Hello, been some time. I hope you all are well and will enjoy this long chapter ( at least by my standard. ) The first entry is obviously the chapter before, so you can be sure of how much you can trust them.
Entry 1.
Who only counts when you fail? I push myself to the limit and then he starts the counting. Let me not even get started with injuries, "Don't worry you'll be healed as good as new." The only good thing is the people he brought with him and even the two more bestial ones taught me a lot. Luna's training I can't remember much of, but after whatever she did my body feels great.
Entry x
The training is something only the devil could design, but that is just like Solis. But it is interesting, the principles behind an undead knight and much different from my views on the undead. Third-wheeling after Star Butterfly and Tom Lucitor had changed my view on undead, they were goofy... too human. But an undead after Solis definition is what I originally thought supernatural living dead were: Relentless, emotionless, tireless, obsessive, and ever-hungry killing horrors. And all I wonder is how a knight can proudly stand for those traits.
Entry x
A couple of days has been... what is the word, intense, crazy or unreasonable, maybe a combination? Anyway, Solis training has been hell much more than normal. Perhaps it's just everyday suffering that is stockpiling. But I'm losing it, losing my will to keep going... Yet I keep going. Why? Because of Luna, I don't know if her easing my fatigue and mind is a blessing or a curse.
Entry x
Finally, my P.H.D comes in handy. Who would have thought the undead knight uses psychological warfare in fights. All tho I am conflicted with brutalizing other people. I don't have a problem with giving a quick death to a bad guy, but the things Solis wants me to learn...
Entry xx
I'm pretty sure Solis is manipulating me. Solis is teaching me said action, perhaps he wants me to call him out for it... Anyway, I have to keep tabs on myself. On a brighter note, have I never enjoyed training as much as Lunas, it is like going to school, a school one that gives you a massage while you study... souls.
Entry xx
My time talking with Solis has made me realize something. I've been a whiny wimp for my whole life. Being the 3. wheel? Bullied? stress? Pain? I deserve it, I haven't been doing shit to change, I've just accepted. But no more, as an undead knight it won't ever happen again... I hope...
Entry xx
I've learned the power. The power to turn day into night, blackout the sun, blackout suns... That is so cool, but hard. It is the only magical thing he will teach besides night vision, essentially saying magic is overrated. And I can see that when he points out magics flaws, but he did say Luna had something worthwhile I'm going to learn and I'm excited about that.
Entry xx
A person that can turn the day into night, trap them in that darkness, steal soul fragments from the fallen and the living. That sounds like something from supernatural horror fiction and that's not the worst of it. I can take the entire soul of a person if they allow me to, doesn't matter if they were trick or manipulated...
Entry xx
I get to learn all the little skills I have at some point wished for, picking a lock and being sneaky like some kind of infiltrator. It is pretty cringing when I think back on my fantasies from my youth. God I sound old and technically I am, yet I'm not at the same time. That... that has gotten completely of topic and... I'm too tired I need rest.
Entry xx
I've gotten a bad feeling as of late. Solis mentioned Eclipsa's trial and I don't even want to know why he brought it up, but with everything, I learned... And what I know... I'm not going to like it. It should be safe... but I will practice it on others first.
A nervous Star Butterfly sat on a chair behind the judges that consisted of the magical high commission and her mom. And it didn't help that every royal, noble, and high station person was against the accused CORN even the judges were biased.
Okay, everything had been leading up to this moment, I can't mess this up because I'm prepared, she composed herself. She prepared because she can't wing it, she is not that kind of princess anymore. She had pieces of paper with keywords. The keywords helped her remember what she had to say. But who was she kidding? Her mom and the high commission had a big stack of paper in front of them. She felt discouraged, but she was going through with this after all this was Marcos, Toms, and her own effort.
Star walked up to the judges and sneaked a glance over their shoulders. She looked at the top of the papers and was a bit surprised. The papers were reports of incidents Eclipsa had done, from property damage to have injured people and all kinds of trouble, when she was younger and was still a princess. Star was perplexed, Eclipsa didn't seem like an impulsive troublemaker, but she also felt happy. Eclipsa was once just like me, Star thought. Star began to realize and was afraid because if incidents like those were reported then how many did she herself have, how big would her pile be. Star came out of her train of thoughts when someone entered.
Eclipsa came cuffed through the large double door and walked onto her pedestal as the accused. All the while hell break lose, every spectator to the trial shouted profanities, the only ones who didn't were the judges except Rhombulus, Tom, and Star.
Moon slammed a piece of wood that was carved into corn on her table. "Quiet, quiet." When silence came she continued. "we are starting the trial for the crimes committed by Eclipsa the queen of darkness."
Star resisted the urge to shout "love isn't a crime."
"The accused is charged with multiple assault charges, property damage, improper use of magic and the royal wand,-"
"Excuse me-"
"You will speak when asked." Omnitraxus Prime threateningly interjected.
"Yeah, shut up baby eater!"
"Rhombulus, for the last time she wasn't the baby eater!" Heckapoo shouted just as loud.
"Silence, Silence!" Again Moon had to quiet and she failed to hide her annoyance which worked much more effectively than demanding quiet.
"I wish to invoke trial by box," Eclipsa said before Moon could say anything. There were loud gasps coming from the spectators.
"Don't be absurd Eclipsa only I can invoke trial by... box..." A single runed box is being descended from seemingly nowhere from the ceiling and silence everyone for a few moments.
"Queen Eclipsa have invoked trial by box, I now have the authority even over the queen and in this case queens of Mewni."
Moon was about to protest, "I am now the judge, jury, and punisher. And I degree this trial a private one for the good of Mewni." The box unfolded and trapped the magic high commission and Eclipsa.
"What about me!?" Star shouted while she knocked or rather slammed a fist on the now giant box.
A small tile on the outside fliped and a mouth now replaced it, "You aren't part of the trail." it said and flip again.
"But I'm the defendant of the accused!"
The tile flipped again revealing a mouth "No you aren't, there are zero papers about this trial mentioning you. Eclipsa has no defended. End of discussion and if you disrupt again, you will be charged and receive the maximum punishment for disrupting a trial by box. "
Star stood with her mouth open with bewilderment. Who does this box think it is, she thought. She would be damned if she lets all of her and their hard work to waste. She took her wand and powered it up.
"I'm sorry Star, I know it's hard to watch all your hard work go to waste, but I have to do this. And I think its best you don't know what's being revealed in here."
Star was a bit conflicted and it didn't help that Eclipsa's words came out of the box's mouth. Stars wand powered down and the mouth was now replaced by a tile. Star ran out of the courtroom and Tom tried to leave as well but he had trouble as he was in the crowd of spectators and they for some reason wanted to stay.
Stars running slowly came to a halt when she reached the entrance of the garden. She didn't have a goal in mind when she ran, she only wanted a place to calm down her frustration and apparently, fate decided it would be the garden.
She walked in and soon she saw a bench, a familiar bench. She sat down and held her head in her hands.
"Uhm... Don't you think its a waste to look in your hands when there are beautiful flowers around?"
"Can you leave-" Star stopped mid-sentence. That voice sounded very familiar and when she looked up there stood Marco with his signature red hoodie and dark grey jeans.
"M-M-Marco, wha-what are you doing here?" Star almost shouted.
"I, uhm... I came to see the trial." He answered while scratching his chin.
"... Sorry... It seems all our hard work was for nothing." Again she burrowed her head in her hands.
Marco was about to touch her shoulder in comfort but stopped himself. "Isn't it silly to apologize for something out of your control? She made her choice."
She looked up at his face "You know, you speak weird." She suddenly flaunts her arms everywhere when she starts apologizing "I-I mean you speak differently... sorry"
He smiles a bit at the display, it gave him a nostalgic feeling. "It's alright, asking a rhetorical question is an annoying habit I've picked up."
"From who?"
"Marco!" Tom stood at the entrance of the garden, he was panting heavily and sweating. He has looked everywhere for her and now he finds her with him. "You turd, do you have any idea of how Star has been feeling from your stunt."
Tom walked straight to Marco, ignoring Star completely. He now stood face to face with Marco. "Tom stop, it's alright-"
"No it isn't, I should punch him in the face right now for what he has done," Tom interjected.
"Well, it's your only chance to do so. I came to see the trial, but I also came as a final goodbye." Marco turns from looking at Tom and looks at Star.
"Final goodbye... We will never see each other again?" Star asks innocently.
"Sorry, I mean it will be a while, a long while." Marco corrects himself.
"So wanna go on an adventure now?" Star asks to hope to postpone his leave.
"Actually..."Marco is trying his best to ignore Toms glare at him. "We could go on an adventure at some point along with Kelly and of course Tom, but first can we talk just the two of us in your room?"
"Sure," Star answer instantly.
"Um, star?" Marco gesture to Tom with his head.
She turns her attention to him and sees he has a displeased almost borderline angry expression. "Is that not okay Tom?" Star asks.
Tom sighs, "it's fine but under one condition, Marco and I will also have a private talk, a talk only us two can have." Tom looks directly into Marco's eyes.
"What do-" Star gets cut off.
"Wait here, I'll come after my talk with Star." Tom only nods and goes to sit down on the bench next to Star.
Marco walks out of the garden.
"Tom... are-"
"It's fine Star, you don't have to worry." Tom cuts her off.
"Would it not be weird if I didn't worry as your girlfriend?"
He smiles a bit and shakes his head, "you are already weird, you are my weird little starship." Star smiles and places a quick kiss on his cheek before she left.
Marco sat beside the door to Star's room. And he hears footsteps, heavy footsteps. He sees two patrolling guards.
"Oi isn't that earth-turd." One of the big guards points to him.
"Yeah, your right. Hey bitch! Finally, come crawling back to be the princesses pet!" the other shouted.
"Yeah. Is it too hard not to have a silver spoon in your mouth."
Marco ignored them in favor to think of how he should go about Star.
"So how are you doing this?" Marco's partner asks.
"I could just do it by force, but I would like to avoid that."
The two knights turn a right, as they mumble about him being lucky that they have to follow the patrol route.
"Why don't-ya?"
Marco rolls his eyes, "Everything shouldn't be done by violence just because you can."
"You just have a lovely soft spot for her, don't-ya?"
"Shut up here she comes." Marco ended his conversation in his head with Monster Arm.
"Why are you waiting outside?" Star asks as she skips across the hallway.
"I can't just go into some girl's bedroom." He answers as he gets up.
"Oh, right... by the way, props for not leaning on the wall with your arm crossed and being all bad boy wannabe." Star forcefully joked.
He gets up "I don't know what you're talking about."
Star skips past him. "sure you don't," she says as she opens her bedroom door.
Marco followed her and went to sit beside Star on her bed. They just sat there in silence. Star didn't know how to initiate or if she even should.
The silence continued until Marco broke it. "Star."
"Yeah," She answers while looking into the thin air.
"I haven't forgiven you," He says bluntly.
"..." She looks down into her lap, no tears threatening to spill only the silently acceptance.
"But I'm willing to try." Star looks at Marco who is staring into the air. "...I know you didn't mean to, but..." He looks at her, "you still hurt me."
Star looks away into her lap and this time a tear almost forces its way out, it wasn't what he said that made her avert her gaze, it was his expression. His eyes were tired and he didn't have a frown or anything else for that matter, it was as if he had given up. Given up on her, given up on their friendship.
"Sorry..." Is all Star could muster.
"It's... I hope you are cause it's going to be hard."
"..." She hugs her legs and rests her head on her knees and Marco... just proceeded to explain.
"I can come under the pretext that it is work and then we have a day to do whatever you want... but it requires me to... to hurt you."
"..."
"It's not dangerous, but it hurts and you may have side-effects like vomiting, headaches, and the like..."
Marco sat there and lets her digest his words.
"I want it." She turns to him and his response likewise, "I want the chance to make it up to you, Marco."
"Okay. Let's do it, but you need to know that you can back out whenever you want."
Marco stood up and Star was about to follow but he pushes her down. "It's better if you lay there." She did as suggested.
"Star close your eyes and don't open them until we are done. Understood?"
"Yeah," Star affirmed while ignoring his almost military commanding tone.
He took the corner of the cover on the bed, "here bite into this." He placed the fabric on her face and she just... she just began trying to bite the blanket over and over again. Marco would lie if he said it wasn't kind of adorable. He chuckled and then the intensity of the biting rose. "Alright, alright, let me help you. Open your mouth and don't bite my finger."
She just opened her mouth and he could see the dent forming on the fabric where she draws her breath. He places a finger on both ends of her mouth and pushes the fabric down a few centimeters. He pulled out and she bit. He wondered why she didn't just use her own hands, maybe it was deliberate to make him laugh, or perhaps she didn't just think about it, either way, he decided to categorize it as a Star thing.
"Here I go." and he got an affirmative nod from her. He flexed his hands and they were then coated in a red glow.
He pulled her dress down a bit and placed a hand right in the middle of her chest and he dug his nail into her, it didn't pierce her skin but it would leave a mark for some time. And then he pulled, a white essence came from Star, and the essence slowly formed into a white model of Star that was connected with Star. With her soul exposed he used his free hand to dig under his hoodie and t-shirt and accidentally pierced his own chest but he pulled anyway, luckily he didn't damage himself further.
Star's soul immediately smashed into Marco's soul like two magnets and his soul wasn't even formed yet. Marco gritted his teeth in pain while Star bit into her fabric that also worked to muffle her voice.
His soul was finally formed and he could see where they were connected. He was a bit disappointed with how transparent his soul was where Stars could be mistaken for marble.
The two souls were chest to chest and Marco knew where he had to cut. He pulled his scissors from his hoodie and coated them in the red glow like his hands.
"Star, I am sorry but this is where it's going to hurt."
"Ichs orkeee" Star said with her cover in her mouth.
He nods which he then followed by inwardly berating himself because she has her eyes close and can't see him. He shakes his head and then focuses on the two souls. He then begins to cut into Star's soul and she immediately begins screaming into her cover. He cuts some of her chest and stomach off, everything that is in direct contact with his soul, and when he cuts the last touching piece. He feels...
He sees the cutoff pieces being absorbed into his and how the marble-like chunks get dissolved.
He separates the two souls with ease and with his free hand he pulls his soul and absorbs it. He puts his scissors back into his hoodie pocket and grabs her soul. He pushes the soul in Star and removes the cover from her face, "You can open your eyes now."
Star was sweating and out cold. He lifted her up bridal style and placed her properly on her bed. And then it was time for Tom. He went out and headed for the garden.
"You could have her unconscious and spare her the pain."
"I could, but... I also wanted to know how much she wants to revive our friendship."
"That's kinda a dick move and not mention your deal."
"I'm going to make myself miserable by being with Star, so I deserve some compensation. Besides, it, can't be healthy to repeatably lose your soul and with our arrangement, she has to give up at some point."
"I'm kinda proud, but you have just ami-"
"Yeah I love Star, but at the end of the day, love is a chemical reaction and it only has meaning if we give it meaning. And if I choose to chase Star I give it a meaning, a bad one."
"And how does that make you feel?"
"You my fucking therapist now?"
"No, but... Fuck you then."
"...I don't know...I just want Star to be happy, but just not at my expense. And... I'm sure Tom will do just that, he is a nice guy and I kinda like him."
"But we are still-"
"We are still gonna beat his ass, just not completely."
"That's very confident coming from you."
"Ah-ha." Signaling the end of the conversation, he began psyching himself up and focus on the thing to come while his partner allowed him to do so.
Marco reached the entrance and saw Tom, but he was pacing back and forth. He decided to wait a bit and think of possible things Tom would have on his chest. After watching him for a minute or two he decided to end his wait.
Marco strolled in and Tom saw him instantly. "Finally, I'm going to kick your ass"
"I feel the same, but the garden is such a beautiful place," Marco says as he lightly smiles which borders on a smirk.
"As if you could bring me to destroy this place...But I don't want to risk Star seeing your ass getting beat."
Marco shook his head. Even now he thinks of her. "Any place in mind"
"Yeah, my home"
"Well. You do need all the help you can get."
" You!..." Tom takes a deep breath. " Let's get going."
Marco walked after Tom to the teleport room. They ignored the silent glares of the residents they passed.
"I guess even they wouldn't act against a prince."
"No, I'm just not a coward."
"I did fight back once and your girlfriend made sure I wouldn't try again."
"I seriously doubt that...Even if she did it couldn't be that bad."
"No, just adding 12 hours on top of 18-hour work shift, for fucking 6 weeks! Not to mention for a racist fucking knight!... Luckily that bitch of a squire wants to be a knight more than she hates me, so it was only about 8 hours added"
Tom eyed Marco from the side.
"Curious about how I managed a 26-hour work schedule? The answer; organize"
"Look there-" Tom felt glares on him and immediately shut them down with a glare of his own. The kind of which his eyes turn white and his demon features more prominent. "No time to wait, we are almost there."
They soon reached their destination and there wasn't any altercation only silent judgment from the guards. The insides of the dome building were pretty with wall paints of various queens of Mewni. If you looked up there were balconies with a few dozen archers.
Tom summoned a carriage with fire. They both got in and vanished just as quickly.
Marco got out of the carriage and found himself in a dry plain with nothing in sight, it was hot and at least 50 degrees.
"So, how-" Was all Marco was allowed to say before he found a fist in his face.
"That's for what you did to Star and this for what you are doing to me!"
Marco blocks the kick coming for his face and allows the force to send him on his feet. "You done?"
"Just getting started. This is for being an idiot." Tom charged him which Marco dodged.
"If that's," He dodges the continued assault by Tom, "the level of grievances," He grips an unavoidable punch " then we can be here all day."
Tom stopped his assault and Marco made space. "I'm not good with words and stuff."
"Unless when you are raging?"
Tom nods, "That is something I've always envied you for."
Marco took a battle stance and Tom summoned fireballs in his palms. Marco charged to quickly close the distance and Tom retaliated by jumping back and throwing fireballs which he dodged. "I've also envied how cool you are."
"Are you for real?" Marco's partner asks which Marco could only agree.
"I thought you were the cool one." He says as he dodges another pair of fireballs.
"I did too but then I realized, I never do stuff and you have an awesome dragon-cycle... and friends."
They were now in close-quarter combat and in one that Marco dominated. For every attack Tom did a counter would hit him and every attack Marco did a feeble block would sometime intercept.
"You have-" An unexpected tail whip barely grazed him and that somehow made them agree to take a break to talk.
Tom's nose ran with blood and swellings were formed on his face. "No! Not like you have. You have Kelly, the forger of dimensional scissors, even fucking Ponyhead and everybody on earth."
"You do know there are 7 billion people on earth and not just the ones you have met, right?"
"Don't get sassy with me. I have few friends, very few like none existing."
"Wow, that's sad." Marco's partner commentated.
"And now you are choosing to lose a friend, your very best friend at that."
"We were losing our friendship ever since I became her squire. I've learned, you can't be friends with your boss when you are on shift. Outside? Sure, but not under, and squirting start when she wants and ends when she wants, and I can't remember when last she wanted it to end."
"Have you asked it to end? How about quitting."
"Does it even matter? She gave me the most dangerous job and I thought it was because she knew I could handle it and trusted me, but then I learned she simply didn't know and that's not the worst of it, we... we both know why she didn't know. I was! I was just a problem and typical of Star she just uses the first solution, no thought and certainly no regards... And yes I did try..."
"but?"
"Three words: I need you," Marco said with an added sucker-punch to resume the fight and it sent Tom to the ground. Tom screamed in rage and began to fly. "Now that's hardly fair."
Tom didn't care and he rained down fireballs. " It also infuriates me that you are the one most relies on."
"So you have an inferiority complex?" Marco asked as he picks up stones while dodging his attacks. Tom stopped attacking to think and when he wanted to talk he felt a stone in his gut. "Are you kidding?! You feel inferior to me, a fucking nobody! You are a prince of the underworld with magic!"
Stones launched every few seconds along with Marco's rant which Tom dodged to the best of his ability. "Star is a magical princess, Ponyhead is the same, Kelly is an awesome warrior from a warmongering race and then there's me, an earth-turd among 7 billion. If anyone can feel inferior it's me!" And with the end of his rant, his last stone was thrown with all his might and hit him straight in the face knocking him out of the air and straight to the ground.
"You didn't hold back on the last one."
"And?"
"And he should properly get some medical attention."
"..." Marco listened to his partner and carried the bloody and bruised body of Tom into his carriage and told the skeleton horse to bring him home.
"Is he ready?" Luna asks her brother.
"No, he isn't ready, but we can do no more for him."
"It is only a matter of time before he is swallowed by our cruel game, isn't it?."
"Worry not. He is already playing, he just doesn't know it yet."
"Are you serious? What am I asking, of course you are." Solis just shrugged "At least tell me you didn't just leave him in the middle of nowhere and a direction"
"Am I becoming predictable?" Luna massaged her temple in his response while Solis silently laugh. "Worry not dear sister, he can thrive in our war. The reason he isn't ready is simply his mind, he may be capable as our champion, however, he isn't thinking like one, but the dimension he is in will shape him."
I've been wondering how to continue. I've been thinking of using a character that isn't important to the story but feels the effect of Marco, of his action and his decision. So there can be made more than one view of the story, but I feel like that could be complicated, too complicated for my skill. Anyway hope you enjoyed it