Star woke up on her bed. Her head didn't hurt from the blow, which surprised her, and when she got up shakily she found she was unhurt.

She stretched and padded to the window to find it was pitch night. That surprised her too- she had stormed Toffee's castle in the evening, but checking her alarm clock, she saw it was two in the morning, and she knew she hadn't been in that castle for very long.

She cast her mind back and tried to remember what had happened.

Her brain felt fuzzy... It was like trying to remember a dream. What if it had been a dream? Star frowned. She looked around for her wand, and found it on her bedside table, intact.

Then... It couldn't have been real, because Toffee had made her destroy it.

But... There was something else she couldn't quite remember...

She squeezed her eyes shut and thought hard. Then it clicked.

Toffee had Marco.

Star gasped and ran to Marco's room, skidding to a halt just outside it.

If it had been a dream, she would wake him up and he would be cross at her all day. But if it hadn't been... he needed rescuing.

Star compromised by putting her ear to the door instead of banging it open. Listening intently, she could hear gentle snores and deep breathing from inside Marco's room. She let out a sigh of relief. He was okay. It must have been a dream after all.

Star returned to her room and flopped onto her bed, snuggling down. Soon she was fast asleep and oblivious to Marco, who was writhing in pain and screaming her name in another dimension.