, but Star felt impatient. The people of Mewni looked up to her and needed to see her as a strong leader who would carry them forward in this dark time, not some happy-go-lucky teenager who couldn't use her wand without unwantingly setting something on fire.

“Your right, thanks Jackie,” she said, with a thankful smile. Jackie gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before releasing her hold on the blond.

“No problem.”

Star, seemed to relax, her smile returning as she turned to Marco, walking over and grabbing his hand, the boy's face instantly turning red. “All right, come on Marco, we're off for town,” she said with a cute smile. Behind her, Jackie and Janna shared a look as they watched the two teen's interactions, their critical eyes not missing Marco's blushing face or Star's shimmering eyes.

“We are?” Marco asked, his brain suddenly having trouble functioning due to Star's soft hands wrapped around his own.

“You guys are going to town,” Jackie asked in confusion. “Don't you have other business to attend to? Like I don't know, running Mewni.”

Star turned to Jackie, her face in shock as she seemed to remember that there were still other people in the room besides Marco. But she recovered quickly, responding, “Well, yes, but it can wait. Since Marco is going to be staying with us he's going to need some essentials.”

“Can't you just ask one of the servants to do it?” Janna skeptically asked with crossed arms.

Star thought for a moment before answering. “Well I guess I could, but Marco's well-being is at the top of my list and I have to make sure our new guest has everything he needs to be comfortable.”

Janna huffed. “What a waste of royal power.”

“So wait, what exactly are we doing?” Marco asked, looking around at the three girls for conformation.

Star turned to him with an excited look on her face. “The best thing in the world...” Star exclaimed, her voice as dramatic as possible, before she quickly pumped a fist int the air and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Shopping!!”

…

Marco looked around the bustling streets of Mewni in a silent awe, admiring all the sights that the town had to offer. Star walked silently beside him, smiling to herself at Marco's giddiness, his head turning this way and that as every little movement caught the boy's wandering eye, barely able to keep himself walking straight. Behind the two were Star's escorts, their arms loaded to the brim with boxes and packages of the already purchased items, the containers reaching so high that they towered over the burly men, who were unable to be recognized from beneath the wrapped gifts. It may have looked like over-kill but Star was satisfied with her purchases, happy to be spoiling the boy who had been through so much trauma. In her opinion, he deserved every bit of money spent on him, even if the rest of Mewni wouldn't agree.

Marco had been instantly hooked on the shopping spree, picking out item after item, his adorable grin never leaving his face. Star had just smiled and handed over the money, ignoring the often skeptical looks of her critical valet, letting the boy enjoy his taste of freedom for as long as he wanted.

But now it seemed their little spree was ending, as they made their way back toward the castle, with a satisfying bundle of essentials for Marco's stay. The boy looked around him, taking in the sights when something red flashed across his vision, making him stop in his tracks.

Star didn't notice as she continued on ahead, her sights of the towering walls of her home, chatting happily to the boy she believed to still be beside her. “So looks like you got everything you got everything you wanted, huh?” She turned only to see a blank, empty space where her new friend had once been. “Marco?” she asked in confusion, looking around for the missing boy.

She spotted him a little ways off, looking in the window of a little shop, his eyes shining with wonder, mesmerized with whatever fantastic sight had caught his eye. Star walked over to him, quickly reading the sign hanging above the store: “Quest Buy Mini-mall”.

Star came up beside Marco, the boy not even acknowledging her presence, still caught in his vegetated stupor. She looked into the little promotional window for any signs of what it was that had captured Marco's attention so much, hoping there wasn't any real hypnotic devices involved, forcing  hypnotized customers to buy their most expensive item. That was illegal now after all.

But as far as she could tell there was no foal play involved as she asked curiously, “See anything you like?”

Marco didn't even look at her as he nodded, pressing his index finger up against the glass, whispering softly, “What's that?”

Star followed his pointing finger, seeing the object of his affection: a hoodie. Just a plain, red hoodie. Star looked at it carefully, sizing it up quickly. Though it seemed plain at first, it's bright red color immediately caught your eye, its simple beauty appealing to even the most cryptic eye. Even amongst the most fantastic sights from an untold number of dimensions the hoodie held it own, embracing its plainness, giving it a simple, yet pleasing look. Star could tell instantly that the hoodie would look great on the boy.

“That's a hoodie,” Star explained to him. “It's an Earth clothing.”

Marco's eyes seemed to grow even wider as he continued to stare at it as if it were some kind of unknown treasure. It seemed to be love at first sight. Star held back a smile as she offered Marco her hand. “Wanna try it on?” she asked and he seemed thrilled, finally turning to her with shining eyes.

“Can I?” Marco asked in awe, taking her hand in his own.

“Of course,” she said, leading him over to the entrance, opening the door with her free hand.

The little bell over the door rang and the store manager, a sloth, let out an irritated sigh. They had just finished their afternoon rush and things had finally settled down enough for him to relax and enjoy a little peace. But of course, the seemed too good to be true. He looked up from his magazine to see two teenagers entering the store, hand in hand, gazing around in intrigue at the various wares and items that had been collected from many different dimensions. Great just what he needed... tourists.

The manager cleared his throat, waiting for the two to respond, but they just continued to browse the items in curious silence. He sighed in annoyance, before clearing his throat again, louder than before, this time managing to capture the two's attention as they turned to him in surprise. He set the magazine down, giving the two a blank stare. “Can I help you?”

The blond girl stepped forward, smiling at the sloth softly. “My friend here would like to try on one of your red hoodies, please?” she said, gesturing to the window.

The sloth manager blinked in unamusement, trying to hold back another sigh. “What size would that be, miss?”

“Oh,” Star gasped in surprise, turning to Marco with a questioning gaze. He shrugged and she bit her lip, turning to back to the manager. “Umm, we're not really sure,” she said hesitantly. “Maybe we could... try some on?”

The manager sighed, unable to catch himself in time, as he stood up from his desk, walking slowly over to a pile of paperwork and files, just underneath his desk. He slowly sorted through the files, as Star and Marco leaned over the counter-top curiously, watching the sloth at work. Finally, he found the right one, pulling it out, squinting at the tiny lettering. He looked over at the two still bent over the counter, who gave him curious looks. He walked over to them, saying in an irritated manner, “The hoodies are located off to your left in clothing.” He gestured in the direction with a clawed finger. “Right under Earth fashion.”

“Aren't you going to help us?” Marco asked and the sloth gave him a dead-panned stare.

Star began pushing Marco off in the direction of clothing, giving the sloth a sheepish smile, quickly saying, “Thank you!”

The sloth watched the two go, before picking up his magazine once again, scoffing to himself. “Tourists.”

…

Marco skipped happily in front of Star as they approached the castle gates, Marco decked out in his new hoodie. Star's escorts walked behind the two, a respectful distance away, still holding the boxes from the long shopping trip. Marco seemed blissfully unaware of the world turning, humming softly to himself as he walked, his eyes bright and shining with wonder. Star just seemed content, her face peaceful.

The two guards watched them approach, Jak elbowing his companion. “Hey, check it out, Dex, it's the princess,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Dex sighed. “Yeah, I can see that,” he said, putting a hand to his face.

“What do you think she was doing in town, again?” Jak continued, staring quizzically at their future ruler.

“Well if I had to take a guess, I'd probably say she's been shopping,” Dex said, with obvious sarcasm.

“Huh,” Jak said, cocking his head to the side. “Yeah, I can see it.” Dex face-palmed, just as the princess finished her approach to the gates.

“Hey guys,” Star said, stopping in front of them and they immediately bowed in respect as their princess addressed them. “Welcome back, Your Highness,” they said in unison and Star gave them a grin. “You can drop the whole 'Your Highness' bit. Just Star is fine.”

“Unlikely, Your Highness,” Dex said and Jak nodded, both keeping their heads bowed.

Star sighed. “Worth a try,” she whispered, more to herself than to the others. She turned to Marco who was still admiring his hoodie and had yet to notice they had arrived at the castle. “Come on, Marco.”

Marco turned to her and quickly ran to catch up, as Star walked past the bowing guards, the gates now open wide to provide entry. The boy walked past the two guards, not nearly as nervous as before, his mind still on his new fashion trend. “Nice hoodie,” Jak said to the boy, who gave him confident smile.

“Thanks,” he said, before running after Star. The two watched as the princess, the hooded boy, and her entourage entered the castle together, before turning to each other once again. “Well he seemed completely different,” Jak said, unable to believe the shy, shaking boy from that morning was now the confident, if not absent minded, boy that they had just seen.

“Well, that's our princess for you,” Dex said, smiling to himself. “Bringing out the best in people.”

“Yeah,” Jak agreed. There was a short moment of silence, before Jak suddenly asked, “Did she seem different to you?”

“What do you mean?” Dex asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don't know she just seemed... happier.”

“It's probably just your imagination,” Dex said, looking back out at the road in front of them, standing at attention once again. Jak thought for a moment, looking back at the castle doors, still remaining shut, before he turned his attention back to the road as well, hesitantly whispering, “Yeah, your probably right.”

…

The moment the two friends entered the castle, Star was whisked away by some important looking figures questioning where she had been and listing off the many tasks she still had to perform before the day was over. Marco seemed uncomfortable as he was quickly brushed aside and his new friend was dragged away. But Star didn't seem put off, simply following them in silence, her face blank. She turned back to Marco giving him a smile and a wave, which he returned.

He waited until the group was out of sight, before turning on his heels and heading off for his room. “Um, sir?” Marco turned to the guards that up until now he had forgotten had been there. “Your room is that way,” one of them said, gesturing to the opposite hallway. Marco gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Umm, maybe you better lead the way,” he said awkwardly  and the guards nodded, walking resolutely down the hallway, Marco following close behind.

The guard's dropped the boxes in Marco's room as some more servants, maids, quickly unpacked his things, finding everything a home and tidying up the nearly spotless room. Marco just watched in silence, sitting down on his bed, until some of the maids gave him a glare, shooing him away so they could put on his new sheets.

The servants worked fast and efficiently, while Marco just stood in the middle of his room awkwardly, waiting for them to finish. And as quickly as they had entered, they departed, bowing low to the ground as they left. Marco heard the door slam shut behind him as he took in his new living space. Everything had been organized and cleaned, all of his new things, put neatly in their selected places. Marco was impressed with their work as he walked over to his bed, running his hands along the soft, red sheets, a content smile on his face. He looked over his new bookcase and inspected every drawer in his dresser and desk, looking over each new item with curiosity.

Finally, he looked in his closet, his eyes widening immensely as they came to rest on the eleven identical red hoodies hanging neatly in his closet. He felt tears in his eyes as he looked at the small little treasure trove, touched by Star's kindness. Toffee had never treated him this kindly and Buff Frog had always done his best, but Toffee was quick to shoot down any attempt his father might have had to spoil him. Star had done so much for him in just the short time he had known her and Marco suddenly felt a burning desire to do something for her, something to thank her for all she had done for him. But what? He hadn't known her for all that long (for less than a day, actually) and knew literally nothing about what it was she liked or would want.

Marco thought for a moment, before remembering there were two people Marco knew who would have a good idea of what it was Star would like.

…

“Janna have you seen my skateboard?” Jackie asked her friend and roommate as she dug around in her closet. Janna, who was sitting comfortably on her bed, quickly replied, “Nope,” her head remaining buried in her book on 19th Century Earth poetry. Jackie sat up from her messy closet, putting her hands on her hips. “Well where could it have gone, then?”

“Not a clue,” Janna replied, with a bored tone, as she flipped to the next page of her book.

Jackie gave her a knowing look. “You know, I seem to remember someone asking to borrow my skateboard the other day.”

“I remember someone saying no,” Janna replied, emotionlessly. Jackie opened her mouth to retort until there was a soft knock at the door. She turned to Janna with a glare. “We'll discuss this later,” she said, standing.

Janna shrugged, whispering, “Whatever,” her eyes never leaving her book. Jackie opened the door and smiled eagerly seeing the face of their new house guest.

“Marco, hey!” she greeted, cheerfully.

“Hi,” Marco said, shyly, giving a tiny wave.

“Come in,” Jackie said, standing aside and opening the door wider so the boy could pass inside more easily.

“Thanks,” Marco said, stepping inside, looking around the room. It was larger than his own, but then that made sense considering that the two roomed together, the room literally split in half, with two beds, closets, and so on. But the differences in the two's personalities couldn't be more apparent, one side reflecting Janna's love of all things creepy and disturbing and Jackie's side reflecting her love of sports.

“Nice hoodie.” Marco turned to see Janna staring at him and he gave her an uncomfortable smile, still slightly frightened of the girl.

“Oh yeah,” Jackie said, just noticing his change in wardrobe. “It looks good on you, Marco.”

Marco looked proud at their praise, a confident smile spreading on his lips. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, it looks 'blood' red,” Janna said with a mysterious tint to her voice and Marco's smile vanished, looking frightened once again.

Jackie put a hand on his shoulder, rolling her eyes and giving him a reassuring smile. “So, what did you come here to tell us, Marco?” Jackie asked.

“Oh, umm,” Marco said, still staring at Janna suspiciously, before shaking his head so he could focus once again. “I wanted to ask your help with something.”

“What's that?” Jackie said, slightly confused. Marco took a deep breath before quickly blurting his answer as fast as he could, the words just tumbling out without his control.

“Well, Star was really nice getting me all these things, like the hoodies and the bed sheets and everything, and I just wanted to make it up to her so I thought I could get her something. But I don't know what she likes and I was hoping maybe you could help me because you know her better than I do.” He took a few deep breaths, trying to regain his air supply as Jackie and Janna just stared at him in shock.

The two shared a look really quick, before Jackie asked, “You really want to get her something?” Marco nodded vigorously, before going off on a tangent once again.

“Yeah. She's just been so sweet and everything. She's so nice and funny and pretty and-” Marco's voice cut off as his cheeks turned bright red. He looked down at the floor, a distant look on his face. His eyes seemed to shine as he thought of the girl. Jackie studied his face carefully for a moment, taking in the look of hidden joy on his face. She thought it over, this boy was new but he seemed well-meaning, his naivety making it hard to say no. Still, Star had become a pretty private person recently and she wasn't sure how she would react if Jackie gave Marco the gift she had in mind. But, Jackie also knew that the fact that Star was acting like such a private person meant that she was upset about something, something she had yet to tell her or Janna, her two closest friends. She suspected it had to do with all the new pressures that had just been thrown on her, but until Star talked about it, she had no way of knowing.

Plus, she couldn't stop thinking about that smile she had given Marco earlier that afternoon. She had seemed genuinely happy, more so than Jackie had seen her in, well, years. For whatever reason, Marco seemed to bring out the best in Star and he might just be what Jackie had been looking for.

Finally, she took a deep breath, before she said, “Well there is one thing.” Janna gave her a suspicious look, which Jackie ignored keeping her eyes on Marco. The boy didn't notice this little exchange, though, smiling excitedly at the idea of accomplishing his goals. “Really? What?!” he exclaimed.

Jackie, ignoring the look her roommate continued to give her, walking over to her bed and reached underneath pulling out a small, white box from underneath. It was coated in dust and it looked to Marco like it hadn't been disturbed for several years. Jackie carried the box over to her desk, carefully wiping the object clean.

Marco came up beside the girl, looking at the box intensely. Jackie slowly lifted the lid and Marco squinted, trying to stare inside at the box's contents. The box was more or less empty except for a small headband, that barely took up half of the box's space. The hairband was red with two little spikes looking like horns sticking up at the top. Marco examined the object curiously, tilting his head to the side. “A headband?” Marco questioned.

“Yep,” Jackie said. “It used to belong to Star. But she stopped wearing it a few years ago. So rather than letting her throw it out, I kept it. Thought she might like it back someday.” Her voice grew soft at the end, but Marco didn't notice, his focus on nothing but the small, little headpiece.

“And you're sure she'll like it?” he asked, turning to Jackie for conformation.

“Positive,” she said with a confident nod. That was good enough for Marco.

“Okay, so what do I wrap it with?” he asked, looking around the room for supplies.

“Got you covered!” Marco and Jackie looked to see Janna over by Jackie's closet, smiling with a mischievous grin. Before the two could question her methods she tapped the side of the closet and a secret compartment opened up, reveling a hidden stash within. The two walked over, looking inside Janna's hideaway, all manors of things scattered and strewn about within. Marco's eyes shined with wonder as they came to rest on the colorful wrapping paper and ribbon.

“Thanks!” he screamed in excitement, grabbing the paper and running over to the box. Jackie, however, gazed into her closet in horror.

“Janna, what is all this stuff?” she said in a questioning tone.

Janna shrugged, smugly replying, “Just some stuff I found.”

“Janna you didn't!” Jackie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“What?!” Janna exclaimed defensively, crossing her arms. “Not like anyone was using this stuff. It was all just... lying around.”

“Is that my skateboard?!” Jackie screamed, pointing out her most valuable possession half-buried beneath Janna's junk.

“Oops, how did that get in there?” Janna said, deep in thought.

“Janna!”

“What?! Technically it's still in your closet.”

“Oh my gosh! Why is all this stuff in my closet?!”

“Cause I ran out of room in mine, duh.”

“Umm, guys.” The two friends stopped their argument turning to the boy. He was wrapped completely head to toe in the colorful red ribbon, his arms suspended above his head, his body twisted at a weird angel. He looked at them with a fearful look, quickly squeaking, “Help!”

…

Star let out a deep sigh, rubbing her sore shoulder softly. She had been signing piles and piles of paperwork for hours, having lost feeling in her hand hours ago. She held her shoes in loosely in her less-sore hand, letting her aching feet rest for a moment as she quietly made her way back to her room. It was now late night and she was eager to get changed and go check on Marco. She hadn't even been able to go and see how he was settling in, which annoyed her to no end. Her thoughts had been on the boy all day, distracting her and making her want to see him even more. But, as always, there was always more work for her to do.

“A princess' job is never done,” she murmured, opening the door to her room, flinging her shoes in the general direction of her closet, too tired to see if they made it in. She stretched, walking over to the small couch in her bedroom, and collapsing onto it with a tired sigh. She let her body relax, closing her eyes and just enjoying the peaceful moment, letting out a content sigh as the world seemed to right itself once again. Slowly, unbeknownst to Star, a shadow grew over her face, as a figure rose from behind the couch, eyes trained on the resting girl.

“Hey Star!” Marco screamed with excitement and Star screamed, immediately jumping up so she was now standing on the couch, trying to get a hold of her wand. She fumbled around with it for a few seconds, before holding it straight out, pointed at the source of her fright. Marco froze, hands raised, looking at Star in shock.

“Marco?” Star said, her angry frown quickly switching to confusion as she realized it was the hooded boy in front of her and not some monster.

“Hey,” the boy said with a wave, still frozen in shock. Star let out a relieved sigh, dropping her wand to her side and putting a hand over her pounding heart.

“Don't scare me like that,” she gasped out.

“Sorry,” Marco apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, keeping a hand behind his back. “I guess I just got carried away.”

Star sat back down on the couch, relaxing once again. “It's okay. So what brings you to my room?” she said with a smile, patting the seat beside her.

“I got you something,” Marco said, moving so he could sit next to her, careful to keep the package out of her sight. Suddenly, he thrust the present out from behind his back and into her hands. “Tada!” he exclaimed, with a wide flourish, giving her the widest smile he could manage.

Star looked at the box with surprise. It was wrapped in pretty, purple paper with a thick red ribbon tied neatly around it and Star could tell that Marco had put a lot of time and detail in making it look just right. “What's this?” she asked, turning the gift over in her hands.

“I got you a present, as a way to say thank you for everything you've done!” Marco explained.

“Oh, Marco,” Star said, giving him a sympathetic look. “You didn't have to do that.”

“But I wanted to,” Marco argued, his face looking so plain and innocent as he smiled at her.

Star smiled back, touched by his thoughtfulness. Marco, quickly losing patience, looked back and forth between Star and the gift eagerly. “Sooo... are you gonna open it?” he asked impatiently, slowly leaning closer.

Star laughed. “Ok, ok. Here we go,” she said, carefully removing the red ribbon from around the box's frame. Marco watched with a held breath as she ripped off the paper, slowly removing the lid from the now plain box. She froze staring in at the box's sole item, her face unreadable. Marco's shining eyes jumped back and forth between his friend and her old headband, waiting for a reaction, his every nerve trained on Star's face. Her hand slowly reached into the box, pulling out the red devil-horned headband that had once belonged to her. She stared at the small object in her palm with wide eyes. “Oh, Marco,” she breathed, unable to finish the sentence, her voice drifting off into silence. Tears slowly welled up at the very edge of her eyes and Marco felt his heart drop at the sight of her crying, his happy grin vanishing in a flash.

“Oh, no,” he groaned, making Star turn to him in shock. “You don't like it.” Marco's voice was the saddest thing Star had ever heard, his normally cute face morphing to one of pure depression.

“I'm sorry,” he continued, reaching a hand out to take the present away. “I'll just... take that back and-”

“Thank you.”

Marco froze looking at Star in confusion. “What?”

“Thank you, Marco,” she whispered, her voice chocked up, but there was a soft smile on her face, her glossy eyes shining with gratitude.

“So you don't... hate it?” Marco asked, hesitantly.

Star let out a small laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. “No, I love it,” she said, putting a hand to her heart. Marco's smile returned and Star couldn't help but feel better just from seeing it. And she found she couldn't resist it anymore. Just as suddenly as before, she wrapped her arms around him, drawing him into a hug. He froze, as her shaky breath tickled his neck. “Thank you so much, Marco,” she whispered again, tightening her hold on him.

He finally managed to respond, bringing his own arms around her small frame, burying his head in her neck. And as he enveloped himself in Star's warmth he realized how truly glad he was to be there with Star. Life on Mewni was complicated and sometimes confusing, but it seemed like it was gonna be nice. Especially with Star. He felt some new, unknown emotion every time he was around her and although he didn't know what it was yet, he would do whatever it took to learn more. “Your welcome... Star.”

The door to Star's room, which had been cracked open, slowly closed making a barely audible click as the two peepers turning to each other with knowing looks. “See I told you,” Jackie said to her friend. “Did you see the way she looked at him?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Janna said with a dismissive wave. “Anyone could tell those two have a thing for each other.” She leaned against the wall. “I give it a week, before our dear princess has herself a new boyfriend.”

“Come on, Janna,” Jackie said with an eye roll. “Be realistic. Star isn't super open to people like she used to be. I'd give it a month at the least. Probably more.”

Janna huffed. “Coming from the girl who practically pushed those two together. I mean, Star's old headband, really? We both agreed we'd give that to her together and then you just fling it into Mr. Naive's hands. Subtle.”

Jackie frowned. “Okay, okay. I'm sorry. It's just... I think he's what we've been looking for. I think he's gonna be good for her. That's the happiest I've seen her in so long.”

Janna raised an eyebrow at her friend and Jackie quickly added, “All right, how about this? I bet you twenty dollars that Star and Marco will end up together completely on their own in no more than three months, with no outside influence from either of us.”

“Your on,” Janna said, pulling away from the wall so she was now standing face to face with Jackie. “One month or less and those two are smacking face, guarantee it.”

“We'll see,” Jackie said holding out her hand to Janna, who shook it firmly, the two with an equally mischievous smirk. Finally, their handshake broke, as they walked off for their room again.

Janna let out a small chuckle. “Easiest twenty bucks I ever made.”