Chapter 14: Fear

Rating: (T-M) Not for Children.

Pairings: Starco, JanTom

A/N: Enjoy.

Call.. Call.. Call..

Ring...

Star etched closer, the hand she was holding the cup with shaking with nervous intent.

As she approached, her eyes widened with terror at what she read on the screen.

The caller I.D was all too recognizable, and she shivered at it as she tried to swallow the forming lump of fear inside her throat.

Mother... Mother... Mother...

Her mouth opened to speak, tongue moving to say, her throat emitting sound, "Answer, Mother."

Marco watched as the screen changed from black to color, a setting that looked like it was from a castle.

He stared dumbfounded at the screen, taking in every detail he could see.

There, in the middle of everything, stood a woman that was well enough in her late 40's, with diamond cheekmarks that resembled Star's own.

Star swallowed thickly and straightened up, to which Marco took notice. "Hello, Mother." Star greeted, fists clenching to her sides.

Marco's eyes widened at the addressing of 'mother', his eyes turning to her in wide astonishment. 'That's her mother?' His eyes stared at Star, watching as he noticed her shiver and shake. 'Is she afraid of her mom?'

At the greeting, Star's mother smiled at her, a sincere smile that fumbled even with Marco since it reminded him of his own mother. "Hello, Sweetheart. It's so good to see you again, even if it is through screen." Moon greeted back, probably on the verge of small tears at seeing her Daughter after two weeks.

Star felt her heart tighten with appreciation at such a nice greet back, and not a greeting of pure seriousness that she could long remember. It's been a few years since her mother had ever said hello to her like that; a while since she ever saw true emotion in her.

"How are you doing?" Moon asked her, seeming eager to know how it has been throughout the days she had spent there.

"I'm..." Star bit her lip in fear to tell her mother that it hasn't been going well, but she shook her head and faked a smile. "I've been doing great, mother. How have you been doing?"

Moon smiled even bigger, her heart swelling with sentiment. "Ah, well..You know well enough that it's been the usual...though I'll have to admit," her blue eyes drooped with sudden sadness, "I have been missing my daughter from my home."

Marco blinked the shock away from his eyes, now attentive to hear out what they were talking about.

Star stared at her mother with such blankness, that she reflected at that blankness with herself having no emotion. Was her mother messing around with her? She doesn't know.

"You have..missed me?" Star asked, slightly surprised.

Moon nodded slowly, sighing dejectedly. "I have, darling. And I still am. It's so hollow here in the castle, now more than ever since your father had passed. I still imagine him here, sitting next to me, reassuring me that you're doing well." Moon could feel her eyes water, but she refused to let her emotions become the best of her. "Even if it has been such little time, I miss you either way. I came to call now, in my free time, in order to make sure that you were safe."

Star sniffled, her lips beginning to wobble with feeling.

Moon noticed and frowned, cooing, "Aw darling, don't cry. River wouldn't have wanted you to cry.."

Marco perked up at Moon's words, and immediately headed downstairs in order to retrieve an object that she needed.

He came back up to find her somewhat crying, though he wasn't entirely sure that she was, because in the light, her eyes seemed normal.

As he entered the room, he did it as quietly as possible as to not disturb their talk.

Upon entering though, the old wood creaked below his feet, and he winced, noticing the way both Star and Moon turned their attention towards him.

Sheepishly, he handed her a small towel, avoiding the gaze of the mother.

Star smiled at him, a tear dropping from her right eye, "Thank you, Marco."

Moon, upon noticing what happened, watched as the lovely interaction took place, a smile forming on her own features. "I thought you informed me that you yet had to make a decision to court a suitor, Star." Moon joked, Star's eyes widening with embarrassment.

Her cheeks glowed a dark luminous pink, her shocked expression turning to her mother. "That- excuse me?"

Marco raised a brow, not knowing whatever that had meant. He never really read a princess book.

"Mother, I-No. He is just the human that provided aid and help throughout my days in Terra." Star told her, trying and hoping to convince her mother to stop teasing her.

Moon chuckled a bit at her reaction. Of course, Moon knew that she wasn't going to push the over-embarrassment over. It wasn't her thing. Though, that wouldn't stop her from making fun of Star a bit. "Ah, alright. Who might this young gentlemen be, then?"

"I just told you." Star whined, and Moon, again, laughed a bit to herself.

Marco snapped his head towards Star, who had just acted unlike herself. Her mother hadn't noticed, and turns out, neither had she.

"Alright, Alright, sweetheart. I'll stop pestering you." Moon then became serious, and she folded her hands together. "I meant to call sooner, but I've been so busy trying to keep Mewni from any destruction. I'm sorry for that, dear."

Star fumbled with her hands a little, sighing. "It's quite alright, mother. Duties come first."

"Oh, No no no," Moon said, alarmed, "Family is first. Family is always first. And I feel saddened about the fact that I, a widowed mother, didn't make time for her only beautiful child." Moon told her dejectedly, frowning.

Star crossed her arms in an attempt to huddle herself.

'Now you realize that?'

"It's okay, Mother," Star smiled, "I know you love me even if you don't call."

'I don't.'

Moon sniffled, placing a loving hand to her heart at being touched. "Thank you for understanding, Star. Though, I'm sorry we have to part ways once more, for my time is up. Goodbye, darling." She then turned her eyes to Marco, who was looking elsewhere but the two of them, "And goodbye to you too, Mr.."

"His name is Marco," Star interrupted, making Marco jump.

"Ah, yes. Mr. Marco. Goodbye to you too."

Marco nodded as a sign to leave, and Star waved back at her mother, watching the screen turn black.

Star stayed still after it had shut off, her eyes still focused on the black screen.

Marco waited for about three minutes, until he realized that she had been doing nothing but stare at the hollow looking screen. "Star, are you gonna leave or..?"

Star jumped lightly and turned towards him, her dilated pupils returning to normal. "Ah, sorry," She said sheepishly, grabbing the cup she placed down, "I was..lost for a moment there."

Marco gave her a pointed look. "Why do you do that?"

Star bit her lip. Should she tell him? Wait. She already has. Been. "I think about my past a lot, Marco. I think about my parents, my...lonesomeness." She breathed, again staring back at the black screen. Then, she turned back to him, "Don't you do that too?"

Marco blinked. He has. Always been. But he could never say anything, in fear that she would judge him like everyone else has done. "No," He scoffed, crossing his arms.

Star chuckled hollowly, a sad smile present on her lips. "Ah, right...I forgot that you only.." She frowned, and left her sentence at that. He could never understand her. Why did she keep trying over someone who knew nothing about pain?

Marco wanted to know what she was going to say, but he brushed it off. Why would he want to know things he wasn't supposed to know?

"Marco," She whispered, "I need you to stay here for a moment. I need to grab something from..downstairs."

Marco raised a brow at her sudden request, but complied nonetheless.

He watched her head out the door and down the stairs, disappearing from his sight completely.

Leaving him inside her room, he looked around now, completely noticing things that passed through his vision before.

Like the numerous paintings that decorated the now pink glittered walls, the chests and puffy beanbags that lay near the door way.. It reminded him of little girls, how they would play doll with pink everything, how they would enjoy their time living in their own fantasy..

His heart ached.

His mother, before she had went missing, announced to him that he would be receiving a new sibling.

Everyone at the time was happy, over-joyous that a new member would join the family.

Marco was so excited to meet the little girl, so joyful that life had brought him a new person to play with around the house.

Before her arrival however, his parents had left.

He wasn't sure...why.

Brantley had told him that they left over deep troubling decisions, but that still hadn't answered his questions.

He was stuck for years trying to figure out over such things.

He gave up over two years ago, once he realized that they would have never came back to him like Brantley had told him at such a young age.

Never again had he wanted to hear or talk about his parents, even if the weight of them on his shoulders was growing bigger as the days went by.

He didn't care anymore. That sorrow and regret had replaced to anger and betrayal, now that he's made up his mind.

Again, he looked around her room, until his eyes stopped right at the black mirror.

His eyes narrowed as he viewed himself on the reflection, noticing the way his hair had been messed up, and his bandage was slightly smudged with red.

Quickly, he fixed his hair, grinning to himself a bit when his hair returned back to it's messy state.

As he stared, a green beam began to emerge from the bottom of the mirror, and he jumped at a sudden ringing that echoed around the room.

The mirror began to change to a light grey, and the three dots of green returned in a syncing pattern of up and down.

Call... Call... Call...

Lilacia Ponyhead...

'Oh no. Oh NO.'

Janna skidded across the sidewalk to turn a sharp corner, followed by Oskar who did the same as she did.

'No. No. Don't die. I don't want to DIE.'

Looking back, her already widened eyes caught sight of the 20 feet tall being chasing after her, still, after almost two blocks of just running.

It was tiring her out; she knew.

And it was working.

Oskar, who seemed just as shit-panted as she was, took a look at her with unrecognized fear, and she grimaced, turning her head back forwards.

What were those things? And where had they came from?

They kind of looked like demons, had they came from the Underworld? She wasn't sure. From far, it seemed obvious that they looked fairly horrifying. Though, she hadn't taken a good look at their faces, which made it worse in her case since they could look like anything.

If she were 4 years younger, in all honesty she would have risked it all to take a picture, or even befriend one of those things.

Though, now, since fearing for her life became a thing, she decided it would be best to live.

Another corner turned, another hard stomp onto the ground.

Huffing and puffing, her body was filled with adrenaline, her mind too focused on getting away to pay attention to anything else.

Before she could yet again make another gracious turn, another one of those creatures emerged from the very corner she was about to head into.

She stopped dead in her tracks, body automatically turning itself around into the other direction.

Though, she had forgotten that there was still that other one, and again she stopped, then turned to head the sideways direction.

The two grand beings rammed into each other, hands waving frantically around in a desperateness to unclause.

Turning back, she noticed them standing still, just somehow holding each other in some sort of weird trance.

She took that chance to hide in an alleyway, watching now from a corner to check to see if they had left somewhere else.

Oddly enough, they had, and it wasn't until a few seconds later did she realize Oskar wasn't with her anymore.

Whatever, sucks for him.

In a pained effort, she leaned onto the bricked wall, her chest heaving in and out harshly from the heavy breathing.

Her body slid down the bricked, dirty wall to rest, her calves aching from the sudden excess running she had just recently done.

Turning her head, she looked out into the alleyway to check to see of there were anymore.

A relieving sigh escaped her once she saw that there wasn't any around.

Her body limped as her head lay sideways against the wall, her eyes closing in order to relax.

Suddenly, a rustling sound was heard, her eyes popping wide open.

Before she could react, a seemingly, normal human being was strolling past casually, plastic paper bag in hand.

The human turned to her, raising a brow. "Are you okay?"

Instantly, she recognized the guy from the hospital: Frank.

Janna just stared at him, eyes still widened.

It wasn't until after a few moments of him awkwardly standing there that she had spoken up.

She stood straight up, eyes still widened with fear. "Did you not see fucking demons limping about just now!?" She yelled, pointing towards the direction to where the creatures had recently just been.

At such exclamation, Frank jumped, almost dropping his bags onto the floor. "Are you sure you're okay? There weren't any demons anywhere. Do you need some therapy or..?" He suggested, stepping a bit back.

"Don't fuck with me!" Janna yelled clearfully, holding onto his shoulders, "There was - no - are big monsters walking around! You can't bullshit me and tell me there wasn't anything there!"

Frank stepped back, furrowing his brows. "Ma'am, you need to calm down. There are no demons; trust me. I just walked all over town today to grab these things from some shack, and I haven't noticed any weird activity going on. Even the people were acting normally." He assured, noting to his bag then looking back at her.

Janna stared at him in complete bewilderment, not understanding how he didn't notice anything. "But- what?" Janna clutched her head, eyes still wide.

"I think you need some help." Frank offered, placing his bags down to reach out to her-he was kind of like a nurse after all.

"No, don't." Janna growled, still on edge. "I'm going-I'm-" She stopped, furrowing her brows.

At her refusal, he shrugged and picked up his bags once more, now only standing there; looking at her.

Turning her head to look at him, she said nothing, removing herself from his view.

Then she left the alleyway, leaving Frank there to stare after her worriedly.

Janna walked with paranoia back home, her eyes peeled and aware.

She turned and checked every where she would walk to, expecting one of those things to reach out and grab her.

Though, none of that ever happened.

It seemed that she was somehow hallucinating the whole thing; that whatever was happening to her wasn't real after all.

She tried to convince herself it wasn't, but it looked real. And it somehow scared her; an emotion she rarely felt.

Shaking her head to clear out her denying thoughts, she crossed the sidewalk opposite from where she was at in order to get home without any trouble.

Strolling past the same cans and bottle filled bushes, she took out her keys to open the door, heading inside.

Before she could close the door however, something yanked her back outside.

Instantly she recognized the burn she had felt on her lips this morning to the burn now on her hand, and looked up with some relief to find a goofy grinning Tom staring down at her.

She ripped her hand away from his hold, stepping back to look at him a bit better. "You- Why are you here?" She asked, raising a curious brow.

Tom noticed the shake of her voice, but ignored it. "I was bored, so I came to hang."

Janna walked into her house as a response, and tiredly sat down on the couch.

Tom, taking her action as an invitation in, followed right after her, sitting next to her.

Janna closed her eyes and exhaled, tired. "Yeah, okay, fine." She muttered, "You can chill here for a while."

Tom grinned at her approval, and leaned a bit back to stare at her.

His eyes traced her outline, later averting after she opened her eyes again.

"Am I crazy?"

"Why do you say that?" Tom asked her, lightly scratching the beige colored fur of the couch.

"I don't know. I keep-I feel weird. Like," She paused, furrowing her brows, "Like, my emotions are all over the place. And I keep hallucinating."

Tom bit his lip, suddenly nervous. "Maybe its because you're traumatized..?"

"Traumatized?" She scoffed, waving a careless hand in the air, "I'm being honest right now, I don't feel that traumatized."

Tom crossed his arms. "Being traumatized isn't an emotion, Baggy."

"Then what is it?" Janna asked, a sudden random shiver going down her warm back.

"Being traumatized is something... something... that literally feels like it's stuck inside you. It's as if you're drowning in that one memory.." Tom sighed, leaving it off at that.

"I still don't get it.." Janna deadpanned, creasing her brows in sudden confusion.

Tom shuffled closer to her. "Look, Janna. Being traumatized is something that is a done, not a feel. It's a mental thing that eats away at you; and the longer you keep thinking, the more stressed you become. And because of that stress, you're stuck with something that you feel with. You feel as if it'll happen again, and you're scared, too afraid to...do anything."

Janna sat attentive, eyes flashing with empathy. "So I guess Marco had something like that happen to him." Janna muttered, eyes averting with his own.

"What?"

Janna turned to him, "You sure do know a lot about this stuff," she said, ignoring his comment, "Are you traumatized?"

"No." Tom answered.

Then, he sighed. "But I know someone who was. Still is, actually." He mumbled.

"Let me guess," Janna gave him a look, "Star?"

Tom nodded. "Yeah. You've noticed, right?"

Janna reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. It's..weird."

"It's sad, that's what it is." Tom said aloud, eyes lamenting.

Janna felt another shiver run through her. "Did..you ever try and help her with it...?" Janna asked, hoping he would tell her about what happened between him and Star. She was a curious person.

"I tried." Tom abruptly whispered harshly, ears drooping. "I tried so hard, so damn hard to help her, contact her, or anything."

Janna perked up, eyes softening at his willingness of a confession. He had never said anything about his past..

"But that never worked. I couldn't help enough." He breathed, voice barely audible to her.

"What do ya mean, enough?" Janna asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Did she not think of his efforts as enough?

Tom shook his head. "I don't know if I could answer you, Janna."

"And why not?" She asked, again, another question.

"Because I'm still trying to figure that out myself. On why I wasn't enough for her. "

"Then instead of answering the question, just tell me what happened. Maybe talking aloud can help something open up." She offered, in hopes that he would.

Tom sighed, and opened his mouth to continue. "I contacted her parents at the start, but they would always tell me that she would be fine. But I knew, deep down, that something wasn't." Tom clenched his fist, eyes narrowing. "I kept trying to call that place and her parents for almost a year, but I had no luck. So I decided to go over there myself to check up on her, to see how she was doing."

He inhaled, eyes lowering to stare solely on a random black smudge on the carpet. "I couldn't though. I would request a call..she would never come out and answer. I'd go up to the recipient woman who owned the waiting room, asking politely to ask for Star Butterfly. That woman, who I consider a close friend now," He watched the way she shifted to become more comfortable, "Was so nice to allow me each and every time to visit her. Two and a half years went by like that."

Tom frowned suddenly, eyebrows creasing upwards in a display of depressing view. "Until finally... she answered me. I was so, so glad to see her there, sitting, resting in front of me. I could finally see her, I could finally feel her. I was happy. Elated, about the fact that I now could see that she was still alive, waiting there. Though, it wasn't after our greet that I knew something was wrong."

Janna raised a brow, scooting closer. "What was wrong, then?"

Tom turned to her, all three of his eyes shimmered with a mix of fear and shock. "She looked duller. Her skin got paler, she was skinnier, and her whole personality seemed unlike herself. I knew that she would change, I just didn't think she would have changed that much."

"Well, what did you expect, Tommy? You hadn't seen her in almost..what? Three and a half years? Of course she would change." Janna commented, raising a brow.

Tom shook his head. "I knew that. But..it looked as if she had been suffering in there. I shook off those thoughts though, thinking that maybe her appearance was the only think that seemed wasted. So we talked, without much trouble."

Janna peered at him, "About..?"

"Anything, really." Tom answered, recalling the moment. "I was happy that she talked to me. But she was so dismissive whenever I would ask her how she had been doing throughout her time there."

"Dismissive? Huh, sounds professional even for you." Janna joked, earning a look. "Sorry, had to comment about that."

Tom chuckled hollowly, ears still drooped. "It's fine. Anyway," He continued, "I asked her again about how she was doing-"

"Why would you ask her again after she had just dismissed you?"

"Maybe she would've answered me that time." Tom responded, tone hardened.

Janna clamped her mouth shut at his small glare.

"I asked her to see if she would answer me after all the talk we had. Though, she didn't answer the question again. Suddenly, she told me plain and simple that she no longer wanted me to come to check up on her. She wanted me to never come back. She wanted me to leave her alone, to stop trying to help."

Janna felt a sharp knife penetrate through her chest.

"I couldn't believe it." Tom hushed, eyes turning to meet her own.

"No wonder you came that day into Marco's house. You've been trying to get an answer from her ever since?" Janna asked, mouth agape.

"Yeah. Ever since." Tom mumbled, leaning his head back; the curve of the sofa fitting perfectly with the curve of his neck.

Janna frowned, leaning her head back along with his.

"I'm sorry for that, Tom." She muttered beseechingly, still frowning.

Tom turned his head slightly towards her in surprise. Then, his surprise deteriorated slowly.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. It was mine for being so incredibly stupid." Tom responded, a pang commencing inside his hurting chest.

"Tom, I'll tell you this right now, but only once." Janna spoke, eyes glued to the ceiling, "You're not stupid. Sure, you can be an idiot at times," she snorted, "But, you aren't stupid. What you did was something a good, loving boyfriend would do. It was something that even me, Janna, considers as loving."

Tom again, became surprised. "I'm not sure if you're lying or not." He said truthfully, watching humorously as her face contorted to one of offended.

"That's rude. I was being nice, and that's how you repay me? Ass." Janna chuckled, punching his arm.

He hissed, "Ow", before half-heartedly giving her a glare.

She smiled, and shook her head. "You were being a good person. Believe it."

A/N: After Chapter 15, I will increase the number of words on a chapter to 5,000. These chapters have 3,000, so I legitamately increased the number to 2,000 more words, lol.

Remember, people love you and you are a special human being.

Toodles~

Ana.