magix city
magix
"Who was that?" Musa asked before he even hung up.
Riven gave her a look and sat down on the couch beside her. "It was Sky. He heard."
Musa closed her eyes. "Okay."
He looked at her, waiting for her to say something else. But she just opened her eyes again and turned on the television.
She looked over at him, but didn't say anything. Neither of them said anything.
It was past midnight by the time Stella got home, and there was a message from Bloom on her personal phone, which she'd left there all night. "Hi, Stella. It's me. Bloom, I mean. Uh, did you hear the news? Or, if you don't know what I'm talking about I guess you didn't. Um, call me. I don't really feel like saying it in a voice mail. So...yeah. Just call me when you get a—"
The message cut off. What news? From today? She didn't have time to read the news unless it was about her. Everything else, she would know when it happened, and if it didn't, then she didn't have to care.
Stella mechanically pressed Bloom's contact, wondering if voice mails were a holdout from her Earth days. Bloom was absolutely the only person in the universe who left them, excluding telemarketers. She put it on speaker, so she could start taking off her jewelry as it rung, and a moment later, a hologram of Bloom appeared.
"Hey," she said. "How are you? I feel like we haven't talked in forever."
"I'm okay," said Stella. Her necklace clicked on the table of her glass vanity. "What's up?"
It wasn't until she saw the flash of hurt in Bloom's (holographic) face that she realized her mistake, but by then it was too late to say anything. Oh, well. She was busy. It wasn't like she was going to find a minute to talk to Bloom anytime soon anyway, apart from this thing that was supposed to be an emergency—oh, shit! Had someone died?
"Did someone die?" She said immediately, before Bloom opened her mouth. "Did someone—" But she shook her head quickly, and once again Stella's interest in the conversation flagged to its normal level. She was so tired.
"No one died. But on the news they're saying that Magix has voted to destroy the Omega Dimension at latest by next year. So it's gonna be...gone."
Oh. She sighed. "That sucks."
"Yeah," said Bloom. And then they just sat there for a second. Then Bloom started to say, "It's really—"
"I feel like I should send flowers. Should I send flowers?" Stella asked suddenly. She realized she had interrupted Bloom. But honestly, if Bloom wanted to be heard she should just keep talking. And she didn't. So it must not have been important.
"Uh, where?"
"To Timmy."
"Flowers?"
"With a card."
Bloom wrinkled her nose. "I don't think so. That seems a little impersonal. Even for you."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing. But you could just call him and ask how he is. That's what the rest of us are doing, and Brandon and—uh, he and Riven are going to check on him."
"You can say his name, I don't care," Stella muttered. Then, louder, she said, "well, I don't have time tomorrow and it's already too late to call today."
"I picked up," said Bloom.
"Yeah," said Stella.
She didn't say anything for a second. Bloom didn't either. Then she said, "I should go. Bye."
"Bye," said Bloom.
She hung up. The little holograph shimmered and then faded away.
Stella took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was hot behind her eyelids. It was cold in her room. She didn't want to think about anything, she didn't want to think about anything, she didn't want to think about anything.