TALES OF MEWNI AND OTHER REALMS. EPISODE 1: SOMETHING BORROWED
A man once said that the only constant thing that exists is change. I think he isn't wrong.
25 years have passed since the incident. Two worlds were drawn together without any clear reason or previous announcement. That day, three races found out that there was something bigger than them. A simple world without any clear magic user had been combined with a realm of monsters, magic devices and magic users; or at least former magic users. The very same day that realities cleaved, every magic user known suddenly stopped being magic. Sorceress could no longer brew magic potions, Mages couldn't conjure, and Queens could no longer cast spells. The age of the magic queens was over.
But the stories of those days where magic was an everyday thing were past from a generation to the next one. One particular girl was especially touched by these stories that her own father told her. He told these stories just like he was right there, experiencing every single one of those moments and adventures. Her father was a very wise man, he was only 40 years old, but he had the wisdom as he had lived another life before this one. He always advised her: -"V, you have to think things twice before you do them"-, or –"V, don't judge something just by the way it looks, you just never know what's hiding behind its façade".
This girl went to Echo Creek High School, just like her father did. This was one of the first "inclusive schools", where Humans, Mewmans and Monsters could attend. The students were mostly humans, but you could find several monsters studying there. You could say that Monsters and Humans adapted fairly quickly to the "event". Mewmans, on the other hand, had lots of problems adapting to this situation. The land that they once claimed was now in hands of the monsters, and the land that their ancestors came from was occupied by humans. They had to live with very little for a very long time. One mewman boy was actually lucky enough to attend to school. He was the first one in almost a decade. His name was Phillip.
Phillip was a typical teenage mewman, he was 15 years old and wasn't very popular. He was, in fact, very shy and introverted. He had light brown hair and some bright light blue eyes and wore almost always some old blue jeans, a black plain t-shirt and a unbuttoned shirt on top, and permanently a necklace with a purple scale on it, which for some reason, he loved it. He was actually a very good artist. He loved painting and drawing. He had been in the same course and attending the same classes than V, but never actually had a real conversation with her. Their interactions were limited to a couple of greetings every now and then, but nothing beyond that. Phillip didn't have any friends; he was always labeled by everyone as "the one that doesn't belong".
V is a teenage girl raised only by her father, she doesn't remember much about her mother except for the fact that she left when she was only 4. She's redhead and has big brown eyes. She was very good t fighting. She was the best of her class of Personal Defense. P.D. was created to teach humans, mewmans and monsters to defend themselves from the things they didn't know from the other dimension. V was outgoing and popular, but even if everybody knew her, she felt lonely. She felt like the only thing that people saw when they look at her was a shell. She never got the chance to show herself how she really was, or how she really wanted to be. V never actually had someone she could call a friend, someone that she can actually communicate with without the need of saying a single word. And, just like her father, she never got into serious problems and liked to respect the rules as much as she could.
One very particular Tuesday, V and Phillip were assigned as partners to practice on P.D. You may call it destiny, but I'll call it luck. This was the first real interaction between the two of them and this encounter would change things forever. They entered the old school's gym that hadn't changed much since her father studied there. The same low quality brown wooden floor, the same white semi-corroded basketball rings, the same weak lights and the dirtiest roof probably in all of the state. Well, at least the nets were new.
The students walked in and made pairs, by then the only thing that came to Phillip's mind was a shy: - "Hey"
-Hi -, said V
-I like your shirt –this was an odd thing to say that came out from Philip's nervous mind. What he didn't know is that actually she also loved this white shirt from an old corny boy band called Love Sentence that her father used to wear when he was around her age. He, without even really knowing had made a compliment about something that was actually a part of V's true personality, not just her shell. I mean, she had told everybody that this shirt was ugly and only wore it for P.D. because she didn't mind if it ever got damaged. Phillip could have praised just about anything, from the shoes that she bought when she went to the mall with her friends but were actually totally uncomfortable, to her shorts that she got a size smaller just because one of her friends told her that "she looked nice" wearing tight clothes, heck, he could even say that her pink nail polish that she made the night before at a sleepover with some people she didn't even had a real connection with looked cute. But no, he had looked through her shell. –How are you?
-I'm fine, actually.
-What should I do now?
-Isn't it obvious? Practice! Here, I'll show you
As Phillip began to get closer and closer V noticed something on his face that made her feel uneasy, but she couldn't put her finger on what was it.
-Here? -, said Phillip
-No, wait – answered V. She can't keep her eyes on his face, so he focuses on something else, his necklace. –You should take that off -, she said as she pointed the necklace
-I'd rather not
-Well, you should. You may lose it or damage it if you wear it in here. Put it right there, next to my stuff
Phillip doesn`t know what to do, but he thinks that V knows what she is talking about. He proceeds to put the necklace very carefully next to V's backpack, turns and walks towards V. As he does that two twin ponyheads grab the necklace and fly away as fast as they can
-No, wait! – screams Phillip.
-Sam! Pam! Get back here! – shouts V as she runs after them. –Hey, Mewman, I mean Phillip –, says to him, -Follow me! – This was the first time she got out of the class just to chase someone. Actually, it was the first time that she chased someone like this. She felt a thrill in doing it. For the first time she was doing what she wanted, not what she was told.
They both chase the ponyheads down the corridor. Sam and Pam were two pale pink ponyheads with each one a purple flower on the side of their necks, they had a blue-ish hair and a slightly light blue eyes. The corridors of the school hadn't changed much either since V's father studied there, the same walls, and the same lockers. They probably even have the same paint since 1995. Sam and Pam turned the corner just to hide behind 10 humans and monsters waiting for them ready to kick V's and Phillip's asses.
-Phillip, stay back- says V. –Guys, we can work this out, give my friend his necklace and we all will be cool.
-Nah-ah – said both Sam and Pam at the same time
-Ok, I never liked you anyways! –says V, as she jumps over to kick the living crap out of the Ponyhead sisters. With a single movement kicks both of the Ponyheads and throws them towards their friends. She knocks all of them except for one, a giant monster who is taller than the building.
Sam throws the necklace to the giant and says: -Now you try to take it away from Cliff
-You give that thing to me! –says V, but she is easily kicked by Cliff and lands on the lockers across the hall.
-Give me my necklace – says Phillip on the back
-What did you said? – asks Cliff
-Give ... me … my … NECKLACE! – Screams Phillip as he proceeds to punch Cliff with every word he says, making him fall over the other bullies. -…Please – says as he calmly picks it up from the Cliff's hand. He sees that the scale doesn't have a single scratch. –Here, let me help you - says to V as he helps her to get on her feet. –Are you ok?
-I'm fine, but you kicked ass back there mew…erm Phillip. Where did you learn all of that?
-When you live like I have lived, you have to learn to protect yourself. Also, I hate when people take stuff away from me. Besides, it's a beautiful necklace, don't you think?
-V! Why the hell did you even helped him! – Screams Pam
V just turns around and with a kick drops some lockers over Sam and Pam
-We should better go – says V. They walk back to the gym, but before entering she says: -Yeah, I think it's pretty.
-Really? Take it, I think you should keep it – says Phillip as he takes it off again. –Wait, I think it should have your name in it, so if anyone tries to grab it they know they will have to face you.
-NO! I don't want your necklace. It must have a very personal story behind it, you should keep it.
-It's not personal at all; I just found a purple scale in the shape of a heart under my locker. I think, for some reason it suits you better. Besides, it's a little thank you for what happened back there.
-That? Pfff, it was nothing
-It was something; you stood up for me and called me a "friend". You're basically the first to call me friend
-Did I say that? Well, you probably just became my very first real friend
-Let me write your name on the scale so you don't lose it
-You know what, I'll do it –says V as she writes V.D. on the back of the scale. –Just to be clear, you are just borrowing it to me. Ok?
-Yeah, sure
V stares once more at Phillips face before putting the necklace on. She still feels an unpleasant feeling when she sees his face, but it's not until she puts the necklace on that she says: -Your eyes…
-What?
-Your eyes remind me of someone, but I can't tell who it is exactly – says V, almost whispering as a pale orangey-yellow shape starts to be visible on her cheeks