Hello everyone! I hadn't seen many Kelly x Marco stories on here, so I wanted to contribute something. Each chapter is going to switch between Kelly and Marco's perspectives as they venture through the untold realms of StarFan13's mind. What mysteries could it hold?

I''m working on my writing style and am trying to improve over the course of the story, so all comments are highly appreciated!


Chapter 1: The Quest

It was a bright, clear morning at Butterfly Castle as the sun climbed above the distant mountains to the east, light streaming through the windows to gently rouse the castle's inhabitants from their sleep. All, that is, but for Marco Diaz.

The cactus pajama clad boy was in a deep slumber, oblivious to the morning light after his late night glitter-gathering from the electric sparkle eels that inhabited the moat outside the castle—at Star's behest, of course. Evidently she needed a quantity of it for something "like, super important and super urgent". Depositing a jar of the polychromatic, ominously sparkling stuff outside her door after countless hours (and countless more shocks that zapped across him in agonizing, rainbow colors), Marco had at last breathed a contented sigh and shambled off to his bedroom. His sleep was not to last long, however…

"Marco?" came Star's voice as she knocked gently on his door.

"Mmph," Marco groaned, "No, Mom, I don't know where Dad's electric chest hair shaver went…"

"Marco!" came Star's voice again, her modicum of patience of already eroded.

"Urrgh. Is it stuck in between the sofa cushions like last time?"

"MARCO!"

The door to his room blew forward off its hinges as a narwhal smashed into it, falling inward and leaving the narwhal vertically impaled on the door, swaying back and forth.

"Wha, what? What's going on?" asked the startled boy as he bolted up in bed, taking in his surroundings that now consisted of a flailing narwhal fighting to maintain its poise and a beaming Star bedecked in a shimmering, rainbow-sparking sundress, complete with a matching horns headband.

"Oh, were you still sleeping?" she inquired with a smile, a flickering rainbow current rising between her horn tips that had formed a Jacob's Ladder.

Marco answered with another groan.

"Anyway, thanks for getting all this electric sparkle eel glitter for me. I've got a date with Tom to go watch the nupnups metamorphosing in the Forest of Certain Death today, and it's reeeeally helpful to have eel glitter camouflage if you want to avoid being eaten. How do I look?"

"Electrifying. Haha. . . ha," an awkward chuckle escaping him.

Trying to muster a smile, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of hurt that he'd been kept up all night just to help Star's date with Tom go more smoothly. Struggling, he concealed his emotions.

"You know, you're the best squire a princess could have!" said Star, beaming once again as she went to pat him on the shoulder, a multi-colored spark leaping to the boy and shooting across his body. Electric convulsions racked through his limbs in a painful flashback to the previous night before he collapsed back down onto his bed.

"Oh my God, Marco, are you okay?"

Coughing weakly, he managed to stick out a thumbs up.

"Still breathing. Have fun, Star."

"Okay! Take the day off, Marco, you could use the rest! Byyyyye!" called Star, the laboring narwhal poofing away as she skipped out the now doorless hole in Marco's wall. Sparks trailed behind her.

Wide awake after his untimely electrocution, Marco gave up on the idea of going back to bed. His body was sore from the late night of sparkle eel wrestling behind him, and he instead got up gingerly, taking careful steps as he went to look out of the window. Glancing down towards the gate, he was just in time to see Tom's demon elevator burst from the ground in flames. Tom stepped out in a shimmering suit and tie, grinning as Star pranced up to kiss him on the cheek before she grabbed his hand and yanked him along towards the Forest. Marco could just make out Star crying "Nupnups ahoy!" as their two figures, dazzling in the early morning sunlight, ran alongside each other.

Marco sighed, looking down in despondence at a small cactus on his windowsill. Everything had just been so. . . complicated since Star had confessed her romantic feelings for him. His relationship with Jackie had sputtered out shortly after he returned to Earth, and when he had finally decided that it was Mewni, and his best friend's side, where he ought to be, he found her dating her demon ex-boyfriend Tom. Now he was here, he was her squire, but what was he really to her anymore? They had been best friends, and they would always be close, but the dynamic between them had shifted. She had practically become his boss, and where sharing their intimate thoughts without question had once characterized their relationship, it was now dominated by uncomfortable silences and sensitive topics. And, of course, there was Tom.

He sighed again. This wasn't a problem that could be reasoned out with cool logic, no matter how much he wished it could be. Moving to the center of his room, Marco began to stretch, warming up to practice karate. The martial art always managed to leave him calm and centered, and his stiff muscles would appreciate the exercise, too.

After a few series of jabs, elbow strikes, and roundhouse kicks, Marco was grinning in spite of himself. It was a beautiful day, and he was feeling surprisingly good. Plus, with the day off to himself, he could do whatever he pleased. Changing into his customary black jeans and red hoodie, he began to wander the castle, and his mind wandered with him. He was happily lost in simple thoughts, and he passed by the kitchen to grab some cornbread as he wondered what sort of possibilities the day held.

Visiting Hekapoo to see his dragon cycle, Nachos, crossed his mind, but he shuddered when he remembered the iciness of their last encounter. It hurt him to hear her say that they would no longer work together after she discovered that he had been covering up for the portals Star was creating in her sleep. Ah, Star, he thought, and his mind began its slow, well-trodden spiral into the labyrinth of emotions surrounding her. And there, prowling the maze with a grin on its face, was a three-eyed minotaur wreathed in flames.

Fortunately, it was at just that moment that Marco heard a monstrous squeal come from the stairs leading to the lower levels of the castle, followed by someone bellowing, "For Mewni!" His mind suddenly yanked from its unhappy reverie, he ran down the stairs at top speed, every step punctuated by the clamoring sounds of a skirmish below. Rounding the final bend of the spiraling staircase, he found himself at the door to the Royal Laundry Room. He crashed through with a flying kick that sent splinters flying, landing with his karate hands at the ready. Above him was the Knight of the Wash, Sir Lavabo, his chest pinned down on the edge of the massive wash basin by the hoof of what looked like an oversized wild boar made of chunks of gelatin, gristle, and grease. A blue, cape-like object was stuck to its back, and large, yellowish globs flew in all directions as it reared its unsightly, semi-translucent head.

"Marco Díaz! Brave squire!" Called the Knight, relief rising in his deep voice of Spanish accent. Raising both his arms, he grabbed the beast by its jutting tusks while tucking his knees into his chest, then pulled down with his arms while thrusting both legs up into its belly, throwing its hulking form over himself where it splattered on the floor below, globules of the fiend bouncing off in all directions.

The Knight leapt from the basin and somersaulted to the floor, landing a few paces in front of Marco.

"Squire Marco, I have an urgent mission of utmost importance for you. As the only other living soul to enter the Royal Lint Catcher and return alive, I fear that I can trust only you with this task." Marco gulped, remembering the last time someone had told him about an urgent, important task.

"Thanks, Sir Lavabo, but it looks like you've got things handled here! I think I'm just gonna—"

"No, Squire Marco," interrupted the Knight, "the Royal Laundry Room is in dire crisis. There are but a few drops of Royal Strength detergent remaining, and I am needed here to clean this particularly demonic stain on one of the King's meat blankets. Look now! Already it reforms!" Gesturing behind himself, the gristly orbs were rolling back to the splatter site, congealing once more into a malevolent, wobbling mass. "If the supply is not replenished, yet further terrors shall emerge from the castle's dirty linens! There will be no fighting them!"

As if to voice its agreement with the silver-bearded Sir Lavabo, the reformed beast let out a bloodcurdling squeal and pawed the ground, the last of its oily globs returning and rolling up its legs.

Goosebumps rose on Marco's flesh, and he could feel the nape of his neck tighten. This was no foe to face lightly, and respect rose in his breast for the weathered Knight who had spent so many decades in the never-ending struggle for pure, clean, and fresh-smelling linens.

"Alright," cried Marco, his determination overpowering his fear, "Where do I find the detergent?!"

"The thing you have to know about Royal Strength detergent," the Knight yelled, grabbing his lance as he sprinted towards the charging beast, "is that it is unimaginably strong! For most people, that is. . ."

Saying so, the Knight vaulted himself over and onto the beast, landing on its rump. His voice shaking up and down as the boar leapt about, he continued, "Royal Strength detergent can only be found in an unparalleled imagination! At present, we know of only one in all the dimensions."

By now, the beast was beginning to sizzle with rage, oil painting the walls at every loud pop. The scent of bacon filled the room. The Knight's armor began to warm, and he slid off the boar lest he fry in his shell.

Backing away slowly, he said, "That someone is a human—an Earth girl I believe you know by the name of StarFan13. You will find the detergent at the bottom of Shipwreck Cove. But take caution! It is an unstable dimension, and there is no telling what horrors may lurk within it! Now go!"

"I understand. I will be back, Sir Lavabo!"

As Marco sprinted from the room, the last thing he saw was the Knight of the Wash slide-tackling the boar as he roared, "I've got you now, you sebaceous scum!"

Reaching the top of the stairs, Marco panted, collecting his thoughts. He'd very nearly died on the first quest Sir Lavabo had sent him on, and he'd even had Star as backup. If he was going to make it through this quest alive, he'd need someone he could trust. Someone who could fight. Someone who wasn't Star. That only left. . . Her.

Marco smiled.

"Hey, Kelly. Yeah, it's Marco. Listen, I've got a favor to ask. . ."

Here ends Chapter 1.


Thanks for reading! Comments are incredibly motivational, so drop a line if you like! Cheers!

-Lapis