Hellooooooo, sorry for the wait, I have been moving back into my dorm and trying to get my schedule fixed. Thanks so much for waiting and thank you for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I have a bit of Starco in and a little something else that might reveal where I am going with this story, or where I'm thinking of going to be more accurate. I don't know what im gonna do yet again im making this up as I go but so far it has been doing well. So without. Further. Ado.
Chapter 6: Dreams
It was late when they made it back to the house. Technically it was early, Marco looked at the clock on the dash of their car; it read 3:28. Twelve hours ago him and Star had just gotten out of school, the only thing to worry about was the amount of homework they had. But now, Marco couldn't pick which thing to think about first. At the forefront of his mind was the fact that he had magical powers and the fact that he had saved Star twice with them. That brought up the second thing, Star had died. Her heart had stopped beating and she had stopped breathing, and Marco had thought that he had lost his whole world. Then by some miracle, he had revived her. At the time he felt so relieved, and he still did, but there was also a bit of worry inside of him. If his dream had been more than just that and was a warning to him about the future. In the dream Star was trying to kill him. Marco had ended up on the ground while Star got ready to fire a blast at his face. Then a cloaked stranger knocked her unconscious. The thing is, Marco was sure that the stranger was him. He had the same tattoos on his arm that Marco got from using magic.
But one other thing was nagging at the back of his mind. Right before this all happened, before the attack and the magic and all of that. Marco had woken from a nap that him and Star had, and looking at her sleeping Marco felt something. He could've sworn that he was about to kiss her, before they heard a huge crash. But no, that couldn't be true Marco liked Jackie Lynn Thomas. He's had a crush on her since kindergarten, and things had finally hit off between them. Marco had finally gotten over his anxiety and had talked to her, in a complete sentence. Marco couldn't have feelings for Star, she was his best friend always there for him, and he would always be there for her.
Marco was snapped out of his brooding when his dad pulled on the emergency brake. It rose with many clicks until it locked into place ensuring that the car would not move from its spot. Raphael and his wife unbuckled their seatbelts and looked back at the kids who were doing the same. They gave each other a look of understanding. Their questions could wait, the kids had had a long day and needed rest. They all got out of the car and walked silently inside. The four walked in and Raphael shut and locked the door behind them.
Angie turned on the light and Marco immediately saw the red stain on the floor. All of the blood had dried up but it would still need to be cleaned. Angie seeing the look on Marco's face went to reassure him, "It's okay sweetie, it can easily be cleaned." she gave him a small smile, which he returned, though with not much enthusiasm. There were still so many things running through his mind, he couldn't bring himself to properly respond so he just stayed silent. He felt his mom pat his shoulder before saying, "You two go upstairs and get some rest, you've had a long day."
"Thank you Mrs. Diaz" star said with a smile. She grabbed Marco's hand; he looked at her and smiled before they both headed upstairs.
"Oh and don't worry about school tomorrow, you two get the day off." Marco and Star thanked Mrs. Diaz and headed upstairs.
Raphael and Angie watched them go up and then looked at each other. Raphael stepped forward and embraced his wife. She buried her head in his chest and started crying. Raphael said nothing but just held her, rubbing her back. He knew how she was feeling; they had almost lost their son today. And while they wanted answers as to what happened the kids needed to rest and be done with the day.
Marco and Star walked up the stairs together not saying a word to each other. They got to their rooms and started preparing for bed. Marco kept his door open as he changed into his pajamas, not caring if Star saw him naked. It didn't matter though because as he walked out to brush his teeth he saw that her door was closed. She was probably falling asleep by now, Marco despite having slept in the hospital was exhausted. After he finished brushing his teeth he walked back to his room, looking over at Star's room before he headed inside and closed his door behind him. He was about to get into bed when he heard a soft knock at his door. He walked over and opened it to see Star standing there in her pajamas.
"Hey," she said in a soft voice. "I was wondering if you would, if you wanted to, if you would. Uhm, sleep with me tonight?" The question was somewhat surprising, while Star and him were really close they were still teens. Sleeping in someone else's bed with them usually meant that they were in an intimate relationship. But Marco was glad that she had asked, truth be told he didn't want to be alone tonight and Star was the only other person who could comprehend what he was feeling.
With a smile he hugged her, silently thanking her, "Of course, it will be like a sleepover." Her eyes brightened at the mention of a sleepover. She smiled and without another word rushed to her room. Marco chuckled and followed after her, closing his door. He walked in and looked around the room. It was the same as it always was. Messy, huge, regal. Marco spotted Stars spellbook propped up on a chair sitting by her table. It was closed and the blue keeper of the book was nowhere to be seen. Star had moved towards her bed waiting for him, he walked over as she pulled the comforter back and crawled in. He did the same and laid on his back looking at the ceiling.
Star lifted her upper back and moved Marco's right arm behind her. She then moved closer to him, pressing her warm body against his, and rested her head on his shoulder. She threw one arm over his waist brushing against a particular area that, despite his exhaustion, had begun to wake up. He couldn't help himself but inhale her scent, smiling as a sweet candy smell came to him. Before he had thought that she had used some kind of perfume, but now he was beginning to think that she didn't wear any.
Marco wrapped an arm around hers, lightly massaging her shoulder. "Thank you for sleeping with me tonight. I don't think that I can be alone right now."
He strained his eyes to look down at her brushing her head against his chin. "Neither could I"
She moved her head and looked up at him, "What? I thought that you were fine! I was wondering why you weren't freaking out."
He smiled at her, "I was freaking out; just after everything happened. And why do you think I would freak out? You didn't freak out." he put on an indignant look, challenging her.
"I was freaking out too, I've just been prepared all of my life to hide my feelings. And while I don't most of the time, I just didn't want you to see me that way." She looked down slightly ashamed. Marco kissed her head and said, "Star it's okay to freak out. It's not like you went through this alone, I was there too. If you want to talk about it then I'm here for you."
She looked back up at him and smiled, "Thank you Marco." then she did something that surprised him, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Luckily she had put her head down before she saw the blush on his face. She gave her wand a little wave and the lights dimmed out. Star hoped that Marco hadn't seen how red her face was. What was she doing kissing Marco? He was her best friend and he had saved her life. It had been a casual thing, nothing romantic. She was just nervous that he wouldn't want her to do things like that, I don't know maybe. Maybe I could do it again just to see if he is okay with it. If he isn't then I won't do it anymore no problem.
Her mind continued to race for another ten minutes before sleep finally took her. Marco was still awake, for some reason his mind wouldn't just let him go into that blissful state. He didn't really think about anything in particular, he just occupied his time by rubbing Star's back. He felt how slender yet muscular she was. He ran his hand up and down feeling the curve of her lower back, to the muscles at the top of her upper back. He couldn't help but think of moving his hand lower and feeling how curvy she truly was. He stopped moving his hand worried about the direction his mind was taking him. It was because she was a girl, he reassured himself, that was all. He hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep at first, but eventually it became apparent by the way her breathing was even and shallow. He smiled and sighed; for some reason he had not felt as if they were safe, until now that was. He just laid there feeling her chest rise and fall against him, enjoying the company of his closest friend. Eventually he himself fell asleep.
Marco.
He opened his eyes feeling a sense of alarm. He looked at the empty space next to him and jumped up in a panic. Where was she? He needed to find her immediately something was wrong. He threw the blankets off of him and ran towards the door hoping to find her. He opened the door and stepped back. Instead of the hallway that was connected to the rest of the house there was a vast emptiness, a dark void. He felt it pulling at him ripping his clothes away until he was only covered by his boxers. He tried hanging onto the door frame to prevent himself from being pulled in, but i was no use. The black void sucked him up and he was falling. He couldn't tell how long or far he fell for, but it was ended by him landing on solid ground. It didn't hurt but it knocked the wind out of him. As he gasped for air he stood up; light flooded the room and Marco had to shield his eyes. When he was able to see again he figured out what room he was in, the circular room at Saint Olga's. It was the same as the dream he had in the hospital, except this time there was no Star to be seen. No hooded figure either. Marco continued to look around him until he noticed that one of the long corridors had a light at the end of it. He walked towards it and came out the other side of the light. Like before he had to shield his eyes before he could see, and what he did see horrified him. Marco had been to Mewni a couple of times and to Marco it was one of the most beautiful places he had been to. But now, now it was horrifying. The once thriving cornfields were on fire, all of the crops had turned to ash. The castle was very much the same way. The once beautiful crystal towers were shattered, the walls crumbling, the mewman flag was no longer there; instead it was replaced by a purple flag with a green eye on it.
Marco looked at the town and saw that it was as in the same condition. He ran into the town and almost shouted in fear. There were bodies all over the place, most of them were burned so badly that they were just char. But the bodies that weren't crisped were worse. They were bloody and most had weapons sticking out of them. Some were mangled, as if an animal of some kind had attacked them. It took him a moment to realize that everything he saw was caused by monsters, their signs were all over the place. Claw marks in the stone, scorch marks much like the ones that he and Star had saw in the forest. Star! He didn't know where she was, he had to make sure that he was safe.
He ran between houses trying to reach the castle where he knew she would be. The drawbridge was down and the guards outside were dead. Feeling an increasing sense of dread Marco put on a burst of speed. He shot past the many rooms and chambers that the castle had, running straight for the throne room. He reached the large double doors that lead to the throne room, ignoring the ornate carvings he pushed the doors open and rushed in. Star was there she was kneeling beside what Marco could see were, bodies. Her mother and father. He approached her and looked over her shoulder, to his horror he saw that their eyes and mouths were opened, as if they were surprised by the creature who killed them. Before Marco could say or do anything Star stood up and turned to him. Her eyes were red and puffy but she looked furious.
"Are you happy now? Is it just like you wanted? Just like you dreamed?" She was advancing on him, he saw a harsh red glow emanating from the wand in her right hand. But there was another thing he noticed, he wasn't wearing his normal clothes anymore he was wearing a dark purple cloak that wrapped around his whole body. He pulled it to the front so that he could properly view it. He saw that on the back of it was a green eye, a copy of the one on the flag upstairs. Marco then realized that he was the one who had caused all of this. The burning of the crops, the destruction of the town, the death of Star's parents. He realized that somehow he had arranged all of this to happen; but he couldn't have. Marco would never do something like this.
Without warning Star lashed out. She aimed her wand at him and fired a powerful red blast. Unable to control his body, he elbowed her in the stomach knocking the breath out of her. Then shoved his right fist and punched her on the nose, following through he finished his uppercut throwing her head into the air. His tattoos started glowing bright blue as he grabbed her throat and slammed her to the ground. He wasn't quite strangling her but more of holding her. Marco couldn't believe what was happening, he didn't want to hurt Star but he couldn't stop his body from acting on its own.
She growled at him, "Do it. I have nothing left to lose." There was a deep sadness in her eyes as she gave up, knowing that her former friend had beaten her. Unable to stop himself his arms glowed and he felt energy flow through his hands, In a second she had turned to dust, gone from this world.
Marco finally regained control of his limbs and stared worriedly at his hands. They were covered in soot from where they touched Star. He heard a smooth voice pierce the silence. "Your fate has been sealed, the prophecy states that a child not born into magic would threaten the safety and lives of another child who was born into magic. There is no escaping your fate." Marco turned his head, tears streaming down his face, looking for the voice. He found nothing, except on the throne there was a wand. It was the wand Ludo had been carrying when he faced off against Star. It wasn't as elegant as hers was, this one made of rock and what looked like a hand bone. Marco approached the wand and was upon the throne when he noticed something behind it. He went around the chair and saw a familiar coat rack shaped like a human torso but with a mirror instead of the face. It also had a neat suit hanging from the shoulders with a tie hanging around its neck.
Marco approached the coat rack feeling a sense of foreboding. He couldn't tell why but he felt as if the coatrack was the most important thing, despite his killing his best friend mere seconds ago. He touched the side of the coat and immediately stepped back. For some reason he was wearing the suit. It fit perfectly, as if tailor made for him. He looked at the head of the coat rack, at the mirror, and backed away. Instead of his regular dark brown face he saw a deep purple one.
SOON
Marco spun around looking for the source of the sound.
SOON
"Marco! Marco! MARCO! WAKE UP!" Star was shaking him trying to get Marco to wake up. He sat up and groaned, he felt like his head was about to split open. He rubbed his temples with two fingers while Star sat staring at him, worry on her face.
He looked at her, "What? What's wrong?" her eyes widened like she couldn't believe he didn't know.
"You started muttering in your sleep, and then all the sudden you were screaming and throwing your arms around. I was worried I didn't know what was happening." She had started crying and quickly Marco threw his arms around her to comfort her.
"It was just a bad dream. I'm sorry I never meant to scare you like that."
"It's okay." she sniffed. She pulled back and wiped her face, looking at him she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" Marco smiled feeling his heart swell a bit. Even when he had scared her she was still worried about him, he loved her so much; as a friend of course.
"Thank you but i'm fine, it was just a dream." She nodded understanding that it wasn't anything to worry about. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" She nodded again and they laid back down. This time on their sides facing each other. Marco slid his arm under her head and she draped her arm across his waist.
"I'm really sorry for scaring you like that." with his free hand he wiped a tear from her cheek rested his hand there stroking it with his thumb. She smiled and somewhat nuzzled into it.
"It's okay, i was just worried about you. Now sleep you need it. And try to not scare me anymore." He chuckled and put his hand back at his side. Her smile faltered a bit and she started to close her eyes. But opened them once more when Marco pressed forward a bit, Star automatically reacting leaned forward too angling her face up towards his. He kissed her on the forehead leaving a tingling feeling from the point of contact. For unknown reasons Star felt disappointed as if she was expecting more, but why should she? Did she expect Marco to kiss her on the lips? No that couldn't be it. After all they were best friends and they were like brother and sister right?
Her thoughts were halted when she realized that he had not fully pulled away. He had rested his head against hers, his face angling down but with his eyes closed. He must have been really exhausted because he was already asleep. She stared at him for a little bit longer before closing her eyes and falling asleep herself.
Star found herself in a hall facing a carved set of wooden doors. Without looking around she pushed them open and walked inside. She realized that she was in Grandmas room or more commonly known as the Room of Ancestors. This room contained tapestries of all of Star's ancestors as far back as they could remember. She had only been allowed in there once, and that was when she had been fourteen and had been granted her wand. The magic wand was a family heirloom that was passed down to each generation of butterfly. The incredibly powerful object changed its form to suit each princesses personality. The tapestries showed the princesses greatest achievement in their time as wand bearer. Star only remembered her mom's and that was because it was so cool. Star couldn't remember each specific detail, but she remembered it showing her mom blasting a monster with it.
Star made to walk towards the tapestry that depicted her mother but stopped when she saw a blue figure in front of her.
"Glossaryck? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?" The blue genie turned to face Star, floating just so that he was eye level with her.
"Oh hello Star. I imagine that you are wondering why you are here?"
"Uhm, yeah that's why I asked why I am here."
He looked down realizing his mistake, "Oh well i guess i'll just get on with it. Star you are in grave danger." She looked surprised at his sudden revelation. But he continued on with his explanation.
"Star did you know I have the ability to see different timelines each based on a certain action and their consequence?" Star shook her head, "Well I do. The fact is right now I see many futures that can come to be. And they are not good Star, at least not for you. And many of them include that Marco boy."
"Wait Marco is in danger?"
"In a way he is. I fear that he is the center of all of these timelines. Without getting into too much detail he will change your fate, one way or another."
"But wait, couldn't you just tell me what paths are the good paths? That way we can avoid the bad ones and then we wouldn't be in danger anymore." She sounded hopeful.
But the little blue man shook his head. "That's not how this works Star, from a time even I cannot remember others who have had this ability have know that they must never disclose what they know, or else it could affect all of the other timelines and then we would be in an even bigger situation."
She crossed her arms, frustrated, and sighed. "Well if you can't tell me why I'm in danger then why tell me i'm in danger at all?"
"Because Star, you need to prepare yourself for the dangers ahead. The more prepared you are for danger the better."
"And what if one of the good timelines come to pass? What if we prepared for nothing?"
"Then you will have accelerated your education a bit."
She groaned and turned to walk out of the room. She halted and then turned back. "Wait, aren't I sleeping? How are you talking to me?"
Glossaryck shrugged, "I needed to talk to you privately, and the mind is truly the safest place for private conversations. But it's time to wake up Star."
Star opened her eyes and saw that she was back in her bed. Marco was still asleep in front of her. Star groaned lightly as she turned, her neck and back were stiff from sleeping in the same position all night. She saw that the sun was up and thought that it might be a good idea for her to get up too. But laziness and the comfort of the bed made her lay back down.
She smiled breathing in Marco's earthy scent. He smelled like leaves and fresh earth. She brought her face closed to his, remembering how she almost kissed him last night. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and closed her eyes. Leaning into his warm body she felt herself drift off to sleep once more.
Hey guys really sorry for not updating in awhile, i have been busy with settling back into my dorm and trying to get my class schedule and all that. Thanks for waiting I know some of you messaged me to update and I did as fast as I could. I also tried to make this chapter longer, I know not a lot of stuff happened but at the same time I feel like it was kinda important.
Also STARCO, is it gonna happen? I don't know, well I do but im not telling any secrets. Mwahahaha.
Just a quick shoutout to Marstertheif1115, thank you so much it fills my heart to know that you really like my story, and the same goes for everyone else. Before I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this or how long I was going to make it but all the positive feedback has made me want to finish this and to make it as long as I can without droning on. Thank you guys so much I hope to see you all in the next chapter.
