Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful start to their 2020. Can you believe that we are living in 2020-seriously I thought we would have flying cars and teleportation stations by now. Maybe I watch too much Star Trek… Anyway, thank you again for joining back in with this series of stories. We are at over the halfway mark people! I appreciate you all so much! I don't own Star Vs the Forces of Evil.
Chapter 14: Narwhal Blast
"NARWHAL BLAST!" Star blasted Man Arm with her magical spell while flipping over a car. With a toss of her hair, Star landed on her feet with a satisfied smirk. Man Arm lay flat on the ground, a narwhal sticking out of his butt. "HA! Hey Marco! It's like Pin the Narwhal on the-MARCO!" Swiveling around, she turned to see Marco struggling in a headlock by Lobster Claws. "Hang tight Marco!" She called as she began racing toward him.
Face beat red and puffy, he huffed, "How else would I be hanging?" With a grunt, he flung his legs up and kicked Lobster Claws in his eyes. With a shriek, Lobster Claws released him while scrambling to sooth his eyes. Instead, he ended up pinching them harder.
"OOOOOOOOWWWW! WHY CAN'T I HAVE FINGERS?!"
"ENOUGH!" A voice called through the parking lot, high pitched and nasally. "She's just a little girl-how do you keep losing to her?! GET THE WAND!" Turning, Star saw Ludo perched on top of a pickup-truck. He looked like a hood ornament. She tucked her head to the side and cupped her hands together. Ahhh, so cute. Suddenly, Ludo began to jump up and down wildly, his beard flapping up and down like wings. Star paused, straightening up. Huh. Since when did he have a beard…
With a jolt, she twirled around just as Boo-fly buzzed into her hair. "Haha-got you now, Princess! Muzzzzzzz not be your lucky day!" Shrieking, Star began to swat at him, trying to get him out of her hair. Suddenly, the world flipped over and she was staring up into the sky. Dazed, she slowly got up to see Marco using his hoodie as a fly swatter, bashing Boo-Fly away.
"Hey, you okay Star?" Marco dashed over to her to help her up. Gratefully taking his hand, she let him hoist her up before standing back to back. "Man, who ARE all these guys?"
Glancing around, Star noticed many new monsters surrounding them. Some of them seemed to be wearing ripped jeans, plaid shirts, and beanies while others looked menacing-and then some were just Ludo's regular monsters. Ludo gasped in frustration as the monsters began to circle the pair. "JUST GET STAR AND KARATE BOY ALREADY!" Catching Marco's eye, Star felt a smile creep onto her face. Just like old times.
Leaping into the air, Star raised her hands around her and shouted, "WINTERSTORM HYPERBLOW!" Ice and snow blasted the monsters around them. The alternatively dressed monsters began to cheer as they were suddenly frozen in place. They still caught each other's eyes and let out weak groans of joy as the still cheered for some reason Star couldn't comprehend. Half of Ludo's monsters were frozen to the ground while the others still stalked toward the best friends.
Star let out an annoyed huff. "Ugh, we are going to be later for Marco's…whatever he is going to!"
"Soap Making Bazaar?"
"YEAH! Marco's lame soap party."
"HEY!"
Ludo blinked once and hopped down from the car. "Really, Marco. And they say I'm pathetic." With a groan, Marco just slapped his forehead with his palm.
"Well, you're going to need soap to clean up your act, Ludo! SPIDER WITH A TOP-HAT BLAST!" Star whirled around and thrust her hands at Ludo. Spider With A Top Hat sprang out of her right palm and with his war cry began to expound his fury on the remaining monsters.
With a whoop, Marco ducked out of the reach of Three-Eyed Potato Baby, twirling something in his hand as he kicked the monster in the face. Star felt something tug in confusion in her stomach. She looked closer at Marco's hand as he stopped twirling…THE WAND?! With a jolt, Star looked and saw the blue and black winged wand Marco sported in his hand, with even the little mole mark Janna had drawn on it. Glancing down at her hands, she realized that they were glowing…with magic!
Suddenly, Star thrust her gaze up and gasped in horror. "MARCO!" Everyone was gone, everything was gone. No street lights. No cars. No monsters. No Ludo. No Marco. In its place were swirling, thunderous clouds, lightning flashing, and crumbling crystal pillars sticking out of a sea of black water. With a start, Star realized she was suddenly in the Realm of Magic.
The earth trembled and Star feel right onto her butt into the tumultuous sea.
Correction. She was in the middle of the Realm of Magic being destroyed. "MARCO!" Star cried again, springing up and racing toward a pile of garbage underneath a geyser. Heart pounding, Star sprinted faster and faster, yet didn't seem to get any closer to the geyser. Suddenly, another earthquake shook the sea and the geyser exploded, sending Star into a crystal. "MARCO-NO!" Tears fell down her checks as her hearts began to fade. She slapped her checks and began to rub them vigorously. "No, no, no, no, no! I gotta get him back! He will come back for me! We destroyed the magic-he will come back for me." Finally, a sob tore through Star's throat as she heaved a sob. "He was supposed to come back. He was supposed to come back for me."
"Who was supposed to come back for you?"
Literally, the last person Star wanted to hear was here. With a sniffle, Star turned to see Glossaryck floating in the air, blue face unreadable. Springing up, Star grabbed the little man in an angry hug. "GLOSSARYCK! You're here! Alive? Or am I dead again? Or was I ever dead to-"
"Star? Where is my pudding?" Glossaryck put his hands on either side of Star's hands and shimmied his way out of her grip. Star blinked twice, not noticing the Realm of Magic disappearing into nothingness but the cauldron of burning stew in front of her. Her heart began to beat faster. Her palms began to sweat. Before she could stop it, the dam of emotion burst out of her like an explosion.
"WHY ARE YOU SO SELFISH?! I mean-come on! First, you never give me answers. Then, you died and came back to life and made me change your DIAPERS for a year! A YEAR GLOSSARYCK! Oh, and then, your voice changed for whatever reason. And then, you tell me to go destroy magic and it was meant to be this way! JUST STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC AND TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON! WHY DID YOU NOT STOP ME FROM DESTROYING MAGIC?!"
With a dry sob, Star flopped onto the floor and pulled her knees into herself. She began to shiver, confusion and guilt racking her body and mind. "You let me be selfish. I try so hard to not be-yet you told me to do it because it would help everyone. But it didn't help ANYONE!" She buried her face into her knees, tears making her tights wet. Star stayed like that for a few minutes, just letting out her emotions. She wasn't sure how long she sat there crying until she felt a small hand tap her on the top of her head.
"Yeah, you done yet?" Star peeked out from under her arms to see Glossaryck stretching his leg away from her head and up into the air. With a grunt, he eyed the girl incredulously. "Seriously, Star, do you really think yourself that important?"
Anger flooded Star again as she puffed out her cheeks. As she opened her mouth to retort, Glossaryck waved his hand in front of her. "Nah-ah-ah. No. You really need to get over yourself. This was always going to happen. Whether it was you-or Meteora-or you and Marco's future kids.-Don't give me that you, you were always going to get together. You just had to make it like some teen anime drama." Star snapped her mouth shut in annoyance. There was no stopping Glossaryck when he was like this. It was like River whenever he got onto his stories about his hunting trips. "So get over yourself. This is how it is supposed to be."
"But-I ruined people's lives. Dimensions-our friends. Kelly and Jorby. Talon. People whose lives depended on magic. It just-I didn't think-"
"Since when do you think, Star?" Glossaryck retorted. Ignoring Star's face, he continued. "So, to make you feel better or whatever you need from this vision quest-here's the deal. You had to destroy magic. It was always going to be this way."
Star paused, looking into the burning cauldron. The flames reflected on her blue eyes but didn't stop the fire inside of them. "Did I ever have a choice?"
Blinking, Glossaryck stared at her blankly. "Of course you did." He gave a small smile. "You did what was best for everyone." He floated down to Star, placing a six-fingered hand on her shoulder. "Besides, magic doesn't ever really go away. It's like energy. It changes. Like pudding-whenever-"
"AHHHHHH!"
Star bolted up, grasping her chest in shock. Shaking, she began to fill around her. Soft, mushy comforter. Check. Teddy bear Marco won her at the local Earthni fair? Check. Glancing around herself, she was back in her room at the Monster Temple on Earthni. The Mewni moons were bright and high in the sky as the aurora borealis dancing in the air.
It was a dream.
With a sigh of relief, Star laid back down onto her pillow and glanced at her compact mirror. Suddenly, with a jolt, she sat back up again. The date. Exactly one year. One year since this had all started. Quickly pulling on tights under her dressing gown, she raced toward the window and crawled down the banister. Sneaking through the night, Star dashed toward the one person she knew she could count on. Climbing up the gutter, Star tapped lightly on the window. "Marco. Maaaaarcooooo. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco."
Suddenly, the window swung open, showing a disheveled and frustrated Marco. He glared at his girlfriend angrily. "Star! It's three in the morning. What are you doing here?!"
Shoving him aside, Star leapt into his room and began to pace the floor. "A year, Marco. A whole year. And it's all our fault. Because we started this. And yeah, we love each other and whatever. But Boo-fly was in my hair and I noticed you had a wand and then Glossaryck said that it was always supposed to happen and we just were selfish because we wanted to be together and destroyed magic and a gazillion people's lives but magic isn't dead-it just changes and we change but Glossaryck said it would have happened anyway and-"
"Did you eat too many Sugarittas before going to bed, Star?"
"Marco! You're not listening!" Star thrust her hands into the air, stopping her paces and whirling on her heels to glare at Marco. With a deep breath, Star turned back toward her boyfriend. "It's been one year, Marco. One year of Earthni. Of no magic. And I may have had a few Sugarittas before bed but this dream-it felt so real!" She began to rub her arm. "Did we do the right thing? Glossaryck said we did and things have turned out okay here but…did we?"
Marco stared at her for a few seconds before pulling her into a hug. Unable to control herself, Star clung tight and fought the urge to cry. She felt Marco rub her back as he answered. "You did the right thing, Star. Glossaryck said it would have happened anyway, right?" Star stayed silent, not trusting herself to talk. But it was as if Marco could read her thoughts. "Magic may not exist anymore. People may have depended on magic but they will adapt. People may miss magic. Heck-I miss magic. And Heckapoo and Nachos and fighting monsters. But maybe it's a good thing. We can make our own magic."
Slowly, Star pulled away and looked at her boyfriend in a new light. "Are you wise because you're old from Heckapoo's dimension?"
Puffing out his chest, Marco tapped his chest with his fist. "Well, I did get my first gray hair." Star smiled as she poked his stomach, causing him to deflate. She giggled lightly as he rubbed his head with an awkward smile. "That's what he means. Magic isn't dead. It just…changed. Magic may not be Narwhal Blasts or Exploding Fire Kittens-"
"Sparkle Kitten Fireworks Shower."
"Not the point, Star. Anyway, magic isn't spells and monster fighting anymore. It is love, family, friendship-and not getting food poisoning from Britta's Tacos 2.0." He took her hand and squeezed. Star gave him a thoughtful look before returning a bright smile.
"I think this magic might be better."
Suddenly, a bright flash blinded both teens as they shielded their eyes with yells of confusion. Blinking rapidly, Star and Marco saw spots and what looked suspiciously like-"JANNA?!"
"Alright. Let's make some magic, people." She took out the polaroid picture from the camera and began to lightly shake it. "Ahhh, you'll thank me later for this."
Frustrated, Marco dashed up to her and grabbed the camera from her hands. "Seriously, how long have you been here? Wait-have you been in my room this whole time?! Did my parents let you in?"
With a shrug, Janna smirked and grabbed her camera back before climbing out the window and shimming down the gutter. The pair dashed toward the window and looked down to see that Janna had already disappeared.
Turning to Marco, Star grimaced. "Thank Corn Janna doesn't have magic."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought a dream sequence would be fun to include magic and also some of the guilt Star was likely to have about magic. Honestly, it probably wouldn't hit her until way later-and Glossaryck seemed to be the perfect person to address her guilt with. Thank you again for reading, commenting, favoriting, and following and for letting me know what you think! Until next time!
SugarQueen97: This Christmas tale is where I think Janna and Tom would start hitting it off-though you think Star and Marco are a slow burn (ha-ha!) And thank you-I wanted to add the religious aspect. I am also a Christian! However, I don't feel like Marco and Star are particularly religious but I wanted to combine both secular and religious aspects of Christmas. It isn't an easy balance to find-that is for sure. Thank you so much for telling me about your thoughts. You are such an encouragement.
Starco4everr: Me too. I feel like it would take Star a while to truly forgive her mom, but she will continue to try nonetheless. Thank you for your continual encouragement. It really means a lot to me!