SOOOOOO, SOOO very sorry about the 3 month hiatus, but the end of the year really, really sucked for me. My semester break was too short, and it had the worst start to it, and even before that i had to go through some stuff, problems both physical and emotional, that, and trying to make some progress on my other stories, and this had made writing the rest of this chapter a nightmare, even though I had half of it already typed up about two months ago. But I have to say that writing this again was very enjoyable and very great for me. I just hope the break didn't hinder the writing.
So since you all voted for it, we have the next chapter, Steven going to school with Star. Really surprised so many people chose that choice, but oh well. The next chapter will be about Steven and Star meeting Lion for the first time, as well as a certain member of the high commission. The chapter after that will be my first episode adaptation, and if you can guess the timeline of the story by the end of this, then you know what's coming.
I own nothing.
Quatz was often use to surprises. He had to be. It was either that, or suffer near heart attacks every time Star made her entrance. Still, no matter how many times he mentally prepared herself, no matter how many times he made sure to keep a straight face, Star always managed to get the drop on him every time.
This was a well learned but often forgotten lesson that Quartz had in the back of his mind as he finished today's mourning training. It was tiring and required him to wake up at 4 o'clock today, but it was worth it if it ment he could slip away with Star for a few hours. He had the rest of the day to himself, so why spend all that free time alone?
Ever since his last visit to Earth, Quartz had made it his goal to see Star on at least every other day. She had a pair of dimensional scissors that he 'didn't know she had', so it was like she never left. Plus, there was so much more on earth, so many sights, so many people to meet, and many more adventures to go on as brother and sister.
This was going through his head as he checked himself in the mirror. Curly hair, check. Clean gem belly button, check. Flexible armor in the very like event that they'll run into something mom wouldn't want them near, check. Sword that their mother gave to him for practice and should only take out for emergencies that'll most likely happen because Star will be in charge of your entire afternoon? Maybe he should leave that here, just so no one will get suspicious. Besides, he was sure that Star's magic was all the weaponry they would need for today.
"Lookin good their Quartz. Lookin good." He said with a small smile as he continued to stare. "Now I guess all their is now is waitininggggggggggggggggggggggggg..." He tired to finished before abruptly shouting the rest of that sentence as he fell though a large gap in the floor that wasn't their before.
20 seconds before.
"Are you sure that this is the best way to get your brother's attention, Star?" Marco cautiously said as he looked what his house guest was doing. Donning her dimensional scissors, star decided the best thing to start off the morning was to bring her brother over. Of course, that meant she had to bring him back to her place in the most unconventional of ways. Which meant she opened a portal above her to her brothers room and waited for the moment for her brother to fall right through.
"Aw relax. Out of everyone that I've surprised over the years, Quartz should be the most used to it by now. I'm sure that he'll spot the portal and make a grand entrance." She assured her earth born friend. Though any merit she had to her words were soon dashed when said little brother fell through, flat on his face and moaning in slight pain. "See, I totally didn't expect him to do that. What did I tell ya?" She absent mindedly said as Marco rolled his eyes. The little prince peeled his face off the ground, slightly struggling to regain his posture as he leaned on his sister for support.
"Okay, that's a point for you on the surprise chart, again." Quartz chuckled as he pulled out a little note pad and wrote down a slash. The page was split on two side, one for Quartz and another for Star, or to be more specific, 'Magic baby' and 'royal rebel'. "I'll find away to out do you yet, just you wait and see."
"Well as much as I would like to see you guys out do each other, I'm afraid that we're running a bit behind." Marco said as he begun to drag Star by the arm and head out the door. "We need to head to school now."
"Wait, are we talking about the school you keep saying is an endless cycle of boredom with 50 minuets dedicated to a specific type of boredom followed by brief five minute periods of relief?" Quartz ask questionably.
"Yeah, but its pretty to easy to ignore it. All you have to do is look like your interested in what the teacher's doing, then your free to do whatever you want when they're not looking." Star assured as she pulled Quartz up to her level. "Besides, we'll be having so much fun that you wont even notice."
"Whoa, whoa, whaat?" Marco stopped. "We can't just bring your brother to school with us."
"Why not?" Star said with a hint of sterness in her voice. She stared at Marco like he had just said something hypocritical. "All the kids in town go to the school. What's one more kid going to matter?"
"Because he doesn't go to our school, Star. He's not enrolled in it like you and me and everyone else. Besides," he takes Star to the side and makes sure that Quartz is out of hearing range. "He's like you."
"Duh, of course he's like me. How else could be so awesome?" Star bragged.
"What I meant is that he's like you when you first came to Earth. He's not going to understand a lot about life on earth. Or do I have to mention the football incident again?" Marco dryly recalled.
"Oh please, you should've worded you explanation better. And we one that game, and I haven't done anything like that since then."
"What about Brittney's party?"
"Oh like that party wasn't going downhill anyways. I'm an older and more mature Butterfly now. Besides, all the craziness fun I do is mostly because I have this." She points to her wand. "And last time I've checked, Quartz doesn't have one."
"I'm still not sure. I, mean, we wouldn't want to risk anything...
"Please, please Marco? Quartz spent all this time training just so he could spend time with his lovable and awesome sister." She makes her point by holding Quartz right in front of him, his eyes bulging out and screamed of youth and innocence. "Don't you deny this face's simple request. Don't." She finishes off with a similar expression on her on face.
Marco was strong. He could punch monster's unconscious, he endured the occasional blast of magic from Star's wand. He was able to avoid being eaten by a serpent monster thing for crying out loud! He was the tough guy that took karate! He was a bad boy. He didn't have a shred of guilt about disappointing his best friend. He was doing it for the good of everyone, her included. He didn't fall for the puppy eye's, he had enough of the real thing here. He was absolutely not going to fall into this trap, he was a warrior, and a warrior never faltered in face...
"So their are no invisible horses or dragons pulling this hunk of metal?" Quartz innocently asked as he sat in his sister's lap. Both smiling siblings sat as the bus pushed forward on to the school, as Marco sat behind them with a rather disappointed look. Right next to him was a rather chubby fellow known as Ferguson, who also happened to be one of Marco's friends.
"No, no silly." Star assured as she patted him on the head. "As silly and implausible as it sounds, that is not the case. The 'bus' as they call it is really powered by tiny ostriches that live in the hood. That's why all cars are able to making that honking sound."
"Wow, earth stuff sounds so amazing! And I thought Mom said there was no magic here."
"I know, right? Wait until you see the magic switch that controls the light."
As Star shared her 'knowledge' of Earth, Ferguson leaned over to his disgruntled friend.
"What's wrong with you? And why is that kid sitting down with Star?"
All Marco could do is sigh as the bus came to a stop.
"I lost a battle of will." He idly spoke as he slowly walked out of the bus with his head slightly dropping down. Once everyone was off the vehicle, he walked aside his royal friend, who now had her little brother clinging to her back like a Kola. As silly as it might've been, judging by all the stares that she was receiving , there was no denying that it was a cute sight to see. Marco just rolls his eyes as they entered the hallways of the building.
Quartz's eyes widen in awe. This slightly reminded him of the Balls and Galas that would be held in the kingdom from time to time, except everyone here seemed to be a little more chilled and relaxed, while everyone that would attend the parties in Mewni would be, in Star's words, "Stiffed necked, snooty, self absorbed jerks who always had something up their.."(Quartz made sure to cover his ears at that last part whenever she said that sentence). Rows and rows of teens filled the hall, as well as a few adults, and some sort of long, metal chamber that seemed to make up most of the walls.
"Okay guys, I know that you two need to catch up on some quality time, but you should probably keep things a little quiet. Things can be a little hectic here, but if you just address everything in a calm and sensible fashion.." Marco began to advise, not wanting to repeat what happened on Star's first day here. Of course, when he actually looks up at them, he sees that they weren't even listening.
"Now if you really pay attention and ignore everything you don't like, then you'll find that school is really no different from going into town in Mewni." Star explained with a big smile.
"You mean that crowds of people just start randomly coming up to you in order to praise and say hi to you?" He questioned. His question is immediately answered as a crowd of teenagers began to do so without warning. A few kids offered a few backed goods, which she never actually got because they either ended up on the ground or eaten. Some cheered wildly and randomly as they shouted "Star Butterfly rules!" over and over again. Some seemed to just stand still and sweat heavily when she passed by. "Huh, what do you know?" Quartz said in slight astonishment.
Marco, slightly frustrated, just bangs his head on a nearby locker. But if he were paying attention, he would've saw that the locker was wide open. Already in full motion, Marco's head comes into the little space at full force, making his head stuck. "I should've just said to skip class. Would've been a lot less painful."
"See, if you stick with me than I can show you all the highs and lows of high school." The trio stop sudden as Star leans against on of the lockers. "This here, is the sacred sanctum of metal fortitude that all kids are given. Each one of them processes and protects the most secret and important items in every kids' life. Like for instance" Star begins to spin the dial. "Marco's locker is full of pictures of embarrassing karate poses and his secret crush Jackie Lynn Thomas."
"What!?" Marco said franticly as he rushes to slam the door shut. As he huffs and puffs he looks around to make sure no else had seen the contents of his locker. Once he knows the cost is safe he stares at stare with a confused look. "That stuff is need to know only! My personal business! And how the heck do you know my combination?"
"Oh, I swiped your diary for a second last week. You left it laying around. How was I suppose to know you didn't want me to know it?"
"Okay, first of all its not a diary, its a personal log book that I write my thoughts and personal feelings in." Marco justified as he closes his eyes and crosses his arms. "And second of all, you can't just..." He opens his eyes once again, only to see that his friend and her accompanying brother had left his sight. Though it was only a quick turn around to see that they had approached the nearby water fountain, with Star for some reason sticking her hand out cautiously as she had Quartz stand behind her.
"Careful bro. Right their is the magical metal fountain of the halls. In it is a life sustaining flow of liquid that everyone needs to have at least one in their life. But be warned. Those that are not worthy, will feel its terrible wrath." Star warned.
"So how many are worthy?"
"Not many I'm afraid. In fact, I don't anyone in the school is." She as a student came up to the fountain. He leaned into it and pressed a nob on the side of the metal box. Water began to sprout out of it, but the unfortunate soul never got the chance to drink some as Quartz immediately decided to take action. He was truly convinced of Star's little story, so right as the water fountain began to do its job, he immediately jumped forward and threw his shield at the metal container.
"Watch out!" He cried as he got the teen's attention. The shield was immediately lodged into the side of the fountain as the teen yelp in shock and promptly ran away. Following that was a series of rumbling noises, causes all three of the currently near kids to slowly back away. The sprout of the fountain begins to shake and shake, and for a moment, it stops, right before it wants again shakes even more violently. And before Marco decides to take the chance and run away, the sprout shoots up in the air, causing water to sprinkle up in the air.
An elated Star picks up Quartz with a proud look on her face. "You did it! Your worthy! That's my little bro for ya!" She cheered as both siblings began to prance around in the little mess that they made.
Of course, the red hooded teen right next to them did not share the same sentiment. "Ah, Star, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked, though it sounded more like a demand as he grabbed Star be the arm and took her off to the side once more. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted your brother to learn about earth."
"Yeah, what do you think I've been doing? Everything I've showed him so far has been my personal experience. Everything he has done is everything I would've done." Star justified.
"Yeah, and that's the problem! You hardly know more about it than he does. I've actually lived here for 14 years. I think you should sit back before you tell him the lunch food is cursed by a demon or something."
"Hey, I only made that assumption once. And the lunch lady was more than happy to forgive me for that outburst."
"That's not the point. Things are already crazy enough with all the magic blasts and monster attacks. We don't need another.." Marco stopped mid sentence, though that didn't stop Star from prying.
"Another what?" She asked with bits of anger around her face. Marco tries to ignore it, knowing for well that she would not take what he was about to say well. "Another what exactly?!" She demanded once again, this time shoving Marco a little.
"Another you! Alright. Yeah, its fun, but, even you got to admit, it can get dangerous, especially when you don't consider how others are affected. Sometimes, its like you don't consider others at all."
Star stood silent. Marco and her, they were different. They would see the world in different ways. She knew that he wouldn't go along with everything that she did. But this argument, this, this was striking out very familiar memories. Memories, both old and recent, memories that she's tried really hard to forget.
'its always about you! you made it all about you, like you always do!" As that ran through her heard, flashes and flashes of fire and crumbling building ran through head. All of them crumbled, destroyed forever, all because of her actions. It was an awful feeling, one that she has been dealing with for awhile. She wasn't sure exactly what she going to do about it. Though at the moment, she set aside the lingering sadness and guilt deep inside and focused on the uprising anger currently bottling up.
"Look. I know my brother." She said with a stern but calm voice. She slowly advanced her way towards Marco in a threatening matter. Marco's frustration disappears as it suddenly becomes a look of worry. "You don't know him. I know what he can handle, and what he wants to do. You've may have the experience living here, but I have the experience of being his sister, I think I out rank you here." Star's expression starts to get more serious and angry as Marco begins to sink down a little more. "He is good, he's a great person, someone way better than me. Don't you ever say otherwise."
Marco was speechless. Never, never had he seen Star get defensive over something, or in this case, someone. He only wished that he'd never said that in the first place. While it didn't erase his side of the argument or his concerns, Marco knew that there probably was a better way for him to go about this.
"Star, I, I.." Marco started, though Star immediately shut him out.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to put you in danger. I'm just going to take my brother, and we are going to have the best.." Star stormed off as she turned away. She needed to forget about what had just happened. Today, all her focus would go to Quartz. She goes to the broken fountain where she last left him, and was prepared to take him..
"Uh, where did he go?"
1 minute before.
Quartz was really enjoying himself. While still initially confused by a few things in this new world and how it worked, he was having a great time. He definitely was staring to see why Star was having such a great time here. He had never seen her more lively anywhere else.
Of course, as he enjoyed his time running around the busted water fountain, something big and green comes around the corner, which of course catches the little prince's eye. Not noticing that Star and Marco had slipped away for a bit, he lets his curiosity take control as he follows it. "I thought Mom said this was suppose to be one of those monster-less dimensions?" He thought as he continued to follow. He finally catches up to it as the creature stop, and he was able to get a better view of it. It was a large green creature with wild red hair that seemed to stand up in a strange and curvy way. She had a purple shirt that was torn at the sleeves and orange spotted pants with black heels. She also had some sort of gemstone on her belly not too dissimilar to the one on his.
Quartz walked up to the monster curiously and spoke to her. "Are you really a troll?"
The teacher huffed as she barely notices to kid talking to her. "Kid, I've been called a troll for all of my years as a teacher. The only difference know is that all the insults said by the students are now more statements of fact." She said in a scratchy and old tone. "Seriously, its like these kids get smaller every year."
"So, you've haven't been one all the time?" Quartz rationalized as a more clear picture began to form in his mind. "Star Butterfly wouldn't have happen to be one of your student's now?"
"Of course she is. She's the reason why I'm big, green and hairy in the first place." She scoffed as she remember the day it happened, the horror, the tears, and the heartbreak that happened that day. "But its not like I can do anything about it now. I'm a school teacher. Being treated unfairly is kind of the deal." She sighed, knowing that their wasn't really anything that she could do about it.
Quartz of course took pity on this woman, creature, monster, teacher, troll thing. Reaching into his pocket, he grabs onto a slip of paper and hands it to Miss Skullnick , who takes it and inspects it curiously.
"Its a day pass for a spa. I won it in a bet from my friend Pony Head, though I don't know why I wouldn't want this to begin with. They give the special treatment to any trolls that come in on a Wednesday. Just tell Star about it and she'll be able to take you." Quartz explained.
Miss Skullnick, who knew all to well about what to expect from anything that involved Star Butterfly, was justifiably cautious of the offer. "This place wont boil my skin alive or anything, right?"
Quartz just laughed. "Of course they will, but that's only for the monsters of the underworld, and they're sort of into that kind of thing. They won't hurt you unless you specificly ask 'em to.
Miss Skullnick was still left a little confused. Acts of kindness were a rare thing, especially for a teacher. So receiving something out of genuine care was, very different for her to say the least. "Ah, thank you, uh kid."
"Your welcome." He smiled as he walked off. He was feeling quite good about what he did. He couldn't wait to go back to Star and tell her all about it and...
"Oh wait." Quartz finally realized. "Where was Star again?" He asked himself. He looked all over. All the halls and doors looked the same to him. It was beginning to remind him of the time he and Star got lost in the castle halls. The only difference then was that back then, they were both going in circles, and he had Star with him. His heart beat started to get a little higher as his breathing got a little faster.
"Okay, okay." Quartz said as he attempted to calm himself. "You can do this. Star walks randomly everywhere all the time. So if I just do the same..." he said as he closes his eyes and begins to spin around as he walks. "..I'll increase my chances of running into her."
Following through on his faulty logic, her twirled and twirled around, bumping into lockers and trashcans. He almost ran through a few kids as they all tried to get out of his path. Nothing was going to stop him as he continue his quest to find
SMACK
Stars heart was practically about to give out. If it was on the heart monitor, then the line would've busted out of the monitor and reached out into the atmosphere. She began to race back and force as she balsted open every single locker with her wand. "Super locker opener!" She screamed as she checked every locker she busted open. All this really accomplished was a trailed of charred and broken lockers as students fled the scene.
"Quartz, Quartz!" She yelled repeatedly over and over. The worry on her eyes started to get more and more prevalent. Every corner, every turn, she checked from topped to bottom, not caring about how many people were in her way, or how much damage she was causing everywhere.
Marco was wise enough to stay a few feet away from her. He was already feeling bad about the fight, and the last thing he wanted to was make her more upset. Though as he tried to make his way towards math class, he was beginning to think that a little intervention was probably what she needed a the moment.
Though Star didn't look like anything would stop her, even as the bell rang and they were all called in for class. Several kids moaned as they filed into the room, with the teach Miss Skullnick right at the door. "Alright, I know that we all want to be someone else, me especially since I got this sweet deal on a spa, so lets get this over with so we'll all feel better." The trollish teacher said as she stuck out the piece of paper as she waved her hand.
Star, somehow in her frantic state of worry, was able to spot the day pass as she immediately ran up to her teacher. "This belonged to my brother! What have you done with him!?" She interrogated as she get a little too close for her teacher's comfort. He hair started to stick out in crazy directions as she pointed her wand at Skullnick's head. "Have you finally given in to your monstrous nature and stuffed him in a dungeon for latter consumption!?"
"Ah, no. I'll have you know that some little kid came by and promised me that you'll take me here. So you best take your seat before I forget the only good thing that's happened to me this year." Skullnick said, though her words kind of fall flat as Star's wand begins to glow."
"WHERE. DID. HE. GO!" Star steamed out as Miss Skullnick's eyes a little more in shock. She simply points in another direction. Star immediately runs in said direction, and after the teacher takes in a moment to breathe, more students continue to enter the classroom as if nothing happened.
Of course, Marco didn't want to let this slide. "Star! Wait! I can.." Marco tried to catch up, though before he could get a step further, Skullnick grabbed him by the hood and dragged him into the classroom with her tremendous strength.
"Oh no you don't! I'm not going to file two detention reports today. So sit down, or it goes down on your permanent record." She threatened. Marco, reluctantly, obliges as he sits at his desk, and could only hope that neither of the siblings were doing anything that they would regret.
Quartz found himself suddenly laying on the ground. In hindsight, he'd probably should've thought out that plan a little more. He picked himself up with little trouble, though with a slight pain in his head. He turns around to see exactly what it was that he ran into.
It was another teenager about Star's age. She had short raven like hair that was mostly covered by a green cap on her head. She wore a green shirt and yellow skirt along with a blue-ish green jacket, and on her side there was a big brown big that was full of something. She was rubbing the back of her head in slight irritation as the two finally start to acknowledge one another.
"Oh, so sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention." The boy apologized right away.
"Eh, its alright. I've token harder hits before." The girl replied with a slight smirk in her voice. "Just be glad i didn't spill the what's in this bag." She ambiguously stated.
"Oooooh, what's in it?" Quartz said in curiosity as he tried to close in on the bag, only for the girl to hold it up in the air.
"Neope, only someone with a badness level of ten can even comprehend what in this bag." She bragged on with a casual tone. "I'm pretty sure someone like you couldn't possibly handle it."
"Yes I can!" Quartz enthusiastically said. "I handle badness all the time! I'm constantly running towards monsters and dodging magic! I live with danger practically every second!"
The girl merely chuckled at his excitement. "Oh really? Then prove it." She takes the kid by the hand and drags him to a nearby door. "In hear is a party, but unfortunately not that many people are having fun." Both look around and see that she was right. Brittney, the most popular girl in there grade, was prancing around the room, apparently trying to have a make up party due to an 'unfortunate outcome' during her last attempt. This time, she made sure to keep the invites even more exclusive to decrease the chance of Star Butterfly coming in to ruin it, much to the disappointment of everyone. "Lighten up the part a little, and maybe a let you peek inside the bag." She said, bringing delight to the little prince's face. Making his way into the room, his small stature made him practically invisible to the taller students as he made his way towards the middle of the room.
False cheers of happiness and sentiment waved through the room as the spoiled girl announced on her microphone. "Finally, the moment has arrvived to celebrate my party! Again! As we all known, my party was ruined when that foreign girl decided to show me up and bring along those goblins or whatever from that weird country of hers, but I have made sure that this time, nothing weird or foreign is here." Silence came over the room. "Cheer or you wont get any cake!" The students shouted as loudly as they could, though that didn't take away their looks of depression.
Of course, Quartz was able to notice everyone's down tone. "Yeesh, It's worse than the year at the silver bell ball when Star dumped Tom. No wonder why she wanted me to come." He looks at his hands as a pink glow began to emit from them. "Okay Quartz, increase the flash, decrease the substance."
"And know you all get the honor of seeing me, the most popular and most loved student here open all my presents that you got for me." She smugly cheered as she walked towards the table filled to the brim with boxes of presents. "Lets see..." She purposely began to slowly choose her gifts, intending to drag this out as much as possible, when suddenly, a small but bright flashes of light exploded in front of everyone. Confused, the students began to search for the source, and all eyes in the room became focused on the nine year old, who had a big, bright smile that touched almost everyone in the room. Getting all of their attention, Quartz summoned two more bubbles, and through them into the walls of the room, making them bounce everyone at blazing speeds. Students began to duck as they tried to avoid them while Brittney screamed in horror as one of her presents was demolished by the bouncing bubbles. Timing them almost perfectly, Quartz summoned his bright and glowing shield, and through it in the air just the two bubbles were about to collide with each other, making the shield appear right down the middle. This not only sent out a bright showing of colors, but a gigantic wave or sound that knocked nearly everybody out of their seats, not that people really seemed to mind as cheers of applause were sent out everywhere.
"Way to go bubble boy!" Someone from the audience chanted out loud, causing everyone to chant it over and over. The prince merely blushed as he prepared another bubble to be tossed, but before he could do anything, Brittney walked over to him with a irritated and steamed look on her face. She didn't give Quartz a chance to greet or explain himself as she grabbed the bubble he was holding and through it over her head, unknowingly throwing it on top of her cake.
"I specifically made sure that no one outside of who I invited knew about this party!" She angrily said. "I made sure no weirdos could step into this place. I blackmailed students, I've bribed teachers, and I had to beg my parents to hook this up!"
"I'm, I'm sorry." Quartz apologized with a shakey voice, noticing the bubble that landed on the cake was starting to glow brighter and brighter. "But I really think that.."
"I will not be upstaged by another weirdo! It was enough that the blonde airhead crashed my first party with her puppy light stick, but I draw the line at little brats who clearly need to taught a thing or two.."
"Look! I'm sorry for busting in on your party, and for whatever my sister's done, but my bubbles are very tricky, and I really think that.." Quartz tried to warn once more.
"Of course your related!" She continued on without letting him finish. "Who else could've messed things up for me than a relative of that foreign weirdo! I will let any of you make a mockery of what's suppose to be my...!" She tried to contine, only to finally notice the brightness coming from behind her. Quartz seized his opportunity as he started to run out the door.
"Everybody duck for cover!" He shouted as he made his way out the door. Everyone else became to panicked to run out as they embraced themselves, except for Brittney, who could only stare in disbelief at the turn of events.
"Why me?"
It wasn't like Star hadn't experienced explosions before, or that there was an explosion at the school, but what made it very weird was that she was not the cause of the explosion. Which could only mean that Quartz was the source of it, which by itself was weirder than the previous two things combined.
She certainly hadn't expected to see a room full of exploded cake, no matter how many times she's told herself that she would make one. And she definitely didn't expect to see a bunch of the students to be greeting her, not just to tell her how awesome she was, but also to tell her of one fact that she's known all of her life.
"Your brother's the best!" Several of them proclaimed. "I want one just like him!" The girl known as Starfan13 shouted as she hugged Star. "Hooray for bubble boy!" Even more shouted.
Star, despite the worry that she was expericing at the moment, could help but smile at everyone's claims. She knew that Quartz would get along with everyone here, she knew that everyone would love him, because she knew just how great of a person he really was. She just really wished she was here with him to tell that to people, rather than have people tell it to her.
"You, YOU, YOU!" Brittney, in her cake covered glory, got Star's attention and tried to express her frustration. "You, Your brother, is the most, single, greatest.."
"Greatest thing in existence? The best part of your life? Most lovable thing in the universe? Yeah, yeah, I know that! Now can you tell me what I don't know, like where he is?" Star interrupted rudely.
Brittney couldn't take it anymore as she simply shut her mouth, and walked away, screaming on the inside as she began to swing her arms around, hitting nothing but the air. Star could only sigh in defeat as she made her way to the door, only to be stopped by her classmate Janna.
"Hey, what's with this whole brother thing? How come you've only bring him here now?" She asked in her same old casual like tone, still carrying the same bag that she had earlier, but somehow became a little bigger since then.
"Its, its just something that hasn't come up." Star simply stated. "I actually didn't think I'd ever get to be here with him, but now he's gone, and I need to find him." She expressed with all the worry that she could show.
"Relax, he just went down the hall down there." Janna says with utmost chillness. "Have to say, he's a pretty cool dude for a little brother. He provided me with enough distraction to swipe away all the presents." She opens up the bag, and sure enough, it was filled with several boxes covered in decorative paper and bows. "I'm going try to see if any of this stuff is usable for a bonfire ritual later, but before I do that.." She reaches into the depths of the bag, pulling out a skull. "I'd promised him I'd let him look in the bag, so tell him that its my way of saying thanks."
Star stares at her with a blank expression. "Where did you get a skull?"
"Grave robbing isn't as fun as it sounds. Not many people take anything good with them when they die." She explained, waking away without another word.
Quartz really didn't expect the praise he got when the teens began to congratulate him. He half expected at least one person to reprimand or scold him for causing an explosion, but all the students, even the one teacher that happened to be in the room with him, cheered him as he continued to look for his sister. Heck, a few times some of the students felt the need to toss him in the air as they did, making him summon his bubble purely on instinct, which people took as a sign to start tossing him around like a beach ball. It was fun for a while, at least until the vertigo started to settle in. He merely began to roll around the school all the more randomly as he focused really hard not to throw up.
"I really should've thought this idea out more." He sighed as he tried to lay down on the curved surface of his bubble. He was starting to see why Star got excited about bringing him here. Practically everyone had the same love of magic and explosions as she did. Pretty much everyone was friendly and willing to greet him. "Too bad they're just as tiring." He murmured. A nap was really starting to sound good. Between training with Mom, Dad taking him out on his 'lectures', and visiting Star, he's hardly had the chance to really have some down time to himself. Not that he wasn't greatful for the time he's spends with his family, but it was also good to just be on his own and rest.
At least that's what he wanted to do as a constant tapping sound began to enter his train of thought. The taps were very small, but very noticeable. The little Mewman prince opened his eyes to see what it was that was causing it.
It was a girl around his age, maybe a year or two older as seen by the slight height difference between them. She had dark skin and long, bushy black hair. She wore a sorta blue dress with reddish pink boot/shoe things, and on her face were red glasses with wide circular lenses. She stared up at the bubble, not noticing the partially asleep boy as she lightly tapped it with curiosity.
"Hey." Quartz said once he finally was finally able to open his mouth without yawing. The girl finally stops once she acknowledges who was in the bubble. "Great day to be in a bubble, huh?"
"Oh, oh, oh, so, so sorry, so very sorry!" She frantically said as see tried to keep her nervousness from showing. "I, I didn't see you in there, and, so sorry, I was just curious about it, and I thought that.."
"Its, its okay!" Quartz said a little loudly so that his voice could be heard above hers. He succeeds in getting her attention as he continues. "A lot of people here today seem to be interested in my bubble making today. I never thought that it would get me this much attention."
"Well, it is a large, pink bubble and with the.." The girls smiles widely as she explains, only to stop in a realization. "What, this bubble wouldn't happen to be magic now, would it?" She smiles in hope.
"Of course it is!" He says excitedly. He demonstrates further by popping the bubble around him encloses his hands on each other, forming a smaller, brighter bubble. "Its only a small part of what I can do."
"Whoa." Her eyes widen in awe. "I've never seen magic so up close before." She slowly leans her hand in to touch it, only for Quartz to hold it out of her reach.
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't try to touch it. I'm still working on making them not explode." He throws it overhead, showing a small explosion commencing right behind him. The girl's grin only gets bigger as the excitement begins to leak out of her face.
"You, you can do that!? How, how can you do this!? What, where, where does it come from?! Can everyone do magic!? Can I do it?!" Quartz flinches back a little, not expecting that little outburst from what he expected to be a shy girl. Connie, realizing what she was doing, does her best to calm down. "Sorry, but, but I keep hearing stories and rumors coming about magic coming from the older kid classrooms, and I was just curious about it so I used my class's free time today to try and check it out, and when I saw the bubble, I became excited at finally seeing it and..."
"Its not that normal for you?" Quartz threw out their, making the taller girl nod in response. "Its actually pretty normal for me." He reaches out his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. I'm Quartz. Quartz Butterfly." He said in small glee.
The girl, after shaking off the excitement, likewise does the same. "Connie. Connie Mahaswarren." She said as she blushes, feeling a little silly saying her whole name, though another shock of realization comes to her mind once more. "Are, you, are you by any chance related to Star Butterfly?!" She shouts in excitement. Quartz only nods in response. "Star Butterfly? The one that everyone says has a magic wand?! An actual, legitimate, magic wand?!"
"Yep!" He affirms. "I'm her brother." Quartz suddenly found himself being grabbed by the shoulders as the excitement on Connie's face began to resurface.
"Tell. Me. Everything." She said with as much seriousness as she could muster. "Is the wand real!? Does she really make anything she want out of thin air!? Is she really from another Dimension!? Is she really a princess?! Does that make you a prince?! Am I talking to royalty right now!?"
Quartz was prepared to answer all that, though the shouts of 'bubble boy' began to surface, making him silence himself for a moment before speaking. "Connie, I would be more than happy to tell you everything, but, is there a more quiet place that we can speak?" Connie smile remained as she motioned the boy to follow, to which he happily did.
It wasn't a long walk, mostly because they weren't wandering around randomly as Quartz had been doing all day before hand. They eventually walked into a large room, bigger than most of the rooms in the school, and in it was a hall full of books, shelves full of books, tables full of books. The prince's eyes widen, not having seen so many books in one place before.
"This is the high school library. Most kids in my class don't really come here, but this is where the truly great stuff is." She gleamed as she took the Mewman prince to a far corner. "I spend a lot of time here, because when you don't have any friends, you just read books. And talk to yourself. A lot. For hours." She said with a blank expression, once again, feeling silly for admitting that pathetic truth.
"I've never really had the chance to ever visit a library before. Or even read." Connie looked at him like he was crazy. "Life in the castle is crazy. A lot of my time is spent around my family. Either being with my sister, Mom, or Dad. Mom is training me in my powers, Dad is training me how to fight monsters, and Star just enjoys fighting stuff in general. Its fun, but it can be a little, fast paced for me."
"That stuff sounds amazing!" Connie shouted a little too loudly, prompting a loud 'sssssh" from one of the faculty. "You get to use magic, and live in a castle, and, and go on adventures! I would gladly trade everything I have for that!" Once again, another 'ssssh' was brought up. "The only exciting thing in my life is tennis practice."
"I have no idea what tennis is, but I really want to try it." Quartz stated. "And believe me, I love how my life is, but sometimes, i want to do my own thing. To have something that's, that's just mine." A little frown shows on his face. It was small, but definitely noticed by Connie.
Attempting to turn things around, she snapped her fingers and grabbed one of her books that she had stored to the side. She picks one and hands it to the little prince. "Then it sounds like you need a good book. Its called Dogcopter. In a world where Humans are overthrown by machines, the most human of them all, is a dog! Copter, that is."
The little prince's eyes somehow change form in the shape of stars. "That sound awesome!" Another shush was brought up, before the teacher shushing just gives up halfway and leaves the library all together. "It slightly reminds me of the time the Rose Guard helped negotiate peace between the Mutt revengers and the dominating feline race."
"See, that is what I mean." Connie's face begins to light up in practically the same way. "Your from another Dimension! An entire new world, with different histories, different creatures, different people, and different stories to tell!" She unknowingly leans in closer to him. "Please, tell me more!"
Smiling, he nods. "Okay, but first you got to learn about Mewni's most amazing Hero, The Rose Guard. A fierce sword fighting heroine that has trampled armies for centuries.."
Around the time lunch had ended, Star was still searching for her brother, but now she did it with a slight mope on her face and a sluggishness in her step. Occasionally she would ask the fellow students if he was around, though all they could say to her was how amazing he was, something that she's known all her life. She didn't need to hear how great he was, what she needed to hear was how safe he was right now.
Sadly, that's not what she was getting as she began slip into a slump. Was this just a cycle that she was doomed to repeat over and over? Was she just meant to screw up when it came to taking care of her brother? She had let him down thus so far, so it appeared to be that way.
She was so caught up in her own self-disappointment that she hardly notice the person tugging on her shirt. "Star." The familiar voice stated, and with when quick turn around, Star came face to face with her roomie and her bestie, who had a look of concern and worry on his face. "Are, are you feeling alright?"
"Not now, Marco." Star sad, barely having the motivation to even look him in the air. "I'm trying to find my brother. He should be around here somewhere."
"Yeah, I heard. A lot of the students have been chanting the name 'bubble boy' a lot, and, well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who that is." Marco said a little sheepishly as Star gave out a depressed sigh. "I, look, I'm sorry for saying what I said, but its not what I meant to say, I just said it and I figured that it was dumb to say, but you'd know what I'd meant to say." He speaks, carefully trying to figure out the right words to use. "Do you know what I'm saying?"
"Sorta, but not really." She says honestly. "Its not your fault. Its just, what you said to me earlier, it reminded me of, of something I've really wanted to forget about." She leans against the rows of lockers as she pinches her nose in frustration. "I'm always going to be looking out for him, and I'm always going to be responsible for him, but every time I try, I just get reminded of how much I've failed him."
"Okay, okay, so you're bummed at the moment, and your feeling pressure from it." Marco tried to comfort. "But you haven't failed him. You just lost track of him in all the excitement, that's all. I don't think anyone can be faulted for that." A small smile forms on his face. "And did you see how excited he was just to be here with you? You both enjoyed each other's company soo much that you got a little carried away. I'm pretty sure that mean your doing your job as a sister right."
Star immediately responded with a hug, to which the surprised Marco returned with glee. "Thanks. I really needed that." She lets go, slightly dropping the smile. "I just wish I didn't lose him so quickly."
"Hey, we'll find him. Together. I mean, its just the school, there's no way that he couldn't have gotten that far.." He was suddenly pushed to the ground by Star. "What are you..." He tried to get Start to explain, though upon looking up, he was able to see why. Above them, indented in one of the lockers, was a small, pink shield that slowly began to fade away into sparkly.
"If there's a shield, than that must mean.." Star concurred, and sure enough, she was able to see a door swinging wide open as one of the nearby faculty members fell to the ground, trying to regain his composure. Star wasted no time and pushed the faculty member to the ground once more as she barged through the door. Sure enough, at the end of the room, there was the sight of her little brother, standing beside an unfamiliar girl as the two little kids continued to converse with one another.
"..of course, The Rose Guard is never without a quick wit and cunning, as she sliced her way through the hoards of bat goblins to finally liberate the sun seekers after over a decade in their bondage!" He wrapped up his story, as Connie was mesmerized by the tale of the great heroine. She didn't, however, have the time to express her joy as the boy was engulfed by the sudden hug of his sister.
"QUARTZ, YOU'RE OKAY!" She screamed. "I love you! I hate you! I was worried! You are in soo much trouble! I am never letting you go!" She switched on back and fourth between happy and angry, but ultimately, happy won out as she practically straggled her brother by holding him so close.
"Star.." The brotherly prince struggled to get out.
"No, you're going to tell me where you've been! I've been searching forever!" The princess demanded.
"I, I just got lost at the fountain. I saw a troll and i guess I got carried away from there." He shrugged. "I tried looking for you, but I ran into my new friend here and I got caught up.."
"Wait a minute." She finally put her attention on the little girl, who merely waved shyly at the blonde. "Who are you exactly?" She said with suspicion.
"Oh, I, I, I'm Connie." She stuttered. "And, and you're Star Butterfly! Are you, are you really a magic girl?!" She said with excitement, only to clear her throat as she tried to talk a little more seriously. "I'm, I'm sorry Star, can I call you Star? I mean, I know its your name but I, we don't know each other, but I know of you.." She stops herself. "Sorry, for trailing on. I didn't know you were looking for him, but I'd asked him to tell me some stuff about Mewni, and we really, really got into it." She blushed with nervousness.
"Ahh, I see what's going on here." She chuckled a little evilly as she placed her brother down again. "Quartz, you sly puppy, If you wanted to find a girlfriend so much, I would've been more than happy to help!"
"WHAT!?" Both kids yelled louder than they had earlier, both now blushing furiously, their faced crimson with embarssessment. "We're not, I'm mean, its not, we just.." both stammered at the same time, only adding more depth to Star's assumption, and the embarrassment to the two kids.
"I see, I see. You two need some time to sort out your feelings." She winks at Quartz as she backs away slowly. "I'll be waiting outside. I'll be sure to make sure no one messes with your funky flow, bro." She smiles as she finally goes away.
Both kids finally allow themselves to breathe easier and get a small chuckle out. "Funky flow?"
"Heh, just, just something I use to say to myself." He smiles nervously. "I guess that means I should go back with my sister now." He turns to walk away. "We, we can still do this, right? Just, just talk about Mewni stuff and all that."
"Of course! I mean, we don't even have to just talk about you home, we could always just talk about books, or just, just hang out together, outside the library, I mean, if that's what you want." She offers, a small part of her afraid of the possibility he'll say no.
"Yes, I would love to." He smiles. "I, I've never had a friend on earth before, so I'm glad your my first."
"Yeah, me to. About being my first friend that is!" She gets that out there, and begins to walk before she could feel any more embarrassed. "It was great talking to you! See you soon." She rushes out the door.
Quartz could only smile fondly as he made his way out the door. Waiting outside the door however was his sister, who face was way more excited than it should've been. "She's just a friend, Star."
"But you, and her, it was sooo cute!" She said as she embraced her brother with another hug. "Your first crush! And its cute, and I am not about to let you ruin it!"
"Really, than what about you and Marco?" He said with a sly grin.
"Pffft, wow Quartz, that's ridiculous. He's my bestie. Nothing can happen like that between besties." Star casually shrugged off as Quartz rolled his eyes. "But now's not the time to focus on our affections for others! Now is the time for us to stay together like we always done!" Quartz complies as he hangs off of Star's back like a back pack. "You ready to spend more time together?"
"Does Dad sneak off to fight monster's constantly?" He remarks as the both of them walk off.
"You know, I only found that out last week, weird."