Okay, looking back on season 4, I realize I have A LOT more problems with season 4 of Star vs. Weird how season 4 of both shows are the worst of them, except Steven Universe actually knew what it was doing and redeemed itself, where Star vs felt aimless and lost. I remember the season 4 premere being soo slow and boring, and it dragged on forever.

So yeah, when season 4 comes around for this fic, I'm making quite a few changes, espcially for the lackluster ending. Also, I'm ending the blood moon curse earlier than canon, because while the blood moon ball may have been one of the best episodes, it really hindered things from a writing and logical standpoint.

Man did this episode took a lot out of me. It was really hard to write stuff for this one. Really, this chapters just kind of a set for more stuff down the line, so enjoy.

I own nothing.

The Magical High Commission was something of a touchy subject within the Butterfly Family, mainly due to their close history work history with them that span across hundreds of years. The two groups were practically synonymous by this point.

But there seemed to be a certain wedge between the Commission and the Butterfly's within the last few years, more specifically ever since the arrival of the unexpected arrival in Quartz Universe Butterfly. Strange, probably, but definitely nothing to look too deep into. They were more in the realms of business associates, so anything beyond the usual meetings were to be left alone.

Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be. "So Mom told you that I needed to be constantly surveyed and studied because I'm potentially a threat to you?"

"Ah, no." The hesitant Rhombulus answered. "I, I mean yes! Yes! That's definitely what I want you to believe!" He slapped himself across the head, forgetting that his own arms were actually alive.

"Hey! Punish yourself without punishing us!" The right arm pouted. "Just because you're horrible at keeping secrets doesn't mean I have to get hurt."

"Oh sure, like saying we're keeping secrets in front of the kid is any better." The one on the left said sarcastically. "I don't even know why I'm here, aside from being attached to this idiot.."

"Hey, stop insulting me! You? Us? Uggh, the terminology for this is super weird." Rhombulous joined in.

"Well I'm sorry for being more competent than either of you!"

"If you're so qualified, why don't you leave us and, oh wait, you can't!"

"I'd chop you both off right now if I wanted to!"

"Go ahead, do it! You are dumb enough to cut off your own hands on purpose."

"Wow, and I thought having cat fingers was hard. At least they didn't talk back." Quartz watched the rather sad argument play out, tuning out the noise as he analyzed his surroundings. The whole place was covered in crystal. Shiny, glimmering crystal. The dumbbells, the table, even the milk for some reason, was made or covered in crystal.

The crystal headed man himself confused the little kid. Originally, he figured there had to be some sort of connection between him and the gem he had on his own stomach, though he scratched that idea once he remembered Glosseryck had his own gem, and being related to the little man was something he refused to entertain.

The only other things that came to mind was 'how can something talk without a mouth?' and 'why haven't I talked to this guy before?', though the last one was more prominent in his head. It wasn't like he never seen Rhombulus before, it's just anytime him or any other commission member came into the room, his Mom would push him out and have Star watch over him, which in hindsight was a bit baffling considering how much Mom hated the mischief. "So is there an exit I can go to..?"

"No, you need to stay here!" Rhombulous's hand's were biting each other, preventing them from saying anything else, or moving for that matter. "Heckapoo was very clear on you staying."

"I thought you said Mom told you I needed to stay here.."

"Yeah, that too! Both Mom and Heckapoo agreed!" His sweating didn't make him look any less guilty.

While the details may be a bit fudged, he was pretty sure this fell into stranger danger territory. "Can I call my Mom to tell her that I'm here?"

"No! There's no need. She's already told me, right guys?" His arms rolled their eyes, refusing to let go. "Are you guys still mad at each other, or are you just ganging up on me now?"

"So you don't have Mom's permission?"

"We don't." The left arm let go to confirm.

"Sussh!"

"Isn't that technically treason?"

"Yes!"

"Shut it!"

"Can't my Mom have you killed for that..."

"Ye.."

"Okay, fine I get it, this was a bad idea!" Rhombulous let out. "Stop trying to guilt me! I feel bad enough about this job to begin with."

The technically two being stood in silence for a moment, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. "So, I'm just going to leave.."

"And tell your mother about everything? I don't think so!" Rhombulous blocked Quartz's path in every direction. "I know how this goes. You want something."

"Yeah, I want to go home."

"You want to bribe me, is that it?! You think you have me backed in a corner like an animal, think you can take advantage of me while I'm vulnerable!?"

"Really just want to forget about all of this.."

"Fine, I know the game. I bribe you of your silence in exchange for something of my. So, what do you want? A donut? A Crystal? My left nipple diamond?"

"Nip-I'm not going to ask." Quartz so desperately wished he had a pair of dimensional scissors right now. "Look, you're clearly punishing yourself more than I ever could, so just learn your lesson and.."

"Oh, oh I get it. You want something special, something from my own personal collection." From behind his cape, he skirmishes around a little. "Here's something the Rose Guard left specifically into my care."

"Really?" His eyes glowed, before shaking some common sense into himself. "Wait, why would you just give this away?"

"Because Heckapoo mentioned something about the Rose Guard when she told me to grab you, which I confirm nor deny." Handing the object over, Quartz examined it. It was a mirror. A pretty fancy looking mirror to be sure, but a regular mirror nonetheless. The only real distinguishing feature about was the blue gem behind it. "And, I honestly forgot why she told me to watch it. It might be possessed."

"Well, Star has been wanting to fight ghosts." He pondered it. It looked nice enough, and if it got Rhombulus to let him go, might as well take it. "Okay, you got a deal!"

In a rare change of pace, Star Butterfly, who was proud to live by the phrase 'live fast and live hard', found herself taking her time. No, it wasn't to perfect her magic or to study for the math exam she already forgot she had today, no. Right now, at exactly 7:52 am, Star thought long and hard about the type of hair accessory she was wearing today. Something about her usually horned headband just wasn't cutting it today.

"Eh." Using magic, she tapped her head several times, changing the horns into flowers. "Nope." She tried several more times, changing it into a pirate hat, a fez, and a unicorn mane. Finally, she glimmered when it became a green headband with two cactuses sticking out. "Oh yeah! Cacti for the win!"

"AUUUUUUUHHHH! Out of the way!" Marco forced himself into the bathroom, ignoring the onslaught of laser puppies firing randomly at everything. "I OVERSLEPT!" With his hair, and overall appearance being quite frazzled, he scurried through his bathroom supplies, brushing his teeth with a hairbrush and vice versa. "WHERE'S MY HOODIE!?"

"Marco, chill." There was being the nerdy safe kid, and then there was this. "We can still make it to school by first period."

"This isn't about learning." Putting his hoodie on the wrong way, he scrambled to fix it, only to pull his hoodie down so he speaks better. "It's about love. Everyday at exactly 7:55, there I am down the hall, keeping it cool. And by 7:56, Jackie Lynn Thomas is there." He sighs, picture her shiny green eyes glimmering as she skates by, him nearly melting at the sight of those adorable freckles. "We share a nod. It's kind of our thing."

"Aww." Star ooed. Nice to see the naivete and innocence of first love on her best friend. "Wait? All you do is nod? There's no talking?" Marco shook his head. "What about a hi? A handshake, or, if you're so bold, a hug?"

"Nope. Just a nod. I'm, I'm still working up to that stuff. " He sheepishly comments. "It's all according to my 26 step plan. I'm already on step four, nodding every day." Star only smiled a knowing look, and Marco instantly felt the judgement he was receiving. He would've countered it, if the laser puppies didn't continue to assault him. "No, bad laser puppies!" Looking back to the clock, the anger was replaced with panic. "It's 7:54! I'm not going to make it! Can't, can't you just magically stop time or something?"

"Psssh, hahah, right. Easy Easy Time Freezy." She said sarcastically, but immediately shut up as a clear, ethereal clock shape was shot from her wand, flashing around them before disappearing. Both Star and Marco stopped to look at the clock hanging on the wall, seeing neither the hour, minute, or second hand moving. The laser Puppies, frozen in their running positions. Marco's mother, frozen as she flipped a pancake. Marco's dad, frozen as he sung in the shower. "Okay, how powerful is this thing?"

Marco, inspecting the laser puppies closer, tried to touch one of their beams, only to flinch back from the heat. "Ow! Star, do you have any idea what this means?"

"I have unwittingly tampered with the forces of the universe on accident in ways it should have never been?"

"Exactly! You froze time!" Marco surprising was a little more enthusiastic about the whole thing than she was. "Now I can get to school on time to nod a Jackie! Come on!"

"School?" Star stopped the teen. "Marco, think about this rationally. This is a Freeze Day!" Marco immediately caught on to what his best friend was trying to do, and smiled widely in return.

Soon, the two teens saw themselves outside, fully intending to take advantage of their newfound freedom as much as possible. No time limits, no sunsets, and more importantly, no school. There exploits started off innocently enough, pulling mild pranks around town, such as giving bullies wedges, and putting mustaches on babies in the park. Without anyone to stop them, they took it a little further, breaking into people's houses and stealing their food, including eating a birthday cake for a little girls birthday party.

Wanting to get Quartz in on the fun, Star hopped into Mewni, thanks to a portal left opened earlier by a now frozen Ludo, which Star of course took advantage of for a few hours, and popped into his room. The prince was in the air, most likely from jumping up and down on his bed, frozen still while holding some sort of mirror. "Oh right, you're frozen too." Star rubbed the back of her head. "Didn't think that through. Oh well, I guess I can just tell you about it later." Grabbing Quartz by the foot, she tied a string around him and carried him around like a balloon.

Even without the inclusion of her brother, Star found herself having some of the best time of her life, having picnics in the middle of frozen traffic, building a tower of books in the library while also making as much noise as possible. Even Marco got into the more questionable acts, dishing out hits of revenge against his karate rival.

The laughter the two shared seemed to never end as they finally made their way back to the school. "Hah, that was the funnest 60 hours of my life!"

"Yeah it was! Too bad Quartz couldn't do anything." She turned to her still frozen brother, who had a party hat and a mustache on his face. "It's okay Star. I know you're too amazing for your own good sometimes. Get as crazy as possible." Star imitated Quartz's voice. "Aw, I knew you'd understand. Hey look, frozen Jackie!" Indeed, Jackie was on her skateboard, looking as confident as ever.

"Nice, time for me to get into optimal nodding position." Slicking back his hair, he did his best 'cool lean' against the lockers, putting on his best nice guy smile. "Ready."

"Or, you could use this as the next step of your crazy plan." Star said with earnest. "You could talk to her."

Talking? As in, forming words out of his mouth and attempting communication. NO! NO! ABORT! ABORT! "I, ah, the winds not right, I have a pimple growing in, ah, I'm just going to stick with the nod today."

"Marco." 'Quartz' scooted closer. 'Why are you being a chicken?'

"Star.."

"Hey, I'm not my totally cool sister Star Butterfly, I'm the adorable Quartz Butterfly, and I say you should talk to her. After all, if I can get together with Connie, then you can defiantly say hi to someone you've known for years."

"You're not dating Connie.."

"Aren't I? Seriously, think about it." Realizing she wasn't going to get through to him, she dropped the act. "Fine, as you wish. Easy Peasy Time UN-Freezey!" She jumped and waited for it. 1 second. 2 second. 3 second. 4. "Ah Easy Peasy Time Unfreezy!" Nothing. Everything was still standing still. "Oooh, this isn't good."

"Star, come on, what's going on?" Marco's worry meter had already reached his peak, especially with his friend now standing eerily still. "Star? STAR!"

"Haha, I'm just messing with you!" She slapped Marco on his very unappreciative back. "But in all seriousness, I don't know what to do."

"Oh come on! Of course, the one time I need magic to work with me, and this happens." Marco banged his head against the lockers. "I really, really hate magic."

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't even know this spell existed to begin. And now I can't even sulk in guilt with my brother over it." Her brother's frozen smile was only a slight comfort to her predicament. "Oh Quartz, now I'll never watch your adorable face become an adorable knight."

"It's okay Star. I know it was an accident. At least Mom will never know what you did."

"True, true, there are some upsides to this new life. No consequences. Our food will never go bad. Life could be good."

"Yeah, no more learning, no more Tom, no more Glosseryck, no more lion lickers.."

"That's it! If a time freezing spell exists, the counterspell must exist to. Quartz, you're a frozen genius!" She gave a quick kiss to his cheek."

"No! I thought we agreed to stop going to Glosseryck! He's never helpful!"

"Of course he is, in his own 'old man riddles' kind of way. He can fix this!"

"No! I refuse to acknowledge him!"

"You will acknowledge and you will let him help you!"

"No!"

"YES!" Her friend stared quietly, slowly making his way to the house. "What? Just a little self motivation to get things moving along. I can't have a normal conversation with my brother?"

"That's kind of impossible, since you'd need to be normal to begin with."

"Alright Magic Instruction Book, instruct me." The two finally made it back to Star's room, where they grabbed said book form under the bed. Cautious optimism turned to disappointment when Glosseryck's frozen body was the first thing they saw. "Aw man. Glosseryck's got affected too."

"Good." Marco immediately flipped the page over with immense satisfaction. "I never liked that guy. Scrape the sides, buddy."

"Yeah, that's for being completely useless and a dodo head!" 'Quartz' spoke in agreement. "I'll shove that pudding up your.."

"Quartz, I know you hate him, but chill the language. Marco can't handle such strong words." Star spoke regularly, flipping through her guide manually. Of course, being very unfamiliar with the book in general, the princess found herself rather lost through the chapters, finding old and new spell she'd need to remember for later. "Let's see, let's see: How to make a Dimension explode, no, how to delete gravity, ooh.."

"Don't get any ideas."

"I'll remember that page for your next birthday."

"Got it. What to do if you freeze time. Nice. Good to know my dead grandmas were considerate enough to help me out. I should thank them sometime." Star thought out loud. "Okay, lets see: In order to restore time, we need to travel to the planes of time, and push the wheels of progress. Sounds simple enough."

"Never say that. You know better than to say that."

"I do, but this way more fun." With one snip of the dimensional scissors, a portal was made, and Marco was the first to step through and enter the abstract world. It was like a Salvador Dal painting that got carried away.

"This is definitely one of the weirder places we've been to."

"Even stranger than the dimension with human face cats?" Star remembered fondly, only for both to wince in disgust at the sheer creepiness of the little monstrosities. How something so small can have such a threatening voice was beyond her. "The one thing that's strangely more creepy than cat fingers."

"Yeah, humans and cats just don't mix. Now we know'. Star mimicked her brother's voice, still pulling him along like a balloon. "Oh Quartz, I wish you were here to talk to me for real."

"Why did you bring him along?"

"Moral support, though now I'm bummed thinking about it. It's so hard to motivate yourself when there's others to do it for you." Leaning against the still frozen being, she rested her eyes for a brief moment, unaware of her glowing cheek marks, faintly matching Quartz's as both of their heartbeats start to synchronize.

Beat.

Beat. Beat.

Beat.

"Huh?" Quartz's mouth forced itself slowly to open before speeding to regular speed. However, due to him falling downwards before time froze, he continued the action in full, slamming into the gray ground with his sister landing right on top of him. "What the corn.."

"Quartz? Quartz! You're back!" She leapt to her feet and threw him into the air again, though this time, Quartz remembered he could float. "But you were frozen."

"I was what?" Quartz was still lost by what happened. "Seriously, if I'm being kidnapped again, would it kill someone to let me know?"

"Long story short, we accidentally froze time and need to unfreeze it by pushing some big wheel." Marco summed up. "That really shouldn't make sense."

"Magic rarely does." Star admitted. "But that's half the fun about it. Oh look." In the middle of everything, between the giant bunnies and the floppy looking clocks was a giant clock-gear like device. It was old, rusty, and smelled like a wasted life, so it had to be what they were looking for.

"Wow, looks kind of like a giant hamster wheel." Marco pointed out as the three looked at it with reverence. In fact, it even had the little spaces between the bars like a normal hamster wheel would have. "Don't worry guys, I got this."

Stretching his legs, along with a cocky attitude for motivation, Marco held a running star, launching himself forward within the wheel, taking as many heavy steps he could to push it forward. Nothing.

He tried doing it the other way. Nope.

He jumped the bars several times in several different areas, falling through them many times. Not even close.

He even got Quartz to push along with him. Absolutely no progress.

"I see the game here. Okay, Racoon, Rotation!" Star sent forth a blast to get it to move, only for it to reflect and ricochet of every angle and area. Quartz himself had to avoid one by blocking it with his mirror, bouncing it back to Star, and summoning a raccoon with wings that copied her every move. "Huh."

"Sorry, magic's not going to work on that thing." Behind them, a large blue man in a white cloak and beard told them. He was firmly squatted on the ground, dragging his fingers through the dirt. "You have to use the magic of toes-ies." He wiggled his toes."

"Who are you?" Star asked.

"I'm Father Time. And this is Rockworth." He held up a pebble. "He's just a rock, but don't tell him that. He's sensitive about it."

"Father Time? Like Mother Nature?" Quartz smiled.

"No, Father Time like Father Time, because I'm the keeper of all things time related. Though I did meet Mother Nature once. She's the worst Mother ever."

"Wait, so if your Father Time, then you must push this thing!" Marco had to get Star to free him from the wheel. Father Time himself had stopped listening, jumping around to random places and loudly announcing wherever he was. It was like seeing Star, but with more innocence. "Is it just me, or does he look more like Baby Time than a Father?"

"Yeah, I'd join him if I hadn't already had my 60 hours of fun." Star agreed. "How long were you on the wheel?"

"Ha, you know, forever." He laughed it off, bouncing all over the place. "At least until someone cast a freeze spell and knocked me off."

"So no one's ever casted a freeze spell before?"

"Of course not! No one wants to risk destroying the Universe. Hey, what's that!?" Pointing to a brown ooze, he giddily side-stepped to it, leaning forward in anticipation.

"Uh, mud?" Marco gave his answer, giving Father Time the incentive he needed to fall forward and bathe in the gunk. He rolled around in it, splattering it all over his body, caressing every inch of skin in the wet dirt. "Soooo, Mr. Time, why don't you go back and get the universe started up again?"

"Oh, ooh, this is per-fect! I, I love mud!" Everyone else looked uncomfortable with this. "I just want to stay here and be mud!" Grabbing a scoop, he shoved it right on top of his mouth, though the moment it did, he spat it all at Marco. "Seriously, where has this been all of my life?"

"Father Time, I think you need to see things a little more seriously." Quartz sat beside him. "Trust me, as your fellow brother in child-like wonderment and joy, I know the thrill of rolling around like a pig is great. It's freeing, it's cool, and surprisingly makes the flies go away. But, there comes a time to put away childish things, and to do our duty. Sure, rolling in Mud, diving into it's dark and brown depths is tempting, and amazing, and.." Father Time swam deeper in it, even more enthralled than before. "I made it more tempting, didn't I?"

"Yep."

"Ah, yes, mud is amazing, but, do you know what's even more amazing?" Scooping a handful, she splatted some all over the wheel. "See, you have it all over now. It's just as amazing!" Marco and Quartz motioned towards it.

"Hm, wow, that is an enticing offer, but no." His attention quickly turned to something else, forcing the trio to follow him. "Ooh, here's mud that's a slightly different color. And there's a twig, and there's a bush, and there's.." He became lost at the duck. "..I have no idea what that is, but it waddles!"

"Wait, you can't just leave.." Star tried to call him out as they chased him, but he jumped into the air, like he was playing a game of tag. "..time frozen! Without time.." He jumps in the other direction. "..Rainbows can't shoot across the sky!"

"...Glitter won't be able to glimmer!"

"...And everyone we know will be stuck in place forever!"

However, neither were too excited or too callous about the current situation, Father Time entered some sort of secret passage way and shut the three out before they could enter. This somehow ended with him riding on a giant tortoise, which was running at surprising speeds. "Yeah! Anything's possible!"

Needing to catch up, Marco lead the others to a giant bunny, hoping that by this world's form a logic, the rabbit would've been able to catch up with him in no time. But the exact opposite happened, and the bunny was walking slower than an old lady through a field of grass. "Wait, so if the bunny is the slow one here, doesn't that mean he wins the race?" Quartz asked.

All Marco could do was groan."I hate this dimension."

Father Time continued to give them a harder time, jumping into a river of clocks to make it to the other side, not even being slowed down by a second, even by his excitement of feeling water for the first time ever.

Wanting to gain more ground, Star and Marco hopped right on top of one of the clocks, completely forgetting that Quartz probably could've floated them across. But once they did land on the clock, time flowed backward for them and turned them into babies.

"Aw, how cute. My turn." Quartz landed on a clock right next to them, this time making time flow forward to him, where he became taller, wore a pink letterman jacket, and had a blue shirt with a yellow star in the middle. "Huh. So this is what it's like to have a neck."

Star leapt forward on another clock, this time flinging herself further into her timeline, making her around 60-70 years old with wrinkled skin and saggy cheeks. "A-aw-aw, m-my he-hearts."

Marco lost his balance, with his head being the only thing to save him from falling into the water. Though due to having everything below his neck between both clocks, only his head aged while the rest of his body remained in baby shape. "Not one word." That didn't stop the two aged royals from sharing a snicker.

The chase continued on and on, with seemingly no stop in sight. Quartz contemplating exactly how many times jokes he could be making instead of running. "Hey, would be more appropriate to say 'time is running out' or 'time is not on our side'.

"Quick, I think I saw him duck into here!" Star pointed to a hallway that seemed to be made up of entirely monitors. "And definitely the second joke."

The entire hallway, upon closer look, was kind of a big pile of TV's stacked up together like a electronics' store. Seemingly random events flashed before them, some depicting the moon landing and the colonization of America. Others depicted events in Mewni, like Solaria's coronation and a random attack of dragons on Butterfly Castle. Some even depicted moments they couldn't even figure out, like a planet that seemed to be broken down the middle, or a war filled with multicolored people they couldn't make out. "Wow, it's the history of everything in the Universe! Oooh, Battle of Lexington!" Marco called out to one of the screens. "Nailed it."

Before they could look in awe any further, a slithering, worm like device covered in wires sank below them, opening its bulgy, rounded tip revealing it to be a giant eyeball, and it was staring directly at Star.

Mesmerized by it's stare, Star could only get lost in it's gaze before it turned away, making the TV's go static before revealing a baby like it was a home movie. The baby in particular was blonde with a tiny crown, and it was smashing a moose doll against some blocks laid out. "Is that.., that's me!"

"Huh, this is a lot more baby Star than I usually see." Quartz held the same amazement upon look at this younger sister. The memory changed from her babyhood to a time where she took a carriage while being chased by their father. "Looks like some things never change."

"Hey, I remember that day. It was when I found you in the bush!" The memory changed again to Quartz's first meeting, where they were one the run from the monster. "Aw, our very first monster fight!"

Seeing him use his magic to help his sister at such a young age made him feel all warm and tingly inside. "Wow, we've really haven't changed that much, haven't we?"

"Of course we've have, look!" It quickly changed to Star learning how to decapartite from a knight, then Star started teaching a baby Quartz how to decapitate. "I haven't needed to use a sword in years."

The TV's passed through many other events in their lives: Quartz flying around on Ponyhead, the two of them standing on the castle roof to watch some fireworks, the first time either of them ever had a cookie cat, even up to Star's coronation day. Eventually, it caught up to them in real time, and the two were just watching themselves watch themselves. "Hey us! How ya doing?" Star called out to them.

"This thing must keep track of everything we've ever done in our lives." The eyeball then turned to Marco, and the screens adjusted accordingly. Like Star, the memories started off with a young Marco, who looked to be in kindergarten, scrambling to find a proper shelf to lean against as a young Jackie entered the room and waved to everyone. Marco did his best cool pose and nodded as she passed him with barely a notice.

"Wait, how long ago did you come up with that list?" Star asked, but it went unanswered as it flashed forward to middle school, where a more pimpled Marco did the same as his younger self, nodding as Jackie passed him. It was the same after that. Day after day, year after year, Marco would find himself in the same position, nodding in the same way, as Jackie passed by without a second glance. It was hard to call it pathetic when it looked so sad to watch.

"Wow. I've been nodding for a long time." Star only placed a single hand on his shoulder, knowing now wasn't the time to say anything at all.

"Ooh, my turn!" The eyeball then turned to Quartz, and the screens reset. He wasn't sure what this was going to show, seeing as how much time he spent with Star in her video. What he saw first though wasn't exactly something he expected.

It was him as a baby, but it was him being held in the arms of a total stranger. In the picture, he didn't even have the star marks that he had come to love. Once more, he was asleep, wrapped around a pink blanket as a bearded man with balding brown hair sat down on a couch, clearly tired of whatever tasks he had to do. "Is that.." Quartz leaned against the glass, pressing his face, and unknowingly the mirror as well, on it.

Unable to find the words to complete his thought, the screen shifted, this time with Star. He was still without his marks, and weirder, Star seemed to be very upset. Her eyes turned a piercing white, making everything fly around them, including their parents. "Star..?"

"I, I don't remember that day." Star said. "In fact, I don't remember what happened after the day I found you. It's always been a blur. I just chalked that up to bad memory, but.." The screen switched again, this time being a much more familiar and recent memory: Star's mewberty. "Oooh, this one's exciting."

Quartz had his face glued to the screen, and immediately tilted his head. Here he was, in his more monstrous rose-beast form, and he was cornering Connie, who clearly looked afraid of him. "When did I.." Then he immediately had face freeze once he saw Connie lips come into contact with his, making him pass out for a brief second. "When did that happen!?"

"Connie said not to say anything." Marco defended, before the screens switched again. This time, however, it wasn't a memory or forgotten event that made him go silent, it was somebody on the screen that Quartz never expected to see. It only stood there for 5 seconds before going static, but it was clear who the person on the screen was.

"Quartz?" Star said worriedly. "Why, why did that just show the Rose Guard?"

"Hey guys, you really gotta check this out!" Before any deep analysis or revelations could be discovered, Father Time's voice snapped them out of it. "Isn't this place incredible?" The blue man's entire attention was fixated on a doorstop. "It's like we're living in the future."

"Emerald snake strike!"

Not missing the opportunity, Star used her magic to entangle Father Time before he could move again. It worked, rounding up Marco along with him. "Great, we got him." He said stoically. Quart and Star unwrapped the two and made their way out. "Okay buddy, we're getting you back on your wheel." The eyeball came back again, and put it's focus on Father Time. "What is it now?"

The screens, unlike the others really only showed one thing happening. Father Time started on the wheel running. He laughed, he smiled, their was joyed to be had in his job. But, nothing changed. Nothing new came along, nothing else ever happened. And as the first few million years passed by, the smile began to sink. First to indifference. Then to boredom. Then to sadness. Then to misery.

Day after day, century after century, it grew worse. He couldn't slow down, he could stop, he didn't even have the time to use the bathroom. No real past. No real future, just an endless present of tedium.

The long face of Father time found itself growing once more, only this time, he had someone around to sympathize in the plight. "Well, I guess my break is over." He forced a smile on his face. "Alright, I guess it's back to doing that. I mean, eternity isn't forever, right?"

"No, no, that's, that was painful to look at." Quartz found his voice. "Being alone, doing the same thing with nothing or no one to come along. That's gotta be the worst thing ever."

"He's right." Marco spoke next. "We can't leave him like this. It's not like any of this is his fault to begin with. We just gave him his first form a freedom, and now we're taking it back."

"It's super wrong." Star agreed. "Maybe there's another way to turn that giant wheel." Father Time, soaking the last few minutes of his freedom, squatted down to pet some giant time hamsters. "Hm, you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Actually, I was thinking.." With a little tweaking, a chair, and a lot of time hamsters, the trio was able to convert the wheel into a carriage, with a chair resting on the top and some reins to control the hamsters. "Never mind. This works too." Marco said.

"Now you'll be able to go anywhere you want, and keep the wheel moving." Star proudly proclaimed. "No one should have to be stuck in the same place forever.

Those words hit Marco pretty hard. It was definitely not a jab at him, but they were still personal and painful to hear. "Yeah, no one."

"So where are you going to go?" Quartz asked.

"Wherever the wind takes me. Or I guess wherever these little guys take me." Father time smiled as he rested himself on the chair. "Seriously, thanks you guys. I owe ya big time. Help yourself to some of my mind. Even the good stuff." A huge pile of multicolored sludge was next to them, some spots darker than others, some of it a little smellier than others to the point where it may have not be mud at all.

"Yeah, we're good." Marco declined.

"Oh, and don't try to freeze time again. It's kind of a fragile thing." Father Time said warningly. "You don't want to break it, know what I mean?" With that said, the time hamster marched forward. "Time hamsters away!"

"Well, the universe is saved once again! From something that Star caused!" Quartz shouted.

"Alight, alright, don't rub it in. I got back on track, didn't I?" Star defended, though worry suddenly surged through. "Wait, if times moving again.."

"WE GOTTA GET BACK!"

Summoning a portal, Star and Marco shoved themselves through the portal to get ready. Marco combed his hair as he got in position. Sure enough, Jackie came along like time wasn't frozen before. Marco got a little more acknowledgement that she saw him, given how he was slightly in the way, but he was there. They both shared a nod He accomplished his goal.

Except it was the same feeling of slight satisfaction he felt for the last near decade. He bit his lip. Time was running out! "Hey Jackie!"

Jackie paused, shocked, but happy all the same. "Hey Marco." Both stood smiling, as if this was the first time they actually said anything to each other. "Well, see ya."

Marco's smile held until he nearly collapsed. "Whoa, that was hard!"

Star couldn't help but be proud. "Marco, you did it! You finally talked to her." She was just about to start a bet with Quartz about how long this was going to last. Her money was on forever. "But whatever happened to 'the perfect time'."

"Well, I have a lot of time. And after all of that, I started thinking, if you have the time, why waste it?" They walked to class, finally glad to have all the time in the world again. "Looks like I'm finally getting some.." Time froze before starting again. "..where." Marco headed to class, not noticing Star stopped to turn around.

"Hey, where's Quartz?" The portal, still left open, plopped out the young prince. "Never mind."

"Sorry, Father Time found another mud pit. I had to spend the last two weeks to convince him out of it." Quartz, all muddy, offered a hand that held a slightly less muddy piece of paper. "Oh, he told me to give this to you."

"Really? What is it?" Star grabbed it, revealing a normal picture of 4 people in swimwear: Star, Quartz, Marco, and Connie, laughing, smiling, just enjoying each other's company. On the front of the picture was a caption, that simply titled the picture 'Beach Day.' One the back was a note from Father time himself.

For giving me a good day. Here's one to look forward to.-FT

"Huh. Neat." She smiled, placing the photo gently in her purse. "I'll place it on the refrigerator when I get home." Helping her brother shake off the remaining mud, she finally remembers something that was on her mind. "So, that thing with the Rose Guard?"

"I think that has something to do with this thing?" Quartz held out the mirror he was holding. "The time out guy gave it to me, said it belonged to her. Maybe that eyeball was scanning it's history." He shrugged. "I, I don't know. I'm more concerned about that guy that was holding me as a baby."

"You think.." Star couldn't believe these words were coming out of her mouth. "You think it might be your.."

"My dad." Quartz held the mirror close. "Ugh, if only I had a picture. I barely remember what he looked like." The mirror, like the screens before, went static before showing the image of his dad. "Wait, the mirror, recorded it?"

"Well, at least we know why the Rose Guard would have it. It's magic." Star held her brother still. "Quartz, if we have his picture, we actually have a good chance of finding him." Star had a brief flash of worry in her eye before ignoring it. "We can find your real family."

Ring

"Dang it, I'm late!" Star ran out. "Don't worry, Quartz, this is totally the most important thing I have on my mind. See ya after detention!" Star skipped away.

Quartz didn't feel the need to move at all. Those words just weren't real to him. Not after everything, he almost didn't want the possible of finding his birth family to happen. The concept was just too weird for him to fully accept.

But there was some excitement to this. A question he never thought would get answered would finally be answered. For closure's sake, it was at least worth looking into.

"My, real family." Smiling, he looked at the mirror and hugged it. "Thank you Mirror!"

"Thank you Mirror!" It said back to him in his own voice.

Taken aback initially, Quartz smiled back to the seemingly inanimate object. "I'm not a mirror."

"I'm not a mirror."

"Heh, you're going to be fun to have around. I just know it." Quartz walked towards the exit. "Let's go home."

"Let's..go..home."

"Yes we are."

"I'm.. not... a mirror."

"Yeah."