Chrysalis


The house was dim and silent. With just a simple stare, Marco and Jackie felt like no one else existed. Their eyes were locked on each other's. Marco's words of love dazing Jackie as her body demanded an explanation. Marco himself was still unsure if this was actually happening. He had let his secret feelings for Jackie out, not even knowing that she was only about two meters away.

It felt like they stood there for minutes as neither said a word. Marco was at the bottom of the stairs as his right hand was clenched tightly to the railing. Jackie was halfway up, looking down towards Marco with her fist held to her chest. They both knew they couldn't wait forever, something had to be done. Their hearts' were beating faster and faster as they simultaneously gather the strength to speak.

"Marco.." Janna rips his attention away from Jackie. He looks at her and sees her looking past him. "Who is that?.." She points and Marco follows her line of sight to see a hunched over silhouette in the darkness. It looked like a child hugging their knees on the floor near the living room couch. The sight made Marco's heart skip a beat.

"What.." Marco stepped in front of Janna and put his arm out to protect her. He had no idea what to think. Someone had somehow broken into his house. Maybe it was someone like Star? He shouldn't be scared. It was clearly a small child no older than ten. Does he approach it cautiously? Does he try to call out to it softly? Jackie walks down the steps and approaches Marco from behind to see what they were looking at.

"Wait.." Jackie said. "..what's she saying?" The group listened closely and did hear a light whispering coming from the child. It was difficult to make out.

"Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop."

"Hey!" Janna shouts at the child, shocking her two friends. She pushes Marco's arm out of the way and tries to walk to the silhouette.

"Janna, stop!.." Marco grabs her shoulder and arm to stop her, and immediately has his grip angrily pushed off. She looks back at him with teary eyes.

"What do you care?!" Her scorn hit Marco's chest. He knew what he said was blunt but he had never made her cry before. Janna approached the shadow with aggression. "You can't just come in here, kid!" She reaches her hand out to grab the back of the child's collar.


A loud ear-piercing wail is heard from downstairs as Star's innocent dreams are interrupted. Her eyes shoot open and she sits up before rubbing them. She looks around the bed to see her two female friends gone.

Downstairs, Janna was on her bottom in shock from the inhuman scream that had just invaded her senses. The child revealed it's face to the three, terrifying them. It had no nose, empty void circles for its eyes and mouth, and long dark hair that seemed to flow around as if it were in water. All while a darkness enveloped it like it was layer of extra skin.

Janna, Marco, and Jackie couldn't believe what they were seeing. This creature didn't even seem like it was of this world or even reality but there it was, staring back at them. The shadow quickly stood up to the height of a young child and Janna backed away. She fearfully stood up and hooked onto Marco's arm. Jackie apprehensively stayed behind him and looked over his shoulder. The three of them watched this being, now in their fight or flight stance.

"Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop."

"M-Marco, what the fuck is that?!" Janna cried. "What's wrong with her?!"

"I don't—!.. I don't know!" He responded nervously. Before they can do anything else, the figure began to slowly shape shift. Its back and spine were getting taller, its arms and legs grew longer, its face expanded in width and height, and the hair of it grew longer and thicker. It towered above the three teenagers now. They looked up at it, completely stiff as its empty eyes stared into their beings.

"What.. do we do?" Jackie asked with a shaky voice as she shivered.

"Run." Marco said silently. The two girls were scared but they knew they couldn't just stand there. "Run!" The group turned and bolted toward the stairs. Jackie was the first to climb up, followed by Janna. Before Marco could ascend above the second step, a large blackened appendage grabs a hold of his right ankle, tripping him onto the steps. Marco's eyes widen in a panic as he tries his best to grip onto whatever he can to stop himself from being pulled. Janna and Jackie look back and see the danger he was in.

"Marco!" They call out before moving back down. They grab onto his left arm and try to pull him up. Marco looks back toward his ankle to see the creature's face inching closer to his. He screams and puts his right hand on it's face to push it away. It was working at first but as he quickly noticed, his hand started to sink into it as if it were a thick sludge.

"G-Get off!" Marco shouted as he tried pulling his hand out to no avail. His hand just sank deeper and deeper, now reaching his wrist, then his forearm. The girls tugging at his other arm couldn't even budge him toward them. Janna realized that Marco's arm was beginning to sink at his elbow. She knew at this rate, things would only get worse if they didn't try something else. Her mind raced before she released her grip on Marco.

"Don't let him go!" She commanded Jackie before releasing her clutch and dashing past the monster and into the kitchen.

"Janna!" Jackie screamed in a plea. After a couple seconds of being in the kitchen, Janna approaches the monster from behind. She raises large kitchen knife above her head and stabs it into the back of the shadow. To her despair, it had no reaction. Marco was still being devoured, now to his bicep.

"Dammit!" She screams in anguish. "Just fucking die!" In a rage she stabs the creature over and over, desperately trying to get it off of Marco. It was hopeless. It did nothing. It was like stabbing a lifeless object, there was no reaction, not even blood. "Marco, I'm sorry!.." Her tears begin to form and trail down her face. Marco, now with his shoulder inside the monster, looks at Janna in sorrow. The world felt so dark to them in that moment but as if a prayer had been answered, a beam of blinding light engulfs the monster.


Star stumbled out of the guest room and heard screaming downstairs. She walked toward the flight to see her friends struggling against a creature. This creature of shadow lit a fire within her. Her eyes and heart marks glowed and her hair began to move around as if the gravity it had disappeared. The dress shirt she wore began to flow the same way. Instinctively, Star puts her hands forward. A small light emitted in front of her palms. It grows and illuminates greatly before shooting forward a stunning beam of light at the monster.

The creature lets go of Marco's arm and reels back. The light that Star casted made the monster sizzle where it was struck. It crawls backward, pushing Janna aside and leaving distance between it and the struggling trio. Janna dashes to Marco before she and everyone downstairs, including the shadow, looks up the flight to see Star's fervency. She almost looked like a different girl the way she stood with such integrity and resolve.

"Star?.." Jackie called out, unsure of what to think. Star jumps on the stairs' railing, sliding down it on her bottom. She approaches the monster, unflinchingly.

"Star, no!" Marco strains to get up and tries to go after Star but a wind pushes him back onto the stairs with the other two. She spreads her arms out, straightens her back, and keeps her legs tightly together with one foot in front of the other. The group is pushed against their surroundings as Star's power grows. Her body begins to glow in bright white, gradually becoming a silhouette of light. A puddle of the same light spreads from her feet, expanding until it blankets the entire floor with a blinding sheet of brilliance.

"What the hell is going on?!" Jackie screams out in turmoil. The monster was trying its best to avoid the floor by climbing onto the couch, as it seemed the light was burning it again. Star's friends were lucky enough to be on the slightly higher ground of the stairs. The monster regained composure and was prepping an attack at Star but a massive shape began to form from the surface of the light. It began to take the shape of something familiar to the group.

"An elephant?!" They all shout together. The elephant trumpets proudly before charging the shadow. The shadow tries to jump away onto another piece of furniture but the elephant was too quick. It grabs the monster by its leg and slams it on the bright floor, grinding it against the surface and making liquid-like splashes of light cascade the room. The elephant gives the creature a final slam before standing on it's hind legs and using all of it's weight to crush the creature into a dark explosion. With a final blow of it's trunk, the elephant releases a bright liquid and disappears along with the floor of light.

Star returns to her normal lighting and her hair drapes over her again. Her friends were on the floor, astounded and mute. All that was left of the fantasy they just escaped was a single floating dark orb. It began to move toward Star who immediately rose her arms to blast it into a light. Nothing happened. To her appall Star couldn't use the power she just used and the orb of darkness touches her.


Star looks down at her hands and sees the familiar light that her power can conjure. She turns to her left and sees a little girl with long brown hair, green eyes, a small red dress worthy enough for a young princess, and a silver tiara to top it off. They sat together in a large courtyard with well kept grass, sculpted bushes, a fountain with statues, oak trees, and flowerbeds.

"That's so pretty!" The little princess said with an innocent smile. Star proudly looked back down at her light with shimmering eyes.

"Uh-huh!" She replied. "My mom said not even her light was this big when she was eight." Star focuses and dims the light to nothingness and giggles. "I'm so excited to get bigger! My light is gonna be so cool!"

"Show me again! Show me again!" Her friend begs with little hops.

"Okay!" Star happily complies and the light between her hands grows. The other girl is entranced by the light and can't help but touch it.

"Ow!" She recoils and shakes her hand before sucking on her burnt finger. "Owww.." Star gasps and quickly dims her light.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that it's really hot!" She comforts her friend with her arms. The little brunette girl takes her finger out of her mouth and shakes her head.

"It's okay." She smiles. "It was just so pretty." The two laugh, indulging in this comforting and fun time between two friends.

"Star." An older female voice grabs the attention of the two young girls. A few meters away, an elegant and strong looking woman in a queenly blue dress approaches them. She had long platinum hair braided intricately into a bun with a gold crown gemmed with many precious stones resting on the top of her head. Her cheeks had diamond-shaped marks similar to Star's heart-shaped ones.

"Hello, mother.." Star's attitude changes to one more subdued.

"Your recess is almost over. Say your goodbyes and return to your study soon." She tells her daughter sternly but not coldly. Star's face slumps.

"Yes, motherrr.." She responds in a whine.

"Now, now.." Her mother smiles and kneels to flip Star's hair behind her ear. "A girl with power like your's has the potential to lead our kingdom to perfection. The power to defeat the enemies that have plagued us for generations.. You must harness it so that you may become the greatest of our queens to ever live." She stands up straight and begins to walk away. "Don't take too long." The two girls remain quiet until Star's mother was out of sight.

"Your mom is scary." The brunette girl tells her in a whisper.

"Mmm.. She can be." Star replies with a smile. "Sometimes she can be a little silly though. Like my dad!" They share a brief laugh before Star decides it was time for her departure. "Okay.." She sighs and stands up. "I have to go." She tells her friend in a somber tone. Her friend stands up as well.

"Wait! Show me your light again!" She tells Star. "Please?"

"Okay. Really fast!" Star prepares for her action.

"As bright as you can, okay?" She commands with a toothy grin. "Make it big!" Star gets excited and laughs.

"Ready!"


Jackie had Star in her arms after the black orb that had touched her made her fall to the floor. Marco and Janna were on their knees to the side of them, worried about the blonde girl.

"She.. She's not dead, is she?" Jackie questioned, still in shock from what happened. Janna put her ear up to Star's chest and listened. After a couple moments, she sits back up and shakes her head with a sigh of relief.

"No.. She's breathing. I guess she passed out." Janna informed them with a soft voice. Jackie holds Star tighter.

"She scared the hell out of me.." She said in solace, then easing her hold. "Just who is she? She stopped that thing like it was nothing.."

"I don't know." Marco gave his answer. "She's clearly not from around here though." He added with a smirk and chuckle. The two girls looked at him with worry. He was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, and noticeably winced often as if in pain. Janna reached her hand out to Marco's right arm.

"Marco.."

"Don't!" Marco shouted and pulled his arm away from Janna, scaring the two girls. "I don't.. I don't know what would happen if you touched it.." Marco's arm was a deep shade of black. As if the color had been sucked out and what was left was an empty husk of his arm. His fingers were firmly curled inward and a dark purple hue was running through his veins. His pajama sleeve was gone up to his bicep but the small bit above it looked like it had decayed, as if it had been aged way past it's expiration.

"Does.. it hurt?.." Janna asked him gently.

"J-Just a little." He stuttered making it seem like he was lying. "I can't move it though.. I wonder if it's broken.." He gave another chuckle. Jackie and Janna looked at each other, both at a loss for words.

"Should we go to a hospital?" Jackie asked.

"If we explained all this to an adult, they won't believe us." Marco answered. "They might even take Star..." Janna wanted to say something and it took her a moment to work up the nerve to let it out.

"Maybe they sh-"

"Prim.." Everyone looked at Star who had just muttered something. "Prim. I'm sorry.. I can't.. stop it.."

"Star!" Marco grabs her arm. "Star! Can you hear me?" Star tosses and turns, giving no sign of responding.

"Prim.." She muttered as a tear travels down her cheek.

"Looks like she's having a nightmare.." Jackie stated. "Prim must be somebody she knows."

"It sounds really bad." Marco adds, letting go of Star. "What could've happened?" The group didn't know what to do but wait. Once Star wakes up, things would be clearer but for now, they're as lost as can be.

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Hrmmm.. What could this lead to?!

Thank you for reading, my beautiful fucking jewel!

Keep an eye out for the new chapter. The baby Star is growing!

Okay, I'm leaving.

Byyyyyye!