Marco walked along the scorched beach of the underworld back towards Star and Tom, though he almost dreaded seeing them again. Kelly had given him her number before they left, which made him feel slightly better, though it wasn't enough to relieve the guttural pain and nervousness he felt going forwards along the burning, dark brown sands. It was hard to believe it was November, given the climate, though he imagined the Underworld would be hot.
Having progressed several more feet, he finally spotted them again, cuddling together has he expected. His heart dropped into his stomach, causing it to lurch once again. Finally, he worked up the courage to approach them and at length speak.
"Uh, hey, you two," his voice cracked out in some comical sound.
"Marco, there you are," Star excitedly exclaimed, "We were wondering where you went. Where's Kelly?"
"She had to go home," Marco answered, "Did you both enjoy the Soul Rise?"
"We were kind of…distracted," Star replied pleasantly.
"What she means is," Tom interjected, "That we were too busy making out that we missed it. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. You're more gorgeous than any Soul Rise." And the two giggled and proceeded to kiss and cuddle again. Marco immediately shut his eyes, turned his head, and shuddered that the sight that appalled him.
"Anyways," Marco interrupted, "Shouldn't we be heading home?" With that, Marco produced his scissors and opened a portal.
"Yeah, we should get…" Star agreed.
"Let me take her back," Tom's voice cut her off, "You go on ahead."
"Okay," Marco answered, his face no longer able to hide his melancholy. He knew this and turned away to the portal.
"Wait, Marco!" Star shouted at him, but it was too late, as Marco was already through the portal. As it closed behind him, Star caught a glimpse for a brief moment at a whole in the clouds above, seeing what looked like a dark crimson moon, all before the clouds closed over it. As she gazed upon it for however brief a period, all she could see in her mind's eye was Marco's dejected face, all before the vision faded as Tom made some other off-color joke. She didn't hear it but proceeded to walk with him along the beach once more towards the now swirling, glowing, golden waters.
As Marco stepped through the portal, he found himself in the familiar weather of Mewni, the cool air biting his nose as Autumn began to die. The streets of the kingdom were just as silent and empty as he would have expected of this hour, the only life he could find being a small, one-eyed black cat that hissed at him before darting into an alleyway.
He looked up to find that his calculation of the portal's location was only slightly off, as he stood before the Butterfly castle. Perhaps it was his state of mind, but there was something extraordinarily off about the towering structure, though it did always look different to him at night. He continued to gaze upon it, upon the cold dark stone of the towers, upon the bleak walls of the ramparts, on a handful of decayed trees (as one would expect this time of season), upon the vacant eye-like windows in the royal onion domes of the tallest towers…he questioned if they had always been that way or if this was some hallucination.
The guards saw Marco approach the gate and shouted for it to be opened. The massive wooden doors made a harsh grating sound on their hinges as they revealed the entrance to the castle. No sooner did Marco begin to walk through them than it began to rain. Higgs was on the rampart of the gate and looked down at Marco. She wanted to shout some rude chide at him, but when she looked at him, there came upon her a strange feeling, one of which seemed to pierce into her soul. It would have seemed Marco's melancholic aura was infectious, and she couldn't bare to look upon him any further, lest she sink to his state. She proceeded to go back to polishing Sir Stabby's armor and attempted to put this venomous feeling out of her mind.
Along the path leading up to the castle, Marco thought he saw what looked like decayed roses lining it. As he proceeded on, he found what looked like an opened Snooker's wrapper nestled between two, though he paid it little mind, as he saw the warm light coming from the open door leading to the foyer. As he walked inside, he looked back once more and found the path in which he had previously walked was now engulfed with some sort of strange fog that seemed to emit some strange ghastly unnatural yellow glow around it. From the fog, a horrid miasma arose to his nostrils that seemed to smell like either decayed fungus or formaldehyde. Either way, the guards quickly shut the door behind him, leaving him now in the sanctuary of his new home.
In the dim but warm light, his eyes shifted to the fireplace within the main common room of which Moon sat in front, the chair and her back turned away from him. It appeared that she was staring at the fire, studying it without moving, enraptured by its dancing, dying embers. He glanced up above the fireplace and sitting above it, just below the family portrait was a bust of Pallas looking down upon Moon, as if judging her in some way.
Marco began his approach into the room.
"Uh, your majesty…" he began, and his words gave the queen a slight jolt.
"Oh, Marco," Moon stammered, "It's just you…I…I don't know what I thought."
"Are you okay?" Marco asked, "It's pretty late, and you seem kind of jumpy."
"I'm fine, really, darling," Moon replied, as if making some attempt to sound cheerful through her nervousness, "Just, I've been having some horrible dreams as of late, and tonight was exceptionally vivid to the point where I could not sleep." She could still see the images of it in her mind, the sky above her seemingly made of living, twitching matter, the tall, twisted cyclopean towers, and the ever present chanting in a language she could not understand, all the while with a feeling of being watched by some indescribably cosmic abomination that if any who gazed upon it, human, Mewman, or monster alike, would go mad from the revelation of its existence. Still, she shook her head and broke free of this mindset.
"You look troubled," Moon turned the subject over to him, "Did something happen this evening? And where is Star?"
"She's perfectly fine…she's with Tom…" Marco reluctantly replied. Moon could see very well through his words, but still she wouldn't press him if he didn't want to discuss it. "But these nightmares…You said that you've had them for some time."
"Yes, unfortunately," Moon answered, "Ever since Eclipsa returned." No sooner had she said this than the two of them saw some shadowy figure float through the adjacent hallway. Marco chased after the phantasmagoric shape and saw it disappear into what looked like the opposite wall, directly across from one of the windows which led to the rose garden.
He ran towards the wall where the figure had disappeared and found an odd discoloration on the wall. He pressed one of the bricks and found that the wall slid open to an unknown passage. There were some stone stares that led downward, but to where, Marco could not tell. Any visibility terminated at the fifth step. Marco gazed at the sight before him for a long time. There was a temptation within him to go down these stairs, but every instinct within him told him not to follow them. All he could do was stare into the abyss before him, and he knew something was indeed staring back at him, though he could see not what, all the while wondering, fearing, and doubting himself.
The thing could see through him, peering into the core of his mind. It was a mistake to come back to Mewni. It had all been for naught. He could see this now. He might as well have gone home after his time at the beach. Star no longer needed him; her champion was now the suave Tom. All he was to her was a servant for playtime, bad jokes, and nachos, all frivolous things that she could easily share with her demon prince.
And the invisible thing still stared at him from the darkness. Perhaps it was a mercy that he could not see it, as perhaps its true form would cause his mind to convulse. Moon stood behind him, not sure what to make of his manner but still ready to intervene should anything happen.
It seemed to whisper to him from the stairs, or perhaps that whisper was in his mind.
He perceived it to say thus: "Do you feel like a hero yet, little squire?"
And his mind replied with the word, "No!"
With that he turned away from the darkness and directly into Moon, his face buried her nightgown and his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't think to anything else but hug the whimpering boy back.
"It was all a mistake," Marco cried, "I shouldn't have come back. I'm useless to Star. Completely useless."
"Oh, Marco," Moon answered, "you know that's not true at all."
"I gave up everything," Marco continued, his tears staining Moon's nightgown, "My home, my friends, my family, my education…all to come here and lose my place in Star's life."
"Marco, you haven't," Moon said, shaking her head at his dramatics, "You've been such an influential part of Star's life that she wouldn't just toss you aside. She wanted you to stay here just as much as you wanted to come back." She then looked up at the passageway and into the darkness, seeing nothing. "Eclipsa," she hissed.
And the echo from the hidden chamber murmured back the word, "Eclipsa."
"Here," Moon pulled Marco from her and proceeded back into the common room, sitting back on one of the sofas and patting the opposite end to indicate he should sit down as well, "Let's talk." Marco had a momentary flashback to when Jackie last spoke with him, and he realized how similar Moon and Jackie's voices were.
After having sat down, he explained everything to her, from the incident at the concert, to Star's confession during the summer, his breakup with Jackie, and ultimately his resolve to come back.
"And…that's pretty much it," Marco concluded.
Moon felt out of her element on this. She hadn't any need to deal with or understand teen social dynamics in a long time, and even then, her experiences were unconventional in comparison to Star and Marco's. Still, she understood them on some level.
"Well," Moon said, "If you want me to be honest with you, I feel your decisions were reckless and short sighted, as your familial relations and education are extremely important."
"Gee, way to make me feel better," Marco rolled his eyes.
"But," Moon continued, "I can't say that most of mine were any different when I was your age either." She paused for a moment, "And believe it or not, River and I both had our share of relationship drama when we were younger. I trust, however, that you understand now how she felt when you kissed Miss Thomas, correct? Perhaps it's not a bad thing for you both to have kissed proverbial frogs; would you not agree?" Marco turned his gaze to the floor in shame. Moon could see that he understood her message. She looked around for a moment then leaned in to him, "And truth be told, I don't believe she will be with Prince Lucitor for too long. I'm grateful for the connection our kingdoms have, but his attitude and behavior is less than what I would desire for Star, and knowing her, she won't be able to tolerate his foul temperament forever."
"And you're not weirded out that I'm in love with your daughter?" Marco meekly asked.
"Truthfully, it comes as no surprise," Moon answered, "And while I would prefer her to marry within a royal line, I'm willing to possibly make an exception for her to find favor in a particular knight."
"You really think I still have potential of being a knight?" Marco asked.
"Most assuredly," Moon replied, "I've seen that potential in you since day one. You've had your moment of weakness tonight. Tomorrow, you're going to get up and continue being Star's ever steadfast squire. You're resilient and vigilant as always, and you have the potential for greatness. But perhaps, if you're concerned this 'emotional triangle' you find yourself in is too distracting, I could also assign another project for you?"
Marco nodded apprehensively.
"Heckapoo has discovered random portals opening across the multiverse," Moon continued, "Perhaps she could use your aid in closing them or even discovering their source. Plus, I know she's missed your company; she spoke very highly of you in our last meeting and even recommended you to skip being a squire and progress into full knighthood, though I could not in good faith bypass the laws in place. What say you to helping her?"
"I accept, your majesty," Marco stood and bowed.
"That's my boy," Moon replied, "Now, get your rest. Tomorrow, you will feel much better and ready to continue your quest to knighthood. And Marco…happy birthday."
"Thank you, your highness," Marco answered with a newfound smile and took his leave up the stairs to his room.
The morning sun streamed through the stain glass windows, illuminating the halls with vibrant colors. Though it astonished the two girls roaming the hallways, they were still caught up in their own conversation.
"Thanks for bringing me here," Janna said to Star, who was carrying a tray of red and black cupcakes, "It's been really hard to cram for mid-year finals as well as get in my personal reading."
"No sweat, Janna Banana," Star replied, "The Butterfly castle library is the perfect place for studying. Plus, I thought you'd like some of the magic tomes they house there."
"Can't complain," Janna laughed, "So, your trip to the Underworld…how was it?" There was a hint of jealousy in Janna's tone.
"It was great," Star answered, "Tom took me home last night." She then balanced the cupcakes on her forearm and took out her phone to show Janna a picture of him.
"Ooooh, he's hot," Janna swooned, "And I don't say that about many people."
"And off limits!" Star growled, pulling the phone away and nearly dropping the cupcakes, "He and I have been dating for a couple of months now."
"If you don't mind me asking," Janna began, "Are you worried this is going to cause friction with Marco around now?"
"Ugh, no," Star groaned, putting her phone away and repositioning her hands to carry the tray again, "Marco doesn't like me that way. I mean, he was with Jackie for some time before he decided to come here. Surely he doesn't…right?"
"Whatever you say," Janna replied, wearing her signature smug smile. They finally neared Marco's room where Janna proceeded to pick the lock. The girls opened the door to find Marco laying in bed asleep on his side.
"Wake up, Marco!" Star's voice sang out.
He didn't move.
"Marco," Star said again, "Time to wake up!"
Still, he did not respond.
"I order you to wake up, squire," Star commanded.
He still didn't answer.
Finally Janna then kicked the side of the bed. This finally caused Marco fumble around in his sheets and look over at the girls.
"Wha…?" Marco mumbled, his sight focusing on Star and her cupcakes.
"Happy birthday, Marco!" Star shouted, a pleasant smile on her face.
"You're one more year closer to the grave, Marco," Janna stated, "Congrats!"
She had remembered his birthday after all. She hadn't forgotten him. He smiled at his best friend, for whom he may harbor an unrequited love the rest of his existence. He would return this kindness, possibly even one-up it. She had said her birthday was on Stump Day, and he there decided that he would throw her the best surprise party he could for such a festive time.