Ok, ya dicknuts. Hope you guys are ready to question your reality because fuck, this shit's gonna get philosophical up here! And I mean some grade A metaphysics!

But first: some reviews-

Celebrity Martyr: Oh, it's about to get super trippy up in here. And thanks, I like to pride myself on my update schedule.

Anomymims: Nah, meng, you're a PhenomeMOM! And now this little birdie must go! I have important matters to attend to. CHEEP!

Guest sorta: Omg, I'm the exact same way. I melt every time I read a hug between the two or write it in myself.

Rightio! Let's get right into this steaming pile of... words...

Chapter 10

The Persistence of Memory

Marco landed on a soft ground on the other side of the portal. Face down. He spat out the sand that had managed to litter the inside of his oral cavity. Star was already sitting up and looking at the world around them. When Marco adjusted his own eyes to the sight he could only gasp in astonishment. He was sure he had seen this somewhere before, maybe in school? That's right, it was an old famous painting!

Around them were clocks absolutely everywhere but they were... melting. They seemed to drip off of surfaces and hang around tree branches. Instead of beginning to wonder exactly where they were Marco instead began to wonder how such an image had made it to Earth in the first place. This dimension was clearly older than whenever the painting was made which begged the question of how the artist had managed to get a glimpse of such a place. Maybe dimensional travel wasn't so lost in Earth's culture as he thought it was.

Star had already gotten to her feet. She was wandering, now, like she always does when something catches her eye enough to cause some sort of short circuit in her mind. Marco immediately got up onto his his feet and followed, kicking sand up as he went.

What is this place... His thoughts wanted to wander around just as Star was but Marco managed to stay focused. They needed to know where they are and how to get back home. A quick inspection of terrain yielded the sight of a dark form on the horizon. His legs seemed to carry him that direction without command. Whether he had a choice in the matter or not he wasn't too sure...

Star's mind was wandering with her body. Time seemed to be the only factor helping Star to remember anything because it wasn't until now that she had a specific thought come to her mind.

There wasn't much that Star didn't like about the Earth dimension but there were even fewer things she could genuinely say she loved.

When Star saw Oskar for the first time she felt her heart melt and drip down to her toes. Who was this guy? He was talented with his little key-tar, somehow managed to keep that devilishly-handsome-for-a-really-small-kid look, and even had his own place! Even if it was just a car he wasn't legally allowed to drive. There was something about this man-child that just screamed 'love at first sight'.

Well, almost.

Star wasn't sure what it was but every time she wanted to get closer to Oskar there was something preventing her. Any regular person would say it was just because she had a crush and was nervous but Star wasn't too sure. She could go talk to this kid no problem, Star wasn't known to get nervous about things like this. After all she had dated the literal son of the devil, what was there to be nervous about?

Maybe it was this feeling inside of her that maybe, just maybe, she didn't really want this man. Maybe she was holding herself back for something, or someone, better. She knew deep down that she wanted Oskar to be her own but then she remembered something crucial Marco had taught her once:

"There's a big difference between a need and a want, Star. If you ever want to make it in life you need to know the difference between the two. If you go after everything you've ever wanted you'll feel empty in life, unaccomplished. If you succeed in obtaining what you need, you'll find that it's what you always wanted to begin with."

But what was it that Star wanted and what was it that she needed?

"Star! C'mon, we're moving."

Star's eyes refused to avert from the clocks but her body followed behind Marco. The sand wasn't too hard of a terrain to cover. Sure, it was a bit tougher to walk through and drained them of energy quicker than if they had just been walking on asphalt but they both knew it could have been much, much worse. It took a good while to make it to the structure Marco had seen and, though neither of them realized it through their continued amazement of the place they were in, they were both getting rather hungry.

When they arrived at their destination the sight of a large walled platform astonished the two. The walls were covered in small monitors that consistently flickered between different views. Just outside the platform there was a large machine that seemed to have the soul purpose of spinning a... large hollow gear?

This certainly is... strange...

They didn't know it but both Star and Marco thought this at the exact same time. It wasn't until Marco had finally decided to step up onto this platform that he noticed the rather large, light blue man standing in the center of it. He wasn't fat, no, but when his description comes out as 'large' it's because of his absurd height and ripped muscle mass. He was adorned in a short white robe that made it look like his butt cheeks might slip out at any time. Marco felt shivers run up his spine just from the thought.

The blue man's voiced boomed overhead as Marco set his foot down on the black marble of the platform.

"Marco Diaz. I was wondering how long it would take you two to make it here."

"What? H-how do you... know my name?"

"I know a lot of things about this realm. Mostly due to the fact that I am its sole resident."

Star looked at the man with realization. "Wait, I know you!"

Marco looked taken aback. "You do?"

"Yeah! I've read old manuscripts on this guy." She took a few steps towards the man in question. "You're Father Time!"

Father Time chuckled in delight. "Why, yes I am, little Star. I'm not surprised you recognized me." He turned around to show them a friendly face adorned with a thin yet abnormally long beard. "Your dimension is one of the few that is genuinely still fascinated in my presence in this universe."

"Wait, you're Father Time? I didn't think you were real!" Marco was less confused at the situation in front of him and more amazed that he was even there. It felt like he was chosen to be in this exact spot at this exact time.

"Oh, my reality could be debated for eons, as it has been. But that isn't what the two of you are here for."

"What are we here for? Did you bring us here on purpose?"

"Perhaps, Marco, perhaps. Or maybe your own conscious led you here. After that bit of action you went through, I wouldn't be surprised if you were here looking for answers."

"Yeah, actually. I don't really remember much at all of what brought us here. And Star didn't remember anything until I tried to make her remember."

"Yes, I saw that." He made a small head nod towards the monitors. "But it was in vain for you were not what helped to, as you say, 'jog her memory'. The only external force that can help with amnesia, whether short term or long, is Time and only Time. As one moves forward in Time it is up to Time to decide whether or not the person experiencing this loss of memory will be reunited with their past glories or not."

"That... makes sense. Glad I know that now. But I am still curious about how we got here. Care to shed some light on that?"

"Certainly! The fact that you drifted past the portal to my realm was no coincidence. It may be the only portal to have ever formed, as well as the only one that can form, through natural purposes but that does not mean its mobility is limited. That portal found the two of you for a reason and, if you want my honest assumption, it was probably that rather cute show of affection you had that drew it in close. Not a lot of people ever really visit the void anymore, alive that is, so it must have found the only two living beings present at the Time."

Marco realized that every time this guy said the word 'time' he seemed to put a bit of an emphasis on it. Whenever he said it it felt like a sharp punch to the soul.

"So that was the void Star had mentioned before. But... what exactly is the void. It looked a lot like pictures of space I've seen from back in my own dimension."

"Well, in a way, they are rather similar. The void is a vast emptiness, save for the atmosphere that fills it, that harbors portals to various worlds. Unlike your space, however, it is man made. When creatures discovered the way to traverse in between various realms they decided it was in their best interest to create a sort of 'super highway' to link the different doorways. It is quite the curious thing, actually, in how it manages to know exactly where you want to go and bring you there. It can sense your emotions and, as it turns out, you two wanted answers over anything. Your use of the word 'dimension' is very biased, by the way. The Void is the only real separate dimension in this universe that any sentient creature has managed to reach."

"Only separate dimension? What do you mean by that? I mean, no doubt places like Mewni and Earth are completely separate dimension, right?"

"Wrong. Calling it another dimension ensues that they are in a completely different universe, which is wrong entirely. Mewni is but another planet floating around some distant sun just like Earth is. All the dimensions your 'dimensional scissors' can reach are all part of the same universe. Every time you step through a portal you are harmlessly cutting through the fabric of the space-time continuum itself, a hole that bends the fourth dimension itself to bring two places in the third dimension close enough to step through."

"I'm... not sure I follow..."

"Think of it this way: The third dimension is a nothing but a quilt," Father Time clapped his hands and a large quilt appeared in front of him. "Individual patches in this quilt are solar systems and galaxies. The space around this quilt is the fourth dimension. Say you want to get from here" he pointed to a spot on the far left of the quilt "to here" he pointed to a spot on the far right "in a mere instant. That would require travel faster than the speed of light, which is not impossible, I might add, but very impractical. How will you do it? Well if we just bend the places together" the quilt folded over, bringing the two places pointed out by Father Time closer together "then all we need is a little incision" a pair of regular scissors appeared out of thin air and cut a hole through the two points "and voila! We have something that a lot of you Earth folks like to call a 'worm hole'."

"Ah, that seems... reasonable. I think. Now, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did I lose all my memories?"

"Marco, let me ask you something. Do you think Time moves along in a linear fashion?"

He definitely wasn't expecting such a sudden change in question. "Well, yeah of course. The past has already happened, the present is being experienced, and the future has yet to come. I know it's more complicated than that but it's the easiest way to describe it."

"Yes, that is how one experiences Time. When you're born a course in the plane of Time is plotted out for you. You move along in life as if nothing could scrape you from such a track. Of course, what you do in this Time is completely up to you, but the Time you're thrown into is not for anyone except Time to decide. Time itself, however, is not confined to a single, one dimensional line. In fact it moves along the plane I mentioned before, able to travel in any direction, at any angle, at any speed, and at any point. Many sentient lifeforms believe that it's impossible to break from their set course in life, that we are all doomed to experience our lives one second at a time from birth until death. But there is a way.

"What? How!?"

Father Time chuckled at the young boy's energy. "Oh, such curiosity. Not many people that come here are quite like you. They come for answers but I end up turning them away for their... ulterior motives. You, on the other hand, you are genuinely curios. I respect that. In regards to your question: it takes mass amounts of energy. Not just any energy, though, you can't just hook a huge battery up to a Time converter and expect it to work. No, you need a special kind of energy, one that's induced by will power. And there's no better way to increase will power than pure emotion."

Father Time motioned a hand to Star, who was still busy watching random monitors on the wall. As Marco let his eyes wander over to the girl he caught a hint at what Father Time was trying to say. "You mean, if me and Star stay as... good friends we'll be able to withstand the test of time?"

"Something like that, yes. Now, I believe you asked me how the two of you had lost your memories, is that correct?"

Marco nodded his head.

"Well, will power doesn't just have its uses in Time, many have found that it can be applied to enhance magical properties, such as a magnifying glass under the sun. Well, we know now that will power is an energy, yes? Well, what if I told you that everything useful in life comes at a cost? Magic is definitely no exception, and I believe you've experienced this yourself."

Father Time snapped his fingers and Marco's eyes went distant. His memories were being altered to bring forth a specific memory:

Marco was could see Star in front of him. in between the two was a litter of puppies.

"I know but look! Magic~" She put emphasis on the last part with her little singsong voice. "You know what that means?"

"That we're going to get in major trouble for that?"

"No, silly, it means there's magical energy on Earth, too! That wouldn't work if there wasn't."

This line seemed to be louder than the rest, as if there was meant to be emphasis placed on it.

"Wait, really? That's awesome!"

"YEEAAaaahhhh..." Star was unable to keep this last exclamation up as the adrenaline started wear off. Her knees buckled and she collapsed on the bed.

"Star!?" Marco ran over to her. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just kinda... winded. That narwhal blast took a lot out of me."

"Ok, well, take it easy for the rest of the day. We'll pick up the lesson tomorrow."

"Right right..." She turned onto her side and laid on the bed, exhausted.

The scene began to fade out.

Marco's eyes refocused on where he was, looking at the tall, muscular, blue man that was explaining the universe to him.

"When Star used magic that was too powerful for her body to handle, she was drained of the only energy she had to keep her physically standing. She has yet to learn how to focus her own will power into her magic and it's already taken its tole. And believe me, Star has quite a lot of will power in her. The girl's a freaking truck. But even will power has its limits and if you use too much of it in one spell undesired consequences can occur. A big enough spell can even have negative effects on those around the caster, though not as severe as the casters' effects."

"So you're telling me Star casted some huge spell that knocked both of our memories loose?"

"Precisely!"

"Then... why did she? What happened that made her cause this?"

"I think it'd be better if you saw for yourself. Star! Could you come here please?"

Star managed to peel her eyes away from the monitor she was looking at and looked back at the two others. When Marco and Star were standing next to each other one large monitor descended from somewhere above them. When it turned on it showed Star standing in the back yard with Glassaryck, Marco was sitting on the back step, it was still on pause. When Father Time hit 'play' on a small remote he took out of his robe Marco's and Star's consciousnesses were sucked into the experience.

Glossaryck was still hovering above his little book teaching Star about the importance of Magic in society while Marco sat and watched. This didn't last long, however, because a portal opened up a few feet away. Marco stood up to see what, or who, would be coming out of it. When Tom walked out they only tensed more.

"Hey, Star, long time no see!"

"Tom, what are you doing here?"

Marco finally spoke up from his little step. "Tom? As in, evil ex-boyfriend Tom?"

Tom sighed. "I'm not evil. I just have these 'anger management issues'." He said the last part with air quotes and plenty of annoyance.

"Tom, we broke up awhile ago. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, right! Silly me, where are my manners. Guys, I'd like to introduce you to a few friends of mine:"

As he said this both Ludo and Yvgeny hopped out of the portal behind Tom. Ludo smiled wickedly.

"Star Butterfly! I've come for-"

"The wand, yeah yeah, whatever. Tom, I can't believe you. Why would you bring these guys straight to me, I thought you still liked me."

"Oh, I do, but Ludo offered me something I just couldn't pass up."

Glossaryck looked over at Star. "Remember, Star, anger will only over-fuel you. Don't let it be anything other than a last resort-"

The little blue man was cut off by a rather loud 'YAAAAHHHH' coming from Marco as he ran to attack these villains. The second he made it within even 5 feet of them he was thrown off his feet by some invisible barrier. A force field! Tom, followed by the two others, walked over to Marco before he was able to pick himself up. Now that Tom was making the advances Marco easily passed through the barrier and had his hands magically bound. Star ran over, banging on the force field.

"MARCO! YOU LET HIM GO, TOM!"

"And miss out on this opportunity? Of course not!"

"Star, remember your emotions." Glossaryck warned Star again.

Star took a deep breath and aimed her wand at the group. She took a few steps back. A somewhat small bolt of red light shot at the field and was deflected away into the atmosphere. She tried again with numerous other spells but everything had the same effect. Some spells bounced off, others were absorbed entirely, others just exploded on contact blackening the grass below it. Star grew more and more irritated.

Marco struggled in Buff Frog's grasp, having his hands bound was really a huge disadvantage for him. Star could see Marco struggling as both Tom and Ludo laughed.

Star's cheeks began to glow as her facial expression sunk into a much more serious look. Ludo stopped laughing and pointed this out to Tom.

"Look! Look, this is it! She's gonna do it!"

Glossaryck grew worried. "Star! You're anger!"

Star ignored him and aimed her wand once more. It started to glow in a shade of whitish-green. Tom and Ludo smiled maliciously, Yvgeny was still uncertain about the whole ordeal.

What happened next can only be described by a blinding flash of white light.

"And you know what happened after that."

Father Time pressed pause again as Marco and Star returned to reality. Star still looked confused.

"Wait, but I still don't have a lot of context for that. Where were we? Why was Tom attacking? What does he" she pointed over to Marco "have to do with my life?"

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot!" He snapped his fingers and a second, smaller monitor dropped from above them directed entirely at Star. Father Time pressed play on this one and Star went back into her little trance. Marco looked over at the monitor.

"You're showing her everything?"

"Absolutely everything."

"But wait, you said the only thing that could fix amnesia was time itself."

"Marco, come now, you're supposed to be the smart one. I am time. The physical embodiment of it, anyway."

"So... what now?"

"Here's what I'm going to do: just because you were so good at listening to me I'm going to give you a second chance. I'm going to bring the two of you back to just before Star casts that final blast. All you have to do is talk to Yvgeny, there. He's the one that's bear-hugging you from behind. He's extremely uneasy about the whole ordeal and would be a prime target to let you out of his grasp. Talk to him about how if he lets this happen he'll never have the family he always wanted."

"Ok, sure, but if he does let me go, then what? My wrists will still be bound."

"But your feet won't be. And I've seen you do some amazing things with those feet."

"Oh, right!" He slapped himself on the forehead "Duh!"

"Once your friend here is all caught up, I'll bring you back to your own time. Be ready to leave."

"Of course."

"And Marco, one last thing you should know."

"What is it?"

"I'd like to tell you a quick story, if I may. You see, back on Mewni a long long time ago, these was a slaughter. They like to call it Mewnipendence Day, something that's supposed to be similar to your Independence Day, but it is masked by something far lighter than it really is." Father Time's joyous grin faded. "The monsters that inhabit that world are seeking revenge and they are not afraid to go to all costs to get it. Centuries ago Mewni had a ruler by the name of Queen Nova Butterfly. She was hailed as the one truest queen, the ruler that would pull them into the golden age of civilization. She didn't go by some kittens and rainbows code of ethics to get there, either. She took the land through force and wasn't afraid to kill any monster that stood in her way. She refused to kill any Mewmans, except one, but that's another story. The monsters that inhabit the Wastelands now no longer live in fear but hunger for revenge and thirst for blood. Mewni is not just some fairy tale wonderland you may think it is. Don't let Star follow down the same path her ancestor did."

"But wait, who was it she killed? Who did Queen Nova kill?"

"That you'll learn in due time but right now it looks like your friend is starting to come to. Time to go." Father Time chuckled at his pun.

Star shook her head and blinked a few times, looking back at Marco. He returned her glare, waiting for some sort of sign that she had her memories back. When Star cracked a smile that was Marco's chance to rush to a hug. They held each other close, Marco could feel her heart pounding away in her chest. Father Time let out a little 'Awwwww'.

Marco filled her in on the plan before they left and before they knew it they were on there way back home. The last they saw of that world was a bright flash of white light.

Super duper awesome time skip because fuck you!

Marco's restraints faded from his wrists as he stepped over the unconscious bodies of both Tom and Ludo. They were back in the yard now as Yvgeny bent over to pick up the two unconscious fiends. He knew he would get quite the talking to when they got back home. Maybe it was time for him to retire...

Marco and Star lept around the yard rejoicing as Glossaryck watched, a small smile stretched on his face. He looked down at a small mirror concealed by his robe sleeve.

"You told the boy?... Good." He looked back up at the two, they were in the middle of an exploding fist bump now.

"He may be the one we're looking for.

Hooooo boy, that one took me awhile. I got up at 8:30 this morning to start this chapter. It's now just passed 7 at night. Then again, I did go to see the magnificent seven today. Absolutely great movie, I must add.

Anyway, hope I made you think about your own existence there for a bit. I know I sure did. Then again, I do that on the daily. I didn't have a lot of Star in this one, sorry about that, but it's ok because the next chapter's gonna be ALL about her.

Got a suggestion you want to see? Let me know in the reviews. Or just bash my time skips like everyone else, I don't care. Damn, I wish I had used more of them in the last two chapters.