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Chapter Text

The life of a Star Guardian only ends in one of two ways. You burn bright and fast and then you either go up in a sparkling explosion, or you fizzle out into the dark abyss of space.

For Lux, there's only ever one option. Quite literally, nothing can dim her light, and the things she burns for anchor her to this world. She will never burn out quietly. Perhaps it's the idealist in her, but she always imagined she'd be a Star Guardian for many, many years to come, or at least until she goes to college. When her upperclassman, mentor and fellow Star Guardian Janna told her to savor every moment with her team, she'd brushed it off as empty warnings. Maybe she was right, though, and now it's Lux' time to go up in sparks in a last-ditch effort to save the world. Maybe she should've said goodbye to her cat.

It's all falling into place now, a little too late for Lux to cherish what she had retrospectively.

So, going out with a bright, fiery bang it is then. Even if this would mean her end, saving herself means nothing if she cannot save those she holds closest.

The gaping maw that only minutes ago had covered the entire night sky above Valoran City has rapidly closed to the size of an elevator door. If Lux' memory serves her right, it will close entirely and then simply zip out of this plane of existence, taking everything it has devoured with it into whatever void hell it came from.

And with it, her best friend. Jinx.

The red Star Guardian had just been by her side, weapon in hand like it was a confetti cannon, laughing at the inter-dimensional threat and firing rockets into its gaping mouth.

"This thing is hungry," Jinx had commented with a giggle, her bright burgundy hair whipping in the wind of the great black hole's suction above them. "Let me feed it something tasty!"

They stood on one of the tallest buildings in the city, their feet firmly wedged beneath the balustrade because flying right now would be suicide. Except Jinx had pulled two grenades from somewhere in her skirts and began climbing on top of the railing.

Before Lux could've said anything, her best friend launched herself into the air and straight at the Vortex.

The explosives passed into the darkness without a sound, and seconds later, Jinx disappeared behind them into the abyss.

So now the monster decided it had consumed enough magic and would retreat into its void dimension.

Only over Lux' dead body, obviously.

Somewhere within her, Lux is hyper-aware of the fact that she has no clue if her magic alone will be enough to defeat the Vortex. That's kind of the only thing she can bank on right now. In these few remaining seconds, there's no time for plan Bs.

Gathering all that remains in her, Lux raises her bruised arms at the howling Vortex and points her Radiant Staff at its gaping center. In a fight with the scions of the ever-growing darkness, she would have probably said something really cool and witty. Her blow hurts double if her opponent knows it barely cost her anything and she's also really smug about it. But Lux doubts this thing can hear, and she's sort of at the end of her rope here.

She's afraid she is coming too close to finding out the limits of her strength, but more pressing in her mind is the thought of getting Jinx out of there, somehow, hopefully alive.

It starts with the familiar tickling on her skin like goosebumps as she summons the light from within her. It reverberates through her, increasing to a loud thrumming, but Lux holds on past the point she would usually release at. Just a little more, just a little, until every fiber of her feels like it's on fire, until it feels like she cannot hold it inside of her any longer, and then just a little more.

Then, with a loud scream, she lets all the built up light inside of her rip through every cell of her and into the staff, and a blinding beam of light explodes out of the end of it.

The Vortex, an endlessly large void being currently trying to compress itself small enough to fit back through the wormhole into its own dimension, cannot withstand the blast coupled with the pressure from the black hole within. The streets boom with the echo of the explosion above it, as the void creature explodes into bits of black leather and purple goo, releasing all the news stands, park benches and Star Guardians it sucked up in its attempt to eat up the bright magic of Valoran City.

As the sky turns from blinding white back into the dark blue night sky, Lux' entire body feels like lead. It's like she not only drained her magic but she used up some of her life energy, too. Her knuckles are white around her Radiant Staff, and she has to hold onto the railing if she doesn't want to keel over from exhaustion. If she tries to fly now, she'll surely plummet into the street like a sack of stones.

As the dust settles, she spots the dot of red in the midst of the chaos below. There's no time to waste, so she runs (or rather wobbles) to the elevator and frantically presses buttons like it'll somehow speed up her descent.

"Jinx!"

By the time Lux has made it down from the top of the skyscraper and skidded to a halt next to her friend, Jinx has already managed to push herself up onto her knees and hands.

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

Without hesitation, Lux drops down to her knees next to Jinx to help prop her up if needed. If Jinx was truly okay, she'd be loudly whining and complaining about wasted explosives or alien slime in her eyes — but her friend is suspiciously quiet.

"Hey," Lux asks softly, trying to catch a glimpse at Jinx' face while her friend is still bent downwards and breathing heavily.

"Can you stand? Should I call someone?"

"I'm fine," sounds the reply, and apart from the shortness of breath it does look like all of Jinx' limbs are still in place and largely undigested.

That's not what worries Lux. Her eyebrows knit together, but she doesn't press it. She knows Jinx better than anybody, better even than probably herself. They've been inseparable since pre-school, gone through all the highs and lows imaginable, including being chosen as magical Star Guardians by the First Star to defend their reality against the creatures from the void.

All throughout, Jinx has never lost her chipper bite. Not the most horrifying void monsters could shake her, through everything she retained her wit and snark. If she's not laughing, she's cursing, or yelling, or making funny faces. They always joke that if Lux is powered by love and light, Jinx is powered by spite and arson (and lots and lots of caffeine).

"It's just a scratch?" Lux offers, even though it's not her line.

But Jinx won't even look at her. There's no funny quip or sarcastic remark, not even a crooked smile. She's still looking downward, hands clenched into fists on the asphalt, shaking ever so slightly.

Oh heavens, Lux knows her heart is fragile, but it might as well be brittle glass the way it breaks into shards inside her chest.

In any other situation, Lux would've put an encouraging hand on her back, or reached for a hug, but her hand hovers indecisively over Jinx' still slime-smeared shoulder.

"Let's go home," she finally sighs softly, and offers her hand to aid Jinx in getting up.

After another few seconds of silence, Jinx stands up by herself, ignoring the outstretched hand and looking around, assessing the damage for the first time.

The entirety of Valoran City park looks like it's been chewed up and spit out by a purple goo monster, which is partly true, and there's voidling-debris everywhere.

"Nice save, Lux."

Finally, there is a bit of that signature snark again, even if weak. Jinx gives her a smile that looks more like a grimace, the muscles around her mouth twitching suspiciously. Lux knows better than to ask.

"Let's get you cleaned up, hm?"

She can't help but use that sing-songy dulcet tone, that everything-is-alright-I-promise thing she does when things are really not alright, but even though she's sure Jinx notices, she can't expect her to react.

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Back in the dormitories of Valoran City High, Jinx disappears in the shower for a good hour. Maybe she can sense the impending quiet-but-judgemental sermon they're about to get from Janna about going out to fight monsters by themselves. They're a team after all, it's not hard to send a quick text into the group chat that, hey, by the way, we're going to take on that thing in the sky. In Lux' defense, though, that thing in the sky was bigger than a city block and not really difficult to spot from campus.

Lux has tried to placate her mentor with a paragraph-long apology and the promise to talk tomorrow because they're both really tired, but she's not sure Janna won't come knocking at her door anyway, expression dark like a storm cloud. But besides that, Lux has other things on her mind.

Ideally, Lux could crawl into bed and sleep for a billion years, but the anxious wait for the noise of the shower next door to stop keeps her awake. Fine, and stress-eating an entire bag of candied almonds. Sitting on the bed, she goes over things to say or ask that could get Jinx to open up about what the hells happened today, but the reality is that if Jinx doesn't want to talk, she won't talk.

The second she hears the water turn off on the other side of the wall, Lux sends a text to Jinx.

Me ¹¹˙²² ᵖᵐ
Can I come over? 💓

Sure enough, the response comes a few minutes later:

Jinx ¹¹˙³⁵ ᵖᵐ
idont rly wna talk rn

Lux is about to send an apology and turn around in bed to let the thoughts eat her, when her phone dings with a follow up message:

Jinx ¹¹˙³⁵ ᵖᵐ
but sure

Jinx is sitting upright in her own bed, her long red hair still wrapped in a big towel knot on her head. She's got an open bag of wasabi nuts on the duvet beside her and is shooting them into a mug on her desk with a hair-tie-turned-slingshot. When Lux tiptoes inside, Jinx doesn't say anything but puts down the tie and slaps on the mattress next to her for Lux to join her.

Technically, they're not allowed outside of their rooms after curfew, but their two rooms are right next to each other, and if they're quiet enough, they can stay up whispering under the covers all night. Lux has a feeling they won't do any talking tonight, but it's still comforting to fall asleep next to each other after what they've been through.

Kuro and Shiro, Jinx' magical mediums that transform into her weapons in combat, are fighting over a pack of mints in the corner of the messy room (or "creatively chaotic", as Jinx calls it). Things seem less out of the ordinary that just earlier tonight, but Lux swallows down any questions about what happened earlier as she slips under the duvet next to Jinx.

Even though they've probably done this a thousand times in the three years at Valoran City High, there's still something exciting about huddling up under the blankets together like when they were children. Freshly cleaned of the monster goo and packed between thick blankets and pillows, it feels like the outside world is miles and miles away.

"Goodnight," Lux whispers, for lack of anything better to say. Jinx said she doesn't want to talk, and Lux is too exhausted to press.

She feels the mattress shift as Jinx readjusts beside her.

"Lights, please?"

Even though her eyes are already closed fast and she's snuggled up so comfortably, Lux reaches a lazy hand out from under the blanket and closes the light from the overhead bulbs in her fist, submerging the room in comfortable darkness. Turning lights off and on without having to stand up to get the switch is probably the second best use of her powers. After saving the world, of course.

"Goodnight, Pinkiepuff," she hears Jinx sigh beside her, and then, directed at the rustling corner of the room, a hissed "Yeah, yeah, goodnight you two! Quiet now!"

Under the covers, a cold ring finger interlaces with her own, letting the rest of Lux' worries fall from her shoulders. It's the same gesture of quiet reassurance they've been doing since they were small. Even when there are no words to say, it means everything's okay.

Chapter Text

Everything is not okay. In fact, things are so un-okay even Lulu comments on it at breakfast, despite usually always being in her own world and barely picking up on social cues from those around her.

Jinx is late for breakfast, which is nothing unusual. She claims that it's because that way she avoids the morning cafeteria line, but Lux knows first-hand that will Jinx take every extra minute of sleep in the morning she can get. If Lux had a little less self-discipline, she'd be right there with her. There's nothing worse than leaving a warm, comfy bed in the morning. But she also knows that if she snoozes her alarm even once, she's completely done for, and probably not waking up till the afternoon. This morning, for example, she had to steal away at the first ringing of Jinx' rock song alarm.

With her bowl of cereal and two kiwis, Lux sits at one of the cafeteria tables with the rest of her Star Guardian team. Even though they span across three grades, being chosen by a magical Star and battling creatures from a different dimension bonds you closer as friends than history group projects or marching band probably can.

While Poppy is finishing her homework with grim concentration, Janna reads a book that probably has nothing to do with school, and Lux is meticulously scraping out one of her kiwis with her spoon, Lulu pipes up from behind her giant pile of scrambled egg.

"Jinx is weird today. There's like... A dark aura surrounding her or something. Concerning."

Hearing that, the other girls look up to search the room for their fifth team member. There she is, in a black hoodie and chequered jeans, filling up her tray with breakfast goods, looking moody and sleepy as always.

"What do you mean?" Lux asks, the images from the battle last night suddenly flooding her memory. "What kind of dark aura?"

Honestly, Lulu often sees and hears things that aren't there, she is usually lost in her own thoughts or has conversations with the 'Starlight' or whatever. But whether the things she sees are real or not (evidence suggests they are, but Lux theorizes that sometimes it's a tactic to avoid talking to other people), to her they are always intriguing and entertaining. Never weird or concerning.

"I can't tell," Lulu says, and then she tilts her head to the side and looks up, like she's listening to something. "Oh, her light. It's gone."

The other three girls share a glance between them, and what is confusion on Poppy's face and panic in Lux' reflects as almost something like grief on Janna's features. That's when Lulu pipes up again.

"No, not gone. Flickering."

It gets really quiet for a few seconds as everybody processes what they just heard. Just as Lux opens her mouth to ask something, Jinx' breakfast tray drops onto the table with a clatter.

"'Sup, losers."

"Jinx," Lux begins, but Janna cuts in:

"Girls, I believe we need to talk about what happened yesterday."

Jinx looks unbothered. She begins stacking sandwiches on top of each other to build one mega-sandwich that she then attempts to shove into her mouth.

"What," she says between bites without swallowing, "right here?"

Janna doesn't lose her composure. In her three years here, Lux has never seen her mad, or even annoyed. Today she can sense the tension coming off of her, though, and it doesn't add up. Sure, they could've been more careful, but they defeated the Vortex in the end, didn't they?

Janna seems to decide that the high school cafeteria ten minutes before class start isn't the right place or time for this discussion, so she concedes:

"Let's meet in our classroom at four, okay?"

"Fine," Lux responds for the group.

The others nod. Poppy has a wary eye on Jinx, who's blissfully stuffing her face with her triple sandwich. Lulu is back to her old self, giggling about something only she can know. It's like hanging out with someone who's constantly on their phone, except the phone is in her head.

As breakfast time comes to a close, the Star Guardians get up to scatter into their respective classes across campus.

Lulu is chattering to Poppy for once, who seems entirely distracted, and Janna has floated off silently without anyone noticing until after she's disappeared.

Lux has literature class this morning, which is a little boring but not unenjoyable, and Jinx has to go to bed to catch up on the rest of her sleep she sacrificed by getting up early enough to get food.

"Hey," Lux grins after discarding her kiwi peels and throwing her backpack over her shoulder. With her elbow, she lightly nudges Jinx, who has somehow procured a fourth sandwich and didn't even bother to bring a backpack.

"Are you coming today?"

It's been years since Lux has genuinely attempted to get her best friend to attend classes regularly. Eventually she simply had to accept that Jinx will only go where she pleases and that, while academic validation means nothing to her, she has other means of learning and creating. A lot of the times her ideas and projects surpass the boring, inapplicable stuff they teach at Valoran City High, anyway.

Still, it's been their sort of little ritual for Lux to ask Jinx to come, and for Jinx to gallantly decline, or to surprise her now and again and actually come along (just to sleep in class instead).

Today, though, Jinx doesn't have the grace to let her down gently. With an unimpressed face, she shoves the whole sandwich in her mouth, buries her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie, and walks off in the direction of the dormitories.

Lux rarely has to bear the brunt of Jinx' bad moods. She's usually just kind of exempt, like Jinx can't stay mad in the face of her pure cheerfulness. Fine, Lux decides, if she doesn't want to hang out, she doesn't have to. After all, Lux is her friend, not her babysitter.

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The un-okayness of the situation rears its ugly head again later in the day. Lux has finished all her classes and even managed to go to the convenience store on the corner opposite the school. It's overpriced, but she really, really deserves one of those squishy, fluffy matcha sponge cakes right now. She's pretty certain that it makes most of its profits from magical teens supplementing their balanced school diets with a ton of snacks, anyway.

At four, she makes it to their classroom.

"Their" classroom is an old studio that one of the art teachers was using for her afternoon painting classes before she went into retirement. All the chairs and tables have been cleared and pushed to the edge of the room. The school only uses it for the occasional emergency dance lesson before the big school dances. For the rest of the school year, it stands empty and unlocked, and so it becomes the perfect spot for the Star Guardians to have their team meetings.

Everybody, apart from Jinx, of course, is already here.

"So. The void monster yesterday," Lux starts, for lack of a better introduction.

"I was out with Jinx in the evening. Just as it was getting dark, this big thing suddenly came down over us and began, I don't know, inhaling the whole park. I recognized from the old Star Guardian Chronicles that it's a Vortex, those huge black hole monsters that consume magic. I'm pretty sure it was after us."

"Right above Valoran City? They've never come this close before."

Poppy is right. They usually fight the void monsters in outer space, miles away from the planet's atmosphere. Not only do the voidlings keep their distance, the Star Guardians always catch them before major damage can be done.

So far, there has always been some sort of warning, a change in the air, a dream vision, a ringing in their ears or just a very strong inkling. The First Star always warns them about the attacks, and so far, they've always been on time.

Janna is leaning against one of the windows, her deep violet, gravity-defying hair reflecting the gold of the afternoon sun. There is something about the wind mage that doesn't fit in these ordinary school halls, a timeless quality, like she's seen a whole other world beyond here. Even though she refuses to lead them, saying she'd rather use her wisdom from the back lines, Janna is the most knowledgeable among them on the history of the Star Guardians' fight against the void.

"Do you remember how we noticed that the attacks from the void were getting more frequent and more coordinated recently?" She lightly taps her lower lip with her finger while thinking, a concerned expression growing on her face. "I'm getting the feeling that this is building up to a full-scale invasion."

Even though Janna sounds calm, a shiver runs down Lux' spine.

The fight against the void creatures, as far as they know, is an endless endeavor. The powerful eldritch abominations that inhabit the void dimension are older than this planet, older than this universe itself. But when this universe, and above all magic, began to flourish, its brightness and noise disturbed their eternal slumber. It's a constant nuisance that they seek to eradicate in order to go back into complete darkness.

For this reason, the First Star, a mysterious and powerful energy, created the Star Guardians. Across centuries, it chose its champions, imbuing them with light and the responsibility to defend their reality against the threat from the void.

Even though they vanquish the threats one by one, however, the monsters cannot die forever. They eventually re-materialize in their own dimension, only to begin their attacks anew. The smaller voidlings only take weeks or months to fully recover, but the bigger threats, beings Lux has only read about in the notes of previous Star Guardians, can take decades or even centuries to return.

"Are they intelligent enough to... organize?" She asks carefully, but Janna doesn't seem to listen.

She is muttering to herself, something about "The Aeon... has it already been that long?"

"At least you could kill the Vortex," Poppy says. "Just let us know next time, okay?"

Lux nods. "It came pretty close. It had already absorbed Jinx, I didn't know if I could do it by myself."

"So it ate Jinx?"

Lulu seems uncharacteristically alert, like she's actually paying attention to Lux instead of the Starlight.

"Yes, she got a little, um... You know how she is."

Lux doesn't need to explain. They've fought side by side long enough for the others to know what she means. Jinx is reckless, simply put. Sometimes it seems like she's challenging fate for the fun of it.

"No wonder she's pissy," Poppy murmurs. "She's never lost a fight before."

Lux shakes her head. It's more than a bruised ego that's plaguing her best friend, that much she can tell.

"She'll come around. We just need to give her some time."

"Lux," Janna says softly, "I fear we don't have that time. Whatever is happening, it will only get worse. We need to act with haste, and above all together."

She's right, and Lux knows it. In this moment, they can all tangibly feel Jinx' absence. Wherever her head is right now, they need to get her back somehow.

"I'll talk to her," Lux sighs. It's the only thing they can do. "I'll see you guys tonight?"

"It's pizza night," Lulu confirms, which means they'll talk again at dinner.

Everyone has their own things they fight for, apparently.

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Outside of Jinx' bedroom door, Kuro and Shiro are hanging from the doorknob, their little wings not strong enough to fully turn it.

"Oh no," Lux hurries over. "She kicked you guys out?"

Kuro gives something like a grumble. The two mediums are about the size of an apple each right now, but they grow in battle. They'd look like cute little winged balls of fluff, one black and one white, if it weren't for their sharp teeth and pointy horns. They are Jinx' magical companions that can turn into her magical weapons during combat, one into a big rocket launcher, the other one into a heavy machine gun, just like Jinx loves it.

It's said that magical mediums come to Star Guardians to help them control not only their magic but also their emotions, a sort of tool to handle the First Star's gift. Lulu and Janna each have one, but it's rare for a Guardian to need two mediums. Since Lux herself channels all her magic through her Radiant Staff she has enough discipline not to require a medium. She does kind of feel left out without a companion, though, so with a lot of coaxing she can convince her staff to turn into a little pink rabbit-medium called Mimi.

Kuro and Shiro are nothing like sweet little Mimi, though. Where Kuro, the black medium, is ferocious and chaotic like its owner, Shiro, the white one, is straight up sinister. Lux has never seen it smile, or react strongly to anything that isn't murder and bloodshed.

Still, the two of them don't deserve to be locked out here all by themselves.

Carefully, Lux knocks on the door.

"Jinx! Are you there?"

No response.

"Come on, everything's fine! No one is mad or anything. I just want to talk to you about something."

There is still no sign of life from inside, so after a few seconds, Lux quietly turns the knob and pushes the door open.

The curtains are closed, blocking out any sunlight. In the dim room, Jinx is curled up on the bed, in the same clothes as this morning, her back turned towards the door. Her long, crimson hair, usually contained in pigtails, buns, or any sort of braid, is laid out in loose tresses behind her, like a pair of broken wings.

"Jinx..." Lux whispers into the darkness. "Are you okay?"

Again, there is no response.

On tiptoes, Lux crosses the room and kneels down by Jinx' side of the bed. As expected, her friend is awake, her glassy eyes staring off into the distance. She gives no sign of acknowledging Lux' presence, not even when she puts a hand on Jinx' arm to rub soothing circles with her thumb through the fabric of the hoodie.

Lux' thoughts have run a marathon since last night, trying to puzzle together a reason for this sort of reaction from her friend. She knows that Lux would give anything to help her, fix whatever it is that makes her suffer. All she needs to do is tell her.

Finally, Jinx meets her eyes. Lux' lips form a smile all by themselves.

"Hey," she says softly, "was the fight yesterday that bad?"

"Hmm," Jinx responds, half-hum-half-groan.

"But we got it in the end. Together, right?"

"You mean I softened it up for you, huh?" Jinx chuckles weakly.

Lux can't help but laugh. It releases the knot around her heart that she didn't even feel growing tighter.

"Right," she replies. "We won't see that thing again for at least a few months. And next time we're prepared."

"I won't let you steal my kill again, Pinkie."

Lux smiles wide at that, but she still has to fill Jinx in on the conversation she had with the other Star Guardians earlier. She doesn't mean to make the mood worse, she just got Jinx to smile again, but she can't hide her concern when relaying Janna's warning from earlier.

"I think we need to be on high alert," she concludes. "We didn't even know about the Vortex before it was right on us. Maybe they've found a way to get closer to us."

"Or they've figured out they can get away with it," Jinx responds.

The response takes Lux by surprise. Yes, Jinx is pessimistic and sarcastic, but this is almost like she's admitting defeat.

"We can fight them off, though," Lux insists. "We just have to do it together. Right?"

Jinx looks at her strangely. Her expression is dark. Something unreadable is going on behind her eyes.

"Lux, I don't think the power of friendship will cut it anymore."

"Jinx!" Lux chides.

But Jinx doesn't seem like she's teasing. She pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them tightly. Lux crosses her arms.

"What do you mean it won't cut it?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should just let it run its course. Maybe there are some things not worth saving."

For a moment, Lux is actually speechless. Disappointment, anger even, bubbles up to replace whatever anxious feeling of hope she just felt.

"That's a horrible thing to say. Do you even hear yourself? Maybe if you didn't fight like you're trying to throw your life away we could actually-"

She cuts herself off. Notably, Jinx remains silent. She's not even defending herself.

"Forget it. The Star Guardians will remain strong, and I want you, no, I expect you to at least try. You hear me?"

At some point during all this, Lux stood up, so now her (admittedly unimpressive) figure looms over Jinx, who is still curled into a ball on her bed.

"I said, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Captain."

Lux can't see it, but she can hear Jinx rolling her eyes. What in the absolute audacity?!

"We'll have a proper talk with everyone tonight. You must take this seriously, Jinx. I mean it."

And with that, Lux stomps out of the room. Jinx can brood all she likes, but Lux will not let her give up like this. Never, ever, ever.

Chapter Text

As dusk settles over Valoran City, the Star Guardians set out to protect this world and its magic. They leave sparkling trails of light in their wake as they soar across the sky, unique like each of the girls: unrelenting blue, serene violet, enchanting green, the pink of hope and the red of force.

This light, instilled in them by a power great but distant, burns within them all for different reasons. In the face of a dark destiny, some seek to bring back light, while others simply want to escape.

Until the First Star chooses another team to champion its cosmic light, though, these girls have no choice but to fight.

The lights of the city turn to sparks in the distance as the Star Guardians break the atmosphere and continue towards the spot of night sky that is devoid of stars.

As they approach, the growing blotch of darkness takes shape. A giant serpent-like void creature emerges from a tear in the fabric of their dimension. Three ugly heads are lined in rows of teeth and horns, dripping with a dangerous substance. Lux does not recognize it, but she can tell from one look alone that she should avoid it at any cost.

Beneath the armored plates of its exoskeleton, the writhing body glows in sinister colors, sometimes fuchsia, sometimes purple, as if the blackness of the void tried to be luminous.

The great Baron looms over them, a manifestation from deepest chasms of darkness. The last records of previous Star Guardians that mention him are mere scraps, word-of-mouth retellings recorded centuries after the last encounter.

As Lux approaches him carefully, it feels as though her feet are dragging through water. In the vastness of space, she sees the stars above reflected below, as if she is standing on the endless mirroring surface of a well.

The two mouths on the sides of the Baron's head let out a deafening screech. The time has come.

Lux knows she must lead her team to this victory, or they will die trying. As she turns to address her friends, the words catch in her throat.

Jinx, by her side only seconds ago, is nowhere to be seen.

"Jinx?" she calls, but the vacuum of space swallows her words. The other Star Guardians are positioning for a fight, their expressions ranging from concentrated to stern, three pairs of eyes fixed on the Baron.

As Lux looks around, panicked, searching for a glimpse of the red Star Guardian, it leaves her unprepared for the blow.

From one instant to the next, she feels a sharp sting underneath her ribs as a giant spike protrudes from beneath the Baron's armor and slams into her abdomen, not sharp enough to pierce her skin but knocking all air from her as she's thrown backwards.

Lux scrambles upright, fist clenched tightly around her staff, but her divided attention between finding her friend and fighting the monster makes her unable to accomplish either.

"Jinx, where are you!" She calls out into the dark, but the only response is the deep rumbling from the Baron burying itself deeper into their universe.

Where is Jinx? Lux cannot see her anywhere, above all cannot hear her, and her desperation only grows at the other Star Guardians not seeming to even notice or care.

The Baron shakes his great ugly head, and the acidic luminous liquid rains upon them, burning holes into Lux' Star Guardian skirt and the tip of her shoe. Behind her, she hears her teammates cry out in pain. She turns to see Janna put a healing hand on Poppy, who is wincing, holding her shoulder.

There is no way they can fight like this, not with a member missing and their leader completely lost on what to do.

Desperation and fear strangle Lux. She is frozen in place, utterly unprepared.

Suddenly, the surrounding stars begin to rapidly blink out of existence, going dark one by one by one. The starlight around them fades completely, until Lux can only see the Star Guardian emblems in blue, green, violet and the pink from the bow on her own chest glowing faintly. Then, they too fall away one by one.

Lux finds herself alone in the darkness. She cannot tell if her eyes are open, which way is up, if she is still alive or part of the void or heading towards something. Then, she notices that she is plummeting.

It's a feeling all-too-familiar. This is the same dream she has been having since the day the First Star's light touched her.

Lux knows there is no fighting this. It feels like drowning without water, no light, no air. She cannot fly, cannot move, cannot feel her magic that usually strums so much louder than the beat of her own heart.

She knows she has to reach out.

There it is, at the tip of her fingers, the warm feeling she knows so well. The light of the other Star Guardians draws closer, and she sees them all falling around her, a colorful shower of meteors.

Their eyes closed as if in slumber, but she cannot call out to them, cannot wake them.

The horizon begins to glimmer as they enter the atmosphere, a golden light of dawn enveloping them all.

There is Jinx, falling right beside her, her eyes shut but the curve of her neck defiantly stretched toward her fall.

The waking city draws closer beneath them, and Lux attempts a final time to reach for Jinx before their impact. Just as her white-gloved hand can touch Jinx, Lux' fingers begin to dissipate into glowing light, until there's nothing but brightness, and then nothing but dark again.

Lux wakes up in the grey twilight of her bedroom. Her sheets are tangled in knots, her entire body aches like it did only minutes after the fight the night before. The dream ended the same way it always does, an uncatchable fall and no way to save her teammates, but the scenes before it are new. Threatening.

Janna was right. The Voidborn are preparing for something grand. Some sort of reckoning.

Chapter Text

"I slept horribly," Lux complains in the morning. "I had this nightmare that just wouldn't end!"

Jinx is sitting at the weird kids table (the Star Guardian table, sorry but everyone here's either a nerd, a weirdo or a gnome with anger issues, and she includes herself in that) with her feet on the chair and her knees pulled up to her chin so she can rest her weary head after the strenuous activity of eating twelve pancakes in a row.

Lulu doesn't say anything, but she reassuringly pats Lux' hand. Guess she manages to be a little bit bat-shit crazy and still a good friend. Jinx should be taking notes.

To be fair, Lux looks bright and perfect as she always does in the mornings, so Jinx couldn't even have told. But she knows how much Lux loooves her sleep, so getting a nightmare is like biting into your favorite cupcake and finding out it's iced in mustard and sprinkled with disappointment.

"That's tough. You should have a nap after breakfast," Jinx recommends.

"I have a quiz later." Lux sounds defeated, as if she would actually consider skipping with Jinx if it wasn't for the quiz.

Then she spills milky cereal all over her the jacket of her school uniform and Jinx is caught between laughing and wiping the sugary milk off her lapel with the sleeve of her sweater.

"Damn, you don't have to be that nervous. School is over in like, what? Three weeks?"

Lux grumbles the actual date which is more like two-and-a-half weeks but that's fine, that way they're just a few steps closer to freedom, right?

"You're counting down the days already?" Jinx grins.

"Ha-ha," Lux draws out the syllables in mock upset, "not funny."

Jinx knows that her friend is more likely calculating how much time she still has left to sleep and hang out in-between studying for finals and preparing end-of-term school festivities, not to mention the whole void stuff they were talking about yesterday. It's a little sadistic how relaxed Jinx is while everyone else is stressing over exams, but guess that's the price they have to pay for caring about stupid school.

After breakfast Jinx excuses herself, as always.

"You're not in the mood for algebra?" Lux smiles weakly, because she's probably not in the mood for it, either.

"Algebra shmalgebra," Jinx just responds, "I'll catch ya later!"

She dismisses herself with her patented 'two fingers against the forehead salute that turn into a finger gun you can shoot up to three times before it goes up in a big hand explosion'-goodbye.

She's doing better than yesterday. Jinx doesn't actually want to hurt Lux' feelings, really, she just needs some Jinx-time right now. But then her best friend is all self-sacrificing martyr sometimes where she won't try to make a fuss if something bothers her, so Jinx really has to try not to be an asshole.

After all, Lux risked her life to save hers.

She's been trying to avoid the thought, but of course it's all that Jinx' mind is stuck on these past days. Her stomach still turns at the memories.

Whatever happened to her hadn't been like getting eaten, or anything gruesome like that. It hadn't hurt her, it hadn't sucked her life energy or her magic or done any lasting harm. No, launching herself at the mouth of the Vortex, sinking her entire arsenal into it and realizing shit, nothing can stop my flight right now, was just... that. And then Jinx was surrounded by pure, absolute darkness. Silent, too, she couldn't even hear her own breath or the sound of her heartbeat. From one second to the next, like crossing a doorstep into a different reality.

And so she, what? Floated? Existed? Inside that thing, or wherever, for who knows how long. And everything was quiet. Dark. Vast. And Jinx thought: Damn. I guess I'm dead now, and that quickly became a pretty scaring thought. Because she may not have realized it before, but she doesn't actually want to be dead, and for what? A stupid dimensional war that she couldn't even stop if she tried? And if she was dead right there, and that meant that she failed to kill the monster, it also meant that the monster would eat Lux next, and then they'd both be dead. Not even like, together in death. Just individually and permanently dead, gone and extinguished.

In the empty corridor towards the fire escape, Jinx' tried and true path to escaping campus on the daily, she kicks a couple of lockers just to make herself feel better, but it's no use.

Yeah, fine, Lux actually managed to kill the thing by herself. But why did it have to target them in the first place? Why was some weird alien thing trying to eat Jinx? All over some stupid magic that she didn't even ask to have?

Not to be a big McComplainer, but that, to Jinx, is just simply not fair.

All this Star Guardian stuff was great in the beginning. Jinx got some cool powers that basically let her make the sweetest weapons she can think of. Her explosion levels went up by like a million.

But what's the point of even getting this magic if it's not good enough? How is she gonna save her friends, save herself, save Lux if she's not strong enough?

The First Star could've just put all its magic powers into one really cool fighter who could be strong enough to actually defeat the void creatures, not five individual pieces that barely fit together. Or at least make it ten. Or fifty. How can a void monster withstand fifty magical supersoldiers? It sounds like a better plan than letting high-schoolers figure out a dumb alien invasion all by themselves.

Jinx would be the first to volunteer turning her magic and all the responsibility that comes with it back in. 'Hey, here are my cool magic weapons who are little annoying fluff balls half the time, treat them well but please take them off my hands for good!' — She never asked to be chosen. What exactly about her says "Hey! Me!! I can be responsible for saving the world!!!"?! The First Star must be genuinely stupid.

"Curse the stupid Starlight, curse these stupid powers, curse Kuro and Shiro," Jinx mutters as she climbs down the fire escape.

Kuro, who along with Shiro is always around her but fluttering a good distance behind Jinx these days, gives a disappointed little growl.

"Sorry," she regretfully mutters, "I could never be mad at you guys. But y'know, this whole thing stinks."

Above all, actually, curse Lux.

If it wasn't for her, Jinx could already be halfway towards being a badass evil supervillain or something. If she wasn't so sweet and positive all the time, Jinx could probably have said no to the First Star and the Star Guardians and this whoooole mess. Sometimes she has the urge to shake Lux, like a bag of fucking rainbows, to get some sense into her.

In the beginning, Jinx has to admit, her best friend's unwavering optimism about their new, shared fate would always sweep her up, at least a little bit. It was easy to believe that this destiny of having to save a fucked-up world was anything but suicide. That somehow, simply through believing it enough, everything would magically turn out alright.

Lux loves to tell herself that. Lux is beautiful, beloved, talented and funny. Lux has never seen what real struggle looks like, and Jinx sure hopes she never has to. But for Lux, it's easy to believe.

Jinx knows that this Star Guardian stuff is serious to Lux. She likes to wear that responsibility with pride, and sure, she's prone to accidents now and then, but she wears it well. The First Star probably did right in choosing her. Her literal magic comes from that inextinguishable light inside of her.

Jinx, on the other hand, is an urchin with a penchant for destruction. She'll never be useful in saving the world, and she'll never be good enough to serve as a Star Guardian. And that's all there is.

As Jinx skips through the grass of the campus gardens, away from the school buildings and towards the parking lot, the depressing thoughts finally give away.

School sucks. Being a Star Guardian sucks. But the one thing that sure doesn't suck?

Her sweet, sweet motorbike.

In chrome, black and red, its hood curves elegantly and dangerously. The double exhaust pipes flanking its rear sides glitter almost ornamentally under the morning light.

Jinx shrugs on the red leather jacket she keeps tucked in the compartment under the seat, and that's about as much protective gear she wears.

The wind whipping her hair around her face makes her feel wild, and free. If she could feel like this forever, she wouldn't even mind giving up flying.

As she revs her engine and the school falls away behind her, the memories begin pearling off her like dew.

The world can save itself, or not, Jinx doesn't care.

The meeting with the Star Guardians last night that she was dragged to against her will (there was pizza) went about as expected. Janna may be a nice lady (no shot she is only eighteen as a fourth year, but she's still cool), but wow, can she speak aaany slooower? It makes listening to plans about a void invasion sound like a bedtime story for babies. All that Jinx got from the meeting in the end (because Lux repeated it three times looking straight at her) is that they're doing daily perimeter checks or whatever. 

Well, consider the streets of Valoran City checked.

Jinx drives out towards the outskirts of the city, where the houses turn into trees and the streets into long straits of asphalt. If she is lucky, others will show up. Teens and punks and other strangers, people whose names she doesn't need to know, just if they can be faster than her. They come in cars and on bikes, with friends or alone, with intentions or just to let off some steam.

They race until the adrenaline wears off until they're tired of losing or other responsibilities call. It's less than safe and nowhere near legal, but it's fun, and Jinx enjoys the feeling of one wrong turn getting her into a whole world of trouble. If Lux knew, she'd probably have a heart attack, so it's a good thing she doesn't.

⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚

Jinx only gets home in the late hours of the afternoon. While her peers' heads are buzzing with mathematical functions and historical dates, Jinx' mind is running around a million corners to not get caught by the thoughts she's been avoiding. The motoracing had been just the right tempo to leave them in the dust, and after rotting in bed for a whole day, getting on her feet and distracting herself the next is everything Jinx needed.

Next on the agenda is eating some delicious takeaway she grabbed from the little udon place down the street, finishing her daily quota of energy drinks (at least seven) and writing down some dope ideas she had while she was out. There are some rocket sketches and calculations, some aggressive doodles, notes about her devious plan to pass the school year without doing a lick of work. The word blackmail is underlined three times. As long as she doesn't let a certain curious pink-haired girl read these notes, she should be able to follow through with any of the outlined ideas.

Earlier today, while Jinx was out, Lux was texting her that she'd be studying in the library. Probably because she wanted an excuse to get out of there. Why else would she tell Jinx of all people? But she's made her own bed (studying), she may as well lie in it.

Jinx is just wondering what excuse to give for when Lux texts again. "My hamster has stomach problems" is a strong contender. Would it be worth getting a hamster for that? Shiro would probably murder it in its sleep, though.

Sure enough, her phone dings with the dreaded notification.

Lux @ Star Guardians Groupchat ⁷˙¹³ᵖᵐ
There's a rift opening in the sky. Let's get together!

Uh oh. That's a little bit worse than having to step foot in the library. There's a knot in Jinx' stomach and its definitely dread and not the noodles she just scarfed down after barely chewing.

Jinx can tell that her team is a bit surprised to see her turn up on time on the library roof in her Star Guardian outfit. Even though the clothing is cute and comfortable, perfect for a fight, Jinx' magical transformation usually feels a little bit like she's putting on a costume. Becoming someone she's not. It always goes more or less like giving up control, and while sometimes Jinx is eager and itching to get into a brawl, today she only reluctantly gave in to let the First Star's magic run through her.

"Glad you made it," Poppy greets her, not unsarcastically.

"Didn't want the monsters going hungry. You're such a tiny portion," Jinx fires back.

They always bicker like this. For every cute nickname Jinx has for Lux, the others get a mildly offensive one. If Lux is Pinkie then Poppy is Thumb. None of her friends take her teasing to heart, and Poppy usually always fires back.

This time, instead, Poppy's face goes dark. Jinx guesses the cynicism is going direly underappreciated.

Lux preps them for the rift with a really inspiring speech that basically goes like "We have no clue what awaits us and we might all die, but at least we die as friends!" (at least to Jinx' ears), and they all decide to do whatever they do best, which is just to blast whatever void monster comes out of the rift with all their magic. Jinx couldn't have come up with a better plan.

The sun is setting as they fly up towards what looks like an ugly wound in the fabric of reality. Dozens of small, leathery beings with bulbous purple eyes come crawling out of it, raining like maggots down on the buildings of Valoran City.

Poppy, Jinx and Lulu set down on a skyscraper roof wide enough for a helicopter to land, while Lux and Janna fly around the rift trying to contain the swarm of beings now pouring from it.

With one swing of her wand, Lulu fills Jinx with a sort of magical current. The little enchantress can always sense which one of her teammate needs a little morale boost, but the energy that is usually like a focusing rush just makes Jinx feel wired and antsy today. Kuro settles on her left shoulder, while Shiro flutters around her hand and, in a glow of starlight, forms into a heavy mini-gun.

"Ready?" Poppy growls, her bigger-than-Poppy-sized hammer poised for battle.

Jinx doesn't respond, she is already letting loose a barrage of bullets with her magic mini-gun, making the voidlings explode into glowy purple goo against the golden tapestry of the sky. Poppy takes that as her signal to begin her own smashing spree of these void mites.

Just as the wave of disgusting creatures begins to ebb, Janna comes to a halt beside her front-line teammates. She doesn't touch down but stays hovering in flight inches above the ground.

"Stay back," she cautions, "Something else is coming."

All five of them watch as big, armored claws emerge from the tear in the dimension, widening it until the creature pulls through its entire body. It looks like a giant insect, with armored wings, sharp claws, a large spiky horn on its forehead (if bugs have those) and way too many teeth.

"It's the Herald," Lux breathes. She sounds almost in awe.

Jinx grimaces. Herald of ugliness maybe. She knows that, as their fearless leader, Lux took the First Star's responsibility so serious that she began studying the journals and notes from previous Star Guardians to better understand the stuff they would have to fight against. She would show Jinx all these drawings of monsters (amateurs) and battle plans (child's play) and be genuinely exited to get to fight these voidlings, one uglier than the next. Of course she'd nerd out over actually seeing it for herself.

Jinx, on the other hand, does not care. As long as she can kill it, it doesn't matter what the ugly thing is called.

The Herald sees them below and opens her ugly mouth in a loud screech, purple saliva flying from her many rows of teeth. She shakes her scaly torso and flaps her double wings as if to gear up to fly into them.

"Everyone in position? Let's strike on three!" Lux commands, and then counts them down, "One, two, three!"

Janna sends a cyclone of air towards it that should've sent the thing backwards, but it stays planted at the opening of the rift, unmoving, it's huge, plated body heavy enough to withstand Janna's wind magic.

Lux, still flying above them, shoots balls of light towards it. Lulu waves her wand that grants Poppy a shield while the latter flies directly into the monster's face to sink her star-headed hammer into its many-toothed maw.

Jinx joins the fray, alternating between shooting at the monster with Shiro-turned-mini-gun on her right side and Kuro-turned-rocket-launcher on the other.

The creature easily shakes off Poppy in one energetic swing, sending her tumbling back towards the roof. Janna is able to cushion her fall with a gust of air, but the Herald isn't done. Seemingly focused on Poppy as her most immediate aggressor, her wings begin buzzing lowly as she takes flight, right past Lux, to slam her curved horn right into her attacker.

Luckily, Poppy reacts quickly. Instead of dodging the horn aimed right at her face, she slams her hammer into the side of it, effectively parrying it and making it ram into the ground beside her instead.

Lux, who has redirected her fire to attempt to stop the Herald from where it left her hovering, seemingly makes a discovery.

"She has a vulnerable eye on her back! Lulu, Poppy, distract her while Jinx and I hit her where it hurts!"

That should've been Jinx' cue. With Lulu's shield and her oversized hammer, Poppy can easily take the brunt of the monster's aggression, while the rest of them try to kill it from behind.

But Jinx isn't listening. Something a little dark and a little spiteful has gripped her, and it's difficult to really explain in the moment and impossible to rationalize afterwards, but her thought process goes something like, "So the First Star wants to choose me? If I'm so chosen, I should be able to do this:"

A giant explosion of stars hits the Herald into the side. She halts for a split second, then changes her course towards Jinx, stood on the opposite side of the roof, away from the other Star Guardians. She's turning her vulnerable back away from Jinx, and instead shows her her sharp claws and that giant horn she is so eager to impale them with.

It's kind of already clicking in Jinx' head in that moment that she messed up, that she's too far from her team to get shielded or defended. So she doubles down, firing her Shiro mini-gun for all it's worth into the monster's plated face.

The Herald clicks her claws and shakes her rump, gearing up for her change of course. Her pale horn is directed at Jinx like a missile head. There are a few seconds of quiet, when the isolated Star Guardian stares in the many beady eyes of the void abomination, before the Herald lets out another bone-chilling shriek and begins to charge.

Despite the noise of her bullet spray and the blood rushing in her ears, Jinx can distinctly hear Lux call out her name.

She is beyond helping, though. Without any magic to cushion Jinx, the Herald's horn rams into her in the shoulder and sends her flying across the roof.

Beyond the concrete scraping her back and the stinging pain in her shoulder, Jinx feels nothing but dark fog until she comes to, with Kuro jumping on her legs and Lux' worried face above her.

"Are you alright?" 

Lux' voice reaches her as if through water. Is she crying? Jinx can't tell, her vision is unblurring painfully slowly. There's bile rising sharply to the back of her throat. She can't really respond, the cocktail of hot shame and bitter disappointment feels like it's filling up her mouth instead.

The darkening sky is slowly filling with stars again. The rift seems to be fully closed, and only the remnants of purple goo and flakes of Herald dissolving into its otherworldy particles remain of the fight that took place here.

From across the battlefield, all her teammates are looking at Jinx. There's a great mix of emotions there, if she cared to interpret them, but the four silent stares burn on her skin equally.

"Let me help you," Lux attempts, but Jinx stubbornly ignores the outstretched hand in favor of getting onto her own feet by herself. It's dizzying, but she stands upright defiantly, brow furrowed in pain.

"Are you feeling fine?" Lux tries, for a third time. 

Again, Jinx doesn't respond. Yes, physically she feels alright. Half her body is numb, the other is still buzzing like she's been rung like a bell, but there is no pain. But she knows that that's only because of the familiar prickling of Janna's healing magic underneath her skin, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten off so easily.

She begins walking. Where? No idea, and the roof isn't too big. She's going to run out of space soon, but she doesn't care. Just get her away. Anywhere.

"Jinx!" Lux is standing right where Jinx left her, but she's calling out for her still. "The fight is over. We did it!"

"No thanks to you," adds Poppy. She's heaving, knelt next to her weapon, but trying not to let the exhaustion show. 

Jinx walks past her all the same.

"She could tell you are weaker, that's why she went for you" says Lulu. She's floating somewhere above, Jinx doesn't look to check, but her words ring in her ears.

"She's not weak," Lux' voice is trembling now, "She just made a stupid mistake!"

Although she's attempting to defend her, Lux' words don't help. A stupid mistake? Sure. All of this has been a stupid mistake, from the start.

"A mistake that could've cost all of us," Poppy retorts.

Janna doesn't say anything. She just looks sad, or whatever. When doesn't she? Jinx has, once again, disappointed her personally. 

"It's fine. We defeated it, after all. All of us." Lux steadies herself, and jogs over to Jinx' side. She attempts to put a hand on Jinx' arm, like she doesn't get it. That Jinx doesn't want to be here.  That there isn't really an us, not really, not while she's here. Why won't she get it?

Jinx pulls her arm away from under Lux' hand, and the perfect pink illusion begins to crumble. 

"Jinx? Where are you going, I-" 

"What? What do you want, Lux?" It just spills out of her, desperate, annoyed, but the words come out like ice. She halts in the middle of the roof, in the middle of all the Star Guardians.

She can see the hurt and surprise on Lux' face, and so she looks away to not have to anymore.

"I just want to help..." Lux sounds confused. 

"I don't need your help. I don't need any of this!"

"But we need you, Jinx. We're Star Guardians, you are-"

"I don't care!" Jinx cuts her off. 

She's yelling now, but she doesn't care. She says it again, to make it clear: "I don't care! I'm not like you, Lux, I'm not like any of you. I'm not made for this! The world may be sunshine and rainbows to you but it's not to me! Doesn't this stupid war against monster way bigger than us just suck? Aren't you tired of it? There is nothing we can do against it, no matter how hard we try, they get stronger and we don't."

Jinx takes a deep breath. It wasn't all meant to come out like this, but there it is. 

"I don't think 'doing it together' works. It just means 'dying together', sooner or later. I'm not good on teams, you know this. You shouldn't want me on your team because I-... I don't know. I just don't care about any of this!"

Everything goes quiet after she's spoken, like the world is holding its breath for a reaction. Lux is just looking at her, lips quivering, too shocked or too disappointed to come up with a response. Jinx doesn't care to wait. She turns on her heel again, and keeps walking.

"Where are you going?" Lux repeats quietly, a lost echo.

"I don't know! Just- away, okay?"

"Jinx!" Lux cries out, and it sounds like it's a good thing that Jinx is not looking back. 

She keeps walking, until there's no more ground to walk on, and then she flies. Out into the night sky, out towards the stars, away from everything.