Flowers and Stars 11

A Jester's End

A/N: Thank you for all who read and reviewed :)

Useful76: Chapter 8 - I bet that surprised you haha and yeah she has become a force in her own right and intends to stay that way.

Useful76: Chapter 10 - I don't blame you for not keeping track haha. I wanted to give a bit of back story to what drove the actions of future Glossaryck and give Dox's character that missing piece. People kept assuming he was related to the characters but as you read it's pretty harsh for him. Star's magic would have lost control eventually it's just they triggered it.

Lerans: Thank you very much for you comments and I understand your complaint. It was rather horrible to write about animal abuse but please read this chapter and it'll make more sense than just a way to show how evil Darkco is.

Kerbolious: Thank you :'3 I set myself a challenge to try to do a chapter a day till i finish the story. I've had a plan of what goes into each chapter and am going with the flow. I actually have been working everyday i've been writing this story and using my phone to write it during breaks. I always planned to show Stars emotional state more clearly but i brought it a bit forward to answer your question and Glossaryck is going to be a big part of the end now he has all of the answers.

'Knock Knock'

Dox's face tensed up as he started to channel magic. He reinforced the door and cast a muffle spell so no one could hear it. Whatever could get to the door in the pocket dimension wouldn't be kept out long. He had about a few days. He'd give the two their peace.

Dox monitored the door every hour the next few days. Sometimes the knocking would get louder and sometimes it would stop. At one point he had to reinforce the door again as the banging had started to damage it. He kept this from Marco and Kelly and on the 5th day he knew. The door would break.

"So we're going back 2 days earlier than we thought?" Marco had asked with his bag over his shoulder. Most of their stuff was hidden in Kelly's dimension but he didn't feel right without carrying some of his gear.

"Yep just i predict it may be better to go back now, use the extra two days to inform everyone of what's about to happen and use the week ahead to plan" Dox smiled as he finished packing his bag.

"Okay that makes sense but why are we taking all our stuff?" Kelly quizzed. "I mean it takes seconds for any of us to pop back here?"

"Because we may not have seconds and we don't know if we'll be able to access the Parahouse in the dark dimension" Dox explained.

"Oh i get you. Well shall we get going?" Marco asked holding out his Scissors. He tore open a portal to Butterfly castle and turned to face Dox.

"Are you sure you will be okay going? Like are they going to attack you again?" He asked concerned.

"No no and if they do it's okay the Princess and Dad know the truth about us and I'm sure Janna is quite aware as well." Dox answered without thinking.

"What do you mean Star knows the truth? How would she know the truth?" Marco grabbed Dox arms and began to sense a feeling from him he hadn't before. Kelly looked down at her bracelet and realised that it was getting colder than usual. Her eyes opened wide.

"It's not important now let's go" Neither of them moved.

"What are you doing!?" He asked them confused.

"Why does Star know?"

"And what are you so afraid of?" They questioned him.

"Look we don't have time. I'll explain everything when we get to Mewni."

"We're not going back early to reconnect... we're running from something aren't we?" Marco guessed correctly. The bracelet got colder.

"Dox tell us what's going on?" Kelly pleaded.

He looked down at his two companions and decided it was time.

"My name is Index of Knowledge, The Paradox Defender of Man. I chose to go by Dox A. Par because Index was the me of the future who lived. Dox is the me of now that's going to die. For the last 5 days something has been trying to get in here which should be impossible. I've been keeping it out but I'm at the limit it what i can do." The two stared at him speechless. He waved his hand and released all of his illusion spells to the two. Kelly gasped and began to sob. Marco felt sick as a lump formed in his throat.

"I'm weak... Right now you two are both several times stronger than me. I can't heal wounds with a wave or any of the magical stuff you think i can. To even attempt to heal something I'd have to almost run my magic dry. I just cover up my injuries with illusion spells since that's the type of magic I can use the best. My bones are enchanted with various other magics which let me seem stronger than I am." He opened up his top showing his damaged body. Kelly couldn't hold back her tears as she noticed the caved in right side of his lower chest where she had broken his ribs.

"I'm near the end of my journey with you two and I wanted to set you off with a smile. The princess knows because we've been talking regularly since the first run in with Darkco. She has been using an advanced version of the All-Seeing Eye spell to spend time here without being seen. She was here for Marco's birthday, Christmas she was with us. She came to visit on her birthday and many times in between. She is aware you two are arriving today. Dad kinda magic-napped me and used it to regain all his memories from my timeline. He knows everything and will be able to help you two and continue your training. Trust him he's a good man." Dox smiled at the two. They suddenly ran forward and hugged him tight. He could hear through Kelly's sobs the word sorry being repeated again and again.

He pushed them both away.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Your not coming with us are you?" Marco sniffed.

"No... This is goodbye" Dox admitted.

"No. You have to come with us! We can save you too!" Kelly grabbed Dox's arm as a massive crash could be heard from down the hall. Dox quickly sealed the door and reinforced it. Something was now on the other side banging on it. Marco and Kelly got ready to fight when Dox pulled them both in for a hug.

"Marco, you are so amazing so gifted and talented. Mewni will have the best hospital in all the dimensions. Follow your dreams.

Kelly, you got him, the man you love is yours and you will have the raddest most awesomest weapon store ever. I will allow you to name it after me" He winked at her.

"Goodbye" Dox suddenly pushed them both through the portal and sealed it.

Marco and Kelly burst through the collapsing portal landing on the meeting table of royal family. Star and Glossaryck rushed to help them up. Star pulled them both into a hug with no one speaking they returned her hug. Glossaryck watched the portal close behind them.

"Where is my son Marco?" All three teenagers looked up. Kelly's face was still stained with tears as she tries to find the words to say. Star paused confused and then it hit her. Dox was Glossaryck's son, suddenly so much more made sense about the elusive trickster.

Marco swallowed deep and put his hand on Glossaryck's small shoulder.

"He's not coming... Whatever's after us found the Parahouse and Dox had been keeping it out. He.. He pushed us out after saying goodbye. He.. He was covered in bruises, cuts and injuries we never even knew he had" Marco had started to sob his words to the man.

"But he wasn't like that when i saw him a few days ago?" Glossaryck asked confused.

"He was hiding it behind an illusion spell." Star spoke for the first time since they had arrived making Marco jump.

"Why..." Kelly managed to ask.

"To protect you.. Like he has always done" Glossaryck sighed.

"Can't we just go back? I mean he gave you the key to the house didn't he Marco?" Star asked. They remembered what Dox had said about her being at his birthday. He cut open a portal and put the key 🔑 in. He tried to turn it but it wouldn't move. Suddenly a feminine voice spoke from the portal.

"This is registered pocket dimension #650, code name "Parahouse" registered to Marco Diaz and Kelly Diaz." Everyone stood paralysed as the voice continued.

"Access to the dimension have been denied due to the dimensional collapse. Repairs will take approximately 75 earth days."

No one could speak trying to process the message when the voice spoke again.

"One message saved. Should I play the message?"

"Yes" came a small voice from Star she was the only one able to speak.

"Message Play,"

At first all that came through was static and then they heard two voices one was Dox's and the other... Marco's?

"So in the end all that happened was they sent some weakling back in time to stop me? That's a joke you couldn't even last 5 minutes against me." The twisted warped sound of his laugh filled the audio.

Dox started coughing violently.

"5 minutes is all it takes to charge up a dimensional collapse formula my friend. Enjoy being wiped from existence!"

"YOU FOOL! YOU'LL DIE TOO!"

"What are you talking about? I have not even been born yet" They could hear Dox laughing.

"I will not fall with you" Suddenly explosions filled the audio and it cut out.

"End of recording."

All four of them stared in horror as the portal closed. They just heard the last moments of their friends life.

/

After pushing them through the portal Dox turned to face the door. He waved his hands and got rid of his charms. The person behind the door realised what had happened and opened it.

Darkco stepped into the room to see Dox sitting at his desk waiting for him. He walked up to the human and sat down opposite him.

"So its you is it? The one who has been interfering in my plans" his crude smile lit up facing Dox.

"Why yes? The names Dox. Dox A. Par, I'm surprised you haven't heard of me to be honest after all i am top of Mewni's most wanted and also clearly top of the best looking list. You look like you wouldn't know about that one though." Dox stared at the Dark Marco. His skin was cracked with glowing blue lines and it looked like he had scratch marks all across his face and arms and they looked self inflicted.

"Never heard of you. You must be some sort of zero!" Darkco spat at him. Dox smiled at him which seemed to anger the boy more.

"Maybe so, however my identity isn't all that interesting when we compare it to what sort of magic substance you've been abusing" Dox stood up and looked down at him.

"I imagine you probably had a harsh wake up call last time you FAILED to kill my darling little Kelly" Darkco flinched at his words. Dox chuckled.

"Not just failing to kill her but all you did was push her and Marco closer. Making Marco even stronger than before. I imagine after heading back to your second rate dimension you were scared of hi-"

"-Shut up." Darkco's eyes were watering as he tried to hold back his rage.

"-him. So you went and pumped yourself full of magic juice. I cant believe your what i came back in time for." Dox was trying to keep the boy distracted and his last sentence seemed to do it.

"What do you mean back in time?"

"Well you see i was sent back here to stop you and save Marco. Guess i needn't have bothered." Dox smiled again.

"So it really is all your fault."

"Yep" As the words left his mouth Dox was blast back into a book shelf by the boy. He dropped to the floor disappearing through a portal and appearing above Darkco he kicked him as hard as he could in the head but the boy didn't even move. He reached up and grabbed Dox slamming his body through the desk again and again. Dox used his strength enchantment to break free and went to punch Darkco in the face. The repeated abuse of using the portals and abuse to his body had finally taken its toll as when Dox struck the boys face his whole knuckle to his wrist snapped. He yelped in pain before being thrown into the wall again by Darkco. The boy rained his fists down on the red head till he managed to escape through a portal. He had to use the wall to stay standing.

"So in the end all that happened was they sent some weakling back in time to stop me? That's a joke you couldn't even last 5 minutes against me." He let out a dark laugh.

Dox started coughing violently. He looked down at his hands and saw blood. He was bleeding internally.

"5 minutes is all it takes to charge up a dimensional collapse formula my friend. Enjoy being wiped from existence!" Dox laughed as the boys eyes open wide.

"YOU FOOL! YOU'LL DIE TOO!" Screamed Darkco starting to back away to the door.

"What are you talking about? I have not even been born yet" Dox replied mockingly while laughing.

"I will not fall with you" Darkco began to charge dark energy as the house began to shake. All around them they heard the house creaking and breaking. Dox ran at Darkco as he unleashed an explosion of dark energy. They were blasted out of the house the same way Darkco had come in from.

Dox slid across the floor of the broken Butterfly Castle. He looked up to see Darkco about to kick him in the head and dodged through a portal. He found himself in a random hallway staggering through the rubble.

He could hear the deranged alter ego calling after him through the castle. He knew Dox wouldn't and couldn't run away. He limped down the hall heading to Star Butterflies room. He figured if everyone had been wiped out then the crystallised rift energy would still be where it was the first time. Being used as a paper weight by the Princess. He reached her room and went to the cupboard only to almost throw up. Inside there was several decayed bodies and chained up to the wall was his adopted father.

"Dad.. Dad can you hear me" the little blue man's body was covered in cuts and bruises. His mouth had been sewn shut and a few vials of his blood lay on the floor next to him.

"What has he done to you? You may not know me. Here hold my hand." He touched Glossaryck's hand and like with the Glossaryck from the light dimension this Glossaryck got all the memories that weren't freely seen. The little mans eyes lit up as he stared at the beaten up red head. Dox had never reapplied the Illusion spell so DarkGloss could see all his scars and all his wounds. He hugged the red head.

"Yeah its me.. Index of Knowledge. I'm sorry, if i had known you were here i would have come and saved you. I'm not here to help I'm sorry but i cant leave you here." He broke the little mans chains before cutting the stitches that held his mouth shut. He picked him up and headed back into the room to see Darkco smiling at him.

"So that's who you are. Index of Knowledge. Now i think about it you are about as annoying as your little Dad over there. Now put him back." DarkGloss clung onto Dox terrified. His heart broke seeing his father like this.

"What did you do to him?" Dox spat back. Darkco laughed seeing his joyful façade broken.

"Well a few months ago after being beaten by Marco and thinking i killed Kelly i returned here. I decided I needed to get stronger and that's when I heard it. Good old Glossaryck calling for help. I went to his rescue slaughtering all the occultists that held him. When i found him and realised what they had been doing it gave me an idea. I could do it too. I took Glossy and chained him up here as my personal magic battery. I forced him to teach me all the dark magic he could till i eventually didn't need his words anymore so i made them stop. I don't really need his blood anymore I'm already far beyond anyone who could stop me if i already outrank the great ZERO from the future." He laughed uncontrollably at the disgust that appeared on Dox's face. Dox breathed deeply and smiled back at him.

"Hey kiddo?"

"Yes Zero?" Darkco started to charge his magic.

"I'm not a Zero. My name is Index Dox A. Par. As my amazing father once said. I am a hero. To Kelly a brother. To Marco a mentor. To Star a friend. To Heckapoo a lover and to Janna a rival. I am worth much more than zero even if it took me this long to realise. I'm no zero. I am a hero."

"Hope you enjoyed those last words. Hero."

Darkco fired all his dark energy at Dox. Dox waved his hand and caused a portal to blast it back into him sending him flying through the wall. Dox ran and jumped from the balcony. He felt the wind on his face and had an idea. He waited untill he was near the bottom and opened another portal falling through. He opened this one on the side of a building which sent him flying through the kingdom. He kept this up until he had reached the border. He tried to open one more but it closed on him causing him to crash through the kingdoms gates and out onto a bridge. He stood up. Both arms were broken now as was his leg. His father held onto him for dear life untill Dox couldn't walk anymore and collapsed. He lay there on the ground as his father tried to make him move. He closed his eyes.

He felt a small wet sensation on his face and opens his eyes to see a small puppy. It was one of Stars laser puppies and had a missing paw. It was in a pretty bad state. He sat up and let it jump into his lap. He looked down at it and smiled. He used nearly all of his magic to heal it. If he was Marco he would have done it without a sweat but for Dox it took everything he had. He opened a small portal and a small prosthetic appeared. He strapped it to the dog and turned to his father. Almost passing out he healed him to. Dox sat there broken looking at the two. He had no magic left and no more tricks to pull.

"Your Marco Jr aren't you?" He said stroking the puppy. Pain rushed into his arms as he moved it. The puppy woofed back in response to its name being called.

"Marco Jr i have no idea how you got away from him but i need you to take my Dad and get away from here." He picked up Glossaryck and put him on the puppy's back. It whimpered as Dox stood up to leave.

"My real Dad once told me that you should always survive. Fight another day. Now go." Glossaryck tried to get off the dog but it picked him up in its mouth and carried him into the forest disappearing. Dox stood up and carried himself to the bridge again. He sat down and waited. Around him he could hear the cries of wild beasts and monsters. He heard the yelling of the deranged lunatic from inside the castle walls and eventually he looked up to see Darkco standing above him.

"You have no where left to run Index. Where is Glossaryck?" Darkco spat kicking the wounded man across the bridge.

Dox couldn't sit up anymore as blood ran out of his mouth. He managed to speak to him through the pain.

"Gone. You will never hurt him again." Dox tried to laugh but the pain was too much.

"Then you can be his replacement." Darkco started to drag the man by his leg. Dox stared up at the sky as his head scrapped the ground and he thought to himself.

"I guess that's it for me.. Leaving the things i care about to children and a small dog. I guess i really wasn't all that great at the big things but so help me it was fun. Life may not have been mine to enjoy but enjoy it I did. Heckapoo I love you. Marco and Kelly I will miss you and thank you for everything Dad. Thank you for the failsafe."

Darkco turned back at Dox to see his body glowing bright. His eyes were bleeding as he raised his middle finger to the boy.

"Oh I hope it hurts when he kicks your arse." Dox's body exploded ending his life and blasting Darkco off of the bridge and into the water below.

/

Marco, Kelly, Star and Glossaryck sat in silence. None had moved or spoke since the portal closed. The door opened and Heckapoo, Janna, Tom, River and Moon all walked in. They saw the two teenagers and ran to hug them. It didn't take them long to notice that the mood wasn't good.

"What happened? Where is that villain Dox?!" River exclaimed out loudly. Kelly burst into tears and held onto Marco. He held her tightly and stroked her hair. He kept whispering things to her trying to calm her. River looked worried not sure what he had said wrong.

Star told everyone to sit and they obeyed. Her and Glossaryck told everyone the truth.

The truth of Index of Knowledge, The paradox defender of man. Who had spent his whole life waiting to give it all up to save Marco and who had just took his final moments to protect the boy and everyone else.

The room was silent as a sudden portal opened. Out of it ran a small puppy carrying an unconscious Glossaryck. Glossaryck flew over to him and when he touched him the two merged into one. He looked up at the others with fresh tears in his eyes as both memories blended together. The puppy ran up to Star happily licking her hand in affection before running to Marco. Marco picked it up and noticed that there was something snagged in its collar. It was a small note. He opened it and read it out load.

"If this reaches you I want you to know I did everything I could to stop him. I tried my best and I died. Sorry kiddo. You know what they say, the good ones die young. I just didn't want to leave it as i did so this is my final goodbye Marco Diaz and a reminder of a promise you made to me. I am Dox A. Par and that only makes sense if you live Marco.

So live your life to the full my young friend. Live it for me and when the end comes if there is an after life I'll be waiting to hear all about it.

Signing off, Dox A. Par, ex-Jester of the Blood Moon and Index of Knowledge. Also tell Kelly you have my blessing. It'll make sense."

Underneath he had drawn a picture of himself waving goodbye. He cast a spell on it so it actually waved. And that was it. Marco broke down crying no longer able to hold back his tears.

A/N: Spoiler. Dox doesn't come back.

I actually planned to have him almost get killed by Star and the MHC in a fight then disappear in the Dark Dimension to survive. Spend a few months there before appearing to save Marco dying from Darkco's attack but I like where the story has headed.

Please review and let me know what you think and if you have any questions feel free to PM me.