So I spent most of this month trying to make this chapter instead of updating my other stories. What can I say, I felt very motivated by this one. Enjoy.
Btw, for those that want the general look for Steven in this story, a picture of him can be found on my tumbler, mcu616.
I own nothing.
Around three to four months ago...
"Come on Mom, do I really have to go to this dinner?" Quartz complained as he nonetheless compliant with his parent's plans for tonight. Bearing a nice blue and red dress suit, he followed his mother down the stairs, huffing with annoyance as he took each step. "Star's closer to them than I am."
"It's a formal dinner sweetie." Moon either ignored or didn't notice Quartz's reluctance. "We invite the royal family of one of the neighboring kingdoms in order took keep the piece and show unity for all of Mewni." She rolled her eyes as she explained. He really should've known this by now. "And all members of each family currently present must be their, so unless you do something within the next 30 seconds to get yourself enrolled in reform school, you will be attending." Quartz lifted a finger. "And don't even think about it. I sent your pet lion to Heckopoo's dimension tonight."
Quartz turned his finger down, though he had to smirk at the idea of Lion meeting his former caretaker after so many years. He could practically hear the yelling already.
'Don't you dare touch that that, hey, get away from, no, do not portal away from me when I'm talking to you!' The tied and panting voice of the commission member growled as Lion got into a predatory stance. She only smiled as she took her own pair of scissors and divided them into to daggers. 'I've had hears to prepare for this day, and I swear by the lives of my fallen clones, I will reign supreme today!' She leapt forward to attack.
"I don't understand why you don't want to be here Quartz. You've been doing this since you were a baby." They both entered the dinning room, though tonight already rang a bad omen with King River barging into the kitchen, where it looked like he was trying to drive a sworn into a chicken. "And you've always been the most well behaved one here."
Quartz cursed inwardly at that. The one time it didn't pay off to be the 'good' child. "But while you're talking with the Lucitors, I'm the one that'll be sitting across from.." A thunderous book shook the ground as flashed of blood red fire rose from the cracks. "Him."
"Quartz..." Moon berated. "I know things on that front are a bit shaky, but you've managed to be civil with him before. One more night isn't going to make much of a difference."
"May I remind you that he lit my trike on fire, tripped me several times, lit my little crown on fire, broke every collectable of Mewni's heroes I own, lit my blanket on fire, lit my hair on fire, lit.."
"I get it, he tends to light a lot of stuff on fire." Moon sighed as she seated herself. At least Star wasn't here. She would've made a bigger stink out of this than Quartz was. "The only thing you need to do tonight is tolerate him You can do that at least, right?" Quartz stayed quiet as he crossed his arms. "Your father's family and my family do it practically every other month. Just think of this as one of the annual Butterfly reunions."
Quartz would've said something about the many occasions that both the Butterfly and Johanson broke the piece and landed each other in extensive care, but he thought better of it. He was making excuses by this point, and he did know that he would eventually talk to him about what happened. At least tonight he wouldn't be able to put it off anymore. Cooling down a little, Quartz nodded in acceptance. The king showed up a second later lathered in feathers and gravy. "Finally got that bird back in the oven. We shall be dining well shortly."
Moon chose to say nothing as the king wiped away the feathers. Quartz just took a deep breath as he prepared to get through the night.
Present time...
It was a normal peaceful day on earth, which meant it was the right time for something unexpected to happened. As the students of echo creek scoured through the hallways, the always troublemaking Oskar sat outside the school as always, playing on his keytar a more broken tone version of Twinkle, Twinkle little Star, he lazily gazed up at the pale blue sky as the earth itself opened up in fiery fury, summoning from it's unworldly depths a flaming unicorn's skeleton carrying pulling a carriage with dark and foreboding decorations. Once it properly settled itself on the ground, two pairs of dress shows stepped out, each step scorching the cement of the parking lot. "Hey, that's a handicapped spot." The only spectator there pointed out, not that he seemed to care afterwards as he continued to fiddle on his instrument. "Would you mind me using you as an album cover?" He casually asked the unicorn.
With every step the stranger took, a blazing trail followed as he entered the school. His confidence shined through as he marched right pace the locals, who could do nothing but stare in awe of the intimidating person. Whispers echoed as he came closer to his target, mainly compliments from the girls on how attractive he was. He was flattered, but they weren't his the one that captured his eye. There was only one girl for him, and she would be with him, no matter what.
It took a long while, but he finally managed to locate the one that had captured his heart. Star Butterfly, princess of Mewni, the cutest troublemaker he's ever met, and the one who almost got away. If tonight went as planned, she too would see that they were soulmates.
With nothing else in his way, the well suited stranger used his power to hoist himself in the air and scoots away anyone in front of his Butterfly. Star sat silent as she gazed at the figure she swore to she as little as possible. Right before her, with three eyes, two horns, and light purple skin, was Tom Lucitor. Prince of the Underworld. Her ex boyfriend. "Hey Starship, I'm here to take you to the Blood moon ball." He decorated his palm with a fiery crescent moon. Almost anyone else would be hypnotized by it's beauty and say yes.
Star wasn't one of those people. "No, No, No, No." Star dragged the underworld prince back to his carriage, leaving a steady trail of fire as she did. The local fire department that later came that day began to suspect some sort of arsonists conspiracy. "Get out of here Tom. Take your carriage, and your fire, and your dead horse, and go back to the underworld." She shoved him in his ride and tried to leave it all there, only for Tom to persist on.
"Ohh, come one Starship." He used his fire to levitate the girl into his arms, as he did so many times before. "It's the blood moon ball! It only happens ever 667 years." He had hoped the rarity of the dance would've been enough to convince her.
Star ignores the smoothness of his voice as she flips right out of his arms. "WE BROKE UP. Period." Now she was starting to wonder why she didn't notice her brother's warnings before. Maybe all forms of love are blind.
Desperate, Tom grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Star, I can see you're reluctant to go anywhere with me. I never been good with being mad, and I've never had the best impression with you're brother..."
"Understatement. Do you know how many times I found pieces of his clothing burnt off when we were younger?"
"..Yeah, I know that's bad, but I'm a totally changed man! I have a life coach, named Brian.." A fat man with a green collared shirt popped out to wave hey. "A happy bunny, and, and I've been anger free for 53 three days!" He proudly declared, showing off the button to prove it.
"Fifty-three?" That was a lot longer than the five seconds he usually lasted. Besides, didn't Quartz always say something about giving people chances? Or did this not apply because Quartz hated him?"
"Come on, don't you want to pet my bunny?" The bunny twitched its tiny nose as it happily sat still on the prince's hand. It didn't seem scared by Tom's presence or anything. Maybe he has tried to be better.
"Well, he is a adorable.." She leaned forward, but she didn't have the chance to get close as Marco flew out of nowhere and literally karate chopped off Tom's hand, which still held onto the bunny tightly. "Marco?!"
"Back off demon!" That remark seemed to break the camel's back, because as Tom clenched his stubby arm, a blood-red thirsty gaze popped from all three of Tom's eyes. Seeing how his patient was about to snap, he supported the demon teen and walked him in circles as he muttered something in some ancient dialect. His gaze never seemed to take itself off of Marco though.
Coming right behind Star and Marco, Quartz busted through, riding Lion as he pointed his sword high. "Star, I'm here! I came to visit Connie but I heard Marco shout something about you being abducted by a.." One look at the demon prince made him drop his sword, though his face soured. "Oh, it's you."
"Wait, do you guys know him or something?" Marco asked, very confused at how casual they acted towards the literal demon in front of them.
"I'll explain this later but now you two need to get out of here." Star started, having a feeling these two wouldn't exactly be the faces Tom wanted to see at the moment.
"No, no, no, this is good, we're all good here." Tom said with the best good natured attitude he could pull of. He struggled to smile as he summoned his severed hand and bunny back to him. "This is why I have my system! Got all the angrys out!" His smile does little to lighten the mood. "Everything is under control!" With a wobbly arm, Tom extended his arm out to shake Marco's hand. "Nice, to meet you, Marco." He spat out uneasily.
Marco held a fighting stance the moment Tom tried to get closer, but Quartz walked in front of him, signaling him to stay down. "Marco, don't karate him." Star explained with a neutral sigh. Today was just going to be complicated no matter what. "This is Tom."
Marco eyes widen, though he still keeps his stance up. "Wait, you mean demon ex-boyfriend Tom?" The same boyfriend Star always said she would delete from her contacts but never did? The same one she always complained about how much of a grade-A jerk he was? "What is he doing here?"
"Guessing by the fancy attire, the insistence on taking you, and today's date, I'm guessing he's here to take her to the Blood moon ball." Quartz observed with a stiff stare and frown. "Did I miss anything?"
"Heha, no you didn't. You always had a knack for knowing what I was up to, heh." Nobody laugh. Tom was pretty sure the Lion behind them was about to pounce on him and tear him apart. "I even have my own pink pet, see?" Quartz had to admit the bunny was indeed cute. But that was a satisfaction he wouldn't give the demon. For now.
Watching the exchange, Marco tried to pull Star away. "Star, I care for you, so you should know, never follow a predator to a second location." Lion's ears perked up on that remark and growled. "Oh, you're as intimidating as pillow stuffing."
"Look, clearly I've made some bad choices in the past, and I got a lot to do if I'm going to earn your guy's trust." All four of them, counting Lion, gave him an 'are you serious' look. "But I want you to know Star that I have changed for the better. After all.." He got very close to her, a closeness that Star shared with only a select few. "..I'm not the only one with horns."
Star blushed, knowing what he meant. Heck, she would even be wearing her favorite headband if she never dated Tom. There were truly great memories that they made together. But there were a few bad memories. Some she looked past despite better judgement, and others she couldn't just ignore. "I don't know Tom, it's a bit sudden, and.."
"I get it." Tom nods with understanding. At least he wasn't bursting out in flames and dragging her down to the underworld. "No pressure. But if you decide to change you mind, just toll this bell." He hands her a small bell with a small diamond moon at the end of it. "And don't forget the little hammer." He plops it on her palm as he enters the carriage, engulfing it in flames as he sank back down to it's unholy depths.
Star was left a bit speechless. A part of her felt bad for trying to blew him off later, especially if his intent at being better was genuine. "Good riddance, I thought he never leave." Marco voiced in. "Seriously, did he think you would fall for something like that?"
"It's not the first time he's done something like that." Quartz's disdain was as clear as day. "Hopefully though it'll be the last."
"Guys, can we real talk for a second?" Star shut down the bad mouthing before it could get any further. "I have a crazy thought, and I need you guys to here it."
The two nodded their head, though they had to hold off for a moment as the school fire alarm rang, making all the students flood out of the now burning building. With the school day ending all ready, the faculty called it an early day and released the students early. Somehow able to find Connie in the whole mess of things, the four headed back to the Diaz residence, catching the girl up to speed with the situation.
"So, you've dated a demon with anger issues and can't get a clue?" Connie summed up the entire thing quite accurately. "Did I mention how cool that sounds?"
"Trust me, it sounds better than it does." Planting herself on the couch, she took a deep breath. "I've known Tom since we were kids, that's just kinda the deal when there's just enough Kingdoms to count with your fingers. I've always had a crush on him, but one year at the Silver bell ball, he asked me out on a date for corn shakes, and we sort of hit it off." She blushed. She hated going to that annual dance every year until he started attending. "He was the only prince there that wasn't either my cousin or older than me, and also the only one outside the castle that I could be myself around."
The other three were a bit surprised that she put it in such a positive light. "It sounds like you guys had a real chemistry." Connie analyzed. She hardly knew anything about romance, but recent events made her understand it a little better. "Why did you break up then?"
"Thirtieth birthday. They had an argument. End of story." Quartz answered quickly before Star had the chance to retell everything.
"Yeah, end of story." She whispered a 'thank you' to Quartz.
"Don't you see this is what he's trying to do Star?" Marco argued. This guy hurt Star in a way he couldn't protect her from. The best he could do was stop it before it begins again. "He's coming into you're life again, completely uninvited, and trying to bring you into the romance circle, splashing you with his fancy suit, fancy bunny, fancy fire, all topped off with a fancy party."
"Yeah I know." Star acknowledged. "But he has a therapist now, and the button does say he's been anger free for a while.."
"Wait, you mean he was serious about that?" Quartz's eye's read with surprise.
"Do you know something about that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I just didn't think he was going to go through with it." The boy felt a bit blindsided by that revelation. "Around three months ago, the Lucitors came over for a cordial dinner, which meant I had to 'play nice' with him."
Back to the past again..
It didn't take long for their guest to arrive. Right on time, properly mannered, and all around pleasant for the most part. The only downside was figuring out the seating for the Queen of the Underworld, whose 30-foot size was rather problematic for everyone. With every step she made a small earthquake, and with every movement of her arm she threatened to throw someone into the wall. "Why do we always forget about this? Why don't we just get takeout whenever we invite them?" River felt the need to be very vocal on his thought tonight.
"River, Quiet. Bigger ears means better hearing." She hushed her husband as she tried to maintain a smile as best she could. Slight dents in the floor were a small price to pay for civility.
"I'm just saying, when you're guest is big enough to create a crater every time she sits down.." River was interrupted by the King of the Underworld Dave, who gave him an eyeful look. "Oh, you can't pretend like it's not a problem."
As the adults did their best to fan away any flames brewing up, Quartz put his entire focus his entire focus his food: Turkey with fresh corn stuffing. He lazily picked at the tiny bits of corn on the side as Tom sat right across from him.
In the past, Quartz questioned the idea of romance, at least when it came to his sister. She was very open to what, or who, she was attracted to. She would spend hours, swooning in her room, imagining various future scenarios of whoever caught her eye. Quartz felt the need to pry as little as possible. As long as Star could be happy, and let him plan the wedding, then he was happy.
But Tom was a demon, and not just because he had three eyes and horns. He was proudly destructive, careless to where his fire spread, and was just a big bully to him whenever Star turned her head. It was almost like he made an effort to separate him from his sister so he could have her all to himself.
The day Star broke up with him was a messy day filled with tears and empty Cookie Cat wrappers. He hated seeing Star in such a miserable state, but on the inside, he celebrated.
To the boy's surprise however, the demon royal stayed his had from any mischievous behavior. He didn't light a fire under Quartz's seat, didn't fling flaming bird bones at him. He just kind of sat there patiently, like he was waiting for him to talk. "Hey, this is freshly grown corn, right?"
Quartz rolled his eyes. He wouldn't be baited into this. "Off course it is. There wouldn't be an army of monster trying to steal it everyday if it wasn't." His awkward laughing didn't make Quartz flinch a muscle. "How you noticed how much our kingdoms value corn? I'm pretty sure it almost became Mewni's currency at one point."
"It did, but people started complaining about eating each other's valuables." It was a silly but true part of history. "Look, I don't want to walk around this all night, so can you say what we both know you're going to say." He crossed his arms.
"I, ha, I don't know what you're talking about.."
"Really, because you're sweating a lot."
"I'm a demon, you know, live in the underworld, fire and despair run rampant everywhere.."
"There's no fire right now."
"Yes there is, look!" Without gaining notice, Tom had lit a small part of the table cloth on fire. He did not count on how flammable the cloth was, and in mere moments, the entire thing had spread to the entire table, knocking both the Butterfly and Lucitor parents out of their seats. "Who knows where that came from?"
"Is that really your answer to everything?" The prince felt more annoyed by this point. As the adults attempted to put out the fire, while also playing the blame game on the guilty party( "You live in the underworld!"), Quartz took the opportunity to leave the table undetected. "This is why Star dumped you."
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT.." Tom erupted as he appeared right before the young prince, his eyes glowing a hellish red as he looked like he was about to consume Quartz in a supernatural inferno, but the boy, despite the tiny voice in his head telling him to flee to another castle, stood his ground. "Uh, I mean, that's still kind of a sensitive topic for me, so would you mind.."
"Tom, if you're trying to get me to talk Star into dating you again.."
"No, no, I get it, she's not the biggest fan of me at the moment. She made that abundantly clear the last time she called me." It was about a week ago, and Tom thought it was to finally throw everything under the bridge between them, only to be shut out by a wrong number. "You're the one she's closest to, so you know her the best."
That was a fact the boy couldn't deny. Last year he was able to map out everything she did on the weekends every hour on the hour, mostly because she would talk to him about it constantly afterwards. "What are you getting at?"
"I need to know what I did wrong!" His desperate voice filled the air, and for a moment, the boy felt a tinge of pity for him. "Did I set too many things on fire? Did I come off as too strong and smart for her?" The pity went away after that. "Does she think I have bad breathe?"
"No, it's, it's not even close to that.."
"Then what is it!?" The fire erupted from his body again, this time singing the carpet below them into ashes.
"This, this Tom! You're too angry!" Tom's fire dies down immediately. "You always get mad at stuff too quickly, and you always end up hurting others without thinking!" Quartz turned his back on him to calm himself down. "Do you know why I didn't like Star dating you? Its because I would worry about you getting angry at her, and what you would do to her."
Tom felt a deep, seething pain in his stomach right now. He knew Quartz tolerated him at best, but he didn't think it went this far. "Quartz, I, I would never hurt Star like that. I wouldn't dream of ever hurting her."
"If that were true, then you guys wouldn't have broken up."
It took a lot of will power for Tom not to lose it right then and there. Under normal circumstances, he would've tackled the boy and dragged him into the underworld for getting in his way. He would never see the light of day again, and he could do it all without anyway finding out.
"I can get away with a lot Quartz. I can lash out right now, and no one would be the wiser. I'm rich, so I can do almost anything I want." Tom steamed. Quartz turned back to him, though he remained unimpressed. "But I, I don't want to hurt Star's brother, and I don't want to keep being this person Star hates!" The demon fell to his knees and pulled on Quartz's dress shirt. "Tell me what I need to do!"
"You need to get help!" Quartz pried Tom's hands from his body. "Star's not going to like you or date you if you keep acting like a jerk. Be more happy around people. Stop trying to start fires and start trying to stop fires."
"Okay, okay." Tom nodded, soaking it all in. "You'll tell Star how good I'm trying to be though, right?"
"Tom.."
"Fine, fine." This was the best he was going to get from him. "But at least, if I see her again, give me the chance to prove it to her, okay? You can give me that?"
Quartz wanted to say no. He wanted to really say no and slam the door on his face. But that would go against what he believed. Right before him wasn't the same jerk that dated his sister. The person right before him was a guy, attempting to at least, to be better. He hadn't attacked at all the entire night, so that gave him some credit.
"Deal."
"And you didn't tell me this earlier because...?"
"By that point, the fire had spread to the castle hallways, so I just kind of forgot about it until now." He was still pretty mad at Tom even after that, so maybe it was more along the lines of willful ignorance. "Sorry."
"No, no, it's fine. I just feel like a jerk now." She thought back to the last time she called Tom. She dialed the wrong number, and due to everything else that happened that day, she let her bad mood get to her and immediately shut him out. "I could've handled things a whole lot better with him."
"Well, it's not like he gave you much of a choice not to." Marco still remained unconvinced. "Do you really want to consider going with him?"
"Well, it is a once in a lifetime sort of thing, so that's a plus." Star pondered. She really wanted to go the more she thought about it. "He was my first serious relationship, so I kind of owe it to him." Besides, it wasn't like this date meant they had to get back together. It was just a friendly night out. "Yeah, I will go out tonight. Been awhile since I've gone out like this. I should probably change now." Noticing the pale orange light from the setting sun, Star skipped upstairs.
"Star, wait! We should discuss this further!" Marco raced towards her, leaving the younger of the four to themselves. They were content with not moving, mostly because Quartz was in no mood to catch up with them.
His annoyed sighs eventually got to Connie. "Hey, so not to press anything, but shouldn't you get ready for this to? You are a prince and all." That would always be weird for her to say, though not as weird as saying she was friends with said prince. "And you could watch out for Star if Tom tries anything funny."
That was tempting. "Eh, I don't know. I've tried to mess with that mess before, so it's probably better if I try to stay out of it as much as possible."
"Hm, I just thought you would be more excited about what sounds like such a big event. Then again, you probably do this kind of thing all the time." She blushed, though Quartz tilted his head. "Dancing, big grand occasions, you're probably swarmed with escorts every time you go out."
"Not really. That sort of thing is mostly for people in Star's position." Quartz short of shrugged his soldiers. Connie felt a wave of relief hit her, though she didn't really know why. "It's more important for the next in line to find somebody in Mewni. I don't really participate in those stuff." He would admit that he enjoyed watching on the side every once in a while, but any big galas usually were too slow for his taste. "Besides, if I was king, I wouldn't be able to be a knight. That's where the real action is!"
"Oh, so I suppose your dancing is hardly eloquent enough to be seen by others?" Connie playfully mocked in a fancy-ish tone. Not that she would know what royalty sounded like. Then again, Quartz and Star always spoke normal around her.
"Just the opposite. My skills on the dance floor happen to be refined and dignified." Playing along, he got up and swung himself before reaching out his hand. "My fair lady Connie, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were asking me for a dance."
"Oh no, no, I was just kidding. I'd never doubt you dancing ability." Quartz ignored her excuses as he pulled her closer. "Quartz, I, I don't know how to dance."
"It's fine, I can show you." Before she could protest anymore, Quartz swung her around and held her in the proper position. Did it feel weird? Was the fact she was taller make it a little weird? "Quartz, I really don't think.."
"We can take it slowly if you want to. I haven't had much practice with a partner to be honest." Quartz admitted, realizing now he might be taking this a little to fast. "Sorry if I rushed it."
"No, it's fine, I want to dance with you!" Why was everything that came out of her mouth weird? "Just, just take it one step at a time, please." With a simple nod, Quartz slowly pressed forward, signaling Connie to step back. It was still a little weird for her, but it was a good weird, she thought so at least. Smiling, she let Quartz take a lead as the circled around the living room. Every minute or so she would step out of line or Quartz would step on her toe, but she didn't mind that much. She never garnered many eyes around her peers much before, but for the first time, she knew what it felt like to be the center of attention.
For the soft spoken book worm, it was an experience she didn't want to miss out on.
Meanwhile, back with the two teens, the conversation was going in a much less desired direction, at least for Marco. Behind Star's tail, he tried to talk her out of the dance, only for each attempt to be in vain as the princess pulled out an assortment of dresses for to go out in. "You're making a huge mistake, Star."
"Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time he's burned me." Star, despite semi-agreeing with what her friend was saying, still cheerfully searched through her selection until she found a dress covered in various forms of pink. "But it could be fun."
That uncomfortable feeling in Marco's gut sunk further as he grabbed a sombrero and placed it on his head. "But why take the risk when everything you have is at casa Diaz: Magic, nachos, T.V, your friends. Why go out at all when you can stay here, where it's always fun! Like, guaranteed."
"Well, this is a different kind of fun. You'll understand once you ask Jackie out. Now don't look, I'm going to change." Pressing a button on her mirror, it expanded to resemble the doors of a store changing room.
Complying, Marco turned to the side and placed the sombrero on his shoulder to block his view. "I just don't trust Tom. Maybe I should go with you."
"Marco, you weren't invited. If you come to the underworld without an invite, let's just say you'll be glad they melt the eyeballs of most of their victims before the begin torturing." Slipping through her outfit like a glove, she pointed her wand at her face. "Besides, you got to learn to trust me to do the right thing for mySEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLFFFF." A whole wave of purple energy bombarded the Princess like a fierce wind, only changing the way her hair was being held.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Totally, totally. Just got to learn not to use magic. On my face."
As usual, Marco had to call her well meaning judgment into question. "I'm just saying, guys like Tom, never change."
"Aren't you guys the ones who tell me people can change? Don't you remember the whole thing with Lobster Claws?"
"Yeah, and we both know how well that turned out." He'd almost forgotten how much that punch to the face hurt.
"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." Putting on her final boot, she presented herself in full. Covered in hearts and bows, Star was set to go out for the evening. "How do I look?"
"You look, amazing." Marco said with pure awe and astonishment. Not that he had much experience with appreciating a person's beauty, blame his attraction to Jackie for that, but he would admit that she looked cute and adorable, like a lost puppy following you home. Yeah, that's what it was. "Don't go." He whispered.
"I'm totally going." She whispered back before ringing the tiny bell Tom had given her. A strangely loud ring came that shook the entire house. No sooner after that, fire erupted from the unworldly depths, and arriving from it was a gargoyle like creature pulling a wheel-less carriage by it's neck, the doors opening like it was some sort of elevator. "Hmm, smell like burnt toast."
Marco was silent as she entered, unable to move. This was scary, not the same unknown wacky scary that he was usually subjected to, but scary, like 'damn you to eternal suffering and brimstone' scary.
"Alight, let's get this show on the road." Star sat peacefully in her ride.
"Which floor?" The 'driver' asked.
"Hm, I guess the bottom?" She guessed. It wasn't like there was anywhere else she could go.
"Okay Star, let me just ride with you.." His charming concern was pushed to the side as Star gently kicked him away from the carriage.
"Good bye, Marco!" The doors slowly closed as she descended into the fiery pit. "She you after the Blood Moon Ball, ooooooooooooooooo…" Marco was useless to watch as his friend stuck with her choice, and after another flash of fire, she was gone without a trace. He knew that Star wasn't incapable of fighting for herself, but if he was around, why should she have to?
He train of thought was interrupted as Connie and Quartz made their way upstairs, still somewhat dancing as they reached Star's room. "Did we miss something."
"No, not really. Marco glumly made his way out of Star's room and into the kitchen. Might as well mope with a full belly. "Just everything."
As one of the biggest, if not the biggest events in underworld history, unholy creatures from all around made their way to the main event. Torches were lit everywhere, sounds of mourning, moaning, and foreboding organ music echoed throughout the unworldly pit of despair. Goblins and Demons entered the hall with axes, maces, and whatever their devices of torture they could bring in celebration.
But despite how grand the event sounded, many held eyes of contempt and anger, and not just because more than half the guess had the urge to brutally extinguish all the life they could find. Tonight, the ball held a aura of safety. There was a feeling somebody was trying to tame down the glorious chaos they've all come to celebrate and yearn for.
Those feelings and fears were soon proven true as one of the main torturers set up a 'decoration' of a skeleton, binding it by the neck and limbs to truly bring out the lifelessness. Raining his weapon of choice, the hooded figures prepared to smash the skeleton into pieces, when the Prince himself stopped the execution.
"Whoa, whoa, hey guys, cool it down for just a second." The Prince's worried and scared toned was jarring enough for the two, but the lack of anger really threw them for a loop. "I don't know what you're about to do, but I want to keep things low key for Star."
Of course. This was all for a girl. "You want to turn the Blood moon ball into your own personal greeting card holiday, than be my guest." One of the two passive aggressively said, though because the skeleton had no lips and the hooded figure's face was covered, it was impossible to tell who said it.
"Okay, which one of you guys said that?"
"I did."
"No, whoever said that, raise your hand."
"Master Tom, Princess Butterfly had arrived." One of the big horned guards announced as the 'elevator' reached it's destination, popping out from it the guest of honor herself. In awe, Star admired the place she though she would never find herself in again. The same fire, the same shadows, and the same atmosphere of terror that left mental scares for years. "Wow, it's as beautifully gloomy as I remembered."
"Star Butterfly." Tom greeted. His attire was now a white tuxedo with a red bowtie. "Don't you clean up nicely."
Given the standard Demon's live by, she didn't know whether or not she should be offended by that. "Thank you, I guess."
"Here, I got you this." It was a dead, at least that's what she assumed, spider. "It's a hair thing. It goes in your hair, you know, to help you fit in around here." Tom attempted to place it on the giant bun of her hair, only to have Star back away awkwardly.
"Yay, wow, you're sooo sweat Tom, but I kinda have my own thing going own, my own hair and everything, so let's just go have fun now!" She slipped into the main hall.
Tom was once again tempted to erupt in flames. She just ignored what he was trying to do for her, and she didn't care. What was her deal!? She was only here because of him, so if he said she was going to wear a deadly spider in her hair, than she was going to..
"Tom." A gentle shoulder from his anger manager cooled him down. "You can be positive, but your anger is negative." Presenting his bunny, Tom smiled and petted it. With a new wave of confidence, he followed his soon to be once again girlfriend into the main room.
Just one dance. He had to hold it together for one dance and everything will go back to normal. He would be able to be normal.
The phenomenon of the Blood Moon wasn't just for the underworld, for as the night set, the red light of the moon shined as the moon rose higher into the night sky. With Star gone, the options the trio had were a little more limited, and just not the same without the boundless energy she always provided.
Quartz took his time to breathe as Marco told him how he failed to sway Star. It was a lot to know she would be in that place with that guy for an entire night. A huge blow to his head, that was for sure. To take everyone's mind off of the terrible events that had transpired, they took the time to dress themselves in fancy entire and have their own unofficial Blood Moon Ball.
Marco placed the sombrero back on as he wore a black tuxedo with hints of gold at the ends of the coat, as well as round gold shoulder pads. Connie slipped into one of Star's dress that she had left out, a simple ocean blue with bright red shoes, while Quartz wore a black suit with a matching black bow tie.
But despite being the one to suggest it, Marco's participation in tonight's events just extended to him sitting lazily on a lawn chair, stuffing his face with tortilla chips as he slightly tapped his foot and fingers to the whatever tune that played on his radio. More eagerly, Quartz moved in a more upbeat motion, swinging his arms all around while Connie mostly danced in small motions. "That's right, I'll have my own blood moon ball." Marco tried to brag, only to sound more defeated as he kept the chips coming. "In Star's bedroom. Where it's always fun."
"Yeah, who needs the fire pits and rivers of blood?" Quartz asked with a little more sincerity as he led the dance to the outside porch, where the moonlight was shining prominently on them. "We have a perfect view of the moon right here!"
Connie would added something to the cheering, but for a brief moment, her eyes directed her to the light of the Blood Moon. She spent many nights gazing outside before. All alone while everyone else was asleep, it was like the entire sky was hers alone.
But the moon tonight, the Blood Moon, it was a rarity among rarities. A beautiful sea of red washed over the moon's skin. Every glow of white, every hint of gray, was replaced with gleaming crimson that felt mesmerizing the more she looked at it.
"Careful Connie." Quartz voice, like a beautiful song, slowly captured her attention. "You wouldn't want to.." Why was he still talking? Why was she doing nothing? She needed to have him close. "What are.." She placed her hand on his strong arms. Despite the muscle, they felt pretty soft, like a pillow she could sink her head into. "Connie, snap out of it."
SNAP
"What the.." Connie's eye's were caught out of the trance they were in as she shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."
"That's what I was trying to tell you." He didn't seem offended by her actions, so she would just keep that moment to herself and tell no one. "You probably shouldn't stare at the moon to long. They say even a small amount of light has magic."
Marco hardly heard the conversation as he tried to drown out everything from today. Maybe he was just being prideful. He spent way too much time focusing on this anyway. It wasn't like Star and him were dating. Who she dated was her business, just like who he dated was his.
Blood Moon tonight.
Turning his head, he tried to figure where the raspy old voice came from. Quartz was the only one talking but it didn't sound anything like the high bouncy voice the boy had. Maybe focusing on Star's ex was driving him crazier than he thought.
The moon of lovers.
The only place the voice could've come from was the old sailor that hung from Star's wall. But that was only a painting, so how could it be talking to him? Then again, it was on Star's wall, so how could it not talk to him? And exactly what did it mean by the lovers bit? "Hey Quartz, you wouldn't happen to know if the Blood Moon ball has anything weird about it? Like, does it do something to people or anything like that?"
"Oh yeah. I don't know a lot, but the gist of it is that when two people dance under the pure red light of the moon, the two will become bound to each other forever, or something like that." Quartz shrugged. "Honestly, I never thought a would ever see one."
With a long and quiet stare at the little bell, Marco knew what he had to do tonight. "Quartz, I have to get down their right now. I have a bad feeling about what Tom's planning, so I have to get down their as soon as possible." He was prepared to ring the bell, but Quartz took away the hammer before he could.
"Marco, you wouldn't get pass the guard if you went now. Didn't Star warn you about the melting eye thing?" Marco nodded slowly. "Besides, Star said she wanted to do this."
"I know, but this, she could be putting herself in danger and she probably doesn't even know it, which is why you have to come down with me. As her friend, and as her brother, we can't allow that to happen if we know something about it." Quartz paused as he raised his hand to his chin. "Come with me so we can at least warn her before Tom tries anything. She shouldn't go through with it if she doesn't know the whole story. Isn't that fair.?"
"Fine." Quartz handed over the bell. "But we're going to need disguises if we're going to get past Tom. We need to look scary, horrifying, and equally fashionable."
Despite the trio's urgency to get Star out of what they assumed to be near torment, the actual ball turned out to be very, very tame. Like almost abnormally tame, by underworld standards at least. Nobody was trying to kill each other or suck out each other's guts like a straw, or even bludgeon each other with mallets or axes.
Right now, the majority of the couples were impatiently waiting in line to take a photo, the two holding up the line smiling as a strange pink substance was dumped over them. They seemed happy despite this, with most of the demons in line either cheering them or crying tears of joy. "Such a beautiful sight." Spoke the camera man in a whispery voice.
"Star, I cannot tell you how happy I am to be covered in blood with you." Even for Star, that sentence was just way too weird. "But don't worry, it's not real. It's from a unicorn."
"My best friend is a unicorn."
"Well, they're not related."
"I'm not going to bathe in unicorn blood with you, Tom." Star stepped her foot down as Tom reached behind his back as he did what Star could only describe as scratching his rear, but Tom, despite the rudeness thing, wasn't a slob. "What's that hand doing back there?"
"Nothing, nothing! He blocked Star's view as much as he could, but Star manage to peek at what he was doing. His anger manager was ducked way down on the floor, holding the bunny up for Tom to calm his nerves. It didn't seem to work as before as each pet became more and more aggressive.
"Tom, are you getting angry? If you're unhappy here, we can do leave if you want."
Her concerned for him dies tremendously as he snapped back. "No, I'm just, thinking of what to do next!" It sounded like he was being strangled to say that.
"Whatever. You do you, boo. I'm going to get a drink." Tom grinded his teeth as Star left. Star, grumbling at Tom's irritation, was able to put it to the side for a moment as she became distracted by the punch bowl. Aside from the fact it was a bubbling cauldron, a fish's skeleton popped up every once in a while. "Hey Henry!" Most of the guest began staring more and more as she got more excited about the fish than anything else at the Ball so for. "I named him Henry." She explained to any goblin that looked at her funny.
"You!" A high whiney voice shouted from behind. The source was some sort of head creature guy, with a huge head right where his torso and chest should be. "You're Toms date."
Despite knowing this was a date, Star find it a bit weird to be referred to as such. "Ah, I guess I am?"
"Well, I hope you're happy! He made this whole entire ball completely boring! All because he wants to impress you!"
"I wouldn't say it's completely boring." She tried to shrug away the accusation. "Definitely one of the most colorful parties I've been to in a while."
"Oh really, this isn't boring! Groups of attractive people, boring! Cauldrons that don't even melt you're flesh off! What is it, nap time or something!? And to top it all of, it's scattered with random pieces of garbage that don't destroy the universe!" A cockroach comes out of the can he was referring to. "With the stupid bugs that live in it! I've had it, I'm done! Ahhhhh!" Screaming his frustration, he fled the scene, leaving Star a bit speechless.
"Hey, you want to dance?" The bat like creature standing behind the other guy looked a lot less offended, making Star feel just a little more comfortable.
"Nice try, but her dance card is full for tonight." Tom floated right in before Star could give her answer.
"Oh, I see. You think that like, your soul, and like, her soul, will be picked out and go hmmmm." He explained that last part by sliding his fingers in-between each other.
"What is hmmm?" Star imitated as Tom did his best not to answer. Unbeknownst to either, three late comer's snuck in without much notice or commotion, though if anybody pay anymore attention to them, it would've been obvious that they were just three kids in skeleton masks. The most interesting thing about them at all was the pink lion they were riding on.
"Okay, we've got here, so what's the plan?" The main rider, Quartz, looked to the back of his trusty pet, whose masks had a long thin mustache.
Marco struggled to maintain a balance on the animal's fur, slipping on his left side when they reached a full stop. "Was it really necessary to bring him along, especially in a elevator? Cat hair isn't the easiest thing to wash out you know."
"Sorry, but we needed to look as fancy and terrifying as possible, and nothing screams that more than a semi-tame pink lion."
Marco swore the roar that came out of the beast was filled with smug undertones aimed at him. "Just make sure to lay low. Find Star, and try to slip out unnoticed, got it?" Quartz and Connie nodded as Marco tilted his hat down more, shielding him in shadow as he mixed into the crowd.
"So I got to ask, is the Underworld another dimension, or is it legitimately the 'bad place' for all unfortunate souls." Connie asked with fear and excitement overwhelming her. Her palms sweated from both the heat and the thought of eternal punishment.
"Well, I wouldn't call the underworld a bad place." Quartz answered, not catching ono to Connie's fears. "I mean, considering there's no sea's of lava trying to leak from the floor, I say the underworlders clean up nicely for social events."
"No, what I meant was.." Was she thinking to hard on this? Was she even old enough to be asking these kind of questions. "I mean, on Earth, a few people believe in.." She notices all the big horned and red eyed creatures swarming through the place, each one looking more mean as she continued. Horns on heads, eyes, arms, legs. Some were just a head or just a arm. She swore she saw a giant floating baby head somewhere in there. "Whoa." With her increased starring, some of the freakier and bigger guys looked like they were taking offense to it. "Sorry, I don't mean to stare."
"Hey, don't get too freaked out by these guys. They're probably just angry because nothing here can obliterate someone in a blink of an eye. A lot Demons usually can't go an hour without trying to maim someone." Even Quartz felt Connie's sudden chill up the spine as he said that. "Sorry, just blend in and stay close to me, alright?" Once again, the two kids found themselves holding each other in a dance position. It was parties like these that proved to Connie she didn't belong in anything extravagant or special, but having Quartz this close to her began to change her mind.
" Good evening, ladies and gentlebrem." The microphone boomed, catching everyone's attention and turning their heads to a demon with a powdered wig and black robe. "It is my pleasure that I may bequest you now to turn you're head skyward." A smile section of the ceiling sticks out, revealing a small crescent shaped whole in the middle of it. "When the light of the blood moon drobbles down, and selects two lucky souls, binding them together for all eternity, in it's hypnotic, ruby, brodem."
Star, Quartz, and half the people in the room could only stare in awe at how amazing this actually sounded. "Wow, this doesn't sound too bad at all to be honest." Connie spoke as she and Quartz waltzed there way pass the crowds, slipping through the cracks and openings quite easily. "If this finds your soulmate, than how bad can it be?"
"It's bad if Tom thinks he and Star will get it." Quartz explained with a narrow expression. About 5 feet away, he had spotted Tom with Star, standing side by side. He hated to admit it, but they looked, alright together. Star seemed to be perfectly content, and she didn't have any scorch marks or anything on her.
The crowd began huddling close together as the organ played an eerie melody, signaling all the creatures to couple up. The moon's bright red light seeped into the hall, moving itself all around to find that special couple. It truly was a grand sight to see.
Too bad Tom failed to see that. "No, no, no! That's the wrong piece of music!" His muscles tensed up, but he resisted melting the organists face off. "This is going to drive me crazy. Don't go anyway." Star nodded with a bit of a daze in her voice as she wandered off anyway, feeling compelled to move by the organ's harmony. "Listen, I need.."
"What do you need exactly, Tom?" Quartz demanded from behind.
"What the hel.., I mean, Quartz, glad you could make it." His voice was now at his most uneasy. Why did this brat had to show up now? "And Quartz's friend, welcome to the underworld. Not everyday a Prince asks you out, am I right?"
"We're not here to say high, we're here to discuss you're ulterior motives." Connie snapped back with more bluntness than she intended. "We know the blood moon ball is more than just an excuse to dance with Star."
"What? I, I had not idea what you're, I mean, if I've never been insulted before, I.." Tom dropped the act once the two crossed their arms. "To heck with it, guard." The big horned goon that greeted them at the elevator came in from out of nowhere and easily swooped the two into his big meaty hand, somehow not bothering the surrounding guests. "Hello? Remember the deal we had? You would give the chance if I cleaned myself up!"
"I did keep my promise! I even told Star about how you were trying to change!" Quartz wiggled to no avail. "We didn't even do anything yet. All we did was ask you what you were up to."
"Oh. I, ha, this is kind of an overstep then. Really, really should've looked before I leap, right." Crap, there goes impressing the brother in law (yes, he thought that far ahead, don't judge him). "So, you won't just let this go, will you?"
"What do you think?"
"Look, just, just give me this, alright!" He didn't even care about keeping his temper cool anymore. This kid was in his way for the last time. "I admit, the break up was my fault, so isn't it good that I'm trying to fix it? That I've went through all this trouble for counseling, that I haven't even once tried to set your hair on fire, or tortured one soul!? Shouldn't that give me credit?!"
"..You shouldn't be doing that in the first place!" Connie yelled. What could she say? Her first 'date' (was it weird she counted this as a date? Did Quartz count it as a date? Probably not.) inspired some confidence. "There's a difference between being nice and having common sense. I've just met you, but I can tell that you don't have either!"
"Shut it, brat! This dance is my last chance to show her I'm the only one for her! I'm the one she can turn to when things go wrong. I'll be the one, the only one she'll ever.."
"Don't tell her to shut up!" Quartz wanted to throw himself at the teen. "You still can't see how selfish you're being!"
"I'm literally doing this for her, how is that selfish!?"
As the endless back and forth faded into the background unnoticed, Star twirled around the room, starring up at the ceiling. Something about the music made her lose herself. As she wandered around aimlessly, Marco, not so conspicuously, trailed her, whispering her name as he kept himself down. She didn't seem to hear him, and all he was really doing was earning a few weird looks from the other guests. "Star, come on." Running up, he grabbed her arm from behind, and pulled her closer than he expected.
If Star's mind wasn't so lost and relaxed at that moment, she would punched this random guy in the face and called for help. But even so, both teens were unable to do anything else as the music stopped for a brief second, and the entire room went dark, the only light being the full beam of the blood moon, and it's entire red shine reigned over one spot only.
The spot where Star and Marco were standing.
As the music picked up speed, Marco was compelled to continue. For a brief second, he almost forgot why he was here. Pulling her forward, he twirled her around effortlessly, having no intention on stopping now, mostly because the Blood Moon's light seemed to follow them around no matter where they went. It was like two pieces of a puzzle finally came together to complete a beautiful picture.
Star breath was taken away as this handsome, dashing, and somewhat familiar stranger confidently took her hand and swung her around. Every step they made, every pause, every swerve, every twirl was perfect. Her eyes were completely planted on her partner, with every feeling, every thought in her head telling her to never stop this. She would make this moment last forever if she was able to.
Of course, with the Blood Moon being in effect, all the surrounding guests took watch of the spectacle, with every violent tendency, every blood thirsty thought drained from them. Despite the ball being rather lame, this one moment, beautiful, grand, and historical, made it all worth it.
Except for the Demon prince, who's suit began emitting smoke. The fire burned holes as he stomped forward, his intention very clear to his two hostages. "Tom, don't!" Quartz loudly whispered as both Connie and him doubled their efforts to free themselves.
"I got it!" Connie, gulping, leaned her head back and bit right into the guards fist, making him instantly let them go. Not spending the time to celebrate, both kids grabbed on to a piece of Tom that wasn't spewing smoke, slowing him down for the moment.
"Star." Marco lightly tried to get her attention, though she seemed too high on cloud nine to notice it. His voice was so familiar to her too. Just who was this main of mystery? And when was the legal age she could get married?
"How, how did you know my name?" Star managed to say in her dreamy state. It was a miracle that she managed to remember her own name. She was certain of only one thing now. This guy, whoever he was, needed to be in her life. Whoever he was, every moment of her life now, every minute would be dedicated knowing who this guy was. She would forever pledge herself to the man that stole her..
"Star it's me! Marco." The teen lifted his mask for a moment to prove it.
Crap. That'll make things awkward later. "Marco!? What are you doing here?" Why were they still dancing? And why did she want to keep dancing?
"Come on, we need to get out of here. This place is the worst."
"MARCO, WATCH OUT!" Before Marco could turn his head, he was greeted by the angered face of Tom, shoving him hard out of the spotlight, inadvertently making Star back away as well. Behind him was Quartz and Connie, who, after holding on to Tom for so long, lost their footing and got flung forward, pushing Tom out of the way from the whiplash, making Quartz and Connie the only two in the light of the Blood Moon. For a brief second, as the two held hand to help each other up, they froze and just looked at each other, unsure of what they were doing.
That feeling didn't last long as the room went dark again before returning to it's normal light. The Blood Moon was over, and Tom just lost his chance.
"Tom?" The demon didn't know who spoke out, and he didn't care. Suddenly, all breathing stopped, all movement froze, and Tom's eyes glowed a murderous red.
"That, that dance, WAS MEANT, FOR ME!" Tom exploded with rage, lighting up every section of the hall, block all exits with his hellfire. The guests that complained before were now whimpering in the corner, afraid of earning the Prince's wrath. "You took away what was MINE!" Marco could only crawl away, too weak and too afraid to stand up as Tom moved closer. Brian ran towards him to calm him down, but he was quickly shoved away. The time for calm was over. Now someone needed to burn.
SHING. "Tom, you got to stop now!" Quartz immediately jumped into the fray and shielded Marco. "If you're going to fry him, you'll have to fry me too!"
An evil grin killed any confidence the kid had. "I'm good with that!" Raising himself high above, he flooded his flames on the floor, preparing to engulf the two in the blaze. Yes, this would be the end to all his troubles! All he needed to do was destroy them, and he'll finally be free to...
He didn't even get the change to lunge at them as he was completely encased in a block of ice from Star's wand, leaving the demon prince frozen in his angry terror. Unimpressed, Star blasted Tom one more time, turning his '50 days' pin to a 0. "Come one guys, lets go." She didn't bother looking back at her 'saviors'.
The other three hardly complained as they jumped into the elevator with her, though the ride back up was a little more quiet then they would've liked. Star's face remained frustrated, except for the few moments where she would pet Lion's mane. Quartz, Marco, and Connie felt as if they shouldn't say anything else, knowing how awkward the last few minutes have already been. More specifically, what was with that dance? Why didn't they just flee when Marco grabbed her? Was it hypnotism or something like that.
That question had no real answer, and for the while at least, they didn't really care to answer it. As soon as the elevator reached Star's room, she took off her white boots and hopped out, leaving Marco behind to squeeze his way pass Lion, while Quartz and Connie pushed against the wall as hard as they could. "So infuriating."
Marco couldn't help but agree. "Well I hate to say it, but I did try to warn you about Tom."
"No, you, you're infuriating!" Star clarified. There was a brief silence so quiet that the two heard the other three occupants 'pop' out of the elevator, listening very intently. "I know you dragged them down there tonight, so yeah, I mad at you."
"Well, yeah I did." This wasn't the thanks he was expecting. "But I was only trying to help."
"You don't trust me to do things by myself." She accused. "That's kind of the whole reason why I'm on earth to begin with. I'm 14. I've fallen from mountains, tangled with snakes, I can handle a demon." The silence returned again, making the other three guilty while the lion just slept, content with what he had done today. Quartz didn't say anything else, other than looking up at his sister a bit solemnly. Star placed an arm around him and brought him in close. "I know you guys are just trying to look out for me, but I need to be able to figure stuff on my own. I don't need a hero. I need a friend."
Marco gasped in realization, but said nothing. There really was nothing to be said after that. He had gone with Star on countless escapades. They were fun, exciting, exhalating, dangerous, and filled his need for action in life. But the one thing he always saw was the recklessness that always seemed to follow. Tonight, he only chose to see that recklessness, almost like how Tom saw Star as something that belonged to him. Throwing off the masks, he leaned on the edge while facing away from his best friend. "I'm sorry. I, I should've trusted you."
"And, and I'm sorry things didn't work with Tom." Quartz's apology was something Star honestly didn't expect, not that he really had anything to apologize for.
"It's alright. At least I know for sure I was right to break up with him." Star patted his head before shrugging. "Besides, I wouldn't call tonight a total disaster." Grabbing Marco's hat, she placed it on her own head. "Now I know that you can dance."
Both chuckled at the same time, mostly because Marco's hair was now a complete mess. "Ha, hat hair." Both of them spoke at the same time. "Wow, we both said.." Their scary synchronization was starting to get a little freaky. "..the same thing! Stop that!" Both of them covered their mouths to prevent them from saying anything else. Star, on reflex, pointed her wand at him for extra reassurance.
Not even 10 seconds passed before all four of them erupted with laughter. "Ha, cool" This time, Connie and Steven spoke in unison, only adding to the laughter that the kids so desperately needed.
"Now that's new." Star laughed it off as she finally calmed down. "Now go make me some nachos!" The princess demanded, and Marco willingly complied, leading her to the kitchen.
"Haha, so should I starting preparing the wedding now, or should I give them some time?" Quartz turned his attention back to Connie, who's eyes really glowed under the blood moon's light. He wondered if anyone else ever noticed that.
"Hm, nah, give it a minute to rest. I've read enough books to know how messing ships can be." Connie leaned against Lion like he was a bed. "Man, is it that late? I should probably head home now before Mom blows her top off."
"Hm, tell me about it. Lion can get you there on time, hop on, milady." Quartz insisted as he jumped on Lion himself, holding out his hand for her.
Seeing no reason to object, Connie took his hand. Within seconds, Quartz and Connie rode into the night. The girl unknowingly held onto Quartz tightly, feeling safe and secure with him by her side. She closed her eyes resting in the soft glow of the Blood Moon, which seemed to shine more brightly on them then anywhere else.
Original Chapter next time. See what happens when Quartz takes his own trip around the universe.