Keeping Your Promise#9
The Path To War
A/N: Hope you all enjoy :) Lemme know what you think. I've tried to up the pacing of the story a little , let me know if you think it works.
LucklessBlock86: I love riddles too :) I don't know if I have, I've read one that's just called "A Fallen Knight" Without the Dark part. I do recall something like that though but no. Darkco will be a bit like anxiety and doubt for the moment. He is playing off of Marco's weakness and taking advantage of it. Plus things changing will change how much influence he has in the real world.
Kerbolious: I enjoyed writing for Toffee, I don't have plans to keep him around but it won't be his last appearance before the end. I thought without the need to 'defeat' anyone he just has that sort of personality that makes you want to punch him. Marco's ring will return it was taken from him by the cultists who captured him, it wasn't recovered in the rescue but it's not the last of it. Haha XD Honestly I think Higgs would be like the perfect bridesmaid. Nothing would go wrong.
Where Darkco is concerned it's like if you had an identical twin and all your life you acted the same then suddenly they act differently from you. Everyone hates you for what you did but loves them. You're angry but curious. Darkco wonders deep down if what he did was really the only option he had or if he could have saved everyone he loved. He is still oblivious to the outside influence in his life and death but if he can make Marco more like him he will feel justified by it. Like in the Killing Joke (Batman) Joker wants to show that even the best man can be brought to darkness with one bad day. It's like that. If Marco falls to darkness then Darkco wasn't wrong and didn't let everyone down. I mean he's currently being kept from passing on as punishment and forced to watch the person who has everything he wants and could have had be happy. He's pisssssed.
P. Andrew: Thank you :) I'm glad you enjoyed Flowers and Stars, I loved writing it XD although i did it under stressful conditions to get chapters out almost daily so the sequel has been nice to take more time. I wanted to explore the Kelco ship more when I started this after there wasn't too many to read and it took off from there :) I'm glad you liked the poem. Yes I write them myself, If i use a song or something that isn't mine I'll credit it or make it obvious. I wrote that one when I was working. I kept singing it to myself and it slowly turned into Heckapoo's regret. Anyway :) I hope you enjoy this chapter and those to come. Welcome to the Fan Fiction community XD I found this website in a YouTube comment and I'm so glad I did so i hope it's as great for you as it has been for me.
Fate walked through the Valley of the Gods, a name whose grandeur did not match its view. Darkness was what separated the Gods and darkness alone. It was why the Gods found such joy in the affairs of mortals. Their lives so weak and fragile like a candle about to be snuffed out yet they shone so brightly and together they lit up their worlds with culture, music and so much more. Fate loved watching them play out their lives, like puppets on string because within the masses of the mindless bound by destiny there were her champions. The champions of Fate, who when looking at their destiny before them chose to ignore it and design their own fates. To change fate is not easy and to overcome their destinies is an even greater feat which is why she adored her current toys. The fallen guardian, the human knight and the rebel Princess. Such interesting pawns on her chess board but each their own miracle. The Princess who like all those before her should have followed the rules and led her people against the monsters, destined to be another who leads her world to ruin. The human who would ever be the kind man, liked by all and loved by many but somehow still alone. And the baby who was destined to die inside a bin, nothing more than a bad memory. Yet here she stood walking towards her favourite one, the one who broke the rules and changed the game. She wanted to test him, to see how special he could be.
Fate knew that Dox wanted to live, to fight beside his love and friends. He wanted nothing more than the life he had always been denied yet he knew he could not. Promises and Destiny stopped him but with just a simple question and a small request Fate could give him all that he wants. Life. However, Fate knew he would not ask, he would not beg and he wouldn't bow to her. He was strong for all the weaknesses he had and it was that.. That peculiarity that really amused her.
Walking through the darkness, on a path never trod Fate made her way to the End house, the Parahouse of the dead. She smiled wondering how this interaction would go down, it was rare she got to spend time with her mortal champions. Upon growing ever near Fate paused with a confused expression. Before her the door was torn from it's hinges in pieces on the floor. The impossible had happened, something had broken into that which does not exist. She rushed into the house finding nothing but mess. Pictures ripped from walls and furniture broke in two. She scoured the house from top to bottom searching for Dox's presence yet she found none.
"Where are you my Guardian? And who has touched what is mine?!" Fate screamed into the darkness. She looked to the ground where a glint of red drew her eye from beneath a fallen shelf. She blasted away the shelf and looked to the red. Blood, fresh blood. It had been used to write a message to her.
"War has come, he has found me. I have managed to trick him but I cannot fight a God. For now I shall try to seek refuge with the Lady of Love. I hope I can make it through the darkness… help them please. - Index"
Fate stared at the writing and felt warmth even in the fingerprints that bloodied the floor. It was recent, in human time it could be mere hours. War had started his campaign by taking care of her eyes. Fate turned to the darkness and walked into it. With a click of her fingers the end house disappeared forever. She would find her fallen guardian, before he was taken by the death beyond death.
/
Jade and Marco lay exhausted on the ground. Both trying to catch their breath desperately, their chests hurting as they breathed sharply. Jade wiped the sweat from his brow and looked over to the lizard who was sitting breathing deeply.
"So is this our win?" Jade panted out to Toffee. He looked at the blue haired boy and smiled.
"Have I fallen?"
"No…"
"Then no baby blue, you have not won. With magic alone I took you both down with ease. With physical attacks alone you were more of a challenge, you more than your one eyed disappointment beside you. However, like how a sandwich has both the bread and the filling, you will not be able to beat me until you come at me with both." Toffee stood up and began to stretch again. He readied himself and gestured for them to come at him. Marco sighed but stood up first.
He held his hand over his eye and muttered a spell quickly. He then channelled his magic around his body until he was surrounded by a glow of red and gold. He jumped forward twice the speed of before making Toffee step to the side to dodge. Toffee felt the wind brushed past him as he turned to meet Marco's gaze. Inside he knew it was about to get entertaining.
"Interesting.." Toffee began to say when Marco dove straight towards him. Toffee tried to hit him with his tail but Marco dodged with ease while jumping and kicking Toffee in the face. The force of his kick and the magic boost forced Toffee flying across the room. Marco landed and breathed deeply. His breathing was strained and skin started to turn a shade of red, as if he was being scalded by hot water. Toffee stood up and spat the blood from his mouth.
"A good attempt but it is too taxing on your body. In this form you would easily tire. An enemy who could dodge would find it no great challenge to bring you down. However, I'm intrigued to know.. Does the Princess know you can cast the All-Seeing eye spell like that." Toffee grinned wide, his sharp teeth now bloody from Marco's attack. Jade looked up at Marco to see what Toffee meant and realised his damaged eye now was glowing dark purple and green.
"It's not a spell I use lightly but it does have its uses. Star didn't see the practical side to it. If used correctly I can use it like an X-Ray or even see a patients illness at its core speeding up treatment and diagnosis." Marco's breathing grew heavier as his magic aura wavered. He felt like his throat was burning and his lungs were on fire. The very act of breathing had begun to hurt him.
"Yet here it is, being used correctly in battle. Did you come up with this before or are you improvising?" Toffee quizzed with amusement.
"I was aware of the potential, with it I can see your movement, with good reflexes and a sense for battle I can predict your moves but to continually cast it without the wand is harsh on my body.. I can probably only last another 3 minutes before passing out."
"Enough time?"
"Plenty!" Marco burst forward leaving a trail of light behind him. He used a move he developed with Kelly to both trip Toffee up and then pushing against the ground kick him into the air. Unable to dodge Marco formed a hand with his aura and grabbed him slamming him into the ground. Without waiting for confirmation Marco jumped up and brought down his foot onto the spot where Toffee fell only for him to grab his foot. His body was broken and Marco watched as bones snapped back in place and returned into his body. Anyone else would have died.
"Wonderful but that is not how a hero fights Mr. Diaz." Toffee slammed Marco into the ground forcing him to break the link to his magic. He threw him back to Jade's feet who watched on patiently taking in what Marco had shown him.
"Heroes do not kill themselves to win, if they did they would not see the ending they fought for!" Toffee yelled out to the pair. Marco froze, he thought to his time with Dox and the bonding they had over a TV series. The character who comments that the hero never sees the happy ending and never knows if the day was won. Marco had promised never to be like that, to never let the day be won without him. Tears formed in his eyes as he slammed his fist into the ground. He tried to stand but the stress of his spell had left him unable to move properly.
"Marco.." Marco looked up to see Jade looking down at him.
"I think I get it.. What you mean about your mentor and Janna.. And you. All of you see the ending as a win even if you are not in it but you are part of this story and you will see the end. I finally understood what Index meant when he told me I needed to see for myself what I lacked. Thank you." Before Marco could question what he meant Jade started to channel his mana around him. He let it enter him and leave him freely. Finally he took it inside him and from his back a pair of bright blue glowing wings formed. A sword and shield appeared in his hands and his eyes glowed brightly.
"Toffee, My name is Vu Jade Agape and I am an apostle of the Gods. In particular I am the Apostle of Love and the Frozen Eclipse. Thank you for showing me the way." Toffee smiled and went to speak of how the baby blue was using big words but before he had a chance Jade flew with haste and smashed him across the face with his shield. He then sliced off the lizards tail making him growl in pain. Toffee bared his claws to slice at Jade but he easily deflected his attacks with his wings. Dropping his weapons Jade punched Toffee directly in his face before dropping and kicking his feet from beneath him. Before he had time to react Jade pinned him to the floor with his wings, the feathers sharp enough to pierce the skin. Toffee's toothy grin went wide looking at the angelic boy.
"You see Diaz, that's what a hero looks like!" Toffee said with glee. He looked up to see Marco above him who quickly leant down and punched him in the face.
"Yeah I see you patronising bastard." Marco spat at him. Jade leant forward and tapped Marco letting his magic go into him and heal him.
"Thanks Jade.."
"No thank you Marco! I don't think you get it. I couldn't have done this without you!" Jade said with enthusiasm. He healed Toffee and let him up.
"How did I help you? I failed?"
"You missed one step, solidification of magic. It's taught at the magic school and Higgs is particularly good at it, she even makes an whole armor out of magic. With what you taught me and that knowledge I managed to reach this point.." Jade looked down at his magic and marvelled. He was balancing offensive and defensive magic to create this form. Constantly healing himself from harm. By solidifying the magic it gave it substance and let him use that deep pool of magic he rarely tapped into.
"…Wait.. What? I never got taught that?" Marco exclaimed confused. He reached into his jacket and pulled a book out. Turning to the end he read a final note.
"There is always more to learn Marco but I won't be around to teach it. Do not forget to ask Glossaryck to finish your training as the next few spells will separate you as a person who knows magic from a magic user. I, myself, do not have enough magic to use these spells but I'm sure you do." Marco groaned deeply realising he forgot to follow this instruction.
Jade laughed as he released his magic. Toffee stood up and looked at Marco.
"I will forgive you for that punch Diaz, I deserved it however how can you succeed if you forget to even finish your basic lessons?" Marco turned to him wanting to protest even when he know they were right.
"Alright.. I'll get onto it okay! I'll make sure Kelly does too.. When everything happened we kinda forgot about the note.." Toffee sighed and pulled out a vial and a set of notes from his jacket.
"What is this?"
"My blood, it's also the notes you'll need to isolate my genetic regeneration. I had someone look into it already to save you time. Use it how you will but know it is untested. It may affect more than just your eye and you will lose a bit more of what makes you human."
"You know?"
"About the monster that sleeps within your arm? Yes, all monsters do. It's why they feel such an affinity to you, you are one of us at least if only for a limb. Be careful Diaz." Toffee grabbed his jacket and tie and opened up a portal.
"Wait where are you going?" Jade asked confused.
"Home.. I have kept my oath and then some.. I'm going to go home.. Oh right I didn't tell you.. I met someone.. She's looking after our eggs as I speak.. I would very much like them to grow in a world without War so do not disappoint me any further Diaz."
"Good bye Marco Diaz and farewell Vu Jade Agape.. Good luck" And with those final words Toffee disappeared leaving the two standing confused looking at where left. They stayed silent for a while before Jade finally spoke.
"How do we get home?"
"I have no idea.."
/
Janna's eyes opened wide as a door magically appeared before them. She poked her head behind it making sure there was nothing on the other side and went to grab the handle when Kelly stopped her.
"You need the to use the key or it'll send you somewhere random." Kelly explained pulling the key out from a necklace and passing it to Janna. She thrust it into the lock and turned with excitement. As the door opened Janna peered into the house and ran in excited. Star ran in after her worried that she might find something dangerous inside the magic house.
"I know she's not herself at the moment but there's no need to tell her lies Kelly.." Heckapoo moaned. Kelly turned to her confused.
"I didn't lie? Have you never tried to open the door without holding either the key or the authority?" Kelly asked confused.
"No but I helped make this house, I think I know how it works." She replied bitterly. Kelly closed the door and locked it using a command.
"Go ahead." Kelly ushered. Annoyed by her insinuating she knew the house better than her Heckapoo grabbed at the handle and tried to open it. When nothing happened she let go and turned to smugly face Kelly when she realised she was no longer in the castle. The land around her was vast and cold, snow clung to the ground and fell from the sky. The demi-goddess felt a chill start to take over her as she heard a blood churning screech from the darkness. Unaware of where she was or what was here Heckapoo drew her scissor swords and prepared for the unexpected only to have a hand grab her on the shoulder and pull her into the safety of the Parahouse.
She looked up at Kelly with the intent to apologise but only felt hurt.
"..Why..?" Heckapoo began.
"Dox used to work on it all the time, he called it 'the greatest masterpiece to ever be forged by the most beautiful woman in existence' which I can assure you is embarrassing to hear. He wanted to perfect it. The things we found on our journey, the features that could be added. He wanted to show you one day how amazing this house could be."
"…Why have you never said anything about it?"
"He never got to finish it.. And it wasn't my place. Marco keeps continuing the work, adding charms and enchantments when he's free but he said he can barely understand the work that went into this house. We talked about it but we just weren't sure if you'd even want to hear about it.. Sorry."
"Plus I mean.. You did literally stab him in the back, he wanted to make sure you wouldn't be coming to finish the job any time soon." Both girls chuckled as they reminisced about their fallen family member.
"Anyway let's get going, I'm not sure how much longer Star can handle Janna on her own." Kelly held her arm out to help Heckapoo up. She took her arm and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad Marco found you.. Don't ever let him go, trust me. Once you find that love worth more than life never let it go.." With that Heckapoo let go and ran to catch Janna as she swung from a chandelier. Kelly gripped tightly at her heart as guilt filled her.
"Don't let it get to you, you said you'd fix it so stay strong." Higgs said from the stairs. She sat looking down at a confused Kelly.
"You heard that?"
"Oh.. Every single word."
"You were right though.. Everyone can see how much he loves me so why did I doubt it.. Why did I ever say no."
"Because you did. Don't worry about it too much and please stop asking yourself that. I'm not sure when it started but thanks to me still having Marco's tattoo some of your thoughts are coming through and it is hella annoying." Kelly froze and looked at her.
"Wait.. You can hear me.."
"Didn't I just say so..?" Kelly face-palmed as Higgs chuckled. Apparently sharing a telepathic connection was not the sort of intimacy either were expecting by growing closer. They both headed to join the rest who had settled down in the living room. Kelly smiled remembering what it felt like to see the house lively. Her moment of reminiscing was broken up by a stiff question from Janna.
"So don't any of you have boyfriends?" All of them froze and looked at Star. She gave them the look of "Why me?" Back only to have eyes rolled at her.
Heckapoo, whose partner was now a spirit in the afterlife watching over them.
Higgs, who as far as everyone was occurred had never showed any interest in any men.
And Kelly, who could hardly explain that she was dating the older version of Marco.
"Well Janna I just happen to be dating a Prince." Star started. Janna's eyes lit up and grabbed Star's hand pulling her to the sofa.
"Tell me everything!"
"Well his name is Tom Lucitor, He's a prince of the underworld."
"Wait so he's a demon like H-Poo?"
"Sort of.. Different clans and origins.. Plus Tom is half Mewman, like a human but from my Kingdom."
"Wait.. So he's the child of a forbidden love and he chose you whose also different from him?"
"Yes.." Star blushed. She never felt more embarrassed to explain her relationship. The other 3 girls had gotten snacks and sat on the opposing sofa watching with big grins.
"So how did you meet?!"
"Well we use to have to attend these royal dances for children of royalty, sort of like a good will thing. I didn't really mix well with the other children or pigeons but Tom was different. He had problems just like me."
"Problems?"
"Yep, just like you I liked to cause a little mischief and mayhem. I was a rebel of a Princess and Tom was a scary demon with a lot of power. It was like a bad idea meeting a bad idea but we worked."
"Aww so you dated ever since?"
"Ahh no.. Tom was a great guy but he had serious anger problems. He would lose his temper all the time and I couldn't take it anymore so I left him.. Years later he turned up to take me to a ball which turned out to be a trap to bind our souls together."
"Whoa.. Douche-bag move.."
"Very.. But after that he worked on his anger and over time we reached a point that we could be friends again.. A time came when I had a falling out with Mar.. With a friend I lived with and I had to leave Earth. I lived there for a while.. Tom kept me company and cheered me up and slowly I found myself falling for him again.."
"Even though he was a bit of a butt.."
"Even then.. Bad things happened here and Tom stood by my side and fought against them. When someone kidnapped my best friend I was in such a bad way that without Tom I wouldn't have been able to make it. The girls here helped a lot too.." Star smiled at them while Kelly shifted in her seat.
"Finally everything seems right.. I just think it's time we move to the next step.."
"The next step?"
"Marriage.."
"Whoa.. You really are a magical Princess.. So where is your Prince?" Janna asked innocently. Star looked out of the window into the darkness and sighed.
"He's busy working hard for my sake.."
/
Tom felt a branch cut into his skin as he continued to run through the woods. The earthy smell filling his lungs as he breathed ever deeper for air only served to push him forward. He weaved between the trees with ease remembering all the times Star ran off into the wilderness. He couldn't help but picture her face and smiled. He felt movement coming up fast to his right and left so jumped up into the trees. He continued moving only looking down to see the shadows speed after him. He was reaching the end of the forest so used the last little bit of his magic to push himself into the clearing. He fell from the sky and rolled to his feet before running on. The shadows burst from the woodland and gained on him. Tom smiled as he dodged each attack they came at him with and finally he reached out to the brick wall in front of him and touched it gently.
"Home.. I win!" Tom chuckled as he fell to the group. Suddenly all the shadows jumped onto him and licked his face. Tom picked all the wolf cubs up and span them round fast. Each laughed and howled with each spin.
"Not fair Mr. Tom!?" One cub protested.
"Yeah you used magic!" Another spoke out.
"And you're telling me that none of you peaked when the rules clearly stated that you were to hunt me on instinct alone?" Tom returned their questions. They all shifted in his arms and refused to make eye contact.
"I thought so! Anyway I have to go meet up with your parents so why don't you keep playing. Take turns and see if you can win without cheating this time." Tom winked at them and then let them down. With speed he had to grow used to seeing they disappeared back into the wood. He had never really encountered the Lycanthrope race of Monsters but understood why the Mewmans were quick to try to run the race to extinction. They were fast, strong and could track you for days until you could no longer run. As warriors they could be unmatched but companions he found he had seen few as loyal to each other. Living with them for the last few weeks had been an education for him.
He walked through the castle admiring it once again. The amount of sheer effort and determination that was used to create this castle in such a short time really impressed him. It also really impressed the newly re-instated Monster Royalty. They had been great in helping Tom by supporting his attempts to unite all the youth royalty. To guide them together under one banner, not subject to the rules of their individual kingdoms but the rules they create themselves. It will be a place for these children to grow freely and express themselves among their peers. He had help from Marco and was introduced to the girls of St O's, which was an eye opening experience to see how well Marco had perfected the Turdina persona. They knew he was a boy but it was what he had represented not who he was. The idea itself rather than the origin. Thanks to that he was half way there. Luna had allowed him to take the cubs and meet with the other monster royals. The two sides of the coin had come together now all he had to do was unite them. Star's earlier attempts at joining them with the party had also been great aid as Princess Spiderbite was a great advocate speaking on behalf of the monster royalty. After all the politics had been dealt with Tom had left all groups to discuss between themselves. He was the older generation and the group he made was not for him, or for Star. It was for those who would come after. He didn't want followers he wanted leaders and so he asked them to come up with a name for their group and a message to stand by.
After that he headed back to the Lycanthrope Kingdom and continued to help Luna and Sun. She had established the pack link with him but in doing so she opened herself and their children to his pain. For 2 days and 2 nights they howled in agony, bonded through more than blood. They shared his anger, his hurt and his sorrow and once they had experienced it all she had shared with him their hopes. The rebuilding of their home and a safe future for their children. Sun watched through memories Tom's arrival and everything that happened since. Finally when they had shared everything they had with each other they sat in silence and held each other. The cubs clung to their fathers fur as Luna licked his face. Physically it would take longer to recover but mentally he had regained his former self.
Tom smiled as he walked into the throne room remembering the joy the family shared together. He looked at the empty thrones and sighed. One thing this family shared other than joy was a love of the hunt. Tom readied his armor and walked across the room.
"Luna?.. Sun?.." Tom called out to the shadows. Before he had met them he would have assumed he was alone but now he could feel the gazes from the shadows.
"Come out?" He called again. He heard the slightest movement and jumped. He watched a shadow zoom underneath him and sighed quickly before the other pounced at him pinning him to the ground. He looked at her brown fur as she nuzzled against him.
"Hello Prince" She chuckled as she lifted him from the ground. She brushed off the fur and let out a low growl to signal Sun. He walked from the darkness as if he belonged there. Unlike his partner Sun had light grey fur with white streak across him. His fur was darker, almost black, on his paws and face but this just seemed to shine more than darken his figure. His voice was low and deep but he was a Lycan of few words.
"Greetings" Sun nodded to him and then rubbed his nose against Luna's. After he ran and jumped from the window heading into the direction of the forest.
"Heading out to hunt?"
"Only for cubs, time for nap." Luna said with a smile as she led Tom to somewhere to sit.
"You know Luna I could have sworn when we met you only had 2 cubs?" Tom asked confused remembering the balls of fuzz that fell from the cupboard.
"Rest were hidden better, only took the restless." She explained. The others wouldn't have been found if she took the ones who were too curious.
"Ahh I see, anyway you said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Tom said laughing at her comment. The two he was most familiar were certainly the more active and adventurous.
"I wanted to talk about this.." Luna pulled a small box which Tom immediately recognised. He patted himself down and realised it must be the ring meant for Star.
"How?"
"One of the cubs picked it up when you were playing.. I assumed from the colour scheme and the way you are restless to return I assume this is a ring meant for the Princess Star?" Luna smiled revealing her large sharp teeth. Tom sighed again.
"Yes, when I return I hope to ask Star to marry me, to stay by my side forever." Tom admitted with a smile.
Luna sat down on the ground and beckoned Tom to do the same, he was use to it after spending many a time sitting on the floor rather than using the chairs and furniture.
"Talk to me about your mate."
"Why do you want to know?" Tom asked intrigued.
"Curiosity is one reason but the other is that I need to know."
"Care to explain..?" Luna's smiled turned to a frown for a brief moment before began to talk.
"Lycanthrope are loyal above all else, it is the pack or nothing. Once we find each other we will stay together beyond death, that is the eternal vow we live by. Our howling at the moon is actually us promising the night sky that we will uphold that vow. For in light our lies are shown but in darkness they hide so we promise the night light that we are faithful." Tom listened attentively. This was all fascinating information to him. He had spend many days studying each race in order to better help Star but found most of the tomes and relics about the monster races were either perverted with lies or destroyed. He had developed an interest in monster culture and loved to learn more.
"Generally the promise we howl for is the one to our mate and lover. A promise of commitment however in the time before the purge of our kind there was one other vow, a vow of loyalty and a sign of trust. That pledge is to a master or King that we wish to serve. Although I know it is not your will, The Kingdom of Lycanthrope bow to you as both our saviour and our master." Tom was flabbergasted at what he had just heard. He looked into her eyes seeing only seriousness.
"Luna that is unnecessary! First of all I'm here on the request of Star and her Kingdom, they are the ones who made all this happen and even if they didn't you don't need to bow to me.." Tom started trying to protest but stopped when he saw no hesitation in Luna. Behind him Sun and the cubs returned who all sat beside them.
"You told him?" Came an uncommon question from Sun. His low voice drawing the eyes of all.
"Yes, he knows." Luna replied. Sun nodded in response and before Tom could say anything both royals and the cubs bowed to him. Tom couldn't take it anymore so stood to leave when a low growl set the cubs on him pinning him down.
"Master Tom, please understand, you have not forced us into this action. We wish to follow you as is our choice and while you may be reluctant you cannot change our mind. Once a promise has been made it cannot be broken, as is our way." Tom tapped the ground to admit defeat and most of the cubs piled off of him. The two that remained sat in his lap as he turned to the royals.
"What does this mean? Like is it like an alliance between Kingdoms as that already exists?"
"We know of the alliance and we shall follow, the cubs will follow the other youth into creating a better tomorrow but where it differs is that if a threat were to pose itself to you we would not hesitate to hunt it down and destroy it. Regardless of position and reason we will put you before this world." Tom looked at their unbreakable resolve and admitted defeat. He'd have to explain this to Star.
"That reminds me.. What does this have to do with Star and the ring?" Tom questioned confused.
"To us, our mate is an extension our ourselves, so for us your mate will be the same as you, our master. We wish to know about the one you love and who we shall be serving."
"I understand. In that case.. Cubs! Gather round its story time." All the cubs shot to attention as they wanted to hear the story.
"Once there was a Prince, he was born with many powers and because of that he was feared. His mother was a big powerful demon but his father a small fragile Mewman. It was a love he didn't understand at the time and when others made fun of him he got angry. The Prince, who now was full of anger and hate, was forced to attend a dance. The dance was full of annoying children who also mocked his parent's love. He was about to lose his temper and unleash his power when the most beautiful princess that ever lived did a full roundhouse kick onto one of the bad children. The Prince was spellbound by her. She had hated how the other children were being mean and thought my parents were cool. She was like the Prince, different and misunderstood."
"And they lived happily ever after?" One of the young cubs called out. Tom ruffled their fur but sighed.
"No children they didn't, for you see, the Prince was consumed with the anger he felt. The princess relieved him of his anger but he ended up pushing her away from him. His anger had hurt her. He loved her and had lost her. Over time he came to realise it was his anger that ruined things so tried to fix his anger. While he was busy the Princess moved away and ended up becoming best friends with an Earth warrior of great valour. He was brave, strong and above all kind. He had everything the Prince lacked and on their first meeting he cut off the Prince's hand!" The cubs gasped as Toms hand popped off and ran across the floor before returning to his arm.
"The Prince was jealous, he came up with bad ideas to win back his love but like with his anger he drove her away. In desperation he tried to befriend the Warrior in hopes of using him but by doing so he learnt the error of his ways. He stayed friends with the warrior and stopped trying to win the Princess over. He worked on his anger and decided to lead his people."
"And then what happened?" Asked the same cub as before. Tom smiled.
"Well you know there's a saying that if you love something let it go and if it's meant to be it will return to you. She did just that. She came home and once again the two met at the dance. The other children like them now almost adults kept their distance from the Prince but were enthralled by her awakened beauty. The Prince, not wanting to mislead the Princess, chose to ignore her which annoyed her. In the end they were made to dance together. At odds with their emotions and the conflict in their hearts they danced with passion alone, this passion manifested as their powers. Behind the prince a trail of fire burned bright and behind the Princess a storm of butterflies appeared. As they twirled the powers joined in a beautiful vortex of colour and emotion.
But that was only the beginning. They worked towards their relationship, falling deeper in love with one another. The Prince had a rival however as the Warrior also shared the bond with the Princess. He respected the warrior so did not try to stop him as they waited for the Princess to decide who she loved. It was around that time when tragedy struck and the Warrior and his Knight were taken by the bad guy. The Princess searched far and wide for them with the Prince at her side. Together they found their missing friends and realised they belong with each other.
The Prince and the Princess were now happy and in love, both working towards a bright new future and the Prince wanted to ask her a question.. Will you be my happy ever after?" Tom smiled remembering the journey to get to the point they had reached. The cubs cheered as Luna and Sun smiled to each other. Tom looked at the ring and decided it was time to return. To see everyone and see just how well they were all doing.
/
Star and the girls all sat around the kitchen island passing the ice cream around. Janna howled in laughter at their stories as each told her of their magical mishaps and adventures. Kelly was pouring over a few books they had gathered to rebuild Dox's study. Between her and Marco they remembered every book that their teacher owned and were trying to collect them all to great difficulty. Heckapoo, between summoning things to amuse Janna, was looking at an archive of magic that the MCM possessed hoping that in there she would find the answer to save their friend. Star looked down at her mirror phone and noticed that there was no reception.
"Hey, Kelly? Why can't I get reception?" Star asked forcing Kelly to look up from her book.
"The house has a similar signal blocker like the one at the abandoned castle. Me and Marco are use to having a telepathic link so we never thought to remove it. Dox had installed it so the house couldn't be traced but Marco must have turned it back on for some reason. Let me go turn it off" Kelly sighed before walking to the living room. She picked up the TV remote and pressed a button before returning to her seat.
"That's it?" Higgs questioned bemused.
"Yep, Universal remote, let's you control most of the functions that aren't life threatening. I seriously don't think I will ever fully understand this house." Kelly sighed again as everyone's phones began to light up. They all looked at them to see multiple missed calls when Star's phone rang again.
"Hello?" Star answered.
"Princess!? Finally! You need to return to the kingdom! Some cult has attacked and they are trying to kill monster kind! The guards and royal forces are moving to stop them but I worry they will not be enough! Please hurry before somethin-!" The line went dead.
"Who was it Star?" Heckapoo asked worried as Star's face went pale.
"Ruby.. The Professors wife.. We need to go home now! The cult has attacked!" Everyone immediately began to move. Higgs materialised her armor as the other girls all got their weapons out. Kelly guided the house to the kingdom.
"We're here." Kelly stated as she opened the door. Before their eyes they saw many civilians running from people in white cloaks. They wore masks that unmistakably had the Cult of Wars Mewman divisions logo on it. Star was the first to fly out and grab two cultists by their heads crushing them together. Higgs cut down a few more and Kelly punched one so hard they went flying into another. Heckapoo opened up a portal straight to the prison cells and they tossed them all in.
"Whoa that was so amazing!" Janna yelled ecstatically. Behind her one cultist who had evaded detection rushed at an unaware Janna with a knife and would have succeeded in stabbing her if a monster hadn't jumped in the way. The monster was stabbed in the shoulder but his actions let Star take down the cultist. Kelly rushed over to heal the man.
"Are you okay?!" Kelly asked the monster. He was rather small and covered in light brown fur. He had green eyes and spikes coming from his back. He looked like the cross between a small bear and a porcupine. Blood seeped from his shoulder as he smiled at them.
"Yes my Lady. I saw the coward go for Lady Janna and jumped in. It was probably unnecessary given who you are but I didn't want to let my Mewman brothers down." The monster smiled as Janna came forward and gave him a hug, crying into his fur. He was shocked to see the all powerful witch cry for him but knew those who walked beside the Princess held hearts bigger than most.
"No.. You saved her and I thank you deeply for your actions, can you explain what has happened here?" Star knelt down to be closer to the monster. He nodded respectfully towards the Princess.
"It started a few hours ago, people around us, Mewmans to be exact, suddenly started to pull these capes over themselves and put on masks. We thought it might be the theatre group doing a publicity stunt when some skinny and scruffy looking man came running down the street screaming to us all-"
"Did he look like he might wet himself if you went boo?" Heckapoo interrupted. The monster looked at her perplexed and then smiled.
"Oh yes.. He did seem the jumpy kind."
"So it was Schmitt, he recognised the uniforms and tried to get people to run away." Heckapoo explained.
"Actually my Lady, his message was far greater than for us to flee… the man you called Schmitt. He ran across the kingdom spreading his message. 'Those in white are the enemies of peace. They seek to harm monster kind and end our peace. I call to all you monsters to protect those weaker than yourself and to the Mewmans of butterfly kingdom please protect the monsters beside you.' People answered his call.. We gathered all the children and elderly we could putting them on the backs of monsters who could fly them to safety. Then the very Mewmans who had denied our kind for decades stood between us and those cultists. They told the Mewmans that they didn't want to spill 'proper' blood only those who were spoiled but they didn't move. They protected us. The cultists were trying not to hurt the Mewmans at all so with them standing in their way many of us escaped. If not for the warning and people responding I imagine it would have been a massacre." The monster groaned in pain. His shoulder healed but the damage still done.
"Thank you, you have helped us a great deal. Find cover and rest. We'll end this." Star thanked the monster and then turned to the others.
"Okay girls, we'll head inwards to the centre where we fought Dox. It seems like the likeliest place for the cultist leaders to be. All we need to do is take them down and the guards will do the rest. Janna, I'm going to cast a spell on you that makes you invisible, I want you to follow behind us but hide as soon as there's trouble.. Okay?" Star cast her spell without hesitation, not giving the others time to protest her plan. The group moved inward to the centre however they found no more cultists. As they approached the area they were surprised to see a crowd gathered. Pausing to look on they noticed someone standing on a makeshift stage that had something hidden under cloth. He was addressing the Mewmans who had formed a circle around the monsters stopping the cultists from getting to them. It seems the cultists had surrounded the people trying to protect monsters and were now trying to get them to move without killing them.
"Now.. What a beautiful situation we find ourselves in. How the very same people who damned your kind and made you suffer now stand between you and your death. It's almost sickening. If not for this moron here we would have been able to do our cleansing and leave well before now. However you just had to go interfere didn't you.. Schmitt?" The man on stage kicked at a person bound by his feet. He coughed and gasped for air as the deranged man kept kicking him. The man in question didn't don the same attire as the rest of the cultists. His clothes were red unlike the white of the rest and instead of a mask it looked like he'd carved the symbol onto his forehead. Blood still dripped down his face as he laughed.
"It's so unlike you Schmitt! For a coward to become a hero now isn't that just a absolutely disgusting cliché. I looked for you.. For years.. I wanted to kill you so bad and you must have imagined my surprise when I saw you escape from the recruitment meeting. I thought to myself, odds are if I stick with these losers I'll see you again and here we are! Best friends reunited. Except.. One of us betrayed the other.. What was it you called me? A psychopathic murderous bastard? Well I guess the truth hurt. However still Schmitt I didn't expect you of all people to try to protect the freaks of this world. I mean personally I don't give a damn about this whole War thing I just want to kill.. Kill as many as I can.. And when War starts.. Everyone is free game.. I'll drink their blood, bath with their organs and maybe for a little juggle some hearts. Oh the fun I could have.. But it will wait.. Isn't that right.. Princess?" The man turned to where Star and the others were hiding and smiled.
The girls sprung forth and started to fight off the cultists when the man called them again.
"Stop right now." Everyone turned to him as he stood with a big smile.
"Lay down your weapons and watch the show." Everyone went to move again when the man pulled off one of the cloths to reveal a rather worse for wear demon hanging from a post. His wrists were red from the barbed wire that hung him up.
"Now if you don't want your boyfriend to die, put down your weapons, cancel your magic and sit on the ground." The man's tone was cold and his cheery facade was even more unsettling as he stared at the group. None of them moved or obeyed so the man tore another cloth down revealing one of the monster civilians. He appeared to be half tree half Mewman, Marco had called their race Tree-folk before as it was similar to something on Earth. The crazed man drew a dagger from his waist and slit the Tree-folks throat. Blood poured from his neck as a child and woman began to scream out from the protected monsters.
"I will.. Not ask again.. Drop, cancel and sit." He warned. Realising the gravity of the situation the girls obeyed. Cultist came from behind them and injected them with the anti-magic drug.
"Wonderful.. Now the show can begin.." He grabbed the tree folk he had killed and threw him onto the floor in front of the survivors. He then grabbed Schmitt and hung him up like Tom. He pulled off the final cover to reveal Ruby.
"Ladies, Gentleman and Scum. Here I bring you the awakening. Before you stand three people who single-handedly have given over your kingdom to despicable creatures. I bet your wondering why your dear Princess Star isn't up here too well firstly, she was always too stupid to achieve anything on her own. Her success lies with boyfriends 1 and 2. Tom Lucitor of the Underworld and Marco Diaz of Earth. Both who will suffer for their crimes. My dear friend Schmitt here earned an upgrade from just being killed for being the prick he is to being an example of what happens when you stand in our way. Finally we have the beautiful Ruby Barnus Owl. Now she was the first to taint her blood with a monster and even marry it. Worst of all. She carries its young inside her. Yes folks. She is pregnant with the beasts offspring." Ruby, who was gagged, looked at Kelly, Heckapoo and the others with tears in her eyes. The man walked between the three people twirling his blade deciding who should die when he noticed a child crawling over to dead tree folks body. The little girl had gotten free from the survivors and now cradled her fathers body. The man sat on the edge of the stage and faced her.
"Hello?" He said bemused. The little girl looked up in horror as he smiled to her. She tried to back away but the cultists had already blocked her exit.
"Hello.."
"Is that your daddy?"
"..Yes.."
"I'm sorry, no child should watch their parent die in front of them. Sadly I'm here working for these guys so its just business. You see.. My dad died in front of me too.. It was my first kill.. I poisoned the bastards mead and watched as he choked on his own vomit. I get how you feel.. Hmm.. I know.. Do you want to hear a lullaby?" The man's twisted smile curved around his face. The child was petrified so only nodded out of fear of refusing the man.
"Awesome.. First however let's share names. What's your name little girl?"
"..am"
"Sorry didn't quite catch that. Speak louder."
"Amber.."
"Lovely, the names Lucian but you can just call me Luci" He smiled again. He sat down and pulled clicked his fingers. Suddenly two cultists rushed forward carrying a keyboard.
"A good knife and my keyboard, only two things I make sure is always near.." He chuckled and started to play.
"Climbing through your window,
Knocking down your door,
I'm not going to rest,
Until your dead upon the floor,
I'm not truly mad,
Just clinically insane,
Now let me open up the door,
To my world of pain,
Even if we all die,
The world will just keep turning,
But I would rather wait and see,
Until the world ends burning,
Monsters walk around as men,
But men refuse to see,
That monsters are just dressed as men,
A difference? Just fantasy,
Now I rest bathed in blood,
I'm born again anew,
The time has come to end our lies,
And also the end for you." Lucian finished his song and smiled at the girl. She started to cry and to back away but the cultists just laughed and pushed her onto her fathers dead body.
"You know.. No one ever seems to like my lullaby.. I guess that's why I kill them all.. And now its your turn." He quickly lunged forward and brought his bloody blade down into flesh hearing a crunching sound as it broke bone.
"Well.. Colour me impressed. Even after being drugged with enough magic poison to kill a warlock here you stand ruining my fun. Is that really any way to act.. Princess?" Lucian laughed again. Star had moved using the last of her strength to shield the little girl from harm. The blade had pierced her right shoulder and blood ran down her arm.
"P..Princess.." Cried Amber. Star shushed her and stroked her hair. She went to try to say that it would be okay when Lucian ripped the blade from her shoulder.
"Yes Princess.. Why do you want to die? I've never killed a Princess before so I was planning on savouring your death but I guess we can just rush it." Lucian raised his blade but another cultist grabbed his hand.
"Sir? The Apostle told us to only capture the Princess, not to kill her?" The cultist let go and Lucian smiled.
"Ahh right you are! How could I forget..? Oh remind me.. Did she say anything about you dying?"
"No Sir."
"Wonderful." Before the cultist could even move Lucian stabbed him in the throat and kicked him away.
"Anyone else intending to interrupt my performance?" Silence fell among everyone.
"Now Princ-" A giant vine struck Lucian across the face sending him smashing into the stage. The cultists started to look around but nothing prepared them for what happened. Above them the sky started to darken and lightning began to fall. Vines burst from the ground ablaze with green flames and attacked the cultists. The slowest had their necks snapped by a quick flick of the vines but the faster ones suffered more when the vines began to grab their limbs and tear them apart. The lightning started to strike the buildings around them causing fires to burst out. The situation had changed completely and the monsters began to run. Some stopped to try helping the girls but under Star's orders took the girl, her fathers body and left them.
"Okay Janna you can stop now!" Star called out to where Janna was hiding. She suddenly became visible and Star gasped. Her make up had run leaving black lines running from her eyes. Her nose bled and her eyes had turned completely green. The lightning began to strike harder and the vines thrashed more when laughter filled the area.
"Ha.. Ha.. Ha.. Hahahahaahaah" Star looked up to see a hand rise from the broken stage.
"Janna.. Run! Please just run!" Star screamed out to her but she didn't listen. She turned to the laughter and made the vines smash into the stage. Tom, Schmitt and Ruby were all knocked from the stage out of view.
"Haha.. Well that was a surprise." From the rubble a now bloody Lucian rose. His left arm hung from his shoulder either broken or dislocated and one of his eyes hung from its socket.
"Looks like I missed one." Lucian started to run towards Star again when the vines burst into a wall stopping him.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!" Janna screamed out. Her voice sounding as if she was possessed.
"Then I'll have to come for you!" Lucian ran towards Janna, he dodged the vines and lightning that struck around him. He was almost within knifing distance of Janna when a bright light filled with red and blue blinded him.
/
Back with Marco and Jade
"So.. Did it work?" Jade asked peering over Marco's shoulder as his eye began to twitch and release a weird steam.
"I don't know.. Wait.." Marco dropped the syringe and grabbed at his face as pain surged through his body. His arm began to ache with intense agony as a sudden hunger for bowels filled him. He persevered through the pain and when it eased up he looked at Jade with both eyes. He could see again.
"I think so.." Marco closed his eyes and looked again almost in disbelief at how quickly it had worked.
"That's amazing!"
"Yeah.. I guess the only good thing about being locked in this dimension is that time goes slower here."
"How'd you figure that?" Jade asked intrigued.
"Well it was something I added to my phone, an app you can get from Quest Buy. After spending time in different dimensions with different time zones so to say I wanted a way to tell the difference. I mean its confusing. I once spent 16 years in a dimension only to find out it was 8 minutes on Earth."
"Wait how old are you?"
"It's a tricky question to answer these days.. Anyway its been about 2 days since Toffee left but only a few hours in real time. I'm glad I could use his research to fix my eye by we are no closer to finding a way out of here."
"No but now we're not so different are we? Pumping strange blood into our bodies.. Looks like I wasn't the only one who started turning into a monster after all"
"Shut up. I am nothing like you."
"Sure.. And Santa is real and the tooth fairy too! Face it! You are just as much of me as I am of you.. It won't be long and maybe I won't be the only Marco to turn to darkness.. I await you.. Haha."
"Marco?" Marco looked up as Darkco fell silent inside his mind.
"I said are you sure there's nothing we can do to get out?"
"Well unless someone's just gonna open the door for us I doubt it." Both sighed and sat down when Jade started staring at Marco.
"Ermm.."
"Yeah?"
"You into ninjas?"
"Why?" Jade pointed to Marco's hoodie and realised that it started to wrap around his body changing it from his usual attire until he looked like a ninja start out of a cartoon. Except he seemed to have kept the red colour of his hoodie.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Marco barley finished speaking when something grabbed his leg and began pulling him into the darkness. Jade quickly grabbed their stuff before grabbing Marco's hand and letting whatever was doing it drag him too.
"What are you doing!?"
"What! I've watched enough of your life to know you just raised an event flag! I think we're heading home!"
"Your basing this off what EXACTLY!"
"Anime Logic!"
"Wha-" The pair found themselves being dragged through a crack in the darkness and were both torn from the dimension. They looked down to see the Butterfly Kingdom on fire and vines thrashing buildings down. Jade immediately spotted Janna about to be attacked and pulled her to safety.
Marco landed in front of Lucian and then peered over to Star.
"Friend or Foe?"
"Foe!" She screamed back.
Marco lunged forward with his hand coated in magic and struck Lucian in the throat. He started to choke, gasping for air when Marco roundhouse kicked him unconscious. He ran to Kelly, Star, Higgs and Heckapoo and started giving them the magic poison cure.
"Marco stop. You need to stop Janna!"
"Stop Janna what?" Marco turned to see Jade being thrown through a building as flames began to circle around Janna.
"Don't worry I got this.."
"Hey Jade! If your still good can you heal the girls!" He called into the rubble and chuckled as a hand popped out with a thumbs up.
Marco rushed over to Janna ignoring the flames, dodging the vines with ease and swatting the lightning away.
He grabbed her hands and made her look into his eyes.
"Janna its me! It's me Marco! Listen to me! Stop!" He called out to her. Almost as if he cast a spell the magic around them started to stop as the vines withered away and the flames started to die. Janna's eyes lost the green glow as she stared at Marco.
"You're late.." She whispered. He looked into her eyes and back at his ninja attire and noticed something was wrong.
"Janna.. Take my mask off.." Janna reached forward and slid his mask off. She looked at his face and the scar that ran over his eye. She looked at his brown and red eyes and started to push him away.
"You're not Marco." Janna tried to squirm free from his grip but it was no use.
"Wait Janna.. It is me.. I just have a disguise on." Marco ran his hand over his body and a rippling appeared in the air. Something akin to glitter started to circle Marco and it seemed like he began to shrink until standing before Janna was a younger version of Marco, before the scars and battles. A child.
"See.. It's me.." Janna rushed forward and hugged him tightly. She began to cry into his hoodie as Star and the others approached. Jade rubbed at his head as he watched the scene in front of him.
"How much did we miss?" The girls all turned to him and sighed.
/
Marco rubbed his eyes with his hands trying to make reality of the situation that lay before him. He had cast a sleep spell on Janna to calm her down and then the group set about taking down or arresting the rest of the cultists. They put out the fires and gave medical attention when necessary. Schmitt only needed to have the magic poison cure given to him but Tom was in a pretty bad way. No one had much contact with him so wasn't sure how long he'd been out but he wasn't showing signs of waking up. Barnus had turned up in a fit of worry but after hearing that Ruby and their baby would be okay he calmed down.
Star had filled Marco in on everything that had happened in his absence and they now looked in on Janna who was sleeping.
"So let me get this straight? She's losing her memory and because of that she's reverted to her mental age of 8?"
"Yes and that's all I know. I'm almost as new to this situation as you are. I'm not sure what's going on but I'm kind of hoping you'll have better luck than me. I'm going to see if Tom's woken up yet and I'll start searching the magic archives for anything that can help.. I'll see you later okay."
"Sure thing.. Thanks Star." Star waved goodbye to Marco and left the room. As she did Jade followed in after her.
"So is there anything we can do?"
"I'm not really sure yet. Until she wakes up I can't really tell if the age regression is fixed. If it is then it's going to take a lot more than we have to heal her. For now, let her sleep. When she wakes I want to take her back to earth and get her an MRI test and do everything we can the earth way. That was we can cover both science and magic."
"Promise me something though.."
"What?"
"No suicidal ideas please.. We have enough problems as it is without another sacrifice."
"I promise Jade... Are you going to stay with her?"
"I won't leave her side for even a second.. I'll call if she wakes." Marco nodded to Jade and left the room. He walked down the hall to see Heckapoo sitting there. She looked up making eye contact with him and tried to leave when he grabbed her and pulled her in to a hug.
"It's not your fault.. Its no ones fault. I'm not angry. I promise." He felt light sobbing come from the demi-goddess as she cried in his arms. He held her tight and told her it'd all be okay. After a few minutes he let her go and passed her a tissue to blow her nose.
"Is it okay if I go in?" She asked meekly.
"Of course it is, Jade's in there as well but if she wakes it'll be better if its a face she knows. We'll fix this.. We always do." Heckapoo smiled weakly before saying goodbye and heading into the room. Marco walked until he thought he was alone and then punched at the wall swearing.
"Hardly the actions of a knight? To damage royal property." Marco opened his eyes to see Higgs looking at him worried. She walked forward and ruffled his hair.
"Come on Diaz, that's not the spirit I expect from you."
"I'm finding it harder each day to keep that spirit up.. I should have been here.."
"I thought you just told Heckapoo that it was no ones fault.."
"You were listening?"
"You were lying?"
"No.."
"Then don't blame yourself. Your situation was out of your control and on the plus side you managed to heal your eye. No one blames you so don't blame yourself.. Please. Anyway I'm not here for a pep talk I just wanted to return something."
"Return what?" Higgs lifted her top causing Marco to turn and blush.
"Oh.. Damn dude your shy.. I just wanted you to get your tattoo back but seriously if I realised this is all it took to throw you off your game I'd be stripping during all of our practice matches." Higgs laughed as she held his hand over the tattoo. Marco whispered the spell then held his hand to his heart. Higgs looked down and saw it was gone. She tried to talk to Kelly but the link was gone.
"Great! You can look again now." Marco turned to face her only to see a fist about to strike his face. With no time to react he was knocked to the ground in pain.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" Higgs knelt down beside him.
"I'm your mentor.. I'm training you.. You are my responsibility.. If you ever sacrifice yourself for my sake and only save me again and I'll kick your ass. Either we escape together or we stick by each other and this isn't up for debate. Anyway I think it's about time you saw her. She's waiting in the garden." Higgs ruffled his hair again before leaving him rubbing his nose on the floor. Marco pulled himself up and walked down the hallway. He spoke briefly to any castle workers he saw on the way before making his way to the garden. He looked around until he spotted her. She was standing under an arch of roses. She looked nervous as she waited for him to approach.
"..Hey.."
"Hi.."
"Are you okay.." He asked her as he ran his hand against her cheek. She grabbed his hand and held it tight against her, taking in all his heat.
"No.. I really don't think I will be for a while but I think that's the same for everyone.."
"Sorry.."
"Don't apologise Marco.. You've only ever done right by all of us.."
"I should have been there to protect you.."
"We don't need protecting and if anything it's my fault you weren't by my side.."
"Kelly.."
"No it needs to be said Marco.. I need to say it.. Please.."
"Okay.."
"Please don't laugh.. I'm trying my best here.." Before Marco could question her words Kelly began to hum a tune to herself. He listened never letting go of her hand and never letting her fade from his vision. She turned and stared him in the eye and started to sing to him.
"Together we are tough even when its rough,
How could that ever be bad?,
I don't wanna lose you, I don't know what id do,
It might just drive me mad,
I don't know when, I don't know why,
But I've fallen in love with you,
I don't care how, I don't care where,
But I need you to love me too,
The road will be bumpy and journey is harsh,
The path ahead might make us bleed,
But hold onto love and don't let go of hope,
For me, I need you to believe,
We'll overcome ours fears no matter what nears,
Armageddon is just another day,
Our love can face it all and we'll never fall,
We'll fight all what comes our way,
I don't know when, I don't know why,
But I'm crazy in love with you,
I don't care how, I don't care where,
But I'm desperate for you to love me too,
I may have let you down but please don't keep that frown,
I'll only ever love you,
I should never have said that lie, it almost meant goodbye,
Saying no was wrong to do,
I want to stay by your side,
Never letting you go away,
I want to be yours forever,
For tomorrow and every other day,
I need you to know how much I love you,
I need you to know how much you mean to me,
I need you to know that I'll always love you,
So now Marco I want you to please marry me." Kelly finished singing and just looked into his eyes. She was scared. Scared that after hurting him he wouldn't feel the same when she saw a tear fall down his cheek. She leaned over a kissed it off his cheek.
"Why are you crying Marco.."
"Because this is all I've ever wanted.. For you to say yes.."
"I'm so sorry I said no before.. I was just worried that you and me was just because we were forced together by fate.."
"Are you stupid? I love you.. I love you more than words can even begin to describe and I know languages of actual magic. We have defied fate together, broken through dimensions and even changed the future. We have our home and I dream of the day we have a family to join us in it.. How could I ever not love you.. For you. Kelly, you are amazing! You are beautiful, smart, funny and so strong both physically and emotionally.. You literally hold me together.. All those months you were just a thought away seem like centuries away now. I miss you so much. All the time I was fighting for my life I was fighting to be back by your side. I grow stronger each and every day just because I wont be left behind by you. Forced together? No.. But I won't let anything force us apart." Marco held his hands to her face and pressed his lips against hers. He could feel tears rolling down her face as she smiled. He kissed her passionately as she wrapped her arms around his neck returning his passion with her own. The world around them faded away as they held each other again.
"Hello Marco.."
"Hi Kelly.."
"Yes.. Hello Kelly"
