There was once a time where I wouldn't harbor such violent emotions against Star, and I would welcome her cheerful, limitless energy as she would guide me across her kingdom. Every village under her family's authority, every small detail of the market and their foreign goods, and carnivorous wonders in the Forest of Certain Death.

If she knew that I would weaponize this knowledge later in our lives, she would have never showed me her home. Especially since I was opening her citizens like they were presents.

Oh, how it was beautiful.

There was never enough time to describe the joy of slaughter. Only quivering excitement being the limit of answering the mortal horrors of what I have done. Peeling skin. Fracturing bones. Waiting to pounce upon my prey as I feed off of their instinct to survive.

After I emptied the castle of any lingering life, I've brought them back as undead thralls to join the rest. But the citizens were well aware of their knights' rotting traits as most of them were headless.

They screamed. They panicked. Most ran away to find other knights, and upon realizing the rest has gone with their King to fight against the Monsters projecting their unjust and unwanted existence onto the world, some took arms to protect their homes. They had so much faith in River's judgment and were overconfident in the skill of Mewni's knights.

River was never bright; leaving a fraction of an army to watch over me instead of the vast kingdom only proves those many, humorous arguments I had with Star. But I will admit, he did keep up the morale of the people, reminding everyone how I was a prisoner, adding a few not-so-subtle derogatory comments about how compared to the Queen and Princess being absent, I am nothing more than a minor concern in comparison.

It amazes me how the ones with great physical prowess and lack of mental potency are the ones who can influence moral with such ease and passion. I like to think it is a way of balancing things.

Otherwise, people like Toffee, or me, are left to act upon our own plans.

While River may be part of the royal family, he has no access to magic; with him went to fight battles and leave the kingdom unprotected, the number of walking corpses grew with each passing hour.

I had finally arrived at the final village under the Butterfly's authority. This one had been farther than the rest.

Isolated.

Neglected.

Boring.

I had to make my own fun, spawn my own excitement within my being. After careful planning like a stage director, moving the props and actors - the rubble from homes and corpses of those who lived in them - I focused my attention on a cowering child who looked and trembled with fear from his glassless window.


I drag the screaming boy out from under his bed - his screams grew louder as he saw his parent's eviscerated bodies strung around like decorations before using [Animated Dead] to make them leap off the wall - and after continuing to slowly pull him across the bloodsoaked ground, letting him see the ruins of his village, guiding my unwilling follower to the deep pit of mud in the village center.

The undead surrounding and scattered within the village moved aside as I approached that slimy area of moist dirt before I tossed him in. He cried and screamed for his mommy and daddy to come and help him. His thrashing only made him sink faster. His tears were added to collective moisture of the mud as he sank below the surface, only to rise up in desperation to live an unlived future, coughing out rough chunks of mud from his straining lungs.

I gave him what he wanted.

I let the reanimated bodies of his parents drag themselves to their living son, hoisting him up from the surface of the mud. It was hypnotic, how terror and pain are erased with the security of parents onto a child's traumatized face.

It was gone within seconds when he saw his parent's decayed forms.

Their eyes gouged out.

Teeth shattered.

A personal touch on my part.

He panicked and screamed even louder! I snuffed-out all hope of survival the child had as I willed his deceased parents to join him in the mud; the added weight of his dead parents caused them all to sink faster.

He must have cried out one last time.

I doubt he could with his lungs filling with mud.

System: You have killed a non-royals citizen of Mewni! 5 dice has been added into your inventory!

System: You have wiped out an entire population of a village under the jurisdiction of the Butterflies! 20 dice has been added to your inventory!

Looking back at the silent village, nostalgia creeping within me from memories of Star's tour of her dimension, I am so happy I decided to take the scenic route.

Yet I found it hard to smile without a face.

It is good to carry extra.

[Mask of the Damned] (Unique)

A white mask with a face-splitting smile of crooked, sharp teeth. The straps to hold the mask in place are made out of leather, with special runes to adjust them to fit the wearer. This mask has been made out of bones from a gentle-souled familiar of a Cleric that casts judgment on individuals.

Effects: (Persona Voice) The wearer's voice will be altered to be unrecognizable; (Subtle Disturbance) This item causes a feeling of uneasiness when looking at it; (Murderer's Sight) Allows the wearer to see and track beyond what is granted with normal eyesight when hunting down an intended target; (Karma Flame) Wearing this mask causes the user's scalp to be engulfed in an inferno, granting effects depending on the user's actions.

Requirements: This is a bound item; must be Marco Diaz in order for the mask to activate any of its effects.

I wore the mask, a perfect tool of emotional expression now that I am free. I felt my own mind being invaded by its power and judged my soul. It felt like the real thing, and the smile on the front did not disappoint.

System: Mask of the Damned has created the status effect 'Black Sin'! This has been partially negated by [Gamer's Mind]!

I felt my skull become brittle from the hellish temperature that swallowed my head, and the pain should have been severely reduced due to not having any nerves on my scalp anymore, but without [Gamer's Body] this fire is torturing my soul. My sins were black as coal to fuel the fires of damnation. Even with [Gamer's Mind] warding off the hallucinatory screams of my victims, it didn't prevent my HP from slowly draining away to fuel my darker spells.

Despite [Hydra Rejuvenescence] countering the rapid HP drain, the pain only got worse as I moved through the Forest of Certain death - a part of me did not find it unwelcomed. [Gamer's Mind] immuning me to detrimental psychological effects, combined with my lack of pleasure in fundamental things to cause such emotion, I had become empty looking for my next fix - to quell the urges in me.

They were satisfied in the beginning. They had become nonexistent when Star arrived in my life. And after she cast her spell, burying me under a personality that is nothing more than a mess of anxiety and politeness, the urges have returned stronger than ever.

I stopped in the middle of a clearing, a rare area not inhabited by lethal fauna and poisonous flora as the ground is dry and solid to stand on. The undead horde behind me halted in their march, as some were delayed to rejoin the group as they had to combat nature's wrath in this dangerous swamp.

Even nature can't kill what is already dead, only delaying the decaying thralls from marching to my destination.

I found it very odd that I had not encountered River yet. I wasn't being discreet as I roamed from village to village. Perhaps he perished in battle, or I am very lucky. Either way, I was not going to waste a moment of respite.

Long ago, I had made pacts and contracts with beings from the elemental plane. While they had requirements upon use - freely using my MP, roaming the physical world, being only called upon certain conditions - I felt disrespected, for lack of a better word, and did something more dominating instead.

I focused within myself, an easy task to do when the noisy population has been deathly muted. I felt the personifications of the elements in me become disturbed as I focused my attention on one of them. I pressed one of my hands against my chest, and slowly moved my hand away, pulling out orange wisps that slowly formed into a sphere of fire, connected to me by an otherworldly chain made out of foul intent and dark magic.

The chain extended as I threw the ball of fire, suspending in the air, taking the beautiful form of a broken woman of fire. The cinders that made her elegant robe were disheveled and breaking as the heat from her form flickered on and off. Her tired, amber eyes glared back at me as her long and wild hair of flames was unnaturally tamer when I first met her.

"...What do you want, Marco?" Her voice was the enchanting tune of crackling fire. She looked at me with a critical gaze. "It seems you have taken a form that fits your personality."

"Isn't it amazing it, Ember?" I spread my arms wide, my voice no longer what it was because of my mask, and it was the very same item that portrayed my excitement. "The silence!"

"What. Do. You. Want?" Ember seethed, her signature temper rose like the heat of her body, only for the chain to emit a dark and foul aura that painfully reverted her back to a pathetic state. Her agonizing screams are a nice touch too.

She really acts as the personification of fire. "Ah-ah-ah," I said with a condescending wave of my finger. "Careful Ember, it's that same caution that kept you from being mentally destroyed like the others."

"Then there is nothing for me to say." She said, her voice filled with contempt. If she could say anything, it wouldn't be anything nice. "You already use us; we're nothing more than your slaves. You never wanted us to independently act on our own - always forcing us to act - why change now?"

"I merely wish to present an offer that can benefit us both!" I said grandly. "Everybody wants something! Even the personifications of the elements…"

"I'm not falling for it - I've been submerged inside you, Marco!" She interrupted. "I know what happens when you get others to play in your sick games!"

"And I wouldn't be having this conversation if you didn't know that." I complimented, and it made her angrier. "But I won't be doing what I've done with others, because this isn't a game, it's a bargain. Even if it was a game, it's a game so easy to beat, it won't be a problem winning your freedom!"

"F-Freedom?" Ember whispered as if she would never have the chance for such a luxury.

My mannerisms slipped into what I've done to tempt others into playing a rigged game. "Play my game - as you call it - and help me with my plans. If you do, I swear on my parent's grave, that you and the rest of your elemental siblings in me will never have to work for me ever again."

"What would I have to do?" She asked with skepticism, a valuable survival skill. "What are the rules for this game?"

It's not a game, just a bargain. She's not as smart as I thought if she can't remember that. I let out a sigh. "Not like the rest, I promise you that," I said, gesturing to the Forest of Certain Death and my undead army. "It's a simple quest. Your siblings help me gather resources - wood, metal, stone - while you specifically burn down anything left in Butterfly's castle - Ludo will be moving in soon after he deals with River and the knights he brought with him."

"But you already killed everyone in the castle." Ember pointed out. "And you've burned everything else. Why do you even need me?"

"I didn't burn everything." I corrected. "If I really wanted to burn everything down, I would have had to spend more time in the castle then necessary. Star took something precious from me - and can't waste any more time before she decides to open it! It would ruin everything I've worked for!"

I could focus my attention on the Princess while Ember burns everything I didn't touch. If her being an extension of my power due to the magical chains, it will still count as me burning property, and earn me more dice in the process. I'm going to need a lot for what I have planned; a legacy that will continue my work, long after I'm gone.

"Let's say I do what you want - it wouldn't be too hard," Ember said. "Then what? I go back in you and be submerged?"

"After I've gathered enough to build," I began. "You will all help me craft war machines to aid me in my own personal quest. If you complete it within a day, your reward is that none of you will have to work for me ever again."

"Must be important if you need it done in a day," She said. "And what is your personal quest?"

"To kill Star Butterfly."

Ember scoffed. "Of course you would plot to murder your best friend! I expected no less from you, Marco."

"If you truly were submerged within me, and watching everything, you would know why I am going to kill her." My rising volume in my voice made her flinch, easily shutting her up. "She traps me in my own head, with a split-personality of her own making with the wand. I was unable to do anything, but watch! The only blessing from this is that she isn't good with her magic, and the split-personality she unknowingly created was made by extracting all of the 'good' within me - it's like a reset button for my consciousness! Nothing can stop me now!"

The fire elemental's confidence returned, and she glowed more victorious. "Now you know how we felt being trapped inside you!"

"And you know how strong the desire for freedom is!" I smoothly answered. I'll let her have her petty victory. I stretched out my skeletal hand. "Now that you know I can empathize with you, do we have a deal?"

She didn't answer me for a moment, just staring at my hand, then at me. "If you experienced the same hell we have been through, can't you just let us go?" Ember pleaded, she visibly dimmed and was now on the grass. Her fire not enough to burn it. She looked so tired. I love that look. "Please… I want it to end…"

"Hey, the faster you help me, the sooner it will end," I promise, my hand still reaching out to her. "And despite my murderous deals I made with previous contestants, you know I never break a promise."

"...I could kill you once I'm free, you know."

"And I could have cannibalized you and many other fire elementals to make the ultimate fire weapon." I reminded her, frustrated that she still hasn't given me an answer. "But you offered to serve me in exchange for sparing your mother's life and leaving the elemental plane of fire alone. You've been watching within me, you know I always keep my word. You either help me or not Ember - either way, someone will be getting what they want. If that includes you? That depends on your answer. So last chance. Do we have a deal?"

She seemed to think it over one last time before she firmly grasps my outstretched hand with her own - it felt so comfortably warm. "Deal… do you truly swear on your parent's grave?" Ember asked.

"Of course!" I said. "After all, I am the one who buried them!"

"You buried your own parents?"

"Yep." I chuckled as I remembered that day. "And when they both tried to dig up to the surface to escape being buried alive - I shot them both in the face!"


After finally reaching the magical sanctuary in the swamps - oddly guarded by blue crocodiles - Star and her mother had wasted no time trying to revive the Magical High Commission. When placing them in their pods, and trying to access the magic the sanctuary provided, it was a disgusting dark green. It was nearly black.

Moon didn't want to risk the tainted magic touching the inactive Magical High Commission, she had to think about what to do next. But she decided to do so with a well-rested mind - a drowsy mind can make mistakes - and it was especially mentally exhausting when dealing with the rat soldiers employed by Ludo, the knowledge of Toffee still being alive and secretly encouraging Monsters to fight the other kingdoms, and the boy Marco.

There wasn't enough time to describe how complicated the issues were with him. It was made worse when her daughter brought him to the castle, a way to rehabilitate the damaged boy in some hope of changing him. Moon thought it was a kind idea, and River always supported his child.

The boy was polite, respectful, and brought out the best in her daughter. She was even more impressed that Marco could do magic! Apparently, he had been helping Star with her own magical training.

"You know, I was skeptical when you brought him here," Moon once said in a conversation with her daughter as she watched Marco heal the injured in the kingdom. "But I can see he is a good kid."

"I know!" Star said excitedly. "I'm so happy he's changed for the better!"

Moon stared at her daughter. "Changed?" She asked in confusion. "What would he need to change? He seems polite enough."

"O-Oh yeah!" Star nervously said. "Marco doesn't need to change; he's fine!"

However, Moon being the Queen means she has to deal with the subtle manipulations of politics, and Star was terrible at being subtle - Moon knew something was wrong. But when Star kept dodging her question about Marco's past, Moon went back to Earth to gather information on Marco.

She found nothing, except about the death of his parents. Marco was always known as the Safe Kid, he never attracted the attention of any authority figures, or was ever the origin of suspicion. It would have been fine if Star said he had a spotless record, but her persistence of failing to change the topic when Marco's life came up made it more suspicious.

It was a stroke of luck that she overheard the two having a serious conversation in Star's bedroom.

"-I thought you were done with granting wishes - what the heck, Marco!" Star yelled from behind the door. "Why did you do that to Higgs?!"

"What did I do?" Marco said, but Moon can hear unnatural humor to his voice, and it did not sound like the Marco she had gotten to know. "I just gave her what she wanted-"

"You manipulated royal documents to prematurely make her a knight! " Star yelled, much to Moon's shock. "Only the royal family can swear a squire into knighthood, and you somehow bypassed that!"

"And in doing so, gave Higgs her life dream!" Marco said with laughter, it sounded cruel. "She became a knight of Mewni, just like she wished for! She is forever remembered as the youngest girl to ever become a knight!"

"And the youngest to retire due to crippling injuries because you made her a knight before she could properly finish her training!" Star pointed out as he continued to laugh. "She couldn't defend herself when she was stationed deep in the Forest of Certain Death!"

"S-She just wanted to be a knight," Marco could barely contain his giggles. "But I only made her a knight only in name - how hilarious is that?!" He bursts out laughing, clapping his hands.

"You said your [Wish] skill was gone!" Star yelled as Marco continued to laugh, making her angrier. "I can't believe you lied to me, Marco - you even promised me!"

Marco's laughter died down when she said that. "...Are you calling me a liar?" Marco's voice had no amusement in it. It sounded dangerous.

"I don't know, are you?!" Star shouted. "I honestly don't know anymore!"

"We both know that I can't lie to you." Marco reminded sternly. "If you remembered that, even after all this time, you would realize that lying to you would have no purpose. I don't get anything out of it!"

"Then how did you make Higgs a knight without using [Wish]?" Star accused. "You told me you locked it away in the coffin!"

"I did!" Marco said. "Along with most of my skills! It wasn't easy creating something that could allow me to transfer my skills, Star. And I did - except for the two single-use [Wish] items that you told me to keep for emergencies, and I'm not going to waste it on Higgs!"

"Then how did you grant her wish?"

"I exploited your kingdom's bureaucracy," Marco answered. "Your parents can't be around for everything, or to notice anything out of the ordinary, especially when they have to run an entire magical kingdom while maintaining peace with others. Since there were so many people, and so much paperwork, a forged certificate of Higgs knighthood slipping in the system was easily unnoticed."

"But someone must have noticed!" Star said, trying to grasp how here kingdom's government had so many cracks to be exploited. "Were you bribing people?" It wouldn't be the first time, Marco always keeps emergency stacks of 650 dollars in his inventory.

"I was collecting debt." Marco corrected. "In exchange for healing their families who live in the poorer areas of the kingdom, the royal bureaucracy didn't mind if I changed a few things on paper."

Then it all made sense why Marco was so cooperative when it came to helping others on Mewni: he didn't do out of the supposed kindness of his heart, he did it for his own twisted ends! Moon felt anger and being manipulated, for being made a fool, but her own daughter felt something worse. Star felt a sense of betrayal, one that hurt so deep after trying so hard to make him a better person. "I thought you wanted to do some good for once..." Star said, her voice growing soft. "...I thought you wanted to change."

"I did it because you wanted me to - if you hadn't asked me to heal them, I would have never bothered to do so!" Marco snapped in a rare moment of anger, making the princess flinch. He didn't say anything for a while before sounding tired. "...I'm not a good person, Star... and trying to be one just makes me so miserable. The sooner you realize that the easier it will be for both of us."

"Easier for what?"

"To kill me," Marco said bluntly, startling the princess before his voice became nostalgic. "Remember how we used to be?"

"We hated each other." Star reminded, shocking Moon even more as she continues to secretly listen in on their conversation. "Why do you look so happy?" Her voice raised at that question.

"If someone hates you enough, then you know where you stand with them," Marco said, his voice still filled with joy. "There was no fake friendships, no hidden intents - everything we did to each other was passionate and true!"

"We lashed out at each other!" Star said. "We projected our own problems at each other instead of working it out! We should have been trying to fix ourselves, not break each other!"

"But we did!" Marco said, his tone still positive. "We found comfort in each other - you didn't have to hold back your impulsive personality behind the persona of being a 'proper princess', and I didn't have to act like the Safe Kid everyone sees me as!"

"It was toxic," Star said. "I...I kept running away from the problems I caused!"

"But you can admit you had a problem!" Marco pointed out. "Back then, you would have just made an excuse, or drag me along on a distracting adventure, but you don't do that anymore! You've come so far - it's amazing!"

"Then why can't you do the same?" Star asked with a hint of desperation in her voice. "If I can change, if I can admit my mistakes, acknowledging my faults, and improve myself as a person, why can't you?"

"You just had strict parents, and knowing you're going to become a princess, taking on many responsibilities and will never be able to do your usual fun activities anymore, was just a heavy weight on your mind," Marco said. "If it makes you feel better, what little conscious I had, you helped it grow."

Star let out a sad sigh. "Yet not enough to change you for the better."

"Sadly no - rehabilitation isn't instantaneous," Marco said. "But it was enough for me to care about what you have to say; I went against my own beliefs to help other people because you told me to."

"I shouldn't have to tell you to be nice!" Star said. "If it's forced, then it doesn't mean anything - you taught me that!"

"I know." Marco agreed. "If people can do things without being made to do them, the world would be an honest place - but nothing is more honest than true enemies expressing their undying hatred to one another, and doing everything they can to one-upping each other."

"Just like we used to do," Star whispered. "Is that what this is about? Trying to live in the past?"

Marco nodded. "Those were the happiest moments of my life. I had a worthy enemy, someone who could outsmart me, and was so unpredictable that she made my life so...colorful." He said warmly, trying to find the right word. "You are one of the few good things in my life that I cherish, and I just didn't want to lose that."

"And you really mean that?"

"Of course I do," Marco said. "Look, I tried to change, Star, I tried for you - I owe you that much." He then let out a defeated sigh. "But it's not me. No matter how hard I try, nothing can make me a good person. I did a lot of awful things, and I'm probably going to do more - that is just the way things are."

Star was silent for a while before she spoke. "What if I use a spell to help..."

The Queen shook her head of that memory, of how later on she had a serious very conversation she had with Star afterward, and Moon would be lying if she said that conversation didn't make their relationship rocky - even more so when she decided to place Marco in a guarded cell.

Like any confrontation between parent and child, it started off gently. Then it became stern, eventually defensive and making excuses, before finally ending in yelling at one another before one of them ended up crying and leaving while the other felt frustrated and sad.

Moon let out a sigh to clear her thoughts before resting on a large gathering of moss on a stone slab. While the Queen is content with resting in the magical sanctuary, Star had decided to take a more active role. Ignoring her mother's warning about using the wand as half of the gem is embedded in Ludo's right hand, and he is possessed by Toffee; both halves are connected by abnormal means, and using one could pinpoint the location of the other.

Star had too much on her mind and worried a lot more than usual when she saw how much destruction they saw on the way to the sanctuary. Going to a more secluded area where her mother won't see her use a certain spell from Eclipsa's Forbidden Chapter.

"Show me, Butterfly Castle," Star whispered to not wake her mother. Watching in confusion through the portal created by the All-Seeing Eye spell, she looked around to see that the castle is mostly empty, and large patches, puddles, and smears of blood staining the place. "What happened? Where did everyone go…?"

Then a terrible thought struck her mind. "Where's Marco?"

Instantly, the image changed to a dark empty cell, chains broken and scattered on the floor with the two cooked, and partially eaten, guards who were supposed to be watching over him.

"No..." Star whispered in panic as she put the clues together. "No, no, no! Where did he go?!"

What she saw next could only be described as a horror show. Upon Star's request, the All-Seeing Eye showed her where Marco went. Every home and room containing a living and breathing person, now empty and stained with blood, more brutal than the last. After nauseating minutes of seeing rapid images of his signature slaughter, Star saw a massive trail of footprints, eventually leading to an undead horde tearing through the Forest of Certain Death.

All of the decayed bodies were headless, wearing a weapon and armor tainted with a foul aura. Then there was the undead that was just a head, and spine, with an ethereal body. Star nearly screamed if she hadn't covered her mouth when she recognized one of them: Lady Whosits. All of them ruthlessly butchering everything in their path.

The number of dead animals left behind in their wake was enough to make her sick, but before she could end the spell, she saw the one creature separated from the maggot-infested horde. A humanoid wearing a yellow cloak with trinkets layered over it. A pair of spaulders on its shoulders. Cloves of garlic hanging down from its neck like a tie. Three wooden stakes strapped to its arm. A book chained to the left side of its hip. Faded words on something that resembled a loose scarf, with three red seals that did not appear to be made out of wax. The only visible parts were the skeletal hands, and wearing a smiling mask while it's skull is lit with dark fire.

It seemed to be talking with a woman that resembled a dying flame. When Star willed the image to zoom in to hear what they're talking about; she held her breath when the skeletal creature looked back at her through the portal, seeming to know she is spying on it. The fire lady said something Star didn't hear, but then the cloaked monster turned to a certain direction and said, "I found you-"

"Star!" Moon shouted from behind her.

"Ah!" Star dropped the wand, ending the All-Seeing Eye spell. She quickly turned around to see her mother glaring at her. "Mom! Uh, hi?"

"What did I say about using the wand?" Her mother said sternly, snatching it off the ground before Star could react. "You could compromise everything, Star!"

"I just wanted to check on everyone!"

"This is another example of your reckless behavior!" Moon argued, reminding her daughter how she impulsively attacked a patrol of rats. "You are not thinking things through!"

"I was just using one of Eclipsa's spells-!"

"Eclipsa's spell?" Moon gasped. "You used dark magic from the Forbidden Chapter! What if it corrupted you?" Her voice rose when she asked that question.

"It was just a quick peek!" Star said. "Nothing bad would have happened from the spell!"

"Maybe not from the spell, but perhaps from Ludo or Toffee if they discover our location?" Moon countered, holding up the wand to see that the half-gem embedded into it is glowing green. "Your father, the knights of the kingdom, the terrified citizens, are putting up with a lot because we are running out of options! The Magical High Commission cannot be revived - one of them died - magic is almost gone from the universe, and Monsters are ravaging the land! What were you thinking that this would be a good time to use the wand when I had warned you many times not to?"

"...because I wasn't thinking," Star admitted with a hint of shame, surprising her mother. "I was afraid of not knowing… and I was frustrated that I couldn't do anything, and still can't do anything!" Star said, on the brim of tears. "I was desperate enough to steal something important from my best friend, and I'm supposed to be the one to teach him how to be a better person!"

As much as Moon wanted to say something about how anything Marco values cannot be good, the Queen instead let out a sigh that seemed to release her anger. She wouldn't dare to yell at her emotionally-vulnerable daughter. "I know it has not been easy," She said gently, sitting down next to her daughter before putting an arm around her shoulders, and pulling her into a motherly embrace. "And I know you're anxious to do something, rather than staying in the sanctuary. It's simply in your nature to worry about those you are close to." She then gave Star a small smile. "It's one of the traits you've inherited from your father."

"Do you think he's okay?" Star whispered, blinking away the tears. "I didn't see him in the castle when I used the spell."

"I'm sure he's fine," Moon assured. "He's stubborn Star - people like that don't go down easily."

"I wish I had the courage to go out and fight." Star leaned into her mother. "I just feel useless being here when I can do more."

"You being stuck here has nothing to do with your bravery," Moon said. "I'm sure if things weren't so dire, you would be helping your father and me defend Mewni." For a moment, her voice was filled with pride. "And it takes a lot of bravery to admit you've done something wrong." Moon had dealt with a lot of people twice her age who would make excuses rather than admit their wrongdoings, and seeing Star do the opposite filled her with hope for the future ruling of the kingdom.

That is assuming they survive and defeat the forces tearing the world apart.

"Did I make a mistake by bringing Marco here?" Star asked quietly. "Was it wrong of me to steal from the person I tried to rehabilitate?"

"It's been a long day," Moon said eventually if it's one thing she learned about her daughter, any question related to Marco is very sensitive and complicated - it would be long, complicated, and could possibly end in another shouting match. And she is too exhausted - both physically and mentally - to give a proper answer. "We will talk more in the morning..."

Moon was cut off when the entire sanctuary violently shook.


A/N: When I read gamer fics, the protagonist always bonds or makes a deal with elementals in order to use their power. I have yet seen a story where the elementals are dominated/enslaved, or maybe I just haven't found one that does.

Anyways, the prologue will have two more parts before the story begins.

And yes, Marco is evil. Just like elementals, I have yet to find a fic on this fandom where Marco is actually evil - I'm talking about super evil, not those stories where he is possessed/tricked/manipulated into doing evil things, those, to me, don't count.

Leave a review, and let me know what I can improve on.