Marcia's Cat Day's - "Where does a girl like me go?"
Rafael Diaz tended to be an early riser, often getting up before his family. Quietly he made his way downstairs heading for the kitchen. As he approached the open entryway he could hear soft shuffling noise. Rafael raised a confused brow, believing he had been the only one awake.
Entering the kitchen he spotted his pajamas-clad daughter sitting at the kitchen island. Rafael froze as he watched his daughter's new tail swaying back and forth. He and Angie had been doing their best to act as normal as possible, and they had seen a fair few oddities with Star around but their daughter suddenly sprouting cat features threw them for a loop.
"M-Morning Marcia. How are-ah!"
Rafael jumped, taking a step back. Marcia's head whipped around facing her father, the sudden sharp movement of the girl hadn't been what startled the man but the fact that she had a large uncooked fish hanging in her mouth.
Rafael studies his daughter and finally noticed that she was wet. Her pajamas clung to her skin as beads of water dripped off her form. The man jumped again when the fish in Marcia's mouth flailed a bit.
Marcia spoke, mouth muffled by the fish. She spat the fish out into her hands giving her father a smile, her fangs glinting a bit.
"Morning dad," she greeted.
Rafael gave his daughter an awkward smile back waving his hand.
"Morning darling. Having breakfast?"
Marcia nodded, "Yeah, I had a craving for fish, but we didn't have any, so I caught some. I'm thinking of grilling it."
"Oh! You're cooking it, that's good," Rafael said with relief in his voice.
At that moment Angie had also made her way downstairs and entered the kitchen. The woman paused as she saw the state of her daughter.
"Uh…"
Even though it was summer, Marcia was back in school. Why? Summer school is why. A special set of classes reserved for kids who were falling behind their peers or for those kids who wanted to get a head start and stay above the pack.
Marcia was the second kind of student who attended summer school. While she did enjoy the break that summer brought, she felt like going too long without leaning made the knowledge in her brain melt out through her ears. Or maybe that was just because it got so hot in the summer?
The teachers rotated on who taught summer school each year, and lucky her, it was Miss Skullnick's turn. The classroom was scattered with only a few students in the room, sitting at their desks. Normally they'd be bored to tears as Miss Skullnick droned through her lessons but instead their attention was focused elsewhere.
Marcia's cat ears twitched every so often as she paid attention to the lesson. Those sitting around her stared distracted by the girl's new set of ears. As Marcia continued to jot down her notes, all color-coded of course, she saw a red dot appear on her paper.
Marcia's eyes dilated going into sharp slits, and she slams a hand down on the dot. She raises her hand and sees the red dot gone. The red dot suddenly appeared again on the opposite side of her desk. Marcia moves again slamming her other hand on the dot. This goes on for about a minute before the red dot starts to make its way off Marcia's desk and to the floor.
Marcia hopped out of her seat, getting on all fours. Her tail swayed behind her making Marcia look very much like a predator on the hunt. She pounced on the red dot and in the process knocked over a desk.
The loud noise finally caught Miss Skullnick's attention as the troll teacher whipped around.
"Marcia!"
Marcia followed after the dot, jumping on the desk, other students, and knocking just about everything over.
"Marcia Diaz!"
Marcia didn't listen, or maybe she just didn't hear her teachers' loud angry shouts, as she continued the mayhem and destruction throughout the room in an attempt to catch the red dot.
In the back of the class, Janna bore a mischievous and large giddy smirk as she held a laser pointer.
"I can't believe you caused $600 in collateral damage!" Janna laughed
Marcia frowned narrowing her eyes at Janna. "It's your fault. Why do you carry around a laser pointer anyway?"
"For stuff like this. Come on Marcia, I'm buying lunch." Janna smirked as she slid over a basket containing two tacos. "Fish tacos."
Marcia kept her scowl but slowly reached out pulling the tacos in closer.
Jackie-Lynn, who was sitting next to Marcia, pointed at her cat ears.
"Why do you have cat ears anyway?" She asked
"And a tail. Don't forget the tail," Janna added
"I don't know. I mean I'm pretty sure that it has to do with this." Marcia touched the gem of her necklace. "I mean I did summon a giant cat from it."
Janna nodded her head. "Makes sense. Makes sense. Hey, you know what we should do. We should-"
"No rituals," Marcia stated bluntly
Janna opened her mouth about to say something else but was cut off.
"Or voodoo magic."
Janna closed her mouth, but then a second later opened it again.
"Or seances," Marcia added
Janna frowns crossing her arms. "Take all the fun out of it."
Janna's sour mood turned around as her phone started to ring. She reached into her pocket pulling out the device, answering it.
"Yeah?"
"Janna!" Star cried over the phone.
"Is that Star?" Marcia asked her left ear twitching.
"Whoa, you can hear her? How well is your cat hearing?"
Janna put a hand next to one of Marcia's ears and snapped her fingers causing the brunette to cringe.
"Stop that," Marcia said, batting Janna's hand away.
Star's panicked cries drew the girl's attention back to the phone. They both lean in to listen to the terrified Princess.
"You're seeing dead people? That's the coolest thing I've heard all summer," Janna said
"No, Janna! Weren't you listening?! Not people! Glossaryck! I am being haunted by Glossaryck's ghost! I did my mom's baloo-balee-baloo-balow, but it didn't work!" Star said
"Ba-ba-what?" Janna questioned looking at Marcia.
Marcia shrugged her shoulders just as confused.
"Janna, I need your weird, dark-sided expertise, or I'm telling you, there are gonna be two ghosts up in here!" Star shouted
Janna reached down into her bag beneath the table and pulled out a book titled, 'Paranormal Folklore and Witchcraft, 5th Edition'.
"Okay, well, you're definitely being haunted."
"Nooo!" Star cried
"Yeah. Mmm. But if you're the only one who sees him, it might mean he has some unfinished business with you," Janna spoke, her voice muffled as she took a bite out of her burrito.
"Okay, can you stop eating for one second? Also, what unfinished business?" Star asked
Janna said nothing in favor of chewing her food.
"Janna!" Star shouted
Marcia let out an exasperated sigh, "Star, you need to find…" Marcia's eyes scanned over the book as she read over Janna's shoulder. "An anchor."
"Is that you Marcia? Hi! How's being part cat treating you? "Star asked
"Okay. I destroyed a classroom," Marcia said
Star let out a light chuckle. "Classic Marcia. Oh, by the way, I loved your gifts. Thank you."
"Aw, your welcome Star," Marcia said
"Now...back to the Glossaryck thing. What's an anchor?!" Star said her voice now back to panic mode.
Janna finally swallowed her food. "Something he left in this world, keeping his ghost bound to it. Are any of his belongings around?"
"No. Glossaryck didn't own anything. The only thing that sort of belonged to him was-"
Star gasped as her mind recalled some rather important information. From their end on the call, Janna and Marcia could hear some shuffling noises.
"Yo, Star, are you dead?" Janna asked
"It's the book. I kept the remains of the spellbook they found in the monster temple," Star said
"Why would you keep that?" Janna questioned
"Uh, Janna, you're gonna get on my case for keeping weird stuff?" Star said
To further prove Star's point Marcia reached down grabbing Janna's bag. With a flat expression, she reached inside pulling up out a shrunken head.
"...Touché. Says here you gotta let that stuff go. And by let it go, I mean bury it," Janna said
"Like, bury bury?" Star asked
"Wait how does-?!"
Janna silenced Marcia by shoving a taco in the girl's mouth.
"Yeah. And deep. Real deep," Janna said
After that, the phone call ends. Janna put her book away and when she looked back up she saw Marcia. The girl had her arms crossed as she chewed the food that had been crammed in her mouth.
Marcia swallowed her taco before pointing at Janna. "You're lucky that it was fish taco or I'd be really mad."
Only about five minutes went by before Janna's phone started to ring again.
"Yo, Star," Janna answered
"Janna!" Star shouted before her words came out as a babbled mess.
"You buried it in a pet cemetery?!" Janna exclaimed
"Well, he's small," Star said
"Did you want him to haunt you more?" Janna questioned
"Okay, well, that's better than flushing him down the toilet," Star said
"That's not how it works, Star," Janna said
"Yeah, I can see that now, Janna! He's still here! And now he's, like, here here!" Star shouted
"Wait. You're seeing him in the physical world? Oh, that's not good." Janna brought out her paranormal book. "You need to go bury the pieces in a sacred place. Somewhere that would have significance to him. Then you'll stop seeing him. And it looks like you gotta do it right now, or else he'll haunt you for eternity."
Star gasped. "I think I have the perfect place. Okay, thanks so much, Janna! Byeeeee!"
"Ugh. Loud," Janna groaned, hanging up the phone.
"Was that Star again?" Marcia asked
"No. Shut up," Janna said
As summer ticked by, the days for Marcia seemed to get harder. Her cat-like instincts were causing her way more trouble than she had anticipated. The summer school incident was only the tip of the iceberg.
Marcia sat in her family's back shed with Janna, Ferguson, and Alfonzo. Today they were going to be taking part in Marcia's favorite tabletop game. When she sat down for the game, she was confused to see her normal RPG character was different.
"What's with this?" Marcia asked
"Since your part cat we changed your character," Janna said
"Wait you can't just-"
"You are now Leodora! The fearless feline bandit, hailing from the deep forests atop the iron mountains of Gorgia!" Alfonzo said
Marcia let out a sigh, "Fine. Since you guys put so much thought into it. I'll be Leodora."
The game began as per usual, Ferguson and Alfonzo were way too into the game, while Janna was rolling her eyes about every minute. Normally Marcia was into the game like her two male friends, but today was a bit different.
She had a fascinated expression on her face, eyes wide, as she batted one of the dice between her hands.
"Leodora, you are caught in a trap of rogue orcs. What is your next move?" Alfonzo asked
Marcia heard not a word, her attention solely focused on the dice in her hand.
"Leodroa, what do you do?" Alfonzo asked again
His words once more fell on deaf ears.
"Marcia? Marcia? The dice Marcia? Marcia!"
Ferguson attempted to reach for the dice but Marcia hissed while swiping her hand. Ferguson shrieked jerking his hand back.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Marcia apologized quickly realizing what she did.
She looked at her hand and let out a startled yelp when she saw her nails had grown into sharp claws. Everyone looked to the table to see four claw marks now embed on the game board.
Ferguson uncurled his fingers examining his hand. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw he was unscathed and had all his fingers.
"Cool…" Janna said snapping a picture of Marcia's claws with her phone.
Marcia stood up, "I think..I'm just gonna go."
In the Diaz household, Rafael walked around the home looking for his daughter.
"Marcia! Marcia where are you? I got a fresh can of tuna and a saucer of milk," Rafael called out
"Rafael? What in the world are you doing?" Angie asked
"I'm looking for Marcia," Rafael said
"Dear she's not a cat..she's just got cat ears...and a tail...and acts like one," Angie said
The couple walked into the kitchen, which was empty, or, so they thought.
A box of cereal fell to the floor startling the couple. The top of the box popped open and the sugared breakfast food spilled, scattering across the floor. Angie and Rafael looked up and saw Marcia on top of the fridge her head dug into a box.
"Marcia! What are you doing? Get down from there!" Angie exclaimed
Marcia pulled her head out of the box, her cheeks puffed and filled with food. Her eyes were wide and the pupils large. She had this glazed look on her face as her tail swayed lazily behind her.
The couple looked at the box in Marcia's hand and Angie's expression turned into a flat look.
"Rafael..What is Marcia holding?"
Rafael let out an awkward chuckle. "Catnip treats."
"Why does she have them?" Angie asked
"I bought them for Liger," Rafael said
"Marcia get down from there and put down those treats," Angie said
Marcia didn't listen and went to shove her head back into the box.
"No bad Marcia! Get down from there!" Angie said
She whipped out a squirt bottle and sprayed her daughter in the face. Marcia let out a hiss-like yowl before hopping down and scampering out of the room.
Marcia let out a sigh as she lay on her bed.
"Things...have so not been going well."
Marcia grabbed a pillow and covered her face letting out a loud groan. Liger walked over to the dejected girl, taking a seat next to her bed.
Marcia removed the pillow looking up at Liger.
"Liger, you're a giant magical cat. Do you have any advice?"
Liger blinks, staring at Marcia, before he lifts up one of his large paws and places it on Marcia's face, covering it.
Marcia let out a series of muffled words before she pushed Liger's paw away. She coughed out a few stray Liger hairs, brushing off her tongue.
"Yeah...I thought you'd say something like that."
*DING DONG*
Marcia sat up, her ears going upright as they caught the sound of the doorbell.
*DING DONG*
Hearing the bell a second time, Marcia got out of her bed and made her way downstairs. She answered the door and was mildly surprised to see Jackie-Lynn there.
"Jackie? What are you doing here?"
"Come on Marcia!"
Jackie-Lynn grabbed Marcia's hand and started to pull her out of the house.
"Wait?! What?! Where are you going?!"
Marcia's nose twitched as she sniffed the air.
"I smell, salt and...corn dogs?"
"Open your eyes girl," Jackie-Lynn said
Marcia did so, taking in her new surroundings.
"The Pier of course!" Marcia said
"I know how bad you've been feeling lately so you and I are going to have a normal fun girls' afternoon out," Jackie-Lynn said
"Cooool, sounds fun," Marcia said with forced enthusiasm
Jackie-Lynn hooked her arm with Marcia's pulling her into the pier, making their way to the booth games.
"So what do you think we should do first?" Jackie-Lynn asked
"Hmmm? How about…"
Marcia looked around at the booths spotting the ring toss game. She started to zone out when she saw a plush stuffed cat, its large glass eyes staring back at Marcia. The fact that it was black with red tips made her feel odd.
"Marcia? Marcia? Yo Marcia?"
Jackie-Lynn snapped her fingers in front of Marcia's face bringing her out of her stupor.
"Sorry, that prize is making me feel weird," Marcia said
"Well, what about the dog thing? Look its dressed like a karate guy," Jackie-Lynn pointed out
"Yeah, that is kind of cute," Marcia said
Marcia handed a few bucks over to the worker.
"One set of rings, please."
The booth worker handed a small bucket of rings over to Marcia. She grabbed a ring and stared at the various bottles lining the booth. Marcia tossed her ring and it caught the tip of a bottle before falling off.
"Ohh, so close!" Jackie-Lynn said
"Hmmm…." Marcia picks up another ring concentrating.
She feels something shift and her eyes contract, her vision zooming in. Marcia tosses the ring and it lands on the bottle. The booth owner seems a tad surprised but doesn't move from his leaning position against the wall. Marcia picks up the bucket of rings tucking it under her arm. With impressive speed, Marcia shoots out each ring, every single one of them landing on a bottle. The booth worker finally stands up fully, staring slack-jawed.
"Sweet! Marcia, you got them all!" Jackie-Lynn cheered
Marcia smiled, "Yeah I did!"
"Uh…" The stunned booth worker slowly grabbed the karate dog plush. "Grand prize for the little lady."
"Where to next?" Marcia asked
Marcia and Jackie-Lynn stood outside a confectionery shop, both girls holding their own thing of cotton candy.
"You feeling better Marcia?" Jackie-Lynn asked
"A bit. Sugar helps," Marcia said
"Well-Hey!"
Jackie-Lynn shouted as a seagull swooped down stealing her cotton candy.
"Aww."
"Here, have some of mine," Marcia said
"Aw, thanks, but I could actually go for some real people food. How much cash do you have on you?" Jackie-Lynn asked
"I don't know. $650?" Marcia said
Jackie-Lynn gapes before grabbing Marcia pulling her into a restaurant.
A waitress smiled as she brought another plate to a certain table. Marcia and Jackie-Lynn smiled as they cleaned another plate, their table littered with the various other dishes they had consumed.
Marcia popped a tater tot in the mouth before letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Whew, okay. Is there anything on the menu we haven't ordered yet?"
"There's that guy," Jackie-Lynn said pointing to the lobster tank.
There was a lone lobster inside gazing at the girls with his small beady eyes.
Marcia frowned sadly. "Aw, I can't eat him. He looks tasty but so sad."
"We can fix that. Hold my legs," Jackie-Lynn said
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?!" A waiter shouted
Marcia and Jackie-Lynn pause, Jackie-Lynn hovering over the lobster tank, her arms elbow-deep in the water while Marcia holds onto Jackie's waist to prevent her from falling.
"Run!" Jackie-Lynn said
Marcia pulled the girl back and the two book it out of the restaurant with the lobster in tow.
"Hey! Get back here!"
The waiter chased after the two and reached out grabbing one of them. He smirked as he pulled back but gaped to see he had grabbed not Marcia nor Jackie-Lynn, but the giant stuffed plush prize they had won earlier.
Marcia and Jackie-Lynn make their way to the end of the pier and Jackie tossed the lobster into the water. It immediately disappears into the watery depths.
"Wow, he didn't even say goodbye. Not even a little claw wave or something," Marcia said
"Dude, it's a lobster," Jackie-Lynn said
"Oh...right," Marcia said
Marcia dried her wet hands as she stepped out of the bathroom. Jackie-Lynn was supposed to be waiting outside for her as the cat-eared girl went to use the restroom. Marcia quirked a confused brow when she saw no sign of her freckled-faced friend.
"Where'd she go?"
Marcia looked around and then spotted Jackie-Lynn, but the girl was not alone. She stood with her back against the wall of a booth, three guys standing around her. Jackie-Lynn looked less than pleased as she wore a frown, and had her arms crossed.
Marcia walked over to the group catching the tail end of their conversation.
"So what do you say?" One of the boys asked
"Like I said two seconds ago. No," Jackie-Lynn said
The guy just smirked reaching out to grab Jackie-Lynn's wrist.
"Hey! Hands off my friend!" Marcia stepped forward getting between Jackie-Lynn and the boys.
The guys look at Marcia, his eyes going down and moving up examining her. When he met Marcia's eyes his smirk only grew.
"Well, well, well, look who's got a friend with her."
Marcia's frown deepens as she crosses her arms.
"You know we were just inviting your friend out for some ice cream. Why don't you come and join us?"
The guy reached out attempting to grab Marcia's wrist, but Marcia slapped his hand away.
Marcia turned looking at Jackie-Lynn. "Come on Jackie let's go."
The two attempted to walk away but the guy put a hand on Marcia's shoulder. Marcia froze and her pupils dilated before contracting, her frown turned into a sneer showing her fangs.
"When a girl says no she means no."
Marcia grabbed the guys wrist and flipped him over her. He landed on his back with a heavy thud, all the air knocked out of him. Marcia turned hissing angrily as her tail puffed and her ears stood up. She glared at the guys, letting out a deep growl that rumbled from her chest.
The guy Marcia had flipped over scrambled to his feet.
"She's some kind of freak!"
"Let's get out of here!"
Jackie-Lynn and Marcia smiled as they watched the guys run off.
"Marcia that was awesome!" Jackie-Lynn said
"Thanks…" Marcia said
Jackie-Lynn and Marcia sat on a bench facing the ocean watching the sunset.
"Sooo, you feeling any better?" Jackie-Lynn asked Marcia.
Marcia sighed, dropping her chin into her hands.
"No and yes…" She said
"Huh? Is it because of what that jerk earlier said?" Jackie-Lynn questioned
"Yes," Marcia said
"Marcia you're not a freak your-"
"No Jackie it's okay. I mean it's not okay he called me a freak, but I am different. I have to accept whatever this is." Marcia gestured to her ears and tail. "I...Just have to accept I'm not normal anymore. I'm different now and that's okay. So that only leaves one more question."
"What?" Jackie-Lynn asked
"Where does a girl like me go?" Marcia said
"Now you sure you've got everything?" Angie asked Marcia.
"Yup, everything is all packed up," Marcia said holding up a duffle bag.
Marcia stood in her living room, a small little party being held, a going-away party. Present were Marcia's parents and all of her friends, as a banner hung that read GOODBYE MARCIA.
Marcia turned addressing everyone at the party.
"I want to say I'm going to miss you all. And I'm sorry if I've caused any trouble to you over the past couple of days," Marcia said
"Dude, it's okay. Look, we brought you something."
Ferguson and Alfonzo stepped forward.
"It's our lucky die. It'll grant you good fortune on your travels."
"Aw. Thanks, you guys," Marcia said
Sensei Brantley stepped forward. "I hope you don't slack on your training while you're gone."
"Never," Marcia said
The man finally broke down and started weeping.
"I'm gonna miss you so much!" Sensei Brantley cried
"I'm gonna miss you too, man," Marcia said with a little chuckle.
"I also got something for you," Janna said
Janna pulls out a card handing it to Marcia, it was her social security card.
"W-What?! How long have you had this?!" Marcia exclaimed
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," Janna said
"What a creep," Marcia said
Liger walked over the large cat holding a bag in his jaws.
"You ready to go, buddy?" Marcia asked
Liger just bumps his head against Marcia as if to say "Yes".
Marcia smiled as she pulled out her dimensional scissors.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye, guys," Marcia said
"I don't understand. We're just letting Marcia leave? What about when school starts? Is this even legal?!" Rafael said
"Shhh. Marcia needs to do this. She needs to find her place," Angie said
"What? What is happening?" Rafael said
"Bye, Marcia!"
"Bye! Bye-bye!"
Marcia gave one final wave before stepping into the portal.
Star wore a large excited smile on her face bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
A portal opened up and out stepped Marcia with Liger.
"You're here!" Star cheered
She ran tackling her friend in a crushing hug.
"Hey Star."
"Hey, Marcia."
"Now Star remember why Marcia is here-"
"Yeah, yeah," Star waved her hand, cutting her mother off. "Magic powers and all that, I got it! This is gonna be so much fun! It'll be like having the sister I've always wanted!"
Star hooked her arm with Marcia's and started to drag her up the long flight of stairs.
"Come on! Let's go make you a room!"
A/N: Here's the first taste of AU. Things are going out of order here! I am so excited!