Vestiges
It's been a while.
12.
Hekapoo took the map from Marco's outstretched hand and unfurled it over a cleared table. "So you actually found it, huh? I thought you lost it."
"Yeah, well… I found it," Marco said lamely, hoping that she wouldn't ask him to explain how. The last thing he wanted right now was to explain to her how he had assaulted the princess.
"Hmm…" She gazed at him a little longer, noting how he'd become a bit uncomfortable. It was suspicious but she decided not to press the issue. By the time she looked down, however, she realized that she was looking at a printed copy of the map, and not the original thing-… all bets were off. "Alright…. Okay… why the hell did you give me a copy? I thought you got the real thing!"
"Look… I couldn't really move the real one from where it was, so I got a copy. It's the same thing, isn't it?"
Hekapoo bristled in growing anger. "That map was a confidential document for you and the princess! Only the two of you knew about it...! Makes me wonder what the hell you could've done just so that you could only make a copy. What did you do to Star?"
"I put her to sleep," he said blankly. "Then I made a copy of the map so one would know that I stole it."
"…The fuck?" Higgs was in shock from hearing about something like this for the first time, "the princess is dead?!" Even now, Hekapoo was already reaching for her own weaponized scissors, something that Marco noticed. Feeling anxious that he'd have to fight her, Marco explained that he meant what he said literally. It took a bit longer to sort that mess out… Hekapoo was a hot-head, after all, Marco thought with a sigh.
"A'right, eyes and ears only. I didn't mean for anyone else besides me to use the map, so it's got no key and no labeling. And before you start bitching about how it looks like gibberish, it kinda is… I tend to use shorthand a lot."
"Huh…. Hekapoo's lazy… I learned something today…" Marco mumbled under his breath. Feeling a hot glare for his social misstep, he recalled that she'd told him to listen and not to speak. "Sorry, Hekapoo." It didn't help matters when he heard Higgs imitated the whiplash sound, making him blush a bit to himself. 'Damn it, I'm NOT whipped…"
Hekapoo's glare lessened. "Right. Anyway, when I think about the multiverse, think of the dimensions stacking on top of one another, metaphysical plains that stack one over the next, then another, then another, then another. I can look at this flat two-dimensional map and understand it, but maybe a three-dimensional map might be more your type-"
"Nope… just keep explaining."
"Fine. Star was portaling each time through the same locations, trying to get to the final target… all of these arrows are just attempts… or she was touched in the head, 'cause she kept getting sidetracked into going to the Goblin Dawg truck. She eventually got to the spot that I guessed she was trying to get to, and that's how I tracked her. I tracked her to here." She traced her finger along an arrow and pointed at a circle which represented the portal.
"But that was just one portal along the way," Marco argued. "She was traveling to a specific place way farther than that."
"I was getting to that. She kept portaling after I distinctly remember you telling me that the both of you would handle her problem..."
"Touchy," Marco grumbled when he head her backhanded insult.
"In the end, she started opening a bunch of portals. I started to close them on my own, but after a while, they started to get into a set of multiverses I like to call 'No Man's Land'. Nasty set of dimensions that are full of unnatural creatures, nastier than that flying squid-thing you punched in the eye, and ten times more resilient and violent. Portals don't stay open there for even more than a few seconds out there, and that's if they open up at all."
"That sounds like security," Higgs remarked. "As if someone doesn't want anyone and everyone to open portals out there. But it sounds like it's supposed to keep you out too?"
"That's not what she meant," Marco said to Higgs before he turned to Hekapoo. "She meant that the trail went cold because Star's portals closed off on their own while she was passing through there. Do you at least remember how you got to the last few portals?"
Hekapoo shrugged. "Not really. I didn't call to mind that it'd be important later. Besides, I already know how to get to No Man's Land, so does it matter?"
"It does. We need a specific route of portals to get to the siphon. Maybe that's why Star had so little trouble, and you still had some problems."
"If I had to say, it wasn't exactly a specific route-… Star was merely going through all the dimensions in a linear order. Furthermore, Star can fly, so you can't blame me for having problems. In No Man's Land, the ground itself isn't actually that easy to walk on, and that's when it even exists. Everything's warped as hell. Physics doesn't apply, logic doesn't follow and law is lawless. Ten dimensions comprise No Man's Land, and each one gets worse than the last as you keep going higher. If I had to describe No Man's Land… obviously, I'd say that no one is supposed to be there or GO there. Maybe it's ANOTHER incentive to your ever-growing list of reasons to go back home."
Marco shook his head fervently. "No. Hell no, in fact. I'm going to deal with that Wellspring, Hekapoo!" Just like that, however, she remembered who she was talking to, and what his aims were. With nary another word, she walked away from him in a beeline-…hardly had she made it through the door, he was close at her heels. Sienna watched the both of them out of concern and worry, but she soon dismissed them, figuring that there were only a few differences to settle between them.
"It's not as if they're embroiled in any drama or anything," she commented lowly before she picked up the sandwich that she had pilfered from Hekapoo's refrigerator. Taking a bite and chewing it, she had to spit it out as soon as a fiery taste hit her tongue. "Damn! What the hell is that, a friggin' pepper sandwich?!" Lifting one slice of bread off of the sandwich, she stared in incredulity as she saw that the only thing between the slices was sliced peppers which were lavished in hot sauce. "Does she have a pepper fetish or something? Geez!"
…
Marco, (for reasons he still didn't know), had followed after Hekapoo, even through a portal that she had opened up to a tavern. He saw himself revert to his teen form, but he didn't dwell on that. Instead, he merely closed the portal behind him with his own scissors and went inside the tavern. It was only on the inside that he recognized it as the same establishment that he used to frequent with Hekapoo after successfully closing Star's portals.
The demigoddess herself sat up at the bar counter, and he approached her to take a seat by her side. The barkeeper took their orders, and while he was fulfilling it, Hekapoo turned her head slowly to look at the teen. "Aren't you a little strapped for time? I figured that you're always running late for something… somewhere else."
Marco ignored the underhanded suggestion for him to leave her alone, recalling that he used to be hard-pressed for time during their associations. "Nah, not right now. I've got some time. Been a while since we hung out, huh?"
"…"
"Awkward silence… good stuff…" Marco muttered. They remained silent and soon after, the barkeeper came and placed their orders down. Remarkably, it was the exact same order that was reminiscent of the last one they had shared the night before Hekapoo had confronted Marco about Star's nightly escapades. They began to indulge in their victuals-… one of ice cream and the other of an alcoholic volcanic brew-… before they realized that they hated the quiet.
"What did I do to piss you off this time?" Marco said at last.
"It's not what you did, Muscles. It's what you're going to do."
"You mean the Wellspring, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ah. I know that this is still bumming you out, about me trying to break some fantastic aspect of your heritage and beliefs, but I guess that I'll find some way to make sure you don't suffer any backlash. That NO one suffers any backlash."
"Says the guy that declared war on the Magic High Commission," the demigoddess stated with a deepening frown. "Make up your mind."
"Oh, but I have. What I'm saying is that I don't want any bloodshed after I do what I need to. But the road to get there will probably get crimson because of anyone standing in my way."
Hekapoo took a swig of her brew, barely allowing herself to relish the alcohol in it, no matter how much she really wanted to. "You're willing to kill people to get there?"
There was no hesitation forthcoming with his answer. "I am very willing. I've already been set back too much."
"What if I stood in your way?" Hekapoo asked quietly. Instead, this time, he had no response and she took it into careful consideration. "I'm not gonna lie, Marco. I like you. You're the first human that isn't like a human. You're abnormal."
"I'm not normal…? I'll take that as a compliment…?" he said unsurely. "I like you too, Hekapoo. A real shame that we might have to fight soon."
"Yeah, a real fuckin' shame." By now, the awkwardness had fled as a weird sort of camaraderie and bond formed between them both. Each knew not the extent of the feelings they had for one another, and furthermore, they themselves did not know. But if one thing was certain, it was that they clearly had no wishes of fighting one another when the time came, yet, they knew that it'd happen sooner or later. Each stood in the way of the other, and the choice was to either stand aside out of the other's way, join each other, or to have conflict.
Hekapoo knew fear. She knew fear when she'd been produced. She knew fear when she fought her first transgressor of dimensional traveling. She knew fear when Toffee and his armies were assaulting Mewni. Yet again, she could feel its pang as she realized that the lad beside her had accumulated a great store of strength, and despite his appearance, presented a legitimate threat to the M.H.C. and anyone who supported them. While she wasn't of the belief that he could conquer them, she was actually afraid that he'd perish.
"I'm not immortal, Marco, but I've lived for a long time."
"My mom said that I should never talk to a woman about her age."
Hekapoo chuckled in good humor. "You're smart for taking her advice. But that's not the point. I've spent a long time alone until people start to pop up all over the dimensions, and even longer before they started even becoming worth a damn. A few stood out over the years, but their lifespans are like a momentary breath to me."
"What're you getting at?"
"All of us are going to die someday, and we're the lucky ones. We… more specifically, you, shouldn't be trying to shorten our own lives by taking on suicidal quests with zero future and gain, especially when there are other beings that probably never even had a chance to even be born."
"That sounds kinda hypocritical, considering your challenge."
"Having dimensional scissors is a VERY high privilege, Marco. But I hope you understand what I'm saying." The demigoddess said into her glass as she began to drink it again. Yet in that same vein, there was another underlying message, one that she herself was all too aware of-… the realization that she didn't want to bond too closely with Marco mainly because of the difference of their lifespans, instead of their responsibilities.
He didn't know this, of course.
"I'm not gonna stop. Even still, I'm glad to know that you care. But… small question… do you like me just because of the muscles?" he asked mischievously.
"I'm not shallow. Anyway, I don't want you coming around to my place anymore, not unless you're turning yourself in."
"That means no more help either, am I right?" Marco asked tentatively. Seeing her shake her head, he looked down in disappointment. "I see." He then turned to the barkeeper to pay for their orders and asked him for the cost.
"Lemme see… the ice cream's for one 'yarm', and the liquor fire goes for forty 'w'. You from Earth? Right, right… I guess after converting the currency, that'll turn up to be six hundred and forty-nine dollars."
"Un-freaking-believable." Marco paid the man all the money he carried on him before telling him to keep the change. With a small laugh, the barkeeper told him that he didn't even have change that small anyway. "Later, H-poo."
Unexpectedly, she didn't rile at the nickname, but she took it in stride. "You get THAT for free. But I'm back on the clock now, and I'm a member of the M.H.C."
He understood.
"You've getting a headstart. You'd better not be here when I turn around." Facing away from him, she then proceeded to drain her glass while counting the seconds slowly in her head. A minute later, however, she turned around to see that he was long gone, and she allowed her small smile to grow. "Nah… I get that for free… although I shouldn't get attached… You'll be lost in the centuries like everyone else. I'll be left alone again with only the memories…" Hekapoo's demeanor became crestfallen. "We're better off not getting closer, right? Not just for your sake, but also for mine…"
The longer and longer she lived, the more she disliked of having to live so long. The people worth getting to know only ended up in her past, and the last thing she wanted was to have yet another person added to the emotional maelstrom.
"Oh geez. I'm already too attached, aren't I?"
…
"…" Marco watched as Higgs sat forlornly around the table with a half-drunk glass of water in her hands. "I didn't find you at Hekapoo's place, but surprise-surprise, you're back at the inn. What's the matter with you? Is it that time of the month?"
Sienna glared daggers at him. "I bit into a frickin' sandwich made with peppers, that's what."
"Sorry I asked. Although I thought you'd know better than eat anything at Hekapoo's place. She loves the spice of life if you know what I mean. Anyway, we'd better get going. She can't really help us, at least, not anymore."
"Can't… or won't?"
"Both."
Higgs fumed silently to herself. "Back at square one? Was this just a waste of time?"
Marco shook his head. "This wasn't a waste of time. We found out the direction we're going. I've been doing some thinking, and I think I know where to go. Makes a bizarre amount of sense, now that I think about it. The multiverse, just like Hekapoo said, is a stack. Think of it like a pyramid. We're close to the bottom… you can think of Hell as the lowest foundation. It always has been, after all. But the Wellspring is at the very top. The reason No Man's Land is messed up is probably because of the Wellspring's influence on it… it's most likely the section of the multiverse that's the closest to it, just below the top."
"Go on," Sienna urged.
"The reason we can't teleport right straight to the Wellspring or its entrance portal is because No Man's Land is causing too much interference… that, or some other unknown reason, but I'm sticking to my theory."
"So what? We climb the ladder of the multiverse?" Sienna asked.
"It's still not that easy. We need a frickin' picture or mental image of each dimension in turn to actually be able to go up to the Wellspring; that's the general rule about using dimensional scissors. You're only able to go where you've been, or where you can see. But the reason Star got there so easily is because she was flying above the chaos, and she was probably following some hard-wired mental compass or something."
"And we're shit out of luck, 'cause we don't have that. What's our next move?"
Marco paused a while as if listening to his inner tenant. "Appendaxuz is telling me to go have a word with Eclipsa about No Man's Land. He said something about her having experience with magic there."
Sienna sighed deeply. "Fine then, if it gets us any closer." Her mood was a bit low, but upon recollecting her next engagement, she allowed herself a smile. Marco soon noticed and queried as to why. "As of tomorrow, I'm not going to be a squire anymore."
"I thought you couldn't quit."
"I can't, but it's not that I'm quitting being a squire. Tomorrow, I'm getting knighted!"
This was big news, and he told her. "Wow! I'm happy for you… despite the fact that you're now really my enemy…"
"Yeah-yeah-yeah. It's just a ceremony, and it's not like I'm going to take it that seriously. But still, I want you to come. Supporting me and all that junk."
"Isn't something like that exclusive? And extremely guarded?" To this, Higgs could only shrug. Marco took this as a sign that she didn't know, but he made up his mind nonetheless. "Alright, I'll come support you… although this is a terrible risk."
"Thanks, Marco. I'm grateful. We can go celebrate afterwards, right?"
"Sure." He watched her remove her scissors and prepared to open a portal back to Mewni. Looking her over, he realized that he wasn't just looking at her, but in fact foreseeing the woman that she'd become. She'd already grown, and although she looked like a teen now, he would still know that she'd come a long way. "You've grown, Higgs…" he said quietly.
"…" She held his gaze for a moment, pondering what he meant. "You mean physically? Since we're technically adults right now?"
"No. I mean in the things that count."
"Marco, that's so damn sappy… but thanks. Maybe I'll let you hold them when we're married."
"I'm not talking about your breasts!" In answer, Sienna playfully punched his shoulder and shook her head, although she had expected a better reaction from him. A return tease, perhaps? Something to clue her in as to how he felt about her as well.
"Man, you're so easy to mess with. I know what you meant. Now let's go see Eclipsa-" Before she could open the portal, however, Marco caught hold of her hand.
"Wait… I gotta know something first. How far are you willing to follow me in doing all of this? We'll probably end up bloodying our hands from killing knights and squires… your peers-"
"It's a lot to ask for, I know." Higgs looked down, trying to consider whether or not she'd be all right with killing the people she rubbed shoulders with on a near-regular basis. But after considering why she shouldn't… she couldn't think of any reason to spare them, especially if they antagonized her crush. This was something she worried a bit about, but it wasn't the first time she'd killed someone; she was far from being a saint, particularly during the times she'd undergone Hekapoo's challenge, and had been a sword-for-Hire (a nice way to say 'mercenary') when she needed resources. Coupled that with the fact that she'd spent years outside of her dimension, she'd become estranged from the people she used to know.
But could she still hurt them? Kill them?
"Higgs? If you're not going to get into the nitty-gritty, I'd understand. They must be your friends and all-"
"They're not my friends," Sienna said plainly. "At best, we're only colleagues because we work in the castle. I've got no problems following you and fighting for your cause… to prevent an extensive dimensional apocalypse… I only need you to promise me that this isn't a wild goose chase, and this won't end in some dead end. Because if it does, then it'll have been all for nothing."
Marco paused for a while, listening to his internal tenant speak. "Appendaxuz gives his word that this is a good cause-"
"I want to hear it from you, Marco!" Sienna said sternly. She kept her glare up, and for the first time, Marco was reminded that the girl hadn't always been his friend-… she could be stone-cold, vindictive and severe whenever she had to, and he could only give her one answer.
She wanted only one answer.
"I'm not going to promise. I'm not going to swear. I'm not going to give you my word. Instead, I can only say 'WILL'. I WILL destroy the Wellspring, and with your help, it'll be easier. I WILL ensure the safety of the dimensions. This can end in regret, but by any means necessary, it WILL be worth it." He lapsed silent after this declaration and remained quiet as he held Sienna's gaze. Soon, her harsh expression relaxed into the smile he'd grown accustomed to-... he'd never even realized that he'd appreciated it that much. 'Pretty,' he thought to himself.
"That's all right. If you will, then that's good enough for me." She opened up the portal through which they stepped through, but to their surprise, it was into the pouring rain. The clothes they were in was of no help in making them water resistant; in fact, the black seamless robes that Marco wore only logged the water, and overall increased in weight. Higgs faired off better as she was only in her tunic. "What…? Rain? I thought I opened up a portal in the hallway leading to Eclipsa's room."
Marco observed his surroundings. Looking around, he gathered that they were in some sort of rose-garden, and Eclipsa's tower was only a little distance away. The only problem was that there were guards still standing here and there, and it was only due to the fact that he and Higgs were crouching behind a small bush that they hadn't been noticed yet. "They must have a ward set up in her tower, or close by to it; it must have detoured us! Teleport us to your room, and we'll just navigate through the castle from there to get to Eclipsa the long way."
"Sounds good enough. But why my room, nerd? Tryin' to seduce me?"
"Maybe later, Sienna." To this, the girl's eyes widened, making Marco grin.
"You countered it?"
"I gotta learn how to play the game at some point."
"Star? Star?! Wake up!"
Blue eyes opened slowly and with a groggy yawn, Star tried to muster the strength to get out of bed. Her head ached terribly, but as memories of the previous night came streaking through her mind, she shot up out of her bed, grabbed her wand from off of her nightstand and raising it to aim at her aggressor. But instead of thinking it to be Marco, it turned out that it was her own mother who had been trying to rouse her from her sleep. "Mom?! What… where's Marco?"
"Marco? The boy from the Earth dimension?" The queen who stood beside her daughter raised her eyebrows in confusion. "What's this about?"
That's right. She hadn't told her mother about Marco and her stresses concerning him, not yet at least for fear of showing herself to be of unsound mind. Now, though, she was running out of options and she was sure that she couldn't keep it to herself any longer. Marco had entered her room last night and had assaulted her-... it was irrefutable at this point. It was no fallacy. It was no hallucination. Marco was here on Mewni, and he was clearly against her. "Marco was here in my room last night… no… not only that… he's been here on Mewni for the past week at least! He choked me unconscious!"
"Star, that's preposterous. And you should be mindful of speaking like that. For starters, it's impossible for Marco to return because he's without any means of inter-dimensional travel. Secondly, you shouldn't make up wild stories just to excuse the fact that you're over three hours late for your royalty training. We've spoken about your habits of oversleeping-"
"No, no, no! I'm serious!" As quickly as she could, she brought her mother up to speed by explaining that she'd been seeing Marco about here and there inside the castle, almost as if he was stalking her. Only last night, she'd been taken by surprise and taken into submission that he'd done all of that in an effort for her to make an attempt to spy on him. At the end of it all, despite her hopes that her mother would believe her, it'd gone for naught.
"So you're saying… that despite the impossibilities stacked against Marco's potential return… he led you to doubt your own sanity, and you finally decided to use a spell that you learned from Eclipsa's chapter… It revealed him to be in your room, whereupon he then assaulted you and while he had you in submission, revealed that he knew that you'd resort to such a tactic and then choked you unconscious?"
Star nodded.
"Even if this was all true, then what would he be after? To what end? Why would he assault you? This could only be summed up as the product of a dream, even due to the fact that you have no evidence. Your room's the same as it always has been, and it's rather easy to believe that you concocted it all in your head as a nightmare-"
"It's true! Wait… check my neck! Maybe there's a bruise there…!"
"No marks there."
"Maybe he stole something…" Star wandered to the secret hiding place of her amateur book of spells and opened it up to look through it. Flipping through the pages, nothing was revealed to be missing. "Wait! Didn't he say that he wanted to find the Wellspring and destroy it? I bet that he wanted the map!" Skipping to the last page, she was actually disappointed to find that it was still there. It would have been a minor loss if it had gone missing, and a decent amount of evidence to show that some foul play was at work. "No. Everything's still here."
"A map? Star, I've had enough of this nonsense. We can talk about this later, but for now, we need to hone your magic skills with Baby. Come along, now."
"But Mom-!"
There were a few heavy knocks on the door and without even waiting for permission to enter, the person barged inside. It was Sir Stabby, and his eyes were wide open in concern; his was the only expression that could be read as the other few knights at the door were helmeted. Nonetheless, it could easily be read from their fidgeting that they were all apprehensive and taut for danger. "Milady! Pardon the intrusion, but there's been a murder! You and others of the Royal Family have to be escorted to the safe room, as the perpetrator might still be in the castle!"
"A murder?" The queen gasped, even as Star mirrored her shock. "Who's the victim? And do you know who the perpetrator is?"
"I don't know much of the details, my queen, but there's already a swift rumor the victim was a squire in the west wing of the castle, and the killer was that boy who was banished from the castle around six months ago… Mark, I think his name was?"
"Marco…" Star breathed. The queen's complexion paled at the ramifications and was already running for the door, pushing past the knight. Star was no different, and the knight yelled after them as they sprinted up the hall away from him.
"My queen, what about the protocol?!"
She didn't answer and saved her breath for running. Star was the exact same. Soon, they were in the west wing of the castle, and following the noises of commotion, arrived soon at the scene-… Star, for one, had never seen so much blood at any one time and felt sick to her stomach. "Marco… did this? That can't be… he's not capable of this!"
Moon would've begged to differ, easily recalling the instance of Marco punching cleanly through Toffee's heart. She knew he had strength, but could hardly comprehend that he had such a capacity for violence. Whichever poor squire he'd done in, Marco had stabbed him from one side and sliced him open to completely disembowel him, the large squire lying on his side in a still-growing pool of blood and his entrails that had slipped out of him. His ashen blood-drained face only showed surprise and pain; Moon's first thought that the squire probably never even predicted such an attack. "Oh my-…"
Moon was suddenly barreled out of the way as a burly woman-knight pushed her aside to get to the dead squire, never even minding the crimson to grasp him up to hold him to her chest and bawled. She didn't even heed that she'd crossed the Queen, but Moon didn't even care; it was easy to see that the squire had been close to the woman. Moon stood there, barely even able to take in the scene and was suddenly jolted in fright when a hand clutched hers. Looking around in a startle, she was relieved to see that it was her husband. "River?"
"That's her son, Baby Man."
"Her son? Lady Whosits?" Moon whispered back fiercely, suddenly recognizing the grieving woman. "Her squire was her own son?"
"Yes," River answered sullenly. "We have a witness of his death, that'd be another squire. She said that she heard fighting, and came just in time to see Marco stabbing Baby Man. He fled when he saw her, and she ran to get medical help. Unfortunately, he died by the time she returned with the castle's physician."
"Who saw? Who saw this committed?!" Moon yelled anxiously, looking around for anyone else who looked like a squire. She didn't have to look for long as a teen came forward out of the throng of knights crowding the scene. The girl did seem befitted with the tunic of a squire, but the girl's expression told everyone that she was traumatized.
"Is it true? You saw this committed?"
"Yes Milady," Higgs mumbled glumly.
"And you said that you saw Marco kill the unfortunate squire?"
"Milady, I'm sorry if I didn't pursue Marco, I only wanted to save Baby Man from dying-"
"Just answer the question!" Moon shouted. Sienna nodded grimly and looked at Lady Whosits still weeping over her dead son, even as the other knights were fruitlessly trying to pull her away from the scene of the grisly murder.
"Yes, Milady. Marco killed him." At this moment, murmurs rose to a din in the hallway as the knights were wondering what to do about Marco and whether or not he had a grudge against them in particular. But despite all this, Star still heard her mother over the noise.
"Star… about the talk we were going to have later… we're going to have it now."
Star nodded. She turned to glance at Baby Man one last time, before proceeding to follow her mother back to the Royal Quarters. In all these things-… not her, not Moon, not anyone else…- no one had realized that Higgs had her fingers crossed the whole time.
Things happen. Anyway, the latter part of season 3 seems to be trying to reveal Eclipsa to be a 'good' person. I don't care much for it, as it hardly affects my storyline. It's branched off into an AU for a while now, and it matters little if Eclipsa is evil or not. But despite that, I'm giving mad props to senpai. That is, Code Name – I am NRG. It could be said that Daron Nefcy has been reading his fic, and ripped off the idea of the Scribes, the Archives that record history even in the making, the procedures to hold Eclipsa's trial, and the fact that her claim to the throne is the most legit. That guy knows the future, I swear. Maybe he can help me win the lottery.
Anyway, let me know what you thought.
(BTW, did anyone see my ego leak into the fic? One yarm and forty w? [mray forty w] What strange currency, lol.)
Valete!
