A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for your patience!
This chapter is quite long and was also surprisingly difficult to write.
Please forgive my mistakes, since English is not my first language, but feel free to correct me (I won't be offended)!

So... what do Lord Deimor and Marco Diaz have in common? I guess we're going to find out!

Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for your support!
And thanks for reading!

Chapter 13 – The Boy Who Fell In Love With A Princess

Marco felt his phone vibrate one more time on his chest.
He was lying on his bed, looking more like a lifeless corpse, blankly staring at the ceiling; the boy checked his messages, but he knew who it was.

"Dude, stop moping around. We're coming…"

Ferguson and Alfonso were his bros, always ready to cheer him up when necessary. He simply replied with a short "k, thanks" and was glad that his friends were coming over, hopefully not with their annoying "We told you so…" attitude, since he never admitted that he had feelings for Star in front of them, despite how much they teased him about it. "They were right all along and will never let me live it down…" he realized.

He didn't talk much to her after lunch: she said something about being tired and spent the entire evening in her bedroom, probably drowning her thoughts into more books and documents of all sorts, looking for an answer, something regarding Astria's words or intentions. Marco didn't want to bother her as she seemed unusually distant and opted to leave her alone for a while.

But he still couldn't stop thinking how much he wanted to finally tell her the truth, without being interrupted by an ambush or by his tendency to look like a stuttering idiot. The boy grabbed his bed's pillow and covered his face with it, groaning in frustration, just as he heard somebody knock on his door. "Come in…" – he scoffed.

"Just wanted to let you know that my latest picture just reached two hundred likes on Foodgram…" – Marco's father proudly announced, holding his smartphone, as he opened the door. "The tag #DailyDiazDishes is a success!"

Mr. Diaz waited for a response, a reaction, but he only heard a grunt-like noise coming from under the pillow that was covering his son's face. "Is there something wrong…?" – he asked, but he didn't need to: Marco's "symptoms" were clear to him. He heard a series of growls that sounded like an annoyed "I'm fine…" and stepped towards the boy's bed. He patted his son's shoulder who reluctantly got up and moved, letting his father sit next to him.

"Want to talk about it…?" – he asked, his typical reassuring grin still drawn on his face.
Marco's gaze traveled around the room. "It's just…" – he finally answered; he smiled and shook his head. "You wouldn't understand…"
"Of course…" – the dad replied, with a smirk. He waited for his son to say something else at first, but Marco remained silent, his eyes glued on the floor. "Have you told her yet…?"

The strikingly precise question caught the boy off-guard and coughed nervously. Mr. Diaz chuckled light-heartedly and again patted his son's shoulder.

"Well… your mom and I knew this was going to happen eventually…" – the father said. "We saw the way you two look at each other…".
Much to Marco's chagrin, both parents were apparently aware of what was going on. "What… I… I have no idea of what you're talking about… – the boy stuttered.
The father chuckled a bit more. "Don't lie to your papà, Marco. We've all been teenagers... I remember like it was yesterday…" – the safe kid wanted to hide his face in his red hoodie: hearing his dad's "memories" was usually an unsettling experience. "Everything was weird, ugly, sweaty. I remember the hormones suddenly kicking in and… whoa! Your mother was there, in my high school and I thought: 'I have to ask her out!' but I was too scared! But I had to talk to her, she was so gorgeous, so preciosa…".

That was nothing too explicit so far, but Marco knew his father: the story was going to get more… "suggestive" and he wasn't really interested into hearing an uncomfortably accurate description of her mother's body. "Dad… this is getting awkward…"

Mr. Diaz kept talking, remembering the good old days and, predictably, his memories became remarkably "colorful". Fortunately, a woman's voice interrupted him, something that Marco greatly appreciated. "What your father is trying to say…" – Mrs. Diaz walked in, sporting an amused look, and sat next to her son, caressing his brown hair. "…is that if you really like Star, you should tell her how you feel…".

Marco took a deep breath and nodded, but he was far from being convinced. "I tried but… she's a princess and I'm just… I mean what if she doesn't… ugh… I don't know…"
"Exactly!" – the boy's mom uttered. "You don't know!"
"And you never will if you don't tell her the truth…" – Mr. Diaz added.

The boy fiddled with his hoodie's zipper a bit, a quirky habit that confirmed how stressed he was about the situation. "What if I… ruin everything? What if I confess that I'm in love with her and she doesn't feel the same?" – Marco looked up to his parents, looking for an answer.
"What if she does…?" – Mr. Diaz calmly replied.
"You'll never know if you don't tell her…" – his mother intervened. "Love is taking risks, Marco…" – she spoke softly, knowing that her son's feelings were genuine, sincere.

Mrs. Diaz kissed him on the cheek and hugged him. "My sweet potato is in love…" – she whispered. The kid rolled his eyes, annoyed, but still chuckled a bit. The two parents got up and left the room; before leaving, however, Mr. Diaz turned back to Marco, with an encouraging look. "In the end, the decision is up to you, son. Your mother is right: love is full of risks. And if you really love Star, you should take them all, safe-kid..." – he winked at him and smiled, before disappearing behind the door.

Marco was again alone with his doubts, but he found his parents' words surprisingly reassuring. "I'm tired of playing it safe…" he thought. The boy had to tell her the truth, tell her how important she truly was to him.
He finally felt a boost of confidence: he was ready.

The amount of effort that Star put in her research was impressive. The princess could barely walk properly due to the carpet-like layer of sheets of paper and books scattered all around her bedroom. She spent the entire afternoon looking for answers or any kind of historical information on Astria and her actual life, but there were no results. She lost the track of time, her room now lit by the warm light of the dusk.

She couldn't really focus most of the time anyway: the wand's weird behavior kept distracting her. Star tried to lock it everywhere, in a box, in a drawer, but it always found a way out, like it was desperately trying to get the princess' attention. Truth is, Star didn't want Astria to mess with her head. It was a weird, unsettling experience last time it happened.

The wand again emitted its tingling sounds, being more annoying than disturbing. Star closed in frustration the Mewninan history book she was reading and angrily stepped towards the wand, which was laying on her bed, regularly flapping its wings.

"Please, stop…" – she whispered, as the magical artifact continued moving and shaking.
But she knew that the only way to make it stop was to relive that ominous trance-like state, let Astria herself tell everything she needed to know about Deimor's apocalyptic scheme and, hopefully, a way to thwart his plans.

Before being the peephole into our world for the ancient princess, the magic wand was a gift from her mother and a big responsibility. Star was its caretaker, a guardian, the only thing standing between this immense amount of power and the evil forces bent on using it for their own evil purposes. It was her duty to take care of the wand, no matter how difficult or dangerous it was.

"Alright, Astria…" – her hand slowly reaching for the family heirloom, cautiously laying her fingers on it. "Let's do this…"

The moment she wrapped her hand around it, Star's bedroom flashed for a few moments and then disappeared. The princess felt a sudden, unknown force pulling her in an indefinite direction. She heard a series of unintelligible voices and couldn't understand what they were saying. Unlike last time, Star tried to endure the chaotic disorder of Astria's memories flooding her mind; she closed her eyes, holding the wand tightly. When she opened them, all went silent.
And all was different.

She found herself in a bucolic landscape and a soft wind blew through her hair. The hills around her were green and covered with colorful flowers and bushes. Overlooking the scene, two bright Sun-like stars shining in the blue, cloudless sky.

"What is this place…?"

It was like living through a dream.
For a moment, Star thought she was the only one there, until two figures sitting on the grass caught her attention; she heard them laugh and talk to each other. The princess carefully walked towards them from behind, but she was pretty sure they were not able to see her anyway. They were a girl and a boy, probably around Star's age.

"I felt so good here with you, Luxor…"

The prince caressed Astria's blue hair, his purple eyes gleaming with sincere admiration.
Star was witnessing the love story she basically grew up with.

"You don't have to leave…" – he replied, speaking softly.
"I have to…" – she stated. "There are so many Dimensions I have yet to visit… so many friends that need my help…" – she put her hands on his cheeks. "You knew I couldn't stay forever…"

Luxor gently moved her hands away from his face and calmly stared at the fields around them for a moment, deep in his thoughts, but ready to take the ultimate decision.

"I'll come with you then…"
"I'm afraid this is not possible, my love…"
"There must be a way…"

The last sentence echoed unnaturally as the entire place seemed to collapse. Star was being pulled in a different memory, like she was watching a movie while regularly skipping its unimportant parts. She soon found herself standing on a beautiful moonlit balcony adorned with different kinds of plants and statues. Astria and Luxor were not far from her.

"Do you really love me, my prince?" – she asked, hands covering her own chest.
Luxor seemed surprised by the question. "Of course… more than anything… you're my princess…"
"Then let your love guide you through the Universe…"

As their lips met, Astria's body seemed to shine. The kiss was visibly passionate, an act of true love. A shining sphere of pure light appeared between them as their lips separated. The prince stepped back and the magical orb gently landed on the princess' hands. The sphere was actually a glowing, heart-shaped crystal. "The Heart of Astria" – Star whispered.

"My heart belongs to you, Luxor… literally..." – she said as she handed the mysterious gem to the prince. "Here… take it. It will guide through the…" – but as the boy touched the crystal, a strong force pushed him away with violence.

"No man or woman was able to handle its power…"

Star jumped in fear and almost let out a high-pitched scream as an older, ghost-like, present-day Astria appeared right next to her. "You're here… you're the real one…". The ancient princess simply nodded and the scenery once again changed abruptly.

"In order to contain it, we built a magic wand around it, the same magic wand you're holding now, Star Butterfly…" – upon hearing that, the princess inspected her mother's gift, slowly processing the information.

"But using its magic, we created something more… accessible: the Dimensional Scissors. This way, Luxor was able to find me wherever I was…."

A series of scenes with Astria and Luxor visiting different dimensions flashed in front of Star. She saw how happy they were, how in love they looked and how love itself made all of that possible; but an angry crowd shouting insults interrupted the peaceful moment.

"Witch! You monster!"
"She's not normal!"
"That's not natural!"

Star didn't even need to ask what was happening as the answer was clear: not everyone was open-minded enough to accept Astria's magical nature; those were different times. In that particular memory, Luxor's normally love-filled eyes were this time burning with rage and anger.

"That's the Universe you swore to protect?!" – the prince was enraged. The scene was now taking place in a fireplace-lit room and probably happened years later the creation of the crystal as the two lovers looked in their early twenties. "They called you a witch…"
"The Universe is a complex entity that needs to be protected, Luxor…" – she responded, with a calm, dignified tone of voice. The prince wasn't convinced and she continued to talk. "Which is why I need to talk to your brother…"

Luxor shook his head, confused by the princess' request. "What…? Deimor? He's doing nothing wrong…" – but he knew that wasn't true.
"Nothing wrong…?" – Astria repeated, for the first time losing her calm. "He's using the Dimensional Scissors to spread war across the entire Universe!" – she said.

The purple-haired prince tried to think of an excuse for his older brother's actions, the man he was devoted to. Lord Deimor always acted more like a general than a prince: he was known for his iron hand in dealing with the supposed enemies of his Kingdom; the advent of dimension-travel fueled his desire for power.

"Astria… sometimes a war prevents more suffering than it causes…" – he explained.
Now it was the princess' turn to be enraged. "War brings war. And war brings death. Don't act like you don't know it…" – she walked towards him and spoke more calmly. "This is wrong, Luxor…" – she said, her voice now almost broken by tears.
"I'll… I'll talk to him…" – he replied. "Anything for you…"

"But he never did…" – the present-day Astria whispered, sounding as broken as her past-self.
"What…? What happened…?" – Star asked, looking at her, fearing the answer.
"War brings war…" – the reality around them shattered one more time and an image of Luxor's Kingdom in flames took its place, with spaceship-like machines bombing the royal palace and the city around it. They could hear the people screaming in pain and agony, the fire devouring everything on its path. "And war brings death…"

Star turned her head and realized that the scenery changed again. Her eyes went teary, probably due to her temporary emotional link with the older princess, as she heard the crowd mourning and sobbing around her. She was now standing in a central-planned temple, with Astria and Luxor hugging next to her, the princess gently caressing his hair in an attempt to comfort him.
It was a funeral.

"You were right, Astria… you were right all along…" – he muttered, choking his tears back. "I swear… I won't let this happen again…"

The prince was hugging her like she was the only family he had left.
But not everyone was as glad as him for her presence. "What is that witch doing here?!"- somebody uttered, sparking turmoil among the people in the temple. Astria was soon covered by insults and even blamed for Deimor's death. Luxor called the guards and they both were escorted back in the heavily damaged, but still safer royal palace.

"This was the beginning of the end…" - reliving those memories was very painful for the present-day Astria. "Luxor was devastated by the loss, his grief slowly turning into anger, pure hatred for everything that was outside of the palace, even for his own Kingdom…"

The ancient princess waved her hand and the reality flashed into yet another series of images, this time depicting Luxor obsessing over a thing called "The Dimensional Alignment", his voice turning deeper and more unsettling each time he spoke.

"I won't let this happen again, Astria… this Universe is not worthy of your generosity… not anymore…" – the prince's mental health was visibly deteriorating, his skin was pale and the baggy eyes revealed how little sleep he was getting. "With your powers… we can finally unleash the mighty forces of this place…".

He quickly grabbed an old piece of paper and showed it to his blue-haired princess, who staggered back in disgust the moment she realized what it was.

"How dare you ask me to do something this… horrifying…" – the woman looked at him like she saw a monster. "It's called Forbidden Dimension for a reason, Luxor…"
"Don't you see, Astria…?"

As his patience seemed to wear thin, the prince started to assemble a bulky armor on his body, like he was preparing for something.

"What are you doing with your brother's armor…?"
"The right thing to do, my princess…" – he said, while slipping a pair of iron gloves on his hands. "Deimor's methods were debatable, but he was right about one thing: the Universe is a wretched hive of lies and villainy..." – he then reached for a huge horned helmet and cautiously put it on his head. "The Dimensional Alignment blessed us with the opportunity of putting an end to this corrupted reality… and creating a new one… just for us…"

Astria shook her head in disbelief; the man in front of him was a stranger, not the prince she fell in love with. "You can't be serious, Luxor. This is an extermination!"
"This ungrateful Universe is too dangerous for you, my love…" – his calm voice echoing in the helmet, sounding deeper and more sinister. "It killed my only brother, Astria…"
But the ancient princess didn't feel any compassion for Deimor. "The Universe didn't kill your brother, Luxor. He died because he was a monster with an insane thirst for power!"

He felt that last sentence like a knife piercing his heart.
The princess kept looking at him, with no signs of remorse and, disgusted by his evil desires of destruction.

"I… I thought you were my princess…" – he muttered, the tone of his voice revealing how painfully true Astria's words were.

Everything flashed again and Star found herself in a familiar scene, a vision she already experienced the night before.
But everything made more sense this time.

The now armored prince was holding a huge sword with a heart-shaped gem embedded between its crossguards; Star recognized it as the magic wand, which apparently changed its appearance into something more malevolent-looking the moment Luxor managed to handle its power.

"You can't stop me, Astria. My new Universe will soon rise, with or without you…" – Luxor shouted, the eyes of his brother's armor glowing menacingly.

The blue-haired woman was standing in front of the man she once loved, facing away from the portal behind her, the gates of the Forbidden Dimension, as shadow-looking entities slowly emerging from it.

"You're right, Luxor. I can't stop you…" – she admitted. Her whole body started to glow, the sudden brightness drawing the attention of the shade demons around her. "But I can make you choose…"

The princess let the creatures take her. "Astria! Stop!" – the prince roared.
She was soon engulfed in what seemed like a thick cloud of pure darkness. "Choose wisely, Luxor…" - she said, remaining unnaturally calm as the dark forces drained her light away.

The only way to save her was to close the gates, sealing the darkness back into its unreachable dimension. Luxor felt his sword-wielding hand shake as more shade-figures reached his world. The insane desire of destroying the Universe turned out to be meaningless now that he was witnessing his princess' sacrifice. He saw her lifeless body fall to the floor as her soul was being dragged into the portal, her ghostly eyes shedding a single tear right before disappearing inside the Forbidden Dimension.

Luxor screamed in madness and pointed the sword to the gates: the portal went unstable and started to close abruptly. This decision enraged the demons, who immediately attacked him. Ignoring his defenses, the monsters pulled him out of his armor and, like Astria moments before, he was dragged into the portal. Luxor didn't even fight back and instead embraced his destiny, somehow becoming one with the figures who kidnapped him. He kept screaming in agony, madness, rage, his voice echoing in both dimensions as the dark world completely absorbed him and the portal finally closed.

It all went pitch black and Star felt weightless, like floating around into an empty space. She looked at her wand, realizing how dangerous it truly was. "It was Luxor all along… he's doing this for you… isn't he?" – she asked, without even seeing the woman she was talking to, but she knew Astria was there with her.

"In his own, twisted way… he still loves me…" – Astria appeared behind her, speaking calmly, despite everything she went through. "We must put an end to his schemes, Star Butterfly. The Dimensional Alignment has begun…"
"How?!" – she asked, with impatience.
"Star…" – Astria replied, her voice getting louder. "… I must be released from my prison…"

"Alright, Star…" – Marco took a deep breath, trying to focus on his speech. "You know… we've been friends since… well, a lot of time actually…" – he chuckled nervously but kept going. "You changed my life forever and… I just wanted to let you know that I… I feel something between us… what about you…?"

The boy remained silent for a few seconds and then turned to his listeners. "So, was that good…?". The puppies responded with their usual obsessive tail-wagging and a couple of laser beams; some of them barked for no apparent reason while others were too busy chasing their tails. Marco wasn't impressed. "Well, that was helpful…" – he commented, sarcastically.

The safe-kid realized that it was finally time to tell Star the truth about his feelings; he even talked to his parents about it. He stayed in his room, practicing a speech, looking for the right words to say, hopefully without ending up looking like a stuttering moron in front of her.

Marco finally left his bedroom and walked towards Star's, the puppies trotting right behind him. "Ok, you can do this…" he thought, now that only a wooden door was standing between him and the princess. He knocked and waited for an answer, but all he heard was silence. "Star? Are you in there…?" – he asked as he knocked one more time, but nothing happened.

The tiny dogs growled a bit, making the boy suspicious about what was happening in the strangely silent Mewni-styled bedroom. He ignored any form of good manners and abruptly opened the door, expecting the worst.

"Star?!" – he shrieked, the moment he saw her. The puppies barked loudly.

She was standing in the middle of the room, firmly holding her wand, facing Marco; but she didn't see him. The princess' eyes were all white; she was there physically, but not mentally. Star was in a trance-like state, the wand emitting a continuous buzzing sound.

The boy again shouted her name and as he rushed towards her, Star somehow lost her balance. With her eyes shut, she fell like a lifeless body right in Marco's arms. "Star?!" – he insisted. While holding her, he noticed how cold she was and imagined the worst possible scenario.

Star finally opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Marco's face right in front of her. She seemed to panic for a moment and pushed him away. They were both sitting on the floor now, still covered with books and papers for their previous (unsuccessful) researches.

"Star… are you OK? I thought you were…" – the kid slowly got up and helped Star do the same.
"Marco… you won't believe what I just saw…" – she whispered, ignoring the boy's questions.
He chuckled a bit, reassured by how Star was already as lively as usual. "I'm talking to a magical princess… I'm pretty open minded… I think I'll believe you…".

She was going to tell him everything, but the puppies' growling caught her attention. "What is it…? Did you see something…?" – Marco asked, looking at an indefinite point in Star's room. They heard a series of unusual noises coming from downstairs, the sound of plates breaking and Mr. Diaz shouting an insult in his mother language.

"No time to explain, Marco. They're here…"

They both dropped into a fighting stance as a tall, thin, green-eyed figure appeared by the door, menacingly holding a stunstick-like weapon, with a sinister smirk drawn on his face.

"Good evening, Princess Butterfly…" - Zeuro said, his grin turning creepier. "Lord Deimor is waiting for you…"

End of Chapter 13