A beautiful morning greeted Joe as he walked down the street towards Marco's house. Marco was training for a karate tournament and he and Star had agreed to help cheer him on. The past week Marco was so focused on his tournament, that he had begun to spiral into the recovery part of Joe's predicament. While Joe still had no plans to directly meet with Marco, the mirror apparently not counting against the timer for hating Joe. Star still talked directly to Joe daily, but they had spent more time apart since Marco was mainly her guide, and Joe was merely getting guidance from Marco occasionally. She was still seemingly unaffected, but with Marco's tournament coming up, Joe wanted to at least wish him luck personally. As he approached though, Joe heard a bone chilling scream come from Marco's house.
Joe immediately took off, beelining directly for Marco's room. The front door was unlocked, so he made his way through easily, as he got up the stairs, he heard Star and Marco talking, they were in Star's room. He quickly made his way there.
"Star! Marco! You two okay?" He stopped immediately when he saw what looked like an octopus arm attached to Marco's right shoulder. Star was nearby clutching her wand, and looking downright terrified. Marco was afraid, and panicking. The two of them had barely taken note of Joe being there, but Joe didn't realize that fact, as the obvious was making him forget everything else as well.
"I don't know, this is terrible! I got a monster arm now!"
"I'm so sorry Marco. I read it was a healing spell. I-I'll find the reversal spell and make it a normal arm again." It was as Star turned towards the door that she finally realized someone had shown up. "Oh! Joe. Sorry, bit of an emergency. Give us a second!" Star, sweating profusely and clearly scared out of her mind. As Joe looked back at Marco, he understood why. With Marco's arm a tentacle, she would be costing her best friend much. She rushed back in and slammed down a large book, opening it and flipping through it. "Gotta find it, gotta find it, gotta find it!" She kept flipping page after page, prompting Joe to ask the obvious question.
"Why not see if you can find it from the glo-"
"No! I don't need him!" She looked at Joe, but despite the tone she had, her face was entirely desperate. Joe immediately realized that this was a very scared Star, not an upset or angry Star. He immediately went and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping all her movement as a light blush appeared on her face.
"Calm down Star. I'm not sure what's got you upset, but getting flustered won't help. I have no idea what's going on, but I know you can fix this. Just, calm down, and don't freak out." Star took in a deep breath as he finished talking. Marco, however…
"Don't freak out? Don't freak out! I got a monster arm now!" Marco was absolutely freaking out, and Star was starting to hyperventilate because of his freaking out. Joe, however, was used to tense environments. He kept his cool as he began to talk, realizing that right now, calming down Marco had just become top priority.
"Calm yourself Marco, freaking out isn't going to help you get your arm back to normal. Let Star look at her book and try and fix this."
"Y-"
"Marco! Let Star do her thing. You don't want to stay like that, or have something worse happen, right?" Marco tried to refute, but as he did, he began to see reason again and immediately began to calm down. He started taking deep breaths and as he did, Star too calmed down. "Good. Now Star, what's this book have in it? I haven't seen letters like these before." Star, still calming herself, turned to Joe from the book.
"It's, the family book of spells. It has in it every spell the Butterfly family has ever thought of. It had the spell I used on Marco, so if anything, it will have the spell to fix it too. I just hope I can find it before something else happens.
"Like Marco's tournament?" Both Marco and Star froze at this and Joe realized he had just undone all that work calming them down.
"Oh my God! The tournament! I'm going to have to forfeit!" Marco went into a hard panic as did Star, she was unable to even speak as she simply freaked out, staring down her book with a look that said nothing was getting through to her anymore.
"Calm down guys. Star said there is a way to undo it, all that is needed is to relax and find it. No problem. In fact, Marco, since it appears that your new, arm, seems to be under your control, why don't you take a walk, get some air, and calm down. Star and I will find the spell and prepare for your return." Marco was still flabbergasted, but apparently he thought Joe gave good advice as he took a deep breath, and walked out. Joe hoped he hadn't just undone the progress Marco had made getting back to neutral with him, but with Marco heading out, he turned back to Star, who was getting worse and worse, almost looking like she was on the cusp of passing out. He reached over to put a hand on her shoulder and she flipped her lid, turning around and immediately crying.
"Please, oh please don't send me back there. I'll be good, I promise, just please, PLEASE don't tell mom or send me back there!" She grabbed him by his shirt, falling to her knees as she begged him. He looked at her and began to wonder, genuinely, what had happened to her, and where she had been sent. Joe thought back to his own past, a particular memory from when he was eight played in his head, reminding him of exactly what he wanted back then. He immediately dropped to his own knees, staring into Star's face. Before she could say or do anything, he forced his arms around her, and hugged her. It felt, odd. It's not like Joe was used to hugging, and it isn't like he hadn't done it against his better judgement before either, but this felt different
He couldn't quite place it, but as Star put her hands on him, he expected to be pushed away. It was his aim after all. People feel awkward when someone they barely know hugs them, and it usually snaps them back from wherever they end up while freaking out. However, Star simply seemed to accept it, putting her head on him as she just breathed. Now it was Joe who was actually feeling awkward. While it seemed to be helping Star regardless, and it wasn't their first hug, and beyond the fact that he had initiated this one, he felt no malice, no anger, no begrudging acceptance. She was honestly just soaking up the hug, putting herself together while he sheltered her from whatever it was that had just made her panic so much. He managed to continue the hug, but silently decided not to do so again if he could help it. Hugging a girl might be nice, but not even his sister truly accepted his hugs so easily. After a few minutes, she seemed to have finished putting herself back together.
"Th-thanks Joe. I really needed that." She pulled away, a smile on her face. Joe took note of the tears on her face and the redness of her eyes. He concluded that she must have been silently crying silently. Inside he was a bit relieved, it meant he had concluded correctly. They stood again and, after a moment, Joe spoke up.
"No problem Star. Now then, the current plan is to fix Marco's arm by finding another spell in the book, but how did this all happen to begin with?" Star took another deep breath, Joe noting a small blush disappearing on her face. He concluded the hug must have been a bit too much, pushing their friendship a bit too much. He really needed to make more space, worse come to worst, he had just greatly lowered the time he could eventually spend with her. Sure, she still hadn't shown a reaction, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. She must have been hiding it, her blush must have been a moment of anger. He shelved his plans for now though. If he helped her out, it would make him feel a bit better. Even if he did disappear for a while.
"Well, Marco was practicing in the backyard for the tournament, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz joined me in watching, when suddenly Ludo and his monster army appeared." Joe was suddenly very thankful he didn't head on over early. "During the fight Marco got distracted and one of the monsters broke his arm." Joe squirmed a little at that. "Mrs. Diaz jumped in with some sort of water gun and saved him, but even though the monsters retreated, he still had a broken arm. We started freaking out and his parents just said that we should get him to a doctor to get it patched up. But before we could go, Marco asked if I could use my magic to fix his arm, and therefore allow him to enter the tournament tomorrow. I looked through the book, but Marco was really insistent that we find the spell. I panicked and found, half the spell. The half I found was, the arm into the tentacle." Her face lit up a moment as an idea hit her. "Oh! I just need to find the other half! Oh thank you Joe!" She hugged him, squeezing him tightly. Joe didn't know how to react.
On one hand, she was initiating a hug of thanks, of gratitude, of friendship. On the other, It held no malice. None whatsoever. Joe could only remember one time when that had ever happened before, and it terrified him. Star was strong, powerful, and held a magical wand. She could do so much to him and he couldn't do a damn to truly protect himself. Yet again, Star had only shown to know the same pains he had. He had no idea what she had actually gone through, but whatever it was, it had clearly broken her. Thinking back, this was how he was after he left that place. However, all that may also mean that, should she fall, she would know even better than most how to hurt him. Finally, he decided not to return the hug, only to come back to reality to realize that he was already hugging her back, for several minutes. Star had a small smile on her face, and the instant he realized, he stiffened up. Star was knocked from her own trance-like state. They backed off, both blushing significantly for a moment, then Joe spoke, wanting to move on from his thoughts.
"Well, um, Star, let's find that spell so we can fix up Marco." It took Star a moment to process his words.
"Oh yeah. Right right totally totally yeah." Joe felt that maybe, something was up. Perhaps Star was fighting some of the effect at the time, but even then, that meant she had an insane resistance to him. He could potentially spend months with her. Too bad that would mean potentially years apart before she would be normal around him. "Let's research that spell and try to fix Marco." She seemed to focus up, so Joe decided to leave the rest of his thoughts till later.
They spent the next several hours trying to find the correct spell, finally finding it just before Marco came back. He definitely had calmed down, and all three were thankful as he recommended testing the spell before using it on him directly. It would not have ended well. Joe eventually had to leave, the day finishing up with Marco having to awkwardly explain to his parents what had happened. They were rather okay with it, believing Star would be able to solve the problem herself. It seemed to bolster her confidence quite a bit. She said she would practice the spell until she had it down, and save Marco from having to forfeit the tournament. As Joe got home, he made himself a simple dinner, Olivia spending yet another night with her latest boyfriend. He didn't mind though. While he wasn't a fantastic cook in his own mind, he loved to cook. It was something to enjoy doing, and enjoy eating.
Especially lately. For whatever reason, he felt more, alive lately, and tonight, it gave him a pause. He thought back on the previous few weeks since he met Star and Marco, and realized just how big of an impact they had on him. That was when a thought occurred to him. Perhaps, Star had an ability as well. Some sort of friendship based one. It could counteract his own seeming aura of gradual hatred. At least as far as Star would be concerned. It would also explain her own resistance to him. He had only known one person to be seemingly immune to it, having not been triggered for over two years, and she definitely had such an 'aura' he would call it. As the night ran long, he went to sleep. Putting on his sleeping clothes, an a-shirt and basketball shorts. He went for his twin bed, lied down, and fell asleep.
Only for it to be disturbed by a call. Looking at a clock, it was almost two in the morning. He went for his phone, but that wasn't it. It took him a moment to wake up enough to recognize the ring, it was that mirror. He picked it up, and saw the name calling him. 'Star Butterfly'. He immediately accepted. Star was on the other end, looking positively tired. He concluded she must have been practicing all night, and judging from the damage behind her and the fact that she was still in her dress, she must have still been failing.
"Hey Joe." She waved as best she could. It finally struck Joe how odd this was to receive a phone call from a girl at two in the morning. He decided to just talk to her. What was the worst that could happen.
"Hey Star. You okay?"
"No, not really. Haven't done a single successful cast yet. Probably just gonna skip school tomorrow to make sure I can get the spell down. I just, needed a break. I know it's la-"
"Star, don't worry about that. If you need to talk, I'm here. After all, if I wouldn't talk to you, I would have just not answered, right?" Joe gave her the best reassuring smile he could. He didn't want to admit it, but the reason he answered so quickly was a combination of worry about her, and genuinely liking his talks with her. Especially recently. She had started out rather shy, but she had begun to become excited when talking about Earth stuff. She really enjoyed it, and her eagerness to learn about Earth surprised him. After all, she could be learning a ton about magic, something many people would kill to learn on Earth.
"Thanks Joe. I just need to take a break. I remember Marco saying that sometimes, when you're stuck, taking a break and doing something fun for a bit can help jog the mind or, something. But anyway, I was wondering, how do humans have so many books?" Ah, the joys of books.
"That's a small history lesson. A few centuries ago all books were hand written. A major problem with this of course being that if one mistake is made, it is perpetuated down the line for anyone copying that particular book. This process took a very long time, meaning there were very few books, they could easily be controlled, and next to no one would be able to afford them. Back then, literacy, the ability to read, was rare beyond nobility and the church, which I will have to explain one day, but that is a VERY long story. Anyway, a few centuries ago, someone invented the printing press and movable type. These combined to allow people to begin mass producing pages of information, all perfectly the same, and with relatively little effort. Instead of taking months to make a book, it took a day. Suddenly books were much cheaper and readily available."
"Huh, we don't have anything like that in Mewni. But, if that were the case, I am surprised there aren't even more books around."
"We will get to that a little later in the story. Now, as technology improved, so did the printing press. We went from days, to hours, to minutes to make books, newspapers, magazines, etc. The sheer availability lead to a major shift of the planet. People became more knowledgeable, and thanks to that, more ideas started to pop up. Now, I won't say there wasn't a cost. The feudalistic system of government started to falter as people became smart enough to understand their situation. Most monarchies were abolished, with many slowly losing their power over time till they became mostly figure heads. Back to books, they were about to become outclassed. We invented what we call the internet. All you need is a computer, again, an explanation for another day, and you can access all the knowledge on it. Currently, almost the entirety of human knowledge is available on the internet. Allowing us to globally share all our knowledge in an instant. That is why there are so few books compared to what you think we should have with the printing press. There simply isn't a need for them anymore." Star was staring wide-eyed at him.
"Wow. Humans are so smart. So your saying that the thing in Marco's room has access to more information than even the library at school!?"
"Yup." Star seemed to have stars in her eyes.
"So cool. Are they useful for anything else though?"
"Yeah, you can write with them, make pictures, talk, watch movies, play games, and so much more. Computers are certainly one of the biggest human inventions, period."
"So, is that how humans have survived without magic?"
"It's cause of our brains."
"Your brains?"
"Yeah, our intelligence. We don't have any other strong weapons we are naturally born with, so we started inventing. It's one of two ways we survive."
"What's the others."
"Altruism."
"What's that."
"... The willingness to sacrifice of oneself for the sake of others. In other words, it's basically friendship and love." Star's eyes went wide, a small blush covering her face.
"That's beautiful." She smiled lightly, causing Joe to blush. He loved her smile. It always made him feel bubbly. He loved that feeling. "Well, I better practice that then by going back to practicing this spell. Gotta help my friends out, right?" Joe gave her a small smile.
"That's the spirit." With a smile and a wave, the call ended. Joe thought back on the call, it was short, but fun. He was always having fun lately. It was nice not worrying about his issues, or his 'aura'. He sighed contentedly, ready for the embrace of sleep again, then the phone rang again. He picked it up and suddenly questioned if he should have ever picked up the phone for Star. It simply read, 'Moon Butterfly'. He thought briefly about not answering, but that could be even worse. It's not like he did anything wrong. He decided to just answer the call, and see where it lead.
"Good Evening Joseph." He saw Queen Moon and was immediately divided. On one hand, she had a very neutral face, leaving him wondering exactly how much trouble he was about to be in. On the other, She was in a VERY pleasing outfit, a form-fitting nighty that showed off her immensely sexy body. Though it was not revealing, he found it hard to focus on her face over the rest of her outfit. "And I do apologize for the late call, but I am curious, why is my daughter calling you at this late hour?" She raise an eyebrow at him and Joe immediately felt under pressure. He finally had a reason strong enough to not look at her pleasing form and focus dead on her eyes.
"She was having some trouble falling asleep. She's been worrying a lot and was hoping I was available to just, distract her, from her worries about her magical... training." He looked at Moon quietly hoping beyond hope that she would believe it.
"I see. That's awfully nice of you." Moon smiled kindly, she had bought it. Not that it was really a lie. "While I have you on the phone, I have an important question for you." She took a deep breath. "How is my daughter doing? And I know you understand what I mean." She looked deadly serious at Joe, a combination of worry and determination plastered on her face.
"I do understand exactly what you mean. While I am curious how you know I do understand, I will say that Star seems to be slowly coming out of her shell. She has moments where she seems to fall into some sort of weird state. She becomes overly polite, and, proper would be a good word for it I guess. I suppose all that is from whatever gave her such trauma."
"I was afraid she was still having those moments. From what it sounds like you and Marco are indeed having a positive affect on her, but I suppose it was naive of me to assume that perhaps she would be almost back to normal. Did she ever tell you two what happened?"
"No, and I don't want you to tell me if that is where this is going." She seemed surprised by this.
"Really? I could just, tell you right now."
"You said it yourself, I know the pain. I also know I don't want people giving out details about what I went through without at least talking about it to me." Joe gave Moon a questioning look.
"Olivia didn't elaborate beyond that you had gone through some stuff as well. She even made sure to say that little bit only to me. Star has, or at least had, no idea. I do have a question though. What do you think of Star herself? I mean, even back when she was at her worst, the latest call I have ever seen was still quite a bit earlier than this one was. Don't take this the wrong way, we would genuinely be happy to hear it but, are you two, romantically involved?" Joe stared at Moon, completely shocked. He had barely wrapped his head around the fact that she could be a friend he wouldn't lose. But as a romantic partner? He had never even considered it could happen. Thinking on it, Star was the only girl he knew of where it could work right now, so long as she was actually immune. The very thought through him into an embarrassed blush. It kept deepening as he went to respond.
"We aren't." He barely managed to look back up, seeing a small amount of sadness enter moons eyes.
"Well, that's, fine. I will say this, we have no problem with her dating anyone so long as they don't try and hurt her. And that does include you. Olivia did speak highly of you, and, I hope this doesn't disturb you, she talks about you all the time when I check in on her." With the way the conversation was going, Joe was getting very, very warm. He had liked Star a lot. He had even begun to start conversations with her and even, hug her. Maybe it could happen, but it was still too early. Well, maybe not, Olivia may have been extreme, but it wasn't like he hadn't seen people get together rather quickly. He mentally slapped himself, this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Especially at two in the morning.
"It's, nice to hear, but I can attest that we don't have anything like that. I'm rather, lost on that front to be honest. Has she told you about my, 'condition' or anything?" Moon merely shakes her head, but when she stops, concern runs rampant on her face. "You see, I don't know why, or how, but people who spend time around me, they eventually come to have an irrational hatred of me. It starts out minor, they just, jump at me for no reason. An example is someone needed some paper at my last school, I gave them a rather large pack of paper, and they responded by punching me so hard, I got knocked out."
"Oh my. That's terrible. But, certainly he had a reason?"
"He didn't. He didn't have one, and didn't give one. He ended up being expelled from school because he just couldn't figure out why he reacted as such. There are plenty of other instances of it happening, but this was just one of them." Moon simply pondered for a while. She remained silent for several minutes before finally proceeding.
"I see. Well, I can't exactly say I understand, but if that's the case then maybe I can speak to Glossaryck about helping you. It almost sounds like a curse and if so, he might be able to identify and stop it. Either way, I have taken up a lot of your time, and it is getting quite late as well. I do hope things go well Joseph. I know Star isn't the only one who needs help, but I sincerely hope that you two can help each other." Moon gave him a soft smile as she waved goodbye. Joe did the same, continuing even after the call had long ended, his thoughts now turned towards a single person, Star. He tried to shelve the thoughts, but they kept going, stealing away his hours of sleep. Long gone were the days he didn't mind. He had to sleep. He actually looked forward to school. It was there that he came to a startling realization, no one at school hated him yet.
Beyond Marco, no one had even reacted to him yet. He had interacted only with Marco and Star so far, and it seemed that Marco was building a resistance to him. He had never experienced this before. Perhaps, it had to do with Star possessing magic. Maybe the magical princess was brightening up his life, just by being by his side. Maybe, he should try and be with her. A little further thought lead to a single conclusion, 'not yet'. He fell asleep, a warm feeling flowing through him.
The next morning, Joe convinced Olivia to get him out of school to help Star, who thankfully did decide to skip to practice her spell. Olivia was greatly surprised to hear he wanted to skip school to help someone, and secretly, she was ecstatic that it was to help Star. She pretended it took some convincing, but secretly, she was on board the moment it was about Star. In her own head, Joe was heading for an unofficial date. He was opening up, and that had never happened to such an extent before, it was sweet. True, it may not lead that path, but Olivia was always a hopeless romantic. She would have to talk to Moon about this. Perhaps they could, push, the two of them together…
Joe, clueless that his sister was plotting his future, was in a near jog to get to Star for the day's practice. He had gotten up a little earlier than usual, just to make sure he was there for Star, who he had hoped had gotten some sleep last night. His thoughts ended abruptly when he saw Marco himself. He still had the monster arm, but he seemed to have gotten over the sheer panic he had the previous day. As Joe got closer, Marco waved him down.
"Hey Joe, good news, we don't need to fix my arm anymore!" Joe looked back and forth from Marco to his arm. It had clearly not been fixed. "Oh, don't worry about it. People find it cool and it is a lot stronger than my stupid human arm. With this, I can fight so much better than before. I'll win the tournament, and beat up all the monsters coming after Star. It's just, so awesome!" Marco seemed way too excited. Joe was entirely freaked out by the arm. Joe had his thoughts, but perhaps Star would have an answer. For now though, it was clear that telling Marco otherwise would not have positive results.
"I guess that's cool. I already got today off, so maybe I'll just, hang out with Star."
"Okay then Joe. I'm gonna go be awesome. See you at the tournament tonight, and don't get too caught up in your date."
"We're just friends Marco."
"Friends going out for a fun time is still a date dude. Either way, see ya." As Joe watched Marco get on the bus, he wondered how it had arrived there without him realizing it. As the bus departed, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking towards the house, he saw why. Star was staring at him, and he didn't need a good look to realize something was wrong. He had gotten really good at reading body language. A necessary skill when you want to know if someone is going to punch you. She was not doing well. Without a moment more, Joe headed towards the house, Marco's mother, Angie, was there welcoming him in, a worried look on her face.
She was a beautiful woman. The clear example of a loving mother and wife. Honestly, Joe wished she was his mother with how she acted. Olivia was a fine caretaker, but Angie was a badass when it came to her husband or Marco, and lately, even Star.
"Come on in Joe. Hopefully you and Star can help my little man get back to his normal self." Joe took a moment to acknowledge her with a nod, but quickly made his way upstairs. Angie had hoped Marco would be back to normal soon. She and Marco's father, Rafael, had an important art showing that afternoon, so they couldn't be there for him at the tournament. She had to rely on Star and Joe to fix him. She headed back into the house as she decided to trust the kids, and continue going through the exhibits for the night in her head, preparing for any and all questions that may come. Joe quickly reached Star's room, finding her now sitting in her chair, clearly having trouble staying awake.
"You were up all night, weren't you."
"Uh huh."
"And you still haven't got the spell down."
"Nope."
"... You need to get some sleep."
"Nope."
"Being exhausted won't help."
"Eh."
"Star. Please."
"After I get the spell down."
"But-"
"Spellarino."
"... Have you at least had something to eat?"
"Nope."
"Are you hungry?"
"Starving."
"Let me see what I can do about that at least." With that, Joe headed downstairs to try and find something that Star could eat real quick. Luckily, Angie is an awesome mom. Just as he hit the floor, she came out of the kitchen with a breakfast burrito in hand.
"Oh, seems we both had the same idea. Mind taking this up to Star?"
"Sure, no problem." He casually took the plate and brought it back up to Star. Little did he know that Angie was a little conflicted. On one hand, Joe was helping Star out quite a bit. On the other, she was slowly hoping that perhaps her son's girl trouble would be ending soon. Then again, he had been talking more to that Jackie girl he was always on about. She couldn't decide who to root for, but thankfully for her, it looked like Marco would at least have a good friend in Star either way. Meanwhile, Joe finally made it back to Star's room.
"Hey Star, here's breakfast." Joe didn't even make it two steps into the room before Star had taken the burrito and started to quickly devour it. He had had them on occasion before, and they were delicious, but clearly Star was very hungry. Perhaps being up so long and casting so many spells gave her a big finished and addressed Joe with a clearly increased amount of enthusiasm.
"Thanks Joe. I really needed that. Oh, you, you did eat earlier, right?" Seeing her go from enthusiastic to sad made Joe's heart flutter. It did not help that he remembered his own thoughts and Moon's words from the previous night.
"Don't worry about it Star. I had breakfast this morning." Star visibly cheered up at this.
"I'm glad. Now, time to get back to practicing!" She pointed her wand at a small cactus. "Returnia Armious Normalino!" It blasted the cactus and after a moment, the cactus exploded. She sighed and tried again, and again, and again. Each time ending in failure. As they approached noon though, Joe had a breakthrough. It wasn't the first time he had seen Star read from the book of spells. And it certainly wasn't the first time she had tried to read something exactly as it was in the book. He had been bored enough to start learning and finally, it would pay off.
"Uh, Star. I got an idea." Star looked at him, she was clearly tired and starting to run completely out of any enthusiasm. "Maybe try the phrase, 'Returnio Armius Normalrino'. It seems that may be the correct pronunciation." She stared at him, prepared a retort, then aimed her wand at another cactus.
"Returnio Armius Normalrino." Though it wasn't with much fervor, the spell was launched, and the cactus turned into- "A hand! I did it! Oh thank you Joe!" She jumped over and hugged Joe, the sign of affection causing Joe to blush maddeningly as he automatically returned the close hug. Star, excited as she was, began jumping for joy after a moment, not giving Joe a chance to recover his thoughts as she carried him around like that before falling onto her bed. After some time, Joe collected his thoughts and prepared to get up, only to hear a few soft breaths from her. Star had blown the last of her energy in her joy and had fallen asleep.
Joe's blush began to spread as he realized his situation. He was alone with a girl, in her room, on her bed, in eachothers arms, in a house that was not his. He immediately went to move her, but as he moved his arms to her shoulders, he could hear her mumbling as she shifted slightly.
"Oh, Joe. Thank you." She continued to mumble, but Joe couldn't process what she was saying. Her face that was normally so bleak, shown through with content bliss. Her body, normally so tense, was relaxed. It was as if a shell had simply disappeared. He again prepared to wake, or at least move her, but realization swept over him.
'I can't do this. I can't ruin her peaceful sleep just to get myself out of this. That's not what a friend would do.' Star's mumbling got a little louder and drew his attention again.
"Please no. I can fix this. I can. Please, don't hurt me. Please." She began to shake and tremble in his arms, and he decided he couldn't leave her. He took his arms and placed them around her again, holding her lightly against himself. She immediately stiffened, causing Joe to say some words he hadn't said in far too many years.
"It's okay. I'm here. I won't let them hurt you. I promise you." Slowly, she began to relax again, a small smile gracing her face.
'Star, I don't know exactly what you went through, but you aren't alone. You have your parents, Marco and his parents, and now, I guess you got me for sure. I don't know how you do it, but I haven't felt this way in years. This isn't love. At least, not romantic love. But I do know this, I am going to help you. Even if it costs me my friendship with you, I will get you out of that shell. That will be my thanks, my thanks for being my best friend, Star!' With a smile, and just a bit of content tiredness, Joe fell asleep, wrapped in the arms of his best friend.
A few hours later Joe woke up. He and Star were definitely in a different position. Star was still holding him, but they were completely on her bed, and under her sheets. He shifted slightly in worry, but thankfully, he felt his clothes on him, and he could see the straps of her dress. Another movement confirmed that even if Star woke up right now, it would only be exactly as awkward as it would appear. Luckily for Joe, he was able to get out of her hold, and the bed without waking her. As his mind fully awakened, he remembered how he had been lying with his legs off the bed, but was too afraid to follow the thought and acknowledge that Marco's mother may have just shipped him and Star with the subtlety of the sun. Looking at a clock though-
"Oh my, Star wake up! Marco's tournament is in an hour!" Star slowly began to stir, but seemed to fall back sleep. "Star!"
"Mmmm… Just let me rest here for five more minutes Joe." Joe's face erupted into a blush, and a moment later, Star leapt out of the bed, blushing wildly. "Uhhh…"
"Star! Marco's tournament is about to start! We have to go, now!" Star looked to her side and saw the clock. 5 P.M.
"*Gasp* Oh my goodness! Come on Joe!" Star grabbed Joe's hand and dragged him outside. "Summon Cloudy Charm!" In a poof of magic, a sentient pink cloud formed in front of the pair. Wasting no time, Star jumped onto him.
"Come on Joe!" He tentatively took her hand and a moment later, found them flying through the sky. In a matter of minutes, they were there at the tournament, ready to help Marco before his fight. Looking, they spotted him, he was still warming up, they had a chance! "Marco! We did it! I got the spell down! Now I just need to hit your arm with it and-"
"Nah. I'm good." Star simply stared at him, all traces of emotion gone. "Look, it's cool. Monster Arm is really helping me out. Might even get me a date with Jackie! So, it's okay! We even agreed to not use his power during the tournament, so it won't be cheating. It will actually be a handicap!" His smile was huge, but Star was clearly sad. Her cheek marks turning into white skulls. Joe couldn't believe it.
"Dude, that arm isn't natural! You need to go back to normal. Who knows what will happen in the future, and if you'll retain control. It is sentient after all, what will happen if it changes you?"
"Relax Joe. I got this."
"Final round contestants, please enter the ring. I repeat, Marco and Jeremy to the ring!" Marco merely smiled as he quickly made his way to the ring. Joe looked at the arm. It was wrapping itself around Marco's pants. Perhaps it was listening to him, but Joe had seen enough horror movies to know what happens when you have an unknown entity inside of you. It's one thing to have the arm, but if it was sentient it was a threat to himself and Star. Worse, Star had spent so much time learning the spell to help and now, it was wasted effort. He put a hand on Star's shoulder, but she bolted at the moment of contact, running out of the arena as fast as her legs could go.
Joe, for all his worries, immediately followed after her. Sure, Marco was a big issue, but Star was who mattered to him. Star was the only friend Joe felt he could depend on to always be there. And now, she was running away. He chased her about a block away before she bolted into an alleyway, falling to her knees, and crying. Joe caught up and without thinking pulled her into a deep hug from behind. She cried onto her hands as Joe just tried to be there for her. After a little time, Joe realized this wasn't the time to be the quiet rock.
"Star, we need to go back."
"I *sniff* I don't want to."
"Well, you have to."
"Why."
"Cause he is still your friend. And if you don't you will regret it. Especially if that thing is exactly what I think it is." Star stiffened a bit at that.
"Oh. Oh no. He said he talked to it! It's in his head!" Star jumped up, surprisingly taking Joe with her. She quickly turned around, ripping herself from his grasp. "We have to go back!" Again she took off for the arena. Joe couldn't help but note how she had gone one hundred eighty degrees. He decided now wasn't the time to worry about Star's behaviour and ran to follow. As he entered, he first saw Star looking very worried, and then he saw Marco's arm. It was creating absolute havoc, dragging Marco along as it swiped at everyone, a mouth chuckling as it attempted to grab people. As he approached, Star looked at him, determination pouring from her as she took her wand and got ready.
"Returnio Armius Normalrino!" The spell flew out from her wand, but the arm dodged it, causing an arm to protrude from the wall behind it. With the element of surprise gone, Star focused up and continued to blast out the spell. Each time the arm would dodge. It was too nimble.
"You'll never be rid of me. I am simply meant to be! Now give up this useless babble. It's time for me to eat some rabble!" Joe looked on horrified. The only way to stop the arm was to change it, but that would require it to be still. Star was showing her exhaustion, it was too horrible. Then, an idea sparked.
"Marco! Try and force the arm to the ground for just a moment!" Marco looked at Joe puzzled, then looked to the ground. It was covered in hands. Hundreds of them. In a spark of realization, he immediately put his full effort into tearing the arm off it's perch. As they landed, the arms reacted, grabbing onto the arm and Marco. Realizing her chance, Star aimed her wand, calling the spell one last time. The arm reacted, but couldn't dodge, taking the spell full on. As it retracted, it spoke one last time.
"You will never get rid of me. I am a part of you now. You can cure the symptoms, but never the virus!" The arm retracted, leaving Marco's normal arm, sitting there, with thankfully nothing out of the ordinary. Sighing in relief, Joe fell to his knees. He was happy this was over, but as he opened his eyes, he came to remember something from day one. His first thoughts. Star was all over Marco. Asking him if he was okay. He was apologizing over and over for his thoughtless actions, and for not taking her help when he could. Neither paid Joe any attention as they hugged.
'I can't compete with Marco. A normal kid, who no one has to struggle to like. She's my friend. Nothing more. Even if I want her to be, that is all I can ever be for her. For however long that lasts.' Joe couldn't bear to see them like that. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't lie to himself. He had a crush on Star. And she would never return the feelings. He simply got up, and walked out. He wouldn't hold a grudge against either of them. He may not like it, but life was never fair before. What right did he have to complain about it now?
He walked around for hours, finally returning home. Olivia had been waiting for him. She saw his eyes and knew what he was feeling. She silently wanted to tell him so many things, but knew that from her, it was meaningless. She knew what Joe was going to do. She merely got things ready for the next few days. There was going to be a lot of cleaning to do.