I must have looked like a little kid, curled up on the ground in fear, listening for another sound to know where I was. All I heard however was my own uneasy breath and frantic heart throbbing inside my chest. I shut my eyes, despite the fact everything was still nothingness and I held my knees tighter into me.

I had called his name but he never called out back to me. He wasn't here and just by that, I knew I was in serious trouble. I never relied on him so much and now that he was gone, I have no one to be my eyes for me.

His name was Marco.

When I first met him, he didn't know about it until I told him. He held my hand and walked slowly by my side to make sure I was okay. And when he was with me, I really was okay. He made me happy, something I thought I could never have because of the curse I was born with. He helps me memorize his home and where everything is so I don't stumble or trip. When he does so, he keeps his hands on mine, acting as a guide as he puts my hand on the railing of the staircase. I don't know if he feels it too or if it's just me but the sparks of electricity run into my body just from the touch of his fingertips on my skin.

I called out for Marco desperately, as loud as I could. I needed him so bad right now though I know he hates me for depending on him so much. Sometimes I wonder if he can even tolerate me, wondering why I bothered to come live with him. I know it wasn't his choice though. Besides, his parents were the ones to welcome me into their home and for some reason I feel like I've intruded on his life. I've thought about running away so many times when I felt like I was. In the end it never really mattered anyway. Where would I go? I couldn't make it without someone else's eyes. Instead, I cried myself to sleep, thinking Marco didn't want me here at all.

I remember him asking me one night, "What do you see?"

I didn't know how else to respond other than, "Nothing... just... nothing."

Yet, I had asked him my own question that I had been secretly, desperately wanting to know myself. "What's it like out there? What do you see?"

He laughed slightly before answering with a quiet and soft voice as if in amazement. "I see... everything!"

Before I knew it, I kept asking and wondering. "Y-you can see me? What do I look like - how do I look?"

"Star, you look... a-amazing. I-I mean... your hair, your hearts..." I felt two light taps of his finger, touching each side of my face, softly touching my cheeks. Then he chortled again, making me do the same when I felt the tiny spark of electricity go through me from his touch. "And your eyes... they're a blue haze, faded and misty, but still beautiful."

I raised up my hand, wanting to know his face but then dropped it. Then, he took my hand and brought it into his own, raising my hand again. "It's okay." He assured me.

With that, he carried my hand, along with his own, up to his face, laying the palm of my hand on his soft skin. I did the same with my other hand too, bringing it up to him and holding his face. I brought them up higher, feeling his full head of gentle hair, feeling it run through my fingers so delicately. I brought them back down, sliding down his forehead and alongside his cheeks.

"Is that a mole?" I asked him, feeling the slight bump on his left cheek. He responded with a chortle, making me smile.

"Y-yeah."

"You never told me you have a mole." I chuckled as he did the same.

As I brought my fingers lower, I found his lips, stroking his fair, tender, amazing lips.

He froze in place. I could tell. I sensed his breathing stop as well. When he had found it once more, he lunged forward so suddenly and quickly, thinning the space between us. His breath came off on me and then his lips sealed mine, making my heart skip a beat and my stomach dive and flop.

With the sudden overwhelming excitement came a new feeling that ran through my veins, through my blood. It came from within me and I gripped onto the side of my bed, hoping it wouldn't show. My body began to boil and I felt the tingle and tickle of magic inside of me build up.

My parents brought me to Earth, hoping that I would eventually get everything under control.

Unfortunately that night, I had slipped up, accidentally letting it shine and glow. Marco had pulled away from me, gasping from fright and sprung up suddenly. Before I could even explain, he ran out of the room, but not before stumbling on the side table next to my bed. But that was just a few days ago.

Until Marco went missing.

I hadn't heard from him again since that night. After spending the unbearable days without him to be found with his parents worrying, I had gotten up and stormed out, determined to find him myself. I remember panickingly searching for the front door with my hands and swinging the door open, Marco's parents desperately begging me not to run off. But I did anyway. I ran out, the rain hitting me hard and soaking me as I stumbled and tripped while running, not knowing what was in my way as I went.

I remember calling his name out to the world, tumbling in the woods, hitting trees and letting their branches scratch me until I bled on my arms and let the thorns tear at my legs and dress. When I had tripped once more, falling forward in wet mud, I began to slip down a hill and soon I was tumbling, unable to stop myself. The last thing I can recall is hitting my head on hard rock and getting the wind knocked out of me.

Where was I? How long had I been out? What happened to Marco? Was he okay?

The ground was cold and the air smelled not at all like Marco's house. Everytime I called out, there was an echo, making me think that the area around me was larger than I had previously thought.

I laid down, unable to take the continuous pounding of my head as it ached terribly. I needed to hear his voice. If it wasn't for a thud in the distance, I wouldn't have ceased from wailing out and I sat for a moment, frozen, my mind driving me insane with fear. I slowly laid down on my side and went into a fetal position, tears falling from my eyes so rapidly and so quickly that there was no stopping them.

It was good to know that though my eyes did not help me see the threat infront of me, they did help me cry about it.

At last, I heard slurred footsteps coming closer and closer, louder and louder. The more uncomfortably close they got, the more I knew the person was approaching me. Their footsteps were light as if their weight was light, which meant they had to be young and not yet fully grown. As they hummed, I finally knew it was a boy, low octave voice yet it held youth behind it. It was the voice of a tenor. As he hummed, he hummed a familiar tune. It was one that I knew well. And it taunted me.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star... how I wonder what you... are..."

I sprung up and froze once more, as the footsteps from behind me had went mute. They were standing there now, I could feel it.

Don't breathe. Don't move. Don't do anything.

I sniffled back the tears and dried my face quickly, trying to hide the fact that I was crying. I stayed quiet, waiting for another sound. That's when the person before me laughed in my ears, almost intimidatingly, as if it was humorous to him about my vulnerability and sensitivity. "It's okay." He bent down next to my ear, looming over me, as if to whisper his words gently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

His voice was eerily familiar and the more he spoke, the more I was sure it was him.

"M-Marco?" My voice croaked out in a mumble.

"Why, Princess Butterfly." He exclaimed, laughing as he did. "Don't you remember the sound of my voice?" I felt a hand sit on the top of my head and pat me as if I was a pet. I jerked my head away from the hand that once was soothing and my favorite comfort, but now made me uneasy and afraid.

"You're not Marco." I murmured, knowing the true sound of his voice. Marco's true voice was like the sound of my favorite angelic tune, played on a loop.

This one sounded dull and emotionless. "On the contrary, sweetheart. I would like to think that I haven't changed that much. And I suppose this is the treatment I get for getting you out of that rain." I felt him kneel down closer to me and he lifted my hand with his own, beckoning me to get up. The electricity that used to soar through me from his touch was now gone and my heart sunk. I did as he had wanted and stood up, my legs shaking underneath me. "Come on. Let me see that bruise." He said.

His fingers traced my forehead until he hit a plump spot where the pain made me wince. "Hm." He began as if he was seriously wondering yet still had a dull interest. "Still a bit swollen." A cold object had been placed on my forehead, causing me to jerk away from the sudden chill. He laughed, a fake and non-Marco laugh. "Don't worry. It's just ice." He took his firm hand and held my chin, lifting my face to lay the ice back on my bruise but I retaliated. I pushed his arm away from me, feeling the sleeve of his clothes, a slick and smooth sleeve, making me wonder if he was wearing a suit, a tux to be more specific.

"What happened to you?" I murmured. I felt him try to get closer to me but the more he took a step forward, the more I backed up until I frightened myself and hit a wall from behind. I had trapped myself and he was cornering me now.

"Oh, Princess. Don't make this so difficult. He doesn't want you. He just wants your... special power..."

"What? You're not making any sense. Marco, w-what's going on? Where are we?" My breathing became unsteady and my body began to tremble with anxiety.

"And if he tries to take you, I won't let him. Besides... I care too much about you to lose you." As he talked, he dropped in volume, coming to a whisper as he came closer and closer to me until I could feel his breath. His lips fell on mine, yet it wasn't as magical as it had felt before. It felt like a fake kiss, a tasteless one with a blunt flavor. His lips had not changed but the way he had kissed me had become too forged to ever be real.

I pulled away from him just as he let out a breathy laugh. "What's the matter?"

I shook my head and closed my eyes though it didn't make much of a difference as I still saw nothing. "It's not the same." I muttered, holding onto my sides, hugging myself. "Can we go home... please?"

Instead of Marco's voice answering, another voice had rang in, their footsteps walking up to us. They were heavy which told me they were an adult. "I'm afraid I cannot let you go." Another man's voice had spoke aloud. "You see? I needed an assistant to bring you to me. I hope you don't mind but Marco seemed to be the obvious choice... and now that I have you right where I need you, we can finally start." He said, his tone of voice in a calm and professional manner. It almost sounded like...

"Toffee..." I gasped, my heart racing a million miles a second.

He laughed, a very sinister laugh, telling me I was right. "So you haven't forgotten me? That makes this reunion much more special."

As he began to walk off into a different part of the building, his footsteps echoed and Marco had taken my hand, beckoning me to follow, which I felt I had no choice other than to do so. As we went, Toffee had started to talk more. "I know you must be scared, but please remember... the more you fight it, the more it will hurt. I suggest you save yourself the pain and let us get it over with quickly." Now he was mocking me, drilling in my fear until it was practically killing me.

"What do you want from me?" My voice shook and quivered. I didn't get a responce. Instead, I heard the long, loud, unbearable creak of a door as it opened and brought noise to the corridors. With that, Marco had dragged me inside to the room. He continued on until we had reached a chair and he told me to sit down and remain calm. Just before his hand could pull away from me, I grabbed it and he stopped. "Please, Marco, come back to me!" I pleaded, tugging harder at his hand. "This isn't you! You need to stop... before you hurt me... "

Toffee laughed wickedly and almost sinisterly. "Don't bother, Princess. My spell allows him to listen to me now." I felt Toffee approach me now, hovering by my side, towering over me. "Now just sit still. It will all be over before you know it."

Marco took my wrists, locking them into restraints on the chair's arm rests, wrapping the leather tight until I couldn't break free. My bottom lip began to quiver from the fear of not knowing what was going to happen next. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from bursting out in terror and tears.

I heard the humming sound of a machine come from above my head until a helmet, it felt like, came down and was placed on top of my head. The moment it did, I felt my body chill cold in total fear. Then, my veins burned hot like fire and my hair began to flow as if the gravity in the room had been released. "Let me go! Let me go!" I shouted in a tremendous panic.

I clenched my fists into tight balls, shaking my arms to attempt to somehow slip free from my restraints. As my blood ran through me like lava, I felt it. It was the tingle and tickle of magic coming back to me. And as it began to fade, the leather restraints had torn away from my wrists and I tumbled out of the chair, away from the heavy contraption on my head and searching for the exit, using my hands as my guide frantically. It didn't help that dipping down had drained me physically either.

"Get her! Don't let her escape!" Toffee had commanded to Marco. I dove towards the wall, finding the doorknob in, what felt like, a million seconds too many. In the moment I had hold of the rounded knob, two arms had wrapped around me and tugged me back.

"Marco, stop! Let go of me! You can't do this!" Though, he continued to. He took me back to the chair from which I had come, but not without me putting up a fight along the way, kicking and swinging my feet in the air like a traumatized kid.

To get me to stay this time, they tied me to the back of the chair with rope and as they did so, I couldn't hold my sobs back any longer. I began to cry, still trying to not though as I held most of it back until I was choking on my tears.

The helmet from above had been lowered once more, it's humming more threatening than ever. Once it was back on, there was the sound of the heavy switch, a lever, and the sudden sharp pang had lunged me back in my seat until I could have sworn my blood felt like it was flowing in reverse and my body went numb before the pain kicked in.

The tingle of magic was no longer tingling or tickling. It was no longer the feeling of pins and needles. It was like all my oxygen was leaving my body at once and I couldn't help but suffocate from it. The more of my magic that was forced out of me, the more I felt exhausted and drained. My head had developed a throbbing sensation, a migraine.

Toffee's proud laughter shook my eardrums and I wasn't sure how much longer I could take the intense sharp pain, making me believe it was enough to kill me instantly. I gripped onto the chair and gritted my teeth together from the intensity.

Suddenly, after forever it seemed, a voice broke through Toffee's laughter and my screams. "Star, no! Stop it! She can't take it anymore!" It was Marco's voice, all calmness lost. I heard the lever crank as the machine had winded down with, what sounded like, a falling Shepard's tone.

My body loosened it's muscles as I jerked forward, my head down and hair in my face. I tried my best to catch my breath and as I spoke his name, my voice was a raspy whisper. "Mar... co..."

"Star, I'm right here!" His terrified mumble said, his trembling hands, pulling back the hair from my face and parting it behind my ears. "It's gonna be okay, trust me!" He took a shaky breath and his cool, soft, gentle hands fell on my hot face. "I'm gonna get you out of here!"

...

Welp, I usually don't like leaving off at cliffhangers, but I'd like to think that Star and Marco made it out okay in this one shot haha. Since it is currently one in the morning, I'm off to sleep. Gnite all and thanks for reading!

(Blind Star AU)