Hey, back with the next update. Now, chapters will probably be slower, I've got a lot of stuff to do right now. Still will be updating relatively frequently, though.
Also, I think some people sometimes get confused with my formatting so I'm gonna just put this out there:
"Formats like this, with double quotation marks, is what a character is saying."
"Formats like this, italicized double quotation marks, are character's thoughts." If you see a thought and talking in the same paragraph, it is the same character for both speaking and thinking, in the case I don't annotate both.
'Formats like this, italicized single quotation marks, are a character recalling a quote from someone/something else.'
"Formats like this, bolded and italicized double quotation marks, are things said via any form of telepathy, such as the being Daqous speaks with in chapter 12, as well as spell incantations."
Just so it's cleared up for future chapters.
Also, each arc will be 11 chapters. 11 is my lucky number lol. So this is the third to last chapter of this arc. After this, I'm going to make some extra chapters before the third arc. Extra chapters will be stuff that will happen between this arc and the next, or give extra background info. Basically stuff that I want written out, but don't want to be within an arc, and I'll have 'Extra:' in front of all of them, so you'll now that it's not the start of the next big arc.
And finally, as I said I'd do for those who didn't want to read the last chapter, a short summary of it: They had sex in Marco's room. Marco told her he wanted help clear her mewberty, Star didn't answer to it yet. Star souses (marks) Marco. She also lets him touch her wings (which in Mewni, only lovers whom the girl has decided to spend their life with are allowed to touch the mewman girl's wings). Pretty sure that's the important bits.
With that all said, enjoy!
Star's eyes slowly open and she stares ahead for a bit, waiting for her eyes to adjust after just waking up She hears the steady thumping of Marco's heart against her ear, and she smiles to herself. She looks up and sees that Marco is looking down at her. "Rise and shine, Star." he says quietly.
She sticks her tongue out at him playfully, and then asks, "What time is it?"
"Well, I would've checked, but I really didn't want to disturb the sleeping Butterfly." Marco jokes, and Star shakes her head lightly.
"Well, isn't that nice of you." she says quietly. She kisses his cheek lightly and, reluctantly, pulls herself away and sits up, looking for a clock. "Marco, where's your clock?"
"I've just used my phone to tell time since I've been here." Marco lifts himself up to a sitting position as well.
"Well, where's your phone?"
"It was in my pocket, uh, which is..." Marco trails off, looking around the room. "Somewhere..."
Star giggles lightly, also looking around. "Whoops." Looking at the clothes she'd thrown around the room, her face flushes slightly as she tries to remember where she'd thrown his pants earlier. "My bad." she says innocently, smirking at him.
She moves off the bed, picking up her clothes and putting them on. Even though the clothing had been damp from sweat earlier, they'd dried while she'd been asleep, and she couldn't exactly walk to her room wearing nothing in order to get clean clothes, so this would have to do until she got back to clean up and change. She then notices and points to something under the foot of the bed.
"Found it." she says, walking over to his jeans on the floor, fishing the phone out of his pocket. "It's... 7:34. We probably missed dinner." she groans.
Marco laughs softly, sitting up and wrapping up in a blanket to feel a little less embarrassed about the fact he wasn't wearing anything. "You can go shower and stuff. I'll grab some food and bring it up."
"Oh, I have the beeeest squire." she says very dramatically. She walks up and hugs him. "Thank you, Marco. I know this was weird for you. It means a lot to me."
"Of course, Star." he replies. "So... about your mewberty form..."
"We'll talk about it later, okay?" she says, pulling out of the hug and smiling at him.
He can't help but smile back. "Alright."
Star walks toward the door, yelling "Now go get me food!" She opens the door and walks out, then pokes her head back in to quietly add, "Preferably with some clothes on, though." Her smirk is the last thing he sees as she slips away and closes the door. Marco just shakes his head, smiling.
"That girl... is certainly something." he thinks, shaking his head as he heads to his bathroom.
After showering very quickly and changing into a clean set of black jeans and a hoodie, and checking himself in the mirror to make sure he didn't look like a mess, Marco heads out of the room. Passing by a courtyard on the way to the kitchen, he hears a voice call his name. He turns around and sees Daqous walking casually into the hallway from the courtyard.
"Hey Daq." Marco gives a little wave.
"You and Star seem to have been missing most of the day. Enjoy the movie?" Daqous says with a sly smile.
"Yeah, we... uh..." Marco starts, then remembers that Daqous can read into people's thoughts. Marco just stares at Daqous awkwardly, and Daqous laughs.
"That's about the face I expected." Daqous puts his hand to his mouth as he tries to stop his laughing.
"I look fine, right? Like, no one can tell?" Marco asks as his face goes slightly red.
"Yes, yes, you look the same as always. Not even the slightest smell." Daqous finally lowers his laughing to small chuckles.
Marco's face goes brighter red at the last statement. "Okay, cool. Just... Shh! I'm going to go get food." Marco turns and walks away quickly, embarrassed.
"Good bye, Marco." Daqous says. "Oh wait... His mark..." Daqous sees what is about to immediately happen, and he opens his mouth to call Marco, but then decides against it. "Ehh, looks like he'll learn about the mark the more awkward way." He shrugs his shoulders and walks away.
Marco turns the corner, and straight in front of him is the Queen and King, walking down the hall. The King sees Marco and raises a hand, signaling him over. "Is Star alright?" the King asks. "You two weren't down to eat with us."
"Yeah, she's okay. I'm actually grabbing food for her right now." Marco says quickly.
The Queen smiles and nods. "Thank you, Marco."
"Of course, Queen Butterfly." The Queen and King turn to continue on their way past Marco, the Queen taking a deep breath.
And then she stops dead in her tracks. Marco is at the door to the Kitchen when he hears her speak.
"Marco?" she turns toward Marco, and the King looks up at her, wondering what was up.
"Yes, Queen Butterfly?" Marco turns around to see the Queen staring at him with a questioning look.
She walks closer to him and takes another deep breath through her nose. Marco looks up at her, wondering what was going on. "Uh, i- is there something you need, Queen Butterfly?"
She stops about three paces from Marco and takes another deep breath, through her mouth this time, and her face changes from a questioning look to a wide-eyed, shocked expression.
And Marco knows that she knows what had happened between him and Star, though he isn't quite sure how she knew. Marco can't think of anything to say as the Queen's face shows part anger, part shock, and Marco freezes in place at the look in her eyes.
After a full ten seconds of this, the King walks up to Moon. "Dear?" he says quietly. He's fully aware that something is up, though he doesn't know what, and he just wants to break up the tension. "Let's go."
"Star is in her room, correct?" the Queen asks.
"Uh, y- yeah... she's showering, right now..." Marco says in broken sentences.
"Is she going to bed so early?"
"Uh... she was... just asleep..."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah..."
Queen Moon continues her death stare until King Butterfly grabs her hand, and she looks over at him.
"Dear." the King says, the look on his face telling her to calm down.
"Very well." Moon takes a deep breath, gives Marco one last look, angry and, oddly, a bit worried. She then turns around, walking down the hallway with the King.
Marco slips into the kitchen, out of their view, standing on the inside of the door and just thinking. "Yep. All mewman girls are scary. Oh, I don't like that look she gave me..."
After a while, Marco finally moves, scanning the kitchen for any simple food he can just grab and head back to Star with. "Should just get something and head back so I can tell Star about... that."
*Meanwhile...*
"So... what was that, dear?" King Butterfly asks as they walk. The Queen makes a right turn, and he follows, knowing that she's heading straight to Star's room.
"He was marked." she says briskly.
"Oooh... didn't expect that." the King thinks. "By... Star?"
"Yes."
"I... see..." the King picks up his pace to keep up with Queen Butterfly, who is storming down the hall at a very fast walking pace. "Dear?"
"What?" she says irritably.
"You're aware that's her choice, right?"
Moon stops and turns to River. "She-!" Moon yells, then catches herself and lowers her voice. "She's fifteen! She shouldn't have marked someone already!"
"I... I get that, Moon." the King says. "But... it's done. I just don't want you storming in there without sitting on this a little bit and thinking."
"You should be furious! This is our daughter!"
"I'm not happy to hear this either, dear..." River pauses for a moment, then continues. "But... I'm just saying... it's... done. And it is her choice. Try to... at least listen to her. You and Star never listen to each other at all when you two argue."
Moon takes in a breath to reply, but can't think of anything to say. She puts her hands together as she lets off a frustrated breath. "I really, really hate that you're right."
"Just try to listen to her, and try to not scream."
The Queen turns around without replying, and River just sighs as he follows behind. Upon reaching the staircase to Star's room, she looks over at River. "I'm sure Marco is heading back here. Don't let him through while I'm talking to her."
"Yes, dear." the King smiles lightly. "Don't start a yelling match please."
"Mmm." Moon walks up the stairs, leaving River to sit on the bottom stair.
"Ah, she can cause so much trouble." the King sits back against the stairs, relaxing.
...
"And, as she said, there's Marco." the King thinks to himself a minute later, seeing Marco turn the corner into the hall, carrying a box of Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds, one of the many boxes that Marco had brought over from Earth earlier, since it was Star's favorite. As Marco is walking closer, he looks at River and realizes that the Queen is probably already there. Just as he's about to head up the stairs, River speaks up. "Nope."
"What?"
"Can't let you go up."
"Uh..."
"Wait here."
Marco looks at the King oddly, then moves to the side and leans against the wall awkwardly.
River looks over at Marco. He wasn't too happy about learning that Star had marked him, admittedly, but he also wasn't too surprised to hear it. "Besides..." he thinks to himself. "She could've chose worse."
"So, Star marked you?" the Kings asks, voice slightly tense.
"Uh... yeah... I don't really know what that means..." Marco looks to the side, avoiding eye contact.
"Wait, Star didn't tell you?"
"Not yet..."
"He doesn't even know what she's done to him? No wonder he looked so shocked when Moon found out and was staring him down." the King laughs softly, prompting Marco to look up at him.
"What?" Marco asks.
"Nothing, nothing at all." the King waves his hand at him, stopping his laughs. "Was this after she dealt with her mewberty?"
"Uh... not really... she's still going through it." Marco says as he thinks, "Wow, King River really doesn't seem that upset about this."
"Hm."
"Yeah, she just marked me after... that." Marco says awkwardly.
"After... what?" River looks at him questioningly.
"Uh... after..." This wasn't something Marco was really comfortable saying out loud to Star's father.
"What is he talking about? After..." the Kings eyes widen. "You... you slept with my daughter?" the King glares at him accusatorily.
"What? I thought the Queen told him that already? He didn't know?" Marco thinks to himself. "No wonder he wasn't angry then..." Marco thought the Queen had realized they'd had sex. He didn't know that she'd only known he was marked. "I... uh..."
"You, what?" the King says in a low voice.
"..." Marco says nothing, but the look on his face gives the answer away.
"..." the King stares at him, then finally says, "You have a thirty second head start."
"I- what?"
"Run."
"Uh..." Marco looks at River, confused, and then his face changes to shock as he registers what he meant, and he stops leaning on the wall. "Oooh, I'm gonna get it now..."
"Twenty-four, twenty-three, twenty-two." the King counts down.
Marco's initial instinct is to get as far away from River as soon as possible, but as he thinks things through, he knows he A) won't ever outrun King River and B) can't just avoid Star's parents forever since he's Star's squire, so even if he hid himself away somewhere right now, it wouldn't do much good. So Marco just stands there, looking at the King fearfully as he counts down.
"Ten, nine, eight, you're not making a lot of progress, Marco." the King says as he stands up.
"I... I'm not... Just don't make it so bad that I can't get these to her. I told her I was bringing her food." Marco puts the box of cereal down.
The King walks over to him, and Marco closes his eyes tight...
And River flicks his forehead. Which, granted, felt like someone had chucked a billiard ball at Marco due to River's strength. Marco puts a hand over his forehead, trying to rub out the pain, body still tense for the next hit. But when no other hit comes, Marco opens his eyes and sees River walking back to sit on the stairs.
"Wait, that's it?" Marco thinks, now very confused.
The King looks straight ahead down the hall, suppressing a smile. Oh, he was extremely not okay about learning that her daughter had slept with a boy. If it had been in her mewberty form, it would've been different, as mewmans didn't really count that, since in that situation it was necessary for mewman girls. But at any other time... And he would make sure that Marco knew he wasn't happy with it.
But... he couldn't really dislike Marco, remembering him helping at the castle when Moon and Star had been gone, and how Marco hadn't left Mewni to help Star in a battle that wasn't his to fight. His care for Star was painfully obvious, and River, again, wasn't altogether too surprised at this news. Not happy, but... not extremely angry, either. Uncomfortable, mostly. River also respects the fact that Marco hadn't run off just now. "And anyway, they are of the age that they can make these choices." River thinks.
"Of course, no boy is good enough for my daughter." he continues to think to himself, glancing at Marco out of the corner of his eye. "... But she could have chose worse."
And so a large gap of silence falls as the King stares straight ahead, lost in thought, while Marco is standing against the wall, still rubbing his temple, feeling very awkward at this whole situation.
*Star's room*
"Did you at least ask him before you marked him? Did he know what that meant?" Queen Moon asks Star, the frown on her face deepening as she looks at Star's face, the answer written on it. They were both sitting on Star's bed, and Star had lightly gone over what had happened earlier. The Queen, though a bit uncomfortable with them having slept together, was not as upset about that as the fact Star had marked Marco. Moon grew up in Mewni, with Mewni customs. Sex at Star's age was legal, normal, and relatively common. Of course, Moon was still upset about it. But marking... that was a different story.
"I... I was..." Star sighs loudly. "No... I didn't..."
"Star..." the Queen shakes her head.
"I... Mom, I just..." Star breathes out and looks away.
"This affects him greatly, you know?"
"I know..."
"And you've used your mark. You can only do that once."
"I know." Star looks away.
"Star... What happens if this doesn't work out?"
"I... It will."
"How can you be sure?"
"I... just know." Star says, looking back at her mother.
Moon sighs and shakes her head. "You... need to tell him."
"I was going to."
"Good." Moon gets up and walks toward the door, turning to look at Star after reaching for the handle. "I... I'm just... trying to look out for you. And I'm concerned for him, too. But... if you two do... have this work, then it's not... as big a deal. I just wish you'd waited. Marking him... now..."
"I know... Sorry..."
"Just... make sure to tell him."
"I know..."
Queen Moon nods her head, walking out of the room, leaving Star frowning on her bed.
"Of course she's right." Star thinks. "I don't even know if we will work out. What if we don't... That was so dumb of me... But..."
"It felt right..."
The door opens a moment later, and she sees Marco walk in, holding a box of her favorite cereal. Star smiles widely. "I thought you were trying to convince me that sugary food isn't a meal."
"Eh." Marco smiles back. "I just wanted to grab something quick and head back up to... tell you that your mom... well, you know..."
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you about what the mark is when we woke up..." Star looks away from Marco, her smile dropping a bit.
"You okay? Did you and your mother fight over this? She gave me a pretty... scary look earlier. And just now when she came down the stairs."
"Kinda... not really... I don't know..."
Marco puts the cereal box on her nightstand and sits next to her on the bed. "Star?"
Star stays silent for a few seconds, and then she frowns, still not looking at Marco. "I'm sorry. Marking you was selfish of me."
"What do you mean?" Marco looks at her with a worried face, concerned as to why she seemed so down.
"So... marking..." Star starts, turning to look at him. "Marking is when a mewman girl uses a special gland that we develop in our first mewberty. It's that liquid that I... yeah..."
Marco nods his head.
"So... It... kinda changes the target's body a little bit." she continues, and Marco raises an eyebrow. "First off, it... mewman girls have a sixth sense. It lets us sense every pheromone around us. We can 'sense' the pheromones by breathing them in."
Marco nods again, thinking that he knows where this is going. "That's how..."
"So... the marking... mewman females can only mark once. It... uh, the mark makes your body produce a unique pheromone, unique to me... and all female mewmans can tell." Star looks in his eyes, and sees that he understands.
"That's why it's called marking. Every female mewman knows you marked me. Including your mom..."
"Right. And... they'll feel a bit uncomfortable when in a very close proximity to you, because of that pheromone..." Marco looks at Star questioningly, and she continues. "Like, super close. Like a little less than an inch away. It's, um... It makes them uncomfortable when they get that close, even other species' females won't feel too comfortable, even though they may not sense the pheromone... And so... because of that..." Star can't bring herself to finish the sentence, but luckily for her, Marco follows the logic.
"It prevents the marked person from being with other partners. It... literally marks the person as... belonging to that female." Marco says, slightly shocked. It made some sense, in a way. He'd noticed that in Mewni, the females tended to be in charge, unlike on Earth. But this kind of... ability, for lack of a better term, was so... possessive. A marked person would make other females uncomfortable by being close to them, making relationships with other girls difficult if the female mewman and the person they marked didn't stay together. "That's why she's so upset..."
Star nods her head, her face upset and looking like she's holding back tears. "I'm sorry... I should've asked you first... I'm so sorry..." A few tears roll down her cheeks. "I just... I... It wasn't fair of me to just-" she freezes as Marco pulls her into a tight hug.
"It's fine, Star." Marco reassures her. He couldn't bear seeing her cry.
"But... what if... if we don't..."
"Star. Remember when you told me I needed to stop worrying so much about what may or may not happen?"
"..."
"Do you like me?" Marco asks quietly.
"I... of course I do..." Star slowly hugs him back.
"Then let's get your mewberty fixed, and then we can see if you and I work out, if you want."
"I..." Star laughs nervously. "Okay."
"No point worrying about something that's already done."
"Yeah... Thank you, Marco..." Star says, giving him a small squeeze.
"So..." Marco pulls away to look at her. "Is that all the mark is?"
"Uh... heh, no." Star smiles lightly. "It also, uh... makes the marked person more..." Star struggles to find a good way to say this. "Like, it boosts their... sex drive... a little bit, when they're with the person who marked them." Star blushes lightly after saying that, then adds, "And... it also lets your body naturally make, like... a mini-backup energy boost every so often... When you're, you know, with the person who marked you."
"Oh... Oooh." Marco says. "That's how... mewman males keep up with..."
Star nods, smiling a little wider as she pokes his chest. "Yeah... though, you went three rounds on your first time..." Marco blushes light, and she continues. "So next time, plus the marking... you may outdo me."
"Next time?" Marco teases, tilting his head. Star sticks her tongue out.
"Well, you may not keep up, mewberty and all." she says, laughing quietly at Marco's comment.
"... Oh, Star, about-"
"Yes, Marco, the answer is yes."
Marco freezes for a bit, then, "Uh... you mean the mewberty, right?"
"Yes. I... You can help with it."
Marco nods lightly. "Okay... tonight?"
Star shakes her head. "No, tomorrow night. You should rest, and... I don't feel that I can transform after... earlier... heh." Star grabs his hand in hers. "Thank you... for... wanting to do this... to help with this..."
"Duh. You shouldn't be surprised that I want to help you by now." Marco smiles wide, and Star feels butterflies in her stomach.
"I'm not..." Star thinks to herself, then says, "I know. You're the best."
"Eh." Marco shrugs his shoulders.
"You really are, though." Star presses on.
"I mean, I left you... and... you know, missed your birthday on Stump Day while I was gone... and hurt you..."
"I hurt you too, Marco. And I kinda forgot your birthday when you were here, so that's even, dummy." Star scoots over next to him and rests her head on his shoulder. "And what's more important is that you came back. Just... don't leave again."
Marco squeezes her hand tight. "I won't."
The last chapter of this arc will be another lemon, Marco and mewberty-form Star. The next arc will likely be the last of this story, but I am having some ideas for a potential sequel afterwards. Maybe. Hope you enjoyed reading! Feel free to review, and have a good day!