AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey readers! I'm glad that I finally got another chapter of this out for you guys. It took far too long to get this one done and I hope that you enjoy it. The only reason I haven't put more out is because of my other fics, my newest one in particular. I just really enjoy writing it, so I find it easier to get that one out, I even had to fight myself to get this one done, what with Spreading the Light chapter five being in development as well. Just know that I have you guys in mind always and I won't leave you in the dark about my stories.

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Chapter 9: Introspection

Introspection: Examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

ENJOY!

X-x-X-x-X

"So, this place… It's called… Kulaven?" Star asked as she stared into Marco's eyes as she laid in bed, barely awake.

"Yeah, and like I said, I haven't been outside, so I have no idea what it's like out there," Marco answered.

Marco, who had been awake for a day already was very concerned for his beloved girlfriend, being the safe kid he had always been. Even if she insisted that she was fine, which she had, Marco continued his practices. Star found it to be cute, but sometimes it went a bit far. This was one of those times. When Marco adjusted Star's pillow for what seemed like the billionth time, Star threw her hands onto Marco's shoulders and held him in place.

"Marco, chill," Star commanded, making Marco drop his shoulders.

Star felt bad for a moment. Marco didn't mean any harm, she knew that he was a worrier and she hoped that she could ease his mind. She spoke again, this time in her typical loving tone, "Marco, I am fine. I promise. All I want you to do is tell me what you can about this place. Oh, and some more of that tea would be nice."

Whether it was the tea or the reassurance, Star wasn't sure, but either way, Marco's mood flipped. He beamed a smile her way and walked to the furnace in their room to prepare more water. Star sat up in her bed and watched Marco at work. He began speaking eventually, after a calming few moments of silence, "Actually, I hate to say it, but I don't really know anything. All I know is that your dad told me it was safe here. That's all that really matters, right?"

Star found the information to bring several emotions, and conflicting ones at that. She was elated to hear that her father had come around and prepared this place for them, and equally thrilled that the place was safe, especially for Marco. What was concerning was the very same thing, but flipped. They knew nothing about this place, how River knew about it, or why he had helped Marco. The last time she saw him, he was helping her mother ruin her life. This is getting too confusing, Star thought to herself as she rubbed her temples with her fingers.

Marco, noticing her pain, made a move toward his backpack, which was neatly placed in the corner of the room. He reached in and shuffled around for a moment before finally finding what he was looking for, medicine. He didn't have it when he woke up, but Star's head was spinning. A little painkiller couldn't hurt. Once he found the correct pharmaceuticals, he walked back toward the furnace, retrieved the water, and set the kettle on the counter. He reached for some tea leaves and the unhealthy portion of sugar that Star was sure to ask for. He hastily mixed the ingredients and walked the cup to Star, who watched him with a blank expression, yet still emanating her undying happiness.

He handed her the cup, earning a smile, but then he spoke, "There's a catch."

Star looked up at him incredulously, trying in vain to imagine what he could mean, he couldn't possibly mean- Oh my Mewni, Marco you devil, Star thought as she leaned in for a kiss. To her dismay, Marco didn't reciprocate. He only looked at her with a confused expression before sticking out his hand, with two pills for Star. She looked back up at him with a deadpan expression before saying, "You know that if you had just kissed me, I might have been more in the mood to deal with your safe kid stuff, right?"

Marco was surprisingly fast to respond, even to himself, "Well who said that I wasn't going to kiss you after?" He flashed her a sly smile and earned a smirk from his girlfriend. She took the pills in one hand and looked at them with disdain. She was terrible with pills. Marco must have known because he simply told her to take it with the tea. To see what he meant, she took a quick sip.

It must have been the best tea she had ever drunk because her eyes opened wide and she wore the most heavenly smile on her face after she finished her sip. She looked back up at Marco, who donned a smug smile on his face, and joked, "You know me too well safe kid."

Usually, Marco would have been annoyed by the teasing name, but with Star, it was different. No matter what she said, it would always be endearing. Marco knew one thing for certain, he was one lucky guy.

X-x-X-x-X

The rest of the morning was largely quiet. Marco gave Star her kiss, Star's headache had subsided, and the day was still young. Star found herself eager to explore their new home, but Marco wasn't so excited. Even if River was right, he didn't want to test it. He was a criminal, and from what he had heard, there was a large price on his head.

The magnitude of the bounty was irrelevant. All he needed to know was that Moon, Star's mother, and a woman that he had fought beside, had placed a bounty on his head. She wanted him dead, the thought was enough to make Marco's mind spin, but he knew it was no time for that. He had a girl to protect, and he'd be damned if he failed that job.

As much as Marco objected, Star was insistent, and what could he do to stop the magical princess? He was strong, but he would be lying if he said that he would ever hold a candle to her, even if the Blood Moon had given him "Powers" or whatever.

Reluctantly, Marco agreed to head into town with Star, hoping that by some miracle they wouldn't find trouble for once. Of course, it was highly unlikely to go that way, what with Marco and Star being who they were. Trouble always seemed to follow them wherever they may go.

Marco tensed up as Star took a step toward the door behind him. So she was really going along with this. He took a deep breath and followed her toward the door. Star slowly turned the doorknob and the door opened as a result.

What followed was shocking for at least one of the two teens. Light penetrated the room at an unbelievable rate, but this wasn't normal light. It was bright red and shimmered crimson. Of course, Marco thought, allowing Star to be the surprised one.

It wasn't even nighttime, and yet here they were, in the same position they found themselves in every night, standing the crimson light. And just as before, a moon shone brightly over the horizon, despite the impossibility for it to do so during the day. It was truly marvelous to look at really. It almost served to calm Marco's anxiety. Almost.

Marco couldn't let his guard down, not at a time like this, with everything he held dear on the line, including the person he loved. He grabbed Star's hand from behind her, pulling her out of whatever trance she had been in before. She looked back at Marco with curiosity. He knew what it meant. She wanted to go explore the town, for better or worse.

The town was largely quiet at a time like this. It was midday by now, so it was odd that there was so little going on in such an occupied area as this one. Perhaps that was why River had chosen this dimension rather than another. Maybe things could be safe here.

The two walked down a beaten path through the middle of the arid village. It was like a desert, but not quite. It was almost tropical, but wherever they were seemed to be far too big to be a tropical island. This had to be artificially created, otherwise, it would be a modern miracle that such a place could naturally exist.

Either way, Star pulled Marco along as she walked into every building, often finding clothing stores or others. After roughly half an hour of being dragged along, Marco finally deducted that "Kulaven" was a vacation dimension of sorts. So River must have been appealing to Star's desires more than anything, which was fine, but odd at the same time.

After another hour of being dragged along, Marco insisted that they stop somewhere to eat, which Star happily agreed to. The town was very warm, so walking along for as long as they had was definitely sure to be draining.

They stopped at some place called "The Laguna Hideaway". Seeing as it appealed to Marco's need to hide, he found himself fond of the idea of settling down here for a minute. When the two stepped in, they were surprised to see a sea-themed bar with lunch.

"Are you sure you want to eat here? I know you don't drink-" Star insisted, but Marco hushed her worries when she turned to him and saw a bright smile on his face.

It reminded him of Earth. How badly he wished he could go home and be with his family. It was terrible that he was disallowed to see them, cruel even. He had a pregnant mother and a worried father and he couldn't even talk to them. The bar was just a reminder that things are going to be fine on Earth and he'll be able to go home sometime.

He noticed Star's confused glare and answered her question, "Yeah, I really like it here. If that's alright with you I mean,"

Star nodded at him and shed a faked grin. Marco had been acting odd that day. It was natural considering the circumstances, but there was something deeper for sure. Marco wasn't telling her something. It was a problem for later though, it was probably nothing anyway.

The two made their way toward a booth and sat down. The restaurant was truly beautiful. It was uncanny how much it resembled one on Earth. Marco didn't care for the details on why that may be, instead, he chose to just enjoy it. Maybe it could take his mind off of… recent events, for a little while at least.

As odd as the awkward silence between the two was, it was even odder how fast the service in this place was. Within mere seconds of sitting down and awkwardly staring at each other, Star and Marco were being served. Their waiter was perhaps one of the more surprising things that they could have seen. They were roughly the same size as a Mewman or Human, but they were very different beyond their height. They were like human-sized sardines. They were tall, slender, and slimy.

He finally spoke to the two, luckily in a dialect that they could understand, "Welcome to The Laguna Hideaway, would you two happen to be ready to order?"

Star nodded, much to Marco's surprise. They had just sat down and she was ready?

Even more surprising was the fact that Star not only ordered for herself but for Marco, likely knowing that he would have no idea what to get there. He silently appreciated her actions and watched in awe as she talked to the tall fish.

She asked for something called Viritian Firewater, which sounded… terrifying. Both the safe kid and the recently minted warrior inside him were equally anxious about what that could possibly mean. Either way, he was thirsty, so when the drink arrived after roughly seven seconds, he grabbed the drink and tried to drink it. That was, of course, until Star stopped him suddenly with a shout.

He looked back at her incredulously and asked "You were the one that ordered the drink, why can't I drink it?"

She looked at him for a second, not bothering to hide her conflict. After a moment of contemplation, Star explained, "Marco, it is called Viritian Firewater, didn't you think there would be something special about it?"

Marco looked down at the drink, then back up at Star. He responded, "Well then why did you even order it?"

Star didn't take as long to respond this time, "Because, Marco, I needed to explain what it does first. The drink will basically just make you more open, so you'd feel more expressive and stuff."

Marco thought about it for a moment. At least she didn't make me drink it, Marco thought.

"So basically, you're giving me truth serum?"

Star didn't respond with words, but a half-smile. Marco facepalmed before continuing, "Why would you do that?"

Star seemed a little offended by Marco's questioning, but she still explained herself, "Because you have been hiding something, not even just today. You haven't been honest with me since that night. And that's totally fair, but-"

"No, I get it," Marco interrupted as he looked down at the table. He looked back up at his concerned girlfriend, and back at the drink once more. What could have possibly caused him to do it was unknown, but he picked up the orange-glowing drink and brought it to his mouth. Star yelped for a moment but sank back into her seat as he finished his long sip.

He laid his cup back onto the table and she heard a clink. She looked back at Marco's face. He was obviously dazed already, given his goofy smile, which faltered as soon as he laid eyes on Star, remembering what planet he was on for a moment.

"Oh yeah," Marco muttered under his breath.

Star spoke flatly, "What's going on with you?"

Being an open book at the moment, Marco felt his mouth moving involuntarily, "I don't feel like myself anymore."

Star figured as much, what she could do to help was still unknown, but she would do what she could, "I know, but I need you to tell me why. Like I know that it's probably got something to do with Tom, but I don't get why you haven't been able to get past it."

Marco contemplated for a minute before answering, "Star, I killed someone. I don't know how things were on Mewni, but on Earth, you don't come back from that. He was a living, breathing person-"

Star cut it, "And he tried to kill you, and worse, he tried to kill me. If you hadn't done what you did, I could have died. You saved me."

Marco looked back down at the table as he contemplated the information. Of course, he knew it was true, in fact, he had thought about it himself as well, but hearing it from Star felt different. He knew he couldn't take back what he did, but he couldn't sleep at night. Every time he looked at his hands, he saw blood, every time he looked around, he could swear he saw Tom's bloodied body. He had gotten used to it by now, but that didn't make it any less terrible. He looked back up at Star and fell out of his seat after seeing what he had. He saw Star's face, with a dagger in the middle of her face.

Star rushed to his side, with a tear in her eye. Marco hadn't said any of that verbally, and yet Star seemed to understand. She hugged him tight on the ground. He wore a confused expression, but then he heard something, not out loud, but in his head.

Star's voice.

It rang through his head in a way he couldn't explain. He knew he wasn't imagining things, but this was too outrageous. The voice spoke, "Marco, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

With Star literally being in his mind, he could communicate to her without moving his mouth, "I didn't tell you… How are you-"

"Come on, it's pretty obvious."

Marco was thoroughly confused, "HOW IS IT OBVIOUS? You do know that I'm basically drunk, right?"

He heard Star giggle in his mind. It felt invasive before, but now it was more of a comfort. He wasn't sure how, but he felt much better having Star be able to finally grasp what he felt, even if she got to it with… questionable methods.

She continued, "Marco, the Blood Moon gave us a gift. I'm not sure what it was, but I know that it's good. I guess it was just because the firewater made you feel more open."

Marco facepalmed. Before he could respond to her, he heard another voice, not in his head this time. It was the waiter, standing over the two with an incredulous stare before he spoke, "Do the two of you… need a second?"

Once again, Star told the waiter that she was ready. It was less of a surprise to Marco this time though. Star got to her feet and helped Marco do the same before returning to her side of the table. As Marco sat down, he heard Star order some more strange foods, hopefully not the kind that would make him even more inebriated.

The waiter left, leaving the two sitting at the table, staring at each other. Marco spoke, this time with his mouth, "Is it okay if we just talk like normal people, because I'd rather not get any more odd looks from the waiters." Star nodded.

"Well- Oh sorry. So this whole time, you've been seeing things?" Star asked, transitioning from nonverbal to verbal speech midsentence.

"Y- Yeah," Marco stuttered.

Star felt terrible for him. It should have been her to deal with Tom, but Marco just had to do it. Her sympathetic eyes served to soothe Marco, but that didn't mean that his pain was gone. Star must have felt that, because she asked him, in his head, if he wanted to leave.

Marco responded, "No, I'm fine, we should just eat and-"

"Marco. You know that I can literally read your thoughts, right?" Star interjected.

"Well, then I guess you already knew my answer then?" Marco asked.

Star continued to read him, searching for what he really wanted. She saw mostly just herself, she followed further down that hole until she started to see herself in… precarious positions. She backed up a bit before continuing her search.

Eventually, she deducted that not even Marco was sure what he wanted. So it's up to me to find out, Star deducted.

"Everything alright?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, I guess I was just hoping that I could find some answers. Do you wanna just stay here and eat then?" Star responded.

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Marco finished.

It was then that someone else walked into the restaurant. There were already people at the bar, but they were all the same species as the waiter, fish or whatever. This person was different. They loomed over the people of the bar, worst of all, Star knew him from somewhere.

A large Septarian man stood at the door of the bar, scanning the room. Star felt her instincts kick in. She waved her wand and put some disguises on each of the two. Some of Star's hair was hidden and Marco's hoodie was changed to the color black. Marco's hood flew over his head and it felt like a better time than any to use their newfound abilities.

"Star, what's going on?"

"I don't know, there's someone in the door, I don't think he has good intentions."

"Can I look?"

"No, you are the one with the bounty, Marco."

"No, I mean if you can see my mind, can't I see yours?"

"I don't know, I think the only reason I can see it right now is because of the drink."

"Well take a drink then…"

"What, no-"

"Hey, you made me do it, it's only fair."

Star stared at Marco with a deadpan, but he was right, maybe it was worth a try. She picked up the drink from across the table and brought it to her mouth. She sipped it and felt the same pang of alcohol that Marco had.

She tried her best not to make it apparent though because the Septarian started walking toward the bar. He turned his head from side to side, revealing that he only had one eye, the other one being replaced with a large, pink ruby. He was wearing a robe, covering the rest of his body, making it harder and harder to figure out who the lizard was.

It felt like her mind was shaking. Was this what Marco felt? Maybe it was taking longer because of her alcoholic tolerance. Either way, she felt the same thing that Marco had when she first spoke to him, it was an odd feeling. Marco must not have done the same thing as her and searched her thoughts because he seemed to be far more focused than she was. He carefully asked her for permission before doing anything else and she allowed it. It was like he was watching a Livestream directly through her eyes, or at least her mental interpretation of what she was seeing.

He saw things in the same detail that she did. What she focused on, Marco focused on, everything else was blurry unless she averted her attention to it. The two were definitely going to have to test this new ability out more once they got out of this mess.

Marco noticed the lizard man. He too remembered seeing him somewhere, but he wasn't quite sure where. It must have been on one of the hundreds of adventures they had been on because that would be the only way that both of them remembered him.

Either way, the man finally made his way to the bar and sat down. He spoke, in a deep, gruff voice, further supporting Star and Marco's beliefs about having seen the man somewhere.

All they could really hear were mumbles because the bar was growing fuller as the evening aged. There was more and more noise coming from the bar as the seats filled. The two tried their hardest to remember where they had seen the man before, even going as far as perusing each other's memory, but since they didn't remember where they saw him, it would be impossible to remember in enough detail to help them.

They had to just watch him and hope that things panned out.

"Maybe he was a nice guy or something," Marco suggested.

Star wasn't so confident, deflecting the suggestion with her own, "How many nice guys do you know that act like this. I mean he is literally missing an eye, isn't that a cliche evil guy thing on Earth too?"

"Fair point," Marco admitted. It was probably better to be cautious anyway because one slip-up could put Marco in battle again, and he was in no condition to do so right now, what with the trauma of Tom and Sir Vayne still fresh on his mind.

The lizard spoke again, all they could hear were murmurs, but when the bartender pointed to their table, they knew the jig was up. They looked at each other and spoke in unison,

"WHAT DO WE DO?!"

The question would go unanswered when the lizard began making his way to the table, pinning the two in place as they continued to panic in one another's minds.

Eventually, the lizard made his way to the table and stood in between the two and their only way out. He spoke, now in a voice that they could understand.

"Hello, my name is Rasticore, I have a few questions to ask you."

The memories finally reached them. The last time they had seen Rasticore was when Star bought Marco a gift card and they got held up at Quest Buy.

They also happened to remember the detail about Rasticore being an assassin that had it out for Marco even back then, so that definitely meant that Star's suspicions were correct.

Neither found themselves able to speak.

Rasticore took the liberty from them, "Well don't you remember me? I recall having a very destructive encounter with the two of you."

Star gasped in panic before grasping her wand at her side, readying herself to defend Marco from the possible attack that was oncoming.

This time Marco found himself able to speak for the two, "Now I do. What are you doing here?"

Rasticore seemed almost offended by what Marco said. Whether it was his tone or the accusations that came with it, he wouldn't know. Rasticore continued, "Oh don't tell me you think I am here to claim your bounty. I am above such matters. I have an agenda to serve."

Marco and Star met each other's eyes, connecting mentally and asking each other what the hell was going on. Neither could answer, they each simply returned their gaze to the Lizard, clearly confusing him.

"You two are creepier than I remember," Rasticore admitted.

"What do you want from us?" Star asked in a more demanding tone than even she was prepared for.

"Well isn't it obvious, I want him," Rasticore admitted as he pointed to Marco.

"Well, you can't have him. What do you even want him for?" Star warned.

"As I said, I have an agenda to serve," Rasticore said in a threatening tone. He took one step toward Marco and was met with a beam of magic from Star. Marco sat in place behind the shield of Magic that Star had created and threw his hands into his pockets in search of his scissors. They weren't with him.

Marco took the chance and crawled under the table and escaped the booth. Star pushed her shield against the lizard and followed suit. They barely got out of the bar when Rasticore caught back up. There was no running anymore. They simply had to deal with this here and now.

They stood on the barren road, the duo facing their foe with malicious intent. They came here to not be bothered by such matters. However Rasticore had found them didn't matter, all that did was that he was going to regret finding them, one way or another.

Star dug her foot into the dirt and shot a magical blast at the monster, causing him to dodge. He threw off his coat, revealing his metal arm.

He donned a toothy grin as he shot forward at Star, disarming her quickly and facing Marco, who was clearly avoiding the fight. He looked down at Star, who was stuck under Rasticore's leg by now, and felt a familiar feeling washing over him.

Rage.

Not again.

X-x-X-x-X

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey all, sorry for the shorter chapter and the cliffhanger of sorts, but with the next chapter being the tenth and this one already being as long as it was, it felt right. I promise that the next chapter will be longer, much like the one with the Tom fight was. Maybe not that long, but longer than normal to be sure. I chose to just make this chapter sort of filler as I introduced a new concept, which I took from another story, which I will shout out below. Anyways, I'm getting a lot of cool ideas for this story and I hope the next chapter doesn't take as long as this one to get out. Thank you all for your patience, even if only was 10 days. I'll see you all soon with the next installment. As always, please feel free to leave a follow or a favorite to keep up with the story and a review to help me make it better.

Shoutout: The Sign of The Moon

By: blackwolfwrites