"Days will pass and turn into years, but I'll always remember you with silent tears." ~Anonymous

Chapter 1

It's been a long time since I felt this. A long time since I stood in a place like this.

I hear a bolt of lightning streak across the dark, overcast sky. A few minutes after that, I feel cool liquid flow down my cheeks

Most of the mourners pull out umbrellas so they won't get wet, but not me. Instead, I just stand in front of the grave, and let the cold, summer rain mix with my salty tears.

The water soaks the dark black dress I wore for this… solemn occasion, but I let it. I don't care, because without him, what's the point?

"Brothers and sisters, we are here gathered here to mourn the loss of a great hero… May his soul rest in peace and those closest to him, find solace in their lives. May he be welcomed into eternal life, we pray, in the name of the father and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The black clad priest does his best to keep his rock hard composure, but I can tell that he wants to break down crying too.

The man painfully continues, "And now, we recite the Lord's Prayer." Before leading the procession with, "Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed by thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth." I could feel everyone pause for a moment… as if questioning whether or not if they even believed what they were saying; even the priest paused, "…As it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…"

"But how?" I think, "How can I forgive the person who killed my best friend…" I pause for a moment, "My best friend only… I wish…"

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever."

"Amen…" I whisper before falling to my knees. I feel helpless as I watch them slowly lower the dark oak box into the abyss of the grave.

I cry, "How could this be?! This can't be real…" the pouring rain drops feel like bullets crashing down upon my weak shoulders, "it just can't!"

"May he rest in peace." The priest quietly says, before shutting a small, brown book with a golden cross on it, turning around, and leading the procession out of the cemetery. I desperately try to stand and follow them, but instead, fall to my knees again and pound my fist against the cold, muddy ground, "Why! This has to be a lie!"

"You know this is a lie Stardust." an ethereal boy materializes behind me, "None of this is true. This is just a ruse to stop you from looking for me." I look up, "No… I whisper. You aren't real! None of this is! Marco is alive! "

I push myself out of the mud, and wipe my tears.

"Yeah, that's it… I'm still alive alright." The boy says, before vanishing, "Keep looking Stardust, you'll find me eventually."

"I will Marco… I'll find you soon." I whisper and tear up, before crying on the grave, "But why did it have to be you! Why?!" I pound my fists against the muddy ground.

Another shadow appears behind me, "Come on Star…" Marco's dad holds an umbrella over her. Then his Mom comes over and continues, "Let's go home. We know you were close to Marco, it means so much that you came." The… semi-stoic man starts to tear up, "Come on, we'll take you home… just because Marco is gone doesn't mean you can't stay with us for now… right?"

I could tell that he was on the verge of tears.

"Ok…" I quietly answer, trying not to let the salty tears appear in my voice. "Ok Star… let's take you home…" Marco's grieving mother says as she motions for me follow. And I comply.

Marco's parents lead me out of the cold, wet, dark… empty place and over to the brightly colored Ford- a stark contrast to where we just came from.

The Diaz's were uncharacteristically silent the ride home… as was I… I don't think that any of us could find a way to find a reason to be optimistic, especially after that ceremony.

The slow car ride is oddly soothing, and suddenly, I feel myself drift away…

"Let them go Ludo!" I demand as I break into the villain's throne room, with Marco following soon after. "Or else we'll be forced to use force!" he declares as he prepares to fight off Ludo's minions again.

I wake to the muffled sound of the car's engine stopping, "Well Star… we're home…" Marco's mother- Angie says with a meek tone, "I'll… I'll get dinner started… Then we can…" Her voice trails off, and I don't blame her. I don't know what to do either, so instead of speaking I just nod and get out of the car.

It's sunset under an overcast sky when I finally reach the… simple front door. I have nothing else to say about it.

Marco's father is the first to step through the mundane door, and into the quiet house.

"Why don't you uhh… head up to your room? I'll call you down when dinners ready, all right?"

I wordlessly nod and head upstairs to my room… My empty room.

I open the simple wooden door and enter- quietly trudging passed the two remaining laser puppies. Though, the dogs did latch onto my legs while I did so. Wordless, I hopped onto my princess bed.

Then, I lie facedown on the warm bed, and fall asleep- letting the night's darkness envelop my body like a shroud.

"Marco jumps and tackles Lobster Claws, while I hop up and blast Bearicorn. Man arm tries to get the drop on me, but Marco punches him away. I respond by blasting the big chicken, causing her to drop an egg on Emmit.

"Take that!" I hear Marco shout, and I respond with, "Yeah you monsters! Feel our wrath!" then together we jump at Ludo. And all he can do is hold up his weapon in desperation

"Star, dinner's ready." I hear Angie walk inside the room, "Why don't you…" She stumbles on her words for a short moment, "Why don't you change and come eat with us?" I weakly turn my head, trying not to expose the tears running along my face, "I'm not in the mood…"

"Ok, I understand…" she takes a deep breath, "I'll leave a plate of food for you on the table… come down when you feel comfortable." Then, she quietly leaves and closes the door behind her.

A few hours later I force myself out of the bed and onto my weak legs. I notice the pups tearing up- most likely at the loss of their six brothers and sisters.

"Don't worry little pups, everything's going to be fine… I hope." I whisper to them as I stumble over to the door and struggle down the stairs.

The dark house seems so empty.

There's a bowl of spaghetti on the kitchen table. It's covered in a thin layer of plastic, but from what I can see, it's hastily made. A given since I doubt Angie could make the dish without crying her eyes out. Marco loved Spaghetti…

I turn on the kitchen light and grab the plate. It's lukewarm, "Good enough to eat…" Then I place the plate back on the table and walk over to the sink to grab utensils. The sink is inexplicably clean… No one had the time to go as deep as was necessary to clean it up. That's when the realization hit me… the sink isn't full of water either. There are no dirty plates or pots to be washed. It's as if someone painstakingly cleaned everything by hand… while the dirt was still ground in.

"I wonder why everything is so clean all of a sudden…" I grab what I need and turn around.

"Hey Stardust," The figure greets, "your food's cold."

I stood there in shock for a moment, was this real? No… it couldn't be… I saw him at the cemetery; I saw them bury his body.

"Haha, surprised to see me again huh?" I don't even know if it's really Marco. He gets out of his seat and hands the plate to me, "Don't worry about it, I'll still be here for you. I'm not dead, that wasn't my body that they buried. Besides…" He walks over and pulls me into a hug, "I would never leave you Stardust. I love you." Then he lets go, before disappearing.

For some reason, I feel dizzy as I take the… specter's advice and warm up the food in the nearby microwave. When turn back from warming the food, he's gone… again… it's as if he was never there… "Marco… Please come back…"

Then I shake my head, "No, he's dead… he's not coming back…" Then I slap myself, "No! Marco's alive; he's just away on a mission is all! He'll be back soon, after all, he has my dimensional scissors!" Then, I place the food on the table, and eat my food quickly and quietly, like a rat looking for its next meal, or a beggar, eating before someone can steal his food.

The night is quiet. Yet, I feel as if someone were screaming at me. There is no one around, and yet I hear voices, they all tell me, "Join your dead friend! After what he's done for you, the only repayment is your life!"

"But why should I join the dead when my friend is alive, he's just hiding away from Wavering Eyes…"

"Of course!" I shout, "This is all an illusion caused by the Hyposister Marco and I fought last week! This is all a lie! "That makes sense, right?" I wave off my doubts with, "Of course it makes sense, why wouldn't it? Marco and I dealt with these guys all the time; I know that one of them is doing this. I'm probably in a nightmare version of Mabel's bubble! So to break free I have to pop it some how!" I look out the nearby window, "Until then, I have to play along. Then, maybe I'll be able to escape."

I look around for a moment and yawn, "In the morning. I'll try to find a way out in the morning." Then, I take my plate and place it in the sink; "I'll wash this in the morning, too." Then, I quietly leave the kitchen, turning the lights off as I do so. After that, I stumble up to my room.

The pups pout at me from the bed, "Hey you two…" I say as I climb into my princess bed, close my eyes, and let the sweet embrace of darkness take me once more.

Out of nowhere, six laser pups appear and surround Ludo. "It's all over Ludo! Free our friends or else!" I demand as a raise my wand at him. Then, without warning the six pups fire their lasers at the weapon he was holding- the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator.

Ludo cries, "No!" As he watches the weapon glow before, exploding with a burst of lightning. The resulting weapon glows with blue instead of orange light, and quakes with pure energy. Hesitantly, Ludo grabs the weapon and glares at us with his beady red eyes.

"Huh, huh." I wake up with sweat on my face. The two pups are still sleeping peacefully by my legs. I stare at the ceiling for a moment, "That didn't happen, no, it couldn't have happened! I know he's sti-"

I'm cut off by sudden nausea. I groan, before forcing myself out the bed and struggling into the bathroom- where I proceed to puke my guts out. *Ugh* "What's wrong with me?" I clean myself up after that and head downstairs. The laser pups follow closely behind.

"Morning Star." Angie greets as I take a seat at the table, "Breakfast is almost ready. Why don't you get your stuff ready for school?" Angie seems to be in high spirits, like she usually is, but for some reason, I feel that even she's trying to cope with our loss…

"Rafael is already headed to work, so it's just you and me for now Star." I nod, "Ok Angie…" I watch Angie furiously scrub already clean dishes.

"You ok Angie?" I ask. She puts on an obviously fake smile and answers, "yeah, I'm fine." Then she makes me a plate of bacon and eggs, the two eggs were side-by-side like eyes, while the bacon was curved downward, giving the meal the shape of a sad face. I don't question Angie's choice of set up, and eat the food wordlessly. She serves the two pups small bowls of kibble.

I quickly eat my food and grab my things, "Marco's not dead. What happened in that dream didn't happen!" I force myself to swallow the thought, "Yeah, that's right, Marco's not dead. Marco's just coming to school late is all, he wouldn't miss a day for anything after all!"

So, I put on my best smile and walk into the school. And for some reason, my breasts tingle a bit. I don't know why though…

I make my way through the quiet early-morning halls on my way to locker. I carefully open it, and swap out the books in my bag for those that I need.

Then, as I shut the lock, Jackie approaches me. And hugs me, before whispering, "I'm sorry for your loss Star…" she starts to tear up as I respond, "What loss?"

She lets go and just stares at me for a short moment, "Marco… he's gone…" But I wave my hand at her, "No he's not! He's just on a long trip is all… he'll be back. I know that he will!" Jackie continues to stare for a moment, before sighing and patting my back, "Yeah, he'll be back soon Star."

Then. She walks away with tears in her eyes, "I wonder why she seems so downcast…" I think while I force the mere thought of Marco being dead to the back of my mind, "Why do people think Marco's dead?! He isn't!

So, I quietly walk into homeroom and take my seat in the corner, next to Marco's empty desk. Alfonso is the first to greet me with, "Hey Star, I'm sorry about Marco…" while he awkwardly looks away and rubs his head.

But I firmly say, "Marco isn't dead, he's just… feeling a bit sick is all… he'll be back tomorrow, don't you worry!"

Ferguson comes over while I say that and asks, "You ok Star? I mean you're acting rather odd about the whole thing…" I quickly nod in response, "Yeah I'm fine! Marco's coming in soon!" After that, the troll walks in and starts her class… in which I proceed to fall asleep in.

Ludo uses the weapon to grab and punt the pups into the walls with ease. He's so fast with that weapon that we don't even have a chance to react before the six pups are bloody corpses against the brick walls.

We try to attack him, but he launches bolts of lightning our way the first chance he got. Luckily, we're able to dodge the blasts in time. With the upgraded manipulator, this simple rescue mission just got a heck of a lot more complicated.

"Karate chop!" Marco comes at Ludo, but the alien is able to grab and force him back. I on the other hand, launch every magical attack I possible could. Yet, they were also easily countered.

*Ring!* the bell goes, waking me up for lunch. Ms. Trollface doesn't say a single word to me as I walk out of her homeroom door with the best smile I can possibly muster. "Marco's fine, after school I'm going to look for him. All is well here and anyone who says otherwise is lying." I think as I weakly push my way into the lunchroom. I don't know what, but something's been making me feel so used up lately.

The lunch lady looks at me like I'm crazy when I ask for things like fish and tomato sauce on my mystery meat plate. After that, I take my Sardine and tomato sauce covered meal, and walk over to the table with Alfonso, Ferguson and Jackie sitting. "Hey guys…" I quietly greet.

"Hey Star…" Jackie starts, but let's her voice trail off, like she wants to say something to me, but can't bring herself to say it. I yawn, "So how are you guys feeling?"

Ferguson and Alfonso look at each other for a moment, before turning back to me, "We're fine Star." Ferguson says while he tilts his head, "You don't look so hot Star, are you ok?"

Jackie makes me turn to her, "You look sick, like you're about to puke." Then she turns to see what's on my plate, "And what the heck are you eating? Sardines and mystery meat?!"

"I haven't eaten any of it yet though…" I whisper while holding my stomach. "Hold on." I say as I get up, run to the nearest trashcan, and puke. "Star, you're sick." Jackie says as she comes to my side, "I think you need to go home…" I immediately respond, "No! I'm fine… I'll just wait for Marco to come, and then go home, ok." Jackie takes a step back, "Star…."

"Yes Jackie?" I pull up from the trashcan and wipe my mouth. "You know Marco's dead… you were there, you held his body."

"No!" I shout, "That wasn't his body! Marco isn't dead! He's just late for school is all…"

"Star, calm down." Jackie places her hand on my back, "You have to face facts, Marco is dead, and you're sick. You have to go home…"

"No he's not!"

Ferguson comes up and hugs me, "Star, he's gone…" He starts to tear up, "Ludo… he caused his death, remember? We buried him; he's gone. I'm sorry Star."

Jackie tears up too, "I wish I could've told him the truth before he died…" I turn to her, "I had a huge crush on him… but I never could bring myself to… you know, tell him…"

I have a pain in my chest, as if someone had just torn out my heart. "Marco's dead… are you sure?!" I shout at Ferguson, and Jackie answers me, "Yeah Star, he's gone."

Tears fill my eyes as I start to cry into the trashcan.

Then, Jackie whispers, "Come on Star, let's take you to the nurse, you're sick." And I comply, though I do ask Ferguson to bring my food with him. I don't know why I even want this stuff; I hate sardines.

So my friends take me to the school nurse… who proceeds to dismiss me early due to sickness, "Come back tomorrow, this is probably the flu or something. You're going to be fine." She said with a rushed tone in her voice. "I'll take her home." Jackie declares as she grabs my arm and leads me out of the school and to Marco's home. There, she leaves me with a hug and a "Feel better Star, don't worry. Everything is going to get better soon."

I don't answer, but give a downcast nod in response.

When I enter the home, I head straight passed Angie and up to Marco's former room.

"Where are you? I know you're not dead, I just know that everyone's lying." I grab a picture frame off the nightstand and I look at it. There's a photo of Marco and I with the pups in it. "I promise Marco…."

"But… Marco is never late… the only time he'd be late is if he's… but he can't be, I saw him after the funeral. He talked to me!

The two remaining pups walk into the room, both with sad looks on their faces. I don't hesitate to take them in my arms. I wordlessly lie down in Marco's bed, and fall asleep.

I fire a burst of light at the monster, before teleporting to the other side of the room and firing another.

Marco comes up from behind and hits Ludo in the back, causing him to drop the weapon. "It's over Ludo," I declare as I jump up and prepare to land the finishing blow.

Then, without warning, he jumps at the manipulator.

In a split second, he ducks and rolls under Marco and grabs the blaster, but I don't hesitate to fire my wand.

Ludo uses the manipulator to grab Marco, who fights with all his might to break free of its grip.

But I couldn't stop the attack; it was just too late. The blast hits Marco, sending him flying across the room. He flips around like a rag-doll, before his body crashes into the brick wall, and hits the floor with a loud *Thud*.

I wake up with a loud gasp. "It was real… Marco really is dead… and it's all my fault…." I, as well as the puppies, start to cry. "Why couldn't I stop it?! Why couldn't I save him in time?! Why is this happening?!"

Then I realize why. It's because I spared Ludo. It's his fault that Marco's dead. If I had only treated him like more of a threat, Marco would still be alive. I can feel rage building inside of me, alongside my hunger for revenge.

I whisper, "I'm coming for you Ludo." Before getting out of the bed. I think that these pups are smart, because they get up with me, and proceed to follow me into a dimensional portal.

I promise you Marco. Your death will not be in vain.

"9-20-'19 14-15-20 4-5-14-9-1-12. 9-'13 10-21-19-20 19-5-12-5-3-20-9-22-5 1-2-15-21-20 20-8-5 18-5-1-12-9-20-25 9 1-3-3-5-16-20." ~2-9-12-12 23-1-20-20-5-18-19-15-14

A/N Here's the start to a short story. Will update every Saturday for the next 4 weeks. Enjoy.