Thank you to everyone for all the support! For anyone wondering, this actually is the first story I have written, so all comments and criticisms are valid and welcome! Don't plan to make this an extremely long story, as I've read some that hooked me in the first few chapters and then the story just sort of fizzles out as it continues with no real direction, so I obviously don't want that to happen. Will try and keep updates as frequent as possible, as I really enjoy writing this. Let me know what you all think! Thanks again and enjoy! :)
Chapter 4: Close Ties
If the reasonable and ordinary person were to inquire about the definite number of dimensions that existed, then they would be asking for quite some time. The plain truth is that there is no definite number, and if there is, well, no one has managed to count them all in their lifetime. And people have tried.
So much exists in these planes of reality that one cannot avoid ignorance. Wherever you are, wherever you have been, there is always somewhere else to go. A myriad of tropical beaches, blistering deserts, freezing mountains, underwater kingdoms and sky civilisations are that the tip of one's fingertips. If one is holding a pair of dimensional scissors in said fingertips, of course. There are so many dimensions that people focus on going to and exploring, that they neglect the dimensions that they should be avoiding. And there is one that stands out above all in this regard.
A place so blazing hot that fire itself melts and one's sweat evaporates before it can even form. A place where dancing flames rule the skies and running lava rules the lands. A place inhabited by the dead, by devils, by monsters and creatures of the night. But most importantly, a place inhabited by one hot-headed, egotistical, Love Sentence-loving demon boy.
Deep in the depths of the Underworld stood said boy, staring at his three-eyed reflection in the mirror, trying desperately and failing to fix his tie. After several botched attempts, the demon boy snarled and ripped the tie clean off of his neck, hurling it towards the wall of his room. It burnt to a crisp before it had even hit the floor.
"What is even the point?" growled Tom, to no one in particular. He stared at himself in the mirror, judging his appearance with the lack of the tie. He was sporting a blood red blazer with pants to match and a jet black buttoned shirt. He undid the top few buttons of his shirt, and once again looked himself up and down.
"Maybe she will like it better without a tie," pondered Tom, turning in different directions to gauge a better opinion of this new style. "I know she has always liked the bad boy sort of look. This says cool. Casual. Breezy."
Not as soon as the last syllable had left the demon's lips, one of the buttons of his shirt became loose and fell to the ground, also evaporating in a puff of steam. Tom blinked with all three eyes, and once they opened again, all that filled them was an epitome of red.
A thunderous roar escaped Tom's agape mouth, sharp fangs protruding from all angles. He clenched his fists, fireballs fabricating where his hands used to be. A jet of flame shot out of the demon's feet, causing him to slowly hover further upwards. The whole room shook violently, cracks in the rock walls materialising and rubble falling from the ceiling.
"Cool, casual and breezy, huh?"
As quick as a flash, Tom whipped his neck round to the source of the voice. There at his doorway stood another reminder of Tom's failure, Mr Candle. He was leaning against the wall, a mug of coffee in his grasp and an eyebrow raised. "Need to talk about-?"
Unfortunately, Mr Candle's question went unfinished, as a bolt of scarlet fire shot right above his head. Instinctively, the high school counsellor ducked, prolonging his existence for just a little longer. He dropped his mug which plummeted to the floor and smashed. The shards, of course, burst into flame.
After the flame had passed, Mr Candle felt a tingling sensation on the back of his head. A quick brush over with the palm of his hand revealed that his ponytail has been burnt clean off. "Aw man," he exclaimed, looked at the fragments of burnt hair clinging to his hand, "It took me months to grow that!"
Tom, who was still in a state of pure fury, pointed his index finger at the man, who recoiled in fear. Instead of more fire emitting from the demon's fingertips, words were emitted from his mouth.
"You are worthless," growled Tom, the room continuing to shake. "Bring. Me. Brian."
Without a second thought, Mr Candle sprinted like a lunatic out of the room, and returned not a minute later with the aforementioned Brian.
Brian was a short, portly man who wore glasses and, in all honestly, didn't look like he could guide a salmon down a stream, let alone effectively calm down a raging demon. But as soon as Brian saw the boy and what he was doing, he waddle-rushed over, and bravely put both his hands on Tom's shoulder, and guided him back down to the ground.
"Walk it out, talk it out. Walk it out, talk it out." repeated Brian as he led Tom in circles, who himself was mumbling under his breath. After a few moments, the fireballs that had engulfed his fists started to die out, the room ceased shaking and once again became stationary, and Mr Candle slowly stopped trembling from fright.
Tom himself blinked a few times, his eyes returning back to normal. He took a deep breath and stopped walking, shaking free of Brian's grip. "Thank you, Brian." he said curtly, before walking back to the mirror, the irritation he was feeling clearly still somewhat present.
Brian eyed the boy. He had learnt to choose his words carefully while being employed under Tom's services, as he did have a tendency to … overreact in certain circumstances. "Tell me what happened, Tom." he said calmly, warmth evident in his voice.
Mr Candle's eyes darted between Brian and Tom, clearly still anxious of another outburst. All three of Tom's eyes twitched as he stared grumpily at himself in the mirror. Then he sighed in defeat, and turned to face Brian.
"I just don't know what to do!" he groaned, "The Ball of the Butterfly is tonight, only an hour away! Starship will be there, and I just don't know what to say to her."
Brian nodded, so Tom continued, moving over to sit on the edge of his bed. "All I want is to get her back! But everything that I can think of just backfires on me! It's just an impossible task, The whole Blood Moon Ball thing was spoilt by …" Tom paused, the taste of pure venom present on his tongue, "...Marco…"
Tom allowed himself to wallow in his loathing for the boy for a moment. If that cocky little punk hadn't have stuck his nose where it didn't belong, it would have been smooth sailing. But oh no! He just had to butt in, right when I had Star where I wanted her. That dance was meant for ME!
Tom snarled at this last thought, but managed to keep himself composed. He continued on with his recount of his recent relationship with Star Butterfly.
"And then I hired - wait, what's your first name?" inquired Tom, looking over at Mr Candle. The counsellor, who had been busy studying his watch at that moment, looked up at the demon.
"You know, it isn't actually legally required on the contract I signed that I have to reveal that information," Mr Candle sighed, rubbing his nose with his wrist.
"Whatever!" groaned Tom in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's not like I want to relive these memories anyway." He bent his head forwards and placed it in his hands.
"I just want Star."
Brian, who had been listening intently, walked over and placed a comforting hand on Tom's shoulder. "Listen, Tom. From what I've seen and heard, she obviously isn't interested in you anymore. She isn't attracted to the person you are. If you want even a chance at getting her back, you need to change!"
Tom didn't respond, his head still in his hands, so Brian continued, "If the princess can see what you are capable becoming, and you show her that you are willing to try and better yourself, then at least you can say you did everything you could to try and get her back!"
Brian released his hand from Tom's shoulder, hoping his words had gotten through to him. Mr Candle nodded, seeming to agree with the advice. Slowly Tom's head began to rise, as he processed what Brian had just said.
Better myself? The demon thought on this, rubbing his chin with his finger. Better myself…
Suddenly, the demon shot up onto his feet, causing Mr Candle to scream and trip over in an attempt to run. But Tom didn't even notice, as he smiled at Brian's idea.
"So what you're saying is," began Tom, pacing around the room, not even looking at Brian, "I need to heighten and accentuate my personality! Of course, why didn't I think of that? Remind her of why she fell for me in the first place!"
Brian frowned in a worried expression, and raised his index finger. "Actually, that is the exact opposite of what I-"
"Brain you're a genius!" yelled the demon, picking up the short man with ease and shaking him up and down. "So simple, yet so brilliant!"
Tom ceased shaking Brian and dropped him on the floor, the dizziness evident in his dazed expression. The demon rushed over to his nightstand and picked up his pair of dimensional scissors. He looked down at himself, no tie and a button missing. Pfft, I'll be fine, Tom smirked to himself as he dragged the scissors down in the air, causing a portal to materialise. I have a plan.
"Star, can you give me a hand with this?" called Marco from his room, struggling to tie his tie in the correct fashion.
If he was going to be honest, the tie he had worn to the Blood Moon Ball was a clip-on. At the time he had been in a hurry to get to the Underworld before something unsavoury happened. There were never many occasions that presented themselves that required Marco to dress so formally, so it was no surprise that his tie skills were somewhat lacking.
"In a miiiinute!" came the sing-song voice of Star, Marco's 'date', in a sense. At this, Marco sighed and wandered over to his mirror, allowing his blue tie to fall loose around his neck. He studied himself, and thought he looked presentable. He wore a grey suit and black pants, all buttoned up, nice and neat.
Why am I still so nervous for this? thought Marco as he took a comb out of his pocket and started brushing his hair. Well, there is the fact that I'm going to have to call upon every dramatical skill in my very being in order to pull this off.
The boy thought on that. While he was obviously no Mackie Hand when it came to acting, he thought he was decent enough to get by. But Queen Moon was no fool, and Marco feared she would see right through it. And everyone knew how attentive King River was when it came to his precious pumpkin.
Oh boy, and then there is him. Star's dad will no doubt be on me from the first, hammering me with questions and basically interrogating me. While Marco and River got on well, the fact that he was now Star's 'boyfriend' would no doubt sour that relationship, at least at first. The guy is scarily protective over Star.
Before Marco could continue thinking of things that could go wrong, he heard a voice from behind him. "So … what do you think?"
Marco turned around and choked a little on the air he was breathing. In front of him stood Star Butterfly, and yet this was not the Star Butterfly he was used to. Her long, golden hair was fashioned in a similar way to how it was for the Blood Moon Ball. Her dress, however, was quite different. She wore a sleek, sequined navy blue dress that glimmered slightly in the light of his room. Marco rarely saw Star dress this formally, and the pace of his heart quickened suddenly, which he put down to increased nerves after seeing the source of his distress.
Marco shook his head and blinked, then looked at the princess once more. "You look … amazing…"
Star giggled. Is that all he can say? she wondered, but blushed a little bit all the same. "Thanks Marco. You don't look half bad yourself."
And it was true, he did look good. Better than good. He can really pull off a suit, thought Star, grinning. Jackie is gonna be swooning when she sees him like that one day.
The thought left an odd, unidentified feeling in the pit of Star's stomach, and she wasn't sure why. She put it down to hunger. Hopefully the grub is good at this ball, cos I am starving!
Marco flashed her a smile. "Thanks Star. Now c'mon, help me with this tie."
Star complied, and walked over to Marco. It just so happened that her father had the same issues with ties as Marco, so her mom had taught her from a young age how to work a tie in case she wasn't around or too busy to "assist a grown man dress himself", as she put it.
Star stepped close to Marco and clasped the tie with her hands, running it through them. She looked up at Marco's collar and began to tie it. She briefly looked up at Marco, and then froze.
I am really really close to him right now.
Their faces were mere inches away, and Star felt hers start to heat up slightly. She felt her grip on the tie loosen as she stared into Marco's eyes. Were his eyes always that … brown?
To say Marco had a similar feeling of anxiety was an understatement. His face was beginning to heat up at their sheer proximity. He could literally feel Star's breath on his face. Her warm breath…
They stayed like that for a while, until Marco thought he should probably intervene, before things got … weird.
"Um, S-Star?"
Marco's voice snapped Star back to reality, as her eyes slightly widened. She stepped back slightly, her grasp still on the tie. Oh my gosh, what was I just doing?! He's going to think I'm a total weirdo!
"Don't worry Star." said Marco, who had composed himself a bit and was sporting a warm smile. Star looked up at him in puzzlement, so Marco continued. "I'm nervous too. This whole thing could go wrong at any moment."
Star blinked, and slowly nodded. "Yeah haha … nerves." She looked at Marco's collar again, and began to tie his tie for the second attempt. What was that? Ugh, nevermind. I have bigger fish to fry tonight. There is enough weirdness in the air for one evening.
She quickly composed herself. "Don't worry Marco, we will be fine." Star said, grinning. "All we have to do is make an appearance, say our hellos, make a little idle chit-chat, have a dance and we'll be finished in no time." Star stepped back from Marco. "There ya go! All done."
Marco winced a bit at the mention of 'a dance', but decided to push it to the back of his mind. We shall cross that bridge when we come to it. "Thanks Star."
"No problem, bestie!" said Star, lightly punching Marco on the arm, causing him to laugh. "Well, we better be going! The Ball of the Butterfly awaits!"
The princess yanked out her pair of dimensional scissors. She went to rip open a portal in the air, but paused at the last minute. Looking down thoughtfully, she turned to Marco.
"Marco," she said earnestly, and Marco looked over at her, eyebrows raised. "Just … thanks again. For doing this for me. I know it's a big ask, and it means a lot that you're helping me out. Truly."
The boy blinked for a second before his signature warm smile returned to his face. He extended his arm and gently rubbed Star's bare shoulder. "Don't mention it, Star. It's the least I can do."
The pair smiled briefly at each other, before Star brandished the scissors and created a portal to Mewni for them. Marco extended his arm to Star, to which she graciously accepted, the pair blushing timidly all the while. The two best friends nodded to one another, and stepped into the portal, neither having a single clue what the night before them would hold.