Joint Message from Piper

"Over time, one must find that things will gradually or abruptly change. Grass grows, paint dries, eggs hatch and flowers wilt. One's lives, personalities and ways of living change, despite the efforts of anyone. They say when somebody dies, somebody else is born. They say the bigger you are the harder you fall, but what if instead of big, you simply glowed. Floating in space, glowing brightly and shining the light on the planet around you. However, when you are especially bright, you would be the sun, glowing and warming anything nearby. The sun effects the planets just by being there, as a beautiful celestial being. Unfortunately, if you have noticed the world has become darker and colder, it would be because beloved teacher and mentor, Lady Stella's light has blown out. If the world has become too dark for you and it all seems for nothing, remember that over time, one must find that things will gradually and abruptly change. The light of Lady Stella will shine through those who remember her. The memory of her love and our love for her will become the new sun."

-Piper

"Well, shit..." Scarlet muttered as she looked down at her StarZap, standing inside the stalls of a unisex bathroom. She had been living on Wishworld for many years and was living life like the usual young adult. She had found herself a comfy job working at a bar and a cute little apartment on the south side of town. She spends her $768 paycheck on her rent, fast food, and drugs. She didn't have a phone and instead uses her StarZap, although never in front of people. She very rarely got texts, since when she left Starland she had the intention to completely ditch the place. However, everyone still had Scarlet's number and would every so often send her a message when something within that old group had something of significance happen.

Everyone tried texting her for the first year she was gone, but gradually as they all got their own separate lives, many had stopped keeping in touch. Most of the girls had completely ghosted from the rest of the group. Many moved to other sides of Starland, while other girls like Scarlet decided life would be nice down on WishWorld and decided to live there. Every year Piper would still send each Star Darling a special Kindness Day message, despite the fact Piper was another Starling who moved to WishWorld after graduating. On WishWorld Piper was now a Munk who owned a shrine where you worshiped Stars, a situation that Scarlet would insist is a cult. There were a few instances a week where she would get a text from Libby, who was now a Sugar Mama living in a big house in Malibu with a new boyfriend every week. She had adopted two Chinese baby girls and anytime they'd do something cute Scarlet would get a text about it.

Oddly enough, she'd actually reply to Libby's texts as they weren't much effort. All it had to be was a simple "lol" or "k" and the conversation would be done. It was refreshing to have a constant, but not so constant that it's in your face. She had anticipated a text from Libby after getting this message from Piper, probably asking everyone if they needed to talk. But to Scarlet's surprise, there was nothing. Since Piper had psychic abilities and had been speaking to the dead since she was a child, she was the first to know if somebody died, making Piper the bearer of bad news when one of the members of the old gang passes away.

It had happened twice before regarding Clover and Astra, two Star Darlings who also moved to Wish World after graduating. Clover, with her natural DJ skills, decided that it was time to perform again, especially if it was for money. She made a living off of being a DJ for hire and performed at weddings, events, raves, and dances. Unfortunately, hours after a bachelor party, Clover died after her body was left in front of a closed medical clinic. She had overdosed on painkillers before anyone found her. It was written in her obituary that she was 20 years old.

Astra went to WishWorld and continued to try and become the best athlete. She did so by training for the Olympics, something she basically had already been doing her whole life. Around the same time Astra was gaining a new social life on WishWorld, a realization happened and after a lot of self-searching, Astra had come to the conclusion that he was a guy. He started going by the name Alex and saved up for 3 years to get a sex change operation. When she finally got the chance to compete, she was faced with accusations of cheating when the drug tests came back with female hormones still present. After the realization of the fact he had wasted his whole life, Alex went into a depression and eventually shot himself in the face. His body was found in his garage by his roommate. He claimed to be 24 years old at the time.

When Scarlet had received the long-winded texts from Piper informing her of the demise of her old acquaintances, Scarlet couldn't help but feel a little strange. She didn't necessarily mourn the loss of them, as neither of them spoke to Scarlet enough to leave any kind of impact on her, it was just weird knowing someone you once knew personally was no longer around. She wasn't sure if Clover and Astra were the only ones of the Star Darlings who were dead. The only ones she knew were living for sure was Libby, Piper and herself. She knew her old roommate Leona, whom she hadn't even thought of in maybe 10 years, was now a pop idol in New Prism. She knew Adora went on to become a science teacher. Off the top of her head, those were the only ones that she knew for sure were still breathing.

Scarlet had often thought of her home, wondered about her parents and old acquaintances when she first came to WishWorld. Scarlet was just as popular on WishWorld as she was in Starland, only this time around she had been more open to experiences with others. She'd be hit on by both men and woman at her various jobs and through this Scarlet discovered she was bisexual, but not looking for any kind of actual relationship. She took comfort knowing how certain of herself she had become since landing on WishWorld so many years ago. She took comfort knowing just how better she was doing than those around her, even though she was often dubbed a "troubled kid" thus leading others to assume she'd grow up to be a lost cause.

She might have become a pothead, but she was still alive. She may have had some confusing sexual moments since coming to WishWorld, but she was still alive. As long as she was alive, she was winning at life, living in a nice place while high was just the cherry on top.

She read through the message again, trying to find some kind of hint as to how exactly Lady Stella died, but couldn't find anything. Scarlet assumed it was simply an old age thing, she was pretty old even when Scarlet was a first-year student. She sighed and opened the door to the stall, only to see a coworker that she never bothered to remember the name of. Scarlet quickly put her StarZap in her pocket. "Excuse me," Scarlet said, dipping her head and going towards the sink. She looked up at herself in the mirror, checking out her jet black hair with the hot pink streaks then adjusted her punk, lacey cocktail dress that was covered in bones and scythes.

"Goin' on a smoke break soon," the coworker said, going into a stall, "Wanna take one with me?"

"Oh, no my shifts over soon," she replied before quickly leaving. She was actually about to go home and wondered to herself why she lied and couldn't have just told him she was about to leave. She left the bathroom and walked through the maze of chairs and tables to where the coats were kept. She grabbed her leather jacket and walked out the door. It was nighttime, but she couldn't see many stars due to the light pollution. Her eyes squinted as she stared up, focusing on a glowing light in the sky and pondered the mortality of her former Head Mistress.

Her feet kept moving, loud thumping footsteps caused from her huge boots added to the nighttime ambiance. Her head was up, focusing hard on the lights in the sky, wondering how many of those lights would go out eventually as well. Then her StarZap chimed. "Ah..." Scarlet muttered as she took it out, finally receiving the awaited message from Libby. Only instead of, "If you need someone to talk to I'm here :)" she read, "Do you still live in Edmonton? Asking for Vega :)"

"Vega?", Scarlet said out loud. She hadn't thought of that uptight bluehead in years, and naturally, assume Vega hadn't thought of her either. Scarlet remembered Vega well now that her name was brought up again. She remembered Vega also wore boots and had hair shorter than hers. She also remembered how much of a know-it-all she was, how she never stopped reading and loved puzzles a little bit too much.

"Yes," Scarlet replied.

"Thanks! If you need someone to talk to I'm here :)"