"When do I actually start my training?" Marco said exasperated, while carrying an enormous weight on his back.
"When you're done redecorating my castle, of course," Hekapoo said as she was sitting down on a fire red sofa, smiling. Watching him moving around her furniture was truly entertaining for her…
"Come on, lady, I've done nothing but chores for the past week and you were supposed to be teaching me how to use those dimensional scissors…"
"All in due time," Hekapoo also liked to copy some people's catchphrases and blurt them out, mockingly. This is why her voice was trying to be resembling Marco's late friend.
"You're now repeating the same thing Scott said all the time…Great. Should I lose hope?"
"Maybe, I don't know."
"Where is the attitude you had the first time I came to you, when you were actually trying to help?"
"I am not the kind of person to stick to one mood forever. I kinda like my own groove."
"I see. And this groove gonna be helpful anytime soon?"
"Perhaps. If I like where the atmosphere of this room is going, maybe. Now move the couch, there," she said getting up, slicing up a portal then appearing across the room, pointing to a spot nearby.
"Ugh…fine," Marco mumbled annoyed. He walked towards the couch, and started pushing it towards the other end of the chamber, but Hekapoo stopped him.
"You said, you want training, this is training," she said, smirking at him. "Use your dimensional scissors to move it dummy…Don't you think you've had enough manual labor for today?"
"Ok, fine…how do I do this?"
"Well, since you found me, I assume you know how to simply…cut a hole with a pair of regular scissors. I bet you don't know where the portals go to, right?"
"Well, yeah…that's kinda why I came to you, the ultimate master?"
"Ah, no, I am just skilled. I must remark that your friend had bested me at that," she answered with a smile on her pale face. "Still, I can still teach you a thing or two about portals. For example, you, obviously need to think of the location you wanna go to, in order to open a portal to it…"
"Really? Is it that simple?"
"Well, yeah, what did you expect it to be? It's literally a one-sided job, whaddya want from me?"
"Well, ok…Here goes nothing…" he sliced a portal open in front of the couch, and…miraculously another one appeared on the other end of the room. He pushed the large red sofa through it, therefore completing his task…
"Okay, congratulations," Hekapoo applauded sarcastically. "Now, this should be more than what you need. Thanks for the free home makeover, goodbye," she said opening a portal, but before stepping inside it, she was stopped by Marco grabbing her.
"Wait, that's it?" Marco asked surprised and infuriated at the same time…"I lost a week of my time just to learn that if I think of a location I can use the scissors?"
"God…you know how to ruin everything…I was gonna go through the portal, you were gonna follow me, then I would attack you and some real training would've began, but now…we gotta do it in this boring place. Thanks, Marco…"
"Wait, what?"
"Dude, it's clear that your annoyingly intelligent friend didn't send you to me so I can teach you something he could've just told you in the first place. I know how to use portals to my advantage in combat, and I think that's what he wanted me to teach you, so yeah. Prepare yourself…"
"Oh, finally, something I can finally be great at."
"How come?"
"Well, I got a red belt in the art of ka-ra-te," he said, accentuating every syllable. Then, he took his battle stance, and started practicing a kata. Hekapoo was uninterested, and quickly tore a portal to Marco's feet and punched him. He fell down, and his new sensei was now glaring condescendingly at him, with a wicked smirk strewn across her face.
"Well, Mr. Red Belt, looks like, I, a mere immortal being, have managed to best you," she said offering him a hand.
"Yeah…it sure does."
"Good, I am glad you understood this. Now, since I guess that I had taken enough of your time. You should be going. I'll meet you tomorrow, in your dimension's time, I guess."
"Well, then," Marco said, opening a portal, but then stopping as a question crossed his mind. "Hold on…Wouldn't tomorrow be like a century for you, since when I was gone for 10 minutes on Earth, 16 years passed in here?"
"Well, not quite. I can manipulate the time, here as I wish," she answered laughing. Then she smacked the back of his head, pushing him in the portal he had created. Marco was now sitting in the middle of his room, where he intended to go. He left around noon, but now, despite the aforementioned time paradox, he returned at dusk.
He checked his phone, he left on his nightstand. There were a couple of missed calls from Jackie, and then a text message, saying: "Call me, when you can" and a smiley. She didn't have to ask twice, because Marco immediately conformed. She didn't want anything else, but to hang out, however…her tone didn't seem her usual chill tone, it bore a bit of sadness in it. They decided to meet up in the park…on the same bench they spent their ball at. Marco was waiting for Jackie to show up, counting the clouds floundering aimlessly towards the setting sun. The star was throwing its last red rays towards the world, signaling the end of the day. Its light imbued the green hill, Marco was sitting atop of, turning it from an effigy of the seemingly never-ending into an autumnal reminder… The poetic contemplation of the nature around him, was interrupted by the familiar sound of a skateboard rolling on the uneven pavement. With a kick flip, she got off the board and jumped on the bench, uttering her soon-to-be catchphrase:
"Hey, Marco."
"He-hey, Jackie," Marco said nervously, still having sequelae from the time he was too shy to even talk to her. "Why did you want us to meet up?"
"Well, because for the past week, you didn't return any of my calls, and answered my texts with "k"," she said pulling out her phone, showing him their chat history.
"Yeah, I guess I was kind of shady…But, I've got the explanation, now…I was busy training, so I can learn how to use these," Marco replied, grabbing the dimensional scissors from his hoodie pocket, funnily stumbling with them.
"Are those…scissors?"
"Not any kind of scissors, these are special. They're like those Star had, you know, the dimensional hopping things?"
"Ooooh! And you've gotten better at it or anything?" Jackie asked curiously examining the mysterious object.
"Definitely!" Marco boasted, but something seemed a bit off. Jackie seemed to have a point to make with this date, however she seemed to somehow avoid it, despite her usual straightforward attitude.
"Then, let's go visit some crazy world, come on," she said grabbing the scissors from his hand and wildly slicing the air. She opened a portal, from which a strange monster tendril exited…Marco, kicked it back from where it came from and closed the portal.
"How about you let me handle this, ok?" Marco asked, nervously laughing, while grabbing the pair of scissors from his girlfriend's hand. He then opened a portal, to what he thought was a romantic scenery. And it…actually was. The portal took them in the middle of an empty alley, guarded on each side by strings of lampposts. A crimson moon was shining over their heads, and near it, a smaller blue one followed suit. Crickets were complimenting the atmosphere with their lonely song, amplifying their isolation from the rest of the world…Frankly, they were…it wasn't called Solum for no reason, after all. The road was leading towards a solitary hill, whose crown was made of a small troop of locust trees, whose white blossoms could be smelled from miles away. It seemed like a scenery taken out of Shelley's poetry, albeit without the purity of the celestial beings…
"Woah, this is beautiful!" Jackie exclaimed, taking in the surroundings.
"Well, that was my point, he he," he laughed, knowing that he just thought of someplace where it was nighttime already, because if English class thought him anything about romanticism is that if there was a moon up in the sky, it was clearly going to be harboring some love. After all this place had a lot of motives that placed it into a rather 18th century dream scenery.
"Should we go, up there?" Jackie asked, curiosity glimmering in her eyes.
"Whatever you want," Marco answered simply.
They started walking down the dimly lit alleyway, breathing in the lugubrious atmosphere. The blood red moon in the sky, and its maroon glow, didn't relieve the unsettling tone of this date. It wasn't as their previous times getting together…There was an awkward silence overall, broken by interjections and long sighs, from the part of both. The apparent romantic night, turned into a series of unfortunate moments of painful attempts to try and start a conversation…And it all started out of nowhere. Suddenly they were both feeling like two strangers walking in the same rhythm to different locations, even though they were supposed to be in a relationship for almost two months now. Marco looked at Jackie from time to time…She didn't have that usual 'chill' look on her face, but rather she was looking up to the moon, apparently hypnotized by it. After a couple of seconds of blankly staring at the beautiful crimson queen of the night, she would always look at Marco, smile confused and then show a micro-emotion…sadness and grief missed with pity. That was bizarre…Marco had known Jackie ever since they were little kids and she had been nothing but this seemingly linear character…Her defining trait being, well… 'chill', it was rather peculiar to see her in this light. These events seemed ominous, to say the least, the only thing missing was a thunder and lightning, or the rain to fall down on sovereignless and broken apart souls…However, there was something redeeming to the whole situation. She was holding on his arm with both hands. Clenching it with a tight grip, as if she was falling from an airplane and he was her last girder to keep her from her inevitable doom. Looking from an outsider's perspective you'd get the opposite message this innocent gesture was trying to get across…
Marco felt like she was clinging down to him, as if she were afraid to lose him to something. That was strange since he hadn't been around for so long…As he heard himself, he realized what he had done…For the past week, he didn't even pay attention to her, and he loved her…He was so keen on finding a way to be reunited with Star, he forgot that she even existed…But there was another question rising from this last mental statement. If he could gloss over the fact that she was drawing breath…what did he actually feel? Did he love Jackie, or it was just the infatuation resulted from years of his one-sided crush on her, and now that it had finally materialized into a fully-fledged relationship, he wasn't sure that's what he wanted…Jackie was great, no doubt there, she was funny, caring, motivational and knew exactly what to say and when to say it. She always knew how to lift the morale of everyone, but right now, that ability was lacking right when it was needed the most…They've reached the top…guess what. There was a small pond underneath the biggest tree. A perfect scenery for heavy-handed romance. Jackie lied down underneath the protective crown of the king of the hill, dragging Marco, along with her. Another awkward silence followed and it seemed like neither of them was going to break it…The bloodied moon and the teal one, were now both glowing as bright as each other, basking the two mute teenagers in a mauve light…
"Marco…Can I ask you something?" Jackie's words fell like a book dropping in a library, bidding farewell to the uneasy reticence.
"Sure, anything," he hastily answered…
"Okay, let me start by saying that, I don't care much for the fact that we didn't see each other for a week, because you were busy. I find it cool that you are going to these great lengths to find Star…But at the same time, I feel like you're not doing this just for the sake of your friendship…Is there something you've been…hiding from me?"
"Well…I…I honestly don't know…"
"Come on, dude, you've been able to write essays I couldn't even imagine, but you just flinch at this question…"
"Well, it's the truth…I don't know what I can say apart from that…I hadn't had time to process all the events. I mean, how would it be to you, if I told you that I had a crush on you, then just leave…possibly forever?"
"Frankly, I wouldn't mind that, unless…I had some feelings for you."
"Wait…you're implying…"
"Yes, Marco, this is what I am driving at. After that night, didn't you notice we've kinda drifted apart? I understand she was your best friend and all, but still. You've been gone for hours a day, trying your best to find a way to get her back…I would've been fine if you would at least, given me some kind of context to all this, so I wouldn't be worrying like I was for nothing…"
"You've been worrying about me? Why?"
"Because…you know, we've got this thing going on…called a relationship?"
Marco remained silent for a while. He was thinking the whole situation over…And he had the time to do so, should Jackie not interrupt his train of thought with:
"Look, Marco…I don't think this needs any further explanation, from my side…You're obviously torn apart what you feel for Star and what you feel for me…And we both know where this is going to end. You're a great guy, and I like spending time with you. You're determined, caring, extremely tenacious, but…I don't know, I hate this situation…I believe this is what you and Star experienced, right? Anyway…To finalize my point, I think, it's obvious for both of us that, your feelings for your 'best friend'," she said making air quotes, "are more than that. And I am not the one to stay in the middle of this kind of thing. I care for you, Marco, but I can't keep you in a relationship that chains you down to someone, you can't possibly be happy with…"
She grabbed the scissors from his hoodie pocket and, without a word, Marco was told what to do…He opened a portal to her home, and she stepped inside it, saying nothing more than a simple:
"Goodbye, Marco."
He then, fell defeated leaning on the trunk, under which his first relationship ended. Now he could finally think clear, under the intense crimson glow of the blood moon above him…He had noticed this, but all subconsciously, as his mind was now focused on…nothing. He was broken, inside and outside. He put his hood on, isolating himself in a fortress of solitude, thinking about what he had done wrong…or right. Will he go on with his training? On the one side, that was what caused this whole break-up to happen, but on the other side, it was the only way to get his best friend back… It was an easy choice…Lose all, or fell the pain that precedes the gain. Now that, this was out of the way…he started wrapping his mind around the whole party… Star had confessed to him, then left in a hurry, leaving him hanging, and running after a disappearing mirage. Now, he didn't know what to say about this…Ever since the first time, things got…closer between them, he was feeling weird…Although, his crush on Jackie occupied the most of his heart, there was an empty space there, reserved, allegedly for…Star. It had been there for a while now, but now that Jackie was out…it had been noticed… Did he really like her? It would explain so much, and yet it would lay a shroud of darkness on many other things…Why didn't he do anything about it from the first obvious signs? Why was he so oblivious? Why didn't he say anything after Ruberiot's song apart from…what he mistakenly did…Why is hindsight always 20/20 and the pain of it is directly proportional…
With so many unanswered questions, that only grew more impossible to clarify, he returned to his bedroom. About four hours had passed, meaning that he should be getting ready for bed. He couldn't sleep, but soon enough he grew tired from overanalyzing and overthinking everything…The first thing, next morning, he was ready for his training more than ever, but before they would start, he had to ask something…
"Umm…do you know anything about other dimensions?" Marco asked, knowing full well how stupid it sounded.
"No, I make dimensional scissors completely oblivious of anything that is comprised within them," Hekapoo answered sarcastically.
"Do you know anything about a dimension with two moons, one red as my hoodie and the other sky blue?"
"I know one that has two moons, but one is not crimson."
"Then, it's not where I've been last night."
"Don't be so sure about it," Hekapoo said, suddenly beginning to pay full attention to Marco. "Have you ever heard of the Blood Moon?"
"Yeah, Star and I danced under it, at the Blood Moon Ball, about half a year ago…"
"Well, that settles it. You know, the Blood Moon, binds the souls of those she shines her light upon. Forever. It's one of the most unbreakable omens of the universe. The fact that you saw it in the Reflective Dimension, where all your feelings are mirrored by your surroundings, means its effect was prevalent there. What happened yesterday?"
"My girlfriend broke up with me…"
"And it was at that moment, that the teal moon disappeared, and the crimson one shone brighter than ever, engulfing you in its mysterious light?"
"Yeah…how did you know that?"
"I am a magic being from the High Magic Committee? It's pretty much my job and duty to know this kind of things. Still, I will elaborate. The Blood Moon, represents the one you are bound to, in this case the princess. The teal moon, represented your girlfriend…with whom you broke up. That's pretty much it."
"Aham…thanks, for nothing," he mumbled for himself, but Hekapoo heard him.
"You're welcome for nothing. Now buckle up, we're gonna spar for a while today…"
Hekapoo cut open a portal and, after stepping in it, Marco found himself in a fiery arena, surrounded by a plethora of Hekapoo clones.
"You can't leave until you beat us all. Just like the good old days."
"Great…" Marco exclaimed exasperated. He then began to use his martial arts knowledge to start working his way out of the arena, by beating up the fake Hekapoos.
"So...apparently Star and I's souls are now bound together for the rest of our lives…Amazing…I don't know how I feel about this. I mean, I like Star and all that, but finding out that it's kinda forced by an undeniable omen of the universe…it's unsettling. I asked Hekapoo what would break the spell we are under…and I got the best answer ever… Death. And something about another omen, I didn't quite understand…some kind of beacon…I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I weren't so stubborn that night and just let Star go on her own. I remembered that Tom said something about how our dance was meant for him, so probably what I did is for the better, but still…It's pretty screwed up. I hope that, in the end, everything will work out well…apart from the fact that Scott had died…You know, now that I think of it…I feel ashamed of myself, because I didn't even care that much when I found this out…It might be the remnants of our strained relationship, or it might be just the fact that I was so distraught, I couldn't process this…But I just…I couldn't…Damn. I can't even write in my diary what I feel…Why is this all so confusing? Ugh…I can't wait to get this all over with…But, I have this strange hunch that, Scott isn't as dead as I think him to be…Nobody really stays dead with resurrection spells, do they?"
And that concludes Marco's diary entry for that day.