Scott was looking around, baffled that he was alive…he was more amazed, though, that Star was already hugging him as he was staying in his now useless resting place…
"Wait, I was dying…I got my time-slowing spell going, than I…died. What did you do?"
"I don't know…I have no idea that happened. I am just glad you're alive," Star said, her candid tears filling the hole in his shirt. His wound was magically sealed…
"I believe I can shed some light on the situation," Hyperion said in his usual calm tone…"You see, when a person dies, their soul is removed from their physical body and scattered through the universe. Yours wouldn't have had the same fate, because I was not going to allow it, but this has no bearing on the situation at hand. Your friend, here…through power that is beyond my understanding of Mewmans, had managed to split her soul in half and somehow transfer it to you…"
"So you mean that…Star, you realized what you just doomed yourself to, right?"
"Not quite, but I am sure you'll be able to destroy my happiness with your explanation."
"Well…you destroyed the most indestructible omen of the universe…You had split your soul, therefore removing any binds from it. And since you shared it with me…"
"Ooooh, I see. This thing again…"
"I believe you owe some explanations to someone else, though," Scott said looking at Marco…However, he noticed his subtle gesture. Marco decided that he has had enough stress and drama for so much, under the sign of a fatidic attraction. He didn't even wait for Star to come to him. He cut open a portal to no-one knows where, and passed through it, leaving the relationship between the two of them shrouded with uncertainty.
"M-Marco," Star uttered to herself.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way Star…But you must know how painful it is."
"I don't blame him, Scott…I would've done the same, but I am surprised anyway."
"You're done with your little thingy?" Glossaryck interrupted their discussion. "Hyperion, here has to break something for you."
"Thank you, Glossaryck. Saturn, there is something you must know, about the "revival policy" so-to-speak. I…can't allow it. Under no circumstance, you can't live on this world…"
"Sorry, what?" Star and Scott asked at the same time, sharing a look of unending surprise.
"You have died, your soul was already vanished…you don't have any essence of your own inside…It's against the laws we had established for this universe and I am sorry, but you must come with me," he said opening a large portal behind me.
Scott got up from his coffin…He didn't want to comply. He had managed to defy the rules of existence and had finally won, after a series of unfortunate losses. However, he knew that Hyperion's word…was definitive. He had to succumb to his will, in spite of everything. A salutary thought crossed his mind, perhaps holding the key to his salvation…
"Hold on, just a sec. Can we…make a deal?"
"We could. But I am sure that you won't like what I have to offer in exchange for you to stay here…Do you still want to hear it?"
Scott looked at Star, and she glared back at him. His answer was unsurprising.
"Fire away, Hyperion!"
"Fair enough. I can let you stay here, as much as you want, do whatever you want, live life as you see fit. However, the second I call for your help, you will leave, no matter what you are doing, you will do whatever I want, without questioning it and you will never fail at accomplishing your mission, or our deal will fall."
"Specifically vague as always…May I make a counter offer?"
"Normally, I won't allow it. I will make an exception for you and your friend, though. Consider it the last act of kindness from my part."
"Here is what I propose. I become your tool. You can use me to do whatever you want, I won't question it, I won't fail…I will still be at your beck and call, so it's basically the same proposition, with nothing added so far. Here comes the twist, though. I don't want to affect this world, under your command. You leave this world alone, never intervening in its matters, leaving me and Glossaryck to watch it as we see fit."
"This is not fair. You request too much, and give less in return. Why would I accept it?"
"You didn't let me finish…I saw that your place in the Council is greatly disregarded, and the other are plotting against you all the time. Your kindness has lowered your credibility. I offer you a way to…even the odds."
"Hmm…" Hyperion sighed wondering if what the mortal boy said was holding any truth in it. "Proceed."
"You're a purely balanced being, therefore you can't help but make choices that do not tamper with your equilibrium…but I can. Every action you make me do, I can make it to restore the balance you need to maintain, while still making your views visible and obvious. Whereas you would've solely sent me in missions with no subtext whatsoever, I will be sent, under your order, in missions that subliminally impose your authority. Do you agree now?"
"Ingenious and determined as I've never seen you before, Saturn. Although, I disagree with your choice of terminology, I can't help but rejoice in your offer. Congratulations, you have convinced me," Hyperion replied offering his hand to seal the deal. Scott shook his hand, while both of them smiled to each other understandingly. And with that, the ascended being left the ruins of the castle, returning to his task.
"Ingenious and determined as I've never seen you before," Star teased him, with a wide smirk on her face.
"Haha, funny you," he replied chuckling. "Come, now, we gotta do something," he said grabbing her hand and opening a portal. "You're gonna fill everyone in, when they wake up, old man?"
"Count on me," Glossaryck replied.
The two appeared in the courtyard right over Toffee's cinders. Scott started digging through the demon's ashes searching for something. His eyes lighted up, when he found what he was looking for. He put the little half of the star in the sun's purifying rays. It was still glowing with the same wicked tint…Scott looked at Star, half smiling, half impressed her spell didn't destroy the lost part of her magic wand.
"Give me your hand," he said, as she complied. Scott put the star in her hand and pressed it firmly against her palm. "Now just empty your mind," he calmly whispered to her, while hugging her tight. She nested her head at his chest…their palms turned blue, glowing brighter than the sun above them, but just for a split second.
"There, all done," he said showing her the now yellow star, as if it were never tainted by Toffee's corrupting touch.
"Wait, how did you do that?"
"Let's just say that it's an ancient technique…a way to vilify evil's touch, discovered by our ancestors, but seldom used in our times."
Star put the half-star on her wand, reuniting the trinket on her wand. Before her very eyes, it changed appearance…Three hearts grew in a string on top of it, while the bat like wings morphed back to their original form, but they had golden streaks of feathers throughout them.
"New wand again?"
"A new Star, deserves a new wand, right?"
"I do now, don't I?"
The two laid down in the scorched field, over the monster's ashes. They looked at the broken down palace, especially at the revived members of the Magic High Commission who were contemplating the destroyed city.
"We're going to rebuild it all, aren't we?" Star asked.
"Yeah, we will… We'll make it our new home."
Meanwhile, Marco had already thrown himself on the bed…He didn't know what to do anymore. Before Star came into his life, he was just aimlessly getting by, just going with the flow…He didn't want to succumb to this anymore. He grabbed his phone, with a set purpose in his mind. He scrolled down to Jackie and started writing a text message he wouldn't have had the courage to write before:
"Jackie, you're free tonight? I feel like we have a lot to talk about."
Somewhere, in a dimension far away from all the events Star, Marco and Scott had taken part of, a black portal opened, a shadowy silhouette appearing. The man had white hair, wore a long dark cape and a strange kind of armor, resembling that the skeleton king wore…He had an enormous gauntlet on his right fist, while his left hand was missing completely. He was rather slender and young, despite his strange hair color…His eyes were completely black, despite still having an iris and a pupil. He smiled wickedly, showing his retracted gums that made his teeth look sharper than usual. His voice was rugged, burning through the ears of anyone who would've listened to it.
"So, this is the place I was doomed to? How peculiar…I thought even in the darkest of nights, I would see the shiny stars above me, everywhere I'd go, but it seems the putrid reign of good hadn't gone so far. It's still young, I see…Untaught and innocent…Just how I like it."
(And this would be my final note…I realized as I was writing this, that this is not an epilogue, per-say…More of a conclusion. Be that as it may, I would like to conclude my writing by saying this…You can never truly end something you care for.)