Just throwing up another chapter. As I've said, this is NOT where I think the story is going, just my own spin on the story. This is a lot of talking, and Marco may seem a bit OOC by just taking all this information in with seemingly little resistance, but he's down and doesn't want to really start a fight, and he understands quickly that this guy doesn't like to repeat himself. Anyway, Enjoy.
Marco takes several minutes to recollect himself. He breaths in slowly, and when he is as calm as he could be, he begins to look around and ponders where he is. He hadn't had any place in mind when he opened the portal, so he had no idea where the portal would lead. Looking around, he is in a swirling vortex of black and white. The 'ground' beneath his feet isn't visible, it looked like he is standing on air inside of the vortex. Ahead of him is a man, floating in front of a large mirror, watching it. The mirror is constantly changing scenes. As Marco approaches the man from behind, he hears him speak.
"Marco Diaz. Finally, you arrive." With that, before Marco can really take in what the man had said, the man snaps his fingers and black tendrils appear between the two of them. They immediately dart toward Marco, at a speed that Marco has no chance of reacting against. The tendrils pierce through his chest and he jerks backwards, but strangely, there is no pain. The black tendrils enter his body and Marco's hands shake.
"Wha- what did you do to me?" Marco asks shakily, unable to stop shivering.
The man turns to face Marco. He has short, black hair, with shining light-gray eyes. His outfit was a nice suit that couldn't seem to decide what color it wanted to be: white or black. Swirls of both colors mingled and mixed on the vest and pants, making for a very bizarre image. "I have given you the powers that I was tasked to give you. Nothing more."
"What? What does that mean?" Marco thinks to himself. His hands curl into fists as he puts every effort into not shaking.
"It means..." the man speaks again. "that you now have Dark magic. Before you ask, yes, I can read your thoughts." the man adds as Marco's face shows surprise. "Allow me to explain this to you. Sit." the man gestures toward the couch in front of the big mirror.
Marco, unable to think of any way to fool a man who can read his thoughts, takes up the offer to sit, still very wary of this mysterious man.
"You and Star Butterfly were supposed to rivals. You were-"
"Wait, excuse me? Me and Star? How could we ever have been enemies?" Marco shakes his head at the nonsense he's already hearing. "And what does that have to do wi-"
"Allow me to explain it." the man interrupts. "You were supposed to be enemies. At some point in the future you were to find your way here and gain this power in order to combat against her. However, the future is never so certain. Queen Butterfly's decision to send Star to Earth rather that St. Olga's changed that future. You became close friends. Despite this, I was tasked to give you the powers, and so you arriving here, despite this not being the predicted situation that you would have attained, means I am to give you this power. It is that simple."
"I..." Marco was processing the short story the man had told him. "We were supposed to be enemies? The future changed? How would you even know any of this? Who are you?"
"This mirror tells me the future, or, to be more accurate, the most probable future given current decisions." the man explains. "As for my name, you may call me Daqous. I am the watcher of the world. That is my only job. Watch, not act. I was, however, given instructions to give you these abilities."
"Why me?" Marco asks.
"I do not know. I did not inquire."
"Who told you to give them to me?"
"I can not say."
"I was supposed to be evil?"
"Not evil, just on the monster's side. You know monsters are not inherently evil."
"I know..." Marco is very put off by this man. He talks in a neutral tone, as if all matters in the worlds that he watches matter little to him. "How can I use magic?"
"All beings had the potential for magic long ago. The ability was taken away from nearly every race. Even most Mewmen lost the ability to truly use magic, but the royal family found a replacement in using the wand. You had the potential, and I gave you the power and opened the channels to use it."
"No wand?"
"You will not require a wand. Now you naturally create magic."
"Why me?"
"I've answered that."
"Why Dark magic?"
"Because it is fitting to your personality."
"How!? I'm not evil!" Marco looks at Daqous in shock.
"Darkness is not evil, and vice versa. Dark magic and Evil magic are two separate things, though the worlds views them as the same. Your affinity to Light or Dark magic is dependent on what determines your decision-making. If it is your morals that decide, you have a natural Light affinity. If your emotions control your decisions more than morals, your affinity is Dark. You have never been one to choose due to morals, but rather emotions. Wanting to help friends. Wanting to protect those you love. So your affinity is Dark."
"Okay..." Marco was trying to absorb this all in on the first go. Daqous didn't seem like the kind of person who would repeat himself. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Whatever you wish. It's your power."
"I don't have to fight Star?"
"You don't have to do anything you don't wish to."
"You said I was supposed to."
"It was what was supposed to happen, but the future changed, as it constantly does."
Marco breathes a sigh of relief. "So I can go now?"
"Yes."
"Just... free magic?"
"Indeed."
"..."
"..."
"Well then... I guess I'll go." Marco says quietly.
"Be aware, the moment you leave this particular dimension, you can never return."
"Got it." Marco says, and as he stands up, just before he turns away, something on one of the many displaying scenes on the mirror catches his eye.
Star Butterfly. On the ground. Dead.
Marco's eyes go wide and he just points at the screen, unable to talk.
Daqous notices the action and he follows the finger. "Ah, yes, it appears the future is unkind to Princess Star."
Marco's jaw drops and he stares at Daqous for a small bit of time before speaking. "How can-... How can you just... Not care? That's Star!"
"It's only the future, boy, and I have seen many deaths on this mirror. One more is little for me to care for."
"But-" Marco realizes then that this man is very much like Glossaryck. Neutral. Not caring who win, loses, lives, dies. Simply watching and perform their duties. He looks back at the screen in disbelief. "No, no..." He may have left Star, but that in no way meant he could accept this.
"If it comforts you, this is merely the most likely outcome at the current moment. The future can always be changed." Daqous says, with no warmth in his voice.
"How do I stop it?"
"Prevent her from dying."
"How!?"
"However possible."
"I'm serious!"
"Seriously, there are many different ways to avoid this outcome. Find one if you so wish."
Marco directly faces Daqous. "Teach me to use my magic."
Daqous looks to the side at Marco. "Very well."
Marco, again, looked shocked. "Just like that?"
"It is another job of mine to teach those who arrive here how to best use their magic."
"I- I see." Marco was still reeling at all of the information he had recently acquired. Dark magic, future mirror, Light and Dark, Star dead... He really wanted to have those elaborated on more, but he'd had a strong feeling getting information from this man would be a pain since he walked in. "What other jobs do you have?"
"To provide a piece of the mirror to those who find their way here. You can take a piece as you leave."
"Who else has been here?"
"No one."
"How long will it take to train me?"
"A week. In this dimension's time. That equals about 6 weeks in your dimension."
"How far in the future is this event happening?"
"You will be done with training two days before her death occurs."
"Her death isn't going to happen." Marco says determinedly.
"As of now, it is. I will treat it as true until it changes."
"Fine."
"Let us prepare to train you."
"Okay." Marco takes in a deep breath.
"I may not be able to be around her, but I can still protect her. She is not going to die. Sure, maybe someone changes the future and saves her. But what if no one does? What if the decisions they make, even ones to save her, all lead up to her dying?" Marco gasps. "What if me deciding to try to save her ends up being a reason she dies?" Marco looks back at the mirror to see if his decisions has changed the outcome and to his horror, he still sees Star, unmoving. "No, I can't do anything?"
"The decisions of those who enter this dimension can not be noticed by the mirror anymore." Daqous explained, reading into Marco's mind again. "That is, your decisions and choices will not change what the mirror reflects, until you do the action required. You may determine to save her life, and that would normally change the mirror if you would be successful, but now that you've been here, the mirror will not change until you actually do it. Your, and now only your, decision itself will not reflect in the mirror. In short, your mind is invisible to the mirror. So whether or not you would succeed or fail, the mirror will reflect her death unless someone else made a decision or action that would avoid this."
"O- okay..." Marco was a bit lost, but he did think he understood what Daqous was saying. If I saw a cake laying on a table, and someone made the decision that they want to eat it, the cake would be gone in the future. But if I decided to eat it, it wouldn't be gone in the mirror until I did eat it... Right?"
"Exactly."
"Okay." Another sigh of relief. "Let's start then."
"Let us begin."
And that's that. Next chapter we'll be heading back to see what's going on at Mewni castle. We'll be seeing more of Daqous. Feel free to review. Hope you're enjoying it. See ya'll.